Michael Hollick, the voice actor who portrayed Niko Bellic in Grand Theft Auto IV, has spoken out about unfair pay for actors working in the games industry.

He doesn't blame the games industry though, he blames his union for not protecting the talent.

Hollick was paid roughly $100,000 over 15 months for his voice acting and motion-capture work on GTA IV. However, unlike any work for television programmes, films, radio shows or albums, he will not receive royalties or residuals from the game's success.

"The first GTA IV trailer generated something like 40 million hits online, and that's my voice all over it, and I get nothing", Hollick said. "If that were a radio spot, I would have. Same thing for the TV ads."

Contracts between the actors' union and the entertainment industry make little or no provision for electronic media like video games and the Internet.

"Obviously I'm incredibly thankful to Rockstar for the opportunity to be in this game when I was just a nobody, an unknown quantity", said Hollick.

"But it's tough, when you see Grand Theft Auto IV out there as the biggest thing going right now, when they're making hundreds of millions of dollars, and we don't see any of it."

"I don't blame Rockstar. I blame our union for not having the agreements in place to protect the creative people who drive the sales of these games."

It is expected that negotiations between Hollywood and the actors' guild this summer will focus strongly on the discrepancy between payment for traditional entertainment media and electronic media.

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>> Via - GI.biz