Undercover Voice Over
- Written by Stephanie
- 11:03 AM
- Add Your Comments (8)
If you've been following the news, US presidential candidate John McCain's commercial voice over talent "Joan", whose identity is deemed a corporate secret, has been a topic of discussion and I've no doubt in my mind that she had to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement).
Have you ever had to sign a non-disclosure agreement for a voice over job that you've recorded?
Leave a comment!
Incognito VO
There are many people in our industry who need to agree to non-disclosure agreements for their work and perhaps you're one of them.
I can appreciate why the McCain campaign is keeping Joan's identity under wraps and am aware of many, many NDA jobs that have come to voice talent registered at Voices.com, usually through direct contacts from their profiles.
A certain sweet satisfaction must come from the fact that you're voice is considered top secret and valued so much that they don't want their competition finding out. On the other hand, it must also be frustrating because you are just about to burst and want to let people know "That's Me!"
While I'm not asking you to reveal who you've signed agreements for, I do want to know if you have ever had to sign an NDA for voice over work.
How common are these jobs would you say?
Does any of your voice over work require NDAs?
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Stephanie
©iStockphoto.com/Rob Belknap
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Comments
I just signed an NDA this week for some ongoing voice work. Unfortunately, I can't tell you anything more about it because.... I signed an NDA! :)
Well depending on how the election goes, it might be a good business decision for "Joan" to remain anon. SNARKY!
I've had to sign NDA's for major commercial campaigns. It's really been no biggie. What's funny is without signing an NDA I just don't normally talk specifics about work. The second I sign the NDA, I want to go posting stuff on my blog LOL!
Hi Jeffrey and SomeAudioGuy,
Thanks for commenting :) I'm waiting on Joe J Thomas to get in on this one too as he has signed many an NDA and even wrote a song about it if you recall ;)
I wonder if because an NDA is signed that it gives people outside of the project, TV viewers, for example, the license to speculate who the voice of the commercial is, possibly giving credit where credit is not due?
A while back, there was a television commercial voice over for the new Apple iPhone (at the time it was new last year) speculating that the voice over was performed by John Krasinski, star of the sitcom The Office and several comedic films.
This was covered by another source which spawned dozens of reports that it was John. The posts circulated the net and then many people said, "No, it's this guy named Glenn Martin", which it very well could have been but there was no official confirmation to back it.
Here's a link to an article we wrote after reading that John supposedly was the voice:
http://blogs.voices.com/voxdaily/2007/06/iphone_tv_commercial_voice.html
After comment after comment came in to the contrary, I called Apple HQ and spoke with their PR people and they couldn't confirm the voice, perhaps because there was an NDA, but that wasn't confirmed either.
I emailed Glenn Martin's agent to ask her for a confirmation and did not receive a response. To give Glenn the benefit of the doubt, he also has an Apple spot on his voice over demo.
When companies opt to have NDAs, they may also set themselves up for public speculation, something that may have happened with the Apple iPhone TV commercial from 2007 rumor that it was John Krasinski when it very well could have been someone else, in this case, potentially Glenn Martin.
But, because no one with any official clout, including Apple, Glenn Martin's agent, or Glenn Martin to confirm or deny, there isn't any proof that it wasn't John Krasinski. John has done other VO work for Apple TV commercials (see his IMDb page) in the past so it technically isn't a stretch to think it was him again.
NDAs seem to be a double edged sword for both the voice talent and company they are working for. On one hand, there's a cool mystique that comes with not revealing who it is, and on the other, you've got to shut the door on a lot of targeted and valuable publicity.
Perhaps producers prefer ambiguity because it spurs on more conversation about their commercials, employing the writing vigor of both sides of the equation who adamantly champion their guesses?
Do NDAs ever expire?
Lastly, I could see producers not wanting to name the voice over talent because the professional might be picked up to record for a competing business.
What do you think?
Best,
Stephanie
P.S. If you've signed an NDA, feel free to jump in and comment. If you'd like to continue the conversation that I've started within this comment, please reply via commenting below as well.
Hi Stephanie,
I've signed my share of NDAs, but the ones I've been asked to sign are usually designed to keep the clients new product or method a secret until it is unveiled rather than to keep my name secret!
Melanie
Hi Stephanie
Your recent article on NDA's (non disclosure agreement's) is very timely. Two weeks ago I landed a job through Voices.Com that required me to fill out, sign and fax back the document as part of the deal. I couldn't even respond to your 'Who Got the Gig' blog because I would have violated my agreement with the client. I have no regrets though, the satisfaction of being chosen and the value of the project was well worth it.
Continued Success!
Bob Jordan
Hi Stephanie,
I've only been a member of Voices.Com for a few weeks but I've been doing VO's for about 15 years. I've had to sign several NDA's throughout my career but they have been with Video game developers who need to keep their projects top secret! The world of video games is a very competitive business and with the millions of dollars in investment that it takes to create today's high-profile games, sometimes if felt as if I was working with National Security secrets!
George Ledoux
Yes, I've signed many NDAs... and for me, it was usually the same thing... a propietary product or service that a client was launching. But I also signed one with a well known travel web site when I voiced a video that would be placed on their site.
I may or may not have had to sign NDAs for theatrical, commercial, technology, pharma, govt. and other projects.