Paul Quinn of BendingSound agreed to answer a few questions about their experience at Voices.com and how they've used the service to find, select and hire talent.
Recently Paul completed a project at Voices.com and hired Chris Andrews. Read more on BendingSound's hiring experience.
How has Voices.com helped you with your project needs?
Voices.com helped make the client happy, which makes me happy. As far as the caliber of talent, I can break it down to an almost exact science every time I audition voices:
10% are the cream of the crop...these are the usual suspects that almost always end up in my top 10. Good equipment, good delivery, proven track record, coachable, the whole bit. I suspect these are the folks that score the lion's share of gigs on voices.com. They make it easy (and fun) for me and whatever client I'm working with at the moment. They really enjoy listening to the pros voice their script.
25% are good to very good...these are typically the ones with a radio background, and you can hear it in their audition (announcing) Sometimes that's a good thing, other times its not...depends on the client and the script. Many times, it's hard for ex radio guys and gals to get past listening to the sound of their own voice, rather than focusing on the message of the script. Generally, they have a decent recording set-up and understand eq, compression, etc. (although some go a bit overboard with the compression which only brings out the flaws of the equipment, room, etc.) On a side note, many clients equate volume with quality (I know, weird) ...so, voice talents...MAXIMIZE your auditions. It sometimes will give you enough of an edge to win the audition if the client is on the fence.
65% are completely unusable (for critical recording purposes, anyway) This is due to several reasons: 1) voice talent have clearly invested VERY little in their home studio...ie: podcasting mic, no preamp, consumer grade sound card, no acoustic treatment of the room, etc etc. Generally these auditions are thin, noisy, and distorted. 2) Talent is reading, not acting. They simply need to invest more time into the craft of voice acting.
How did you select the talent?
As a commercial producer, I try and make my client's job easy and engaging. Therefore, I like to listen to all the auditions myself and then do a preliminary "narrowing down" to what I feel are the strongest candidates for my client. Out of more than a hundred auditions, I always end up with about 10 that I will present to client. The beauty of this approach is that many client's love to feel as if they are in on the creative process, and by giving them multiple talent's to choose from in the final selection, it eliminates many surprises that may occur if I were to select the final voice for the job.
What challenges did you face using the Voices.com system to find talent?
I needed a male voice for a sobering financial-type spot and had a tight deadline. I simply uploaded the script for audition, along with the tone, pacing and general requirements of the voice talent.
I put in all the parameters I'm looking for when I upload the script. Occasionally, I'll even voice part or all of the script myself so that the talent can hear my general tone and pacing as a reference (if I've written the script myself, I almost always do this) But, I also like to hear what talent's will bring to the read, sometimes I'll choose a talent because they've taken an angle or style I hadn't thought of. With voices.com, the timeline is never an issue...auditions begin to pour in very quickly.
I used the SurePay Escrow service with this job and it was very simple with no issues encountered.
How would you describe your overall experience with the site?
It went very smooth. Chris Andrews is a pro and we intend to use him again. As a matter of fact, I just received a new batch of scripts from the same client for Chris to voice very soon. He doesn't know yet!
We will continue to use Voices.com for our voiceover project needs.
About the Client
Bendingsound is a full service voiceover and production facility. Our focus is not chasing volume (of clients) but rather, results. Sometimes this means turning away business if the client insists on a direction that simply won't work. Strangely, this actually seems to increase our volume of projects...I need a vacation!
Website: http://bendingsound.com/
bendingsound voiceover & production
Radio Commercials that Actually Work
Project Details
Project ID: 11877
Project Title: Christine Browning
Category: Radio
Language: English (North American)
Project Close Date: February 19, 2009
Selected Talent: Chris Andrews
