Read The Art of Voice Acting: the art and business of performing for voice over Online
Authors: James Alburger
The Art of Voice Acting: the art and business of performing for voice over (47 page)
You do realize, don’t you, that if you are recording professional voice tracks on your computer at home, you have a
home studio
? The operative word here is “studio.” OK, so your investment in a computer, a microphone, audio equipment, and acoustical improvements may not amount to the hundreds of thousands of dollars a full-blown recording studio would spend—but the simple fact is this: you’ve got your own studio!
Chapter 23
, “Your Home Studio,” discusses this in more detail.
From a business standpoint, it makes no sense to set a talent fee that does not at least take into consideration the costs of your studio equipment, office supplies, marketing expenses, training, demo production, and so on. Unless you’re performing strictly as a hobby, you’ll eventually want to recover all those expenses. One way to do this is to create a separate rate for studio time that you charge in addition to your performance fee.
An hourly fee for studio time is standard practice for virtually every recording studio—and, since you own your own studio, it only makes good
business sense for you to use a similar pricing structure. If you have production skills and can offer additional production services, this can be a good way to create an additional revenue stream. Separating out your studio rate and talent fee also gives you some additional negotiating leverage because you can always discount one or the other if needed and still have enough income to make some profit.
However, if you are marketing yourself as strictly voice talent and you have limited production and editing skills, you may not want to take this approach. For you, the best way to factor your investment into your talent fee is to simply keep your fee a bit higher. As a nonunion voice talent starting your negotiation at union scale, you’ll still have room to adjust your fee if necessary. Of course, your performing skills will need to be at a level where you can justify the higher fee. The important thing to remember is that just because you may be new in this business, it doesn’t mean you need to charge unrealistically low talent fees.
Projects which are, by nature, limited in their distribution and use, such as industrial training programs, marketing videos, documentaries, and audio books can reasonably justify a
buyout
agreement, meaning that the producer pays you a one-time flat fee for your work, and then has the right to do whatever he wants with that recording for as long as he wants—without ever having to pay you another cent.
Take a look at the way AFTRA handles its talent fees and you’ll notice that most categories have a time limit for the use of a performance. If a client wants to reuse a performer’s work, they pay the talent a new fee called a
residual
.
As a freelance voice actor, you do
not
need to accept a buyout talent fee for any commercial voiceover work, even though this is the most common type of booking for nonunion talent. If you agree to a buyout fee for a radio commercial, there’s a very good chance you may be hearing that commercial for years to come. Or a portion of the radio voice track may be used for a television commercial, an in-store message, a telephone message, on a website, or any number of other uses—and you’ll never get paid a dime beyond your original buyout talent fee.
You can certainly negotiate a timeframe for the use of your performance. If your client agrees to this, you’ll need the terms clearly stated in your agreement, and you’ll want to create a follow-up system to remind your client of the agreement. Enforcing a reuse clause may be difficult as a nonunion voice talent, but if you don’t include it in your original contract, potentially, you’ll be leaving money on the table; and you’ll have no legal recourse if or when your client reuses your work. Whether or not discussion of a reuse fee is appropriate will depend entirely on the needs of your client, your willingness to compromise, and your ability to “read” your client during the course of your negotiation.
Every booking is a separate business arrangement with unique time constraints, performance requirements, and payment terms, among other specifications. Whenever you exchange your time, energy, or services for money, the only way you will be protected is if all the details of the business arrangement are detailed in a contract. Depending on the type of project and its ultimate use, you may want to negotiate for certain conditions. For example, if the project is to be sold, you might negotiate a clause that includes a residual payment when sales exceed a certain number of units or you may want limitations on how long your voice track can be used in a commercial, or for which other kinds of media it can be used. Everything is negotiable! The goal is to reach an agreement that is mutually acceptable.
The manner in which your performance can be used, and the duration of its use, are most definitely negotiable points that you should consider and discuss with your client. There are no hard and fast rules here, nor are there any specifically worded contracts available. Every agreement is unique and you’ll need to come up with the appropriate wording to describe the terms and conditions for the use of your recorded material. You’ll also want to make sure you include adequate controls for tracking any restrictions, and possible remedies for any violations of the agreement.
Your agreement is a contract, and if the project justifies it, you may want to seek legal advice to make sure you are protected and receive the compensation you deserve. Of course, if you have representation, your agent will handle the details of any complex negotiation. The specific details that you might include in your agreement will be discussed later in this chapter.
The best way to learn how to negotiate is to do it! If you’ve never done it, the best way to learn how is to study some of the many excellent books on the subject. A search for “negotiating” on
www.amazon.com
will bring up hundreds of books on this subject. Find one that looks good to you, buy it, study it, and begin practicing.
The ultimate purpose of any negotiation is to create an agreement that is acceptable for all parties. For voice talent, this agreement is ideally in the form of a written contract that is signed by both parties prior to the start of any work. It is a written description of the work to be done, the timeframe within which it will be done, who is doing it, the conditions for its use, the responsibilities of each party, the agreed-upon compensation, and the terms of payment, among other details.
Unfortunately, a great deal of voiceover work is booked on only a
verbal agreement
, which is only as good as the paper it’s not written on.
When you begin work with only a verbal agreement, you take the chance of not getting paid, or of having serious problems of miscommunication, or worse. Always get your agreement in writing before you begin work.
Ideally, an agreement should be received in the mail, but with tight schedules, deadlines, and the popularity of email, this often isn’t practical. A faxed document will work to get things started and in today’s electronic age, most courts of law will accept an email agreement as a legal document provided it contains the sender’s email address and name.
There are literally dozens of effective negotiating techniques that can be used to maintain high standards and fees for voiceover work. Here are just a few, with only a very brief explanation of how they might be used:
- Talk about the project:
No matter what you know about a job when you get the call, it isn’t enough. One of the first things you should do in any negotiation is to get more information. Ask as many questions as you can, while avoiding any discussion of your fee. When the subject of your fee comes up, divert the discussion by asking more appropriate questions. This requires extremely good listening skills. - Get the client to mention the first number:
This can take some skill, but it can often be achieved by simply engaging the client in a conversation and guiding that conversation to a discussion of what they have paid for voice talent for prior work. If your client is comfortable with you, they will often feel safe in talking about what they have paid in the past. At an appropriate point in your conversation you may ask what their budget is for this project and wait for them to answer. - Echo… Pause:
This is a technique for maintaining your fee, or perhaps even increasing it. It has been around for a long time and may not work in all situations, especially if the person you are negotiating with figures out what you are doing. If your client says he does not have a budget, it may be necessary for you to provide some education as to what will be involved for you to do the job. In this way you will be creating a perceived value for your work. The idea is to get your client to tell you how much he is willing to pay for the job in question. Whether he says so, or not, he has a number in mind. It’s your job to coax it out of him. Let’s say he mentions the number $200. You, in a very thoughtful voice, simply repeat the number as though asking a question to verify that you heard it correctly—then stop talking. Be absolutely silent. It may get uncomfortable, but don’t speak. At some point the discomfort will be too great and your client will likely come back with something like “… well, we might be able to go to $300.” At that point, you repeat the Echo and Pause. Usually by about the third time, your client will say something like “… $325—that’s really all we can afford for this project.” You can then use your best acting skills as you say “… $325! I can do that for $325.” - Discount this fee for future work at full fee:
During your conversation, you may find that your client is reluctant to discuss any numbers, or that he truly has only a very limited budget for this project. If that is the case, you can tell him that you base your fees on union scale, but that as nonunion talent, you can be flexible with your rates. If the project appears to be something that might result in future work, you might even offer to discount your talent fee with the understanding that you will be paid your regular fee for future work. When you deliver an outstanding product, your chances of having a new long-term client will be very good. This technique can be a bit risky, so make sure you have your agreement in writing.
The desired outcome of any negotiation is to get paid for your work based on the terms of your negotiation. The challenge today is that the Internet has created an international marketplace. It is common to never meet, or even speak to, your client with everything handled through email. Even with a solid agreement in place, you still have no guarantee that you will be paid when you deliver your voice tracks.
As a freelance voiceover performer, you need to protect yourself from unscrupulous producers (yes, they are out there). The simplest way to protect yourself is to use a written agreement known as a
deal memo
. Even if you are a union member, having a written agreement is a good idea. It protects you and outlines the details of your work. The format for this can be as simple as a brief letter, an invoice, or an email confirmation, to something more formal, such as a multipage contract for services. It’s generally a good idea to keep a deal memo as simple as possible. A complicated, legal-sounding document might scare off a potentially valuable employer.
Preparing your deal memo should be the first thing you do when you book a session. A written agreement is your only proof in the event you need to take legal action to collect any money owed to you, or if your performance is used in a manner that you did not agree to. It’s a common practice and should be used whenever possible. Make sure you have a signed agreement in hand
before
you begin any work.
The following is an example of a simple deal memo letter. This deal memo includes all the necessary information to confirm the agreement, yet it is presented in a nonthreatening and informal manner. With minor modifications, this letter could be used for either a studio location session or one that you record in your home studio.
Dear Mr. Producer:
Thank you for booking me to be the voice for The Big Store’s new radio commercials. As we discussed on the phone today, I will be doing four (4) radio commercials (including up to 6 tags) for $350 per spot as a limited run 90-day buyout for radio only. If you later decide to rerun the commercials, or use my voice for television spots or other purposes, please call me to arrange for a new session or to modify our agreement. As we discussed, my fee for each additional tag after the first 6 will be $75 per tag.
You have also agreed to provide me with a recording of the final commercials. I’ll call you next week to arrange to pick up a CD or you can send an MP3 file to my email address.
As we discussed, I will keep your credit card information on file to guarantee the session.
I will arrive at Great Sound Recording Studios, 7356 Hillard Ave. on Tuesday the 5th for a 10:00 AM session.
For your records and tax reporting, I will bring a completed W-9. Please make your check in the amount of $1,400.00 payable to My Name so that I can pick it up after the session. Should you prefer that I charge your credit card, please let me know so I can bring the proper paperwork with me to the session.
I look forward to working with you on the 5th.
Sincerely,
Getting paperwork out of the way before the work begins is a good way to make sure that the terms of your performance are understood by all parties and that the producer doesn’t try to change the agreement or add additional production after you have done the work. If you are booked early enough for a session at a recording studio, you might want to fax a copy of the agreement to the producer in advance. But you should still plan on having two copies with you when you arrive for the session—the producer is probably not going to bring his copy. Leave one copy for the producer and make sure you have a signed copy before you leave the studio. If you’re recording at your home studio, you can do everything via email and fax. Although an email confirming the details of your work may be considered a legal contract by some courts, it is still a good idea to use your own document and get a written signature.