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Town Hall meeting and weekly cross burning.

 
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Philip Banks
Je Ne Sais Quoi


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

PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 6:46 am    Post subject: Town Hall meeting and weekly cross burning. Reply with quote

Were you to check then you'll discover that there are around 25,000 people with "Voice over" or equivalent thereof on their resume (pronounced Pulitzer Prize for fiction unNominee) in the greater Los Angeles area. Worldwide there are literally several more.

This morning I watched on youtube the finest influencers in the voice over world discuss the parlous state of the business. Based on youtube stats around 300 or so people have viewed the discussion.

Reality - Not one person involved could be considered by any stretch of the imagination a major influencer, influence or influenza. A huge problem with being able to stage manage one's own social media presence, blog and website profile is that it skews everything in favour of the subject selected Cheerleaders. Add to that the sometimes heavy handed moderation in groups or on VO related forums plus the people who are "just being nice in public" and the "Who's who" of our business becomes to the wider world of vo people "Who's who?" The one contributor I know quite well, in so far as that is possible, is well informed, articulate and did help bring clarity in a sometimes foggy discourse.

As far as I can tell the VO business problem is called Maria and the solution is to cross the Alps from Austria into Switzerland, sing "the hills are alive with the sound of music" cue end credits. Fabby!

Good call!

No, it isn't. is it?

We know others who do the same work as us but the genuine sense of community is hugely over stated. So huge, Mount Everest was once heard to exclaim "That over statement is huger that what I am!"

Community is about contributions not about deductions.

One could argue that the best way to unite a community of selfish, hungry people is to feed them. Not the case as they would simply feel entitled. Is it possible to change someone from being selfish to selfless? I've never seen or heard of that happening.

A few years ago due to my upcoming divorce I found myself in a position of being, for a few days only, on the verge of bankruptcy. As long as there was no financial activity (spending) until more fees arrived I would be ok but the slightest hiccup would've caused a rippled worthy of the 2008/9 global financial crisis. A packet of Rich Tea biscuits for the Collies was an impossibility. In emails and phone calls I let VO friends know what was going on. I asked for nothing. Just as well because offers of nothing flooded in. I was fine and will be fine.

Now where was I? Oh yes.

" The hills are alive with the sound of music
With songs they have sung for a thousand years
The hills fill my heart with the sound of music
My heart wants to sing every song it hears
My heart wants to beat like the wings of the birds
That rise from the lake to the trees
My heart wants to sigh like a chime that flies
From a church on a breeze
To laugh like a brook when it trips and falls over
Stones on its way
To sing through the night like a lark who is learning to pray
I go to the hills when my heart is lonely
I know I will hear what I've heard before
My heart will be blessed with the sound of music
And IŽll sing once more"

Hah! That'll show 'em!
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Deirdre
Czarina Emeritus


Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Posts: 13016
Location: East Jesus, Maine

PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 12:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm not at all sure what any of the foregoing means.

If you are lonely, send me a private flare and we might speak on the telephone or something.
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Philip Banks
Je Ne Sais Quoi


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

PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 12:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

T'was just a stream of random thoughts prompted by the livecast (is that a word?) about what people are doing to repair the damage done to our business by Satan and his evil Wizards to this great world of overs we call voice typed while drinking Moroccan tea. Shortly thereafter, Caroline who lives in Gordon Street delivered a Lamb Tagine for my lunch for no other reason than she wanted to do just that.

In hindsight I should've simply reached for my crayons and colouring book with pictures of the story Bergmann's "The Seventh Seal" in it. Speech bubbles to include death saying during the Chess game.

"If I win my prize will be a packet of Walker's Cheese and Onion crisps!"

"Not my soul for eternity?"

"No, I like crisps"

"Fair play. Prawn to King 5"

"They are PAWNS. How many more times. Tsk!"

"Sorry mate, my mistake. By the way could you move your sythe please?"

"Pickled egg?"

"Don't mind if I do, Guv!"

Creative interpretation of the text which I think Bergmann would approve.
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Philip Banks
Je Ne Sais Quoi


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

PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 12:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

BTW. Sequin PRADA logo on Death's shroud? What do we think, too much?

Puh! Would forget my head were it not screwed on! Link to the discussion/QnA on VO stuff https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzUIbhHfQ1g

Bish remained focussed but other than that I nodded my head and shrugged a lot. About 1 h 40 mins. I don't think I missed anything but would be genuinely interested in the thoughts of others. Getting everyone in VO work to pull together? Bit like a band y'know the lead guitarist is going to be an egotistical pain and the Bass player (me, really) sort of vaguely aware there may be others in the room.
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Bish
3.5 kHz


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

PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 3:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

First up: Sequined Prada logo on death shroud? Absolutely. Probably worth commissioning a musical version of your favourite Bergman play for the wake as well. I'll assume that it's The Seventh Seal because of the preceding chess references. They'll be nothing grim about this reaper!

As for the other stuff... I sort of promised myself to keep away from VO politics on VO-BB. It's like when you go out for a drink with a pal and all he can do is start every conversation with, "Well, wot abaht the workers, eh?" It gets very old, very quickly.

That being said, I have always been, and will always be, a political animal. I did my first protest march at sixteen and joined my first union at seventeen. I believe that there is strength in unity and we all need to do our bit.

Organizing VOs is worse than herding cats, and this (I feel) has led to the industry's decline as more an more hopefuls flood the ranks with no idea about how to run a business or what constitutes appropriate remuneration. To be blunt... too many hobbyists happy to make $200 a month and call themselves VOs. The crying shame is that many of these people have the ability to make far more... some are really quite good, but have no idea of their worth... and they get exploited.

What can we do? Very little I'm afraid. The union is proving itself to be as much use as a chocolate teapot and refuses to acknowledge the problem. Sometimes it even refuses to acknowledge the existence of non-union VOs in any meaningful way. However, just because there's little to be done, we cannot do nothing... every little helps. If that Town Hall meeting made one VO stick his neck out and ask for (and get) $300 for an explainer video instead of his usual five pence three-farthing, then it was worthwhile.

It's small steps. They may look as awkward as a toddler trying to cross a room... but I really believe in the power of community. This place has helped me enormously. We are working against every company that sets themselves up as a middle-man with no transparency... we are working against every charlatan coach who sells the dream... and worst of all, we are working against ourselves.

It's not a band yet... it's a bunch of people thinking of starting one... and I'm just standing there with a roll of gaffer tape seeing if I can help.
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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: Sun Jul 01, 2018 6:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here is the video for everyone to see and possibly learn from, ignore, or say to themselves "Why not just join the union?! You keep saying we should be united and stick together. That's the U.N.I.O.N.!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzUIbhHfQ1g
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Bish
3.5 kHz


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

PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 7:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The problem is that while it's easy to say, "Why not just join the union?" and be a cheerleader for union membership... in practice it is not actually an easy thing to do. Simplistically... you need to get a union job to be in the union... and then, once accepted, you have to stump-up thousands as an initiation fee. I'm not saying there shouldn't be a barrier to entry, but to MOST VOs not (geographically) in a major market, the union is, at best, a total irrelevance and impossible to get into (because they don't have access to the work). Certainly some manage it... but the vast majority don't care one jot about the union and (understandably) fail to see its relevance to them. I lay this directly at the door of the union for not embracing these talent, and treating them no better than something unpleasant someone trod across the carpet.

Let me make it clear, I am union, and I support the union... but I truly wish it would get off its arse and make itself relevant to today's voiceover industry. My fear is that it is far too late for that... and that this particular boat sailed a decade or more ago. Until the union shows the slightest interest in the VO community, I'd counter with, "Why would someone join the union?"
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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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Karyn OBryant
Cinquecento


Joined: 23 Jul 2013
Posts: 561
Location: Portlandia-adjacent

PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 7:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

"I truly wish [the union] would get off its arse and make itself relevant to today's voiceover industry."
This. So much this.
They're trying to tackle 21st century problems with outdated tactics. AND they buried their heads in the sand re: the video game industry until it became the juggernaut that it is. Their heads are pretty much still in the sand re: other genres of VO that are not commercials, animation, audiobooks, or video games.
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Pretending to be other people since 1986.

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Tre M.
Backstage Pass


Joined: 01 Nov 2017
Posts: 489
Location: Vegas, the desert part.

PostPosted: Tue Jul 03, 2018 5:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bish wrote:


Until the union shows the slightest interest in the VO community, I'd counter with, "Why would someone join the union?"


This is the dilemma i face. I live in a right to work state, but am also SAG Eligible as well. I could pay the fee and be in, but do i dare?
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