Blog

Today I’m launching a new weekly blog series to look at three voiceover-related topics that are top of my mind at the end of my week.

First up:

The Future of VO Rates is Here

The issue of rates and compensation continues to percolate around the industry, and there is a certain sky-is-falling character to too much of the discussion. In a figurative sense, the sky may well be falling. Rates at the highest end of the market are clearly under pressure. We are all seeing jobs from agents these days that look like they are missing a zero compared to what they once might have paid. I tend to believe that this is more a result of changing media consumption habits reducing the effectiveness of traditional broadcast media advertising than any supply/demand issue. Still, there’s no denying that there is a lot of talent willing to take on major projects at lower rates than ever before for the sake of the credential. It will be interesting to see how this phenomenon progresses over the next couple of years, but the likelihood is that the days of making deep bank from working strictly on the national broadcast level are slowly coming to an end.

Nevertheless, there is a solid argument to be made that the broader voiceover industry is healthier than it has ever been, and will only continue to offer more and more opportunities to those with the ability to anticipate its evolution. For years, I’ve been telling people that the future of VO success is earning a robust income of $500 at a time. That future is here. This doesn’t mean accepting peanut rates for broadcast or new media work that generates large numbers of impressions but rather embracing that the future for most talent will be found in corporate/industrial work, eLearning, and local/regional broadcast. Indeed, that’s already how the vast majority of full-time voice actors are making their living. The good news is that as commercial, and especially big league commercial, continues their inevitable decline due to new media and more segmented/targeted advertising, these other sectors are growing at an exponential pace. Moreover, the supply/demand curve for these genres is far more favorable than for commercial and even animation/video game voice actors. There is more work out there than there is a quality talent to do it, which a quick review of auditions from any online casting site or other non-curated talent pool will demonstrate in abundance. The flow of $300-$1,000 jobs have never been stronger, and it will only continue to grow.

The sky is very much intact.

Demo Length

I’ve been following a few discussions on this topic this week, and I’m concerned that the debate over demo length is becoming a little too simplified. Not all demos are created equal. The conventional wisdom of around a minute with a fair amount of variety is a good baseline for high-impact demos like commercial, promo, trailer, and imaging. These demos lead to auditions or a foot in the door more often than direct hires, and buyers in these genres generally tend to be high-end creatives with trained ears able to form impressions quickly. Fast-paced, exciting, and packed with (reasonable) variety is key. No one wants to listen through two minutes of commercials, no matter how good you are.

What gets lost sometimes is the difference between buyers/gatekeepers in the genres mentioned above and those who are hiring for industrial narration, explainers, e-learning and the like. I’ve heard a lot of narration demos lately that are barely distinguishable from commercial demos. When I’m hiring for narration, or considering suitability based on a demo, eight seven-second cuts doesn’t tell me much. Do I want to hear your range? Sure, but I just need to know how much of the conversational to polished spectrum you can cover. 3-4 different styles is plenty. I’m more interested in hearing whether you can sustain a read and engage my audience. These both require more than five or ten seconds of copy. Anyone hiring voice talent for multi-minute industrials/explainers or thousands of words of e-learning has run into talent who can flash greatness in short bursts but cannot sustain a read over time. This leads to awkward situations where re-casting can be necessary and compensation comes into doubt. Buyers in narration genres hire straight from demos more often than they do in other parts of the business. I would much rather hear 3-4 twenty to thirty second reads if I’m making that decision than a bunch of quick cuts. Show me competence, consistency, the ability to tell a story.

The Xanax Read

It all started with that Facebook Live commercial (youtube.com/watch?v=YDmYpWhuGx8,) and now it seems like the post-Millennial trend is to reads that are actively sounding bored. Not even bored in a slightly edgy or sarcastic way, but rather just disconnected entirely from any emotional investment in the copy. I have my own theories on why this is, but I’d like to hear your thoughts on this emerging trend. Are we all going to have to learn how not to act?

Until next week, this is JMC.

I had a good day on Thursday last week. One of those days where a few things come together and you unexpectedly book more revenue in 24 hours than your usual monthly target. A happy dance may have been involved. Perhaps two.

My instinct, sitting there at about 3PM on the Thursday before a holiday weekend, was to power down the studio, slap myself on the back for a job well done, and open a nice cold cerveza. See you Monday, voiceover business.

Instead, I did another 30 auditions over the next few hours, replied to client emails, worked a bit more on my upcoming book, began writing several scripts for student demos, and did some marketing. I quit around 10:30 that night.

Do I have a problem? Maybe. It’s hard not to love what we do. It’s harder still not to take it for granted when it is going well. Yet, I recalled last April, when after a surprisingly good March considering over a week of lost workdays for VO Atlanta, I had the ugliest month I’ve had in a few years. Yes, it was an aberration, but missing your standard monthly target by 40% even once lingers in the memory. So I passed on the beer and went back to work.

One of the most critical separating factors between the talent I see acting relaxed and comfortable in the consistency of their business, and those who always seem to have a little panic around the eyes, is the sense that the only answer to how much VO work is enough for the former group is always, “more.” While many talents occasionally catch lightning in a bottle, the glow of that big booking or career-advancing step fades quickly. Consistent, repeat business from a core of stable, loyal clients does not.

How do you get there? You do 30 auditions when you would prefer to have a brewski. You make one more marketing call when you’d rather spend a few minutes making monkey noises with your kids.

You don’t stop. You push harder. You keep going.

The issue of what we should charge as voice actors continues to be the most discussed topic in our industry. From talent lamenting major national buyouts coming through agents for $5,000 and then reappearing elsewhere at even more egregious rates to the festering discomfort caused by mega-discount portals where anyone with a USB mic can sell their voice for five bucks to the Wild West of online casting, where excellent rates mingle with exploitative ones. It seems that each day brings a barrage of questions from talent, both new and experienced alike, about what they should charge. However, what is often lost in the conversation is how they should charge. License it. Let me explaine

Unlike craftsmen who create an object of great beauty or utility, or a professional who is paid to complete a defined task that serves a particular temporal purpose, voice actors ply their trade in a field where the majority of what we do creates lingering value for the buyer. When a voice actor is hired, their work is used to generate revenue over and over again; It is not a one-and-done proposition.

Unions understood this well when crafting the concept of cyclical and residual pay for signatories, most often applied in relation to voiceovers that are broadcast on traditional media. This is a structure non-union talent would be well advised to emulate.

That said, in an industry changing more rapidly than ever before, it is difficult to pin down what work has what value and for how long. What about Corporate/Industrial narration? E-Learning? Perhaps most critically, Web Ads and Pre-Roll. How do they fit in?

As talent, we are often thrilled to book a job and get paid. It’s a rush, talking into a microphone and making more in an hour than most people make in a day, or a week. We are blessed, to be sure, but that doesn’t mean we should compromise our value, especially when our work is being used to generate profits far beyond the compensation offered. Furthermore, it’s easy to spin things negatively from a supply and demand perspective for talent, but a quick listen to the quality of the vast majority of auditions submitted online will demonstrate that we are in a much stronger position than we think.

We are not selling clay pots, sculptures, or accounting services. We are not even selling voiceovers. Huh? What are we selling if we aren’t selling voiceovers? Very simply, we are selling licenses.

Like musicians or software bundles, we should not consider our product static or temporal. We are selling the right to obtain value from our talent for a limited time that is also limited in scope. This can apply to anything that isn’t strictly internal-facing.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions of your clients:

* How long will you be using this?

* Where will it be used…on what platforms/media?

* How many views/impressions do you anticipate it will receive?

The fear of losing work because you assert your rights too aggressively is not unwarranted, but it is overcome by the long-term gain in securing clients who are willing to treat you fairly. Moreover, if a client has reached out to you about a job, they are likely already committed to or nearly committed to your voice. You are holding more cards than you realize.

Try negotiating a one-year buy for Corporate/Industrial, E-Learning, Explainer, Telephony, and Medical. For Web Ads and Pre-Roll, use union cycle templates if you can, such as the thirteen-week standard, and go for a year as a compromise.

Remember, perpetuity means forever, and forever is worth a lot.

For the third year in a row, I had the privilege of attending and presenting at VO Atlanta. The past two years have been content and information-packed events that lifted the industry and brought the community closer together. Gerald Griffith and the team that made this event happen raised the bar even higher in 2017, so here is your VO Atlanta recap!

The content speaks for itself. With a lineup of presenters featuring dozens of the industry’s leading lights, 8 separate training tracks, a youth program, a Spanish program, and a plethora of optional value-added X-sessions, not only was there something for everyone, there were full days of learning for anyone who attended, regardless of what their particular niche or specialty was. Add to this the included meals, constant giveaways, and opportunities to connect with people who might advance your career, and VO Atlanta 2017 was a stunning success by any objective measure.

However, the intangible side of things makes VO Atlanta truly special. The voiceover community is unique in the entertainment world in its selfless and unpretentious love of one another and commitment to giving back. Petty jealousies and gossip that define so many other performance industries don’t seem to have penetrated those who live behind the mic and away from the camera. The discussion of community, mutual support, and spirit of sharing what many would consider being valuable secrets aren’t just matters of lip service in our industry. They are the way voice actors live their lives. Perhaps this is born of the blessing of abundance, the collective gratitude that comes from working in a field where those with talent will not run out of opportunities, but it is nevertheless a testament to the character of our colleagues and friends.

The buzz began as early as Wednesday, as voice actors from around the world converged on the Atlanta Airport Marriott, the staff of which likely had no idea what they were in for. The din that began more than 24 hours before opening ceremonies was but a preview of what would essentially become a 5-day rolling party spread throughout the public areas of the hotel, with singing, dancing, drinking and eating both planned and spontaneous turning a sleepy airport conference hotel into a funhouse to rival any nightclub. Through it all, one thing was clear: Here, there were no social classes, no stars separated from fans, no nervousness on the part of new talent engaging with industry leaders…..here, there were just friends.

What did I learn at VO Atlanta 2017? Unfortunately, I didn’t have much chance to take in a lot of the incredibly valuable content, as I spent the weekend busy with presentations and social engagements….but I learned a few things nonetheless. I learned that people love baby pictures, that the British can drink anyone under the table and somehow remain both standing and able to have a witty and intelligent conversation…..I learned the origin story of the name ‘Gravy for the Brain’…..I learned that when Joe Cip wants to share a Martini, the only answer is yes. And, not drinking much more might have saved me from the official conference virus…..I learned to be glad not to have to follow the irrepressible Scott Parkin on stage at any time….and how committed Gerald Griffith is to making talent understand the importance of the business. I learned that in my future X-sessions I’ll warn people not to wear shorts and to bring a winter coat….and that online casting sites can be loved by voice actors when they take the time to love us back. I learned that Armin is still a rockstar, right down to the stray F-bomb…..and that the A/V team are the ones who really make everything come together. I learned a great deal from my colleagues on the eLearning panel, and hope I offered a worthy contribution….and that Paul Stefano is not Peter or Mary. I learned that sushi sometimes takes two hours to prepare, that a real friend will help it find its way to you nonetheless, and that people care about ethics in voiceover. And, on Sunday, I learned that when well-meaning people come together, life can be changed, and an industry can elevate one of its own in the spirit of thanks and love.

I hope you learned as much as I did at VO Atlanta 2017, and I look forward to seeing you all again next March.