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As noted here on July 21st, the voice actors from the Fox TV show Futurama were in a bit of a battle with the studio about their contracts. So much so that 20th Century Fox TV put out an open casting call through voice over agents and voicebank to recast the roles in a ploy to reign in the actors.
Over two weeks past since the initial audition requests so I don’t think it made an impact in negotiations (especially after Futurama fans got wind of it and fans of animation hold dear their voice actors).
It was announced that as of July 31, 2009 (yesterday), all the Futurama voice actors re-signed (not resigned – that would be bad). Terms were not disclosed.
I can’t help but imagine that first day back will be a bit tense even though I have no way of knowing. Professionalism will prevail, I’m sure.
I would like to commend my fellow voice over professionals who like me ignored the audition requests from the studio. It’s nice to see voice actors will not stomp on the backs of those actors not really un-hired to advance their own careers, seeing instead how they themselves would want to be treated if they were the ones in negotiations with a studio.
Further, I would like to commend those voice agents who did NOT further the 20th Century Fox TV cause by issuing the studio’s call for auditions to their rosters. One of my agents did forward the Fox audition to his roster only to pull it back with apologies after learning the story behind the auditions. Hey, if you realize you’ve made a mistake, fix it and apologize, as this agent did, I’ll respect you even more….so will the industry.
For what its worth, thanks!
Tags: animation, commentary, tv by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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