Effective Friday, Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has declared a strike against 11 video game publishers over games that went into production after Feb. 17, 2015. The companies include some of the heavyweights of the industry, like Electronic Arts Productions, Insomniac Games, Activision and Disney.The strike comes in light of an unsuccessful 19 months of negotiations after the existing labor contract known as the Interactive Media Agreement expired in late 2014. Overall, the strike is an effort to provide more secondary compensation along with other concerns, such as transparency upon hiring talent and on-set (制作中) safety precautions.The video gaming industry has ballooned in recent years. The Los Angeles Times reports that the industry is in the midst of an intense increase in cash flow. In 2015, gaming produced 23.5 billion in domestic revenue.But SAG-AFTRA says voice actors don’t receive residuals ( 追加酬金) for their gaming work. Instead, they receive a fixed rate, which is typically about 825 for a standard four-hour vocal session. So the voice actors are pushing for the idea of secondary compensation---a performance bonus every time a game sells 2 million copies or downloads, or reaches 2 million subscribers, with a cap at 8 million.“It’s a very small number of games that would trigger this secondary compensation issue,” said voice actor Crispin Freeman, who’s a member of the union’s negotiating committee. “This is an important aspect of what it means to be a freelance ( 从事育由职业的) performer, who isn’t regularly enjoyed every single day working on projects.”Another major complaint from the actors is the secrecy of the industry. “I can’t imagine if there’s any other acting job in the world where you don’t know what show you’re in, when you’re hired,” says voice actor Keythe Farley, who chairs the SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee.“And yet that happens every day in the video game world,” Farley told reporters during a press conference Friday. “I was a main character in Fallout 4, a character by the name of Kellogg, and I never knew that I was doing vocal recording for that game throughout the year and a half.”Scott Witlin, the lawyer representing the video game companies, says voice actors “represent less than one tenth of l percent of the work that goes into making a video game.” So “even though they’re the top craftsmen in their field,” Witlin says, “if we pay them under a vastly different system than the people who do the 99.9 percent of the work, that’s going to create far more problems for the video game companies.”【小题1】Why did SAG-AFTRA declare a strike against some video game publishers?A．It had been cheated repeatedly in the 19 months of talks.B．The labor contract between them had been violated.C．The negotiations between them had broken down.D．Its appeal to renegotiate the contract had been rejected.A．It has invested a lot in its domestic market.B．It has attracted many famous voice actors.C．It has become more open and transparent.D．It has gained huge profits in recent years.A．Extra pay based on sales revenues.B．A non-discriminatory contract.C．A limit on the maximum work hours.D．More regular employment.A．They are not paid on a regular basis.B．They are kept in the dark about many details of their job.C．They are discriminated against in the gaming industry.D．They are not employed full-time.A．Changing the pay system would cause the industry more problems.B．Paying voice actors on an hourly basis is in fine with the law.C．Voice actors should have a pay raise if they prove to be top craftsmen.D．Voice actors are mere craftsmen, not professional performers.【小题2】What do we learn from the passage about the video gaming industry?A．It has invested a lot in its domestic market.B．It has attracted many famous voice actors.C．It has become more open and transparent.D．It has gained huge profits in recent years.【小题3】What are the voice actors demanding?A．Extra pay based on sales revenues.B．A non-discriminatory contract.C．A limit on the maximum work hours.D．More regular employment.【小题4】What docs Keythe Farley say about voice actors?A．They are not paid on a regular basis.B．They are kept in the dark about many details of their job.C．They are discriminated against in the gaming industry.D．They are not employed full-time.【小题5】What is the argument of lawyer Scott Witlin?A．Changing the pay system would cause the industry more problems.B．Paying voice actors on an hourly basis is in fine with the law.C．Voice actors should have a pay raise if they prove to be top craftsmen.D．Voice actors are mere craftsmen, not professional performers.
Effective Friday, Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has declared a strike against 11 video game publishers over games that went into production after Feb. 17, 2015. The companies include some of the heavyweights of the industry, like Electronic Arts Productions, Insomniac Games, Activision and Disney.
The strike comes in light of an unsuccessful 19 months of negotiations after the existing labor contract known as the Interactive Media Agreement expired in late 2014. Overall, the strike is an effort to provide more secondary compensation along with other concerns, such as transparency upon hiring talent and on-set (制作中) safety precautions.
The video gaming industry has ballooned in recent years. The Los Angeles Times reports that the industry is in the midst of an intense increase in cash flow. In 2015, gaming produced $23.5 billion in domestic revenue.
But SAG-AFTRA says voice actors don’t receive residuals ( 追加酬金) for their gaming work. Instead, they receive a fixed rate, which is typically about $825 for a standard four-hour vocal session. So the voice actors are pushing for the idea of secondary compensation---a performance bonus every time a game sells 2 million copies or downloads, or reaches 2 million subscribers, with a cap at 8 million.
“It’s a very small number of games that would trigger this secondary compensation issue,” said voice actor Crispin Freeman, who’s a member of the union’s negotiating committee. “This is an important aspect of what it means to be a freelance ( 从事育由职业的) performer, who isn’t regularly enjoyed every single day working on projects.”
Another major complaint from the actors is the secrecy of the industry. “I can’t imagine if there’s any other acting job in the world where you don’t know what show you’re in, when you’re hired,” says voice actor Keythe Farley, who chairs the SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee.
“And yet that happens every day in the video game world,” Farley told reporters during a press conference Friday. “I was a main character in Fallout 4, a character by the name of Kellogg, and I never knew that I was doing vocal recording for that game throughout the year and a half.”
Scott Witlin, the lawyer representing the video game companies, says voice actors “represent less than one tenth of l percent of the work that goes into making a video game.” So “even though they’re the top craftsmen in their field,” Witlin says, “if we pay them under a vastly different system than the people who do the 99.9 percent of the work, that’s going to create far more problems for the video game companies.”
【小题1】Why did SAG-AFTRA declare a strike against some video game publishers?| A．It has invested a lot in its domestic market. | B．It has attracted many famous voice actors. |
| C．It has become more open and transparent. | D．It has gained huge profits in recent years. |
| A．Extra pay based on sales revenues. | B．A non-discriminatory contract. |
| C．A limit on the maximum work hours. | D．More regular employment. |
| A．They are not paid on a regular basis. |
| B．They are kept in the dark about many details of their job. |
| C．They are discriminated against in the gaming industry. |
| D．They are not employed full-time. |
| A．Changing the pay system would cause the industry more problems. |
| B．Paying voice actors on an hourly basis is in fine with the law. |
| C．Voice actors should have a pay raise if they prove to be top craftsmen. |
| D．Voice actors are mere craftsmen, not professional performers. |
题目解答
答案
解析
SAG-AFTRA（美国演员工会-美国电视和广播艺人联合会）宣布对11家视频游戏出版商进行罢工，因为双方在19个月的谈判中未能达成协议，现有合同已到期。
步骤 2：分析视频游戏行业现状
视频游戏行业近年来发展迅速，2015年国内收入达到235亿美元，但SAG-AFTRA认为配音演员没有获得应有的追加酬金。
步骤 3：理解配音演员的要求
配音演员要求获得基于销售的额外报酬，以及在雇佣人才和制作安全方面的透明度。
步骤 4：分析Keythe Farley的观点
Keythe Farley指出，配音演员在工作中缺乏透明度，不知道自己在为哪个游戏配音。
步骤 5：分析律师Scott Witlin的论点
Scott Witlin认为，改变支付系统会对视频游戏公司造成更多问题，因为配音演员只占游戏制作工作的一小部分。