There are a lot of ways that ACTRA performers can be contracted for the use of their voice. It can be confusing, especially if you are working with a producer who isn’t familiar with all the options available to them.
Loop Group: While this is not a defined term in the IPA, a loop group is best described as a group of performers who add off-camera ambiance to a production.
Loop group performers are contracted under B103 of the IPA on a per production or per-episode basis. Work is generally contracted under the Actor category, and the elected Use Fee for the production is payable on the performer’s Net Fees.
If a performer in a loop group is given character-specific dialogue of six lines or more, they should be contracted under the B103 Principal category.
B103: B103 is also used when a performer is performing an off-camera role that is not a narration. If you are not reading a script in your own voice (narration), but are performing an off-camera character, you should be contracted under this section. Five or fewer lines is Actor category, six or more lines is Principal category.
The definition of an Off-Camera Performer in the IPA “means a Performer (other than an off-camera Narrator or Commentator or Animation Performer) engaged to execute or interpret a Role in a Production.”
B104: This is the section used for narration. If you are the narrator in a documentary or a commentator reading dialogue in your own voice and not that of a character, you should be paid as outlined in this section. Rates are based on the number of 10-minute segments that a performer appears in.
The definition of a Narrator or Commentator in the IPA “means a Performer other than an Animation Performer engaged to perform narrative material or commentary on or off camera.”
Voicing an Animated Character: If you are voicing an animated character, you should be contracted as outlined in Part D of the IPA, the Animation Performers section. The definition of an Animation Performer in the IPA “means a Performer engaged to voice a Role or Roles in an animated Production or Productions.”
