Grand Theft Auto IV’s Niko Moans About Earnings [Michael ‘Niko’ Hollick Cites Lack of Respect for 'Tough' Deal]

Tweet

It seems that the real world actors behind the key characters in Rockstar’s blockbuster, Grand Theft Auto IV, are less than happy with their earnings, with Michael Hollick, the actor behind the voice and motion-capture of GTA’s main character, Niko, stating that ‘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’.

Michael Hollick worked on GTA IV for around 15 months in late 2006 for which he was paid a purported $100,000, however, as he, and other real world actors involved with the making of GTA IV, were paid according to the standard Screen Actors Guild day rate they do not enjoy the royalties or residuals enjoyed by actors in other recorded performances such as films or music recordings.

‘Obviously I’m incredibly thankful to Rockstar for the opportunity to be in this game when I was just a nobody, an unknown quantity. 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,’ bemoans Michael ‘Niko’ Hollick. ‘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,’ he goes on to say. ‘Yes, the technology is important, but it’s the human performances within them that people really connect to, and I hope actors will get more respect for the work they do within those technologies.’

According to Hollick he asked about residuals during initial negotiations but was told ‘that was not a possibility’.

The general guild-negotiated rate for actors is around $730 a day but Hollick has confirmed that he was actually paid around double that rate and received around $1050 a day but cites that when you consider that GTA IV took over $600 million in sales in the first three weeks alone following its release the remuneration received should be seen in context as, had he have stared in a motion picture he would be enjoying considerable returns in the form of royalties and residuals.

GTA IV has undoubtedly proved to be Hollick’s big break as, before becoming involved with Rockstar, he had merely gained bit-parts in a number of soap operas and an appearance in ‘Law & Order’ prior to taking on the role of Niko which has seen him enjoy considerable notoriety.

Our take on it? We can, of course, see Hollick’s point – $100,000 in the scheme of things is but a drop in the ocean in terms of the vast sums GTA IV is pulling in – but, at the end of the day, how many of us genuinely feel that we receive adequate remuneration for our jobs? If you sign up for something and are fully versed with what you are putting your name to then, ultimately, you have little choice but to accept the consequences. Besides, we are somewhat aghast that Hollick appears to be surprised by GTA IV’s runaway success – surely he must have known that the title would be a considerable money spinner when he put his name to the role based on the title’s previous success?

NYT [via]