The Art of Voice Acting: the art and business of performing for voice over (48 page)

Most voiceover work is due and payable upon delivery, but that usually doesn’t mean you walk out of the studio with cash in hand or have money in the bank immediately after uploading the files. For many clients, you’ll need to send an invoice that states “payable on receipt.” Even with that, you may still end up waiting 30 to 90 days before you receive payment. That’s just the way some businesses work.

If you don’t want to wait to be paid, there are other options available:

• Insist on clients sending a deposit for talent fee and studio time to be paid in advance with the balance to be paid on delivery. If your client doesn’t pay as agreed, at least you’ll receive a partial payment.
  
• Ask your client to make payment through an online payment service like
  www.paypal.com
  or
  www.rbsworldpay.com
  . You’ll need to set up your own account with these services, which can easily handle credit card payments or your clients can set up their own accounts.
  
• Set up a
  merchant account
  for your business so you can accept credit cards. Most small businesses can have a merchant account, including individuals operating as a sole proprietor. A merchant account is easy to establish, but it does have a variety of associated monthly and per-transaction fees. If you are only booking occasional work, you would be better off using one of the online payment services.
  
• Deliver a partial project (75–80%) or deliver a
  watermarked
  project for approval, and only send a complete, clean copy upon receipt of payment. A
  watermark
  is a tone, or sound embedded in your audio that effectively makes the recording unusable, but will allow the client to determine if it otherwise meets their needs.
  

The specific payment arrangements may be different with each client. If you’ve never worked with a client before, there is no track record upon which to build trust, so it is reasonable to request a deposit or use one of the above techniques for getting paid. It a client is repeat business, it might be reasonable to invoice them with the payment due net 15 days.

Here’s how I work with my clients to make sure I get paid: I have a merchant account so I can accept payment with Master Card and Visa credit cards. I have a stated policy on my website that says I require a valid credit card number at the time of booking to guarantee a session. When booking a session, I take my client’s credit card information and run a verification to make sure the card is valid for the amount we’ve agreed upon, but I do not charge the card yet. Instead, I tell my client that their credit card will
not
be charged until they have approved my work. Before I send my voice tracks, I’ll call my client to let them know the session is ready to deliver and to ask how they would like to make payment.

Since I already have their credit card number, most clients simply ask me to charge card. As soon as the transaction is processed, their payment is electronically transferred to my bank account. If, for some reason their card is rejected (after it was originally verified), or the payment bounces, I have legal recourse and a contract. I have some additional protection in that I don’t deliver a clean copy of the work until their payment clears. I have never had a client question this policy, nor have I ever had a problem with a credit card transaction for payment of services. The peace of mind I have in knowing I will be paid for my work makes the discount fees and other minimal charges for maintaining a merchant account well worth the price.

Figure 21-1
:
Example of a Booking Agreement. A form of this type can be used to gather all the details of a session booking and can also serve as a written agreement, or contract, between the client and voice actor. Using this form for both purposes simplifies the communication process and ensures that the details of the booking and payment are mutually understood.

Some clients will prefer to not provide their credit card number. For these clients, I’ll request a deposit or payment be sent to my PayPal account. As with a merchant account, PayPal will charge a transaction fee but there are no monthly fees associated with the account. PayPal (and other online payment services) will accept credit cards, but the card number is never revealed to the recipient. These accounts use your email address for payment notifications and associate your online account to your regular bank account. This makes it easy to transfer funds between the accounts and your online history will give you an accurate record of payments received.

Some clients, however, still prefer to pay by company check. If they do, I request a
purchase order
number to guarantee the session. A PO number is a record of transactions that is kept by the company and used to allocate funds for specific purchases. A purchase order number is as good as a contract. I use their PO number as a reference number on my invoice, and my invoice will state “payable upon receipt.” If I don’t receive payment within a reasonable period of time (as stated in our Deal Memo or Booking Agreement), I’ll call my client to follow up on the payment. If it appears that they are delaying payment, I can still charge their credit card, since I don’t destroy that information until after I have the money in the bank. Oh, and if your client is in a foreign country, make sure their payment is in U.S. dollars.

The purpose of this book is to give you the tools and information you need to build a business and succeed as a voice actor. As with most major industries, unions play a role in establishing working conditions, benefits, and compensation. Joining a performing union is a personal decision that should be based on complete and accurate information from all points of view. I neither encourage, nor discourage union membership, but I do believe it is important to know how unions may have an impact on your voiceover work, whether you choose to not join, join at Financial Core, or join as a Rule 1 member. Most of the information in this section can also be found on the SAG-AFTRA website at
www.sagaftra.org
and in the union’s print materials. You can find additional discussions on the pros and cons of union membership, financial core, and other union topics on many of the voiceover discussion boards, blogs, and online groups.

By joining SAG-AFTRA, and working union jobs, you will be assured of reasonable compensation for your talents and protection from unscrupulous producers and advertisers. Your union-sanctioned agent will normally handle negotiations for your work and will sometimes negotiate a fee above scale. Regardless of what you are paid, the agent will only receive 10%, and that amount is usually over and above your fee. The
“
plus -10” (plus 10%) may be automatic or require negotiation, depending on the status of the producer prior to the union merger in March, 2012. If you are not yet a union member, this 10% agent commission may be taken out of your talent fee. A union performer just starting in the business may make less than scale, but the agent’s commission will still be added on top of the performer’s fee. The client also contributes to the union’s Pension, Health, and Retirement Fund. For many voiceover performers, these benefits are the primary advantage of being a union member. However, minimum income requirements must be met to qualify for Health and Retirement benefits.

Residuals
were implemented to guarantee that performers are paid for their work as commercials are broadcast. Each airing is considered a separate performance and talent are compensated based on the period of time a commercial is aired. Commercials produced by a SAG-AFTRA signatory have a life span of 8 or 13 weeks. After the original run, if the advertiser reuses the commercial, a new life span begins and the performer’s fees, agent commission, and union contributions must be paid again. This happens for every period in which the commercial is used. In radio, residuals begin on the date of the first airing. In television, residuals begin on the date of the recording session, or the “use” date.

If an advertiser is not sure whether the company wants to reuse an existing radio or television commercial, a
holding fee
can be paid. This fee, which is the equivalent of the residual fee, will keep your talents exclusive to that advertiser, and is paid for as long as the spot is held. Once the commercial is reused, residual payments are made just as for the original
run. If the advertiser decides the spot has lived its life, your residuals end. At that point, you are free to work for a competing advertiser.

Union recording sessions are divided into several fee categories and specific types of work within each category. For radio and television work, the performer’s pay varies depending on the type of work and the market size where the product will be aired. The following is a description of the basic SAG-AFTRA performance fee categories. Although some of the details may change from time to time, this will give you an idea of the broad range of work available in the world of voice acting.

• Session Fee:
  The session fee applies to all types of union voiceover work and will vary depending on the type of work you are doing. A session fee is paid for each commercial you record. For radio and TV commercials, an equal amount is paid for each 13-week renewal cycle while in
  use
  (being rebroadcast) or if the spot is on
  hold
  (not aired).
       Session fees for dubbing, ADR, and looping are based on a performance of five lines or more, and residuals are paid based on each airing of the TV program.
       Animation voice work is paid for individual programs or segments over 10 minutes in length. Up to three voices may be used per program under one session fee. An additional session fee applies for each additional group of three voices, plus an additional 10% is paid for the third voice in each group of three voices performed.
       For off-camera multimedia, CD-ROM, CDI, and 3DO, a session fee is paid for up to three voices during a four-hour day for any single interactive platform. Additional voices are paid on a sliding scale and there is a one hour/one voice session fee and an eight-hour day for seven or more voices. Voices used online or as a lift to another program are paid 100% of the original session fee.
       Industrial, educational, and other nonbroadcast narrative session fees are based on the time spent in the studio. A day rate applies for sessions that go beyond one day.
  
• Wild Spot Fee:
  Paid for unlimited use of a spot in as many cities, for any number of airings, and on as many stations as the client desires. The Wild Spot
  use rate
  is paid based on the number and size of the cities where the spot is airing.
  
• Tags:
  A
  tag
  is defined by AFTRA as an incomplete thought or sentence, which signifies a change of name, date, or time. A tag can occur in the body of a radio or television commercial, but is usually found at the end. For radio, each tag is paid a separate fee.
  
• Demos:
  “Copy tests” for nonair use, paid slightly less than a spot fee. An advertiser might produce a demo for a commercial to be used in market research or for testing an advertising concept. If upgraded for use on radio or TV, the appropriate
  use fee
  applies.
  
• Use Fee:
  This fee begins when a commercial airs. Voiceover performers for national TV spots earn an additional fee every time the commercial airs. A standard of 13 weeks is considered a normal
  time-buy
  that dictates residual payments.