Things you love that clients/producers do
Jul 27, 2017 19:32:34 GMT -8
Ice Queen, Rebekah Amber Clark, and 1 more like this
Post by Lady Stardust ★ on Jul 27, 2017 19:32:34 GMT -8
I was reading through the "VA Pet Peeves" thread and thought it might be a nice idea to create a thread that's sort of "opposite" of that, as in "Okay, we know what clients do that you HATE, but what about things that you love?" Now, obviously we love it when clients pay us But I'm thinking more in terms of behaviors that you really appreciate as a voice actor when working on a project.
Here are some I can think of:
-PICTURES of characters! A picture is worth a thousand words and makes it so much easier to come up with a fitting voice.
-Being understanding with deadlines, offering extensions when necessary so long as it doesn't cause undue hardship for the project.
-Letting the cast know when the project is finished/released.
-For auditions sent out far in advance to an email casting pool: Sending a friendly reminder a few days before that auditions are about to close. It's not required of course, but when you have a project sent out for auditions 3 weeks to a month in advance, it's very easy to forget or put it on the back burner. I think sending out that one little reminder to people who haven't submitted yet can result in a lot more auditions (and if they're not interested in submitting at all, keeping it at the single reminder makes it easy for them to ignore if they so choose.)
-Being willing to listen without getting defensive if the actor brings up a concern or question. For instance, I was recently involved in a project where the casting got extremely messy and involved a bit of drama. I took a risk and emailed the producers with my concerns as I felt they deserved to know why I was stepping down. To my surprise, they responded with a sincere apology and explained things from their end, as the casting debacle was clearly a learning experience for them. I appreciated their approach to the situation and the respect they showed in their responses, and ultimately ended up staying onboard the project.
-Being honest with your cast whenever things come up, even if they aren't pleasant (for instance, cancelling the project or recasting). It's much better to own up to it than to leave everyone in limbo.
-Keeping contracts simple and relatively easy to understand, when possible. It's also nice when you are invited to bring up any concerns you have about contract, rates, etc without worrying about losing the job for asking a question.
-Including pronunciation guides for projects with made-up, foreign, or hard-to-pronounce names, terms, etc.
-Being specific with direction when asking for revision requests.
-Offering a token of appreciation to the cast, even if something small. For example, I've had projects where people have said "I know you normally don't work for free, and I don't have a lot of money as I'm not making anything off this project, but can I paypal you $5?" While it would of course be offensive if a professional client were to offer this amount, it's a different situation when someone who is say, a student making a labor of love who really can't afford to pay for voiceovers but still gives them sort of a "tip" or coffee money to show their appreciation. I've also seen it done in non-monetary form, for example, drawing artwork of the cast members as a gift after the project is done. Even a thank-you e-mail is nice. It's not required of course but is a nice little gesture that people really appreciate.
Here are some I can think of:
-PICTURES of characters! A picture is worth a thousand words and makes it so much easier to come up with a fitting voice.
-Being understanding with deadlines, offering extensions when necessary so long as it doesn't cause undue hardship for the project.
-Letting the cast know when the project is finished/released.
-For auditions sent out far in advance to an email casting pool: Sending a friendly reminder a few days before that auditions are about to close. It's not required of course, but when you have a project sent out for auditions 3 weeks to a month in advance, it's very easy to forget or put it on the back burner. I think sending out that one little reminder to people who haven't submitted yet can result in a lot more auditions (and if they're not interested in submitting at all, keeping it at the single reminder makes it easy for them to ignore if they so choose.)
-Being willing to listen without getting defensive if the actor brings up a concern or question. For instance, I was recently involved in a project where the casting got extremely messy and involved a bit of drama. I took a risk and emailed the producers with my concerns as I felt they deserved to know why I was stepping down. To my surprise, they responded with a sincere apology and explained things from their end, as the casting debacle was clearly a learning experience for them. I appreciated their approach to the situation and the respect they showed in their responses, and ultimately ended up staying onboard the project.
-Being honest with your cast whenever things come up, even if they aren't pleasant (for instance, cancelling the project or recasting). It's much better to own up to it than to leave everyone in limbo.
-Keeping contracts simple and relatively easy to understand, when possible. It's also nice when you are invited to bring up any concerns you have about contract, rates, etc without worrying about losing the job for asking a question.
-Including pronunciation guides for projects with made-up, foreign, or hard-to-pronounce names, terms, etc.
-Being specific with direction when asking for revision requests.
-Offering a token of appreciation to the cast, even if something small. For example, I've had projects where people have said "I know you normally don't work for free, and I don't have a lot of money as I'm not making anything off this project, but can I paypal you $5?" While it would of course be offensive if a professional client were to offer this amount, it's a different situation when someone who is say, a student making a labor of love who really can't afford to pay for voiceovers but still gives them sort of a "tip" or coffee money to show their appreciation. I've also seen it done in non-monetary form, for example, drawing artwork of the cast members as a gift after the project is done. Even a thank-you e-mail is nice. It's not required of course but is a nice little gesture that people really appreciate.