Secret Agent Man Guest Appearance
Posted by Roger King | Filed under Secrets of an Agent Man
Edge Studios in New York has asked me to be their guest tonight for their ongoing series, Talk With A Pro. Apparently, I’m the “pro” :)-
I’ll be taking questions about being a voice agent and the voice over industry in general from people all over North America tonight from 9-10 pm EST.
Details here: www.edgestudio.com/workshop-talk-with-a-pro.htm
Tags: Edge Studios, VO industry, voice talent agent, voice-over, Voice-over Industry
Civil Rates! Secrets of an Agent Man - Volume 4
Posted by Roger King | Filed under Secrets of an Agent Man
The voice-over webisphere is all abuzz because a new online casting site - voicejockeys.com - is offering $55 a spot to voice talents and will take 50% (!) commission on that already lucrative fee. The site works like many others out there in that talents “pay to play”. That is, it’s free for producers to cast off the site; it’s the voice over talents who pay a subscription fee to get access to jobs being cast.
In an upcoming post, I’ll share my thoughts on this business model but to the point of this entry, I’ve seen web forums and a Linked In group discussion (which reached over 100 posts) tackling the voicejockeys “situation”. VoiceOver Extra has posted an ongoing series from Robert Sciglimpaglia (www.voiceoverxtra.com/article.htm?id=4r9qn51f), a voice-over talent/lawyer who says he is “negotiating” with the folks at Voice Jockeys, presumably to remind them it’s not 1953 (I like the idea of a voice-over talent/lawyer - he can sue his own clients when they don’t pay!)
This mass hysteria over the idea that some entity is trying to get services for a really cheap price - as though the concept was just invented in 2010 - got me thinking it’s high time for another installment of Secrets of An Agent Man, this time on the subject of rate negotiation.
As more and more voice talents work for themselves, with or without representation, the skill of setting rates and more importantly, sticking to them, is almost as integral to the business as the voice itself. As a voice talent agent, I should have some thoughts to contribute in this area.
What follows is the Voice Over Canada rules for rate structure and negotiation. Note: I encourage all producers who hire voice talents from my agencies, PN Agency (www.pnagency.com) and Ethnic Voice Talent (www.ethnicvoicetalent.com) to stop reading now. It’ll just get boring for you. Nothing to read here. Move along.
1)Do not be afraid. If you have a price in mind, stick to it. The worst that can happen is the client says no and you end up slightly malnourished that month. But at least you still have your soul!
2)Never give your price until you get at least have some idea of the specifics of the project. Ideally, get them to quote first so you can either attempt to find a middle ground or at the very least, laugh uproariously. Or maybe they are completely on the same wavelength as you with regards to a fair price.
3) No seriously, wait as long as possible to name your price. You’re always after INFORMATION.
4)Never quote based on the phrase, “there is going to be a lot more work after this one”.
5)Low budget stuff is low budget for a reason - because it’s crap! Unless it’s charity of course :)-
6)If there are typos in the first client e-mail inquiry and/or general sloppiness, you can almost always expect that same approach all the way through the project. Ex. The phrase “Oh we forgot 4 pages of the script” after you’ve already submitted the finished audio with your invoice.
7)People always want to work with someone they like so if at all possible, stay friendly, with a sense of humor, even if it’s a “tense negotiation”.
8)The client is NOT always right. If someone isn’t following the general rules of “being a decent human being”, there is no reason why you can’t tactfully point this out to them.
9)You’re a professional. Price yourself accordingly. Take yourself and your work seriously.
10)Don’t take yourself too seriously. You’re just a voice talent, you’re not performing brain surgery or working for Doctors Without Borders. If I’m wrong about this, I tip my hat to you!
Tags: Ethnic Voice Talent, PN Agency, voice talent agent, voice work, Voice-over Industry, Voice-Over Xtra
Classic Videos: The Voice-Over World meets American politics
Posted by Roger King | Filed under Classic Videos
Surely you’ve heard about D.C. Douglas, the L.A.-based voice talent who voices Geico commercials, being dropped from their spots because he left an angry voicemail message with a group that organizes tea party events? For that story, go here:
Well, now Douglas has fired back - not at Geico but at the Tea Partiers. Here is his You Tube montage, entitled “Tea Bagger Boogie”. This story combines the voice-over world with American politics. How could I not post this?
Tags: radio & TV, television commercials, VO industry, Voice-over Industry
Linked In Agent Man
Posted by Roger King | Filed under Secrets of an Agent Man
I don’t fully get Linked In the way I get Facebook. I got Facebook the second I posted my profile and it still sucks me in, almost on a daily basis. I haven’t decided whether to bother promoting this blog in any “real” way there yet. Linked In, on the other hand hasn’t really grabbed me in the same way.
I get that people can post their resumes there so you no longer have to stand in line at Kinkos at midnight waiting for your colour copies. But for those of us not looking for a job, I kind of know almost everyone I’m linked in with already. I suppose you can find someone out there whom you worked with 10 years ago and had forgotten all about but on the whole, much of linked in seems like a poor man’s Facebook (the status updates, the profile tweaking etc) or just people acknowledging that they are in the same business and know each other.
But I’m still open to seeing the wisdom of it all. On that note, I did link this blog to my Linked In profile last week and I’ve also joined one group called Voice Over Professionals. As the name implies, it seems so far to be a discussion group for talents who have questions on various areas of the voice-over biz. I just chimed in on my first discussion moments ago and I post it for you below as it’s applicable to this blog, needless to say. And of course note that I couldn’t resist promoting the blog at the end!
Using an out-of-market agent!
Hi Folks,
Question (well, 2 actually): For those with representation - does your agent object to you using additional agents for other markets? If not, have you had success finding a large-market agent with just a demo?
”No” to the first question, and no experience with the second. I managed to find a large-market agent without a demo, which I know is extremely rare. One of the agency reps was a judge for a talent show I participated in, and they brought me on just from her recommendation.
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Posted 5 days ago | Reply Privately
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Unless you’re exclusive in that state with that agent, it’s my understanding you can (and want) many agents representing you. In fact, even if you are exclusive in a state with a particular agent, you can be exclusive with a different agent in each state. This is info I gained from my studio, Sound Advice. Can anyone confirm that?
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Excellent posts, thanks. My agency doesn’t have any restrictions on looking for other reps out of state, but in the truly big markets, it looks tough to get heard by an agent without a strong referral from talent already signed to them.
If anyone has had success with just a demo, I’d love to hear about it!Posted 2 days ago | Reply Privately -
Roger King
President, PN Agency & Ethnic Voice Talent
I thought I’d chime in here because I AM an agent :)- I run PN Agency and Ethnic Voice Talent in Toronto, Canada. We’re a non-union shop and my two rules of thumb for representation are: 1)You have to be non-union. 2)You can’t have voice representation by anyone else in Canada. The talents on my roster are free to seek representation in the U.S. or anywhere else in the world and of course can join on-line sites like voices.com
As for the demo…it is your calling card so it’s always the first and major step to getting in the door. I would never agree to represent someone without meeting them but have gone on just the demo after meeting them and getting a sense of their background.
Hope this helps.
FYI - for more from the perspective of a voice talent agent, go here:
www.voiceovercanada.ca
Tags: Linked In, non-union, voice talent agent, voice-over, voices.com
