Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/216003
The last few years have been a dramatic time in the world of audiobooks. Audiobook narration done under a union contract has seen explosive growth — and that means a lot more opportunities for members. Before the union negotiated a contract with Audible.com in late 2008, the union estimates its audiobooks earnings at $1.5 million per year, almost entirely from producers and publishers in New York, using New York talent. Last year, earnings reached nearly $11 million — a more than 700 percent increase. That represents training, the gear, and agents in other markets, now performers everywhere can go for the plum gigs." No matter what kind of voiceover work a performer does, a person's physical appearance and how it relates to their perceived ethnicity, race, nationality, age, gender or disability are all irrelevant to the performance. But, as with so many other areas of the entertainment industry, achieving greater levels of diversity has been a slow process. Brooks is one of the few AfricanAmerican women making a living primarily in voiceover work. She has found herself in the strange situation of being told she doesn't "sound AfricanAmerican enough" for certain roles. Not conforming to someone else's preconceived notions and sometimes stereotypical assumptions about race, age or nationality can be a particularly stinging way to lose a role. Still, Brooks is hopeful that, as the Internet and new technology have put increasingly powerful tools into more hands, there will be more chances for people of all backgrounds to perform. "I think there is going to be more 54 SAG-AFTRA 50-57_voiceover_F.indd 54 opportunity, because there is just more and more being created. It will be a slow evolution," she said. If that's going to happen, it will be because people like Brooks are paving the way. Another voiceover pioneer is Diane Pershing, best-known for voicing Batman's nemesis Poison Ivy. When she wasn't terrorizing Gotham City, Pershing was breaking new ground for female voice actors. "When I was coming up in the early '70s, women were not doing any network promos — only men. I was one of the first women to break that barrier. I did promos for years for CBS and ABC," Pershing said. Also, in an industry obsessed with the 18-49-year-old demographic, even voice actors have to struggle to find work as they age. "My voice has changed enough that I'm now lumped with older actors, and there's much less work for us. There just isn't that much work for the serious older woman narrator," she said. Although she doesn't work as much as she would like, after a long career, she is ready to hand the torch to a younger gets, through the union the narrators have created a community that meets regularly, stays in constant communication, and works together to ensure that we continue to organize more work." ANN RICHARDSON Audiobook Work on the Rise an enormous growth in work for SAG-AFTRA members, especially since few audiobook narrators are paid more than scale. Organizing efforts have been successful. Notably, this year the Ashland, Ore.-based BeeAudio reached an agreement with the union to pay its audiobook narrators industry-standard rates. "In just a few years, we have gone from an industry that was almost totally nonunion outside of New York, to an industry that is heavily unionized nationwide," said Steve Sidawi, SAG-AFTRA's organizing director, Western Region. "This would not have been possible without the tremendous involvement of SAG-AFTRA members who work as audiobook narrators. While the work itself can be as solitary as it SAG-AFTRA narrator and former Audiobooks Steering Committee member Simon Vance, left, and member Johnny Heller at the Audio Publishers' Association Conference, held at the Javits Convention Center in New York on May 29. generation, and she is thankful that her future is secure, thanks to the union. Pershing said she descends from a long line of union workers; her grandmother was a member of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, an organization that played a key role in the union movement in the early part of the 20th century. The father of Pershing's children died when they were 6 and 8 years old, and the benefits she received as a member of SAG and AFTRA helped her survive. "I raised my children alone. I supported my family with health care and all that stuff. I am not one of the milliondollar earners. I am one of the steady, journeyman, actor voice people," Pershing said. Also because of the union, Pershing said her AFTRA and SAG pensions ensure she can live out the rest of her life with her basic needs met. "Now my mother is 95 and I'm taking care of her and her money is going to run out in about six months. And I don't know what's going to happen. I have said to my children, you will never have to go through this with me," she said. | Fall 2013 | SAGAFTRA.org 11/14/13 3:11 PM