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A Season to be Thankful

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Christmas is always a magic time for me and a season to be thankful. The memories never fail to conjure warmth, peace, and the love of family and friends. It is a time to reflect on a year gone by, and to dream of the blessings of the year to come. It is also an opportunity to reflect upon all the things and people you are grateful for and let them know how you feel.

My list is too large to enumerate, and no accounting can ever cover all those who have contributed to a rewarding and fulfilling 2015. Here, at least, is a partial attempt.

A Season to be Thankful for The Voiceover Community

To all of you, my colleagues and friends, thank you for being the kind, supporting, and genuinely decent people you are. I cannot think of another profession where those competing for work are so genuinely supportive of one another. It never fails to take my breath away when I see how helpful, warm-hearted, and deeply good voiceover people are. It is a privilege to belong to this community, and I am grateful to all of you.

Those Who Make My Job Easier

Jenn Henry, Michelle Falzon, Steve Black, Tony Mack, I’m looking at you. Thank you for being there when I need you, always reliable, and always delivering quality…..I’m honored to have you as colleagues and friends.

My Coaching and Demo Clients

I wish I had more time to coach. I love teaching this business to new talent, and working with established pros to increase their bookings. To all of you who have put your trust in my coaching and demo production services in the last year, you mean so much more to me than you can possibly know. I eat, sleep, and breathe your success, and I feel every up and down in your career as acutely as I feel my own. You break up days spent in the solitude of the studio, and your progress always re-ignites my passion for the business. Many of you have become good friends and fierce competitors. It sounds contrary to common sense, but few things bring me more joy than seeing you book a job for which I’ve also auditioned. Thank you all for your brilliance, diligence, and your incredible talent. You are each one a blessing.

A Season to be Thankful for The Conference Organizers

Gerald Griffith, James Minter, Randy Thomas, and all the others out there…….what a service you are providing to our community. In 2015 I had the privilege and pleasure of presenting at VO Atlanta, The Midwest Voiceover Conference, and The VO Mastery Event. These gatherings, and the others out there like them, offer so very much to new and seasoned talent alike. I have personally watched people build careers from the information learned and contacts made at these events. Moreover, the chance to commune with people who live and breathe the lives we all share allows us to build friendships and professional relationships that will be with us throughout our careers. I’m looking forward to doing it all again in 2016, and adding WoVO Con to my list next April! To those of you who make these events happen, your hard work does not go unnoticed, and you have my deepest appreciation for all you contribute.

The Society of Voice Arts and Sciences

This young organization, of which I am proudly a member, has brought style, flash, and substance to the voiceover industry in a manner the industry has never enjoyed before. Under the capable leadership of Rudy Gaskins and Joan Baker, SOVAS has created the Voice Arts Awards; an unprecedented celebration of the hard work we all do every day. It was a joy to attend this year’s gala in Hollywood, featuring industry leaders from every side of the business and luminaries like William Shatner and Malcolm Jamal-Warner. The chance to spend time with so many of my most talented colleagues was a wonderful gift, and the excitement of everyone who won brought home what a value this event is to our business.

The World Voices Organization

This year saw WoVO begin to come into its own with growing membership numbers and more involvement in the greater community. As a non-union talent, we need an organization to stand up for the value of the hard work we do, and to educate new and experienced talent alike about how to preserve our worth. I’m a proud WoVO member, and look forward to watching the group continue to expand its presence under the strong guidance of its President, Dave Courvoisier.

My Agents

To those who represent me, thank you for another year of your hard work, and our shared returns. Thank you also for the work that you do to preserve rates and standards within our industry, in spite of unprecedented pressure. Nothing gets the adrenaline pumping like an agency audition, and each one of you is instrumental in my success.

Online Casting Sites

Despite the continuing controversy in this business segment, there is no disputing its ever-growing relevance to how we do our jobs. This year saw the big two continue to present well over a hundred opportunities daily to their membership bases between public jobs, private jobs, different genders, and different languages. There is nowhere else where talent can go to access such an abundance of work, and while commercial rates continue to be generally less than desirable, this year saw in stark relief what I have been long predicting: The increase of quality narration jobs across online casting platforms, often at rates well higher than union scale. We also saw quality smaller sites begin to stake out a larger footprint for the first time, offering more and more options to the talent base. I’m thankful for these sites, and I’m grateful for the people who work for them and support their members.

A Season to be Thankful for My Clients

To all of my clients……thank you for putting your faith in my ability to bring your scripts to life. You put the food on my table, and allow me to live a life that still feels like a dream sometimes. I am honored to have your business.

My Wife, Anna

Perhaps not VO related, (yet,) but without you, I would be nothing. Thank you for your love, your support, and your tolerance. You are my whole world.

Merry Christmas, everyone, and a very Happy New Year to all. Thank you for all the blessings.

-J. Michael

 

The Joy of Coaching 2: More Profiles of Fantastic Talent

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Let’s take a look at some more profiles of fantastic voiceover talent I have been privileged to work with as a coach and/or demo producer recently. What a pleasure it has been getting to know these superlative performers!

KATHERINE CRUMRINE  kathvoices.com

Kath has a remarkably pleasant voice that lends itself to both classic, polished reads, and the upbeat, conversational style that is trending in today’s VO world. Unfailingly articulate, and with the attention to detail of a master, Kath brings equal parts sunshine and authority to whatever she lends her voice to. Kath’s pride in her work is demonstrated in every single read, whether for top national brands or the mom and pop down the street; Everyone gets the same 150% effort when working with Kath. For competence and quality, Kath is hard to beat, which is why she is already among the top booking talent in the online casting marketplace.

C.J. MERRITT  cjmerritt.com

From the moment C.J. first read for me I knew I was in for a treat as a coach. One of the blessings of greatness in the voiceover industry is a natural ear for delivery, and the capacity to break down and interpret a script almost instantaneously. C.J. possesses both of these gifts, and he utilizes them expertly to offer reads that are always suited for the material. C.J.’s sweet spot is as the guy next door, but don’t let his natural charm fool you, he has the capacity to bring intensity and gravitas when the material calls for it, leaving the listener with goosebumps. For a modern delivery that defines the current VO scene, C.J. is your man.

DANA RIZZO  danarizzo.com

Equal parts sophistication and smile, Dana is right at home telling you about the latest promotion, narrating a cheerful nature documentary, or bringing an amusing explainer video to life with her abundant energy. Dana’s background in public speaking has made her a natural as a voice actor, and her devotion to perfection, (even when that means being perfectly casual in a read,) is an asset for any client. Check out Dana’s website to hire her for your next project!

KEITH HARRIS  keithharris.net/voice-over

Keith is one of the fastest-rising talent in the business today, and it’s no wonder that he has already amassed an impressive client list. With a prestigious career as an opera performer among his many credentials, Keith’s inherent talent as an actor shines through in every read. Equal parts youthful vibrancy and earnest intellectualism, Keith’s reads slice through the clutter and put the client’s story front and center. Current and fresh, Keith offers an incisive sound that makes the listener pay attention, while exuding warmth and trust. The sky is the limit for Keith….have a look at his website and add him to your next project while you can still afford him!

ALEXANA RYER voices.com/people/alexryer

Alexana’s competence as a narrator is second to none. During our time working together, she consistently amazed me with her ability to navigate the most complex technical language and medical terminology with the self-assurance of a teaching professor at a major doctoral university. Alexana’s voice is warm and reassuring, letting the listener know that they are in safe hands, and imbuing every element of the client’s message with credibility. As a commercial actress, Alexana can shine and sparkle with the best, seamlessly transitioning from happy and light to authoritative and even hard sell. If you want it done right, the first time, consider Alexana for your next project.

SARAH GARDNER  sarahgardnertalent.com

Sarah is the kind of talent who makes you smile every time you hear her voice. With a natural instinct for delivery that few can rival, Sarah’s polished, professional voice is an exceptional fit for any genre. While she can dial up classic professional reads with the very best of them, Sarah also has a remarkable capacity to pivot on a dime to a more informal and relatable sound that fits perfectly into a market gravitating towards millenials. Often a one-take-wonder, Sarah is a serious pro who would add value to any project. Hear her now by visiting her website!

Online Casting Unlimited & Platinum Tiers: An Insider’s Perspective

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Love or hate them, online casting sites are a fact of life in today’s voiceover marketplace. People from all walks of the business will continue to disagree over what they represent for our community. With all the recent discussion surrounding the top-tier memberships on online casting sites, I thought it would be appropriate to explore these online casting tiers from an insider’s perspective and offer some thoughts on when and whether one should consider making such a significant investment.
As a point of reference, I was a Platinum member on Voices.com for about five years until upgrading to Unlimited on September 1st, 2015. I have been a Platinum member of Voice123.com for about three years now. There are currently three high-end membership levels available. On Voices.com, the Platinum and Unlimited memberships, and on Voice123.com the Platinum membership.

Let’s look at Voices.com first

Since February 2014, all paying subscribers to Voices.com, (Premium lite, Premium, and Platinum,) have been subject to a system called VoiceMatch Invitations. This system was created to limit the number of auditions submitted to each job, as they routinely exceeded 200.  Essentially, it restricts all subscribers to seeing 20-30 out of the 40-50 public auditions posted daily that would match a well-filled-out male or female profile. The distribution of the auditions is entirely at random. There is no advantage to being Platinum within this system. You play by the same rules as everyone else. Your submissions are not seen earlier or ranked higher. I cast from Voices.com through a separate account and through client accounts, and I know this to be the case both from the talent perspective and that of the casting director. If I submit the 50th audition as a Platinum, I will likely be somewhere on page 2 or 3 depending on my VoiceMatch score.
The advantage Platinum talents do receive is strictly in search results. When a voice buyer searches for talent on Voices.com, they can do so by searching demo categories or keywords, with filters for gender, age, etc… In all of these search results, Platinum members are displayed first, (with the order among Platinum members determined on a random, rotating basis.) They are followed by Premium yearly members, Premium Lite members, and non-paying Guest accounts, in that order, (and also with the order among each tier randomized on a rotating basis.) As such, Platinum talent can generally expect to receive more private invitations resulting from appearing early in the search results, as well as direct bookings from the contact information on their profile page. Contrary to speculation, all paying members of Voices.com are allowed to post their contact information on their profiles.
Voices.com offers Platinum talent a variety of marketing bells and whistles, including annual press releases, which can be valuable to new talent trying to build name recognition. As a practical matter, however, the only functional advantage of Platinum over the Premium tiers is the extra visibility in search. If you have killer demos visible in most or all of the major categories, this can result in ROI.

Online Casting Tiers Platinum costs $2,500/year as of this writing

The new Unlimited tier, which went live on September 1st, carries all of the benefits of Platinum, with one further feature: It eliminates the VoiceMatch Invitations algorithm for subscribers, allowing Unlimited talent to see all of the public jobs posted to the site that match their profile. In others words, instead of seeing 20-30 auditions per day, Unlimited members will see 40-50, (and more….in my first two weeks as an Unlimited member, I have routinely seen as many as 60 jobs per day.)
To be clear, neither Platinum nor Unlimited offers any advantage on a job-for-job basis. Even Premium Lite members see the auditions at the same time as the Platinum and Unlimited tiers, and the order in which auditions appear to the voice buyer is still determined by VoiceMatch score. So, a Premium Lite member with a 100% VoiceMatch submitting simultaneously as an Unlimited member with a 95% VoiceMatch will still be listed higher in the voice buyer’s inbox than the Unlimited member.
Online casting tiers like unlimited strictly provides access to more public auditions. It is still up to the Unlimited member to follow the standard best practices for success on Voices.com if they want to be competitive, as no advantage is given.
Online casting tiers are not a means to bypass other qualifications. Instead, they are like buying a front-of-the-line pass at Disney World. You get the same experience with a bit more personal touch and a few access advantages……but you still must be this tall to ride this ride!

Unlimited is a $2,500 supplement to the Platinum tier

Voice123.com offers a single high-end tier, called Platinum. Voice123.com Premium paying members are subject to a system called SmartCast, which is designed to limit the number of auditions voice buyers see by discouraging talent from auditioning for projects that are not an ideal fit for their skills, and from auditioning too frequently altogether.
SmartCast considers two factors when deciding if and when a subscriber receives an audition:
 
1.) The frequency with which the talent submits auditions. If you are submitting more than 5 auditions per day, or your percentage of auditions and proposals submitted compared to similar talent exceeds 200%, you may begin to see fewer and fewer auditions from Voice123, as SmartCast will determine you are taking too big a piece of the pie, and other talent should have the chance to submit before you.
        2.) Your pricing choices. SmartCast will determine whether you prefer lower or higher budget jobs based on your bidding history, and you will be more likely to receive those types of projects early in the audition distribution process.
Voice123.com’s Platinum tier has one feature: It turns off SmartCast, allowing you to see all auditions that match your profile the moment they are posted. Because SmartCast is actively designed to limit the number of auditions that talent submit, this provides a distinct advantage for Platinum talent in that they can audition without fear of consequences, and are therefore far more likely to be in the first few submissions for any job they choose to audition for. For quality talent, this leads to substantial ROI.
Voice 123.com Platinum costs just under $5,000/year as of this writing.
A few more things to consider…….
All of these tiers are designed for professional-level talent who are capable of being competitive on all or most of the auditions they submit. I have personally experienced strong return on investment from Voices.com Platinum and Voice123.com Platinum, and am now starting to see ROI from Voices.com Unlimited, which I expect will pay for the premium over Platinum within a month.
Not everyone will see the same results. What’s the old phrase? Your miles may vary?
Let’s be very clear…..these sites are a meritocracyregardless of how much money you throw at them.
Yes, the Platinum tier on Voice123.com does offer a booking advantage, but a dilettante dropping $5K on a membership on either of these sites is likely to be very disappointed with the results. You must have the skill set, knowledge of tactical best practices for each site, and the ability to audition frequently and produce professional audio in order to see any return from these high-end memberships.
To that end, I always advise my VO students to consider two metrics when determining if this level of investment in an online casting site is likely to pay off, and you can apply these metrics as well.
 
1.) Do you routinely book at least a job per week from the site in question, having done so over a substantial, (say 6 months,) sample period?
      2.) Does the cost of the membership represent less than what you make from the site in question in an average three month period?
Suppose the answer to either of those questions is no. In that case, your chances of seeing ROI from these tiers is likely limited, and you would be better advised to invest that money in the continuing development of your skills and studio. If the answer is yes to one or both, then these tiers might be a good fit for you.
As the debate over online casting tiers continues to rage, it is more important than ever that those interested in participating in these marketplaces stay armed with the facts. It is unlikely that everyone in the VO community will ever be of one mind about what these sites mean to our industry, and I’m not interested in rehashing a debate where minds are unlikely to be changed. For now, better to keep the information flowing freely, so that all involved can make informed choices.

 

Getting Started in VO: An Alternative Path

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If you are a new talent getting started in VO, you may find yourself struggling to break into the business for any number of reasons. Many aspiring voice actors have the talent and desire to make it in this industry, but are held back by a lack of funds which prevents them from getting the coaching and training they need. Professionally produced demos, (an essential item for any talent who wishes to be competitive,) can often seem out of reach financially. Websites, online casting memberships or union dues, gear and acoustical treatment can all seem far too expensive to someone who is not yet earning at the level of a pro VO. Furthermore, the often career-defining element of building a brand, networking, and making connections who can help you book can be mystifying at the start of a career.

For motivated talent who need an entry into the business, and a little income that can both help pay the bills and cover the cost of beginning a VO career, there exists an option that is becoming more and more common with the advent of social media and the interconnected nature of the business today: Offering support services to established talent.

Talent with longstanding and successful careers don’t get there entirely on their own. Long-form narrators would suffer tremendous profit loss if they edited their own audio. If you are in the studio all day between client work and auditions, what time does that leave for marketing and brand building? Even fielding all the emails a working talent receives in a day can be a challenge. If that talent is a coach and demo producer, like some of us are, that volume can easily double. I’ve had this conversation with many well-known pros, and we all agree on one thing: Our business would grow much faster if we could clone ourselves!

Fortunately, we don’t have to. Today, dozens of aspiring talent have put their knowledge of editing, production, communication, marketing/branding, and the industry in general to good use by offering these services to working pros. These support services certainly don’t pay like VO work does, but they offer an entry into the marketplace for talent that may not yet have found their foothold. They earn some money, build contacts and relationships, find themselves on casting lists, and learn by doing. Ultimately, they can apply the knowledge they gain and the hands they shake, (literally or virtually,) to the advancement of their own VO careers, and transition to full time voiceover work with a wealth of experience and insider tips that many aspiring talent would happily pay for.

If you are getting started in VO and things aren’t moving as quickly as you hoped, spend some time on social media, (especially in the VO groups on Facebook and LinkedIn,) and see if you have skills that other talent may find useful. You will be amazed at the doors that can open for you.

New Talent Profiles: The Joy of Coaching

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One of my great pleasures as a voice over professional is having the opportunity to coach and train other extraordinary voices. Whether they are working pros looking to polish certain delivery styles, or new entrants to this exciting business, helping these talents develop their skills, and book work, is one of the most rewarding parts of my job. Here’s a look at some new talent profiles I have had the pleasure of working with recently. I hope you will keep them in mind for your next project!

AMY WEIS  amyweis.com

Amy is the original one-take-wonder. Her capacity for understanding the content of a script and getting quickly into a well-conceived character is remarkable. Her voice is centered in a wise and professional space but can easily range from young and bubbly to sexy and sophisticated. Amy will bring life to any script with a facility for both commercial work and various narration genres.

SAMUEL FLEMING ivoicetoday.com

Samuel’s voice defines youthful and fresh. With a style that puts you instantly at ease while simultaneously capturing your attention, Samuel can channel an under-30 sound that resonates with young people from all walks of life. If you are looking for a contemporary and energetic vibe, try Samuel Fleming for your next piece.

KIM HANDYSIDES  kimhandysides.com

Kim is classical quality personified. With a voice as highly tuned and finely polished as they come, she’ll surprise you with her ability to transition from familiar tones to a modern conversational style on a dime. Kim owns every script she sees, leaving nothing on the table as she fully invests in making the words seem almost tangible. For guaranteed quality, Kim is hard to beat.

MIKE SCHURKO  voices.com/people/MikeSchurkoVO

Mike is a rising star in the world of VO, with an incredibly bright future. Combining a hip, modern, and believable delivery, Mike adds a touch of earnestness and gravitas to selected reads that allow him to compete in almost any genre. One minute, he’s telling you about the cool features of the latest smartphone, and the next he is walking you through a tragic scene from World War II, each executed with effortless grace. Mike is your guy when your project calls for both class and authenticity.

RENA LOVEMAN  voices.com/people/Rena_Loveman

Rena’s vocal quality is one of the most unique and marketable I have heard in many years. At her core, she exudes a smoky ferocity that adds intensity and authority to narration pieces, while creating a captivating commercial sensuality. Highly adaptable to content, Rena can also shift comfortably into a more relatable style that allows her to connect closely with the listener. With a natural ear for delivering a script and incredible self-direction abilities, Rena is a formidable talent worthy of consideration for any booking.

ROBERT FLEMING  http://teatimevo.com

Robert’s voice is extremely current, with an 18-35-year-old sound that makes younger audiences pay attention. While he naturally moves through conversational scripts with casual precision, he also has a formality that lends itself well to denser material. Robert has a particular talent for medical narration, able to deliver words with innumerable syllables with the expert confidence of a surgeon. Robert is an easy call for a young sound capable of playful banter and natural authority alike.

What Can the Voiceover Business Learn from Politics? More Than You Might Think!

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There is a lot of money in political campaigns. At the national level, this can amount to hundreds of millions of dollars for a single candidate. Some is well spent, while much is wasted in pursuit of vainglorious ambitions that exceed public buy-in. The question is, can the voiceover business learn from politics?
Embedded within the political process, however, are a low-profile group of individuals whose presence on a campaign can often make or break the candidate’s chance for success. These people often have vague titles like, “media adviser,” “consultant,” or, “strategist.” Ultimately, they are a highly-skilled group of fixers who can make the most mundane aspirant look electric, and the most scandal-ridden seem virtuous.
These operatives who add tremendous value to a political campaign have one thing in common: While they may draw a fixed salary over the length of the race, they make their real money based directly on the added value they provide, as measured by the media buy of the campaign. The better job they do, the more contributions a candidate receives, and the more money the campaign has to spend on advertising…….a small but significant percentage of which goes into their pocket.
There have been fiery debates recently about broadcast and new media rate structures in the voiceover business. A perception exists that rates are being pushed lower by talent influx and changing technology. Discussions both civil and acrimonious have generally boiled down to a broad consensus that buyouts are bad, and residual pricing based on usage is good.
Is it possible, however, that we may be missing the point altogether? Is there a fairer and more accurate means of determining appropriate broadcast and new media rate structures that account precisely for the value our services have added to a project? Can a $150 TV buyout on an online casting site actually be fairer than a national spot at double union scale with residuals?
This author believes the answer is yes to all three questions.
Consider this: The cost of a 13 week national broadcast run for a major brand commercial can run into the millions of dollars. With TV, maybe some cut downs for radio, and Internet pre-roll/social media ads, let’s say a major McBurger joint might spend $2M on the ad buy alone.
Union scale for such an ad might amount to around $4K for the various media for a single cycle. This represents one fifth of one percent of the total ad buy into the pocket of the single individual chosen by the company to give voice to their message.
Does that seem fair?
During a recent coaching session with a talent I am mentoring on the voiceover business, we browsed through job postings on a particular online casting platform. We encountered a TV ad for a nursing organization to run for one month in a single market of maybe 50,000 people in upstate New York. Pay? $150. Now, both of us initially reacted the same way: $150 for TV? That’s laughable!
Then a little light bulb went on.
What might this particular group be spending to air this project? Maybe…..maybe…..$2500? That might be a high estimate considering the market, but let’s go with it. TV only, 4-week buy, small local market, $2500. So, at $150 all-in, the talent receives fully six percent of the media buy.
If the talent working for the McBurger company were to receive the same, their pay for the gig would be $120,000 for a single cycle.
Which one seems more fair now?
It is entirely possible that the debate over rates, online casting, union versus non-union, etc… has completely missed the point. While blanket buyouts are clearly exploitative, especially for large brands, the cycle and usage structures the industry has long relied upon is only a degree less abusive. We are still signing away tremendous added value for a pittance of what we actually contribute to the campaign’s success. Perhaps there is a third way.
Broadcast and new media jobs should be considered in context, not based on holy-writ numbers negotiated in back rooms or dreamed up by entrepreneurs, the majority of which tend to be exceedingly favorable to the buyer.
This third way paradigm applies particularly well to new media like internet pre-roll, YouTube ads, and social media advertising. Tracking usage and impressions is cumbersome if it is possible at all. Tracking the media buy is much more accessible, and a far better barometer of the value we are adding.  A medium to large social media ad campaign might cost $50,000, for instance. While the six percent figure presented in the small market spot example is probably a bit ambitious, one could argue that a minimum session fee plus three percent of the total ad buy would be a fair rate for any broadcast or new media run.
For our social media campaign, that might mean $250+$1,500 for usage. For McBurger, a flat $60,000….and for our nurses in Utica? That $150 suddenly looks a bit more reasonable.
These days, it’s not often that we look to politics for good ideas on our voiceover business. The great rate debate will not abate any more than poor alliteration. Nevertheless, perhaps this third way offers promise to bring order to the chaos.

 

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