Thursday, April 26, 2007

Apologies

Monday we published the article "Should I hire a union or a non-union talent?" In this article, we used the name of a major voice over celebrity with the objective of explaining to inexperienced voice seekers that there ARE voice over talents that can charge a lot of money because they are highly experienced, very popular, and people like to listen to them.

Some people thought that the phrase was a misrepresentation, though the phrase was written unwisely, we did not publish it with any negative intention. We have since corrected the article. We are sorry about the misunderstanding it may have caused.

I wanted to publicly apologize, in the name of the entire Voice123 team, for the misunderstanding. We try hard to interact with the community as much as we can; we have blogs, forums, newsletters, etc. Having such an open door policy means that our chances of saying stuff that can be taken out of context skyrockets. This is no excuse, though, and we have taken measures to try to avoid similar situations from happening in the future.

I want you to know where Voice123 stands: We are in favor of helping the talents unionize so that industry rates go higher. We support, honor, and respect widely known talents - They are models for many of us, because of their skills, experience, and competence. We want talents to get better paid (if you are interested in knowing what Voice123 is doing to help talents receive a better compensation for their work, please check this article). We are here for the duration with the purpose of helping the voice community.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

What is Voice123 doing to help talents get better pay? What can you do?

Many would argue that supply and demand should drive the rates of the market. Unions help as well, significantly, by making sure rates are fair. So, why should Voice123 get involved? Voice123 started because of a dream Tania Isabel, my wife, and I had. She was a voice over and she wanted to make a better living. As a result, we consider one of our goals to work hard to help all voice over talents receive better pay. We try to achieve that on several fronts:

Finding Voice Seekers. Along with our goal of seeking higher pay on each job, it’s necessary to have a large market to drive up the rates and in turn get more jobs! We work hard at finding more and more voice seekers to use Voice123 so that talents bill more hours per day and at a higher rate than ever before.

Voice Seeker Screening. Every project posted on Voice123 gets approved after a tight screening process. We try to make sure the voice seeker is a legitimate and serious business. Every day we discard dozens of projects that do not meet our basic requirements.

Voice Seeker Education. We split our Customer Service Team so that one group of people focuses specifically on voice seekers. This group has now developed techniques to make sure voice seekers understand how rates work and what a fair price may be. For example: we attempt to call every new voice seeker registered in Voice123 and, if needed, we work at increasing the budget they have for their projects. We have also extended our customer service hours so that we can make direct contact with all new voice seekers.

A New Voice123. We are working on a new version of Voice123 that will improve the experience of both the talent and the voice seeker. Voice seekers will have more information on hand to determine what a proper budget is.

Voice123 SmartCast. The new Voice123 will feature Voice123 SmartCast. It will help drive rates higher by intelligently reducing the amount of auditions each project gets, thus reducing competition, and increasing the rates talents and voice producers can charge.

Project Rating. The new Voice123 will allow talents to rate several areas of a project, including its budget. In the near future, when you rate a project, you will teach Voice123 and the rest of the community how you feel about the budget for each project. We will be able to use that information to teach new voice overs and new voice seekers if their rates are good or not. Those who are now undercharging and driving down rates will hopefully learn to work for the proper amount of pay, and voice seekers will not find it so easy to hire talent for less than the standard rate.

More Information. In some instances, the name of the voice seeker is not displayed when they post a project because, unfortunately, some talents used to take the voice seeker’s name, Google it, and then do direct solicitation. Voice seekers value their privacy, and by allowing them to protect their contact information, they come back to Voice123. The new Voice123 will provide more detailed information about the rating record that each voice seeker has earned within Voice123. Talents and voice producers will get to know details about the voice seeker like when it registered, how many projects he/she has posted, percentage of auditions listened to, etc. Talents and voice producers will be able to use this information to determine how serious a voice seeker may be,and adjust their rates and payment agreements accordingly. This, of course, goes hand in hand with our screening process.

Better Matching. The new Voice123 will be able to track if a talent or voice producer submits proposals with high or low prices when compared to other proposals. Eventually, Voice123 SmartCast will be able to match higher paying jobs with talents that charge higher rates. This will motivate talents to charge more, instead of less.

Special Categories. Some of the low budgets we get are for non-profit organizations, student projects, etc. A few months after the new Voice123 is released, we will create special categories for these projects so that only talents that want to help these voice seekers get matched by Voice123 SmartCast.

Working with the Unions. We are working with unions such as SAG and AFTRA, to help voice over talents take advantage of the many benefits unions offer. We know that the more talents join the unions, the higher the overall rates of the market. We are ALL for that!

A New Rate Guide. We are working on a new rate guide for non-union projects. The rate guide will showcase recommended minimums, and will be determined by surveying all premium talents in Voice123. You, the talent, will decide how much fair pay is.

Voice123 Talkback. Voice123 screens dozens of projects every day. Sometimes we make mistakes, and a few get through that are not what we want on our site soliciting the help of our talents. We are working to alleviate this problem. We would also like to hear your ideas to keep this from happening and to better our service to you. That is why we have created a section in the VoiceOverSavvy.com forums to get feedback from the community.

And Much More! We are also working on some other areas that will help, you, the talents to increase your income. Stay tuned!

What Can You Do?

You can do a lot! It is ultimately in your hands to drive the prices higher:

• Don’t submit auditions to projects that you consider are below budget; that will teach voice seekers they will have to pay more if they want to get good talents or voice producers. If you get invited by Voice123 to participate in a project that is below your desired rate, you can simply disregard the invitation. This will actually help you get more invitations in the near future (when Voice123 SmartCast is released), as the system will know that you are selective when submitting auditions. If, in the other hand, you get invited by a voice seeker directly, and you consider his/her budget to be low, you should reply explaining your rate requirements to the voice seeker. By doing this, you can help teach voice seekers what fair prices are.

• Answer the rate guide survey whenever you get it (we are planning to send it periodically).

• Support the unions and help make them better. You have more power within the unions than you may think. Speak out and make them what you want

• If you find Voice123 made a mistake screening the budget of a project, please let us know in Voice123 Talkback, at the VoiceOverSavvy.com forums.

• Spread the word and teach other talents that their support is needed.

• And finally, please have some patience – We are working very hard to get the
new Voice123 online. Your kind words motivate our development team. Your harsh words hurt them. We are humans trying to do our best, and we’re here to serve your needs.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Correction: Should I Hire A Union or Non-Union Talent?

Two days ago we sent our monthly newsletter including the article
“Should I hire a union or a non-union talent?". Unfortunately, the last paragraph of the article contained a phrase that we failed to write properly and we confused many of you. The phrase is:

“Most post-production work is not regulated by unions. As such, rates of post production work will always depend on the agreement you reach with the voice producer.”

This is what we actually meant:

“Some voice over talents can also do post production work themselves (like adding background music, special effects, etc) so that you save time and money. We call these talents ‘voice producers’. Most of this type of of post-production work is not regulated by unions. As such, rates of post production work will always depend on the agreement you reach with the voice producer.”

Where is the confusion? Some people understood that after the recording is done and you do post-production, unions would not ask you -the voice seeker- to pay additional fees. This is usually called "buyout". That is not what we meant. Unions, in fact, commonly have fee structures where you pay depending on the usage and distribution of the produced audio after the recording has been done.

Please accept our apologies for the misunderstanding.

PS. Many voice seekers like you asked us for an updated rate guide for non-union work after they read this article. During the next few days we will be sending a price survey to our non-union talent database (more than 40,000 talents). In our next newsletter we will publish the updated Non-Union Work Rate Guide.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Should I hire a union or a non-union talent?

The voice market has two distinctive types of providers: Voice talents that are members of the unions (union talents), and voice talents that are not part of the unions (non-union talents).
Non-union talents rates tend to be the most affordable ones. Rates vary a lot as there is no market regulation. It all depends on the agreement you reach with the voice talent or voice producer. When you post a project on Voice123, non-union talents will give you quotes of their rates, along with demos of their work.

Union talents charge union rates. Although the rates depend on the union to which the talent is affiliated (SAG, AFTRA, etc.) they all tend to be similar. Union rates are usually more expensive than non-union rates.

"There are some talents that charge rates well over any union or non-union standard. This is usually the case of celebrity-talents. These well-paid talents are likely to be union talents. People is willing to pay more for them because their voices are widely popular.

Some voice over talents can also do post production work themselves (like adding background music, special effects, etc) so that you save time and money. We call these talents ‘voice producers’. Most of this type of of post-production work is not regulated by unions. As such, rates of post production work will always depend on the agreement you reach with the voice producer. When you post a project on Voice123 for post-production work, voice producers will give you quotes of their rates along, with demos of their work.

Check Out These Great Topics On The Voice Over Savvy Forum

The Voice Over Savvy Forum has been continually growing and has now become one of the largest and most important communities and gathering places for Voice Over talents.

At this time, more than 1,200 topics, as well as more than 15,000 posts can be found in the forum, bringing unsurpassed amounts of information related to all aspects of the industry.

The Voice Over Savvy Forum has been continually growing and has now become one of the largest and most important communities and gathering places for voice over talents and voice producers. At this time, more than 1,200 topics, as well as more than 15,000 posts can be found, bringing information related to all aspects of the industry.

See you there.

What's HOT in the Voice Over Market today?
“Style, Attitude and Feeling is what I most often hear as being the key items that most clients seek in a Voice Over Talent...”
- Read more and comment at
http://voiceoversavvy.com/ftopic1382.html

The Reasons For What We Do
"Generally the person doing the hiring will either have a "voice in their head" that they are waiting to hear to hire or are waiting to hear something to trigger the hiring desire..."
- Read more and comment at
httphttp://voiceoversavvy.com/ftopic1327.html

DLF on Tonight show
“For anyone who didn't catch this.....it is really funny! The Don doing a brief stint on the tonight show with Haley from American Idol.....”
- Read more and comment at
http://voiceoversavvy.com/ftopic1456.html

Monday, April 16, 2007

Check Out These Great Topics On The Voice Over Savvy Forum

The Voice Over Savvy Forum has been constantly growing to be one of the largest and most important communities and gathering places for Voice Over talents. At this time, more than 1,200 topics, as well as more than 15,000 posts can be found in the forum, bringing unsurpassed amounts information related to all aspects of the industry.

The Voice Over Savvy Forum has been constantly growing to be one of the largest and most important communities and gathering places for Voice Over talents and voice producers. At this time more than 1200 topics as well as more than 15000 posts can be found, bringing information related to all aspects of the industry.

See you there.

Music in Your Productions
"Emmy-award winning composer, producer, music supervisor and songwriter, shared with us his experience when creating and adding Music in Your Productions..."
- Read more and comment at
http://voiceoversavvy.com/ftopic1278.html

Need a good processor
"They're okay, but I'm not overly thrilled with them. At my home studio...where "I" control what's purchased and installed, I use the dbx286a..."
- Read more and comment at
http://voiceoversavvy.com/ftopic506.html

Mic Backstop
"It's a scrap piece if Auralex that I jabbed a hole through with my Swiss army knife and hung on my boom..."
- Read more and comment at
http://voiceoversavvy.com/ftopic675.html

ProTools Edit problem
"Damned good thing I have a fine lady who can figure this stuff out. (I'm the TALENT fer cryin' out loud!)..."
- Read more and comment at
http://voiceoversavvy.com/ftopic1230.html

New arrival!
"Greetings all! I am pleased to announce my new arrival. At 1 lb, 14 oz and 8 inches in length..."
- Read more and comment at
http://voiceoversavvy.com/ftopic1240.html

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Las Vegas VOICE 2007 Recap,
by Alex Torrenegra.

VOICE 2007, the first conference dedicated to voice overs, was a huge success. Although this was the first event of its kind, it worked out extremely well. VOICE 2007 provided a venue for talents to learn, network, and have fun. Even Don LaFontaine was there!

The conference was, above all, about learning. Never before have I seen so many reputable voice over coaches in one room. The quality of the presentations was great. Of all the conferences I’ve attended, at Voice 2007 I saw more people engaged in the learning process. The reason? Great topics and great presenters. Topics ranged from the psychology behind reading scripts to building your own web site. Attendees even learned strategies to closing deals with potential clients.

Networking was very important as well at VOICE 2007. Many got to meet people face to face after years of having worked together over the phone. Many others were able to find new colleagues. There were, after all, more than 200 talents in attendance! Talents were also able to talk to key members of organizations like AFTRA and, of course, Voice123. Many tough questions were asked. Oh boy! Tell me about it! Yet, I was very intrigued while listening to rich and complex queries about the industry.

VOICE 2007 was also about having fun. I saw people laughing and smiling more than at any previous conference I’ve attended! Attendees had the chance to be in sessions hosted by voice over royalty, Don LaFontaine (3,000 movie trailers to his credit) and Bob Bergen (voice of Porky Pig and Tweety). The entire conference was full of memorable moments, so many that talents cried as the event came to an end.

Throughout all the sharing, learning, laughter, and tears, there was one bad thing that happened: the cigarette smoke in the casino. Although the conference rooms were smoke free, just crossing the casino to get to them was uncomfortable to many, either because they take great care of their voice, or because –as it is my case- they are used to living in smoke free environments like New York. The next VOICE event will be held in a different state, so this shouldn’t be an issue.

In summary, VOICE 2007 is an event that I would highly recommend to any voice over talent that can afford it. Thank you Frank, James, Penny, and all the other organizers, and thank you to all of the voice over talents that attended the event. You believed in a dream and it became a reality, better than expected. I am already looking forward to attending VOICE 2008!

If you want to learn more about VOICE 2007, here is a great recap written by Debbie Munro:
http://voiceoversavvy.com/sutra15396.html&highlight=#15396

If you want to get a feeling of how fun it was, read this thread started by Lynne Alston:
http://voiceoversavvy.com/ftopic1338-0-asc-0.html