Santa Clarita Magazine readers have been sending in great questions about the voiceover business. This month, a reader writes in asking about auditioning, etiquette and protocol.
Q: Someone solicited me to audition last night, per email. Here’s the mail:
I am casting for a new, healthy, natural energy drink called (product name withheld). You come highly recommended and I fully understand why after hearing your amazing demos. It is a 60-second national spot, but it is non-union and a complete buyout. It pays $750 for three versions. We need a friendly, yet strong and credible voice. If you’re interested, please email back ASAP and we’ll gladly send you the script, but we will need you to send your read to us ASAP.
So I reply, ask for sides, get them, cut the audition and send it off. But I asked for an acknowledgment of receipt. No reply. I ask again later in the day. No reply. What’s with that? Is it the etiquette these days to ignore you after they get what they want? Am I being scammed somehow? –Scott P., Hollywood, CA
A. Scott, unfortunately, this is usual for the wacky world of show business. Industry people seem to have lost touch with the simple ability to say thank you. For some reason, a lot of casting companies feel that the opportunity they gave you for an acting job was enough, so why bother thanking you? They disregard the fact that you took time and some money out of your day to perform something for them for free and common courtesy is not part of their equation. And it’s not as if it takes a lot of time, either. With email, one person can communicate with the dozens of actors who showed up for an audition or submitted an mp3, and just say, “Thanks for your audition.”
The bottom line, is don’t expect a lot of respect for actors. But don’t respond in kind, however. Continue to be unfailingly polite, sensitive and courteous. And if people you meet, any people even outside of show business, are impolite, call them on it. Ask them if they’d treat their mother like that.
I’ll be sharing more voiceover questions and answers in the coming months. If you have any questions, please write to me at Ask The VoiceCat and I’ll get back to you.
Marc Cashman creates and produces copy and music advertising for radio and television. Winner of over 150 advertising awards, he also instructs voice acting of all levels through his classes, The Cashman Cache of Voice-Acting Techniques in Los Angeles.
He can be contacted at cashcomm@earthlink.net or his website www.cashmancommercials.com .