EDIT: Thanks for playing! Our Audition is now closed!
VO BOSS Anne Ganguzza welcomes back special guest co-host Liz Atherton for our first-ever VO BOSS Cast Voices contest! The client, “Anne of Aspercreme”, needs a voice and contacts Cast Voices (Liz), to help her cast the right talent! BOSS listeners will have the opportunity to audition, as well as become casting directors in this interactive contest. Participate by submitting your audition, and you could win a pro membership to CastVoices and your very own BOSS Blast! Make sure to sign up for our VO BOSS mailng list to get the audition or email anne@voboss.com for more details!
Takeaways
Quick Concepts from Today’s Episode:
This week, you get to play both sides of the coin: casting, and auditioning
You can send in your auditions and get feedback
You also get to provide feedback to other listeners
Anne “of Aspercreme” and Liz of “Cast Voices” have a gig.
Anne is using Liz’s service to cast her commercial
Details and audition are here
Remember when jobs include an additional 20%, this is for the agent. These are the fees they keep for participating on the project
A session feee is given to the talent, no matter what
Additional fees include usage
Talents who accept jobs agree to the terms given in an audition
Usage will include from first air-date, not from recording date
Oftentimes, there can be a hold fee until the spot is released
Exclusivity matters not just on the current commercial, but think about other clients that may require exclusivity
Audition specs will be sent out via email. Sign up for the VO BOSS Mailing List here
To participate in the contest, you need to be comfortable with vulnerability, because the audience will be able to leave feedback on your audition
You are invited to experience the audition cycle from Casting to Gig.
Meet: Anne of Aspercreme (the Client)
Client reaches out to Casting Director with specs and rates.
Client: Needs VO Announcer for a couple of spots: running nationally.
2 spots – looking to hire two different VO announcer roles
Length of buy: 1 year from first air date, with option for 2 addition rebuys – may air up to 3 years.
Session rate: $500 + 20% (the 20% on top (non-union) goes to the Agent for taking care of the bookkeeping, year-end 1099s, etc.)
Buy (if used): 1st year: $2,250, 2nd year option: $2,750, 3rd year option: $3,000
The “Buy” calendar begins with the 1st air date. Talent will be paid a $1,000 holding fee for up to 6 months before 1st airing and $250 for each additional quarter until the gig airs.
Exclusivity – it’s not just about Aspercreme.
Conversation between Casting and Creatives is very important.
Casting Directors help educate Creatives on good rates.
THIS IS A CONTEST not a real audition, but a good experience. Please know that participating means transparency – your audition will be public to all of those who participate.
Pointers: Read Specs thoroughly. Really pay attention.
Top Auditioning Tips
Following the directions TO A TEE
Only audition for 1 role
Pay attention to slate rules
Good quality audition – no dogs barking/landscapers
Now is a good time to get your studio secured.
The winner of the contest will receive: A pro level membership to Cast Voices, and a BOSS Blast – a custom email marketing list directed to a vetted targeted audience of your choosing.
More details on the VO BOSS/ Cast Voices contest here
Find yourself an amazing engineer (I use Tim Tippets) to get your pro studio set up – Anne has two doors!
Set up ipDTL or another program to connect with clients remotely
Referenced in this Episode
Direct links to things we brought up ++
Sign up for the VO BOSS mailing list
More details on the VO BOSS/ Cast Voices contest here
Find out more about BOSS Blasts
Find out about Castvoices.com
Learn more about getting your audio to a pro level with Tim Tippets
Recorded on ipDTL
Awesome editing by Carl Bahner
Transcript
>> It’s time to take your business to the next level, the BOSS level! These are the premier business owner strategies and successes being utilized by the industry’s top talent today. Rock your business like a BOSS, a VO BOSS. Now let’s welcome your host Anne Ganguzza.
Anne: Hey everyone. Welcome to the VO BOSS podcast. I’m your host, Anne Ganguzza, along with the bee, the Queen, the one and only Liz Atherton. Hey Liz! How are ya?
Liz: Hey, hey Anne, hey Anne. I’m – in general I’m pretty good. Like you, and I’m sure the rest of the world right now, I’m just in a little bit of a shell shock over the daily things going on in our world. How about you?
Anne: It is, well, it is a crazy time, but thankfully I’m used to working from home, and so that’s a blessing. Other people I know are not as used to it like my husband –
Liz: Like Jerry?
Anne: – who is going a little bit stir crazy. And he’s actually doing a whole lot of cooking right now. That’s his stress relieving activity. So that COVID-19 is going to be 19 pounds plus, the COVID-19 pounds for Anne.
Liz: The COVID-19.
Anne: The COVID-19 plus. But in all seriousness, guys, you know, we’re in this together, and I know that Liz echoes the same sentiment. You know, we love you guys. Let’s stick together. We’re in it together. Please be safe. Please, you know, stay home and take care of yourselves, and let’s just get through this crisis together. I know that it’s important that we stick together, which is why Liz and I are so happy to be able to bring this podcast to you guys. Maybe we can distract you a little bit, and actually we have a great little contest coming up here that you guys can take part in with us, brainchild of both Liz and I a couple of weeks ago. Liz, explain a little bit about what we’re going to be doing.
Liz: Yeah, guys, we got a lot of feedbacks on rates and the casting process and all that, so we thought what we would do is we would let you play both sides of the coin. Not only are we going to create an audition that you will submit for, but you also get to be on the other side. You will get to see everybody who auditioned and provide feedback to those auditions that come through, and you also get to see what Anne and I think. We just thought this would be a really good exercise for you, and we can do it, so we are.
Anne: So Liz and I are going to do a little role-playing, some professional role-playing. I will be Anne from Asper Cream.
Liz: Anne of Asper Cream. It sounds like Anne of Green Gables but and yet –
Anne: It could be a great movie. Anne of Asper Cream.
Liz: But it’s all in how you say it, Anne.
Anne: Yes. Liz with CastVoices. So I have a gig and I need Liz’s help. So here we go. Hey Liz! It’s so great to talk to you again. I’ve got a pretty cool gig coming up here that I need your help with.
Liz: Anne of Asper Cream! My goodness, we haven’t talked in such –
Anne: [laughs]
Liz: Stop it, Anne. Okay, this is when you’re not supposed to break character.
Anne: Sorry. Oh, the role-playing, I’m sorry.
Liz: Yes, yes. So Anne of Asper Cream, this is Liz of CastVoices. What you got going, girl?
Anne: Well, I have a need for a VO announcer for a couple of spots that is going to be running nationally as well as on the Internet.
Liz: Very, very cool.
Anne: I emailed those over to you a little bit earlier. Not sure if you had a chance to take a look at the specs?
Liz: Oh stand by. That’s me opening up my file. Oh, I see it, Anne. [laughs] So Anne of Asper Cream, it looks like you’re doing two spots. Let’s talk about the rates for just a second, Anne, can we?
Anne: Sure. Sure.
Liz: What you got going?
Anne: So the first term that I have for you, it’s going to be good for a period of one year from the first air date, and we’re going to have two additional extensions first and a second option term.
Liz: So it could be an up to a three-year buy.
Anne: Correct. Correct. Our session fee is going to be $500 plus 20% for you guys.
Liz: That actually, that 20% would be for the agents. So Anne, I’m going to go back just a second to make sure that I understand. So you’re going to pay a $500 session fee, so no matter who auditions – I mean not auditions, but whoever I book for my session, they’re going to make that $500 for the record no matter what.
Anne: Correct, correct.
Liz: Awesome. And then you have a 20% on top. Just for your clarification, Anne, that 20% on top goes to their agents directly typically, and that’s the fees they keep for participating and actually booking somebody on your project, doing the 1099s at the end of the year, that kind of stuff.
Anne: Yes.
Liz: Very cool. And then the talent is going to make $500 for the session, and then the agents will keep whatever commission out of that, right?
Anne: Yes.
Liz: Okay, excellent. And so for the first year you’re paying $2250. The second year, you’re paying $2750, and the third year you’re paying $3000.
Anne: Correct.
Liz: If the talent participate, then they agree to these buys upfront, should the rebuys happen.
Anne: Yes, correct. $2250 for the initial, $2750 for the first option and the second option term is for $3000.
Liz: Okay. Anne, I notice in the paperwork that it says from first air date. So this session is like slated for June, right?
Anne: Right.
Liz: So if you don’t air it until December, the actual buy doesn’t take place until December starts, right?
Anne: Right, but we’re going to pay a quarterly actually, $250 plus 20% that will be a hold fee, renewable until the spot is released.
Liz: Okay cool. So you’re paying this $1000, I think you said earlier for the holding fee, and then if we – for the first six months, and then we’re delayed in airing, you’ll pay another $250 every three months.
Anne: Every three months. Yes, exactly, every quarter.
Liz: Cool. What about exclusivity?
Anne: So right now, we’re not looking for any exclusivity in this.
Liz: Okay. Anne, I understand why you’re not looking for exclusivity, but I would want my talent or the talent agents to be aware it’s not necessarily your exclusivity they worry about. It’s any further on projects that are in the same wheelhouse. Anne, since you’re in [laughs]—
Anne: Anne of Asper Cream. Our competitive –
Liz: Asper Cream, your conflicts are, what –
Anne: Well, you know, Liz, our competitive market, we kind of got the market.
Liz: I’m thinking you do, dude.
Anne: We kind of got the market with our product, and so I’m not necessarily as worried about the exclusivity for this, but thank you for bringing that up, yes. I think we’re offering a nice three and that we should be able to get some amazing talent because you’ve helped us so many times before. That’s why we’re coming to you.
Liz: Awesome. You so rock. From here, guys, we’re going to step out because I think you get an idea of the conversation or the type of conversation that would go on between casting and a creative. The really good casting directors will do that, and they all do it, they’ll educate the creative on what kind of talent they’re going to get based on the rates and things like that. We kind of wanted to give you a feel for that. So what Anne and I have done now is we’re going to send out with this blast a link for you all to go to, to audition.
Anne: Yeah, so we have all the specs for the two spots. You guys that have received our email hopefully before or after you listened to this episode, make sure you take a look at that. We’re also going to be announcing this on social media. You should have all of the details, and you should be able to get all of the specs of the two spots for Asper Cream. And we have created a Dropbox link that you can submit your auditions. Liz and I on the next episode, we’re going to be talking to you guys about the auditions that come in, what we like, what we didn’t like. We might even present you with our shortlist and we’re also going to, at that time, invite you all to participate as well to be a part of that casting process because we think it’s super important that you guys get to understand what happens on both sides of the glass, not just auditioning but what it takes to actually cast. That way it can really help to submit better auditions.
Liz: Your job is to read the specs, really pay attention. Anne and I are not going to answer a bunch of questions about the specs because sometimes that’s the way it goes down.
Anne: [laughs] Isn’t that always the way?
Liz: I know, right? But you’ll have all of that information in there. So from this point, you’re gonna be the talent. For the next podcast you are going to be part of the casting process offering feedback. I’m telling you this and Anne is saying this as well because we want you guys to know that if you participate, you’re gonna have to step into your vulnerable self. That’s because everybody that auditions will be able to listen and provide feedback on every audition that comes through. We think this is important because if we’re gonna have to listen to 400 of them, we want you to listen to 400 of them too. That’s what casting would do.
Anne: That’s right.
Liz: Yeah.
Anne: Now Liz, we have some really special cool prizes –
Liz: Yes, we do.
Anne: – for our selected talent that actually get cast for this mock audition. Liz, tell us, tell us what we’ll be getting.
Liz: So dear Anne, as I stand in front of “Let’s Make a Deal” – is that right – no, whatever it is. [laughs]
Anne: Tell us what we’ll be winning.
Liz: What you’ll be winning from this –
Anne: You’ll get a car!
Liz: – side of the mic is getting is – no, you will not get a car, and if you do, it’s gonna be like one that you can hold in the palm of your hand. But since I’m very fortunate we’re launching our CastVoices software this year, we’re gonna give a pro-level membership to CastVoices for one full year to the person that we select as the voice of Asper Cream. And then Anne, what about you?
Anne: How generous. First of all, Liz, thank you so much. That’s super generous. On the VO BOSS side of things, those of you that have listened to us for any length of time know that we have a product called the BOSS Blast. And the BOSS Blast is a marketing campaign that is directed to a target audience of your choosing, of your VO demos, VO capabilities. And we are super excited. We’ve launched this product now for about three years and it has really worked well. We are able to submit marketing for you to a vetted list. That’s the important thing about the BOSS Blast, that it’s a vetted list of over 90,000-plus creatives.
Liz: Oh my God, that’s so cool!
Anne: Yeah, that have given permission for us to send email to them.
Liz: 90,000?
Anne: 90,000-plus. Now that doesn’t mean that every list gets sent out to 90,000 plus, but what’s cool about it is that we actually generate a very custom list for each and every person who gets a BOSS Blast. So no two BOSS Blast lists are the same, nor will they ever be the same because we have 90,000 plus to choose from. It all depends on the genre that you want to target. That could be your commercial, it could be promo, it could be medical, it could be corporate. Whatever it is, we can target to that genre and we can target to different regions in the U.S. and Canada.
Liz: Anne, that is some kind of awesome.
Anne: Every list is unique. We are super excited about it. It is a direct marketing method, and in these days, crazy days of everybody on the Internet thinking they’re a voice talent, this really is a helpful method to get your voice out there in front of the people who can hire you. Our winner will get a BOSS Blast, yes, will get a BOSS Blast. And if you guys want to find out more information on that, how it works, you can go to the VO BOSS website and just click under BOSS Blast tab. You can find out all of the information for that. Super excited.
Liz: Yeah. Just everybody, Anne and I just kind of put our noggins together. Like, what can we do that will keep people engaged, help them to learn more about how it works on the other side of the mic, and also give them something to look forward to and learn from? So this is what we’ve come up with. You know, our hearts are with you. I don’t mean to circle us back to that looming cloud in the sky, but I just want you to know that, you know, we’re here to try to make it better for you, at least in your VO world.
Anne: Yes. Before we actually sign off, Liz, let’s give a quick list of top auditioning tips that our BOSSes can take with them before they go ahead and audition for this. What do you think?
Liz: Well first and foremost, when you read the specs, follow the directions to a T. You only get to audition for one role. I’m going to give you that little heads up. You only get to audition for one role. There are specifics in there about slating. There are specifics in there about takes. Make sure you pay attention because as a casting director, if that stuff does not come in, the first thing they’re going to think is “my goodness, they can’t follow the rules.” Follow the rules. Two, make sure you have a good quality audition. I mean, just make sure you do. [laughs] I mean, that just kind of goes without saying!
Anne: Make sure that the dog is not barking outside your studio or you don’t have the landscapers out there, and if you don’t have a good, you don’t have good quality sound coming out of your studio, now is the best time to actually get that secured right now. Get that secured so that people know when you send out your addition, that they know they’re going to be able to get quality audio. In this time of craziness, I know more than ever I’ve already responded to multiple inquiries about people who have home studios. Because unfortunately now, people, they’re shutting studios down for safety.
Liz: Obvious reasons.
Anne: Yeah. It’s more important than ever that you secure that home studio sound that people will love and is not full of echoes, or noise, or all that good stuff. Find yourself an amazing engineer, and I’m gonna take this moment and opportunity to say thank you to my amazing audio guy Tim Tippets for coming here and physically building me an amazing studio. This just happened.
Liz: Lucky girl.
Anne: Yeah. And I tell you what, it’s going to be another series in my podcast, all about audio with Tim Tippets. He literally poured his whole and soul into this studio. If you love the way I sound right now, it is all because of him. It’s an amazing 4×6 –
Liz: Hey Anne.
Anne: You know, double –
Liz: I love the way you sound.
Anne: [laughs] Thank you.
Liz: I’m sorry!
Anne: Thank you. It’s like Fort Knox in here. People will say well, “oko, so what’s your studio like?” I’m like “I have two doors.” [laughs] How many doors do you have? I have actually an inside door and an outside door. So that is –
Liz: That’s how she refers to it.
[both laugh]
Liz: I’m sorry!
Anne: I’m talking double walled, green glue in between, Roxul fiber in between and panels.
Liz: That’s fantastic.
Anne: Yeah, I have over – not in this booth, but literally I treated my space as well, we have at least 25 panels. Thanks so much to Tim Tippetts and his amazingness, and we are going to be documenting this, so stay on the lookout for that. And another person that I need to thank that has really allowed us to connect and always allows us to connect is Kevin over there at ipDTL. Love, love, love ipDTL. Thank you so much, Kevin, for working triple time allowing us all to connect to one another like we’re in the next room! Liz, I feel like we’re like next-door, and that helps in this time. It does.
Liz: It totally helps. It’s connection, man. Even if it’s over the waves, it’s a really good connection. I’m very, very grateful. I’m glad you and I get to do this. I’m looking forward to this exercise and hopefully everybody will, you know, gain something valuable from it.
Anne: Absolutely. Alright, guys. Stay safe.
Lara: Hunker down.
Anne: Stay healthy, hunker down, wash your hands.
[both laugh]
Liz: Often.
Anne: And listen, listen to VO BOSS. We love you guys.
Liz: We love you, take care.
Anne: Alright, have a great week, and we’ll see you next week.
Liz: Bye!
Anne: Bye!
>> Join us next week for another edition of VO BOSS with your host, Anne Ganguzza, and take your business to the next level. Sign up for our mailing list at voboss.com and receive exclusive content, industry revolutionizing tips and strategies, and new ways to rock your business like a BOSS. Redistribution with permission. Coast-to-coast connectivity via ipDTL.
[outtake]
Liz: Sorry, I have to move it, Anne. I know that’s going to make a little noise. But anyway.
[both laugh]
Anne: We hear you moving over there. That’s okay. You can move.
Liz: I’m sorry. I’m trying to be still, Mama, I am.
[both laugh]
Liz: Listen folks, for you all that don’t know. I’m not a voiceover actor. Imagine that! And I’m working with the most excellent voiceover actor who hears me think about breathing, and she warns me, now Lizzie, don’t breathe. Don’t move.
Anne: Don’t move. I can hear you blinking.
Liz: I can hear your eyes.
[both laugh]
Liz: So I apologize –
Anne: This is authenticity. No, that’s okay. This is authentic, Liz. That’s important.
Liz: This is very authentic, Lord knows.
Anne: My back, ow!
Liz: My back, ow oh oh oh!
[both laugh]