Regarding Rates for Paid Casting Calls
Jan 8, 2020 1:39:19 GMT -8
Rebekah Amber Clark and Brittany Ann Phillips like this
Post by Lady Stardust ★ on Jan 8, 2020 1:39:19 GMT -8
Hello everyone,
Recently, our staff has been getting a few questions/comments/concerns regarding the pay rates posted in certain casting calls listed on our server. The mod team had a fairly extensive discussion today about what we should do going forward when jobs are posted with extremely low rates.
Ultimately, we have decided that it is best to simply let content creators present opportunities (so long as the rules are followed) and let the community decide what they do or do not wish to submit for.
The reasons for this are as follows:
- Policing casting call rates can get messy fairly quickly. At what point is a rate considered exploitative vs simply "low budget"? Also, different members of different experience levels will have varying ideas on what constitutes an acceptable rate.
- We already have an "unpaid" section where content creators can post jobs looking for volunteer voice actors. A couple of staff members expressed concern that - for instance - if we allow someone to post a job looking for a volunteer to read 500 words but disallow someone to post a job offering $5 to read the same 500 words, it will discourage small content creators from offering any pay at all.
- Deleting the casting call from our platform will not prevent it from being posted elsewhere, such as Twitter, Reddit, etc. At least if it is posted on our server, people have the opportunity to have a discussion or ask questions as to whether the rate is worth it.
- A lot of small-time indie content creators generally have very little budget to work with and we want to still encourage them to collaborate with our community. Also, keep in mind that people will generally get what they pay for (offering little to no pay will mean primarily attracting amateur talent, whereas offering rates at or close to industry standard will attract experienced professional talent with home studios.)
- Sometimes people are in an emergency or otherwise dire financial situation and desperately need any type of income they can get. While it's obviously not ideal or encouraged to submit for jobs with exploitative pay, we do realize that not everyone has the luxury of turning work down and sometimes doing those small-budget jobs will be a matter of putting food on the table. We still highly encourage indie content creators to use our Indie Rate Guide, but at the same time we don't want to prevent people from using their own best judgment in the jobs they wish to work.
Please note that we still highly encourage our members to do their due diligence in considering the pay rate for each opportunity posted and determine whether it is worth it to them. Newer talent are especially advised to consider the time commitment expected of each job (including editing time) versus the amount being offered. Remember that it is okay to politely negotiate at the time of the audition/initial contact if you are interested in the work but find the rate unacceptable.
Keep in mind that not all content creators will know what acceptable rates are for voiceover work. Before immediately jumping on the attack, remember it is always better to open a friendly dialogue. The following are resources you can use for rates:
Industry standard projects: GVAA Rate Guide - www.voratecard.com
Indie projects (generally smaller-budget projects for online media): VAC Indie Rate Guide - voiceactingclub.com/rates
It is also a good idea to consider the context in which the project is being posted. For example, a major brand offering $50 for commercial work would be considered insulting, but a college student paying $50 out of pocket to get voices for their game design final would be a much different story. This is another reason why we don't feel it wise to insist on a "per project minimum" for our paid jobs section - even if it's someone offering $5 to do a single line for a quick video.
At the end of the day, you get what you pay for most of the time. If a client wants an established professional, they need to pay for one. In the meantime, we have agreed as a mod team to be more hands-off about policing rates, but our server is always open if you have questions or need guidance.