Talent Unions and New Media

Consider what the letters in AFTRA stand for: American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. As most readers recognize, traditional TV and radio must now share the public's attention with a fast-growing variety of alternative media. There are many messages and applications for which a standard, linear medium is inappropriate and/or cost-ineffective.

A few years ago, AFTRA negotiated its first Interactive Media contract with Electronic Arts Productions, an interactive CD-ROM publisher. The structure and pay scales of this contract are in some ways vastly different from other, more familiar AFTRA contracts. But the intention was the same: to provide a basis on which producers and performers could agree to work together, with many of the ground rules set in place ahead of time.

Karen Stuart, AFTRA's Assistant National Executive Director for Entertainment Programming, wrote an article on this topic for AFTRA's national magazine. Rather than summarize the contract itself, or reprint Karen's article, I'd like to present some of the more compelling points she raised in it, and perhaps even add a few. We all -- producers and performers alike -- need to consider how to deal with the very complex issues raised by new media in general. That way, as the media continue to evolve, so will the relationships between talent and employers.

Here's how Karen summarized the "jurisdiction" of this new agreement: "The kind of programming covered under AFTRA includes video games, Interactive movies, flight simulators, educational products, etc. These may be mere forerunners of the range of services that will be available when Interactive television enters homes, schools and offices via set-top devices."

When she wrote her article just a few months ago, nobody knew that several manufacturers would be rushing such "set-top devices" to market as early as this year. The so called "Internet Box" concept is a stripped-down but powerful computer that uses a TV for its monitor, and is cheap enough for broad acceptance and mass marketing. There remains much skepticism, but plans for such a product are moving forward.

And there are other products that would fit the description of "set-top device" already being tested by major cable companies, satellite companies, telephone companies, and others. They offer widely differing levels of interactivity, but the technology per se does not dictate whether professional performers will be used. That is still dependent on content, which in turn depends on the concepts of the producers. Some computer games use characters drawn by artists; others use actual filmed segments with live actors; and others use hybrid "motion capture" animated characters whose physical movements are performed by real people.

Thus, as Karen points out, a key issue here is the extent to which professional performers of any kind get paid for the repeated use of their work: "The reuse compensation provisions provided for in the agreement are limited to Linear use (traditional broadcast), Remote Delivery (delivery to your home via set-top unit), and Integration Payments. There may also be reuse for commercial use and other promotional types of use under certain circumstances.

"There are a lot of unanswered questions: What will the business arrangements look like in terms of licensing product, how will the stream of revenue flow, how will the consumer pay, will there be true advertisers, will product be timely or will the same product be available indefinitely? Additional questions remain with respect to how Interactive television will enter the home: Will it enter on cable, through copper wire, radio waves broadcast to a satellite, telephone lines, or some other means?"

Karen did not mention it, but another twist on the interactive story is that entertainment is not the only game in town. Even in the glory days of Hollywood, film was being used for industrial training and other less glamorous applications. The same thing happened with television, as soon as videotape recording had evolved to a point of practicality and affordability. Non-broadcast video is now an enormous business, with many millions of dollars of production every year being done for in- house use by private industry.

The same is already happening with interactive media, with business-related programming delivered via CD-ROMs, laptop computers, or over computer networks -- including the Internet. Just as the union today has different contracts for entertainment TV and other types of video work, it may well require different "Interactive" contracts, based not on the delivery technology, but on the content and use.

When the use is clearly intended for public consumption and resale, all parties have to consider how to gauge the potential pay-off, compared to the start-up costs. As Karen wrote, "even though the number of signatory companies grows daily ... the companies still maintain that more cash is going out than coming in; and what does come in is poured back into the company. The future is just as uncertain for the Interactive producers as it is for performers."

Each new day brings more understanding of the possibilities of new media; new forms of personal expression; and new opportunities for professional performers to establish partnerships with the artists and producers working in these new forms. We should approach new and future media just as we approach more familiar media production: as a collaborative field, in which the end result is greater than the sum of our individual efforts. With continually-evolving contracts and working relationships built on that foundation, we should all find the future to be a little less uncertain.

For questions and comments about AFTRA's Interactive Agreement, please contact your local union office, or AFTRA's national office.

Rich Wilson is an AFTRA member who also works as a writer and consultant for film, video, and interactive multimedia. If you have questions or comments about this article you can use the Comments button below to leave a message. © 1996 (All rights reserved. No duplication or republication without permission.)