Do the math and other observations (no name calling)

J.S. Gilbert

First, I'd like to say that if someone plans to stay in this industry and has an account with V123, that they continue to maintain it. It would be considerably more money to develop a website that provided this level of presence. (A singularly good reason). Additionally, if people with experience leave here, then this site will be nothing but beginners or worse, which would mean that the caliber of talent seeker (job posting) would eventually detreriorate further. Instead of a business model that caters to and supports the lowest common denominator, we should look at supporting those with a strong business ecumen and who either have or are working to develop their skills and abilities.

Currently, it would seem that those with the most to gain on V123 are those with strong demos and track records who are singled out for private communication (with regard to North American English Speakers) Foreign language speakers with good skills also seem to do well, in so much as the competition is much smaller.

Currently the number of non-gender specific North American speaking people on here is 3,000. Despite the fact that most of the auditions here are for English speakers, this means that a percentage of 3,000 will audition. Let's say that the posting is gender specific and asks for male v.o. talent, this brings the number of potential responders to 1,850. If it requests a custom demo, then we know a certain number of people won't respond and dependant upon rates and other parameters, there will be further drops in respondents. Let us assume that this "average post" has 120 auditioners. This represents 6.5% of potentiasl auditioners that might actually audition for the job. Thus each and every lead for a North American English Male coiuld wind up with 120 auditions.
Comparatively there is a total (male and female) Spanish population on V123 of 345; French total of 231; 100 Germans, 6 Danish and 3 Vietnamese. That means that even if a Spanish post is answered by 20% of the potential auditioners (both male and female), they have 60 responders. Germans would have 20. If we took the response rate of 10% of responders and made adjustments for foreign language posts being for either men or women (not both) we wind up with 15 or so auditioners for Spanish. 5 or so for germans, etc.

V123 is a treasure trove for foreign language speakers and for people who cast for localization projects.

Would you rather read for 1 audition per month that has 10 auditioners or 20 per month that have 120 auditioners?

A recent posting from V123 mentioned that it was listing the audition because they feared potentially being in violation of federal laws by not offering the opportunity to its members. This could be correct if there is a tacit understanding by the talent that they should receive any and all "opportunites". I know this is true of most instance where a talent agent is obligated to present all opportunities to talent. However in most instances, talent sign a simple agreement which generally acompanies the fiduciary agreement of the talent agent which basically instructs the agent not to present a talent with any project that pays less than a certain amount or may have other stipulations besides monetary. Of course talent agents in general and those that are signatory to the performing unions are held (or are supposed to be held) to high scrutiny becuase they have fiduciary control. (Meaning that clients pay fees to the agent and the agent then takes out commissions and pays the talent. This is not the case with V123, although with most situations involving emerging technology, the rules of engagement are still being written.

One problem I can see in the future with the potential new system for casting is that there are many experienced talent who are quite willing to accept lower fees. Some newer talent may have highly marketable sklills and want higher sums. It's also very difficult to express compensation on here in a clear and concise manner. Recently, I produced a project with a high hourly wage, although it was produced under the knowledge that it was material that could be zipped through. In some cases, talent were able to record 400 or more lines per hour. I have had projects that required intricate medical reads and some highly experienced talent plowed through it, while a relatively new talent, whose night job was that of a nurse managed to get through much quicker.

A talent agent manages a group of 100 - 250 talents (more or less) and generally has an understanding of abilities, acceptable fees, etc. How is it possible that V123 can across a database of 4,000+ that is growing be able to adequately determine who should be made available for what-will be a highly difficult task. Since it would appear as thhough it is based upon the input of the talent. Is there a way to know if this input is accurate? After all, how many 50+ year olds on here who sound like Ernest Borgnine meets Harvey Fierstein checked off the young adult box on their profile? How do talent even know what their money voice is? Many of the pros think they should do every v.o. job there is. Many beginners think reading for everything will develop their skills.

Additionally, a talent agent periodically makes assesments of their talent. Who has gotten better? Who is more in demand? Who has been taking their craft seriously and gotten to the next level?

If we start looking at feedback, we waltz into a flawed system no matter what. Notice how the other site elected a relatively new comer with truthfully mediocre skills as their "favorite talent" and another actor with 10 years experience as their favorite newcomer. Does this mean that the talent with the biggest myspace community will win?

If I had more time than talent I might just do this: Ask all of my 12 year old friends to log in here. Have them all post fake jobs anonymously. Then afterwards have them all log back in and indicate that I got the job and that as a talent I'm the second coming of the Lord.

I can point out a lot of existing and potential problems with the system as it is. I am certain that most of what I post here represents long and hard thinking on the part of V123 and its staff. They strike me as caring and professional people.

I think this will take more time than any of us realizes to work itself out and become equitable for the masses. In the meantime, working on improving one's craft and exploring other avenues for getting work witll certainly serve a talent well. Dependant upon your situation, you may choose to audition or not. Being judicial in what you read for will help you and your fellow actor, as well as the talent seeker. And if you're not sure if your read is stinky cheese or a boquet of roses, there are a number of ways to get valuable and supportive input here and beyond.

If I can be of assistance to anyone in any way, please let me know.

John Bigl · **Voice Talent** Joined: 13 Aug 2005 Posts: 905

Thanks J.S.
Be Well

Joe J Thomas · **Voice Talent** Joined: 16 Nov 2004 Posts: 1521

I see what you mean JS (I think).

For me, I've gotten much more work on my own than through an agent.

But (and this is a big but), the agency jobs have been "higher profile", and have gotten me contacts and leads that would have been impossible on my own.

I have two agents at present. I've been with the first for almost 2 years, and she does send me a fair number of auditions. I'm not sure they leave her office, but enough do that I'm making headway. It's my hope that the second agent will be a bit more "personal service" oriented.

Only time will tell.

Thanks much for the post - good read,
Joe J Thomas
www.JoeActor.com

Colin Campbell · Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2007, 02:48 (GMT) Post subject:

JS, I have to ask. With the way you present yourself, why do you bother to make these langthy posts here? What purpose does it serve you?