National Association of Voice Actors (NAVA)

This weekend at Comic-Con International in San Diego. Great to see such an engaged audience of voice actors, actors and gamers attend our National Association of Voice Actors (NAVA) panel on the threats and benefits of AI to creators. #artificialintelligence #technology #entertainment

Keep working during the strike by getting your existing union project signed to the Interim Agreement or converting your NU game to Union with AI protections! We will help you navigate the process. Let’s stand together! Email: contracts@navavoices.org #NAVAvoices #SAGAFTRA #gameperformancematters

SAG-AFTRA has just announced a strike against all video game companies signed to the Interactive Media Agreement. The decision to strike comes after more than a year of negotiations, and centers around AI protections for performers. NAVA is declaring our definitive and unwavering support of SAG-AFTRA and the Interactive Agreement Strike. It is more important than ever to fight for AI protections, and we hope you will stand with voice actors in calling for fair consent, control, and compensation when it comes to AI content, synthetic voice creation, and voice cloning. ⁠ ⁠ #NAVAvoices #fAIrvoices

Consent. Control. Compensation. In the world of #generativeAI, that's all artists, including #voiceactors, are asking for. The article linked below illustrates the problem from a visual artist's perspective, but this easily applies to voice artists, too. First, let me say that I believe AI voices or cloned voices aren't inherently evil. In fact, they can be a great tool. And, if the right agreements are put in place (and adhered to!) then AI voices can create new solutions and improve life for voice actors and voice consumers alike. For example, I recently participated in a project where a company is providing synthetic voice devices to people who cannot physically speak. Their device will allow these people to have ~real-time conversations with other humans while sounding more natural than ever before. This is a great use case for AI voice cloning. However, there have to be some limits in place. The National Association of Voice Actors (NAVA) a promoting these three points under their #fAIrVoices initiative: 🔵 CONSENT - My voice is a representation of me. My "likeness" if you will. Just like using a picture of someone without their consent isn't OK, using my voice, or a cloned version of it, without my consent isn't OK. 🔵 CONTROL - In the real world, if a job or an audition comes to me that promotes something with which I strongly disagree or is full of content with which I'm uncomfortable, I can just walk away. I can guarantee my voice won't be used to promote that content. If an AI voice is used without my consent, who knows what "I" may be promoting to the world. And if I wouldn't say it in real life, I sure don't want an AI clone of me to say it to the world. 🔵 COMPENSATION - At the end of the day, artists should be paid fairly for the use of their work. "Fairly" is intentionally vague, as fairness has to be agreed with the artist and the customer. In fact, "fair" can be zero, if both parties agree. But with unauthorized AI voice cloning, the compensation becomes zero WITHOUT the artist's agreement, and that's not OK. So again, I'm not anti-AI. I think AI voices can be a wonderful tool and the voiceover community should embrace the new technology. But it has to be used in a responsible, respectful manner, with the voice artists having consent, control and compensation. What are your thoughts?

Do you know what I'm noticing out here as I get to know more voice actors on LinkedIn? 🤔 A WHOLE lot of people who don't know where to go for answers. 😩 And I don't blame them. I didn't either when I was getting started. 🤷🏻♀️ 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞: ✱ How do I get an agent? ✱ How do I get more auditions? ✱ What am I doing wrong? Do I need a new demo? ✱ Why am I still getting auditions at 3am on Voice123? 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬:  ✱ It depends ✱ It depends ✱ It depends ✱ Because Voice123 rolls out auditions on a rolling basis depending on where you are in the algorithm, so NO MATTER WHAT LEVEL YOU ARE AT, you will ALWAYS get some auditions in the middle of the night so please please PLEASEfortheloveofgodstopcomplainingaboutthisit'snotaproblemtobesolved 𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵. 😏 Honestly, I think too many of us #voiceactors are too isolated. Because if you participate in conversations online, attend #voiceover workouts or meetups, or go to a conference or three, you start to know who others trust about these things. And you also start to get a sense of who YOU trust. Which aren't always the same. 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲.  𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭. 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤:  ✱ Should I sign this contract? ✱ Can I trust this demo producer? ✱ Am I ready to pursue a top agent, or should I wait? ✱ Why am I getting such crap auditions on the P2P sites? -Everyone says I need to sound more conversational-but how do I do that? 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈'𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐲: ✱ Probably not without National Association of Voice Actors (NAVA)'s AI Rider ✱ Ask around, check NAVA's "Best Practices for Demo Producers" guide, and ask around some more before you commit to spending a lot of money ✱ Ooof. Opinions will vary. When in doubt, get a consult from someone who's been in the industry a long time like Tom Dheere, 🔸Kay Bess🔸, Brad Hyland, Emma O'Neill...there are so many people who offer business consulting in this industry, and they'll all have had different experiences, so you might want to ask more than one for an honest assessment. ✱ It depends on which site. You either need to learn how to work with the algorithm, pay for a higher tier, or maybe you just need to become more skilled before you will be competitive. Get a talent assessment from a respected coach, and if you're trying to work the algorithm on Voice123, go to the V123 Pros, Natasha Marchewka and Katherine Tole. ✱ It's hard work to sound conversational! My recommendation is Hugh Klitzke (ConversationalVO dot com) I hope I answered a few of your burning questions here, or at least pointed you in the right direction to get a more in-depth analysis to get the answer that is right for you. Any questions? 😎

#SDCC here we come! Catch NAVA President Tim Friedlander, VP Carin Gilfry, Director of Operations Matthew Parham, and Board Members Linsay Rousseau and Scott Mortman along with the incredibly talented JP Karliak at San Diego Comic Con discussing AI and the threat to performers, writers and artists! ⁠ ⁠ This will be a highly informative and entertaining panel; if you're at SDCC this weekend come support!⁠ ⁠ #NAVAVoices #fAIrVoices

Are you on YouTube? Are you a voice talent, who loves everything voice over? Then join us for our NEW LIVE VO Tubees from VO Radio. Introducing our new Let's Talk VO sister show, LIVE via a Zoom Video simulcast on our YouTube channel. https://lnkd.in/d8m39aih Every Friday our gust panelists, will discuss a topic important to your voice over career. We'll also feature the National Association of Voice Actors (NAVA) News Minute, with Tim Friedlander, and the Voice Over News Minute from Christi Bowen of TNVO. Plus training giveaways and more. Click below for more details, and mark your training calendar to join us LIVE on video starting July 26th at 11am est. VO Tubees new on VO Radio https://lnkd.in/d8m39aih

Happy Tuesday Everyone! Here is the Part 2 of my series with Tracy Lindley! In this clip, Tracy talks about AI and all the amazing hard work NAVA is doing. It was such a great series, thank you so much for being on the show. Tune in next week for the multi-talented #EddyDeLosReyes! Links are below too. Thank you so much for listening and your support! Apple Podcasts: https://buff.ly/3GUSGkh Spotify: https://buff.ly/3MjtXHe iHeart Radio: https://buff.ly/4avvZRj Amazon Music: https://buff.ly/3vCi3Fo https://buff.ly/3Dy3gg4

Happy Heavenly Birthday to our dear friend Brad Venable. There aren't enough words to describe the impact his spirit, kindness and generosity had in shaping the mission of NAVA. We love you and miss you daily.⁠ ⁠ #NAVAvoices #BeBrad

We are thrilled to announce the date and location of our second annual NAVA Foundation Benefit Gala! We hope you will join us on Wednesday, December 4, 2024 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, CA for a beautiful night of dinner, drinks, dancing, and supporting the voiceover industry.⁠ ⁠ Tickets will go on sale to the general public August 1, 2024 at 9am PT! ⁠ ⁠ Last year tickets to the NAVA Gala sold out in 72 hours, so set your alarms! You won't want to miss this unforgettable event!⁠ ⁠ #navagala #navavoices