Perhaps because it’s Thanksgiving weekend, or perhaps because it’s almost December, but it seems like the right time to reflect on 2020 and think about what I want for my voice over business the last month of the year. While I am delighted that my puppy has now learned to behave as well in the booth as my older dog, I have many more reflections about how 2020 is unique and the implications this year has had on my voiceover work. So, here is my countdown of observations of what has surprised me in 2020:
5. The Ways in Witch People Connect for Live Sessions
In 2020 live sessions have been more important than ever. Sure some clients still want us to self direct, but as no one or barely anyone) is recording in person, the live session is more important than ever. What surprises me is that I would have guessed that every client would want the quality offered by Source Connect. This is not the case. Surprisingly, I am asked for zoom and given phone patch dial-ins more often than I am asked to use Source Connect. As a professional voice actor, most live sessions are for commercials, but I have done a few for eLearning clients recently. Interestingly, it has been so long that I have been asked for ISDN that I gave up my direct bridge through ipDTL as no one seemed to want that anymore. So, despite the quality that some connections offer, clients seem to like what is easy for them and what they are comfortable with.
4. Rates
Rates have been all over the place in 2020. I have had to turn down more jobs in 2020 than in the past 5 years combined. This may be because I am being found more, or it is because more people who never cast a voice talent are now casting and are not familiar with industry standard rates, or budgets are changing. As a working voice over professional, it is one thing to be flexible and have a range of acceptable rates, and it is another issue entirely to compromise one’s worth to pick up a new client. I have found that the biggest area that clients lack understanding in is usage for social media. They do not understand the difference between organic usage and paid placement, and they do not understand that usage across multiple platforms matters. My hope is that if voice talents continue to work together to educate clients this will shift in coming years.
3. Buzz words
The specs are changing and the buzz words that we are asked for have changed. When I started the millennial conversational read was the go to read. Now it seems that, for commercial voice overs, the authentic, natural read is what is wanted. A real person who sounds believable is the go to read. Interestingly, I think there has been a backlash from millennials who do not like or enjoy a lot of the characteristics that have been assigned to their generation, and the shift that we see is a direct response to that.
2. Abundance
For those of us professional talents who are putting in the hours of work every single day, I am pleased and grateful for the abundance of work in 2020. Initially when the pandemic hit my business slowed in March and I panicked that everything would change. By April it seemed to bounce back and castings had picked up again. According to industry friends who are as established as I am or have been in the industry longer, this is the best year they have had yet. I realize it is Thanksgiving weekend, but I typically have an attitude of gratitude all year, whenever the bookings gods shine down on me. I realize that my clients have a choice and I am thankful when the choice goes my way, and this year it has happened more than last year. When so many businesses are struggling, in our industry and around the country, this is truly something to celebrate.
1. Direct Bookings
My direct bookings, bookings where clients come straight to me, are triple my pay to play bookings in 2020 and up 14% from 2019. I am really pleased with this. These direct bookings are a combination of clients that find my website, rosters that I am on because I found them, or repeat clients who were initially from a pay to play but not they continue to come back to me. I also have direct bookings from social media, including instagram and LinkedIn. The number of direct bookings being so high means that I am not dependent on pay to plays to survive. Instead, I use the pat to plays to add to my client pool. I am extremely thankful for all of the direct bookings.
My recent commercial booking for JP Morgan makes for a great case study in voice over bookings. As a professional voice actor, every booking makes us happy, but when the producer emailed me about these radio spots, his explanation was interesting. I was cast directly without auditioning. He did not mention my voice. Nor did he mention my demos. In this instance, it was a matter of scheduling and availability. As I work full-time, they needed someone who could accommodate a live session at a specific time, which turned out to be 11 a.m. on a Friday morning, and he needed to confirm that I was available. The timing, in this scenario, was the most important question I was asked. The producer got back to me and confirmed that I had indeed booked two spots and it was a go. I was delighted.
I prepare for every single session, whether I am self-directing or in a live session. Part of my prep is administrative. I take some time to log the job in my CRM and create the invoice. I then print a large print version of the script using my preferred font. Then, prior to marking up the script, I spend a bit of time researching the brand and their other ads. Interestingly, JP Morgan and Chase are linked. As a client, when I log in for my JP morgan account I also log into my chase account. Well, at the moment, the below Chase spot is the most sought after read in a long time. Clients often request this as the benchmark for tone, style, and pacing, so I had this in mind going into my session for sure.
I think the start of a live session is really important. There happened to be a lot of people on this call. In addition to the producer, there were several people from the Spotify team and several people from the JP Morgan Team, including the scrip writer. In my mind looking back here were at least eight people on the session. It is my job to make them happy and to make them comfortable. I try to use the time at the start of the session to let them know that my feelings are not a factor, and that the only thing that would upset me would be for them to know have exactly what they need at the end of the call. I try to have friendly banter, but I want them to know and to be comfortable that I will give them whatever they need, and that it is not about me, it is about them. I think there are a few precious moments to establish this rapport and set the tone.
With so many on the call, there can be a lot of side chats during a directed session to make sure everybody has the takes that they want. This team was fantastic. They gave very clear direction and it was easy to take their feedback and run with it. They also all remembered to mute themselves while I was recording, which makes everything seamless. In this session, I read the first script all the way through three times. They gave me feedback. I again did three takes, and then we did some variations of the lines. Then, after the line reads, we did the whole script again. It really came together nicely. It was also super exciting to use Zoom’s audio share feature to play back the audio for the clients during the session so that they could mark the takes that they liked and we could also check the timing of the spots. Then we moved on to the next script, and worked through it the same way. The second one went a little faster as I understood what they were looking for from the first spot. All in all, the group was great to work with. For me, because JP Morgan is my bank and I use the app, it was easy to see the product and be enthusiastic about it because I actually enjoy the very features I was describing.
I am often asked whether I prefer live sessions or self directing. The answer is really that it depends. I love self directing because it gives me a chance to be creative and a freedom to interpret the texts in front of me. I can explore my imagination and see where it goes. The downside, of course, is that there is always a chance of missing the mark and not giving the client what they need. With live sessions, I love the creative collaboration. I love working with other people. When I have the opportunity to work with the people who created the product or the people who wrote the script, I get a higher level of understanding and can often bring more nuance to the read. So, the answer is still: I depends.
IpDTL was the first method I ever used to connect. My very first coach, Anne Ganguzza, used ipDTL for all of her sessions. So, I was very comfortable with this when I launched my business and proud to offer this to my clients. Around the time that I opened shop, I had two agents who said they would sign me if I had an ISDN line. I learned that it was no longer possible to get regular ISDN lines in my part of New Jersey. So, I use an ipDTL bridge to ISDN. I have my own direct number. Initially I was thrilled. I always test connect before a session. I have had more than one snafu. To his credit, the creator of ipDTL is very available via facebook and tries to address all issues. There is, however, a considerable time lag as he is across the pond and he never figured our why my hiccups happened. I have been fine with my regular ipDTL service but I am less than confident in my ISDN service. I will say that when I send my clients an ipDTL link and they have never used it before, they are always very impressed with how clear the connection is.
I have been very pleased with my Source Connect service. The funny-not-so-funny story is that I had to sign up for it when I had a session scheduled and my ISDN line would not connect! The producer was very kind and said it happens often and that we should try this. I work with a lot of producers now who love Source Connect and it is easy. Last week, I had a commercial session for a TV spot. There were four talents on the line at the same time. The producer had the clients in the studio with him. He actually sent as a Source Connect Now line. It was great. If you have never used this before, just don’t be shocked that if the others are not muted you will hear a slight echo. Once they mute the echo goes away and it does not effect the recording. There are also not typically latency issues with Source Connect which I really like.
I have some clients who love to use Skype and Zoom. I link them together, I suppose, because anyone could use them for anything, even outside of VO. If you are using them for voice over, be mindful to check your settings and be sure that you are coming through your pre-amp. Both of these are easy to use and for zoom if your session is under 45 minutes they are free. Skype is free as well. I find that my clients in Europe and Asia LOVE Skype and love to message on Skype! So, if you work with folks on Skype, remember to check your messages from time to time.
