Don’t Belittle My Talent

(Originally posted on July 7, 2016)

Okay… I admit it. There are times someone calls or emails with a voice-over request that I just want to respond with an old fashion “dressing down.” I’m not necessarily talking about a classic Lee Ermey emasculation, but I’ve been around enough locker rooms and Vince Lombardi wanna-be’s that I can put together a string of insults, expletives and belittlements that rivals the best of them. However, I remind myself that I am a professional and attempt to calmly explain why his/her request is not how our business is conducted.

What is the recent source of my ire? A major internet media company reached out to us with a request for Presidential impersonators. We happen to represent a handful of exceptional impersonators, whether skewering Barack, Hillary, Donald, etc., so I was looking forward to helping (or so I thought). They then offered a mere $150 a day for their services.

Everybody Has a Right to Make Money

I’m not going to begin by detailing all the reasons voice-over talent should be paid a certain amount for their time and energy compared to all of the other skilled craftsman who ply their trade to make a living. What I will focus on is the concept of exploitation in both its negative and more neutral connotations. The intention of this company was to produce several animated webisodes, featuring our talents’ skills, and to exploit (in the neutral sense) those very specific skills to generate advertising revenue. In fact, their creative was dependent on the skills and execution of the voice talent. All that is fine as I personally abet that kind of exploitation every day in my job. Where the exploitation turned into the negative was by offering a little more than minimum wage, despite their company likely and directly generating (and I’m being exceptionally conservative) — tens of thousands of dollars in ad revenue from the unique skills of some very talented performers.

Why Doesn’t Economics Apply to Voice-Over?

I wrote a blog piece a year or so ago that the concept of supply and demand has a perverse and often inverse relationship in the world of voice-overs. For example, regardless of the minuscule supply, an elderly actress who speaks Polish is frequently offered significantly less than your average 30-year-old guy. Furthermore, we know kids are usually paid the least of all despite their talents and skills.

So what is a Presidential impersonator worth? I’m not going to tell you what I would have quoted because every talent, as well as every job, is different. However, I will say the base line for a day is the SAG/AFTRA day rate of $906. I would then argue that their skill is exceptional and push for double, triple or more, depending on the project. Once again, my reasoning is the supply is so low and the demand fairly high.

As for this major media company? I don’t care that you exploit (in the negative) all your writers and other contributors to generate millions creating “click-bait.” Just stay out of voice-overs or I may have to put that Lee Ermey hat on after all.