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The Voice Over Manager
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Philip Banks
Je Ne Sais Quoi


Joined: 20 Jun 2005
Posts: 11046
Location: Portgordon, Scotland

PostPosted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 12:52 am    Post subject: The Voice Over Manager Reply with quote

I read a great deal of complete tosh regarding VO Management then realised this morning that I wasn't looking at the role, the function and purpose, I was thinking about the person, the people, the personalities. Irrelevant!

Business, simply business.

Simple maths - Voiceover manager takes 10% of all income from VO. 20 working days in a month = 2 days (10%) when manager promotes the business of only 1 artist. ONLY ONE! If we assume that a working day is 7 hours, that's 14 hours doing stuff specifically to promote ONE VO career. Do they report to the 1 VO what they did last week? Will they? That's why they are paying them. BTW that's the LEAST a VO should expect!

Look again at the above. The 10% adds nothing to the bottom line for the VO.

Philip gets paid $100,000 per year gross. Management gets $10,000 per year Win or lose. To simply stand still a manager would need to earn Philip a little over $111,000 per year (rounded down) simply for his income to stand still. That's a good deal why?

The above was edited a few hours post posting because my proof reading coffee (2nd mug) was subject to a delay.
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Bish
3.5 kHz


Joined: 22 Nov 2009
Posts: 3738
Location: Lost in the cultural wasteland of Long Island

PostPosted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 7:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The figures are interesting and irrefutable. For the vast majority of working VOs, managers are an unwarranted asset that costs them money (translation: a liability). I'm actually a little concerned about the PR push currently being undertaken and the traction people are giving it because of their own need to be relevant. There's now a weekly "State of the Industry" address where a prominent VO manager has aligned with VO's most prominent "couple" (no, not Chuck and Stacy, the other ones... the ones with the awards show)... where they pontificate and underline how much they know about the industry and how necessary they are for it to survive (in these trying times). Now, what I'm seeing is people (who I thought new better) writing about these managers putting forward an "Are VO talent managers the future?" approach in their blogs. Clickbait bull maybe, but they seem to have collectively put "VO Managers" on the map for the hard-of-thinking. Making these managers relevant and part of the conversation has been a well-executed PR exercise... of that there's no doubt. Let's hope the rank-and-file learn to dismiss the hype and empty promises of success.
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Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.
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todd ellis
A Zillion


Joined: 02 Jan 2007
Posts: 10477
Location: little egypt

PostPosted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 7:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
because of their own need to be relevant


voiceover is not one thing - it's a lot of completely different things. if i were trying to make it in "national promos" or "animation" i probably wouldn't be able to survive without twitting & yahhooing every day. if i were doing that, this probably wouldn't be the 1st time i have heard about "vo managers" being a "thing". as it sits, i thrive in the underbelly of corporate & medical VO - a place where my relationship with my client is everything and my social media presence - or lack thereof - is not a factor. in fact, it's probably a plus.
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Bish
3.5 kHz


Joined: 22 Nov 2009
Posts: 3738
Location: Lost in the cultural wasteland of Long Island

PostPosted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 7:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

todd ellis wrote:
...and my social media presence - or lack thereof - is not a factor. in fact, it's probably a plus.

I envy you your refusal to make those things an element in your life. I have managed to un-Twitter, de-LinkedIn, ignore Instagram, and basically, for me, it's here and Facebook. I need to cut the cord with Facebook... but I do sometimes so enjoy upsetting people... so I stay. For the most part (especially since lock-down), it's the hapless being advised by the hopeless... and there's a modicum of schadenfreude to be had, but even that is getting old now.
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Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.
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Dan-O
The Gates of Troy


Joined: 17 Jan 2005
Posts: 1636

PostPosted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 10:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can assure you manager commission fees are negotiable.

There are four reputable managers and one company. If you want to work trailers, find a way into one of the four. They are pretty much the only way into that genre for VOs.

If you want access to large market opportunities but are having difficulty obtaining an agent in NY or LA, then the company seems to be a way around that. Kind of like a P2P.
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Jack Daniel
Cinquecento


Joined: 23 Jun 2016
Posts: 574
Location: SoCal

PostPosted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 10:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The trailer managers are, as Dan says, critical for work in that field. Why? Because they have spent their careers cultivating relationships with the buyers of trailer VO talent, and those same buyers do not want to wade through a ton of people to find their voice. In a field where the voice must be found and available within minutes, it pays for buyers to make use of these trusted relationships, wherein the talent have been vetted, developed, and understood for their usefulness in the many genres and subgenres of trailer reads. If the managers weren't useful to the buyers, they would not be part of the chain.
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Jack Daniel
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Frank F
Fat, Old, and Sassy


Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Posts: 4421
Location: Park City, Utah

PostPosted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 10:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Frank doesn't utilize the features of a VO manager.

Frank earns about $90,000 each year from trailer work.

Frank doesn't work with a management team as he cultivated "connections" over many years. He also does not pay any huge fees to ANY "agent". He also does not spend useless hours on faceplant, twitless, un-linked out, or any other social media platform; what he does is work very well the people who trust his services and quality.

Frank heard many years ago about "managers", agents, P2P sites, and the like and has failed to desire or need such dribble. He does national and international VO work. His forte is --- he doesn't know, but his clients do.

F2
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Dan-O
The Gates of Troy


Joined: 17 Jan 2005
Posts: 1636

PostPosted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 11:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good on you, Frank. Would love to see some of your trailer work.
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Philip Banks
Je Ne Sais Quoi


Joined: 20 Jun 2005
Posts: 11046
Location: Portgordon, Scotland

PostPosted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 11:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The key for some appears to be if THEY are looking for you they WILL find you. I sort of fall into that category.

The trick for the majority is, for around 15 minutes, walk away from the dream and in cold. hard reality run the numbers. Numbers are not personal, they are just numbers, and they will give you a without prejudice view. they will inform your opinion. Be the smartest person in the room or explain to the Bunny in your head working the controls that what he makes you say and do has consequences.

Trust the numbers NOT the hyperbole
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Frank F
Fat, Old, and Sassy


Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Posts: 4421
Location: Park City, Utah

PostPosted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 11:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dan, et al, it is all over the movie theaters, internet, and in three international markets right now.

F2
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Dan-O
The Gates of Troy


Joined: 17 Jan 2005
Posts: 1636

PostPosted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 11:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Awesome, Frank. What should I google?
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Frank F
Fat, Old, and Sassy


Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Posts: 4421
Location: Park City, Utah

PostPosted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 2:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry about the delay in getting back to you Dan. My other "thing" sometimes gets in the way.

As to your question, due to contractual agreements I cannot point you specifically to a place or time. But for those who know me - when they hear my work - they know who it is and whom it is not.


F2
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Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com


Last edited by Frank F on Mon Jul 06, 2020 2:41 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Lee Gordon
A Zillion


Joined: 25 Jul 2008
Posts: 6842
Location: West Hartford, CT

PostPosted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 2:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jack Daniel wrote:
In a field where the voice must be found and available within minutes ...


I think you meant to say, "In a world ..."
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Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
Voice President of the United States
www.leegordonproductions.com
Twitter: @LeeGordonVoice
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Jack Daniel
Cinquecento


Joined: 23 Jun 2016
Posts: 574
Location: SoCal

PostPosted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 2:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Of course you are right, Lee :) I can hear Hal Douglass in that classic video now: "In a world before time..."
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Jack Daniel
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Jack Daniel
Cinquecento


Joined: 23 Jun 2016
Posts: 574
Location: SoCal

PostPosted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 2:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

But for those who are curious, I can assure you that in the United States, theatrical trailers (which of course is what we are talking about) are handled via a few managers--the four Dan referred to. This is neither opinion nor conjecture, it is reality. This does not speak to other genres or managers and what they do or do not.

Is it possible to be an exception to this rule? Of course, anything is possible. But I'm pretty sure the reason the Ashtons, and the Scotts, and the Howards and the Phils hire managers is not that they are foolish.
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Jack Daniel
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