The Importance of Positivity and Clarity (A Cautionary Tale)

Hey Everyone,

This is going to be disjointed and may not make sense but bear with me. As a VO artist, you are going to get lots of auditions, you're going to work with clients directly and middle men. You really need to know who you're working with.

Clients are the one's that are buying the projects. They are the end all be all of how you get paid and whether you get another job. However, they can be pains. You have to specify how many rounds of pickups are there. Some clients tell you how many pickup rounds they need and it's up to you whether to say yes or no.

EX: I had a project where there were 52 slides and they said they needed to have the opportunity to do 2 rounds of revisions on EACH slide. If I do every slide twice in a row, then that is NOT a revision. It's just an extra take. You could do every slide twice over again and they would be within their rights to ask for that.

The middleman. Middlemen may be companies, directories, websites, or production companies. They need your talent. They will send you auditions, they will send you jobs. You need to clarify how much you'll get. You need to clarify, how many auditions you are willing to do. You need to make clear how many revisions you are willing to do.

I worked with a company that was a middleman. They hire a new casting agent. He's a little new, he words emails oddly, calls me on my phone at night asking for an audition for something within 3 hours. Not rudely but seemingly hurried. He also sends weird emails that say things like "test audition".

He sends me an email stating that he has a job for me $400, $250 for the first and $150 for the second. He says test audition but it seems like it's a job. I reply back with my auditions for it. I state audition in the email and ask, did I get the job. The next email says, You got it.

Now for the confusion, Along with this email was another email for another job. Apparently, I got that job. He is thinking I'm responding to that job, but I'm responding to THIS job. I do the job, thinking $400. He says $250. I wasn't specific in the emails, he wasn't specific in his.

My email thread goes. $400, audition?, no you got it, Files uploaded, you've got $250.  I get pissed. I think he messed up. He says, "I thought you had the job", admitting guilt in my eyes. I am HATING THIS.

Months go by, I haven't been paid. Guess what?  Gotta send an email. Wounds opened. I send an email requesting the money, he says invoice me and send all the emails. I'm already pissed, I should only have to send an invoice. I send the emails with the addition of, "Oh and you should know in the email you quote me for $400 and end up paying $250." He sends an email back of my confusion. I get pissed off. He calls me, we yell for a little bit.

I see the confusion. There were three jobs. Two emails. The thread system has failed. If you are on a thread for the wrong audition, you are doomed to confusion. I see my problem, he sees his. He apologizes so do I. He explains that it was his first month at the company and he's figured out the templates and how to do things. He explains that this client was horrendous and just horrible to work with. I made a mistake. I know that. But, it's so easy to do.

This can and does and WILL happen. You have to be open to making mistakes, you also have to be unafraid to ask questions, REALLY CLARIFY what is what.

Where does the positivity come in?

This VO work can be draining. You work relatively cheap, you don't ask for much, and you do good work. It's imperative to remind yourself how far you've come.  Stay positive. Work will come. If it does and you think you're getting screwed, calm down, breathe and COMMUNICATE. Negativity takes you out of communication. I could argue with this guy for hours based on principal. If I just stared at that thread it made sense, A-B-C-D = I get screwed. But, once I just took a breath and looked at it. There was the explanation.

Now, I have acknowledged my fault. Do I beat myself up? Do I sulk and call myself stupid? No, I move on and realize that this shit happens. This is a load off my mind. I'm happier now.

Live and Learn.

Pay to Play or Not to Pay to Play (Sometimes I hate fellow VO actors)

Recently, there was a question on a linkedin voice actors site in which someone asked whether they should use Voice123 again or put their money elsewhere.

I wrote my opinion which was the pros of p2p sites along with the caveat if he didn't do well with V123, then he shouldn't renew. Especially if it didn't pay for itself.

Later, one of the more opinionated vo actors on the site proceeded to say something along the lines of, "Anyone who claims to succeed on these sites are either very lucky or trying to get money out of you."

I'd like to post something here along the lines of what I posted over there.

Voiceover like Acting is one of those careers in which no one knows how to be successful but it seems like everyone has the answers. This doesn't happen in every other career, if it does it has the unfortunate label of being a "Get Rich Quick" scheme. The fact is, every one who tries to get money out of you and claims to know about the secrets of VO and CANNOT firsthand get you jobs, is just trying to make money off of you. Period.

Casting directors can get you jobs. Work with them. If you work with them for a month or so and they don't call you in for anything. Move on. Casting directors who don't call you in for an audition maybe 1 time a month, doesn't have confidence in you. Move on. If they do let you audition, they are saying that you are good enough and they want you to get a job so that they can make even more money off you, which is good, because at that point, you are making money.

That's the unfortunate part of this industry. It's full of people trying to get money off other people. Admittedly, Voices and Voice123 are making money off us but they give us opportunities for direct jobs. They don't guarantee that I can quit my job, they don't guarantee thousands of dollars, they just get you auditions.

Now, here's my major frustration with this.

Before I start, If you are a successful VO actor or SAG-AFTRA then this is not for you. You won't get enough auditions through P2P sites and I'm guessing the competition is going to be insane for those high paying jobs. This is for the new kids.

My frustration is that when you start doing VO, you take a few classes, you buy a microphone, you've got everything you need and you hit a point of "What do I do now?". A lot of people just keep spending money on more classes, seminars, webinars, or even worse demos. There are tons of horror stories about useless $2k demos.

P2P provides two things. First, a place to practice auditions and recording with the stake of real money at hand. Second, it provides a barometer to figure out if you're good or if you need to take more classes.

If you don't get any jobs in a P2P site, then you should not be marketing yourself or making a demo. You're not quite competitive yet. If you can pull 1 out of 30-50, then you're pretty good. If you can't pull anything and you're about 4 months in, take a class or do a one on one and say, "I want to get better at this specifically, I'm not getting jobs and I want them."  Perhaps, bring an audition to your one on one and have a casting director direct you into it. With one on ones with casting directors, they may linger on skills and stuff, but it's your money, come in with print outs of todays Voices.com or v123 auditions and record those.

There is literally, NO other places where you can do that. Sure, you can listen to commercials and redo them at your house. Sure you can take classes and get the Stamp of approval from a teacher. But, P2P sites show you how good you are by getting you jobs.

I am not the best VO artist in the world. I rarely get the big national vo auditions. I use that P2P money to keep me a float, keep me in the city, keep me going, so that when the big job comes around, I'm not scrimping and saving to get there.

I have never made a single dime off of a fellow VO actor. And I won't ever. The sucky thing is that I know I could and I don't have the heart to hold peoples dreams and aspirations and just send them off with nothing.

What I will offer is this. If you're looking at getting better at conversational voice over. Not character, not audiobooks, just plain speaking clearly not trailer. Feel free to email me at justindtorres@gmail.com. Email me an audition you were working on and I'll give you notes. No charge, but also I have to limit it to one message per person, I will be extensive and I will give my honest opinion.

I feel like I can be completely honest because I don't want anyone's money at all. I also cannot offer any introductions or opportunities for new jobs beyond recommending various P2P sites.

Money is hard to come by, don't give it to fellow VO actors. Don't give it to marketing schemes or pdfs. Give it to equipment, making your studio, Give it to 1 p2p site, not all of them. Then work your ass off, and use the money you earn to invest more into yourself.

As a response to this statement,

"Anyone who claims to succeed on these sites are either very lucky or trying to get money out of you."

I say this.

"Anyone who claims to know how to succeed in voice over is a liar and is trying to get money out of you." 

In conclusion, I don't have all the answers. I can't say P2Ps will get you money. But, it is the closest most direct way to get you auditions for jobs without getting an agent or a casting director on your side. There are also free sites to post up your demo and stuff and I'm sure those may work for people but you're not gonna get 40 auditions a week there. You'll be lucky if you get one. There are very few avenues to get you voice over work. Agents, Casting Directors, Your website, Friends of Friends,  P2P sites, and various websites that give you the ability to post your demo. The first three can end up costing you a heck of a lot of money. Friends is kind of due to luck. P2P sites provide it easily. At the very least, you know what you're getting for the amount your paying. You're a well of $300-400 a year to them. Some people, agents, casting directors, may see you as a bottomless well, if you get my drift.

Sorry if this sounded pissed off, I just don't like people getting taken advantage of. 

Voice 123 vs Voices.com (updated)

Here's the rundown on these two pay to play companies:

Voices.com

Cost: 300 a year

Job Type: Escrowed jobs. So clients pay them, then they take a cut and pay you through paypal.

Amount of Jobs: Lots

Extras: A legitimate review system based on work. Great customer service. Easy system.

Voice123.com

Cost: 400 a year

Job Type: Just auditions. You get notified and you can audition, whether you get the job or not, it's up to the client to contact you directly through v123.

Amount of Jobs: Lots

Extras: Not a great system, (there is no next audition button) and the customer service has no ability to help you if you get screwed over. Ugh

First off, Voices.com is head above tails better than v123. They manage the job itself. You don't have to send invoices. You work through them. The amount of auditions is consistent and the jobs have a minimum of 100 which is perfect. It creates a serious client. V123 sometimes posts ridiculously small pay jobs. I've had to turn down a few.

However, if you are successful in voices.com then you absolutely should invest into v123. Here's the main reason, they have upped the amount of jobs. I would say it is on par with the amount of jobs that voices brings me. This used to be much worse. I have auditioned for 900 percent more than the average user, and I can tell you, I am picky about auditions. And the quality has gotten a little better, I'm seeing less no budgets and more of at least 100. But, remember to read the LENGTH portion of the audition. You may get something that is a heck of a lot bigger than you expected.

Oh and a quick note, I SLATE. I purposefully slate every audition, and if anyone says don't slate, SLATE ANYWAY. They should be thanking you for not watermarking your stuff. You will run into clients that think that they are doing you a favor.  These are just bad clients. Here are a few key rules to live by.

1) Always slate auditions.

2) Ask them to specify a time deadline, if it's quick you can ask for more.

3) Never work until you have an email stating you are awarded a job OR a deposit awarded through voices.

4)  Inform clients of your pickup rounds rules. I usually do 2 rounds for smaller projects. 

Voice123 has some major caveats. You must be a business if you join them. This means you have to be prepared to negotiate your fees, get invoices out, contact late payers, and keep track of all jobs. Clients WILL forget to pay you if you don't remind them.  The other major caveat is you never know what happens to these jobs. At least with voices, you kind of see the awarding. With voice123, there is no clue. Also, they have to nerve to ask if you were awarded the job. 

Despite all those things I hate, they get me lots of auditions and a small percentage end up turning into jobs.  Similar percentage of voices. But, I repeat DONT get it unless you are successful at voices.

A great way to set up goals for this, if you are a newcomer. I'd say pay for voices.com. Make 600 with voices. Put three hundred away for your next year membership wtih voices. Now, make 400 for v123, Pop that in and do the same thing. Once you have secured the next year and got your money back from this year, start saving up. 

If you want to take a crack at making non union vo money, then this is the ticket. It takes efforts , time and practice. But, you can do it. Take care. 

How to Setup Your Own Makeshift Home Studio

Hey Everybody,

One of the main question agents ask me before anything else is, "Do you have a home studio?" One of the first questions VO teachers ask is, "Do you record at home?" One question I get over and over is, "You have a home studio, right?"

There are a million misconceptions about home studios. You'll see pictures like this.              

I contemplated this at one point. How much would it cost to build a booth in my grandmothers house? Then I realized, that was a ridiculous idea.  How about this? 

                                                      

That's amazing. I don't know what that this is above his head. I also live in a room in Brooklyn, so unless that thing folds into the wall like a murphy bed, I can't do that. 

I am almost 90 percent sure I live in a space that is smaller than where you live. Here's my amazing hyper awesome, expensive studio.

Yup! She ain't pretty. You'll notice there is a steamer in the closet along with a kermit-ish puppet and a bottle of water from the person who owns this apartment, which is actually a sublet. 

Before you set up your studio. Ask yourself.

Am I healthy enough to stay standing during all recording? Standing is preferable in my opinion, because if you are doing VO, you want to be able to move your hands, put a hand on your hip, point, move your body. That will make your voiceover so much better. 

If you have leg problems or feet problems, then absolutely set up a chair system. However, get a quiet chair (mandatory). Also, when you do the voice work, scoot to the edge of the chair and lean a bit forward, so you can still do arm movements and everything. 

Where do I put my studio?

Closets are great but make sure your not wall to wall with a fridge. That can be a sound issue. Look for constant sound issues. Don't worry about random sound issues. My room is next to a bathroom, so I have to stop recording or pause when I hear a flush. Classy. I also lived in my grandma's house where it was within 2 miles of the San Jose airport. So, literally, every 5 minutes. Plane. I recorded audiobooks in that crappy situation. 

Here are examples of constant sounds, a fridge, an elevator or stairway that the public uses. A window that goes out to the street, and a computer. You have to kind of find a healthy medium, far enough away from the window and the computer but you don't have to tear your entire place apart. 

You can place it in another room, but you are going to be running wire from the computer to the room, so be aware of that. 

Also, Be okay with trial and error, you'll be moving things around trying to figure out where is best. Don't worry if the first set up doesn't work. As long as you have studio parts, you can add and move things around over and over again. Just don't build something, unless you know how. 

Here's what you need.

1)  A microphone. Doesn't have to be expensive but it should be XLR cable, not USB. I've never liked anything USB direct. It's cutting out a few key middleman pieces.

2) Some sort of noise filter. That thing I got, was just like $100 but you can a microphone in a closet and just tack quilts to the wall or towels. It all works.

3) Some ipad-ish thing you can read from. I have an ipad mini because it is quiet. Don't use your laptop. It is too noisy. Also, notice that my computer isn't near the mike. It is actually behind me, so at least my body kind of blocks the noise .

3) A pop filter.

4) A microphone stand of some sort.

5) PreAmp. M-audio mobile pre works fine for me.

That is all. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a sound engineer. If you're working with non-union clients. 95% of them have sound engineers that will help your sound and 90% can't tell the difference. 

Become a better voice over actor, work on the craft itself. The setup may be a million dollar setup but a bad actor still won't get jobs with it. Quality shines through. Technique takes the job. Studio setup can't be horrible, but you can get by with a sufficient setup. 

Also, if you get an agent, or have clients with studios, they just need you to record auditions not the actual project. So, as long as it's decent and shows off your voice. You're good to go.

Take care everyone. Get those jobs!

How do I Market Myself? The 3 Month Challenge

Hey Everyone,

I've started a marketing challenge for myself. I'm hoping that it'll pay off in the end.

Some people have said, "You have to market directly to whoever wants your service, create niche, and fulfill people's needs".

Well, that is all amazing, but that leaves me more clueless than ever. I do LOTS of different voice overs and I don't feel like cold calling all the time or picking random companies and kind of manipulating my way to someone who can give me a job.

Plus, I have no idea where to start or what to do. So, I've decided to do what I've normally been doing just publicly put everything out there. Make an online presence.

Here's my Challenge: 3 Months (end of the year)

1) Create a contact list of all jobs I've completed and do the following.

• Contact each individual thanking them personally and asking if they'd like me to link their video to my site for publicity and give them my email for future jobs.
• Note each interactions date, so as to re-initiate contact every three months or so.
• GOAL: 25 contacts put into a database and contacts per week (more is better)

2) Create a facebook professional page

• Post my facebook page to all voices.com, v123 sites
• Post on a daily basis of found videos or jobs gotten. 

Like this video, I found today.

Kick Brands Reaches Soccer Fans with The Trade Desk from The Trade Desk on Vimeo.

3) Twitter and tweet.

• Tweet once a day about jobs gained or videos found

4) Really update that LinkedIn Account

• Coinciding with the contact list. Connect with every client and post every job I can to my profile.
• GOAL: 25 job postings and Contact connections attempted per week (more is better)

5) Update my Website Twice a Week

6) Blog 3 Times a week

***Blogging creates contacts and give you a social presence. I'm hoping this will work out****

I have these items posted on my wall right behind my computer. I hope that this will just get me into a system of marketing from the pool I have. 

This is an experiment at best. But, if any of these get me in contact with more people for work or reinitiate contact with older employers for jobs, then it'll be worth it. We shall see. 

How to do Tutorials in the Conversational Manner

Hey Everyone,

So, I'm on a bit of a marketing kick and so I ended up finding actual links to videos I've done and once I saw this series, I figured I would give a lesson on how to do these things.

Tutorials and websites usually have scripts with lingo that is very specific. Sometimes you have no idea what you are talking about.

Here's the link for the vid.


1) Know how they need the acronyms and hard words pronounced. That'll save you a pickup.

2) If it's terribly long and has lots of different files, go the one runthrough aspect. Don't double up unless they ask for it specifically or if you offered it. (just one runthrough is good). If it's a smaller tutorial, then by all means, do it 2-3 times, the client will love you.

3) How to say this stuff!

First off, I know what a PDF converter is but I have no idea what I was saying. That's kind of the cool thing about VO, you don't really have to know anything. If they want conversational, then you need to just explain.

Line: We're going to go through the steps of how to setup a database in the pdf convertor for sharepoint.

**Take that line and replace all the specific words with something that makes sense to you***

Line (to you): We're going to go through the steps of how to make a sandwich in the kitchen for friends.

** Take a note of where the inflections go and try and match the line on top of that with the other lines**

Sometimes they give clues about how you should feel.

Line: In other applications, copyrighting and accounting takes up too much cloud space, Sharepoint has unlimited bandwidth and can increase your productivity.

**The implication is that other applications are sucky, Sharepoint is good, that tells you where the lifts are but lets change the lines to something easier to understand.**

Line (To You): In other rooms, air conditioners and shelves take up too much living space, IKIA has tiny furniture and can make life easier.

**The way you say that line TO YOU, is the key on how to say the harder line.

4) Use physicalities to help. If your talking about something that is bad, try tilting your head. It'll give off the notion that, "Look, I know they kind of suck, but I'm a good guy". If you are presenting the product a lot, put your hands forward as if giving a gift. "It's Sharepoint", it can sound like, "It's a playstation!".

Hopefully this was somewhat helpful. As a beginner and throughout my professional career, I have done lots of tutorials. This is my meal ticket, hopefully it can be yours too.

READ! BEFORE IT COSTS YOU VOICES.COM JOB!

Hey All,

I usually only blog when something goes right or wrong and last night something went wrong! Cost me a job, wrong. The thing is, after looking at the situation, I made two key critical errors that I will now NEVER make the mistake of again!

Okay, so I got a job yesterday, agreement was at about 12pm EST on 9-3-2014.

The message said this:
This should be smooth, natural, and fun. I need to sound natural so if you feel yourself adding a word or not saying a word to make it flow better, that is fine. Mp3 format.

The job itself said this:

Need voice actors for *********. The target audience will be young adults. This will potentially be broadcast nationally though our online marketing campaign. 150 words is the total read for the three males we are looking to hire. Deadline is August 31, 2014.
Sep 3, 2014 @ 11:07

Reminder this is 9-3-2014. 3 days after that deadline. So, I figure I have 24 hours to get it done, because I specify in my audition that I can get things done between 24-48 hours of the agreement and usually within 24 hours. I agree to the job.

A few hours later, I get a message of this:

Hello, the agreement for this service was for today September 03, 2014. I'm not sure what happened here.
Sep 3, 2014 @ 21:44

This is a pickle. It kind of sounds like he's blaming himself. Maybe the files won't upload or something. Notice the time difference. It's about 10 hours later. I haven't gotten started, honestly, I figured I had a day.
I get home late, so I send this.

I'll have a few shots to you within an hour. I can get jobs done within 24-48 hours of the agreement. Not a problem.

Keep an eye out for the files,
Justin

Sep 3, 2014 @ 23:25

I check out the voices.com files folder. I see a file that says "Download Erik Revised Script" below that an hour earlier was "Script". As a vo actor, anything that says Revised or was uploaded later is the script you should use. I record em up. I record 4 takes and pop them up. Unfortunately, I get them in at around September 4th at 0:45am. FIRST MISTAKE and ultimately a SECOND MISTAKE. Can you figure out what I did wrong? 

Okay, next morning, I get a message from the client. 

Thanks for your work, but the deadline was not met and the wrong scripts were recorded. I will have to request a refund and to cancel the project. Your file will not be used. Thank you for your time.

I call voices. Here's what I did wrong.

1. There are DATES on the agreement that you agree to. Mine said September 3rd. Had I gotten the files to him under the September 3rd deadline (40 minutes Earlier), I would have been in the right.

2. The file that said Erik Revised was not for me. It was mistakenly put there by THE CLIENT. By doing that script as opposed to the script in the AGREEMENT page, I am in the wrong. 

Personally, I have agreements where the date on the agreement is TOTALLY not the deadline. I have two jobs that have deadlines that have passed that I'm working on and both me and the client know what the situation is. There is also agreements where it may say ten days from now, but the client wants it tomorrow. 

As for the revised script, I have ALWAYS done the newer script. Script changes happen all the time and why would someone upload a newer script they didn't want to get recorded. Also, why would someone upload someone else's script to me. 

Now comes to the TIPS to protect you from this crappy situation:

1) Look at the Agreement date. Take it as GOLD unless otherwise SPECIFIED IN MESSAGES!!! That is your due date until specified otherwise. You are going by VOICE.COM server time which is Central time. That is your due date. Midnight Central time. If I had done it before that time, I would be in the right.

***********in the event you have a one day deadline, ask for specific times they need it by, by doing it by midnight, you may be pissing off a client. But, if they don't specify a time it's technically their bad, you're well within your right to get it done by midnight****************

2) Revised Scripts are only revisions if you compare it to the Agreement script and they are the same script. Always compare the two. If they are different scripts, ask if you should record both and you may be within your right of asking for more payment. The most recent upload may not be a revised script. Look at the scripts carefully. 

I hate to say this, but this is a once in a lifetime dumb client I was dealing with here. To not even specify RUSH, to not even specify a TIME, and to top it all off upload a script to the WRONG talent. Also, I hate to say this, but I made some DUMB mistakes. To not look at the agreement and not compare the scripts. Also, to think that since the client didn't specify RUSH or a date in job posting or messages that it wasn't rush. 

In conclusion, take the time to take note of the agreements. Get it down in writing through email and messages. Clarity helps. I could have had this done in one hour within an hour of the agreement but I didn't do it. Next time..... there will be no next time. 

How to Become a Voice Over Artist: UPDATED

Hey Everyone!!!

Literally, this week about 5 people contacted me in some way asking the same kind of question. "How do I get into the whole VO thing?"

That's when I usually take a breath and kind of shrug my shoulder and say, "It's kind of a time and money sink, but if you put in the effort and the investment, you can do it!"

1) If you are looking to get an agent, you have to live in LA or NYC. That's the hard fact, that I've found.

1) Train with Casting Directors A LOT.
2) Do One on One training with a highly recommended casting director with the INTENT on having that person help you record your demo.
3) Record your demo with a highly reputable studio while being director by that casting director of your choice.
4) Take VO classes with specific VO agents.

This will take awhile and be extremely costly but you can probably do it in a year. But, you have to really put in the effort that your teacher wants. Homework, everything. It's an intensive type learning experience.

COSTS: Demo ($1k or more, Multiple 1 on 1 sessions $1k or more, Classes 3-4 $1k or more) Looking at about 3k and mind you, if you GET an agent, you may not book for a long time. When I got my agent, it was about 6 months til I actually booked something. I actually did book something within three months and got REPLACED during the session. Wanted to kill myself but it happened.  ALSO, be prepared to go UNION when you have to, that means around $3k when it happens.

NON-UNION ROUTE.

2) If you are looking to be a non-represented Freelance VO artist, and you are non-union then do these things.

a) Get a home studio. Computer, Microphone, Preamp, Soundproof a closet with quilts and blankets, mic stand, Kindle or Ipad, editing and recording software.
b)Get a subscription to Voices.com. If you do well there, use the money to get a Voice123 membership too.
c) AUDITION FOR EVERY AUDITION
d) Train with VO classes.

This will take awhile and a LOT of auditions. You may not see any jobs til about 3-4 months but if you work at it and AUDITION away, you will eventually get jobs. You will get better and producing and you will get better at auditioning. You can be a part of ACX (audiobooks) or Voicebunny (cheap jobs) to audition EVEN more! Within a few years, you should be able to make enough money to support yourself. But, you have to commit.

COSTS: Home studio setup can be about $1k maybe more, depending on what you need. The mic under 200, the computer and ipad will be the ones that will cost you. Voices.com is $300 a year and Voice123 is $350 or maybe $400 a year. A few VO classes with teachers or schools will teach you how to use your voices, may cost about 1k but it will help. The major cost here is your time. Auditions take time and learning how to record is going to be a process. It may be stressful but you'll get it.

In conclusion, voiceover is a skill like any other, the only difference is that you can make money at it relatively quickly but you are going to have competition. The difference will be how hard you work at it. Hope this helps you out!!

Quick Post Skype ISDN or Call In

Okay, I haven't been asked this question but I do have an opinion and this is gonna be quick.

ISDN, as far as I know, costs an arm and a leg. So, if you're non union, don't mess with it. Not worth your time AT ALL!

Here's the key note, if you don't have ISDN audition ANYWAY, and say in the audition note, I don't have ISDN but I have recorded and had people call in and direct and it always turned out amazingly.

ANYONE who requires ISDN and it's a 100 job is an ASS. Or here's another one, if they say WE don't pay for studio time  ASS.  First off, if they have a sound engineer online ready to listen in, then they aren't poor. If they are a serious enough company, they will book a studio and have you come in with a sound engineer THEY paid for and give you direction. That's what happens in Union gigs.

SKYPE. Anyone who asks for skype probably just wants a telephone conference but doesn't really know it.

SKYPE is bad for a number of reasons.

    1) Cause of Insecurity. You're staring at your own FACE. 

    2) Cause of bad direction. If you do weird hand motions and face stuff, then the direction may just         assume that the audience will hear that, when the fact is THEY WONT!

    3) Dependance on Internet. Have you ever skyped with someone who doesn't skype. It may be painful.

    4) What you see HAS NOTHING to do with what you hear. If you had the choice between listening to a VO alone or watching the actor do it, you should just listen because YOU FOCUS a sense.

    5) The Illusion of professionalism. I don't know about you guys, but I do it in my room and it aint clean, fancy or look like a studio. UGH

CALL IN CONFERENCE

Here's the great thing about the OLD call in. It's simple. You can have one ear bud in on ear next to a microphone and everytime they talk they wouldn't be heard. You would have the director in your ear. That is amazing. 

So, my opinon, get them to call in. Brag about doing call ins with great companies and they loved it.  Say it's easy and you've done it a million times. Know why it works and sell it. 

The First Job I Rejected

Hey All,

Admittedly, I may have rejected a few jobs in the past, but this one is gonna stick with me.

I got an email from a job that I auditioned for. It was $250 for 8000 words. Admittedly, I probably shouldn't have auditioned for this, however, when you audition and audition. The occasional 250 slips by and it isn't until this happens that you get a punch in the face of "Maybe I should have looked".

So, right off the bat. My bad. However, I would do it again. Why? Because it's a rat race, you want to audition as quick as you can and I have literally NEVER auditioned and won something that was like this. I found out that I have auditioned for 3k jobs in just voices.com. I'm not about to slow down, but no regrets. But, I have to eat a little crow but hey it was worth it.

First off, lets calculate. Once you get into the 1000 or more words category, it gets a little sketchy as to actually how much work it will be. I calculated it out. Roughly 1 hour of recorded time. This would be my minimum rate for an audiobook. Okay that's the situation, timewise.

Next up, what are the specs. This particular job required a Naming process. This means each file has to be specifically named. That takes time. It may not seem like much but having the document in the background of an editor is just added time and confusion.

Third, how is this different than an audiobook. With audiobooks, I've only done maybe 7 and every time, I have literally NEVER been asked for a pickup on a line or a character note except one producer and that was HORRID and I will never work with them again. For some reason, and I assume it's because it's really cheap labor, they leave that in the hands of the audiobook producer and narrator (you), With any corporate learning thing, you HAVE pickups.

Fourth are there rewrites? According to the client, there may be small rewrites in the future. This is extra time and inputting a sentence into a previously edited piece no matter how long takes time. 

Five, will you enjoy it? That's kind of the pull of an audiobook right? You want to read a book and delve in. With corporate, it's not fun, no matter what you do.

Okay folks, so I get the email and it states, "I usually ask for 2 takes of each segment but you can do one take" RED FLAG, "I have a few minor rewrites" RED FLAG 

I send an email back, because I'm curious. It's a job. I want him to realize that this is kind of slave labor for me, so I'd do it with stipulations. 1) Only two rounds of pickups 2) Each round must be at once no piecemeal. 3) Rewrites and Corrections for my errors all count as pickups 4) Any rewrites after the second round up to 1/2 a page are extra (50). 5) State that this job would normally cost at LEAST twice as much. 

I get an email back stating that "I am locked in at $250" RED FLAG, "I have other jobs that are higher pay that we would come to you first" CARROT AND RED FLAG "I would only have minor rewrites" hopefully honest.

I'm gonna go on a tangent about another job. I recorded for this one guy and I recorded two takes. The energy was off, I knew it. I take another crack at it, 2 more takes, better energy, spot on. He's thinks it's great but he wants one more take. I tell him he should probably call in and listen in because after that second round it's gonna be extra. He says, "The first round was unsatisfactory so that doesn't count". As a voice actor, take this as my advice, If you record and edit and upload, it counts. You did work. The pickups aren't there for only the clients issues, it's there for your issues. A mispronunciation, a pop, a noise, that pickup is there for THE JOB. 2 pickups are more than enough. Stand your ground. DO NOT GET PUSHED ASIDE. Non union is already cheap enough, don't get cheap with yourself. Truth is, he called in (at my request) listened in and we got it. No problem at all. 

Now back to the job today, the client tossed out the FUTURE work carrot. Not only am I missing out on this but MORE WORK. It sucks doesn't it. Do this and you'll get this as possibility. He may be telling the truth but I can't bank on it. He's also LOCKED IN at 250, what if he needs that extra round. I say No, he says "I'm locked at 250". I'm out the work, what do I do. 

The truth is, I don't know. I could be leaving money on the table. Well, more at least. However, if this guy thinks that this job is okay, then do I really think he's gonna jump and pay the true price I ask for. I am literally doing this job for one tenth of the jobs I normally do. Is he willing to pay 10 times that amount. Now I hear you, "Are you saying this is worth 2500?". 

Think about it. The job is 18 single spaced pages. The average Voice over job is roughly 1 page and probably double spaced,  That's around 2k maybe more. Lets just give him a deal at 1k, that is a whopping 75 percent off. YEEESHH!!!!!

My girlfriends asked me, "Can you finish it in a day?" and I reply, "Yup!" and she thougt that would be a decent days work. But, as a voice over artist, we don't work per hour. We work per job. We don't have stability but the trade off is less work hours. An audiobook is about a full time job, try your hand at that and you may find yourself needing a month long break. It's not just recording, it's editing, it's listening and it's correcting. That is SO DRAINING. I've found that with large projects your brain only is useful maybe one hour at a time. Your voice maybe an hour or two max and then mandatory break.

We aren't the same. Non-union is not the same. So, I made the decision. No thank you. I calculated it out and it would take me about 6 hours to record/edit and about 2 hours to upload. THat would be before the pickup rounds. I already dread it. So, I rejected it. 

Someone else is bound to do it. I just can't. Know your worth people. If you're starting out, I'd do a job like this because it's a challenge, it will make you a better vo artist, and there may be a work relationship there. But if you're a vet, know your worth. 

The Slow Times (how to cope)

So everyone has droughts of jobs. I've been in a bit of one lately. It has been combined with an attempt to get a large sum of money from a client so it has been a little annoying.

The key is, just keep going. Don't let it get to you. Voice123 recently initiated what I would consider a horrible idea. It shows a star rating of your audition. The problem is, rating an audition is kind of dumb. People have this specific voice in mind that may be young or old and you may sound entirely wrong but that doesn't mean it's a bad audition it just means its not right for this job, however, 1 out of 5 stars kind of feels like an FU. Voices is much better with the listened to and thumbs up sign. All they gotta do is like it, they don't have to crap on it.

The main issue with not getting jobs is that it gets into your bones. You wonder if you're good or not and you start overcompensating or worse you stop smiling in auditions.

Remember vo clients want people to sound passionate and happy. Sometimes that can be loud energy, sometimes it can be sincere honest energy. If you ever do an audition mad, it may leak through. A true actor uses their feelings to their advantage but even the best actors have problems. The key is just to push it aside and do the work.

It's tough out there folks. If you come across a long drought try acx, voicebunny, or some contests. I'm the kind of guy who can ride the momentum of a win for a while but I'm also a guy who can take things a little personally. Just find your balance. 

When you go into those auditions, bring energy, passion, smile and just think to yourself, "I got this". A vo teacher told me that and it always helps.

"I Got This"