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!