Newsletter

August 2010 · Newsletter Archive

“The trouble with words is that you never know whose mouth they've been in.”

- Dennis Potter


It’s a GREAT Month to Land an Agent!

While you’re puddling around in the local pool, or planning that week at the beach this month, be sure to carve out a little time to secure a proper agent and/or mass promotion. It’s a little known fact that August is one of the very best months to secure an agent.

It’s also one of the best months to promote to the Ad Agencies, to Animation Houses and to Corporate (Narration) clients.

Why? Because it’s a perfect opportunity to rev up into the final quarter of the year, and, like everything else this requires a running start.

So, while you still have a day free… while the kids are still home from school—be sure to enlist their efforts into helping you pull your mailings together while you all watch a really good movie. You’ll have two regions (such as the East and West Coast mailing lists) and three full weeks of promotion prepped in a single evening if you play your cards right!

But get ON it! Our national talent agent lists are completely up-to-date at the moment, as are our remarkable promotional lists to every region in the country. I.e. the East Coast, West Coast, Midwest, South and... even Chicago! (That’s right, Chicago is a ‘coast’ of its own! Who knew?)

The fact remains: no matter how digital every thing has gotten today and with the importance of your voice-over web site surpassing the importance of the voice-over demo CD… driving traffic to your demo web site with the use of hard-copy, promotional postcards remain remarkably effective! They drive home name recognition, they’re tactile, and the recipient cannot ‘opt out’ like they can with an email. That said, sending emails with direct links to your demo web site to those most likely to hire you is an excellent form of promotion—just keep in mind it’s not the only form. Some talent agents will ONLY accept email submissions. What better way than by emailing them a direct link to your web site?!

So, keep the ball in play! Come the fourth quarter… you’ll be glad you did!

Actor Contracts 101

There are basically three things you need to keep in mind when you are booked on a gig and faced with signing a contract for the use of your performance, voice, image or likeness.

    #1) NEVER sign any contract that states, “in perpetuity”.
    Contracts have applied this terminology in both Union and Non-Union settings with greater and greater frequency over the years. What it means is the client, say it’s ‘Playskool’ for example, proposes to own unlimited usage of your performance and, regardless of how much or how little you were paid, they can continue to use that performance in unlimited edits—for current and future usage on network TV, on cable, on the web, on film, for Corporate Industrial… in whatever form they wish… indefinitely. Signing such a contract would allow for ‘unlimited lifts’ from that performance for an indefinite period of time. A good example of the worst case scenario: AOL’s “You’ve got mail!” This fellow was paid $100, and that’s it. That ‘bit’ became a movie title that was heavily promoted in trailers, it was used throughout the film, even when the film hit cable and network TV, this ultimately translated into what amounted to a terrific loss of revenue for that talent.

    So, if this phrase does appear on the contract at the end of a session—draw a line through it and initial it. If an agent put you on it, call them first and let them know what you’re doing. If you’ve been hired by the producer of the project directly, inform them you can’t agree to unlimited use (“in perpetuity”) regardless of how “standard” they may claim this verbiage on a contract to be. SAVE yourself. It’s never a ‘good deal’ if it’s ONLY a good deal for one party.

    #2) If the contract you are given is incorrect, then DO NOT SIGN IT!
    Seems simple enough, but you’d be surprised what you might do to “keep the peace” at a session and because you “don’t want to cause trouble”. You can speak up and correct oversights without making a scene. It’s often a simple adjustment.

    Ultimately, the onus falls to you whether the information on any contract you sign is accurate, so if the contract reads ‘one commercial spots’ and it should delivered ‘three commercial spots’, bring this point up to the producer to make the correction. If the producer seems extremely busy, which they often are, get your agent on the phone, but refrain from signing this contract until this issue is cleared up. Otherwise, they’ll only be obligated to pay you for one spot when you in reality did three.

    This happens at every strata of professional talent. So be watchful and make sure it reads correctly. It’s your responsibility. It’s your livelihood.

    Treat this business as a business and it will most certainly become your primary business.


    #3) Be sure to archive a copy of each contract for your records.
    Even if you do a job remotely (in other words, the client is in another state for instance) you will likely be faxed or emailed a contract of some sort. Keep a copy for yourself and maintain a file for yourself as to the jobs you have done. This is the best record of what you did, when you did it, how long it took and what the job was worth. It gives you a future reference and helps you maintain a list of clients, whether the client are producers, directors and copywriters, or corporate—such as Best Buy, Oscar Mayer, Maytag or what have you.

At SOUND ADVICE, we generally recommend you LLC (rather than Incorporate) to legitimize your expenses as a working talent and your costs as a ‘start up business’. This can be done fairly easily and affordably on LegalZoom.com. This also protects your identity by keeping your Social Security number private, especially when dealing with numerous clients that have yet to prove themselves. Plus it legitimizes your write-offs.

Treat this business as a business and it will most certainly become your primary business.






COMIC-CON Celebrates the Groovy-Geek

It’s true. Games surpass both film and music revenues by more than $500 BILLION dollars every year. American! You can’t make something like that up.

The San Diego Comic Con Convention has been held since 1970. Three years ago there was an estimated 125,000 comic con attendees. Looks like that number has already more than tripled. Go, GEEKS, go!

In fact, it’s grown so much that the event planners are considering different locations for future shows such as Las Vegas as a possible future location for the event to accommodate the expansion. So, in the words of one of our own, “Brings back a lot of childhood memories!” (Okay. It’s official. I feel frickin’ old! Happy?)

Nevertheless, this tidbit from Optimus Prime showcases some remarkable voice-overs I’m certain you’re gonna love! So, have FUN! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJKGAZO4beI






Hope for the Technically Helpless

We aren't web or IT Consultants, here at SOUND ADVICE. We simply produce exceptional demos, we train talent more thoroughly than any other service, and we offer marketing and promotional strategies for you as a pro talent that are completely unparalleled. Trust me—that’s plenty!

Granted for years we’ve tried. We certainly know what’s needed and required of you technically to compete professionally in this business.

But after years of initially offering, as a courtesy, what was supposed to be a simple half hour or so of a little “technical assistance” to our SOUND ADVICE clients, it’s taken on a life of it’s own. The truth is, even with all the unseen hours we commit to producing your demos, our staff have committed as many if not more attempting to sort out an assortment of convoluted technical issues for our clients, again as a courtesy.

So, from here on out we will stick to our original commitment to continue to produce well-trained talent, remarkably well-produced demos and assist you on career goals with the very best marketing and promotion with the most-current mailing lists in order to yield the greatest return on your investment. Therefore, to assist you in handling anything IT, web or technical we refer you to… (insert sfx of a drum roll here, cymbals crash!) RON MARTIN! http://websitemarketingpartner.com/soundadviceclients

We’ve grooved Ron in completely on what you need as a voice-over and professional talent, so he can muster up all of his very valuable skills and apply them to you specifically as a working talent. (I have even enlisted Ron personally to handle all of my own various IT minutia as a talent.)

It’s Ron to the rescue!!

Ron will skillfully and affordably maintain your demo web site, archive your passwords, and post your site for you if you’re the farthest thing from a ‘techie’. He knows the drill—specifically how web and IT pertain to you and the voice-over industry. We’ve shown him what’s needed and he’s raised our game by bringing his expertise to the subject.

Ron is the ultimate techie hand-holder! Here are just a few items that pertain to your business as a professional talent and the technical mumbo jumbo that may be just beyond your reach:

    -Troubleshoot, maintain or renew your web site

    -Establish the promotion of your website on Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media sites

    -Make it easy to access your voice-over email address so you don’t miss out on possible opportunities

    -Set up a PayPal account so you can get paid on voice-over jobs from out-of-state clients

    -Work it out so you can get your money out of PayPal and have it directed safely into your bank account

    -Update the information on your website as needed

    -Handle any technical issues that may arise

    -Plus, a whole lot more…

So, unless you’re remarkably tech savvy and you know exactly how to apply those skills to this industry by handling it yourself—contact Ron directly and he’ll take care of all those annoying little technical issues so that there is never a lapse in your most essential promotional tools: your demos on your site.

The bonus prize is: Ron costs a FRACTION of what the standard IT Consultant typically costs! (He’s only $50 an hour, with a half hour minimum. PLUS, he offers packages should you have a need for on-going hand-holding… such as myself.) Typically IT (Information Technology) Consultants charge $85 -$150 an hour, regardless of how involved technically or how simple their expertise or troubleshooting may be.

The truth is every talent has a unique situation, web-wise, and have their own IT demands, so best rule of thumb: leave it to the professionals! In other words, when it comes to all things web, web promotion and IT we STRONGLY recommend you contact Ron Martin: http://websitemarketingpartner.com/soundadviceclients(847) 571-0785

Good Question

We welcome your questions, so if you’ve been meaning to ask… maybe a few of your counterparts have beaten you to the punch!

Case in point: Bob emailed…

    “Sorry to bombard you with questions. But, if you don't mind:

    1. Should I include a slate before each audition that I record at home?
    2. Should I be doing any processing of the audio that I record at home?”

My answer…

Yes, you should slate every audition with a simple, "Joe Talent (your name)" in the same emotional tone and feel as the spot itself and nothing else.

In fact, your slate allows you a moment to establish your proximity (your volume) as we refer to it here at SOUND ADVICE.

Your audition BEGINS with your slate.

LISTEN to your coaching sessions. It's in there! ; )

And no need to process the audio on your auditions. Instead, go further in your delivery than you feel is really necessary. (Not volume, not pitch, not speed—and SLOW down!) Simply 'stretch the canvas' (in other words—go further than you think is really necessary and right from the start!!!) and play!! It’s your job!

Meeting Deadlines

August has been a major deadline for us at SOUND ADVICE on a variety of fronts for a long time coming. For instance, we have just completed updating our most current version of The SOUND ADVICE Encyclopedia of Voice-over. (No small task, I promise you. It is after all an Encyclopedia!) We will be offering on-line tutorials by the end of the month, and we now offer Orientations and coaching via SKYPE so we can more easily and effectively deliver services to you no matter where you live! Additionally our websites have just received another revamp and the beat goes on. It’s never ending.

And where does that leave us? Well, as Cole Porter would say, “…With the beat-beat-beat of the stately clock stating you-you-you… Night and Day… you are the one!”

SOUND ADVICE has been our labor of love for twenty solid years this fall!

We do what we do so that you can continue to do that voodoo that you do so well… so to speak! Here’s to the next twenty! And to your continued and on-going success!!

Enjoy the dog days of August while you’ve got them!