Secrets of An Agent Man discussion
Posted by Roger King | Filed under Secrets of an Agent Man
Voice Over Xtra has published my blog piece about the PN Agency business model in hopes of generating some discussion in the industry about voice agents & representation. Hopefully, there will be some comments and observations from VO Xtra readers in different cities.
Here is the URL for the article and comments:
http://www.voiceoverxtra.com/article.htm?id=t9njmxig
Tags: PN Agency, voice talent agent, Voice-over Industry, Voice-Over Xtra
Secrets of an Agent Man: The PN Agency Business Model
Posted by Roger King | Filed under Secrets of an Agent Man
This February 1st, it will be 10 years since I took over PN Agency from the previous owner. It has been a great ride so far and it has me thinking about the different business models that now exist for talent agencies and/or voice over websites like the pay to plays et al.
Our approach at PN Agency to this point has been to represent Toronto-based talent only and have a decent sized but manageable roster. We know all the people we represent – we even have cocktails from time to time. Despite technology allowing a talent to do a voice over from anywhere, the majority of our clients are still Toronto-based and prefer to work with talents in person at a Toronto studio (some sessions are even catered!).
We are one of three non-union voice agencies in Toronto and all of us have different business models. One agency is much larger than PN Agency with both a Toronto-based roster and also a separate home studio roster from all over the country. They don’t put the focus on getting to know their talents personally but rather on providing a large roster of voices to their clients, at predetermined rates posted on their website. The other non-union voice agency in town (you don’t expect me to name our competitors, do you?!) focuses on managing a much smaller roster but while they have Toronto clients, they also manage some of their talents on the pay to play sites. So, it’s a real mix of local and on-line.
Far be it for me to judge our competitors – we all seem to be doing fine – but I’m committed to the idea that a good approach for an agent is to have a solid roster of people in one city and use that to cultivate a consistent and well-paying client base in that city. It may seem counter-intuitive in this day and age of pay to play sites and all these “middle man agents” connecting talents and clients all over the world but we have been able to attract quality voice talents who are looking for more of a personal relationship with their agent (strictly platonic of course) and to work with good clients in their own city.
Not that we don’t work with and seek out clients all over the world but our bread and butter is still the Toronto production companies, recording studios, TV networks and ad agencies. It has worked very well for us in Toronto and we are considering expanding to other cities with the same approach. I am always interested to hear from talents who feel this kind of voice representation is lacking in their hometown.
Tags: PN Agency, VO industry, voice talent agent, Voice-over Industry
Voice Over Experts Podcast
Posted by Roger King | Filed under Secrets of an Agent Man
The fine folks at voices.com have posted my podcast on Tips for Collecting from Overdue Clients. It is part of their Voice Over Experts series and you can listen to it here:
http://podcasts.voices.com/voiceoverexperts/
Tags: VO industry, Voice Over Experts, voice talent agent, voices.com
Untrained In Vain
Posted by Roger King | Filed under Voice Coaches, Voice Over Experience
I’ve often thought it would be nice to just pick up a guitar and hit the nearest open mic night. I don’t play guitar of course. Or wouldn’t it be amazing to audition for a casting director in town who casts Hollywood feature films shooting in Toronto? I have no acting experience though, unless you count 11th grade drama class or my turn as General Bullmoose in the high-school musical, Lil Abner. Why don’t I dazzle the open mic crowd with my thundering licks or wow the casting director looking for the charming and witty character actor? Because I don’t have any training!
This is obvious but yet a week doesn’t go by where I don’t get requests to join the voice roster from people who have never done voice work. Never auditioned for anything. Have never even taken a class! Is there anything in the world where you can just walk in and do it without any prior experience or training? Don’t answer that…
Point being – an agent represents a talent. He/she is a salesperson for that artist. It’s really difficult to sell someone who has never done voice work and has no training.
ALERT: This is a short blog entry. It is my new strategy in order to push myself to write more frequently. I am going to turn the Untrained In Vain idea into a series of posts that focus on some voice coaches in town whom I think do good work.
P.S. Another e-mail I received recently that didn’t go over well with this talent agent: “I have a voice demo but it’s not professionally produced. Is that okay?” Uh…no.
Tags: Voice Coaches, voice talent agent, voice work, voice-over
Secrets of an Agent Man: Cheques and Balances
Posted by Roger King | Filed under Secrets of an Agent Man
One of the advantages of having an agent is it means someone else can handle the billing/invoicing and the sometimes thankless job of chasing after overdue accounts, leaving you to just concentrate on doing the voice sessions and then finding a good table on the patio after the recording. Of course, you may be a voice talent who also goes after work on your own and therefore you’ve got your own accounts receivable department. As an agent, I’ve experienced every accounts receivable scenario under the sun so allow me to share some wisdom that may help you when tracking down those overdues and dealing with those charming clients who appear incapable of comprehending the fact they owe you money.
PREEMPTIVE STRIKES
First off, a couple of preemptive strike things to do before and immediately after the VO. I believe I’m stating the obvious but get every job booking/confirmation in an e-mail. You never want to have to reference a phone conversation after the fact. “I didn’t say $300, I said $700.” In this day and age, e-mail correspondence does hold up legally. But be clear and concise in e-mails so that someone not intimately involved in your tense negotiations can make sense of what was agreed to without having to read through several e-mails or constantly scrolling up and down.
After you’ve lent your dulcet tones to the project, keep a copy of the script if possible (obviously easier to do if it’s a home studio job) and also keep or obtain a copy of the audio, assuming it’s not a 90-minute e-learning narration at someone else’s studio. Hang on to any correspondence that acknowledges receipt of your final audio if it is a home studio job, and of course acknowledgement of your invoice. This is of course the preemptive strike against the age-old classic, “I never received it.”
Now fast forward to the point at which your invoice is overdue. What can you do to “inspire” your client to pay, short of taking them to court, which of course you may ultimately have to do. I’m assuming you’re at the point where you’ve done the squeaky wheel thing with your client – email and telephone follow-ups, telegrams, megaphone outside their office window etc – and they’re not paying. I should point out that clients come in all shapes and sizes and it’s up to you to make the call as to whether whatever excuse/reasoning your client is giving you for not paying is valid. Not all late payers are bad apples. Some legitimately run into a rough patch or are overwhelmed for one reason or another.
THE NEXT STEPS
But if you’re not “buying” their excuses or worse, they’re not communicating at all, where do you go from there? Look for clues as to who *their* client is. If you have a copy of the script, it might be on there somewhere. It may have been a corporate video narration for Microsoft but their client is more likely to be a local ad agency or production company. There is nothing wrong with taking your squeaky wheel routine to a 3rd party. Example: A client wasn’t paying my agency for some home show radio spots. Getting nowhere with my client, I phoned the marketing department of the home show itself and simply explained that we had not received payment for commercials that had already aired. Within 24 hours, I heard from my client who was, shall we say, perturbed that I had contacted *his* client but not as perturbed as the home show clients were at him for not paying his bills. They loved the voice talents on the spots and were planning to record more spots in the fall. Miraculously, after these phone conversations, I received full payment in 2 days.
Be polite when calling a 3rd party but don’t hesitate to use this phrase: “It is illegal to air commercials without paying the talent.” IT IS ILLEGAL. Three words that get people’s attention! Also, do not character assassinate when calling a 3rd party.
Acceptable: Dazzle Productions has not paid the talent who voiced these commercials.
Not Acceptable: Dazzle Productions are assholes who never pay their bills.
(This would be the place where I would normally put an asterisk beside Dazzle Productions and you would go to the bottom of this blog entry and see that the asterisk indicates the name has been changed. But no, Dazzle Productions is a terrible company and they do not pay their bills and therefore I am happy to slander them here! Don’t ever do any work for Dazzle Productions.)
When talking to a 3rd party, just stick to the facts. Don’t editorialize. This is for legal reasons mainly – you don’t want to give your client ammunition to come back at you with any kind of defamation of character charges. And you don’t want the person on the other end of the line to think you go around bad-mouthing people in the industry unnecessarily. As long as you tell the truth, you cannot be accused of character assassination or economic interference.
There is also no harm in calling the radio or TV station where the spots aired to let them know you haven’t been paid, if they are in your city. They won’t necessarily be able to do anything but you want to get your client’s attention and the more people somehow connected to the work you did that you inform, the better. Again, be straight forward with the facts and don’t hesitate to use those fun 3 words: It is illegal!
Other tidbits when trying to collect from deadbeats:
When you follow-up by phone, call from different numbers or block your number. Call your client’s cell phone rather than a work phone.
Call at odd hours. Not 2:00 am but why confine it to business hours when they are expecting you to call.
Construct an e-mail to their clients detailing how unprofessional they have been in dealing with you. Tell your client the e-mail goes out on Friday if you haven’t received payment.
Spread the word in the VO community or at least talk with others to see if they have had similar experiences with this client and how things got resolved, if at all.
Never lose sight of the goal of getting paid. Your job is to be as persistent and annoying as the situation calls for in order to get your money. Without physical threats of course. I look at clients like this as shoplifters. They have taken something and not paid for it. Make them pay – literally!
Tags: corporate videos, television commercials, voice talent agent, Voice-over Industry
UPDATE: I Work for Talents, not Clients
Posted by Roger King | Filed under Secrets of an Agent Man
If you scroll down a couple of posts, you’ll see a piece entitled “I Work For Talents, Not Clients”. The update to that is:
The client paid in full!!!!
The fine folks at Voice Over Extra turned that blog piece into a feature story which generated several comments from industry folks. You can read it here:
http://www.voiceoverxtra.com/article.htm?id=cs4zerad
My next piece coming later this week keeps this theme rolling with advice on how to collect from deadbeat clients!
Tags: voice talent agent, voice-over, Voice-over Industry, Voice-Over Xtra
