Ungrateful People in the Entertainment Biz?
Hi Voice Cat,
Someone solicited me to audition last night, per email. Here's the email:
I am casting for a new, healthy, natural energy drink called (product name withheld). You come highly recommended and I fully understand why, after hearing your amazing demos! It is a 60-second national spot, but it is non-union and a complete buyout. It pays $750 for 3 versions. We need a friendly, yet strong & CREDIBLE voice. If you’re interested, please email back ASAP and we'll gladly send you the script, but we will need you to send your read to us ASAP.
So I reply, ask for sides, get them, cut the audition and send it off. But I asked for an acknowledgment of receipt. No reply. I ask again later on in the day. No reply. What's with that? Is it the etiquette these days to ignore you after they get what they want? Am I being scammed somehow?"
–Scott P., Hollywood, CA
Scott,
Unfortunately, this is usual for the wacky world of show business.
Industry people seem to have lost touch with the simple ability to say thank you.
For some reason, a lot of casting companies feel that the opportunity they gave you for an acting job was enough, so why bother thanking you? They disregard the fact that you took time (and some money) out of your day to perform something for them for free, and common courtesy is not part of their equation.
And it’s not as if it takes a lot of time, either. With email, one person can communicate with the dozens of actors who showed up for an audition or submitted an mp3, and just say, “Thanks for your audition.”
Bottom line: don’t expect a lot of respect for actors. But don’t respond in kind, however. Continue to be unfailingly polite, sensitive and courteous. And if people you meet—any people, even outside of show business—are impolite, call them on it.
I’ll be sharing more voiceover questions and answers in the coming months. If you have any questions, please write to me at Ask The VoiceCat and I’ll get back to you.
Sincerely,
Marc
MARC CASHMAN creates and produces copy and music advertising for radio and television. Winner of over 150 advertising awards, he also instructs voice acting of all levels through his classes, The Cashman Cache of Voice-Acting Techniques in Los Angeles, CA.
Cashman Commercials © 2007
Comments
I just addressed something similar - from both sides in my new blog at: http://voice-over-studio.blogspot.com/
Professional Voice Talent Behavior
This is a note about professionalism. As a professional female voice talent for many years who strives to conduct my business in the most professional way possible, I'm always surprised to hear about talent who miss the mark in their professionalism. I worked with a producer the other day who shared a tidbit with me about his experience with an online agent/professional voice talent web site. He was pretty steamed because after he had selected a gen Y talent and actually booked the session, he was then informed that the voice over talent was not available. So, he made a second selection and the same thing happened again. When he questioned the agency as to why they didn't know their talent was unavailable, their excuse was that "well, you know, he's only 20 and didn't let us know......" It made the online agent look pretty incompetent because they didn't know their talent was unavailable (twice!) And I'm sure they turned around and got on the cases of both voice over talents who were unavailable without bothering to let the agent know of their status!
We can all make mistakes and slip up from time to time, but it's so important to stop and think of each and every agent online or in person who represents you and have the business courtesy to let them know when you unavailable. When your agent doesn't know, not only does it make them look bad, but your future bookings may suffer as well. That producer will probably not ask for those two unavailable talents again, and he may not even work with that agent in the future! So, everyone is burned. Professionalism often equates to common courtesy - something that is often lacking in many business situations today. Customer service, knowledgeable response, or even just a response of some type is appreciated on both producers' and professional voice overs' sides of the fence!
On that note, how many times have you emailed an audition or even a voice file for a job to a producer and not received a confirmation that the producer received it? As a professional female voice talent, I usually send another email double checking to make sure the file was received - especially in the case of a job. With the way things can get lost in cyberspace, I don't take for granted that I'll receive a bounce back message or an email looking for the spot. Follow up and customer service are as important as being there and being available for the job in the first place!
Thanks,
Melanie
www.melaniehaynes.com
Posted by: Melanie Haynes | January 13, 2008 5:51 PM