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Do you re-audition to old clients?
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Velfin
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Joined: 17 Oct 2011
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Location: Currently Eastside Seattle / Formerly SW Minneapolis

PostPosted: Wed Apr 05, 2017 9:01 am    Post subject: Do you re-audition to old clients? Reply with quote

I think most of us have had this experience: A client with whom you had a great working relationship goes kinda quiet for a while. Then you get the minor gut-punch of seeing them posting auditions for stuff that you do, when they used to come straight to you.

So quick poll - when that happens to you, do you audition? If you audition, are you chatty and familiar in your email or slate, or treat it like a regular audition with no reference to the former relationship?

[Not asking for advice. Just curious how others play it out.]
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Last edited by Velfin on Wed Apr 05, 2017 1:52 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Bob Bergen
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 05, 2017 9:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Of course!!! Unless you have signed a continuing contract, you are going to probably audition for each new project the buyer has. Everyone gets repeat business. But it's rare to not audition for new work, even for a buyer whom you have previously worked for.
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Kristin Lennox
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 05, 2017 9:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Absolutely! It's a perfect opportunity to get back in touch...

There could be many reasons why they're holding auditions, and it only makes you paranoid to try to guess them. Instead, I just include a brief personal message in the email, and submit and forget, like everything else.

I mean, you can't work for them any less than you currently are, right?

Carpe Job-em!

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Bruce
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 05, 2017 10:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Absolutely audition. We change. The producer changes. Their ears change. The product changes. The approach might change. A brief nod to the past is fine but look forward to the future too.





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todd ellis
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 05, 2017 11:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

in short ... yes.
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Philip Banks
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 05, 2017 11:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes if I am requestified by the client/producer.
As a general rule, no. Pacifically, for the case detailed above, no.

YOU, all of you, need to know why that is the case. Such knowledge will change your lives for ever, possibly longer.

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Bish
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2017 5:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

There's a lot of "It depends" going on here.

If I have a client relationship with a small (one-man plus dog) production house owned by George, and George puts it out to audition... then obviously George is looking for someone other than me... or just having a brainstorming session to see what his alternatives are. Then I wouldn't audition... I may even reach out and offer assistance (depending on the specifics of relationship) with some suggestions for alternatives.

Now, if George is just a cog in a corporate wheel (in-house media division of British Buggy Whips, or production personage in an agency) and I see his department looking for someone else (even under his name), I probably would audition. I would probably include a "Hey. George!" in there as well.

George may be on holiday (especially if this is European where they are allowed more than five days per year off). George may have moved elsewhere in the company. George may be following orders and going through a new process dictated by some no-nothing millennial with an MBA. George may be conducting an annual review of assets and alternatives. George may be padding his days and making himself invaluable by putting things out to audition and then making decisions only he can make.

Those of you from a corporate background will be smiling. Those not, will be shaking their heads.
This is a job of work, not a symbiotic artistic bonding Smile
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Eddie Eagle
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2017 6:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

No chit chat on a recorded audition. Maybe a line in emails saying Thanks for the opportunity to work with you again, type thing if appropriate.

Long story short. Things change every day. What you did in the past may not be relevant today and you have changed since that x point in time. Hopefully you have changed to stay current. You can always go back if that's really what's needed. Consider it a + that they contacted you again.

Stay in the now. Stay on target.
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Bob Bergen
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2017 7:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

An actor's job is to audition. This is what we do. If you want to be considered for the part, you audition. Oscar winners audition. Actors coming off a 5 year run on Broadway audition for the next play, even for the same producers. Of course there are some instances where we are just offered the part. But an existing relationship is not a guarantee there will never be another audition for the same buyer.

In 27 years I've had to re-audition for Porky Pig 4 times. And I can only assume it will happen again. Check your ego at the door and put on your business hat. It's not about you. The only time I will turn down an audition is if I don't want to do the gig. But it's pretty arrogant to demand to be hired without an audition, especially if it's for a returning buyer.
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Philip Banks
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Joined: 20 Jun 2005
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2017 7:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bob Bergen wrote:
An actor's job is to audition.


Very true and many actors understand the nuances of that COMPLETE sentence. There is no "for everything", no "for anything", no "when you're not right for the part", no "when a lazy agent or manager has sent an email to everyone", no "when Mr Brain has gone to lunch and left the body in charge of the business" and on, and on, and on, and on!

An actor's job is to audition. The key is to know why and why not.

So many things in this business are blindingly obvious and we must juggle with all of them all of the time. In the Circus of Voice Over we have a 3 ball minimum. No dropping.

Be right.
Get it right.
Get paid.
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melissa eX
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 11:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bob Bergen wrote:
An actor's job is to audition.


Philip Banks wrote:
The key is to know why and why not.


Exactly. Bob, you audition for TV series, commercials that pay residuals and on-going work. THAT'S worth auditioning for. A lot of what gets thrown out there are auditions for one time $300 jobs. Most of that isn't worth the time auditioning. Especially when they show up everywhere
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todd ellis
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 27, 2017 7:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Especially when they show up everywhere


and especially this part.
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Bob Bergen
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 27, 2017 9:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

melissa eX wrote:
Bob, you audition for TV series, commercials that pay residuals and on-going work. THAT'S worth auditioning for. A lot of what gets thrown out there are auditions for one time $300 jobs. Most of that isn't worth the time auditioning. Especially when they show up everywhere


First of all, sometimes I audition for those big jobs. This morning I just finished auditioning for a radio job that if booked would pay about $300. I would say the bulk of my day to day are these types of jobs.

Why take the time to audition for such a low paying gig? Because they add up! Because they all pay into my P&H. Because it's what actors do!

Here's the biggest reason. It's for an ad agency who may, probably will, do more, possibly even Class A spots. Today's audition is an insurance policy for another.

A few years ago I talked myself into going to a radio audition at a casting office late on a Friday afternoon in Santa Monica. If you've never been in LA traffic on a Friday afternoon, it isn't fun. Round trip was probably 4 hours of drive time. I almost passed on going, as I didn't think it was worth the time and effort for a $300 radio spot. But I went and booked it. Turned out that one spot led to another, and another. I ended up doing these spots for 10 years. The ad agency has hired me over and over again.

Major celebrities will screen test for studios and producers whom they've worked for dozens of times. Why does a scale plus 10% vo actor think they are above auditioning for a buyer just because they've hired them in the past???
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ballenberg
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 7:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I concur with Philip and Bish from their posts of April 6 regarding the original question. This appears to be an entirely different type of project/relationship than B Bergen is referencing.

The way I see this one, if the client had wanted to have the original poster in the mix, they would have been there. Especially since it;'s the type of job OP had been doing for them before.

Yes, a gut punch. Many of us have had them, I sure have.Everyone's experience differs, but I do believe that at that point, they have become a former client. If they want you, they'll call you. They know what you can do. I've tried the other way..it's just embarrassing on both ends, and helps nothing. Auditioning for that job? Nope. I'd say leave them on mailing list and move on.
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Bob Bergen
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 8:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I guess I'm either missing something in the translation or just don't relate to the concept of client the way many here do. I've worked for Warner Bros., Disney, etc., for close to 30 years and don't think of them as clients. Sometimes they just hire me for another gig without auditioning. Most of the time I have to audition. But even if it's repeat business with the same casting director or producer whom I've worked with over and over, they are not a client.

Several years ago another actor and I did a pilot called The Looney Tunes Show. He and I had been voicing these characters for years. After we did the pilot the producers decided to hold auditions for the characters we already voiced, just to see who else was out there. I'd been through this several times before.

The other actor refused to audition, claiming that the studio had (at that time) 20 years of material he'd voiced they can use as his audition. I got a call from the head of WB animation asking if I'd just go through the motions of auditioning. I told him of course, happy to! I assume he made the same call to the other actor, who, as I said, refused.

They invited the other actor to callbacks, even though he refused to audition for the first round. Again, he refused. He was eventually replaced and I think that pilot was the last time he and I ever worked together on a LT project again.

Actors need to check their ego at the door. It's not about you. It's about the end result for which you hope to be a part of. I don't own the characters I voice. Past relationships do not guarantee future employment. Past relationships might give you a leg up. There are many moving pieces, and it is the right of the buyer to test the waters. A part of repeat business is being a team player. There's no room for arrogance. This has nothing to do with self worth. This has to do with professionalism.

I am 100% sure I will have to audition for things I've done in the past again. That's show biz! As I said, an actor's job is to audition. If someone is better, or if a producer decides to work with someone else after I audition, that is their right. I can be grateful for the time I had voicing the character. Or the commercial, promo campaign, etc. But if I want to continue, I go with the flow. It's called being professional.
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