Last night the Voiceover Agent Alliance, the Global Voice Acting Academy and World-Voices Organization all participated in a panel touted as a “State of the VO Industry” webinar.
For an hour-and-a-half we delved into the questions of declining rates, agents, holding the line on compensation, SAG-AFTRA, and many many other pertinent issues facing us today as voice actors.
The recording of that session will hopefully be posted today online in the various forums, and probably on the GVAA YouTube Channel.
More than the limit of 500 attendees registered! There is a hunger for the kind of discussion presented there, so no wonder a common theme of all the panelists was Education, Awareness, and Community…all part of WoVO’s bedrock mission.
“Due diligence” was mentioned more than once. As in: all VO pro hopefuls absolutely HAVE to do their due diligence to get in tune with the existing tribe of VO professionals who’ve already broken ground in this business, so as not to spoil the gains we’ve made.
There are no set answers. There will always be lone wolfs or people who believe they’re an island who will end up spoiling rates expectations for the rest of us. Hobbyists. Amateurs.
And part of that due diligence…part of that education & awareness is watching webinars like last night’s.
There will be another one today, sponsored by WoVO…another Rates Roundtable discussion reprising the session held at VO Atlanta. In that instance, the video turned out to be not usable, so we’re doing it again. Our panelists are:
- Hugh Edwards
- Ramesh Mahtani
- Ally Murphy
- Brad Newman
- Gabbi Nistico
- David Rosenthal
My co-host Anne Ganguzza.
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Our topic is whether voice actors should share their rate structures with each other, but I’m sure the conversation will range into many tangential issues related to rates, and especially international considerations, as 3 of our panelists are from across the pond.
The information is out there…and not hard to find.
If you were approaching a career in photography, or writing, or coding, or graphix arts…wouldn’t you ask a lot of questions, find a mentor, hang out where the pros hang out…AND TRY NOT TO SPOIL IT FOR ALL THOSE WHO’VE COME BEFORE?
Of course you would!
Educate yourself. Be agile in a rapidly changing world. Be part of a community, and not a lone wolf. We need you. You need us.
CourVO