So what happens when you're number 243?

Sal Monistere · **Voice Talent** Joined: 09 Aug 2005 Posts: 3

I'm trying to find out if anyone knows what happens when 242 other people 'beat me to the punch' answering a lead. Here are my fears: The client gets them ALL at once... IN ORDER. He listens to the first six, doesn't have all day, grabs one of those six, and the rest all come with me to the audition/demo graveyard. On that same subject, what does it mean that the 'deadline' is two weeks away? Certainly beating the deadline would have no meaning, cause by now, another 243 people have auditioned. Next... True or False? If I'm not sitting in front of my computer (with a very high speed connection), and if I don't have my mic set up with levels all adjusted and my finger on the record button... am I probably gonna get left behind in the audition process? Is the system THAT random?? Now, please understand... I do NOT by any means want to berate anyone, but if there are a bunch of talents who have let's say, a 'lesser' level of professionalism and experience to offer, but they DO have a T1 connection... are the talent seekers really getting a fair shot at the best people for the job? So back to my original question... does anyone know what the Voice 123 procedure is for delivering auditions to the client? Are any of the Voice 123 reps reading this? Perhaps you can shed some light on the subject for us. It would really be helpful. This is a great place to be... I just want to understand it a little better.

Freddie Molina · Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006, 15:49 (GMT) Post subject:

Hello Sal,

The amount of talents replying to a single lead is a concern that is being addressed at this time, even though we have found that most of the clients take the time to listen to most auditions, Voice123 will soon release the ¨Voice123 SmartCast". A tool designed to filter talents in many different and more personalized ways, this system will offer clients the possibility of choosing how many talents and under what specific voice characteristics they want to audition, the system will select the best voices for each specific job.

We should see these changes soon and they should help with your concern.

Voice123 is constantly upgrading to offer a better service to you.

Joel Rubin · **Voice Talent** Joined: 09 Oct 2006 Posts: 6

I have a full time job an hour away so, by the time I get home, put the kids to bed, etc, and sit down to look at the leads - most of them have 100 + replies. I know this has been addressed in this forum before - but I don't recollect what the recommendation was. Usually - If I see 150 + people have already responded - I just delete it. Have you found most seekers send their leads during normal work hours, or do any of us after hours responders have a prayer to get work?

Victor Harris · Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007, 01:30 (GMT) Post subject:

Sal,

I would have to say honestly from my experience its a personal choice to try or not. I have many times submitted with a gazzillion people too, then get it. So, who knows. Hey, at least its good practice huh?

Robert Jadah · **Voice Talent** Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 2627

Good to have you back, Vic.
And right as ever.
It's my feeling that every suitable posting should be answered, if only for the practice. But since I've never had a telephony client, for example, I won't bother being Number 88 in line for one.
If I can make the early show, though, I'll take a shot at it.
What amazes me is how fast some people can churn out a Custom. I'll excitedly fire up for a Zero Leads and - by the time I submit - I'm in the forties.
And I have also won a gig or two from being way down the line. It's a long shot, but consider that if a client pulls you out at Number 9 or so, he/she might be awfully tired of listening to you when you've been compared to another two or three dozen later entries.
No hard rule. Just
Voice On!

Dave Andrews · **Voice Talent** Joined: 10 Jan 2007 Posts: 23

Hi Robert. I have this same concern, and as a matter of fact just sent an email to V123 asking if I'm just getting the emails late. Apparently not. One just came in and in less than 15 minutes, there were already 80 replies.

That's insane! You can't tell me that the average client actually sits and listens to 150 replies. I would be surprised if most got through 20.

The problem is, I suspect if you're not in the first few they hear, you're out of luck.

I'm new here, but I've submitted to around 50 jobs or so and not heard back from one of them. I had actually submitted for probably double that, but cleared out my "expired" ones once only to find out that it includes things you've submitted to and it deletes all of those too...

Anyway, I'm not the best out there, but I certainly don't suck either, so to not hear any interest after 50 custom made recordings is a bit depressing.

As an actor, my average is WAY better than that for live on-camera auditions, and I'm competing in the L.A. market, which is flooded with actors!

I live in Burbank, so this is not my only resource for VO work, thank God, but it would still be nice to get hired after spending all this money joining up and getting set up to submit from home.

So far, this has been pretty frustrating and money has only gone in one direction. I'd like to see some come in for once...

Dave Andrews

Robert Jadah · **Voice Talent** Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 2627

No, Dave, you certainly don't suck.
I could hear the actor in you demos; the knack for getting a little OOMPH into the text.
As an (on strike) ACTRA, IMDB-verifiable acting-type dude myself, however, I gots to tell ya that voiceover is almost more difficult than on-screen work.
You do, after all, have only your voice to work with. No body language, no expression, no ad-libs, no pregnant pauses.
It's a whole different scene. And most voice actors here admit to something like 1:100 or 1:200 as a hit ratio.
Then there's the growing trend of submitting beautifully produced, complete productions as auditions. There's another 1,000 hours of training there.
So hang loose, buddy.
I would also suggest that you take some of those nicely voiced demos on your site page and get a hold of one of our real friendly Manic Mixers. I'll send you a couple of names via Private Message. Just for hoots, they'll add a little background PZAZZ so that your generic submittals sound more pro. It'll also get you a head start on the fairly important Commercial Demo.
You'll be fine, Dan.
But Take Five.
Months.
At least.
Voice On!

Dave Andrews · **Voice Talent** Joined: 10 Jan 2007 Posts: 23

Thanks man! Fortunately, V123 is not all I've got inthe realm of VO. I haven't done much, just a few radio commercials for one university in Ohio and a couple of voices for an upcoming video game (but for a total of more than 120 lines, so pretty big roles, I got to be the lead bad guy). I'll be getting a call to audition for another game through them later this month.

I'm also going through professional training with Bill Williams of Aliso Creek Productions here in Burbank. Only two weeks left of that class. I've had plenty of acting training, but this is my first VO training, I know it's a bit backward, since I've already worked VO professionally.

The good thing is that when I work locally, I'm easy to work with and they always love me, so the more I do, the more I'll get called back for things.

I've also just signed on with another company here in L.A. for regular V.O. work, but I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement, so no details on that.

Hopefully it will all add up to paying the rent, which is really all I'm interested in right now. That and enough to get a couple of proper demos made (one commercial demo and one character demo for animation).

Hope that strike doesn't last too much longer for you! A man's gotta eat!

Mike McElwrath · **Voice Talent** Joined: 17 Nov 2004 Posts: 33

Sal:
I understand how you feel with all the leads in the in box. My contention still remains that to limit leads is not fair competition. It is up to each premium member to audition. Not every member will audition for every lead. It will always be up to the client to choose who they want for their production work regardless of how many auditions they get. My issue is when you have clients who have jobs available, you should not limit any opportunities to members based on a set of criteria. Each member should be able to audition for as little or as much as they would like. That is why we pay for membership right? Just some thoughts

Mike

Lynne Alston · **Voice Talent** Joined: 20 Oct 2006 Posts: 743

I have to agree with Mike on this one,while some of the suggestions for updating voice123 sound beneficial, I do have a problem with the possible limits being set on auditions I might receive, after all, I only see at most 3-5 a week.

Colin Campbell · Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007, 19:42 (GMT) Post subject: