“The New York Times reports today about Michael Hollick, the actor who provided the voice of Niko Bellic in Grand Theft Auto IV. Although the game has made more than $600 million in sales for Rockstar Games, Hollick earns nothing beyond the original $100K he was paid. If this was television, film, or radio, Hollick and the other GTA actors could have made millions by now. Hollick says, ‘I don’t blame Rockstar. I blame our union for not having the agreements in place to protect the creative people who drive the sales of these games. Yes, the technology is important, but it’s the human performances within them that people really connect to, and I hope actors will get more respect for the work they do within those technologies.’ Is it time for video game actors to be treated as well as those in other mediums?”
First let me set the record straight. There should be no distinction between “video game” actors and actors in general - other than the fact that most video game work is non-union voiceover work. There are plenty of actors here in Hollywood that do video game work. But the problem is that SAG and AFTRA have not set up a residual contract for video games. But they should. Right now SAG and AFTRA are negotiating residual contracts for online video and they should do the same for video games.
I was sitting there in Studio DNA perusing through this month’s GQ magazine noticing all the stylish short haircuts and decided it’s time to try a new look. In the past this would have been a big deal and my agents would look at me with disapproval telling me that I would now need to go get new headshots. But now that I no longer have commercial representation and I’m concentrating on producing my own shows it doesn’t matter as much anymore.
I just received an email directed to all SAG members giving an updated report to contract negotiations with the AMPTP. The top headline is:
The AMPTP Wants to Use Excerpts From TV Shows and Motion Pictures Without Actor’s Consent on the Internet….And Beyond
New Media is one of the biggest issues in contract negotiations. The studios still don’t know how to monetize video on the internet and are still experimenting with ventures such as Hulu at the same time making deals with various online video distribution companies including Apple/iTunes/AppleTV. I know of these issues first hand as a web developer who used to manage FX Networks and helped to establish their online video distribution of their shows using Brightcove. The key question that needs to be answered before royalties can be paid to actors for “internet use” is how do you track and control video views and distribution? This can get pretty tricky. Using Brightcove, there are built in metrics but other distribution services may not have these tools. And who will keep the studios honest? In my experience I’ve seen metric numbers be “adjusted” in order for a studio marketing team to sell more ad space or get bigger budgets for their group, so who’s to watch the studios and keep them honest as to how much royalties to pay back to the artist based on internet “views”?
For the savvy actor, this is actually an exciting time. Forget the bickering between SAG, AFTRA and AMPTP. This is the age of opportunity and empowerment. It has never been easier or cheaper for actors to be seen by larger audiences other than the 99-seat theater. If you’ve paid any attention to the video revolution on the internet you will know of the publicity and opportunities non-actors have received from stupid videos on YouTube. Entrepreneurial actors are already online creating brands - monetizing their creative work and creating bigger opportunities. Just read this article:
So what are you doing to take charge of your acting career? Why are you sitting around waiting for your agent to call? Go out and create your opportunities.
There have been plenty of times when I have left an audition and thought “I wasn’t feelin’ that performance”. Luckily, this wasn’t one of those times. I spent the whole morning mentally preparing for the audition and every time I went to the restroom I would practice my lines in the mirror - remembering the notes that Lisa had told me. I just needed to make sure that I had personalized both scenes so that they were real to me. Then I needed to trust that I didn’t need to “act” or “show” any emotions. Just “be” in the moment.
I left the office early in order to arrive at the casting office 45min before my scheduled audition time. The casting office was a small little blue bungalow in santa monica. I parked my car up the street from the office and just sat in my car prepping myself for the read. 15min to my scheduled time I walked into the office and sat down in the very small waiting area. There wasn’t anyone else in the waiting room. It was one of those indicators that this was an important audition and that they were being selective in who they were considering for the role. About two minutes went by and the casting director came out and said “David Chiu”? I replied “yes” and she asked my to follow her into the back office. There she had a portable blue screen setup and a very tiny handheld camera mounted on a big tripod. She mentioned something about “the first time” and “bi-coastal”, but honestly I wasn’t paying attention. I was doing my final mental preparation for the read. The casting director looked at me and said “Oh! You look like you’re ready to go! Let me just turn on the camera real quick!” This was a good sign - the fact that the casting director could see that I was already emotionally prepped and ready to go. But I didn’t let her rush me. I said, “give me one more moment” and I just stood there centering myself. Then I moved onto the mark and started the scene. We did the first scene twice. The first time, I did it exactly how Lisa coached me to do it. The casting director said it was really good but to try doing it a little less intense - and to save the intensity for the second scene. The second scene we did twice as well.
I felt really good about my performance. I feel like I demonstrated the intensity they are looking for. Now it’s just a waiting game. I can’t help but to think how cool it would be to work on this movie with Jude Law and Forrest Whittaker….
This Friday I have a audition for a new Jude Law/Forest Whittaker movie currently called Repossession Mambo directed by Miguel Sapochnik, a one-time storyboard artist. I’m trying not to get too excited, but it’s hard for me not to think that this could be the break I’ve been waiting for. I’m reading for the role of:
[RAYMOND PEARL] late 20s - mid 30s. Another of Frank’s top-notch repo men, he is a “psychopath with a Union scalpel.”
What was interesting was that I received not only my sides for the audition, but FTP instructions to download the short movie “The Dreamer” by Miguel Sapochnik. The short movie was awesome and in the same vein of Children of Men or Blade Runner with a similar storyline to “The Island”. I understand why Hollywood came knocking.
So my reading is this Friday and I’m getting private coaching from my fabulous acting coach Lisa Mililo Clarkson who teaches scene study and audition technique at Joanne Baron/DW Brown and is currently the on-set coach for Days of Our Lives. The actual audition will be taped and sent to the director who is currently in Toronto. I’m just hoping to make a good first impression and make it to a second reading.
I uploaded a bunch of old videos from different gigs I’ve done over the years. Everything from stand-up, independent films, to soap operas. You can see my range of being fat to skinny, long hair to short hair, funny to dramatic, bad to good/mediocre.
Come check out all my videos, make comments, rate them, send them to friends and help make me the most watched person on YouTube! Yeah baby, YEAH!
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