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Voiceovers And Agents – The Not Silent Blog 5/26/20

Agents have not been spared from the coronavirus pandemic.

My longtime agent Viola Staravoj of VS Talent Group has just decided to shut her agency down. Vi has been wonderful to me over the years and among other great projects, helped me book the Nat Geo Wild show “We Move Animals“. Alpaca-palooza forever!

The Portland, Oregon-based agency In Both Ears just raised their talent commission to 25%. Agents traditionally charge 10% to 15% and managers upwards of 20%. This has caused a bit of a stir in the voiceover community and a fascinating, civil discourse has taken place on social media. I can’t post any quotes since it’s happening in a private Facebook group. I will say that talents on their roster get access to additional services and their rationale is both thoughtful & transparent.

TIP OF THE WEEK

Don’t take your agents for granted.

Agents offer an invaluable service to the voiceover community. They provide vetted talent to voice seekers and strive to negotiate fairly on everyone’s behalf. Agents give voice talent access to projects we can’t get on our own. While only a small percentage of my voiceover work comes from agents, I value them greatly.

The coronavirus pandemic has made voice actors, voice seekers, agents, and recording studios reexamine their business models and sometimes make painful decisions to either move their business forward or call it a day. Take the time to look at your own business model. What percentage of your voiceover revenue comes from agents, online casting sites, or direct marketing? Are you happy with that breakdown? If not, what would you like those numbers to be and what are you going to do about it?

FYI if you wanna read more blog posts about agents, check these out:

*In Both Ears is no longer a member of the VO Agent Alliance.

NEWS AND NOTES

Thursday May 28th @2:30 PM EST: “Learning to do eLearning” is THIS WEEK! In this two-hour workshop you will learn what eLearning narration is, it’s sub-genres, narration tips, how much to charge, demo specs, and there will be live coaching. It’s $100 to attend, but due to the pandemic you can use the $25-off promo code EARLYBIRD528 anytime! Click here to register.

Thursday, June 4th @8PM EST: My next Edge Studio Business and Money 201 webinar will be ‘Managing Your Money’. In this one-hour webinar, we’ll talk about what to do with your paycheck and how to manage your finances, credit cards, taxes, insurance, and retirement. This webinar caps at 25 attendees and sells out fast. Click here to sign up.

Thursday, June 18th @8PM EST: My next Edge Studio Marketing 201 webinar will be ‘Thriving in a Smaller Market City’. In this one-hour webinar, we’ll talk about how to build a successful voiceover business without living in a metropolitan area. This webinar caps at 25 attendees and sells out fast. Click here to sign up.

Thursday, June 25th @3PM EDT: Johnny Heller’s SPLENDIFEROUS WEBINAR #4 (BUSINESS/MARKETING). In this webinar, the indubitable Johnny Heller hosts me, Karen Commins, and Kelsey Navarro in a conversation about the business and marketing side of audiobooks. Click here to learn more and sign up!

HAPPY HAPPYS

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Tom Dheere is a voice actor who has narrated thousands of projects for hundreds of clients in over a dozen countries. He is also a voiceover business & marketing consultant known as the VOStrategist and produces the comic book “Agent 1.22”. You can subscribe to his weekly blog and the monthly VO Strategist Learnin’ Stuff Notice here.

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