Video game actor strike

[jon_k]

No offense but the guy 10 stories up walking on 8 inch thick Steel Beams has BOTH mental and Phisical Fatigue. You people who complain about Mental Fatigue only have that one type of fatigue. People who work in construction or other laboring and Dangerous jobs usually have both. The mental and the physical. Just becasue these guys walk 10 stories up all day doesn't mean they are used to it. It's both Mental and Physical.

Sorry if I sound like I'm bashing, But it's not as significant as a construction site. Sorry man.

At the end of the day all jobs are fatiguing. If they weren't then people wouldn't be paying you to do so.

 

[bonkrowave]

At the end of the day all jobs are fatiguing. If they weren't then people wouldn't be paying you to do so.

There is no way in hell voice acting for a video game can be compared to heavy labor jobs such as construction. The strain on your body from heavy labor shortens ones life, you sure as hell cant say the same about poor voice acting for a video game.

Honestly if the actors for the voices in farcry were paid 200+ an hour, they should be made to pay back money to the people who bought the game, for the terrible job they did.

 

[DazzOSC]

At the end of the day all jobs are fatiguing. If they weren't then people wouldn't be paying you to do so.

Actually they are paying you because you have a wanted skill or ability that contributes to their needs, it has nothing to do with the job being fatiguing.

 

[kpedge]

Honestly if the actors for the voices in farcry were paid 200+ an hour, they should be made to pay back money to the people who bought the game, for the terrible job they did.

There were voices in FarCry? Wow, I missed that, must have paying too much attention to graphics and gameplay.

 

[Torgo]

We just feel used because they might make more per hour. Just craziness..If that were the case, why are we not upset with Basketball players? Football players? Because we feel that since it is not just the 3 hour game they are getting paid for, their salary is justified more so than the small amount of time a Voice actor puts in.

Apples to Oranges. The sports players do the majority of the work. They are for all intents and purpose the entertainment, the product that we're selling. So when they put together their collective bargaining agreements, they take this into account.

With the voice actors, they want a ghodamn royalty on copies sold for doing a small, small percentage of the work. Hey, I love the work that David Hayter does too. If he wants $1000 an hour to do his thing, I have no problem. To get a percentage of sales for the week he has to spend in the studio... that's going too far. No way Jose. Developers should get a royalty first before these twits bite the hand that feeds them.

As for this lame argument that VO are starving and have to often take up other work to make up for "down time" and therefore need more money... boo hoo. It's just like any other musical artist, actor or writer out there. Until you make it big, you suffer just like everyone else. It's a part of life you just need to accept.

 

[Conker]

They should be payying programmers more since they are the ones that created the game. Without them there would be no game. The voice crap can be computerized or be done by a 12 year old kid. Who would you want to pay more, the voice crap guy that only spends 2 hours of his time or the programmer who spends months on it. Those freeloaders are just idiots. lol

 

[bonkrowave]

There were voices in FarCry? Wow, I missed that, must have paying too much attention to graphics and gameplay.

And thats the point right there.

You sure as hell remember the voices and actors in movies and tv shows. But who remembers the great performance that marine did when he took a railgun through the chest.

Not I

 

[Torgo]

Thats how Lucas did the VO audition for General Grievous..... it makes sense.
DS

Ooooo.... bad example. That voice over job went to a LucasFilm employee, not a professional voice actor.

 

[eggrock]

They should be payying programmers more since they are the ones that created the game. Without them there would be no game. The voice crap can be computerized or be done by a 12 year old kid. Who would you want to pay more, the voice crap guy that only spends 2 hours of his time or the programmer who spends months on it. Those freeloaders are just idiots. lol

Devs need a union NOW before EA takes over everything. *

 

[kpedge]

Ooooo.... bad example. That voice over job went to a LucasFilm employee, not a professional voice actor.

Still sounded pretty decent...hope the *union* didn't find out and start protesting.

Devs need a union NOW before EA takes over everything. *

From what I've heard, just call OSHA (or a similar agency) on EA.

 

[DazzOSC]

Devs need a union NOW before EA takes over everything. *

Heh... I would never want a union in this industry. It would stifle ability and skill, while promoting people doing the absolute minimum. I may be working long hours, but I dont mind because it's something I love doing. I wont kill myself for the game, but I will make sure what needs to be done, gets done. I guess you could call me a regular old capitolist.

 

[Ryland]

Heh... I would never want a union in this industry. It would stifle ability and skill, while promoting people doing the absolute minimum. I may be working long hours, but I dont mind because it's something I love doing. I wont kill myself for the game, but I will make sure what needs to be done, gets done. I guess you could call me a regular old capitolist.

I second that. Im not specifically in the video game industry but Im still a software engineer and would hate to see the industry become unionized.

 

[Torgo]

I'm including this quote (snipped from Fark.com) from Lana Minella that she posted after confronting the protesters at E3. She's done VO work for Diablo II (Andariel), Unreal Tournament (various characters), Starcraft (Zerg Queen), Warcraft titles, Duke Nukem, etc. So she knows a little about VO work in games and doing a good job. This is what she had to say:

Hello everyone and thank you for the work I got to see and hear part of while at the trade show.

I am aware that most VGM people are involved with sound, and how (at E3) audio content is drowned out in the hoards of beat box DJ rappers, drum groups and flame twirlers, guys with headset mics setting up gaming competitions or loudly promoting the booth babes who are tossing out t-shirts to a flailing mob. Yet I was still happy to see such hi levels of advanced graphics and game play, and for those of you who contributed to or will contribute to the sounds of these games, I applaud you in advance.

I regret I didn't get the pleasure of meeting more of you personally, and hope that we can eventually be able to converge in some sort of harmonious glob of multi-faceted diversity somewhere, or at least keep up the camaraderie on VGM.

For those of you wondering about the actor's strike, I saw a few pathetic union actors handing out flyers in front of the convention center, and I gave them a piece of my mind.

It went something like this:

"You have no idea what you're talking about. The publishers make the money, but the developers are the ones paying for the actors. They are the ones entitled to royalties, and they worked a lot harder than you or any other union prima donna who waltzes in and does 3 voices or 4 hours for $557 plus about 50% extra in payroll and union fees."

What the union should do is implode, as it serves no function except to complicate matters, slow projects down and cause disputes with the "favored nations clause" that says if one union actor (let's say John Madden) gets so many thousands of dollars, all the other union actors on the same project are entitled to the same fee.

RUBBISH, the union is clueless. To limit the number of voices one actor can do and to limit a session to no more than 4 hours per actor is ridiculous since many game scripts have tons of minor parts with one or two lines.

(I'm still ranting at this protester)...."....and in case you didn't realize it buddy, anybody can get a SAG card and that card doesn't guarantee they have one OUNCE of TALENT! A lot of union actors SUCK! Until agents stop sending out what they call their 'One trick ponies who make more mistakes who require more pickup sessions, ' and real talent is actually represented or allowed a chance at the mic, the union can take a long walk off a short gangplank."

The idiot who was a gray-haired tanned wannabe----said what his flyer said....."without union actors, it'll be GAME OVER MAN." I laughed in his face.

(I still offer to gladly assist anyone with meaningful and honest advice regarding voice talent, directing, agents or the like---FREE. )

My last words to that guy as I entered E3 that first day were, "If you strike, no one will care. Smaller companies can't compete with EA budgets, nor should they have to.

Gamers don't care about what celebrity or union actor is in the game. Marketing does. Union people work non-union all the time, and games require good vocal acting, not just a pretty face or the voicing you hear in TV or film. Games require more diverse talent with energy, the ability to emote beyond what you'd ever get on screen, and imagination-- beyond your soap opera mindset.

You're clueless. Go protest the union instead. They admit they need a total overhaul. So fix something that's broken and stop your whining."

 

[jordan12]

Anyone involved in insurance really shouldn't complain. Insurance companies, followed closely by insurance brokers are the highest percent profit companies there are. Insurance is another industry where people are paid way to much.

It always amazes me that my insurance premiums can skyrocket past the rate of inflation every single year.

Only the insurance companies are profitable. And they need to be. If not, where would the money come from to pay for the claims?

And insurance premiums increase because dumbass teenagers And some early 20's people drive way to fast. Dont care about other people on the road and cause accidents.

If everyone drove carefully, watched what the heck they were doing, we would be looking at a much better outlook in regards to premiums.

Why do insurance companies give people breaks on the premiums for a good driving record? Because it motivates them to stay clean. Young drivers do not care. And pay for it for a long time. That is why they have such high premiums. The chances of them having a wreck or ticket is 500 times higher than myself getting in an accident.

Younger drivers equal higher premiums. It will never change..

 

[Torgo]

Heh... I would never want a union in this industry. It would stifle ability and skill, while promoting people doing the absolute minimum. I may be working long hours, but I dont mind because it's something I love doing. I wont kill myself for the game, but I will make sure what needs to be done, gets done. I guess you could call me a regular old capitolist.

Read the IGDA White Paper on Quality of Life and you'll realize that the video game industry is akin to the sweatshops of the 1890s. It's that bad. Normally, I think that unions are counterproductive, but this is the exception to the rule. A union is needed to protect workers from the predators that are publishers.

You do realize that working conditions are so bad that the average tenure in the gaming industry is just over five years? From the white paper:

However, while the most popular answer to the question: “How long do you plan to stay involved in the game industry?” was “for the rest of my career” (47.2% of respondents), 34.3% expect to leave the industry within 5 years, and 51.2%, within 10 years. For the industry as a whole, such a high turnover rate is nothing short of catastrophic, and it goes a long way towards explaining our difficulty in ensuring that our projects run smoothly.

When we asked our respondents to examine a set of assertions and pick all of those which their spouses might be likely to use to qualify their game development careers, the most popular answers were:
• “You work too much and don’t spend enough time with me and the children.” (61.5% of respondents)
• “You are always stressed out.” (43.5%)
• “You don’t make enough money.” (35.6%)

• Almost three developers out of five report working 46 hours or more in a typical week (38.1% say 46-55 hours, 19.7% say over 55). Most of them (58.8%) say their colleagues work about the same number of hours as they do.
• Crunch time is omnipresent, whether before every milestone (57.2%), during beta (20.7%) or on at least a monthly basis (16.7%). Only 2.4% of respondents report that their company never has any crunch at all.
• Crunches of all durations were reported, with the most frequent being 1-2 weeks (29%) and 2-4 weeks (23%). Over 18% of respondents reported having experienced crunches of two months or more.
18
IGDA Quality of Life Committee www.igda.org/qol
• During crunch, respondents work 65 to 80 hours a week (35.2%), with 55-65 hours also being frequent (30.4%). The average crunch work week exceeds 80 hours in 13% of responses.
• When asked to describe their company’s policy regarding crunch, a whopping 51.7% of respondents said “Management sees crunch as a normal part of doing business in the game industry,” ahead of “Management sees crunch as a necessary evil and tries to minimize its impact” (38.9%). Only 2.3% of respondents said their companies actively implemented no-crunch policies, like the 40-hour work week.
• Overtime is often uncompensated (46.8%), with the most common form of compensation being time off at the end of the project (19.4% give partial compensation, 3.2% count all hours), ahead of royalties and profit sharing (12.5%). Only 4.3% of respondents say their companies pay overtime in cash.

A union is needed in this case.

 

[bonkrowave]

Only the insurance companies are profitable. And they need to be. If not, where would the money come from to pay for the claims?

And insurance premiums increase because dumbass teenagers And some early 20's people drive way to fast. Dont care about other people on the road and cause accidents.

If everyone drove carefully, watched what the heck they were doing, we would be looking at a much better outlook in regards to premiums.

Why do insurance companies give people breaks on the premiums for a good driving record? Because it motivates them to stay clean. Young drivers do not care. And pay for it for a long time. That is why they have such high premiums. The chances of them having a wreck or ticket is 500 times higher than myself getting in an accident.

Younger drivers equal higher premiums. It will never change..

Young drivers pay more because there is evidence and studies that statistically determine that younger drivers are at a higher risk, particularly males.

Well the same studies exist for certain ethnic groups .... so why adhere to one study and not the other.

Its pretty simple really, because it would be deemed an unfair generalization to base rates on ethnic groups ... but for some reason it is not unfair to base rates on what sex and age you are.

Pure and utter BS.

 

[Shmuckety]

I will go with the general consensus and again say f@ck those whiny bitches.

Yes. Maybe alot of gaming websites and media will make fun of the video clips, but if your game play is awesome and the graphics are the shit.

EVERYONE WILL STILL BUY IT AND PLAY IT!!!!

 

[hondo[CV]]

we where playing games along time before they had any part of gaming.. why do we need them now? i watch very little movies and even less tv.. if thier voice are face was in a game i'm playing i doubt that i would know them.. my two bits
hondo[CV]

 

[jon_k]

There is no way in hell voice acting for a video game can be compared to heavy labor jobs such as construction. The strain on your body from heavy labor shortens ones life, you sure as hell cant say the same about poor voice acting for a video game.

Honestly if the actors for the voices in farcry were paid 200+ an hour, they should be made to pay back money to the people who bought the game, for the terrible job they did.

I've never done voice overs for video games, but in other forms of acting such at theatre and film, I can say first hand that it is straining work if you do a good job. I have done plenty manual labor and office work for a living in my life, and I can say that acting ranks right up there as far as how straining it is. It is very physical work. Maybe it's different in voice overs becasue you are just saying voices, but in acting you engage your body as well. The energy that you have to emit during a play or filming wil make you very very tired.

 

[magoo]

again.... what about the time they spend preparing for the project? What about the time they spend negociating projects? Every business I know of has well-paid empoylees that do the aforementioned tasks, so that is why shouldn't actors get compensated for that as well?

Maybe you and that Zorro dude should go on a date.

 

[bonkrowave]

I've never done voice overs for video games, but in other forms of acting such at theatre and film, I can say first hand that it is straining work if you do a good job. I have done plenty manual labor and office work for a living in my life, and I can say that acting ranks right up there as far as how straining it is. It is very physical work. Maybe it's different in voice overs becasue you are just saying voices, but in acting you engage your body as well. The energy that you have to emit during a play or filming wil make you very very tired.

That is why I clearly stated "voice acting for video games", you are the one who quoted me, and its right there in the quote.

 

[Zorro]

How is a voice a form of intellectual property? I can understand how a recorded segment may be but thats understandable. A voice is made up of modulation, waveforms, frequency etc depending on what is being presented so what would a developer do, register a specific combination?

Here is the definition of IP as follows:

http://www.legal-definitions.com/IP/intellectual-property-law.htm


Now, think of all the many unique character voices you've heard over the years- Tony the Tiger, The Snuggles Bear, Lara Croft, the Half-Life Scientists, Max Payne, etc... All of those voices are unique, crafted and honed by actors who can not legally reuse the voices for any other product or game because they are owned as property by their respective companies.

 

[Josh_B]

i dont like you

Oh well. I am sure he's devastated.

In all seriousness, it is only fair that ALL participants in the creative process get the money they deserve. EA Games and surely most other game houses treat their employees like crap, as evidenced by this strike, and by the court case against EA games. (Overworked employees, unrealistic expectations, lack of any human attributes.)

Game companies have money, but I would think most of it is in the hands of the proprietors, and not the actors, programmers, and artists.

 

[DazzOSC]

Read the IGDA White Paper on Quality of Life and you'll realize that the video game industry is akin to the sweatshops of the 1890s. It's that bad. Normally, I think that unions are counterproductive, but this is the exception to the rule. A union is needed to protect workers from the predators that are publishers.

You do realize that working conditions are so bad that the average tenure in the gaming industry is just over five years? From the white paper:


A union is needed in this case.

I am a member of the IGDA and know exactly what the quality of life is for people in this industry. Is it bad at some places, yes, is it bad everywhere, no. Infact my last employer (also in the game industry) does not allow over time any more, and when it is necessary they provide a time bank and the overtime must be approved.

The fact remains that 90% of all the employees in this industry are fresh out of college/university, think it's a privilage to work on games, and have no clue what it's like to work in a typical corperate job. Many of them are here because they dont want to be in a typical corperate job, and it shows in many cases.

You know the majority of AAA titles these days are full of the worst code you could ever imagine and have been grinded out by programmers with an average age in the early 20s.

 

[Ryland]

Here is the definition of IP as follows:

http://www.legal-definitions.com/IP/intellectual-property-law.htm


Now, think of all the many unique character voices you've heard over the years- Tony the Tiger, The Snuggles Bear, Lara Croft, the Half-Life Scientists, Max Payne, etc... All of those voices are unique, crafted and honed by actors who can not legally reuse the voices for any other product or game because they are owned as property by their respective companies.

And most of the Disney cartoon voices have been done by multiple people over the years. Having someone do a specific voice for a specific product is one thing but saying that "you used your real voice in game X so you can't ever talk again" is BS.

Sometimes a voice is wrapped up as part of a character but more often than not the voice does NOT make the character.

BTW, according to your definition the IP laws don't apply. Voices are not products of human intellect...

 

[Ryland]

You know the majority of AAA titles these days are full of the worst code you could ever imagine and have been grinded out by programmers with an average age in the early 20s.

Why does that not surprise me? Ive been coding fro about 20+ years now with the last 15+ professionally and have seen some really good code and some really piss poor code. My favorite accomplishment was taking a multipage algorithm and reducing it to around 3 lines of code because the original coder didn't know what he was trying to do.

 

[jon_k]

That is why I clearly stated "voice acting for video games", you are the one who quoted me, and its right there in the quote.

yeah i know but the way you word you comments you seem to imply that all actors are lazy. I think you even came right out and said it (or maybe it was someone else).

 

[magoo]

Here is the definition of IP as follows:

http://www.legal-definitions.com/IP/intellectual-property-law.htm


Now, think of all the many unique character voices you've heard over the years- Tony the Tiger, The Snuggles Bear, Lara Croft, the Half-Life Scientists, Max Payne, etc... All of those voices are unique, crafted and honed by actors who can not legally reuse the voices for any other product or game because they are owned as property by their respective companies.

The intellectual property you define is the UNIQUE character ie. logo that is merely represented by the voice behind it. The creator of the character has the property rights not the voice over. The voice does add to the uniqueness of the character but is a part of that whole and cannot be separated. if the "voice" wants more the "voice should negotiate better in the beginning and not let the union represent him/her. did you ever think about how much the union got paid for your voice"gig". what are your dues each and every month? if you could negotiate seperately would you do better???

 

[wfalcon]

There are also other things you aren't taking into account. It takes a lot of time to actually get the job. You don't just walk into ID studios and say "Hey Carmak, hook me up for a VO job with that Doom3 thingy you're doing." I don't know exactly how it works in VO casting, but in film and theatre they hold auditions, so I'm going to assume the VO director holds auditions. First off, you have to drive to the auditions, which could take a loooong time depending on where the auditions are held at. For example, if the auditions are for a BioWare game, you might have to take a trip to Canada. That costs time and money. Not only that, but auditions themselves generally take about 2 hours. Even after all that they may decide to not cast you so in that case you just wasted a bunch of your time and travel money. Then you have to negociate your contract which takes a while. So after all that prep, a voice over actor probably *does* work 40 hours a week.

So, by that justification, an employer should compensate me for time required to apply, test, and interview for any job position.

It just doesn't work that way. If I want a job in Seattle, but it requires 2 hours of drive time to get there, then I eat the gas and time, and drive my own butt there. There's no guarantee I'll get it, so I'll have wasted my time and money as well. What makes voice actors for video games so special that they shouldn't do the same?

 

[Ryland]

So, by that justification, an employer should compensate me for time required to apply, test, and interview for any job position.

It just doesn't work that way. If I want a job in Seattle, but it requires 2 hours of drive time to get there, then I eat the gas and time, and drive my own butt there. There's no guarantee I'll get it, so I'll have wasted my time and money as well. What makes voice actors for video games so special that they shouldn't do the same?

Probably because they have to "apply" to a high number of "jobs" in a given year. Or at least thats my guess.

 

[Zorro]

You're joking right? That'll never happen for voice overs. There's too much established precident that's been set.

I think you're mixing your legal debates. Voice overs have been an established form of intellectual property for decades, since well into the golden age of television and commercials. So, the precident exists that voices ARE a property that can be exchanged, regardless of the medium.

But, now you're saying an actor cannot be paid for work they didn't do, which isn't the issue at hand. The actors are trying to get residuals for THEIR work. I don't know why you brought up the issue of actors trying to get residuals for other people's work because that's not what the actors are complaining about.

 

[LoneWolf]

And most of the Disney cartoon voices have been done by multiple people over the years. Having someone do a specific voice for a specific product is one thing but saying that "you used your real voice in game X so you can't ever talk again" is BS.

Sometimes a voice is wrapped up as part of a character but more often than not the voice does NOT make the character.

I don't think you understand. What he means is, Disney now owns that actor's sound for "The Little Mermaid" for example. Said actor cannot go out and use the same character voice for another gig, without Disney's say-so. Sure, if the actor wants too much, Disney can hire someone else to do the job; that's because Disney OWNS the character, and the trademark voice that goes with it. The way IP laws work, the original VO actor must make a "new voice" the next time they have a role. So a VO actor has to be good at reinventing themselves, or they won't continue to eat.

And as for the voice making the character, how many people do you think bought the sequels to Disney's "Aladdin" movies that were only on VHS, that didn't have Robin Williams as the Genie? How many people thought Robocop 3 absolutely bit because Peter Weller wasn't the voice? These are just examples (aside: Robocop 3 would have bit anyway). I think there's points to both sides in this argument, but I think a lot of gamers are just yelling "LOOKIT THE 0V3RP8ID CRYB8B|3S, DUD3!!!" without looking at all the details.

 

[LoneWolf]

I like the arguement that these people don't work 40 hours per week. By that logic, if I chose a career as a crossing guard (part-time), I should make way more money per hour than people working a full-time gig. I don't care how many hours you work per week. You should be paid for the time you are working on a project. If that's not enough for you to get by on, well get off your lazy ass and go find more projects to work on.

What I really think should happen is that the publishers should say, "We'll sign your contract if you will agree to a 34.8% pay cut over the next three years. If you don't like it, well then I guess you won't have a contract."

How much talent does it require to be a crossing guard vs. how much talent and skill to be an actor? You're comparing totally different jobs with different skill levels, so your argument is lousy.

I think your boss should say "If you want your job next year, you'll have to take a pay cut. If you don't like it, you can leave now."

I don't say that as a flame, I say it because everyone here is so charged, they aren't seeing the issue straight. You'd be incensed if your boss did the above to you (especially if you've been a valuable part of your workplace), but you have no problem dishing it out to others when you don't know the whole story.

 

[Dr.LaRd]

don't blame piracy for declining revenues, blame the actors!!!!

this goes for both movies and games

 

[Ryland]

I understood the "point" that he was trying to make, I just didn't agree with it. There are definitely voices that are used for certain "parts". It would be disastrous if the person who voiced Arial in the Little Mermaid attempted to use that specific voice for a character in Unreal 2004. It just wouldn't fit. If I ever heard the Arial voice out of context I wouldn't say "Thats Arial the mermaid" but if I ever saw the drawing out of context I would know it was Arial.

 

[Zorro]

WAAAAH,WAAAH,WAAAAH. i dont like you,either. maybe you should GET A JOB voice boy.

Um... I'm also techie (like a career actor would be reading HardOCP) and I already have a job. But, it's nice of you to make assumptions due to your inability to make an argument more intelligent than "get a job."

 

[Zorro]

BTW.. are you a gamer?

Yes.

 

[jon_k]

So, by that justification, an employer should compensate me for time required to apply, test, and interview for any job position.

It just doesn't work that way. If I want a job in Seattle, but it requires 2 hours of drive time to get there, then I eat the gas and time, and drive my own butt there. There's no guarantee I'll get it, so I'll have wasted my time and money as well. What makes voice actors for video games so special that they shouldn't do the same?

In most jobs you drive to an interview a few times, get a set job, and stay their for a long time.

Actors on the other hand go from one project to the other. It's just the nature of the beast. An actor might audition 30 - 40 times in a year and get no work. Did you also know 95% of the Screen Actor's Guild is unemployeed? No one pays you when you blow an audition or don't get a job, but producers realize that actors will go long periods of time just searching for employeement, so consequently, they get paid higher wages than normal. It is the only way to possibly support that lifestyle.

 

[Torgo]

I am a member of the IGDA and know exactly what the quality of life is for people in this industry. Is it bad at some places, yes, is it bad everywhere, no. Infact my last employer (also in the game industry) does not allow over time any more, and when it is necessary they provide a time bank and the overtime must be approved.

The fact remains that 90% of all the employees in this industry are fresh out of college/university, think it's a privilage to work on games, and have no clue what it's like to work in a typical corperate job. Many of them are here because they dont want to be in a typical corperate job, and it shows in many cases.

You know the majority of AAA titles these days are full of the worst code you could ever imagine and have been grinded out by programmers with an average age in the early 20s.

I would counter and say it's bad at most places and good only at a few. Of course there are exceptions and they are to be commended. The fact that there are so few programmers with experience that remain in the industry and that we rely on fresh, inexperienced talent speaks volumes. The survey data is very fresh and because the results are so skewed towards the negative shows that change is needed.

I really hope that more developers take initiative and start changes within their own organization, but I fear more people will just ignore the problem in the hopes it just goes away.

 

[bonkrowave]

In most jobs you drive to an interview a few times, get a set job, and stay their for a long time.

Actors on the other hand go from one project to the other. It's just the nature of the beast. An actor might audition 30 - 40 times in a year and get no work. Did you also know 95% of the Screen Actor's Guild is unemployeed? No one pays you when you blow an audition or don't get a job, but producers realize that actors will go long periods of time just searching for employeement, so consequently, they get paid higher wages than normal. It is the only way to possibly support that lifestyle.

What is to stop an actor from getting a second job, or a job between acting gigs ?

You know like the rest of us do ?

This is where the lazyness comes into play.