Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator, and Sarah Elmaleh, Voice Actor, Director and Chair of Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Committee to Appear on GDC Panels and Will Be Available to Discuss A.I. and Innovation for Indie and AAA Gaming Performers
LOS ANGELES (Mar. 4, 2024) – Amid ongoing negotiations with video game companies, leaders from SAG-AFTRA will be in attendance at GDC for official programming and one-on-one media interviews about the status of the negotiations, the impact of A.I., and new interactive contracts for game developers of all budgets.
Leading AAA and indie game performer Sarah Elmaleh, best known as an actor and voiceover director who also serves as chair of the SAG-AFTRA Interactive Media (IMA) Negotiating Committee, will join the union’s National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.
Elmaleh is known for her roles in such AAA games as Helldivers 2, Hi-Fi Rush, Halo Infinite, Gears 5 and indies like Afterparty, Pyre and Gone Home. Her directing credits span production scope from Goodbye Volcano High and 2024 IGF Independent Games Festival Nominees The Wreck to Fortnite and Call of Duty. She is a leading voice in organizing, advising, and educating in the games industry and academia, and is instrumental in the current negotiations between SAG-AFTRA interactive performers and video game companies. She will be speaking on Friday, March 22, at 10 a.m. on the official GDC panel, Voices of Authenticity: Best Practices for Casting and Representing Queerness and will be joined by fellow SAG-AFTRA Interactive Committee member Linsay Rousseau at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Room 3014 West Hall.
Crabtree–Ireland will join the GDC panel What Games Companies Need to Know About Deepfakes at 12:30–1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 20, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Room 2011, West Hall. Crabtree-Ireland leads SAG-AFTRA as the union’s National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator. He, along with SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, led the union to a successful contract negotiation during the industry’s longest-running TV/Theatrical/Streaming strike. Concluding in November, the strike ended with greater benefits for actors and set new standards for A.I. protections.
WHAT: SAG-AFTRA leadership available for conversations during GDC.
WHO: SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland & SAG-AFTRA Chair of Interactive Negotiating Committee and noted AAA and Indie game actor and director Sarah Elmaleh.
WHERE: Official GDC Conferences.
WHEN: Wednesday, March 20, 2024; 12:30–1:30 p.m. at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Room 2011, West Hall. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland joins the official GDC panel What Games Companies Need to Know About Deepfakes
Friday, March 22, 2024; 10—11 a.m. at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Room 3014 West Hall, Sarah Elmaleh and Lindsy Rousseau join the official conversation Voices of Authenticity: Best Practices for Casting and Representing Queerness
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