When is it okay to do things "for exposure?"
Dec 20, 2016 14:43:15 GMT -8
redasatomato, The Uncertain Man, and 8 more like this
Post by Lady Stardust ★ on Dec 20, 2016 14:43:15 GMT -8
This is directly piggybacking off the "My Worth!" section from Adam's guide, but I felt it was worth its own post since it's something that gets talked about a lot in the voiceover community.
There's a lot of talk about doing things "for exposure" when you're in the creative field, and it's generally seen as a negative. Here's why:
A lot of people seem to have this idea that because someone works in a creative profession (artist, musician, costume maker, photographer, actor, etc.) and loves what they do, it means they should give away their work for free. There are also plenty of people (Craiglist, for example, is rife with them) who expect a skilled professional to do this type of service in exchange for "credit/copy"...which, when you're doing this for a living, really doesn't cut it. Just as you wouldn't go to a mechanic and ask them to fix your car for free because "I'll tell my friends about you", creative professionals expect to be compensated for their services, too.
For example, the industry standard rate for (nonunion) video games is $250/hour with a 2-hour minimum. If a studio contacts virtually any professional LA-based about coming in to record for a game project and asks about rates, that's the rate actors will automatically give them (though most places know this, so they offer/state it up front anyway.) But if a student e-mails asking an actor to record ten lines from home for their game design final, it would be a bit absurd to quote them a $500 session minimum because chances are they don't have any budget at all, much less the budget to pay $500 per actor---at that point, they'd just make the game text-only or make their classmates do the voices, and then nobody wins. So yes, many people will be willing to give them a discounted rate because they're a student paying out of pocket for what is largely their class project. They're not an established company or studio with a budget to work with for voiceover.
Negotiating rates is possible on either end, but both parties need to be professional about it. Whatever you do, as a client, don't be that guy who starts throwing out insults because a creative talent won't work for the low price you offered. And same goes for the talent; "sorry, but I'm unable to work for free [or for the rate you're proposing]" is perfectly fine---no need to shame or dogpile someone over rates.
At the end of the day, it's going to be up to you to look at the rate versus amount of work involved and decide for yourself if it's worth it to you. As you can see, there are many factors to take into consideration: Who's doing this and where will it be distributed? Do they have a considerable budget to work with or not? What is YOUR experience and overall skill level as a voice actor? Does your schedule make it feasible to take on this project for the compensation that is being offered? Does it seem like this person/company is just trying to take advantage of actors, or are they genuinely trying to pay what they can (which sometimes, for a passion project, is $0)?
I believe that in many cases, you get what you pay for. When you're willing to offer compensation, you'll have a much higher chance of attracting skilled and experienced talent. When you're not (or you can't), you'll tend to attract more amateurs---but again, sometimes this can be a mutually beneficial relationship, and that relationship is part of what this board was founded on. The aspiring voice actor is getting practice and getting a chance to show off their stuff, and the content creator is getting a voice for their project. In a case like that, it's a win-win.
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All of the guides and resources on this forum are provided on a volunteer basis. However, if you find them helpful, please consider buying me a coffee!
There's a lot of talk about doing things "for exposure" when you're in the creative field, and it's generally seen as a negative. Here's why:
A lot of people seem to have this idea that because someone works in a creative profession (artist, musician, costume maker, photographer, actor, etc.) and loves what they do, it means they should give away their work for free. There are also plenty of people (Craiglist, for example, is rife with them) who expect a skilled professional to do this type of service in exchange for "credit/copy"...which, when you're doing this for a living, really doesn't cut it. Just as you wouldn't go to a mechanic and ask them to fix your car for free because "I'll tell my friends about you", creative professionals expect to be compensated for their services, too.
That said, there are times when doing things "for exposure" is okay, especially when you're just starting out. In a regular job, chances are you wouldn't get a high-paying position right off the bat---you'd have to study and/or intern first. And while there are certainly stories of companies taking advantage of their interns, internships are generally seen as a good way to gain some experience and get your foot in the door in a field which largely does require prior experience to work in. It's a similar story for voice acting.
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Here are some situations where working for exposure can be seen as okay or even beneficial.
As a beginner trying to get experience.
If you're just starting out---you've got a decent home setup, maybe made your own demo reel, and are looking into doing some voice work but don't have any real experience yet...then you need to get experience. And the easiest way to get practice and experience when you're starting out is to do online projects. Yes, most of them won't pay, but it's a chance to get your name out there and make connections.
Many new voice actors starting out may be confused or conflicted when it comes to "knowing their worth". Now, if you are a beginner who is fortunate enough to be offered an in-studio gig (such as for a game or dubbing project), you deserve to - and should - be paid the industry standard rate that everyone else on the project is getting! (Never, ever, offer to do a paid project for free or for lower than their asking rate in order to try to get an advantage over other talent, by the way---it's super uncool to the other actors and will only make it appear as if you're not good enough to get the same rate that everyone else in the cast is getting.)
That being said, some beginners take "knowing your worth" as meaning that they're never allowed to do unpaid projects and that they're required to charge industry standard rates no matter what the project is, even if it's a college student trying to make an animation for a school project or a group of friends making a visual novel funded using their own money. But the truth is that it will be very difficult to book paid work - much less high-profile work that pays industry standard rates - if you don't have much in the way of training or experience yet. And if you don't live in one of the major markets where the work is anyway, there are limited options for what you're able to record from home. You can get paid auditions on P2P sites, but you'll need to be forking over several hundred dollars per year in membership fees, so it depends if you're able to make back your investment or not (which is already hard for established pros, let alone newcomers). You can try doing audiobooks, but they take a lot of work and require a soundproof space and great equipment to record on. These things are by all means achievable, but while you're getting there, doing "hobby" voice work is actually a great idea. You can learn how a typical from-home audition process works, get comfortable with your recording software and exporting your files properly, and how to deal with managing your time to meet deadlines and possibly even working with a director. Plus, everyone makes mistakes at first---would you rather make your inevitable "beginner mistakes" when working on a free project for YouTube, or in an actual studio with an accomplished director?
As a hobbyist or someone who does this "on the side".
When you level up your skills/experience/home studio, you can start to get a little more selective. You might only submit for projects that really interest you, or projects that offer some sort of payment. When you have the experience and the quality/skill level to back it up, people will overall be more open to the fact that you charge for your work (or charge a certain amount for your work). Most student/hobby projects won't be able to pay regardless, but you'll have an easier time turning those roles down because you already have a decent amount of auditions and opportunities at your disposal. But this doesn't happen overnight. I know it's so easy to want to rush things and feel like you have to play catch-up with everyone who's already there. But it's absolutely okay to do some amateur voice acting for a while to help you eventually get up to speed. There are also people who already have established careers in other fields and still only ever plan to do voice acting as a hobby, because they'd rather have their main job in a field where they can be financially stable. That's okay too! You can do online voice acting whether or not you are someone who aspires to become a professional voice actor.As a favor/trade for small indie projects with little to no budget.
You've probably heard talks of voice actor rate negotiations, especially in light of the SAG-AFTRA videogame strike. Standard rates for professional projects are important to ensure fair wages for the talent involved. But there's a difference between multibillion dollar game companies trying to take advantage of talent, and a small development team making a crowd-funded game for online distribution. It's all about context.
For example, the industry standard rate for (nonunion) video games is $250/hour with a 2-hour minimum. If a studio contacts virtually any professional LA-based about coming in to record for a game project and asks about rates, that's the rate actors will automatically give them (though most places know this, so they offer/state it up front anyway.) But if a student e-mails asking an actor to record ten lines from home for their game design final, it would be a bit absurd to quote them a $500 session minimum because chances are they don't have any budget at all, much less the budget to pay $500 per actor---at that point, they'd just make the game text-only or make their classmates do the voices, and then nobody wins. So yes, many people will be willing to give them a discounted rate because they're a student paying out of pocket for what is largely their class project. They're not an established company or studio with a budget to work with for voiceover.
It's a similar story for commercials: When you see a major brand going on a site like Voices dot com and offering a $150 buyout for a national commercial... that is downright insulting. But if Uncle Jim down the street wants a local commercial recorded for his sandwich shop for $150 or else he's going to make his son who has no voiceover training come in and record it, chances are he's not trying to stiff you - do you see what I mean by context?
As a personal passion project or for a charitable cause.
Sometimes someone - perhaps a friend of yours - will be making a no-budget project and you think it looks really cool so you want to help out, even though there's no pay involved. That's totally cool under those circumstances! Even some professional actors will help out with a passion project because it's something they're personally interested in (though again, this should never be expected from project creators.) People may also donate their time and talent if it's for a good cause such as a charity.
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Here is when you SHOULDN'T accept projects for exposure, regardless of skill level...
For a commercial project.
If the final project is intended to make money (such as a game being released on a console - even an indie game, a mobile game that is free-to-download but will have microtransactions, or a project for any type of business or corporation), then voice talent should be paid for their work. If someone is expecting to make a significant amount of money on the project (I'm not necessarily talking about making a grand total of $3 off YouTube ads on a small channel, but for circumstances like a game being sold) then it is exploitative to expect voice talent to work for free. The same goes for a company---even if they are a small company without a big budget, they still have some type of funds and they should be paying their creative contributors.
On a project that is paying other voice talent.
Quite frankly, it is scummy for a project creator to say they are willing to pay some of their talent but not others. It doesn't matter if their reasoning is that they are only paying the "big name" talent---if those people are getting paid, why are the others doing the same amount of work somehow less deserving? Also, this was stated earlier, but if a project is offering a set rate, it is considered extremely unethical as a voice talent to underbid or offer free work just so you can get the role over your competitors.
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Industry standard or indie rates?
Industry standard or indie rates?
This is where things start to get really confusing for a lot of talent, and getting this wrong can be problematic for client relationships. Voice actors who are newer to the industry can easily fall into one of these two traps:
Quoting industry standard rate no matter what with zero flexibility, even for tiny projects.
Here's the thing: You are allowed to set your rates however you wish for projects that don't already have a set rate, and if you have decided that's the only way your business will operate, that's your choice! But I have also seen newer talent who need the work/experience tell someone doing a small student project that they will charge $400 minimum even if they just need a few lines and it leads the student to feel they will never be able to afford voice talent unless they can pay $400 per actor out of pocket. Now if you're an established working actor you might decide that it doesn't matter if it's a small low-budget indie project and you will stick to your rates no matter what, and again, that's fine. This is just an intent to provide perspective for newer talent who may feel stuck hearing conflicting stories (between "you must always know your worth!" and "you need the experience!")
Underquoting by using indie rates for commercial projects that should be paying industry standard.
On the flip side, many actual companies can and will pay industry standard rates or at least close to them. If something isn't very clearly a small low-budget project or the intended pay rates aren't stated up front, it never hurts as a professional actor to say "Industry standard rates are $XX per hour, but I'm willing to negotiate based on your budget." Even if it turns out there's no way they can afford to pay it, they may be willing to at least offer a suitable compromise. (By the way, professional in-studio game and dubbing projects should ALWAYS pay the industry standard---don't accept less on these just because you are new as that will not only hurt you but other talent as well!)
GVAA Rate Guide (for industry standard rates): voratecard.com
VAC Indie Rate Guide (for small passion projects with limited budgets): voiceactingclub.com/rates
*Our community put together the indie rate guide so that people working primarily in the online sphere would be able to get rate ideas that were reasonable for independent content creators producing low-budget projects. Please note that it is not intended to replace the GVAA rate guide in any way and that commercial/corporate projects + in-studio game/dubbing projects should be quoted with the industry standard rates in mind!
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Sample responses
Sometimes people will ask you to work for free or for a rate that doesn't align with yours. It's okay to negotiate, but if you're not seeing eye-to-eye at the end of the day, it's always okay to politely walk away. Here are just a few ideas for what you can say:
- [When being offered unpaid work] "I'm sorry, but due to my workload I'm no longer accepting any unpaid projects. You can always try posting in the unpaid sections on the Voice Acting Club or Casting Call Club; I'm sure there are many people who would be interested!"
- [After unsuccessful negotiation] "Unfortunately, that rate still won't work for me, but perhaps I can refer you to other talent who may be interested!"
- [When being offered exploitative rates] "The industry standard rate for this type of project is [$XX - provide link to GVAA Rate Guide and/or other sources if desired]. While I'm willing to negotiate for small indie creators from time-to-time, I'm afraid that since this is a commercial project I'll have to pass. If your budget changes in the future, please feel free to let me know!"
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Final thoughts
Negotiating rates is possible on either end, but both parties need to be professional about it. Whatever you do, as a client, don't be that guy who starts throwing out insults because a creative talent won't work for the low price you offered. And same goes for the talent; "sorry, but I'm unable to work for free [or for the rate you're proposing]" is perfectly fine---no need to shame or dogpile someone over rates.
At the end of the day, it's going to be up to you to look at the rate versus amount of work involved and decide for yourself if it's worth it to you. As you can see, there are many factors to take into consideration: Who's doing this and where will it be distributed? Do they have a considerable budget to work with or not? What is YOUR experience and overall skill level as a voice actor? Does your schedule make it feasible to take on this project for the compensation that is being offered? Does it seem like this person/company is just trying to take advantage of actors, or are they genuinely trying to pay what they can (which sometimes, for a passion project, is $0)?
I believe that in many cases, you get what you pay for. When you're willing to offer compensation, you'll have a much higher chance of attracting skilled and experienced talent. When you're not (or you can't), you'll tend to attract more amateurs---but again, sometimes this can be a mutually beneficial relationship, and that relationship is part of what this board was founded on. The aspiring voice actor is getting practice and getting a chance to show off their stuff, and the content creator is getting a voice for their project. In a case like that, it's a win-win.
________________________
All of the guides and resources on this forum are provided on a volunteer basis. However, if you find them helpful, please consider buying me a coffee!
I’m a female voice actor with a High pitched, normal and robotic voice and I can also do British accents! I do murder drones and I could try any other and I can follow scripts! Send me an email if you need me! (Mahatareq09@yahoo.com)