VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

[Deirdre]

I dunno, Bill. I'm on the record for being a gadfly.
If someone wants to say more, but say it more discretely, they are welcome to start a sister thread in Entre Nous.

If the unions try to make trouble for me or anyone here, I have the counter-intelligence division of United States Marines backing me up, so I must say I'm not terribly afraid.
_________________
DBCooperVO.com

[Lee Gordon]

[Bruce]

On the deducting expenses issue, there are two ways you can earn income in something like VO.

One is freelance which is often, but not always, reported to you and the IRS through 1099's. You then are required to fill out a Schedule C tax form for your business and can take deductions from your income there.

The other way to earn is as an "employed" person where taxes are taken out by your employer, and for this you're issued a W-2. You can also deduct reasonable expenses connected with this work, and this is done on Schedule A where you deduct for medical, mortgage interest, contributions, etc. Look for the miscellaneous section 2/3 of the way down, line 21 on last year's form. You'll probably need to fill out and file a form (IRS 2106) detailing these and then just post your total deduction number on Schedule A.

If you get paid both ways you can deduct in both places but you should put the right deduction eggs in the right basket.

I'm not an accountant, but I've played one on the VO-BB.

B
_________________
VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

[kgenus]

[ConnieTerwilliger]

[melissa eX]

I don't know if the taxes go up or the employer has to contribute something - but they do take a bit of a hit. That's why many employers will fight a filing by saying termination was 'for cause' rather than a lay-off.

What I can't figure out is why talent would do that. Wouldn't that virtually guarantee you NEVER to be hired by that producer again?

[ConnieTerwilliger]

Yep - that's what I'm thinking. Some people are just not cut out for this kind of work.
_________________
Playing for a living...
www.voiceover-talent.com
YouTube Channel: http://youtube.com/connieterwilliger

[melissa eX]

[robscig]

A couple of things I would like to add to this discussion.

First, I would love to join both of the Unions, but the timing needs to be right. I am in the NYC market, but, like my NYC agent has told me (among several others in the industry who I have spoken to) "Don't join the Unions until you have to." I understand completely what they mean by that, and that is, don't join a club where 95% of its membership earns less than $10,000 (a stat from SAG website) until you have a job offer that puts you in the top 5%. So, I would never dream of joining SAG with 3 background vouchers. Nor would I join AFTRA just because "I could." In fact I was hired to do an AFTRA principal gig and was Taft-Hartleyed, and received my residuals, but chose not to join, so now I am a "must join". The next AFTRA principal role that comes in for me would be the time to join. I don't think I even need to consider giving up my non-union gigs until that happens. I believe it makes much more sense for an on camera actor in a major market, or a voice actor like Bob B. who works on Hollywood films, to join the Unions, rather than a voice over artist who strictly does voice over work from home, and perhaps the occasional on camera gig.

Second, this discussion really only applies to people who live in 25 States in the United States anyway! When I did the research on "right to work" in this country I was shocked to learn that HALF OF OUR STATES are right to work States that cannot require people from those States to join a Union to accept work. This fact alone will prevent any of the pay-per-play sites from being able to devise a Union membership system that will be able to fit all of it's subscribers, and validates everything everyone already said in this post about the Unions being antiquated. In half of our States, it doesn't matter if a job is posted on a pay for play now as Union or Non Union because people who are in right to work States don't need to join the Union anyway in order to accept that job. Nor can the producers or advertisers "discriminate" against those people that are not Union members who live in right to work States. Isn't that what Union membership is all about in the first place? To "discriminate" against the "worst" talent (aka the "non-professional", Non Union members)? The website: www.righttowork.org is a gold mine of information about Unions and Right to Work States, etc. I particularly like this special bulletin that is on the site about Actors and Actresses. http://righttowork.org/special-bulletin-actors-and-actresses


Rob Sciglimpaglia

[Pierce]

Among such amazing blogsmithing actors, it's almost too intimidating to pipe up...

BUT, so few people to tell who would understand:
I'm probly gonna join AFTRA this week-- my bank acct has finally turned the corner!

I mean, the lady who serves me coffee @ the bookstore has no idea what I'm talking about... my friend/pharmacist, Justin, at the drugstore only thinks it's cool when I report that I'm in a video game.
"I GOT NO PLACE ELSE TO GO!" (even tho my dog does that cute head tilt when I try to explain... that's notsobad)

Joining... even after all the scary negatives here and around. Heck, even after a terrible United Foodworkers Union experience long ago (would you like paper or plastic?).

More opportunity to grow with access to better auditions for cooler, more solid projects? I can't see a superior reason to NOT try it. But that's what experienced folks might find funniest: I'm not even ankle-deep in unioning know-how.

Hey, what's the worst that could happen? I DON'T get work? I figure that's my fault either way, yes?


Going-To-Look-Up-"Signatory"-ingly Yours,

Chadd
_________________
Chadd Pierce
PierceVoice.com
studio@piercevoice.com