Voice Over Talent

Category: <span>Resources</span>

Tonry Talent

Operating from the years of 1986 to 2017, Tonry Talent handled both union and non-union, on-camera and voice for feature film, commercial TV, industrial, commercial print, stage and trade show work.

Represented by agent Mary Tonry, San Francisco Bay Area actors like Scott Reyns and many others worked regularly in areas like gaming, industrial narrations, commercials and more.

Tonry Talent is fondly remembered in the San Francisco voiceover scene.

SAG-AFTRA in 2023: To Ratify or Not to Ratify

I believe in the potential and power of advancements in computer science to help us solve big problems, especially in industries like healthcare, energy, and manufacturing. I believe in mobilizing around problems that are almost universally recognized. I’ve invested in several AI funds and companies, ranging from those focused on software (APIs, data sets, and language models) to hardware (processors and ways of building them), for this reason.

I’m not a big believer in creating solutions and then trying to find problems to match them to.

I get the argument of “If they use your digital likeness in ways to which you’ve not consented, and we catch them, we’ll sue them,” but it has two vulnerabilities. First, for rank-and-file, i.e., non-celebrity, actors who already sometimes aren’t given both copy and credit for their work, and can’t find it when they look for it publicly, that can be a big “if.” Second, it doesn’t account for amalgamation. That is, generative AI can be used like a blender. Imagine…

FacialScan && VoiceMatch(MEDIAN(“HumanActor1”, “HumanActor2”)) = VirtualActor1;

So, a hybrid, digital-only performer, results. Where will metadata ensure that both HumanActor1 and HumanActor2 will always get paid, commensurate with whatever use of VirtualActor1? Also, how will such usage be made to always comply with the rights granted by HumanActor1 and HumanActor2 at an actual technology level? Where is the enforcement apparatus that ensures VirtualActor1 will become a recurring revenue source for everyone without being applied in a way that could negatively impact the human performers’ brands or reputations?

There is no such system. That boils it all down to a matter of trust. When the technology can be used in so many “Who’s gonna know?” ways, that’s a pretty tall order.

In the meantime, actors are now getting asked to audition, and then, if booked, we’re to get only 48 hours’ notice before we work, within which to give informed consent to the application of AI to our performances or vice-versa. That pits us against one another over the issue. It dangles work in front of the performer and then pressures the performer to consent. If they don’t, they risk losing the work to another performer via re-casting at the 11th hour. The performer who then gets released collects no cancellation fee. All of it is a far cry from what should be the protocol:

Per project, disclose intent to use AI within the auditioning process so that actors who don’t want it applied to their performances can choose not to waste their time and decline to audition in the first place!

When DRM got hacked out of the original MP3 format by an anonymous “Information wants to be free” punk in Australia, which wasn’t responded to swiftly and decisively by the global community (Don’t get me wrong: Personally, every Australian I’ve ever met, I’ve always adored and still do), where did that take the music industry? By the time streaming became a thing, the market value of music had gotten driven so far down that the streaming services just capitulated. The argument being, “We can’t stop piracy. At this point, it’s endemic, so we have to treat the value of music as… ‘ephemeral,’ not totally worthless, but more subjective than ever.” They priced themselves so low that the compensations for musicians became so, so much worse than they’d been when the delivery mechanisms were physical media (CDs, CSs, vinyl). As artists saw their livelihoods suffer or get extinguished, to profit as much as possible as the new corporate intermediaries between creators and consumers, they did what they felt they had to.

So now, generative AI is here. Some applications of it can be laudable and miraculous. Others can threaten not just content creators’ livelihoods, but national security. With technologies that behaviorally still aren’t yet fully understood, and aren’t yet fully under control, and can output things that can’t be fully tracked and audited on-demand, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s avoid making the same mistake again, this time a thousand-fold.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand, strictly from an actor’s perspective:

On one hand, Val Kilmer gets his voice back. On the other, generations of performers are now being positioned to choose between landing a given gig and having sustainable careers. In areas otherwise such as residuals, pensions & health, performance capture, and equity & inclusion, real gains have been made, by which I’m impressed and for which I am thankful. Again, props to the negotiating committee on wins realized on all those other fronts. There has been good progress made regarding AI considerations, just not enough. On ratifying the overall new tentative TV/Theatrical agreement, therefore, I’ve voted No.

The 2023 WGA Strike: A Lesson in Trade Unions vs. Other Types

A good colleague once confided in me at one former employer that he felt unions were obsolete. He believed that while they helped build this nation’s Middle Class, they were no longer helpful.

I’ve always disagreed. Unions are like for-profit and non-profit corporations and just about any other institution. They can be run efficiently, in competitive ways, and in line with industry trends and needs, or they can be out of touch, bloated, and corrupt.

While the pending WGA strike, which SAG-AFTRA now supports, will continue reverberating throughout the media and entertainment industry, I’m among those who don’t expect it to last long.

The gradual recovery of unions here in the USA, at least in some industries, is a good thing that gets a good amount of press.

However, the difference between labor organizations at the company rather than at the sector level needs to get more attention. America needs to learn more from Europe in this regard. “Labor Union” means organized workers, whereas “Trade Union” is more specific. Using the terms interchangeably can be a trap.

When employees of a given company organize, they need to negotiate just with the management of a single, specific enterprise. When workers collect across a whole sector, they deal broadly with the management of companies that compete with one another.

That’s a huge difference. It can make talks between management and labor way more productive. It helps maximize partnership and keep the relationship in between from becoming adversarial. By design, it makes strikes much less likely to happen in the first place and keeps them from drawing out if and when they ever do. When a whole industry gets locked up, there’s much more urgency to find common ground so everyone can return to work and business can resume normal operations.

Structural details matter. I’ve yet to operate out of Europe or any other continent. As an American laborer, I’ve been proud to be a member of a collective bargaining organization as a freelancer (actor). Whenever working as an employee (tech worker), I’ve never been a union member. In my world, the two concepts have never conflicted or been in contradiction with one another.

Apples and oranges. Sure, work is work, so ultimately, it’s all fruit. But the details make the difference in whether everyone has enough to eat.