SAGAFTRA

Sept. 30 (UPI) — Hollywood’s actors union SAG-AFTRA on Tuesday sounded the alarm over reports that talent agents are interested in signing Tilly Norwood, an actress generated by artificial intelligence.

SAG-AFTRA’s statement opposing the replacement of “human performers by synthetics” comes days after Deadline reported that AI studio Xicoia has engaged with multiple agents who are interested in signing the digital creation Tilly Norwood for representation.

Studios’ use of AI technology was a central issue in the 2023 SAG-AFTRA-led strike that was the longest actors’ work stoppage in Hollywood history. Now, Norwood’s emergence points to an ongoing source of dispute between studios and actors.

“To be clear, ‘Tilly Norwood’ is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers – without permission or compensation,” SAG-AFTRA said in the statement. “It has no life experience to draw from, no emotion and, from what we’ve seen, audiences aren’t interested in watching computer-generated content untethered from the human experience.”

The union said that Norwood relies on “stolen performances” and will put actors out of work.

Norwood resembles a brunette twenty-something who speaks with a British accent and made her debut over the summer in a short AI-generated film. She already has an online presence.

Eline Van der Velden, an actor and technologist, revealed Saturday during a panel at the Zurich Summit that agents were interested in signing Norwood, the creation of the AI production studio Particle6 she founded, according to Deadline. She also said that studios and other entertainment companies were quietly embracing the technology.

“We were in a lot of boardrooms around February time, and everyone was like, ‘No, this is nothing. It’s not going to happen’. Then, by May, people were like, ‘We need to do something with you guys.’ When we first launched Tilly, people were like, ‘What’s that?’, and now we’re going to be announcing which agency is going to be representing her in the next few months,” said Van der Velden.

Van der Velden later responded to the initial backlash over Norwood, with a statement saying she is “not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work — a piece of art.”

But concerns about what Norwood means for the industry remain. Actress and producer Anne-Marie Johnson told Los Angeles NBC affiliate KNBC that “this is no laughing matter.”

“Our agents and our managers have to be partners in this because when we don’t get hired, they don’t get their commission,” she said.

Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists on Friday elected “The Lord of the Rings” actor Sean Astin to be its national president as one of Hollywood’s most powerful labor unions faces new challenges in a changing film and TV industry.

Astin, known for portraying Frodo’s loyal hobbit friend, Samwise Gamgee, in the Peter Jackson-directed fantasy trilogy, now finds himself headed to a different kind of stage.

The 54-year-old actor will become leader of the 160,000-person performers union as it prepares to enter negotiations next year for a new contract with the major studios at a time when the entertainment industry faces consolidation, productions moving overseas and artificial intelligence.

“I feel proud and I feel determined,” Astin said in an interview. “People keep saying to me, ‘I hope you have time to celebrate’ and celebrating feels like a foreign thought. This doesn’t feel like a moment for celebration. It feels like a moment to say thank you and get to work.”

Astin garnered 79% of the votes cast in the election, according to the actors guild’s data. Voting closed on Friday. Astin beat his opponent Chuck Slavin, a background actor and performer in independent movies.

Slavin on Friday said in a statement that “while the outcome is disappointing, my commitment to advocating for transparency and member rights remains unshaken.”

Astin succeeds outgoing president Fran Drescher, who led the union through a 118-day strike during the last contract negotiations in summer 2023. Under that contract, the union secured AI protections and streaming bonuses based on viewership numbers. Some actors felt the contract didn’t go far enough and hope for more gains during next year’s talks.

Astin told The Times in an interview earlier this month that he is hopeful about securing a fair deal with the studios.

“I have a very good feeling about going into this next negotiation, because it’s clear to me that it’s in both parties’ interest to achieve a good deal,” Astin said.

In general, “the truth is that no union and no management should ever want a strike — that is the tool of last resort,” Astin said.

Astin’s strategy for negotiations was more moderate than that of Slavin. Slavin said that, if elected, he would call a strike authorization vote before meeting with the studios as a way to help boost the union’s leverage during negotiations.

Astin’s running mate, Michelle Hurd, was elected as secretary-treasurer of the union, receiving around 65% of the vote. Hurd has acted in shows such as “Star Trek: Picard” and movies including the romantic comedy “Anyone But You.”

Astin said he would push for more AI protections in the next contract and work with government leaders to keep productions in the U.S.

Astin ran under a group called “The Coalition,” which featured candidates from Membership First and Unite For Strength, two political groups within SAG-AFTRA. Slavin ran as an independent.

Voter turnout for this year’s national election was lower than in 2023, when Drescher was re-elected president. In 2023, roughly 23% of the ballots were returned, compared to this year’s 17%, according to SAG-AFTRA data. In 2021, when Drescher was first elected national president, 26% of the ballots were returned, according to the union.

Astin received a key endorsement from outgoing president Drescher, who he says has been a “constant source of support and guidance” and said he was “eager to help protect her legacy.” Astin’s mother, Academy Award-winning supporting actor Patty Duke, was a past president of the actors’ union.

Astin said that he will begin his term poring over information, meeting with SAG-AFTRA staff and doing outreach to members, including visiting the various locals.

“Now is the time for the optimism,” Astin said on Friday. “When you elect a new president, it’s a new chapter and a new page is turned. There is no reason not to charge forward as a union with our members.”

Video game performers and producers have reached a tentative contract agreement, reaching terms that could end a long strike over artificial intelligence.

The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the game companies came to a resolution on Monday, more than two years after their previous agreement covering interactive media expired.

The deal is subject to review and approval by the SAG-AFTRA National Board and ratification by the membership in the coming weeks, the union said. Specific terms of the deal were not immediately available.

Terms of a strike suspension agreement are expected to be finalized with employers soon, the union said. Until then, though, SAG-AFTRA members will remain on strike.

SAG-AFTRA members must vote on whether to ratify the new contract, which covers roughly 2,600 performers doing voice-acting, performance- and motion-capture work in the video game industry.

Since fall 2022, video game performers have been fighting for a new contract containing AI protections, wage increases to keep up with inflation, more rest periods and medical attention for hazardous jobs.

Game actors went on strike in late July after contract talks broke down over AI. Throughout the walkout, performers demanded a deal that would require video game producers to obtain informed consent before replicating their voices, likenesses or movements with AI.

During the first few months of the strike, SAG-AFTRA reached numerous side deals with individual game companies that agreed to follow the union’s AI rules in exchange for a strike pardon. By Nov. 18, the labor organization announced that it had made AI pacts with the developers of 130 different video games.

“The sheer volume of companies that have signed SAG-AFTRA agreements demonstrates how reasonable those protections are,” Sarah Elmaleh, chair of the union’s video game negotiating committee, said in a statement in September.

While some companies earned the union’s approval, others felt its wrath.

Halfway through October, SAG-AFTRA added the popular computer game “League of Legends” to its list of struck titles in an effort to punish audio company Formosa Interactive for allegedly violating terms of the walkout. SAG-AFTRA also filed an unfair labor practice charge against Formosa, which provides voice-over services to “League of Legends,” according to the union.

Formosa denied SAG-AFTRA’s allegations.

The biggest sticking point for actors under the umbrella of AI involved on-camera performers, whose job is often to disappear into the characters they are bringing to life. They expressed concerns that the companies’ AI proposal would leave them defenseless against the technology.

The game companies argued that their AI proposal already contained robust protections that would require employers to seek prior consent and pay actors fairly when cloning their performances.

“All performers need AI protections,” said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, national executive director and chief negotiator of SAG-AFTRA, in an interview with The Times months ago.

“Everyone’s at risk, and it’s not OK to carve out a set of performers and leave them out of AI protections.”

This work stoppage marked SAG-AFTRA’s second video game strike in less than a decade and second overall strike in roughly a year.

While the walkout persisted, video game performers weren’t allowed to provide any services — such as acting, singing, stunts, motion capture, background and stand-in work — to struck games. Union actors were also barred from promoting any struck projects via social media, interviews, conventions, festivals, award shows, podcast appearances and other platforms.

AI was also a major sticking point during the film and TV actors’ strike of 2023. That walkout culminated in a contract mandating that producers obtain consent from and compensate performers when using their digital replica.

James Earl Jones’ voice of Darth Vader is one of the most recognizable sounds in movie history — and now it’s at the center of a fight over the use of artificial intelligence.

On Monday, Hollywood actors guild SAG-AFTRA filed an unfair labor charge over the use of an AI-powered version of the iconic “Star Wars” villain’s voice in the massively popular video game “Fortnite.”

Last week, “Fortnite” started allowing players to recruit Darth Vader to their teams and take turns talking to him using conversational AI technology that replicates Jones’ tone and speech patterns for the George Lucas-created character. “Fortnite” is owned by developer Epic Games.

SAG-AFTRA filed the complaint against Llama Productions, a subsidiary of Epic that works on “Fortnite.”

“Fortnite’s signatory company, Llama Productions, chose to replace the work of human performers with A.I. technology,” SAG-AFTRA said in a statement. “Unfortunately, they did so without providing any notice of their intent to do this and without bargaining with us over appropriate terms.”

Epic Games did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jones had allowed Lucasfilm and Disney to use AI and archival recordings to replicate the actor’s voice as Darth Vader for future “Star Wars” projects. Jones died in September. “Fortnite” said it had received permission from Jones’ estate to include his voice in the game.

“James Earl felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it,” the family of James Earl Jones said in a statement on Fortnite’s post on its website last week. “We hope that this collaboration with Fortnite will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character.”

SAG-AFTRA said in a statement that it celebrates the rights of its members and their estates to control digital replicas.

“However, we must protect our right to bargain terms and conditions around uses of voice that replace the work of our members, including those who previously did the work of matching Darth Vader’s iconic rhythm and tone in video games,” the performers guild said.

AI remains a controversial topic in Hollywood, as actors and writers have raised concerns about the fast-growing technology harming their jobs. In 2023, actors and writers went on strike to fight for more protections in their contracts that addressed their concerns about artificial intelligence.

“Fortnite’s” use of Darth Vader’s voice wasn’t without other hiccups. Business Insider pointed to an example of where the voice was seen saying the F-word in the game and an Epic Games spokesman told Business Insider that a fix was made to stop Darth Vader from cursing within 30 minutes of it happening in-game.