EuroGamer: "Jennifer Hale speaks about her two decades voice-acting, fame and garnering respect in games."
In a recent episode of the podcast "My Perfectly Imperfect Voice Actor," Jennifer Hale opened up about her experience as a voice actress in the video game industry.
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Check the contract before signing anything. Research the company and its revenue/profit when it comes to games. Learn about the developer/producer that was/is known to make hit games that sell and how much voice actors were paid for their services. If you want more, ask.
I'd bet the Mario voice actor made bank during his time as the character, probably read the contract with his lawyer and made money on appearances.
It is rather low for what the game made. But she accepted the offer. Nothing else to be said.
Those were different times. And like the article says, they didn't know Metal Gear Solid would become a huge success.
Even so, the voice acting in MGS1 is one of the best out there.
But that was a time when dev costs and pay were low, especially with the game industry.
What was the average for salaries and wages back then?
Kinda odd that you accept the offer and complain later that the pay was low. That's on you.
I can only think that if games take 5 years or more to develop or ten in some cases the money you signed up for is simply not worth at much by the end of the project.
VGChartz's Lee Mehr: "As the budgets get bigger and the scripts get taller, there’s greater demand to find the marquee talent for a story-driven title. When we split the lead & supporting performance categories for the 2021 awards, this was eminently clear with Halo: Infinite’s dual leads reaching the finale. While an indie title was able to make it onto last year’s list, 2022 is all about the heavy hitters. Everyone who made the shortlist starred in many of the most commercially and critically successful AAA games of the year."
Jennifer Hale, who is voicing Bayonetta in Bayonetta 3 after original voice actor Hellena Taylor couldn't come to terms with Platinum Games, has released a statement about the situation.
What I don't understand is, and think about it, Hellena Taylor was getting a lousy 4k for doing the entire game and when thy refused they decided to hire the most well known, top tier voice actresses to replace her. Jennifer Hale couldn't have been cheap and I highly doubt someone who gets work easier would take the same job for the same amount of money. So if they DID pay her more hypothetically then why not just pay Hellena more.
Hellena hasn't worked since 2014 and it seems, to me at least, that they wanted to upgrade voice actors and so lowballed her like crazy rather than just being honest with her on wanting to recast her.
2014...how long do these NDA's last?Did she have to sign one before they made her the 4k offer?
Also scummy that if you don't accept the offer they can say whatever they want and you either go with their lie or suffer the consequences of breaking the NDA.
Reading between the lines I believe leading voice actress Jennifer Hale received a better offer than $4000.
hmm... the plot thickens. It seems the og voice actor was offered upwards of $4k per session with at least 5 sessions scheduled. The way she told it, it was a $4k for all.
https://twitter.com/jasonsc...
@darthv72 So who to believe? Both accounts sort of seem credible.
Where did you read that she hasn't worked since 2014? Just because an imdb profile shows an actor/actress' page being inactive in x amount of years, doesn't mean they haven't been working in the industry. IMDB isn't 100%.
Its well known that many VAs do work for commercials in addition to local theater to get by.
I agree. But I'm also not thrilled about the way Hellena Taylor acted in regards to Jennifer Hale taking her place.
She outright said Jennifer Hale has no right to call herself Bayonetta. That's extremely disrespectful to Jennifer. It's not her fault they offered Hellena a small amount. It's also not her fault that Hellena turned it down. It's also also not her fault that she got a better offer.
There was no reason for Hellena to say that.
it makes her sound regretful for not taking the gig. And asking people to boycott the game isnt right. when kratos voice actor was changed, people were all over the place trying to make sense of why sony would do that to TC Carson who voiced kratos for all the original series. Maybe it was contractual and TC didnt want the gig anymore but nobody called for a boycott of GoW when it was revealed Chris judge was doing the 2018 (and 2022) games. At least i dont remember there being calls to boycott.
Taylor comes off as really petty when she could have just kept to herself. Esp with new info coming to light about the price per session. So she was going to make more than she eluded to.
I would have thought it would have been better to say nothing and let the whole thing get forgotten instead of stoking the coals.
Right. She really stated that her and ole girl are cool but this is business.
I got 1 and 2. I definitely not getting third one. Platinum games needs to start treating voice actor/actress with respect. Helena deserve at least 20k-200k cause I know for fact bayonetta sells
Quick google search Bayonetta franchise is worth $450m, for someone who is the voice and therefore personality of the character, $4k is pretty lousy
@HyperMoused
$450 mill that goes to the company to produce more games and keep the company running.
Can I ask you something? And please don't get offended, I'm not picking a fight, just looking for a friendly discussion.
What is Bayonetta 3's project budget? Also, what do you think on average an experienced voice actor (not a rookie) makes on a project? How many days and how many hours do you think they work?
I know you're a smart lad and can google it.
Remember, this is just a friendly discussion.
@HyperMoused
no way in hell it's worth $450m it's niche IP that barely sold 2 million with heavy discount, even with full price 60$ that only 120 million not included retail share and logistic. and i don't believe nintendo paid more than 200 million license money to sega just to add bayoneta to Smash bros.
Hahaha... 200K for a couple of days work when you are a relatively unknown voice actor. Riiight!
I agree that 200k is too much...but relatively unknown in what sense?
She has been the only voice for Bayonetta and this wouldn't be a controversy if she wasn't praised for the performance.
@VersusDMC
I'm gonna' be buck fitty on you with this, I had no idea who the voice actor was for Bayonetta until all this exploded.
I did a quick IMDB search and uh, well 75% of her work is only Bayonetta. I mean, she's no Nolan North or Troy Baker and she doesn't have much projects under her belt.
@crimson
Who cares if you didn't know who she was? Bayonetta fans know and they are the ones making this a bigger contoversy because they loved her performance.
Most people don't know who voices Isaac in Dead Space. But fans of Dead Space are happy that he is coming back for the remake.
Why not spend an extra 25-50k to get the original actor and not subject the fans to a new voice that some might find good enough but some might find is just not the same.
@VersusDMC
Yea, I get the sentiment, I really do and in a world where you can throw cash out despite a project budget it’d be a wonderful world.
My point on not knowing the voice actor was to demonstrate that she doesn’t hold the clout that other well known voice actors do.
On average experience voice actors make $200 - $350/ hour or they get paid less per word. Again, that’s high end experienced game voice actors.
Do you know how long it took Hellena Taylor to do the recordings for the original Bayonetta? She actually tells it in an interview you can YouTube, she says it took her 4 days at 4 hours per day.
That’s it.
Now, doing quick math at $350/hour she would have gotten $5,600. If you go the low-end at $200/hour she would have made $3,200. Why do I know this? Well, I did extensive research having a debate in another forum post.
In a 2022 interview with a prominent game voice actor he says typically a session can go from 1 - 5 hours. Another said most VA’s make between $4000 - $6000 a month.
Now, call me crazy, but is $4000 a bad deal? Seeing how it’s actually the average for voice actors and is a set amount (maybe the minimum, but that’s debatable) for the actual voice actor union Taylor is a part of.
I don’t know how you can justify 25-50k for a single voice actor with a limited budget that we have no clue about that goes to not only development/production, but also marketing for a niche AA game that as of last year only sold 1.04 million units globally (we’ll round it to 2 mill just for arguments sake). It’s not a huge seller, but it does have a very strong fan base.
How come all the other voice actors didn’t turn down the offer or go on Twitter to complain and boycott the game? She even said it was the minimum (though from my research it’s not the minimum) and nobody did anything illegal. You may have a personal investment in her voice, but you don’t know how development cost is allocated. You put aside specific budgets for specific departments before even production starts.
I can send you all the links to back up my claims. I’m just being lazy right now.
Just to keep the discussion rolling how much does somebody like Troy Baker make an hour or per word and how long is a recording session for them?
You are just throwing random numbers around. Average rates.
I want rates for the voice of main character of a franchise(the one on every cover)that has voiced the character since the first game and every game and other media ( since 2009 Bayo 1, 2, Smash WiiU and the Anime in helenas case)
Let me know the rates of the main character voice actor of a highly anticipated first party 3rd entry to a popular franchise. That's the only rate that matters.
VersusDMC: "Why not spend an extra 25-50k to get the original actor and not subject the fans to a new voice that some might find good enough but some might find is just not the same. "
When you start throwing around $25000-$50000 like that on a project with thin margins, you'll quickly turn a decently profitable game into a flop. And no, $25000-$50000 alone won't make that difference, but you have to consider the ripple effect this could have. What do you think other Bayonetta 3 voice actors will say when they find out that she's getting paid 10x more than what they get? And why only pay the voice actors more? The music is important right? Let's give the composer a raise. What about the writers? Artists? Programmers? You get the point.
You call this a highly anticipated sequel in a popular franchise, but in reality Bayonetta 2 was almost certainly barely profitable enough to even convince Nintendo to fund a sequel. I wouldn't be surprised if they stay close to the minimum accepted pay for most people involved in the project. She didn't think the offer was fair and declined, so they've found someone else to do the job. That's all there is to it. Calling for a boycott seems very selfish to me.
You don't need to not play it. Last time i didn't want to support a game(ninja theory DmC) i just rented it.
I like to be informed by playing the game . So you still can not support them by renting it, buying it used or getting the "unofficial" PC version that will run and look better.
$200k for what is estimated to be 16-20 hours of work over 4 DAYS? Get some perspective. You're not hiring Tom Cruise.
@Freeball You need to get some perspective movie voice actors get paid way more and games make more money than most movies.
Most voice actors I'm friends with are lucky to make $2,000 a month. These people need their heads examined if they think VA's are making A-list celebrity money.
Who are you to say what an unknown voice actor should earn? "I know for fact bayonetta sells", LOL!!!!! Yes, so if earns money, that money should go directly to voice actor? Give me a break. Platinum games should have just straight up told her they don't want to use her services anymore. That lowball offer was just disrespectful.
I'm friends with many voice talent and they make alot less than I do and I'm just a nursing assistant at a hospital. They'll be lucky to make $300 to $500 for dubbing 12 episodes of an anime series, lol
You think she should get 20k-200k for doing a few lines here and there?! 🤣🤣 Yeah ooookay bro... Maybe for a more story driven game with a bigger script, sure! But not for a game like bayo!?
