VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Mike Harrison · Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 6:36 pm Post subject: Website VO: which AFTRA category?

I was just poking around the AFTRA site in search of rates for website audio. On one page, I found the picture of a rather happenin' chic with a video camera, and I thought, "Gee, she looks like d.b. cooper." Then I saw the caption. She is d.b. cooper. Happenin'!

So this website project is a :45 introductory announcement for the company.

Where might I find an idea of rates for something like this?

Thanks.
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Deirdre · Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 7:50 pm Post subject:

That's a riot that they're still using that image. They must like it!!

Web VO is technically category II industrial, but I would call one of the brach offices to ask how you might understand the rate for a Union web VO.
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Mike Harrison · Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 8:03 pm Post subject:

Deirdre · Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 9:37 pm Post subject:

Then why. . .???
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Mike Harrison · Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2011 4:14 am Post subject:

I always check AFTRA rates to at least get an idea of where I should be. This is something that more than several people, including a couple of coaches, have suggested.
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Philip Banks · Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2011 5:19 am Post subject:

I always go for what I want which then makes "Union Scale" seem like a really good deal.

Deirdre has witnessed first hand my UNnegotiating skills. As she reclined on the sofa in my office her thoughts were .."I think he must be the politest mugger I've ever met".

Jen Gosnell · Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2011 10:04 pm Post subject:

Philip, that made me laugh... which is not to say I don't think it's a darned good approach!

So minor thread-jack here, I suppose, and I suspect perhaps the answer is obvious but I'll put the question anyway: Have you taken this approach ever since Day One? How has your rate of success with it changed over time?

Jen
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Philip Banks · Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 1:04 am Post subject:

Whilst one has to be flexible and reasonable it is best from the outset to determine where you want your career to go, more importantly how you NEED the business side of things to work.

"They say anything is possible if you have enough faith. Is it really so simple? If someone does something successfully, we say, 'look how much faith they had.' If someone tries and fails, we say, 'they did not have enough faith.' But faith alone is merely one vital ingredient in a larger recipe. Along with faith there must be vision. With vision there must be imagination. With imagination we need intelligence. With intelligence must be accurate information."

When I first looked at the idea of making a full time living from voice over work I came up with the numbers and they looked like this :-

Minimum session fee $275
3 sessions per week
46 working weeks per year
Gross income per year $39,750

The above numbers assumed that like most actors (voices) I would not work all the time as that is the nature of the job for most of us and that from 138 days per year of paid employment I would need to run my business and pay my bills.

I've been paid to do VO work since February 1990 and went full-time in May 1992, a year earlier than I planned - Forced through circumstances, but with hindsight, no bad thing.

Before I subjected people who hire VOs to my nonsense I established what I needed from the business. Any Aspiring, new, struggling or successful VO needs to do the same and if they don't like that thought it's time to find something else to do.

"Philip Banks thinks my demo is awesome" - Trying spending that on groceries.

"Just heard an amazing conference call on Social Media use for VO business" - Did you ask the expert how much they got paid in August from work which came from Twitter, Facebook etc?

"Woot another 80 auditions in my inbox" How much do YOU get paid per audition or is the one you get out of 80 worth the time spent?

My financial goal was based on NEED not greed. More important in the context of what people believe to be the VO community (there is no such thing) my goal was not set based upon GREED or on what I was led to believe other VOs earned from their "57 nationals before breakfast lifestyles".

If you do not like full disclosure read no more .......

Where am I now?

I am only able to pay to run my business and pay my bills from money in the bank. I will be paying my next load of bills from the money I'll (hopefully) get paid from the work I did in August.

My goal from day one, 3 session per week, 46 weeks per year at my minimum session fee. In August I did a total of 42 sessions.

Fees paid into my bank account in August? I'll tell you if you want to know, it's not a secret.

For every person the numbers will be different but at the outset you need to set the rules and whilst being flexible try to stick as close to them as possible.

Will it be easy? No, no a thousand times NO!

Yonie · CM Joined: 31 Aug 2011 Posts: 906

Cheers for that input, Philip.

I was trying to write something clever, proper, even mildly entertaining, but I think that top sentence is the best I can muster. It's enough as is. Always good for the fresh and naïve dumplings like myself to read this.

Tom Greenlee · Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 9:23 am Post subject:

It has always amazed me at how Philip can say so much in one post. That has to be the best and most concisely presented plan, strategy, advice and personal timeline I've ever heard or read. Very well said Philip. I'm always amazed by you.
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Jen Gosnell · Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 10:37 pm Post subject:

Philip, thanks very much! The simplicity of your plan makes a lot of sense to me.

Do I understand, then, that you treat most all work on a session basis, regardless of whether it's a series of TV promos, a commercial, or corporate/training narrations? I'm supposing that a session consists of anything up to an hour, and additional time would be charged in something like 30-minute increments.

Do you treat both self-directed and live sessions in the same manner? I am assuming you have a mix of both types, but perhaps that is wrong.

Thanks again for sharing your approach. It's good food for thought for me. Kiss

Jen
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Philip Banks · Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:30 am Post subject:

The key is "minimum session fee", I've established the basement. Needless to say different jobs will add to the fee.

A little while ago I did an HBO promo session, it was a one-off but the intention was to use it for some time. AFTRA/SAG Union scale would've been, round figures, $500, my fee was $3,000.

On the other side of the fence, local radio commercials in the UK at Equity minimums (British actor's union) start at around $30 per script. Whilst I don't actively seek this work if I'm sat at home with the time I'll do a 10 minute or so ISDN session for $30 ...It's my curry money.

Goal one - Establish the basement and forget the ceiling.

bransom · DC Joined: 06 Nov 2008 Posts: 650 Location: St. Louis, MO

Jen Gosnell · Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 11:02 pm Post subject:

That makes sense, Philip.

I think it's still going to take me a while to get comfortable with the details of setting fees for varied types of work, but this is a good start on setting a foundation. I may bounce some more specific questions off you in a few months, when I hope that it is becoming much more of an immediate concern for me. cool

Thanks again for your candor - much appreciated! Smile

Jen
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Diane Maggipinto · Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 7:46 am Post subject:

LOVE the 6 weeks of vacation! wooty g00dness.
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