A new report suggests some of Hollywood's major studios are taking a page from the playbook of The Little Mermaid's Sea Witch by seeking ownership of actors' voices.
Per The New York Times, the actors union known as SAG-AFTRA claims that its members have reported contracts which would give studios the right to use the signatory's voice to craft new performances in the future. The NY Times highlights a Netflix contract that would allow the company to simulate an actor's voice "by all technologies and processes now known or hereafter developed throughout the universe and in perpetuity."
The advancement of artificial intelligence software has made it possible for studios to simulate actors' voices with increasing accuracy. In partnership with Lucasfilm, a Ukranian company called Respeecher famously used archival recordings and an A.I. program to recreate James Earl Jones' Darth Vader voice, which Jones has aged out of, for Disney+'s Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Respeecher also used this technique to recreate the voice of a young Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in The Book of Boba Fett. In September 2022, it was reported that Jones had signed his voice rights over to Lucasfilm and Respeecher so that the companies could continue to use his signature baritone in future Star Wars projects, including those produced after the actor's passing.
The Actor's Union May Face a Strike
The ownership rights of performers' voices will likely be a topic in SAG-AFTRA's upcoming negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on June 7, 2023, over the terms of a new contract. If the terms of the new agreement are not settled by June 30, SAG-AFTRA may move to strike, following in the footsteps of the Writers Guild of America (WGA), which has been on strike since May 2 after negotiations with AMPTP fell through. One of the issues facing the WGA also involves the idea of A.I. software reducing the number of jobs available to its members.
The WGA's ongoing strike is already having a significant impact on the film and television industries. One of the projects affected by the strike is Marvel Studios' Blade movie, whose stalled rewrites have caused Marvel to delay production for the second time. The studio delayed the film for the first time in September 2022, after the sudden departure of director Bassam Tariq. Blade was expected to enter production under the direction of Yann Demange next month following a series of rewrites by True Detective's Nic Pizzolatto.
On the television side, projects impacted by the WGA strike include Stranger Things, Yellowjackets, Cobra Kai and many others.
Source: The New York Times