SAG-AFTRA

Nvidia Every year, the annual Game Developers Conference (GDC) acts as an all-important watercooler moment for the video game industry. It’s the one time a year where developers can widely gather to share their innovations, discuss the state of the industry, and advocate for change at scale. This year’s show, though, is especially crucial. It comes amid a catastrophic wave of layoffs across studios that’s put well over 10,000 individuals out of work. That’s happening as executives look to tools like generative AI to…

Last summer, as unionized writers and actors striked for a combined six months against Hollywood studios, crew members marched and chanted by their side. On Sunday, the chants continued, as thousands of crew workers gathered for a Los Angeles rally ahead of Monday’s bargaining talks with Hollywood studios and streamers, the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers. With one of Hollywood’s longest actors’ strikes to date behind us, Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists…

Last year, Hulu won the rights to “Vanda,” a Portuguese crime drama series distributed by Legendary. Hulu viewers in the U.S. will automatically hear the English dub play over a cast led by Gabriela Barros, who plays a hairstylist who turns to robbing banks after the 2008 recession. But after the main credits roll, the usual voice dubbing credits show a text card that reveals it was done not by human voice actors, but by the company Deepdub AI. Artificial intelligence has taken root in the recording booth —…

Fresh from their months-long strike, Hollywood's A-listers gathered Saturday as the prestigious Screen Actors Guild Awards got under way, where another big night for "Oppenheimer" would surely tie up the Oscars race. HT Image The 30th SAG Awards became the first prize-giving gala to stream globally on Netflix, lending a likely boost in viewers and prestige for an event already seen as an important Academy Award indicator. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. The mood was…

If you are battling a video game goblin who speaks with a Cockney accent, or asking a gruff Scottish blacksmith to forge a virtual sword, you might be hearing the voice of actor Andy Magee.Except it’s not quite Magee’s voice. It’s a synthetic voice clone generated by artificial intelligence.As video game worlds get more expansive, some game studios are experimenting with AI tools to give voice to a potentially unlimited number of characters and conversations. It also saves time and money on the “vocal scratch” recordings…

SAG-AFTRA issued a statement on Friday addressing the sexually explicit AI-generated images of Taylor Swift, which provoked intense backlash online earlier this week. Around the same time, the White House also released a statement on the issue. The actor’s union called the deepfake images “upsetting, harmful, and deeply concerning.” The images portrayed the singer in various sexualized positions while partially dressed in Kansas City Chiefs merch and surrounded by Chiefs fans (ostensibly a reference to…

SAG-AFTRA has issued a statement defending Alec Baldwin and criticizing the New Mexico prosecutors’ decision to re-charge the actor with involuntary manslaughter for the accidental shooting death on the set of Rust in October 2021. “To the extent that the charges filed on January 19 are based on an accusation of negligent use of a firearm predicated on this or any actor having a duty to inspect a firearm as part of its use, that is an incorrect assessment of the actual duties of an actor on set,” the actors’ union…

For Quinta Brunson, the end of the months-long SAG-AFTRA strike doesn’t mean a return to the familiar. Instead, it’s a chance for the Emmy Award-winning writer, producer, and actress to join her same set with a brand-new view on life, hard work, and stability.  The creator of ABC’s hit sitcom Abbott Elementary, Brunson has experienced a meteoric rise in Hollywood that many Tinseltown hopefuls could only dream of. After a number of viral video series including The Girl Who Has Never Been on a Nice Date landed her a…

The era of streaming services being reticent to share viewership information appears to be ending, as Netflix, one of the biggest in the biz, is now touting the arrival of its twice-yearly “What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report.” 'Even AI Rappers are Harassed by Police' | AI UnlockedThough the streamer has shared “top 10" and “most popular” lists since 2021, this is its biggest and most comprehensive move toward transparency in terms of what its audience is actually consuming; according to a blog post from Netflix,…

A fter four long months marching on Hollywood picket lines, bargaining inside hostile negotiating rooms, and giving Buddhist sermons, Fran Drescher can finally exhale.  Through the 118-day actors’ strike, The Nanny star turned SAG-AFTRA national president, joined by SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, has served as the face of the 160,000-strong union and says she uses the Nineties sitcom’s message around unity and acceptance in her leadership. “I can be exactly who I am,” she says in her…