I'm noticing quite a few castings where the client is asking for a full script read (sometimes a dense side or more of A4) for their casting. At the risk of sounding lazy I feel that for an initial casting this amount of work is not needed.
There's the question of protecting our work (if we send off a complete perfect recording someone could just use that as it is - though I'm aware that's unlikely).
But also the vocal quality/tone/style of delivery for say an educational voiceover, will be pretty clear from one paragraph of text as it would for 9 paragraphs.
Also recording, editing, and uploading 4 or 5 such auditions in a day is, basically, a days work.
Would anyone else agree that clients should be encouraged to send "sample scripts" rather than enitre pieces? Or shall I just pipe down and crack on...
Matt Jamie
Editorial Comment Hello everyone,
Just to make you all aware that in response to this feedback we have updated the guidance text for employers who post requesting that that they do NOT attach the full scripts, and instead include just a short sample so that you, the artists, are not faced with this difficult choice. The purpose of the demo is only to preview your vocal qualities, to help an employer decide who they would like to discuss the project further with and engage the professional services of.
My feeling is that it would be great if P2P’s request clearly in their t’s & c’s that clients don’t ask for a full read and/ or limit the number of words for sample scripts. That way we’re not in the position of having to decide whether or not to do as prompted (and potentially losing work if we don’t fulfil the audition brief).
A short sample of up to a minute max for long-form and 30 seconds for most other projects should be totally sufficient in my mind.
Hi Matt
I know I am new to this business but I agree. Some texts can be lengthy and I am sure a client can get the idea of an audition with a shorter sample.
As you say, the preparation, recording and editing takes time, it's definately not laziness.
All the best
Shelley
I totally agree Matt. In fact, I said exactly this on another thread here a few days ago. I believe Mandy should be actively encouraging and advising employers to ask for a short sample initially.
I'd have no issue recording a longer sample if I was then shortlisted, but it seems like a monumental waste of everyone's time to be requesting a two minute audition from everyone under the sun, when I'm pretty certain they only listen to the first ten seconds of most of them.
Just wanted to chip in and say that I totally agree with you. There have been a couple of very lengthy demo scripts recently, along with the usual shorter samples (which seem a better way of getting a feel of voices quickly).
I have to say that I have only been sending sample recordings of the longer scripts (several paragraphs instead of a whole A4 side, for example), as I am wary of whole script recording files being used...
I am happy to see that I am not the only one that thinks this - I have recently applied to an audition which asked for a read of the whole script. I sent over a read of the first paragraph (as it was almost a minute by itself), as I was wary of the full script read to be used.
When I first started auditioning, I did not put much thought into it and simply applied to everything I could – then I realised that I could not apply to more than four auditions a day if they asked for full scripts instead of samples, making it just that tiny bit sadder when I did not hear back from them.
I hope that moderators and developers of Mandy can see this forum and implement some way to encourage employers to ask for samples instead of full scripts.
I am of the view that if a potential employer is asking for a very long sample script then they either A) Don't know what they are doing or B) It could be more sinister. I saw one recently which required 2 dense sides of A4. This was obviously the entire script. The clients idea was to choose the best one and use that! To be honest I left that one well alone. It was for £70 and I thought it was an outrageous liberty.
Dear Mandy. I am glad to hear this has been acted upon. Good for you. I hope it leads to a more pleasant and refined experience for both VOAs and employers alike. Thank you for listening.
Yup, late to this post from Matt, but 'I've noticed script reads have been getting LONGER and LONGER..so I'm glad you pointed it out and potential clients are now aware.....
This is and was a must needed item to be addressed.
Thank you mandy for sorting htis out so rapidly... but may i ask, what can we do with regards to possible theft of our talents and time?
Just wanted to know specifically regarding the support from this network.
Thanks, and keep up the great work.
Jon Paul.
Editorial Comment Hi Jon,
Asset protection is one of the reasons we limit the amount of script an employer can request, and the length of recording that can be submitted using the demo read feature. There's no perfect solution unfortunately - watermarking, script alterations, all of these come with their respective downsides that we can't overlook. The best solution we can currently offer is having your back. To steal a VOs work would be amongst the fastest and most certain ways to have your access to Mandy revoked, and nobody that I'm aware of has yet been willing to burn that bridge.
Thank you all for your vital feedback, this thread has been extremely useful to our growth and direction.
I recommend leaving the last few lines out or changing the brand name to prevent usage. A lot of auditions are asking for full scripts but I don’t think that’s necessary.
We deserve to be paid for the work we do not taken advantage of.
3 years ago
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