VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Deirdre]

http://www.voiceoverdirectory.com/

It will be interesting to see where this one goes. I got solicited by them last night.

I'll put up a link, get a free listing--why not?
_________________
DBCooperVO.com
IMDB

[Bailey]

I checked it out. It looks "cleaner" than Voice123 or IV... but still the same "carrot". Although the carrot cost a little less.

I've just one question... Where and how do these "agencies" get the listings? ... or do they get the listings because clients are looking for good "discounted" talent?
_________________
"Bailey"
a.k.a. Jim Sutton
Retired... Every day is Saturday, except Sunday.
VO-BB Member #00044 .gif" alt="W00T" border="0" />
AOVA Graduate 02/2004 ;
"Be a Voice, not an Echo."

[anthonyVO]

You have to send your demo to them (emailed or snail mailed) - I'll wait until they have a user-managed system in place.
The website looks somewhat elementary and the navigation is not organized well. I pass.

Also, who's "Character Voices, Inc"? They seem to be the "company" that runs it.. isnt there already a "Disney Character Voices, Inc"?

Dunno... skeptical.

-Anthony

[Andy]

I saw some names that I recognized from Donna Summers' Voicecasting on their talent roster. That observation doesn't say one thing or the other. Just an observation. I've made pretty good cash from the two I'm on. But I'm getting really sick and tired of this model. Is that what it's coming to? Selling our "fruit" like farmers in a New Delhi street market?

[Frank F]

Just a thought... maybe nothing to worry about or even be concerned about... My brain is thinking in strange modes lately - I guess I am getting older, fatter, and sassier...

Why is it that VO Talent are charged to put their demo on these type of sites? Shouldn't it be the same "rules" for a website as it is for a "brick and mortar" talent agency (i.e.: Talent 'hires' agent, Client pays agent and agent takes his/her cut from the proceeds and then pays Talent the residual, therefore making it a "win-win-win" situation for all parties in the transaction)? The more "warm-bodies" the more the profit.

The risk is the agents responsibility for marketing Talent. If agent does not have salable Talent, agent does not make money. Therefore agent must find and MARKET quality Talent in order to profit from the agreement between the parties.

I must be a bit naive', or maybe I have been in the "sticks" out here in the mountains of Utah too long, but it seems to me that Talent hires an agent and agents job is to find Talent work, agent does not get paid by Talent rather by the amount of work the agent finds FOR Talent and if agent does not find work for Talent, agent does not get paid.

In the web process as it currently stands, Talent pays agent AND Client pays the agent - what am I missing here? The only party profiting from this transaction due to the lowballing of fees - is the agent. There is NO incentive for the agent to find OR market QUALITY Talent in the web based scenario. Yes, many websites promote this as a FREE service to the Client, however - the promotion and marketing value fo the website and it's associated partners cannot be overlooked. This is a fee which the Client is paying for... and the Talent does not receive much value from.

Frank F

Caveat: Please accept my apologies for the literary prose here as I have not capitalized "agent" to show my disdain for many of the folks in the so-called industry. Opposing viewpoints cheerfully reviewd and quickly disregarded. LOL

[mcm]

Well, if all you cared about was making money, would you rather sign up 1000 VO of all levels of ability or lack thereof to pay you $200/year each for the chance to get some gigs at your site, while you spend that year sitting on your franny counting money and cooking up other questionable money-making schemes

or

spend the year hustling producers and ad agencies to come to your site and hire your talent to do VO and then pay you a small fraction of what they're paying the VO.

With the first model, even if you only got a hundred VO instead of 1000, it's still enough to remodel your bathroom. And even if nobody signs up again after a year, you still made some nice change for little effort.

That may be why we're seeing the first model more than the second in the virtual community, while the second is more common in the bricks & mortar world where talent can storm into the office and poke their finger at the agent's xiphoid process and give 'em a piece of their mind for not promoting them more vigorously.

[Deirdre]

Ow! My xiphoid process!

The Real Deal are the folks like Pro Comm or Studio Center. Voice Casting is the home of some Really Fine Talent, like Lani Minella and Marc Graue.
These are real voice casting agencies.

Other places-- Voice123, and others too insanely numerous to mention-- are a decent way to park your demo online if you don't have your own website yet. They can also be a good source for audition experience and material.

My overall auditions-to-jobs-landed ratio for the past three years is about a thousand to two, but those two are really quite spectacular, so I'm going to keep on reading 'em when I get 'em.
_________________
DBCooperVO.com
IMDB

[Dan-O]

Even if you sign up for free, they let you post your web site. This is a bonus to you. You see, Google looks for links, not subject matter. The more sites that link to you, the more credible your site becomes. And thus, you are listed higher on Google. I say go for it! I did.

[anthonyVO]

[Philip Banks]

Email today from Interactive Voices "Hooray! In the last 7 days 14 jobs posted!"

What rubbish!! Not the jobs, the number thereof. If I had 100 voices to feed and my site got 14 jobs in 7 days I would be embarrassed not celebrating.

Coming next - Tupperware Voices. Yes, you and I will be sold by party plan.

[Andy]

Down wit dat homey. Fourteen jobs. And only two of 'em paid any real scratch. They got more than 100 mouths to feed, too.

TupperwareVoiceovers.com "We burp when you hire us."

[PJHawke]

It's pointless comparing those online sites to brick and mortar agencies because they're not agents. They're just another advertiser spinning together compilations of VOs and linking the talent's websites. You pay the fee, you get some exposure, and if the client likes your voice they contact your agent or you and everything goes normally. They don't take a cut of what you make with the client (if they do, after charging you a fee, they're breaking the law and you can call the Hammers down to smite them legally).

A lot of clients don't farm from the same agencies all the time or go Googling for individual VO websites, they look for spots that have lotsa names attached to them...hence, those sites can expose you to l who wouldn't find you otherwise. Just one more place to advertise. Seems to me the more places you're seen, the higher your profile. Nuffin' wrong wit dat in my book.

[BBeen]

I had a little extra cash lying around so I decided to go ahead and sign up for a select membership at the discouted price. This is the first money I ever put out to get on a site. I signed up and paid by paypal at about 9:00 this morning. I paid by paypal. So far I have not received any type of response regarding the fact that I paid, a password, nada. I will be patient for a little while longer. This is not normal is it??




So this dyslexic guy walks into a bra......

[Bailey]

It is normal... if you did NOT opt for the complimentary kiss on the cheek. :lol:
_________________
"Bailey"
a.k.a. Jim Sutton
Retired... Every day is Saturday, except Sunday.
VO-BB Member #00044 .gif" alt="W00T" border="0" />
AOVA Graduate 02/2004 ;
"Be a Voice, not an Echo."