Casting Call Rules for Paid Projects
Jan 23, 2021 2:22:13 GMT -8
Rebekah Amber Clark, Brittany Ann Phillips, and 3 more like this
Post by Lady Stardust ★ on Jan 23, 2021 2:22:13 GMT -8
What is required for a casting call?
1. A brief description of the character/voice types you are looking to fill. While asking for general demos is allowed, you will have a better chance of finding what you are looking for if you are specific.
2. Sample audition line(s) for each character. These are what actors will read for their audition. Between 3 and 5 sample lines is typical, although there's no hard and fast rule. Do not ask actors to just "make something up"---choosing something from your script is the best idea. Again, while you are allowed to ask for general demos in lieu of this, you will have a much better chance at finding what you're looking for with a targeted audition.
3. A method of contact so actors can send you their auditions. This should ideally be your e-mail address, though you may also include a supplementary contact method such as Discord ID, or a shared Dropbox folder. E-mail is still typically the most standard and reliable way to receive auditions.
4. A deadline for when you will stop receiving auditions. By this, we mean "actors have until this day and time to submit something if they are interested in auditioning for the project". Short/rush deadlines (ex: 24 hours) are acceptable, however, please do not cast your project first-come-first-serve as this is highly unfair to talent, especially those in different time zones around the world. You can always extend the deadline if you don't find what you're looking for, but if you decide to shorten it, please provide proper notice. If you're not sure, one week is a perfectly acceptable deadline for paid projects (longer than two weeks tends to drag out the submission process and may result in an overwhelming amount of auditions to review.)
We also highly suggest cross-posting your audition to the #casting-calls-paid section of our Discord server, as this is where most of our active userbase is!
General Rules for Paid Project Auditions
1. This section is for projects with monetary compensation only. Trade, credit/copy, "exposure", etc. do not count as paid and must be posted in the unpaid section instead.
2. If a project is royalty-share-only, deferred payment only, or any other type of "you'll only get paid if we get paid/if the project does well" type of situation, please post it in the Unpaid section instead (though you are welcome to mention that there is potential for payment down the line). In other words, only post in the paid section if you are able to fully guarantee some type of payment for any work provided.
3. While you are allowed to ask voice actors to submit their own rates, in the interest of fairness to all talent, we highly recommend setting a standardized rate (typically measured in per hour, per line or per word) across the board for all actors on the project. You can check out the Indie Rate Guide for pay rate ideas based on your VO budget.
4. All transactions between client and talent are to be conducted at the parties' own risk and are not the responsibility of the VAC. For any project which involves a significant amount of money, we recommend having some type of contract (even a simple one) in place (here is a sample if you need one).
5. As a general rule, VAC staff does not get involved in policing pay rates. We understand that certain projects are extremely low-budget and will not align with everyone's rates, in which case you may simply avoid auditioning for those projects. On rare occasion, if we are alerted to a casting call that is a scam or otherwise extremely exploitative, we may remove it in the interest of protecting our members.
6. Adult projects (defined as explicit sexual content) may be posted only under the following conditions:
-The thread title must be clearly tagged with one of the following: [Adult], [NSFW] or [18+].
-No explicit images or videos may be embedded. If you link to such material in your casting call for audition purposes, it must also be clearly tagged.
-You may not solicit, or knowingly accept, auditions from minors. As our site is based in the United States, a minor shall be defined as anyone under 18 years of age.
-Any content sexualizing minors or glorifying nonconsensual sex is not allowed.
-Regardless of the subject material, producers are expected to conduct themselves ethically and professionally when communicating with voice talent on NSFW projects.
7. You may "bump" your thread for visibility no more than once every 72 hours.