May News
Stay Safe, Stay Healthy
Voice Over & Covid-19
We've never experienced anything quite like this. Now more than ever, it's a time to stay connected to your family and community online. Keep each-other safe, healthy and well informed.
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Loss of income/Disaster relief
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Check out this page to look into filing for unemployment
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The deadline to file your taxes has been extended to July 15
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SAG-AFTRA members should apply for this disaster fund from the SAG-AFTRA Foundation
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The Actor’s Fund has financial assistance programs for ALL actors
The VOC RELIEF fund
There are a lot of people in this group who work 2 and 3 jobs. With more and more places being shut down, many are going to experience a dramatic and immediate impact on their finances. With the news in California and LA of more and more shutdowns going into effect, this could potentially hurt quickly. The VOC has set up a fund account to help those in dire needs. It's funded by generous donations by everyone in the community. If you'd like to help and can spare a lil extra change, please do.
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And here's a link to the latest
With tons of home studio set up info
the VO Weekly Workout
Where can you get vo practice and feedback from leaders in the VO industry for only $10 a pop?!?! Right here! Created by Jay Preston, Tim Friedlander and Brad Venable for the VO Community! It's the value of values!
Upcoming guest :
Keythe Farley
Jay, Tim & Brad
Marc Graue
Natalie Jonah
Get on the mailing list!
New VO-MUST Online Study!
VOC member Tim Tippets, the Audio Guru himself has turned his 1 on 1 course into the most comprehensive and easy to listen to and learn online course!
If you were like me, and thought, I'll never figure out the tech side of audio. I don't know what EQ means, I have no idea how to use all the stuff that comes with my editing program other than RECORD..save.. um... WELL, I'm telling you, I know, after 1 hour, can tell someone about EQ. Get in on this my friends. It's game changing. Go Learn!
New Website for VO newbies!
Stacey Stahl and the incredible agents over at In Both Ears realized that a website didn’t exist, that separated the pro advice from the newcomer info. The straight talk. We were needing a single website resource to be able to say “start here”. Somewhere we could send those people who have been told they have a great voice or see how easy they think voiceover looks, but most likely don’t own a microphone yet. So they created it!
Introducing GET STARTED IN VO (GiVO).
You can find the new site here: https://www.getstartedinvo.com/
"We hope it proves useful to you all in some way as you move through the new year." ~ Stacey
News
An evolving hub for members seeking the latest news, resources and updates about COVID-19.
Our Industry Today
STAND UP FOR OUR RATES!
It's always there, lingering but some months it seems like the wave of low ballers is out of control. Just want to serve up a little reminder. It's up to US to keep the industries standards of fair rates going strong. Union and non-union alike. There are fair rates for the usage rights of your voice. These rates vary based on where the ad will be aired, how long it will air, how it will be used. Your session fee and so many other factors it can sometimes SEEM easier to just say, "yup, I'll do it for that rate" But you are missing out on soooo much money when you do that. And you are also encouraging this low ball behavior.
The Non-Union Rate guide is here
The UK Rate Guide is here
The VOC members weekly and daily educate new clients on rates. Some clients don't care, and find someone else (if they can) Some clients had no idea and raise their rates. Some clients don't have the budget for the usage they are asking, so they bring it down from a 3 year buyout to a 1 year custom buyout. Some clients know FULL WELL what it should be, but they were hoping the voice they loved would be a bottom feeder, and they quickly come up with the extra money. We've come to understand that they all aren't trying to save money on the talent level. They just simply don't understand the industry standard rates. This is another reason why work through an agent or casting house is the absolute best! THEY deal with all that for us. So encourage work through your agent's and encourage fair rates!! Don't be afraid to "lose a job" if that job is a loss for the vo industry. Stand up for your Rates.
Pay to Play sites like voices dot com have brought our industry to an all time low. Agencies, Producers, Directors and Actors alike have begun to take a stand and create new and better ways to work in today's crazy market. Here are a few incredible key sites you should get to know!
Powered by the highly successful Voice Casting Hub, VOICEOVERS.com (the name literally says it all) is a powerful hybrid voiceover platform built from the expressed needs and specifications of voiceover entrepreneur and Buyer alike for the efficacy and efficiency both expect in the “On-demand Century”.
VOICEOVERS.com is intelligent technology for Buyer or Talent. The unique philosophical difference at VOICEOVERS.com is rooted in empowering voiceover Talent to build fruitful careers. A site that supercharges careers is THE resource buyers are seeking – the entire process and in-turn, business, is elevated.
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also features the industry’s first comprehensive rate calculator, D-CypherVO. Others exist but fall short of being a useful and consistent tool. Finally, you do not have to think or understand rates, it is all done for you.
They are an active group of agents who regularly collaborate to address industry issues, and support each other in our efforts to stem the tide of rate erosion. They also work to educate people about industry terms, rates and issues, as well as collaborating with other groups.
It was designed by producers, ad agencies, and some of the best agents in the industry with Matt Dubois at the helm as Developer through his company Cloud 9.
Some of the features include:
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Easily cast and manage all of your voiceover projects.
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Find and work with top voiceover talent agencies.
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Review, share and approve auditions from a single platform.
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Search and listen to voiceover demos from top agent represented VO talent.
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An American made, woman owned, will never be a P2P, and it is part of an enterprise system providing tools for Actors, Agents, Casting and Producers. It is likely the closest thing to the old VDC but so much better. It was written by Talent, Agents, Casting Directors, Producers, Directors and Technical Creatives and will include a component for On-Camera actors in the future.
