Agents: Where Are Your Actors Getting Recording Advice?

Ok folks. This post is for the agents, so actors go find something fun to do while us business-y folks have a quick chat.

Agents. What the heck?

In my role as consultant, my last SIX home visits have been to fix home studios. I’m seeing a pattern.

• Actor wants/needs to be able to record from home.
• Actor does little to no research.
• Actor buys a USB mic or a booth-in-a-box style solution off of a casual recommendation.
• Actor spends very little time learning how to use their gear.
• Actor’s recordings are not competitive.

I’m hired to come in and “fix” a fundamentally broken setup.

Where are your actors looking for advice? Are you helping prepare them?

Remember, we’re talking about taking creative people, and turning them into self-directing, self-engineering, post-producing/editing machines.

This is precisely why I no longer keep a “recommended” gear list. There are too many outlets looking to package one size fits all solutions. The most important aspect of HOME recording IS the home you’re recording in. I find it irresponsible to blindly recommend a recording solution when I don’t know what someone’s space sounds like. This is how I’ve built my reputation, even though it’s cost me business. I don’t like to guess. I like to know.

So, here’s a novel thought. What if instead of buying something, trying to make it work, then hiring a professional to come in and fix it, we recommend an actor hire a professional engineer FIRST. Yeah it’s a bit more expensive up front, but it’ll save you and your actor more in the long run, especially in terms of time.

To be perfectly frank, it sucks. It sucks having to tell someone that they’ll need to buy different pieces of gear. It sucks telling them they picked the wrong mic for their space. It sucks watching their face when they realize it’s not “plug-n-play” like everyone told them it would be. I’d MUCH rather be involved earlier. I'd rather make sure it was done right the first time.

Instead of guessing if a mic will sound good in your actor’s bedroom, someone like me could bring a half dozen mics for your client to try out. YOU could even approve the sound YOU like the best for SELLING your talent. We won’t be guessing what kind of room treatments they’ll need. We’ll KNOW. See that pic above? That's half my current mic locker. With mics ranging in price from $60 to $2500, I'm pretty sure we'll be able to find something flattering...

Picking the right mic from the get-go means we can also stop this bullshit advice we give actors to read with a blanket over their heads. THREE of my last six consultations were doing it. It’s crap.

Part of the benefit to this process is confidence. We don’t book actors who sound insecure. They need to sound sure of themselves, comfortable in their skin, in their environment. Having a pro come in and walk them around their gear, show them the ins and outs of their software, this should RADICALLY shorten the time it takes for a talent to start producing competitive reads.

So build a few relationships, Agents. Send out some assistants to butter up some studio engineers. Find some people you can recommend your actors do business with. Avoid anyone who’s just going to sell Neumann/Sennheiser/Etc. You want someone knowledgeable enough to take into account an individual actor’s experience, tech savvy, and budget to achieve a tailored sound for that talent’s environment and voice. Your actors will have to PAY them for that knowledge, but thinking long term, it should help your performers tremendously. It’s about bookings, and your clients will be using these tools more and more in the future, not less.

Speaking from first hand experience, actors aren’t finding good advice on their own.
Here’s one of the first videos I found on youtube for “Choosing a Microphone”.

Not to pick on this gentleman too much here (he IS talking about podcasting after all), but his audio sucks, and he doesn’t even know how to properly mount the mic he’s recommending. Think it can’t happen to one of your actors? Twice in the last year I’ve had to re-mount a large diaphragm condenser that the talent had setup dynamic mic “radio style”.

These two mics for example, are mounted and used in VERY different ways.

Make sure your actors are getting better advice than this, but if they aren’t, I’ll be happy to bill them for my time to fix it.

A Follow Up to My PayPal Rant

Following up on my rant about Paypal, I actually did change some of my behaviour. In that post, I complained about recent experiences with the service, and vowed to find alternatives. Now, normally I would just bitch and moan, get that out of my system, and return to business as usual, but to be fair to you (my loyal readers) I wanted to share how the experiment is going.

Long story short: It’s not going as well as I’d hoped, but early results are promising.

The biggest hurdle of course is something largely out of my control, trying to change my client’s behavior. As I mentioned in my rant, Paypal has the momentum, the mind share, and even though the service has its share of warts, people are used to it. It's the devil we know...

Over the last fiscal quarter, I’ve aggressively pushed Dwolla as my primary web payment system, and for face to face transactions I’ve been using Square to process credit cards.

Dwolla has been a great find, as they refuse to take credit cards, solely managing bank routing transactions. As a result, their fees are ridiculously low. Fees are only 25 cents for any transaction over $10. That’s it. Doesn’t matter if you’re moving $15 or $1500.
They’ve recently improved their Android app, and have also started a new “Instant” payment program which is essentially a credit buffer to help circumvent bank processing time (usually about 3 business days to process transactions).

Now there are times where I still need to run a credit card, and for that I’ve moved to Square. They were the first company to start equipping Android and iOS smartphones with card scanner add-ons. Attach the reader, and you can swipe the card, process the payment, and have your customer sign the transaction. Fees are slightly better than PayPal’s at 2.75%, and the service accepts all four major cards. Honestly, the novelty of the service has impressed several of my consulting clients, and it’s made me look “cutting edge”.

Since it’s a credit card transaction, I honestly don’t need any of PayPal’s extra baggage to complete the purchase. I just need a simple POS solution.

PayPal has of course already ripped off the idea, and is rolling out their own version of the mobile transaction service (complete with add on scanner for phones), but I’ll be sticking with Square for the lower fees.

So where does that leave us?
I’ve processed dozens of transactions since writing my original rant, and the tally so far:
Paypal - 60%
Dwolla - 25%
Square - 15%

A couple of my clients totally understood how I was losing a significant chunk of each transaction through Paypal (especially when sending an invoice), and were totally willing to join me on Dwolla. The novelty of Square is just too cool not to use, but I really don’t handle that many direct credit card transactions. Paypal is still taking the lion’s share of my business, but in four months, I’ve cut them back by 40%.

My goal is to get them down to 25% by the end of the year.

Give It Time MEANS Give It Time

Ok newbie vo talent, especially those asking me what it takes to break into this business, I’m sensing impatience.

I’ve recently walked away from two encounters (neither of which were paid coachings or consultations) where the person hitting me up for advice got frustrated with me. Both seemed to check out of our conversation at about the same time, right around the time that I mentioned that breaking into VO requires an investment in time.

Initially there’s a skeptical acceptance:

“Oh sure, I’m GOING to give it time...” [Subtext: “...like until next Wednesday...”]

This stage is an open belittling of my painfully obvious advice.
This must be me blowing them off. Everybody knows that!

Then we follow up this dismissal with a more aggressive re-direct. Sometimes this stage gets openly hostile. Essentially it boils down to frustration that I am not giving them “The TRICK©”.

See, “The TRICK®” is that magical unicorn piece of advice which, upon receiving it, allows the listener to prosper financially without having to invest in all that time, effort, expense, relationship building, and learning. These actors would be able to circumvent all that drudgery if ONLY *I* were cool, and delivered unto them “The TRICK™”.

You want “The TRICK” (patent pending)?

The trick IS time.

If you’re new to this craft you are trying to accomplish two goals:
1 - You are trying to determine what your style of performance will be.
2 - You are creating a small business built around the idea of selling that performance style.

In what other market or business sector are small businesses immediately successful when the owners of that business aren’t entirely sure what their product even is?
Successful brands are not built overnight. It takes time to establish a brand’s message or vibe. THEN, once that’s been nailed down, it takes a significant amount of energy to introduce that brand into a competitive market place.
Not only will you have to outlast all the other upstarts that jump in around the same time as you, you ALSO need to position yourself against the established brands.

Time. Money. Effort.

But most of all, Time.

The MOST Fun You'll Ever Have Reading a Review of an Office Shredder...

For all our talk about Voice Over being a business, I often find it's those business-y elements which get passed over for all the sexy talk about microphones and performance. What about filing your taxes? What about managing your invoices?

What about protecting your sensitive information?

Yup. In my role as gadget reviewer, it's time to talk about some office equipment. I’m not totally nerding out on you guys though, because this particular piece of office gear just so happens to mulch up your documents in a very satisfying way…

Shredders aren’t something you think about when you’re younger and ruining your credit (like I did in college), but as you get older and start building some real purchasing power, you suddenly get hounded with offers, pre-approved, on a near daily basis.

You also might be dealing with sensitive personal information that you don’t want falling into the wrong hands. I’ve been pretty paranoid about that since my identity was stolen, and they didn’t even do anything cool with my ID! They used it to get a job at McDonalds… Who does that?

The Swingline Stack & Shred 80x is more than happy to oblige your personal paranoid tendencies!

The S&S80X is a large sucker, at least it’s big compared to our old crappy shredder. It belongs under a computer desk, in a near permanent place of honor. The S&S can shred manually via a top slot, or by a top loading tray, where the shredder gets its “Stack & Shred” moniker, and it earns its “80X” by being able to tackle 80 page jobs at a time.

This thing will tackle staples, paper clips, credit cards, even CD’s! you start looking for things to throw at it. You start thinking of starting a new gadget destruction site like “Will it Blend” (FYI, the Droid RAZR isn’t thin enough to be fed through an S&S80X).

Features are pretty great. The unit has automatic jam recovery, reversing and re-shredding until it completes the job. This is pretty handy, as you’ll be shredding quite a bit to fill the Swingline’s five GALLON capacity bin. A recyclable bin liner is included, and you’re supposed to buy more bin liners, but honestly I just kept reusing the included one to transfer to paper grocery bags.

Perhaps my favorite “feature” is how quiet the unit operates. Our old shredder would screech through individual pages. The S&S80X surely isn’t silent, but creates a nice rumbling sound. The kind of rumble which lulls you into a comfortable confidence that no one will apply for a fast food job using your social ever again…

To put it to the test, my Wife and I took out our bags of mail with sensitive info in them. Yes. Bags. Quick side note, Chase, Citi, and BofA send me DAILY offers for credit cards. DAILY. I’ll NEVER do business with you. STOP SENDING THEM!

Anywho, over the course of one afternoon in front of the TV, we took care of mail that had been building up for a year.

The S&S does not like having different kinds of paper shredded together, like glossy inserts next to newsprint style paper. The only times we had to manually clean up jams was during mixed paper shreds like that.

We also managed to get the unit to over heat three times. That’s REALLY impressive since this thing is not supposed to be run full time for a whole day. Our old shredder would lock up after about 30 minutes of constant use. The S&S80X wrapped up our shredding like a champ.

This is an easy recommend folks. In two years we replaced our low end shredders three times. Which is about what you would pay for the Stack & Shred, and suffer a LOT less hassle to boot. This really is a great addition to a home, small home office, or even a small office work group inside a larger company.

AND, I made it this whole review without making a TMNT joke...

Shop for Swingline Shredders on Amazon, and you'll be supporting SomeAudioGuy at no additional cost to you!

Kyle Hebert (Voice of Gohan) Pretty Much Sums Up How I Feel About That Bandai Situation

It's seven and a half minutes of honesty and reason. Enjoy.

Saying Goodbye to Paypal

I've talked a lot about performance and booth etiquette on this blog, but VO is a business. 

One of the most crucial aspects of any business? Getting paid. 

Thanks to digital reach each small business VO player, out of necessity, has to have nation or world-wide reach. That means needing to have solutions in place for large companies with actual payroll and invoicing structures, and moving all the way down the chain to individuals paying for their business needs from their personal credit cards and checking accounts. 

For the last several years, I've been using Paypal as my solution for that latter scenario. The bummer? I've never liked using Paypal. 

We can all agree that fees associated with credit/debit card based services will always suck. That's a pain we can all just take for granted now. However, FOR those fees I would expect a decent service, and this is something Paypal has never delivered for me. Their service is painful to use. 

The site layout is awful. There are always delays in doing what you want to do. They can invoice you and pull money from you nearly instantly, but moving money out of their system always takes several business days.  

The site's security is draconian, which should be a good thing since we're dealing with people's banking and credit card information, but in practice it always feels like a barrier. Jokes online abound with people unable to log in to their accounts for the few occasions they need to actually use the service. This year alone, I've been forced to change my password on three separate occasions, and have been "selected" to "participate" in two security audits where I needed to re-verify all of my information. Each of these audits have taken my account offline for more than a week at a time. Wouldn't you know it though, during the audits, I could still deposit money into my Paypal account, but I couldn't withdraw it...

These types of actions don't really instill me with a lot of confidence in using their service. I can't imagine what I would do if I depended on it for mission critical invoicing. 

So I'm going to stop using it. Goodbye Paypal. 

I'm under no illusion that my meager protest will actually affect much change. Paypal is probably the most well known digital invoicing company on the planet, but my money is the only vote I have, and I'm tired of giving them my money only to be frustrated. 

In the meantime, I'm looking for alternatives. Dwolla looks really interesting, and the fees are MUCH more reasonable (also, politically, anytime I can route my money without using a credit card, it just makes me feel better). 

I'd be open to any suggestions you have as well.

AudioGuy Mail Bag: How Do You Audition a Microphone?

I've gotten this one a couple times, so I figured I'd use it for a post.

I live close to a Guitar Center and they have a "health policy" which doesn't allow mic tryouts. So if that's the situation generally, how do I uncover the "best" mic(s) for me? It seems that every mic, regardless of cost, has a following of fans. Therefore, recommendations are kinda useless, don't you think? Anyway, the reason for this is to say thank you for your contributions and I will watch for your articles in the future.
Sincerely,
TD

I agree with that last sentiment TD. The forums can be a really tricky place to get objective info. Often it seems people start with any of the decent budget mics (RODE, MXL, M-Audio, AT,etc), and then after saving, jump straight to a Neumann TLM103/U87 or Sennheiser 416. I've seen this story many times, and while I'd never say these were bad mics, it is really tricky getting a sense of the microphone landscape without just buying a bunch of mics all willy-nilly. Add to that, that I can't remember the last time I saw a negative microphone review in a recording magazine (probably too afraid to scare off advertisers), and the entire educational experience just becomes that much more frustrating.

Why spend $3000 on a U87 when you might sound better on an AKG C414? Why spend $1200 on an MKH416 when you might sound better on a RODE NTG3?

Well, the bad news is you're going to spend a little money. The good news is, hopefully it wont be much.

First off, while the forums might not be a good place for an objective view, it could be a good place to find someone willing to audition their mics for you in YOUR space. Send out some feelers in your area, hit up Voice Over Universe, Julie Williams Voice-Overs Forums, DB Cooper's VO-BB, or recording sites like GearSlutz and RecordingReview. Offer to pay them for their time, and I'm sure you can get your face in front of a couple different mics.

If that doesn't do it for you, it's time to book a studio.
Check out the Voice Over Resource Guide for studios that cater to VO talent, see if they have a good selection of mics handy (dynamics, condensors, shotguns, pencils), and see if you can book an hour to do a mic shootout. This wont be as valuable as the space will probably be better treated than the space you record in at home, but you can still hear what these mics will do to your voice (we're listening for the differences between the different mics).

An important thing to note will be the studio's equipment chain. If they've got thousands of dollars worth of preamp and compressor, you're not really going to get a good sense of how the mic sounds on its own. Some studios might have a "churn and burn" space (usually just a little closet converted) for helping talent knock out auditions. That set up will probably be the simplest arrangement, and might be the closest fit for us closet warriors. If they have one, use that space.
If the studio is worth their salt remember, YOU ARE PAYING THEM FOR WHAT YOU WANT, so they should be amenable to matching YOUR current recording chain (or at least just bypassing their compressor LOL).

Lastly, and I've said it before, SET A BUDGET! Including "educational" spending, set a dollar amount that you refuse to go over. It's very easy to become a collector (like me WOOT!) and start buying everything in sight with little regard for your actual business. You don't want to get a bad case of G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome), and not have bookings to show for it. Above all else, while VO is  hella-crazy fun, it is still a BUSINESS.

One final note.
Once you've finally decided on a mic, and you're shopping sites like Zzounds, Sweetwater, MusiciansFriend, SamAsh, GuitarCenter, etc, maybe you could also consider Amazon, and buy through my affiliate link SomeAudioStore? Maybe?

Just throwing it out there.
You know, shameless plug and all.
Just sayin...

Deep Listening - Why Audio Quality Matters

Ok.


This is really heady stuff.
Here is a two and a half hour round table discussion on audio fidelity, set up by the Philoctetes Center (The Multidisciplinary Study of Imagination).

On the surface it seems to be a bunch of mastering engineers ragging on digital audio (and specifically MP3), but there are some great observations on the science of audio, and the business of production.


Participants: Steve Berkowitz, Greg Calbi (moderator), Evan Cornog, Michael Fremer, Kevin Killen, Craig Street
Deep Listening: Why Audio Quality Matters 


The irony of course is that the audio of the discussion is really poor...

Re-Examining a Tax on File Sharing

I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately.

I think we can all agree that the current media marketplace is broken.
The music and movie industries refuse to deliver on a system consumers want, namely something transparent and easy to use. When we get close, with services like Netflix, iTunes, or Amazon, there are either too many odd restrictions on how we can use our purchase, or there's a severely limited catalog of content.
Consumers have since resorted to file sharing, which offers a nearly unlimited catalog, no restrictions on use, is fairly easy to use, and depending on file, is as fast or faster than "legit" purchasing. Through the inactivity of the media industry, consumers have created the market they want to use. This is how people want to do business.

So why not monetize it?

It's become apparent, that left to their own devices, Industry solutions are insufficient, sometimes so broken the only reason for releasing them seems to be confusing the customer, scaring them away from digital distribution. The thinking being, if it's "too hard" to buy online, then we'll just go back to buying the discs.

If The Industry wont do it, why not internet service providers?

I know they're trying to deliver their own video on demand services, and have recently been instituting data caps on broadband subscribers, but they could stand to make a lot more money this route. The idea has been considered before, and a similar plan might go into effect in the UK, but the efforts all seem to stop at the idea of decriminalization. All of these ideas seem to involve a minimal annual fee ($20-$60) to "look the other way" for those that file share. Basically it would turn the whole internet into one giant Netflix. Unfortunately it seems that EVERYONE would be subject to this tax, not just those that engage in file sharing.

Of COURSE people wont like that. Why should we all pay for the actions of some. It would be similar to the levy imposed on blank CD's in Canada. It did decriminalize trading music via burned discs, but EVERYONE had to pay for it.

If we've learned anything from marketplace economics, we should be touting this as a feature (not shaming it), and then charging monthly for it. Let's borrow Netflix. If ISP's offered an optional "File Sharing" plan that you could choose to sign up for, and charged a fair rate for it, it would generate substantial revenue, and wouldn't be a burden on those not using the service.

Let's fudge some numbers.
Roughly estimating 110 million households in the USA, approximately 55% of households have high speed internet, or about 60.5 million households.
Let's set the "Digital Media Downloading" plan at an additional $25 a month.
I'd be willing to bet that by the end of the first year about 30% of broadband subscribers would sign up.

This would generate over $450 million a MONTH.

Almost half a billion dollars a month, and other than a hit to bandwidth, consumers would take care of everything. With file sharing you don't have to store a product on your own servers, the consumers do it. You don't have to advertise file sharing, the consumers do it for you. You don't have to rip music or movies, consumers do it for you. You don't have to troubleshoot or provide tech support, consumers do it for you.

In what other industry could you generate $5 BILLION annually for letting your customers do all the work?

How the Music Industry Spent the Summer Killing Itself

Yup, I'm a bitter consumer.

Ad Age takes a look at the backwards thinking the Music Industry employs in its constant march into irrelevance.
They seem focused on preventing customers from hearing new music, making it harder for customers to easily purchase music, and driving potential customers to file sharing.

It's been a depressing summer for the delusional record industry. We're seeing a total disconnect between labels' unrealistic, old-school revenue expectations and what the market can bear. On the streaming-music front, the sad reality is that advertising revenue may never fully support the music industry's wishful-thinking profit margins.

read more | digg story

AFTRA Responds to Michael Bell's Letter on INteractive Negotiation.

Just got this from my pal Holter Graham.
It's AFTRA's response to the letter Michael Bell sent regarding the upcoming interactive negotiation.
I hope to ask him some more specific questions later.

The discourse is getting interesting...

September 1, 2008

To AFTRA Members,

We are writing you on this Labor Day holiday as we celebrate the contributions American workers have made to the strength and vibrancy of our nation. Regardless of category or type of employment, like all union workers, AFTRA members stand strong for the basic principles of organized labor -- freedom to organize and bargain collectively and the right to have fair wages, protections, and benefits in return for their labors and talent.

As we celebrate Labor Day, we look forward to AFTRA members' new challenges and opportunities in moving those principles forward in our day-to-day work. AFTRA members and staff are working on implementing details of the new Sound Recordings Code, and moving forward our legislative work on copyright protection for performers. AFTRA will soon roll out informational material and programs for members who work under the AFTRA Television Agreement to assist you in understanding your new contracts in primetime and non-primetime programming. AFTRA members at CBS and other broadcast companies are coming together to address the impact of HD radio and new technologies on their working lives. AFTRA members around the country will soon begin intense preparations for negotiation of our Television and Radio Commercials Contracts, which have been extended to March 31, 2009. More immediately, we are preparing to address the AFTRA Interactive Agreement.

With respect to the Interactive Agreement, yesterday afternoon, an elected officer of the Screen Actors Guild Hollywood Division circulated an email regarding the AFTRA Interactive Agreement to performers around the country, many of whom are AFTRA members. The insertion by an officer of another labor organization into AFTRA’s internal collective bargaining processes has again generated unnecessary confusion and the dissemination of inaccurate information. It is hoped that the facts outlined below, will address any confusion that email may have caused you.

• The AFTRA Interactive Agreement has been in existence for two decades since AFTRA members first organized the area of interactive gaming to ensure that they, and the working performers that came after them, had the protection of union rates and conditions. AFTRA was the first performers’ union to organize and negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with Electronics Arts and since then AFTRA members have continued to expand union protections for performers working in this field. The Interactive Agreement is not now, nor has it ever been, a contract negotiated under the Phase One Agreement between AFTRA and SAG.

• The current AFTRA Interactive Agreement is set to expire on December 31, 2008. In June 2008, the AFTRA National Board authorized the appointment of an Interactive Steering Committee (ISC) to guide strategic approaches for negotiations of the Interactive Agreement in 2008. In authorizing this Committee, the National Board was keenly aware that the Commercials Contracts expire on October 29, 2008, (now extended to March 31, 2009), and wanted an authorized working group of performers invested in the Interactive field to actively monitor and ensure that progress towards reaching a timely successor Interactive Agreement was not overlooked during the intensive preparations necessary for the Commercials Contracts.

• The ISC was appointed from among working AFTRA members who have substantial employment under, and working knowledge of, the AFTRA Interactive Agreement. The ISC consists of working AFTRA performers from the three major centers of AFTRA’s Interactive employment: Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York. During the month of August, the ISC also met with groups of working members from these and other cities. Every one of these members has substantial work experience under the AFTRA Interactive Agreement, and is also a dual card holder.

• Members of the ISC and working groups have provided their talents on games such as Grand Theft Auto, Gears of War , Halo II & III, Final Fantasy, Trilogy III, Mercenaries, Metal Gear IV, Speed Racer, Godfather II, Batman, Unreal Tournament, Halo Wars, Spiderman III, Lord of the Rings, CSI 3, Kane and Lynch, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic and Star Wars Force Unleashed, to name just a few. We are deeply appreciative to these working AFTRA performers who are volunteering their time to participate in and guide our process, and for sharing their extensive experience and understanding of this field on behalf of their fellow performers.

• The ISC has determined that it is in the best interests of working members to attempt to resolve a successor agreement sooner rather than later, and it would not be in the best interests of working performers to delay our work and possibly compromise timely implementation of any wage increases and improved conditions that are ultimately negotiated. To that end, it is in the best interests of performers to hold off-the-record conversations with representatives of the AFTRA signatory employers in early September to determine if a framework for reaching a successor agreement in a timely fashion is possible. Once we have had an opportunity to determine whether reaching an acceptable framework is possible (or not), meetings will be held for AFTRA members working under the AFTRA Interactive Agreement for their information and input. Those meetings have not yet been scheduled, but we anticipate they will be held in late September.

• The ISC members have also determined that, having successfully achieved more than 30% increases in base rates in our 2005 negotiations, establishing a structure for residual or “back-end” payments is one of the priorities that must be addressed in reaching a successor agreement in this 2008 cycle.

• We are all committed to executing a sober, thoughtful and strategic approach to reaching a strong successor agreement for working performers. As such, AFTRA will not engage in any discussions in the press, on blogs, or viral e-mails nor allow the AFTRA Interactive Agreement, or any other contract, to be used for political purposes. Official notices of informational meetings where AFTRA members can receive accurate complete information and provide their input will be sent to interested members later this month.

We were also pleased to learn that during recent discussions with FIA’s English-speaking unions, our sisters and brothers in Canada, Great Britain, and Australia are also committed to coordinating efforts in the future to raise conditions for performers worldwide.

We wish you all a safe and happy Labor Day as we celebrate the achievements and contributions of AFTRA members and the proud traditions of American Labor which enrich our society.

In Solidarity,

Roberta Reardon
Nation al President

Denny Delk
National Vice President
National Chair, Interactive Steering Committee

AFTRA to Go It Alone on Interactive Contract Negotiation.

Here we go folks.
Deadline Hollywood has the scoop.
Here's the letter sent from Michael Bell regarding the negotiation:

ALERT TO THE VOICE-OVER COMMUNITY
"PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO EVERY VOICE-OVER ACTOR YOU KNOW"

It has come to the attention of the S.A.G. Interactive Committee, that AFTRA is about to negotiate the Interactive contract without the participation of S.A.G.

As you probably know, AFTRA and S.A.G. jointly bargained the Interactive Contract three years ago. Although the joint committees both agreed that RESIDUALS were the number one priority of the negotiations, the AFTRA committee members ultimately agreed to a contract with NO residuals. As a result, the S.A.G. committee members were left no choice but to accept the same terms.

In the three years since those negotiations, the Interactive industry has grown from $9 Billion dollars per year to $27 Billion dollars per year.

Also during that time, your S.A.G. Interactive Committee has been successful in organizing efforts that have turned a long time major non-union employer into a S.A.G. signatory with two huge projects in production.

We have been informed that AFTRA claims to be holding Wages and Working Conditions meetings with Interactive actors in preparation for their negotiations (which are said to be imminent.)

We know for a fact that a majority of the top Interactive actors (those who record numerous games each year) know nothing about AFTRA’s present W&W meetings or AFTRA's plans to go it alone in the upcoming Interactive contract negotiations.

Since AFTRA has not told the S.A.G. Interactive Committee anything about these negotiations, here are the questions all SAG actors that work that contract or expect to work that contract must ask:

1) Is AFTRA really holding Wages and Working Condition meetings with Interactive actors? And if actors are part of those meetings, who exactly has been invited?
2) What criteria did they use for their invitations?
3) Why have not all AFTRA members which are comprised mostly of VO talent been officially informed of these meetings?
4) Who is on the AFTRA committee that will be negotiating this contract?
5) What employers will be involved in these negotiations?
6) Why hasn't AFTRA contacted S.A.G. to coordinate negotiations?
7) When are the AFTRA Interactive negotiations set to begin?
8) Are RESIDUALS part of AFTRA’s proposals?
9) And most importantly: Will AFTRA abandon RESIDUALS once again as they did three years ago?

You can write directly to the AFTRA Interactive negotiator Mathis Dunn.

Please demand that AFTRA hold a caucus of the entire Interactive community of actors before beginning any negotiations.

Demand that AFTRA coordinate their negotiations with S.A.G. instead of de-leveraging S.A.G. as they did in the current TV/Theatrical negotiations.

Please send a copy of your correspondence to the S.A.G. Interactive Committee.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Interactive Contract is completely independent from the TV/Theatrical contract currently being negotiated by S.A.G. The outcome of those negotiations have absolutely nothing to do with the Interactive Contract. No job action, if any, will have anything to do with this contract.

In solidarity,
Michael Bell
S.A.G. Interactive Chair

Merging these guilds can't happen soon enough...

What Is Voiceover? Perspective and Advice From J.S. Gilbert.

If you read or post on ANY of the VO forums round the web, then you've probably bumped into J.S. Gilbert. Very direct, sometimes a little harsh, always honest, and very helpful.

I just caught this post of his over at Voiceover Universe, and had to republish it here. I've been asked many times about how to get into VO, but I don't know that I've seen a better answer written out than what JS delivers here.

Enjoy!

What is Voiceover?

Einstein said that "everything about us has changed except for the way that we think." It was a statement regarding the way man would wage warfare after the advent of the nuclear bomb, but I think it is a very appropriate statement for almost anyone in business today.

And voiceover is business. Unless of course you are a hobbyist voiceover, something I don't quite understand, but...

When I got into voiceover many years ago, the term seemed much more limiting than it seems today. While there were many people who would be considered voiceovers, the term didn't necessarily apply to those who were on air personalities, DJ's and some other categories.

Today, the range of work that appears to fall under the general umbrella of voiceover is staggering. The unique differences required for someone looking to do voices for cartoons are different than voices for video games and extremely different than the requirements for voice mail.

In another section of this forum I was giving advice to someone who mentioned they wanted to get into voiceover and while some of ti was applicable, his response was that he wanted to attend broadcasting school, which suggested to me that while it's great to have this huge community representing individuals of all different backgrounds and training, that indeed the term voiceover can be confusing.

Some individuals strive to get work in many different arenas; voice mail, corporate narration, commercial, games, cartoons, audio books. And many teachers will also have you believe that you need to take every class in the world to succeed.

The truth is that most voiceovers, while they may work in a number of areas, tend to have a "money voice" that clearly gives them an edge in one or two particular areas.

Audio Books and Voice mail/ on hold can have very different requirements than performing for a 30 or 60 second commercial. Having deep and resonant pipes and crisp speech that cuts across the airwaves can support someone in being a DJ, but may not suit work in some other areas.

Additionally the way we work has changed. Imagine coming into an industry where a home recording setup would run $100,000 or more. And it wasn't computer based, but based on tape. editing required taking a razor blade and literally cutting out the bad parts and splicing the tape back together. That's a lot how things were 30 years ago. In those days, the ability to record a radio commercial in 57 or 58 seconds perfectly in a single pass on the first or second try was a prized skill and this alone, combined with a strong set of pipes might allow someone to earn a pretty good income. Nowadays we can process sound to very small degrees. We can add an ess to a word that was pronounced in the singular. We can make someone sound deeper or pitch them up in tone. We can purchase home recording equipment for hundreds of dollars.

Some people elect never to have an agent represent them, while others have representation in every state they can get. Some of us go to a studio and work and others work from home. Others do a combination of both. The ISDN line has changed everything.

The one thing that is still true is that there are a lot more people who want to work in voiceover than there is available work. Like many creative pursuits, most people who attempt to make a living at v.o. will not be able to. And like many creative pursuits, those with the best heads for business seem to prevail.

I don't tend to agree with those who seem to think that if you do what you love the money will follow. I have seen too many people who appeared to love doing v.o. go off after several years to their old careers or scamper to try and develop some new skills set that will make them employable.

My recommendation is to learn as much about this business as possible. Look at where you might have the best chances for succeeding. Be cautious when it comes to spending money, especially on supposed industry gurus. Buying books is good - you can get them used and relatively cheap on Amazon and sell them there when you are done and the investment is minimal. I'd suggest getting every book on voiceover, improv and acting you can get your hands on. Visit the audio forums and v.o. forums and try to get a sense for who's who.

It's great to get your demo critiqued, but often the person doing the critiquing doesn't have the skills or background to give a true assesment. Many others will be overly "kind" because they think they're doing you a favor. This is a business where it pays to be thick skinned. Many more no's will come your way than yes's. And often you are left completely in the dark; did my audition stink or was I perhaps their second or third choice.

You do not have to be able to do a hundred different voices. If you can do one voice really ,really well, it trumps doing 100 voices with mediocrity. Learn to emote and act and how to interpret copy and I always suggest improv training. It's relatively inexpensive as far as acting classes go and it's a lot of fun once you get over the hump and give yourself permission to be silly.

Make some sort of realistic plan with goals and make sure you have a way of keeping from going into debt or being a burden on loved ones and friends. Realize that the part where you are in front of the mic is really a relatively small part of being a voiceover .

If I can offer any assistance, feel free to contact me. I am happy to help, if I have the time and I do not charge. There are also a bunch of very talented and knowledgeable voiceovers out there who freely give of their time and experience. But don't take anybody's word as gospel. My experiences are uniquely mine as yours will be yours. We are all different and you need to take all of what you discover and learn and make your own plan of action that serves you.

J.S. Gilbert on Voiceover Universe

***UPDATE 8/20/08***
HEAR J.S. GILBERT SPEAK!!!
There's a great five minute interview with J.S. over at Voiceover Experts, where he discusses problem solving and business.

Before the Music Dies

This is pretty powerful stuff.

I've written before about the "quality" of modern music, but usually in the context of the technical aspects of recording, winning the "Loudness War", etc. This documentary does a very good job of examining the history of the music industry, how we got here, and where we might go.
Moving interviews with Dave Matthews, Quest Love, Erykah Badu, and scores of other performers,  journalists, and critics painfully contrast with "man on the street" interviews of people talking about their current fave pop acts.
If you care about your "art", be it Film, TV, Music, Theatre, New Media, etc, this is a great look at what happens when the BIG money rolls in.

A film narrated by Forest Whitaker, 'Before the Music Dies' lays out a cautionary story about the deteriorating state of the music business, and argues that the quality of music is going downhill. This is a must-see for anyone who cares about music. Out since 2006, it's steadily gained a following and has achieved critical acclaim.

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And here's the trailer:

Top Striking Writers to Launch Online Video Company

Hmmm sounds a bit more like a manifesto than it does a business plan...

“We are a coalition of top film and television writers and top tech innovators who are dedicated to creating and delivering professionally made content directly to the end user, and who believe in the model of freedom and inclusiveness over the model of control that has been employed by the big media conglomerates for the past 100 years”

The point though, is that online, content is king. It'll be interesting to see if they pull this off.

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