Op-Ed: With #Bendergate John DiMaggio Wants A #NewDeal4Animation

Here’s the thing. There might be a slight misunderstanding out there that I am anti-union and really, it isn’t true. I AM of the mind that unions are an old way of negotiating for better pay and such given the fact that we have the internet and if you are working for an animation studio for $17 an hour and living in Los Angeles and wanting to warn people against working at a particular studio because of low pay, you should absolutely do that. Everyone has the ability and right to only work for what they truly believe they are worth, and you really don’t need agents, managers, or unions to tell you your worth. If you are in high demand, then make a studio pay for that demand. In a world where animation is surely going more virtual which allows voice actors, writers, animation producers, etc., be located anywhere in the world and still do their jobs, the idea that you need to live in an LA, NYC, etc., to do your job effectively is old hat. If you want royalties? Demand them. If you want higher wages, ask for them. Don’t put it on a union. Late last year, we saw what happens when you put everything into the hands of a union during the IATSE negotiations, only for the end result being only slight improvements on working conditions than what there was before. Also, streaming networks and broadcast/cable networks are NOT the same thing. A broadcast/cable network is television that is digitally delivered for sole purposes of viewing. A streaming network, is software. Content is the feature. What kind of content is the differentiator between the different streaming services.

Case in point, Alex Borstein, who typically resides in London where she films The Marvelous Ms. Maisel, is still able to do Family Guy whenever she needs to, and from the sounds of it, she still loves that job and has no plans of leaving anytime soon. Mila Kunis regularly opines the same feelings. And while I think he does truly love playing the role of “Bender”, given voice actor John DiMaggio’s recent wave of outspoken displeasure about his offer to reprise his infamous Futurama role, it sounds as though John loves one thing more than his job…getting paid for it. Late last week when news broke that Hulu was reprising Futurama after years of fan-begging, we learned that Billy West, Katey Sagal, and others have already inked for their return to voice their respective roles, unfortunately, John is the lone hold-out asking for not just more money for himself, but more money for his co-stars.  Personally, I have more respect for John making his money demands public, even if it does mean the show may not even happen now, and if it does, it would be minus DiMaggio. Fortunately, negotiations are still-ongoing which leaves open the possibility that DiMaggio reprises the role.

For my money, Billy West is the most important, the guy does more voices on that show than anyone, so if anyone is gonna make top dollar, it’s him. Memes featuring Fry, Zoidberg, Farnsworth, and Zapp have more than kept the Futurama franchise viable for decades now and I think that has more to do with Billy West’s talent than anything else. Furthermore, I am surprised that John is putting more awareness on a character whose full name is Bender Bending Rodriguez. Note, the Rodriguez last name, a surname often associated with Hispanic heritage, I’m surprised Disney is even allowing negotiations with DiMaggio to continue given that the New Jersey native has no Hispanic heritage to my knowledge and nowadays there is such a microscope being put on BIPOC characters being voiced by BIPOC actors. Personally I think that notion is bullshit and that anybody should be allowed to voice anyone in animation, but with Matt Groening’s other series The Simpsons going through the painstaking effort of recasting every BIPOC character with BIPOC voices, why Groening would want to potentially go through the same mess with Bender is beyond me. Is it because Bender is a robot? Sure, that could be seen as a pass, but if you start hearing from social justice warriors about the “social implications” of having a robot with a Hispanic last name voiced by a white guy from NJ, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

In terms of the actual negotiations, again, I give a lot of respect for John DiMaggio to hold his ground and say, “hey we deserve more”. #Bendergate, as opposed to the #NewDeal4Animation campaign has a lot more credo given that at least John is making sure to collect HIS bag on HIS terms. It’s working. Other voice actors have even noted that they have no plans to audition and attempt to take DiMaggio’s role while negotiations are ongoing, this despite the fact that someone else was at the Monday table reads playing the key role. If I’m Disney, I’m throwing the voice actors a merch back-end fee similar to what Groening did for The Simpsons. If DiMaggio really thinks that Futurama is as big a deal internationally that he says it is, let’s see if Futurama can swing a deal like The Simpsons did with Levi’s Jeans that’s only available in…AUSTRALIA. Does Futurama have THAT kind of international appeal? If you think so John, make the voice deal, and then ask for an EP cred with a merch back-end, and put your money where your shiny metal ass is!