A Guide to Managing Unpaid Projects
Sept 30, 2018 13:08:33 GMT -8
Lady Stardust ★, James, and 2 more like this
Post by Kamran on Sept 30, 2018 13:08:33 GMT -8
So, you're a content creator with a story to tell; one you're DEEPLY passionate about, and want to bring your characters to life with the best cast you can muster. But perhaps you don't have the Ad Revenue, subscriber count or means to provide financial compensation for your actors. Well, if your project looks like it will be a really good one or at least one that's really fun to work on / something an actor wouldn't mind putting on a visual reel, then that shouldn't stop you from managing to gather a talented cast.
Now, you have a cast, and with their contributions, you can bring your vision to life. However, their involvement means this project is no longer a solo effort, and now, you have some responsibilities. It's now your job to manage this project in a way that is smooth and pleasant for everyone involved. But how do you go about doing that? How do you make it so this is a pleasant experience for everyone helping you out, enough so that, even if your projects don't pay, they wouldn't mind collaborating with you in the future?
Well, that's what this guide is for. As someone who has both written and created a number of projects with fellow voice actors and lent my own voice towards a number of free projects for the past eleven years, I'd like to share with you now the Do's and Don'ts. Please note, a lot of this won't JUST apply to Unpaid Projects.
A lot of these points will parrot what was already stated in this guide here, which, if you haven't already read, I would strongly recommend because it's very extensive and on-point:
With that said, let's jump into it!
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The Do's:
1. A Guarantee of Completion: One rookie mistake many people just starting out make is jumping the gun a little too early in casting. They have an idea and they wanna get a cast together as soon as possible, but haven't so much as written the script or done any of the animation or basic mixing / coding for whatever project they're working on. It's literally just a concept. And as someone who has been writing for almost eighteen years, let me tell you first hand, a lot of concepts STAY as concepts.
If you're trying to get other people involved in something you're working on, then it better be a lot more than a concept.
Ideally, you don't want to start casting for a project until it's well underway and on track for actually finishing up and being released. Time is a commodity, and no one likes having their time wasted. Casting for a project you can't finish or just straight up lose interest in is time wasted, and be assured, if you manage to cast a project but don't finish it, your cast-to-be will make note of that.
Ideally, you don't want to start casting for a project until it's well underway and on track for actually finishing up and being released. Time is a commodity, and no one likes having their time wasted. Casting for a project you can't finish or just straight up lose interest in is time wasted, and be assured, if you manage to cast a project but don't finish it, your cast-to-be will make note of that.
You do not ever cast based on a concept for many reasons:
- Concepts change the more they develop
- You may not realize just how HARD it is to get that concept off the ground
- There is nothing to signify the actual quality this project will ultimately have
- You have absolutely nothing to signify to your potential cast that this will even get made
That last part is the most important. Anyone can have an idea. What fills any potential actors with confidence is seeing headway, seeing what your project actually looks like, and that you can SHOW them you're serious about seeing it through to the end. Remember the golden rule of writing, folks: "Show, don't tell." That doesn't just apply to screenplays.
The more you can actually show a cast or potential cast in an audition thread; screenshots, character renders, even W.I.P. clips, the more likely you are to find the actors you're looking for.
If for any reason, you're working on something but don't feel comfortable sharing any W.I.P. work just yet, then have something to showcase your past work if you have any. Let anyone auditioning know what the general quality of your work is, and your proven track record for actually finishing what you set out to create.
Here's an example of a spectacular "DO NOT" in this situation.
In the Summer of 2014, I hosted an open casting call for a Metal Gear 1 remake fan-game featuring the great David Hayter as Solid Snake. My role in that project was simply to assist in casting and to lend some voice over. Collectively, we received over one thousand auditions. I personally received over 270 and went through every single one. I even managed to assemble an AMAZING cast out of that casting call. And from the word go, I did NOT want to have a casting call so early and knew it was a massive mistake. For one, even if the level design was pretty much done with a lot of the assets an coding made, only three character models were made. The project would've likely taken MUCH longer to finish, and this early on, there simply wasn't a need to have the voices yet. The voices should've come much, MUCH later than they did.
Finally, and this was the big one, there was the matter of legality. As many know, Konami Japan very famous ordered a Cease & Desist on the whole thing, as it was their IP and they were well within their rights to shut it down. There was a lot of conflicting reports from gaming sites like IGN and Gamespot about Konami greenlighting the project then changing their minds.
Fact was, the team only had approval from Konami Europe, which was on board with the project. They were even having meetings with the team about it. Konami Japan was not, and theirs was the only say that actually mattered. So what ended up happening was the project was scrapped, and the cast I had assembled was not meant to be. I hadn't even notified the actors in question because I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up anymore than prematurely having the audition to begin with already had.
The fault lies entirely on my shoulders because while I voiced my concerns once and only once, I hadn't really specified the importance of not getting ahead of ourselves. More importantly, I hadn't considered which branch of Konami gave the team their approval and the concern of the main HQ pulling the stop being such a probability. As a result, the entire casting call was one big waste of everyone's time, and some of the names of people who auditioned shocked me, and by prematurely doing an open casting call when the project wasn't ready and wasn't 100% greenlit, I wasted all of their time.
To make a long story short, never jump the gun with auditions. Sit on your project, develop it, work on it until you have something concrete and know you can see it through to the closing credits. Do not ever make the same mistake I did four years ago.
2. A Tight, Finalized Script: This is the single most important part of any project you will ever do. It doesn't matter how amazing your final product looks, if your script is slapdash, then this project will be a miserable experience for everyone involved. Do not ever, EVER send a script off that isn't ready. If you think for even a moment you have revisions you want to make, then make them before you send anything off. As a writer, it is your job to read and re-read your script over and over to make sure it is the absolute best version of itself that you're capable of making. Whatever additional changes come in post should be a matter of what to trim out, not entire scenes or lines of dialogue you didn't realize you needed. To go back to an earlier point, do not waste your casts' time. Sending them dialogue to record and read that isn't ready is you wasting their time.
This doesn't just apply to drafts, but also the quality of your writing.
Formatting is a big pet peeve of mine. I've always maintained that using actual screenwriting software is the best approach because it accurately gauges the duration of each line of dialogue and lets you know, visually, the limit. The golden rule is 7 lines max. And any screenwriter will tell you that 7 lines is still too much. The problem with the 'pseudo-script' format, aside from looking like an eyesore and being a little harder to read, is the fact that it doesn't gauge how long a line actually is.
However, I understand that many may have zero knowledge of basic screenwriting format. That and Celtx might be too hard to get a hold of now that it's a Cloud Service. So then, my advice is to keep your lines short, sweet and to the point. Grammar, eliminating run-on sentences, these go a long way towards keeping lines of dialogue easy to get through.
How can you tell? Easy! Read your dialogue out loud.
To emphasize the importance of that note, I will now make an entire segment dedicated to it.
3. Read your Dialogue Out Loud: There's a very famous saying when it comes to writing. "A good script can turn a bad actor into a good actor. But a great actor can't turn a bad script into an okay script." Strong dialogue can elevate an actor, because they're given some really meaty material to work with and flex their acting chops. But even the best actors in the world can't make dialogue like, "I hate sand" sound like it wasn't written by a Macy's Manikin.
There's a reason Peter Dinklege gave such a mediocre performance in Destiny. The character was mundane and his script was pure expository drivel. Not even seasoned voice actor Nolan North could salvage.
The quality of the dialogue you provide an actor is a crucial factor into not just the strength of the performance, but also whether they will ever want to work with you again. Your story can be compelling, and your visual style can be breathtaking. But if the dialogue you provide is choppy, poorly structured, full of run-on sentences, frustrating word placement and very 'Explanatory' stuff, the recording experience will be a nightmare. More importantly, it's next to impossible to give a really strong performance with really weak material.
Any actor will tell you horror stories of scripts they've done with ATROCIOUSLY written dialogue. It's all incredibly frustrating when it's structured so poorly that it's next to impossible to get out right. And how, after a while, it's less about doing the line justice and more about just getting it done because this is your seventh take and your eye's starting to twitch again.
How do you can sure of the quality of your dialogue?
READ IT OUT LOUD.
Whether you yourself are a voice actor or not is irrelevant. Read your dialogue out loud and try to convey the exact same emotion you expect the actor to deliver. Read your lines again and again. Get an ear for how it sounds when read aloud. If you struggle to finish the line, constantly flubbing over certain parts, then odds are good that it will probably stump the actor as well. And if that happens, you adjust and trim the line. If something sounds choppy or just off, then take that as an indicator that your dialogue needs work. Correct and adjust your dialogue however much you need to so that when you read it, it's as smooth as butter. If you don't have any issues with it, then it stems to reason the cast won't either.
Another thing that goes a long way? Shorter dialogue. "Keep it simple, Sally." The objective of any line of dialogue is to convey the information as short and concisely as you can. Don't write a 7 line piece of dialogue when it can be done in 5. Don't write a 5 line piece of dialogue if it can be done in 3. And so on.
You might think, "well, what about this monologue?" A monologue doesn't have to be a massive wall of text. In many scripts, on-page, a monologue is actually broken up by actions and descriptions in between the speech. You can convey a gradually progressing point through multiple lines of dialogue over just one massive wall of text. But if the wall is ones' preference, make it as short and to the point as possible. Be sure to beat it properly and break it up with enough pauses, be it periods, commas and so on. A monologue doesn't excuse run on sentences, choppy lines, or just a lot of really dense information. In fact, if anything, monologues are where you need to be as to-the-point as possible.
On the subject of Wall of Text, the reason I break this post up as much as I can is because that makes it far easier on the eyes, thus ensuring it's easier to read and more likely to maintain a readers' attention. Apply that exact same mindset to your script. If it's just a dense novel, then it's going to immediately be harder to go through than a script with more white on the screen.
4. Keep a Reasonable Line Amount: This is something I don't see talked about often, but one I feel is worth mentioning. If your project isn't a paying one, then you need to be especially aware of how much dialogue you're throwing at actors to read for free. Any project I spearhead, regardless if it's paying or not, I make it a point to trim as much fat as possible. But I'm triply more proactive about it when I know that the actors I've assembled aren't being compensated. You have to remember that when this is an unpaid gig, no matter the quality of your work, the actors are the ones doing YOU the favor, not the other way around. And it's very important not to take that kindness for granted by being especially demanding of actors you can't pay.
Any unpaid projects I work on, one of the very first questions I ask the interested party is my line amount. I'm not going to put in hours of work for a project that doesn't pay unless it's a project I'm actively making myself. There are only so many hours in the day and that time I'm spending on a free gig is time I could spend auditioning for other projects that do pay and add to my resume.
Remember, the time an actor is taking out of their day to work on your script is time that could be going elsewhere. It helps to know in advance how dense a line amount we're talking about for any given character. If undertaking any given role is especially demanding and time consuming or not. If you don't have an immediate answer, ballpark it as best you can. Actors deserve to know in advance what sort of commitment they're jumping into.
With every decision you make with this project, you need to be aware of how that impacts the cast. And you need to be constantly considering the time that will be asked of them to do their parts. Make it as easy and time efficient an experience as you can for the actors involved. If you can do that, not only will you get better performances, but this experience becomes an infinitely more pleasant one for everyone involved. And with ANY collaboration you ever do, that should be the goal. Don't let your project be the next 'The Room,' or 'Space Cop.'
If this is a lead character who may end up needing to have a lot of dialogue, then that leads into my next point.
5. Be Reasonable with Deadlines: To repeat what I just said, for an unpaid gig, no matter what, the cast is the one doing you the favor, not the other way around. So you have to remember that when it comes to deadlines. Always assume that everyone involved in your project who isn't you has stuff going on, not just behind the mic. Have reasonable deadlines. Consider the workload that you're asking of your cast, and set a deadline that is reasonable and fair for them to meet factoring in both your script and their other, more important obligations and daily happenings.
If an actor can't meet that deadline, then ultimately, it's not the end of the world. It's important to be realistic. Typically, for unpaid projects, it won't be on anyone's top priority list. Odds are good, it won't even be on YOUR top priority list as a content creator, unless it's for a film festival. You can't ask your cast to make it a top priority just because you wanna get this done as fast as possible. Granted, in the case of a lot of animations, it's hard to work without the line of dialogue because you need to make sure the mouth is moving in accordance with the dialogue recorded. To that end, my advice is scratch recording, as in you record the dialogue yourself as a placeholder just so you can get the general beats and pacing of lip movement down. If that's not viable, then a reminder after the fact is fine.
If this is a project where deadlines are crucial, for example, something you're submitting to a festival or contest, then you need to make that clear from the word go. Say something along the lines of, "Anyone involved in this project needs to be able to meet certain deadlines, and if that's not possible, please do not audition."
Actors are typically pretty reasonable and if they know the stipulations ahead of time, chances are good, they'll respect that.
6. Ask How to Credit: For any number of reasons, a voice actor may not wish to have their real names attached to your project or certain projects in general. So, to avoid any potential problems, the best thing to do is ask the cast how they would wish to be credited for the final project. It could be their real name, some kind of online handle / screenname, or an alias. Whatever the case, ask first.
7. Provide a Link when the Project is Done: Once you actually finish the project, this should go without saying, but contact your cast and provide a link to the completed piece. Thank them for their efforts and their time, and hope that they enjoy the final product as much as you do.
8. Provide Clear Direction at the Start: By this, I mean right away, your cast should know what sort of voice you're looking for with each character. If there's a specific tone of voice, age, accent, general details in speech, or if you want your cast to take creative liberties. Whatever the case, decide on a voice before providing the script and the deadlines. Do not ask them after the fact if they can try it with or without an accent, etc.
That doesn't just apply to the voice. Some scripts will have tricky words, be it in other languages, longer, trickier words that aren't used very often, or even just made up words. Whatever the case, make sure you provide clear direction on how certain words are meant to be pronounced. I cannot being to express how frustrating it is when I have to redo lines because I mispronounced certain words and was never given clear instructions in the first place on how to pronounce them.
9. Stick to Email: The overall theme of the day is, "Making the experience as convenient, smooth and easy for your cast as possible." One thing every person has is an email address. And that is where all communication and file transfer should stay. Do not make your cast go out of their way to submit files on Drives, Skype, or Discord. We're always using browsers. For a project that isn't paying, there should be no reason to have to go through multiple Applications just to submit lines. A cast shouldn't have to rely on anything except their own preferred inbox to have their scripts and send their lines. Simple, accessible, convenient. Discord might be convenient for you, but you don't know how frequently your cast uses it. And you can't ask them to start or be a frequent browser of it either.
10. Keep It Professional: What I mean by this is, don't go out of your way to contact your cast to chitchat. There's nothing wrong with having some kind of rapport with those you're working with, but those interactions should come about naturally. Someone agreeing to lend their voice to your project does not give you a blank check to hit them up whenever you feel like. It can get uncomfortable and lead to some equally uncomfortable situations.
Bare in mind, I'm not discouraging the importance of community here. We all help lift one another up. In fact, I like to think I'm friends with everyone I've worked with consistently on these projects. But that's because we're all part of the same community and those of us who weren't just naturally became buddies over time. Interactions and line exchanges never turned into just me spamming their inboxes, because that sort of thing should never happen.
Focus on the project first and foremost. If anything comes about that after the fact, it'll come from consistent collaborations. And more importantly, it'll come from a respect of boundaries and space.
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Now that we've covered some Do's, here are some equally important "Do Not's."
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The Do Not's:
1. Do Not Hound the Cast: "Hey! Just checking in! How's your progress coming along?" "Hey! Deadline's approaching, think you'll have your lines for me by then?" After you've sent the cast your script, there are only three times you should contact them again.
- Thanking them when you receive their lines and giving feedback when you've gone through them.
- Providing a link when the project is finished.
- A reminder in case they've missed your reasonable deadline, but being respectful.
I want to emphasize that last point. Under no circumstances do you have any right to be rude or demanding of your cast. Do not make things personal and do not express that you're bothered or angered by anything. Even in an unpaid project, you need to be as professional and courteous as possible. If you aren't, then what viable reason does any of your cast have to ever work with you again, let alone stick around when that's time they could spend not being harassed, be it intentionally or inadvertently?
Even on a paid project, you want to make the experience as pleasant for everyone involved as possible. But more so than anything, if you aren't paying, you have zero excuse for being anything less.
2. Do Not Ask the Cast to join your Discord Group: This is already touched up on in my last point in the other list, but if you assemble a cast, don't feel inclined to make them 'part of the group.' If an actor, for any reason, expresses actual interest in your project past their own role and script, sure, engage as much as they like. Otherwise, don't make your cast go out of their way for this project that they won't be seeing a dime for.
This is going to seem harsh, but it's an important point nonetheless. If you feel inclined to include your cast in the project so they understand the world, the overarching story and all that jazz, don't.
Provide a brief summary of what your story is about at the very start of the project and what each role entails. That's where it should begin and end and it should stay within the email inbox. You don't need to have a back and forth with your cast to make sure they "get it." Let your script provide all the details your cast needs. Any complexities beyond that, you can just easily elaborate via email for your cast to read at their convenience.
Your project probably is not the next Breaking Bad that requires all this nuance and complexity. You don't need to have sit downs with the actors to get them in the right 'head space.' Give them a script. Give them all the necessary details you feel they need, and let them do their own thing. It's a question of time. You do not want to waste an actors' time for any reason, let alone when they're not being compensated. If your script is good enough, then the actors will give you what you need. Any subtext beneath the surface not immediately available in the script, you can provide in a BRIEF summary via email.
3. Do Not insist on Live Recording Sessions: Voice Directors are a Godsend to voice over related projects. I've given performances I didn't think capable thanks to some immensely talented and wonderful directors I've been fortunate enough to work with over the years. However, most of the time, especially online, voice actors have to rely on their own acting talents to read and comprehend a script, block it out accordingly and gather what subtext they can (if any), then go from there. MOST video games I've ever worked on, I did on my own and follow-up notes from the person who'd cast me.
This is an essential skill for any actor period. Trust that the actors working with you have that ability to comprehend what you're going for with your script and let them go at their own pace and time.
Again, the name of the game here is convenience. This is a free gig, and as such, you want everyone involved to feel as easy as possible, with as little annoyances and pressure as possible.
I'm far more than willing to set time out of my day for a session with a director in a paid project because not only am I being compensated for my time, but that director also has a track record of being really good at what they do. If they didn't, then the people behind the project wouldn't have hired them to be the director in the first place. If it's an unknown, I'm still willing to work with them since I'm being paid for my time.
Chances are good, you will fall in the latter category as an unknown, and that can mean a lot of things. Maybe you like to talk a lot in between each take instead of just sticking to the script and being as efficient with time as possible. Or maybe you don't really have a lot of experience directing, if any.
The point is, if you liked the actor enough to cast them, trust that they have the ability to give what's desired of the script. And be mindful that scheduling a live session isn't the easiest thing to do between their own hectic workloads or daily lives.
4. Do Not Insist on Line Separation: I know this is kind of an iffy subject, with no definitive 'yes' or 'no' side. But for the sake of argument, I'm just going to say do NOT ask your cast to provide each line individually. Even when being paid, this is a massive pain in the neck, ESPECIALLY for more line-heavy scripts. I'm a broken record here, but again, convenience. Line separation is neither a convenient nor pleasant experience. Never has been. Never will be. Someone will endure when there's a paycheck for the efforts. But even if that same someone is willing to endure when there isn't, doesn't mean you should ask that of someone, because that is VERY demanding and I maintain that it's unfair to ask of an actor when they aren't being compensated.
If this is your project, then it's assumed you have to have some degree of mixing skills, and as such, you should be able to do this yourself in post.
5. Do Not even UTTER the word Exposure: This is Old Hat but I'm going to bring it up anyway because I still see people tossing this chestnut around. If you can't afford to pay your cast, fine. And if you yourself are not making a dime off of the project, then again, that's fine. The actors you're working with, odds are, will be perfectly understanding. But if the word 'exposure' even enters your brain, stop that thought and snuff it out immediately.
Again, this part will sound harsh but it needs to be stated.
You are not a Talent Agency Representative. You are not exposing your cast to anything or anyone that is going to get them noticed and more importantly, land them any additional work. Unless you have MILLIONS of subscribers and are actively promoting the channels and social media of the cast involved, they won't see any meaningful increase in their own audiences. And that only matters if they themselves are content creators who have Ad Revenue and gain from Subscriber Counts. And that matters less and less and less each passing day the more YouTube circles the drain as a reliable platform for content creators to make money off of.
Of course, if you are a creator with that high a viewer and subscriber count, then you clearly CAN afford to pay your cast, and absolutely should if you're making money thanks to their assistance in your project.
The general rule of thumb for payment is simple:
If you're getting paid for your product, you should compensate everyone else involved. If you're not getting paid all that much, then at least promise to compensate if things change and the project picks up, because you'll see more profit as a result.
But promising to pay someone with exposure is one of the biggest slaps in the face to artistic integrity that there is. Because 9.9 times out of 10, long term, an actor being in said project isn't going to get them anywhere meaningful. So then, what value does this exposure have?
Unless you have connections and can directly expose your cast to other people that can give them work and some degree of notoriety, then your exposure is meaningless and you should never mention it again.
6. Do Not Make Things Personal: Things happen. Maybe you need to recast someone because it's clear that keeping them on board isn't worth the time that's passing. Or maybe you have things going on. Whatever the case, keep things professional and to the point.
If you need to recast someone, don't be bitter, angry and rude about it. Don't take any jabs or call someone unprofessional. Simply state the facts. If deadlines aren't being met and those end up stalling the whole projects, simply let them know. Don't express your frustration or disappointment. Just lay out the facts, bid them good day, wish them the best, and move on.
If you're having problems that are keeping you from finishing, you don't need to provide any kind of explanation. I don't mean to sound cold or underplay any issues someone might be going through. But if you're going through something, odds are good, the people you need to be telling or seeking out aren't the cast.
7. Do Not Scout Actors if you're Scouting Production Talent: If you're looking for, say, an animator or a writer to assist you, then to go back to my starting point, you are way too early in your production to be looking for voice actors just yet. You need a solid framework and foundation before you can even think about asking actors to POTENTIALLY join this project of yours.
To go back to that example I used, you start with A, then move to B and C. Don't try and gather A, B and C all at once. It's a recipe for disaster.
8. Do Not Ask the Cast to do any Promotion: The only person who should ever be concerned about promoting the projects you've created is you, the content creator. It is not the responsibility of the actors to share and circulate links of the project across their own social media platforms. If they're so inclined, then great. If not, then that is their right. They don't owe you that.
This isn't like Twitter where professional voice actors will showcase all the new projects they have coming up. These are typically much more high profile projects or just stuff they're personally passionate about. The actors involved have every right to decide what they want and don't want to share on their pages. Whatever the case, do not press them and do not insist on anything.
Share the link with them so they can see the final product. What they choose to do with the link from that point on, unless it's private or unlisted, that's on them.
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I'm not an expert by any means. This is merely something I felt like writing up based on my own experiences from eleven years of both sides of the spectrum; as someone who works professionally but still does unpaid work for a select few people or certain projects I think just look fun. No matter what, you should ALWAYS strive to ensure that working with you is the most pleasant experience it can be for anyone involved. That doesn't just mean being nice and friendly It means ensuring the work itself is painless, smooth and fun.
I hope that, if nothing else, this guide provides at least some helpful tips on rapport and management between you, the content creators, and the actors you'll be working with down the road!