Hey everyone,
This may be a little bit of a negative nancy post but it's coming from the heart and it's coming from a good place.
Pay 2 Play, as people may have read, are just sites like Voice123 or Voices.com where you can get non-union jobs for smaller pay and if you're good enough, you can get a living going.
Some say that this "Cheap" job thing is just killing the VO industry, making people have to bring down their pay significantly and making clients get cheap, practically free VO.
My feelings are this, If you can make a living doing Sag-AFTRA jobs and making the big buck, then more power to you. If you can't make the money, then it's your own fault. I'm not going to starve for the sake of principle and I don't think any of you should too.
If you're union, then you're in the big time. Do it, make that bank. Kick ass. Me? Those big jobs, even with an agent, are few and almost non-existant. These little guys.... pay rent and keep me auditioning for the big ones.
Now here's the negative. Here's what pisses me off more.
I really hate how easy it is for any remotely successful VO artist to try and make money off other less successful VO artists. That just PISSES ME OFF!
For every person who wants me to not do Voices.com, there is always one person who has a marketing pdf, or a seminar, or a demo productions studio, or a class. They know people think of VO as a get rich quick scheme so they take advantage.
Go into a Linkedin VO group. There's always some guy spouting off his marketing strategy to make thousands off VO. Newsflash, marketing your VO before you get good at it, is just dumb.
For example, I saw a guy post on a group about being unable to make rent and he really wanted help getting some VO work to get food on the table. People on there were quick to put their two cents in that was basically putting this guy down. I'm not saying P2P solves anything, but apparently having a bunch of VO friends doesn't solve anything either. At least P2P and even the crappy sites get you chances at MONEY! Making money, not taking money.
If you spend ANY, mark my words, ANY money on VO, make sure that you FIRST and foremost spend it on a makeshift studio and maybe a pay 2 play site for practice. If you see a class (online or in person) Make sure it is with a legitimate casting director, not an actor or VO actor. If a VO actor is immensely successful and filled to the brim with money, he or she would happily tell you how they got where they are and who they worked with for FREE.
If there is a school, ask them before you get tuition to them, HOW DO YOU GET INTO THEIR TALENT POOL. Is it only teachers? I've been surprised to get that answer a LOT. If you spend a year with a school and graduate, they aren't gonna bank on you. That says a lot.
Don't waste your money, get that studio up and running. Figure out what needs to get done to get you going. Put down that money to study with the best. Do contests, free auditions, audition for ACX, even voicebunny. All of those things are practice and you may win something out of it. Just be careful and be thankful.
If anyone ever needs advice on anything. I will offer my best advice. Free of charge, no strings attached, just honesty. If I was getting paid, I would feel bad if people didn't do well afterwards. Since I'm not, I feel like i can be really honest with people. Which I think is a good thing.
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