VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

captain54 · Lucky 700 Joined: 30 Jan 2006 Posts: 744 Location: chicago

I'm under the impression from a number of sources that it is advantageous to have a pro demo producer construct the demo in such a way as to entice the listener to hang in there for the duration, thus increases their chances of being heard and showcasing oneself beyond :07. If someone hears you for 1:00 and likes what they hear, you never know what can happen

i realize :60 is more or less an arbitrary length, but isn't it kind of crime that talent buyers can't spare an extra :45 to hear what you have to offer? Are they that busy? Talent jumps through an awful lot of hoops and most go above and beyond to survive in this biz, not to mention the hard earned $$$ spent for that precious :60 space in time
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Bob Bergen · CM Joined: 22 Apr 2008 Posts: 950

Are they that busy? You bet! Agents can get upwards of 100 demos a week.

Talent has always had to jump through hoops/spend a lot of money. We used to spend a lot more! Just the packaging along for demos averaged a good $3000. Then there was mailing expenses, etc. My first crap demo in 1980 cost $850.

The cream floats to the top. The cream will either be in the first 4 seconds or it won't. Of course the demo producer is supposed to make the entire demo equally competetive. But if you are looking at buyers to be more courteous to an actor's time and expense, it has never even that way. In a theater audition, you might have a 3 minute audition, but they've already decided way before that. And they can't turn you off. They will say "thank you" and stop you before you are done. But if your choices didn't grab em, you made lousy choices.

I've told this before, but several years ago I taught a vo class at a comedy conference. Comics were all given one minute to perform for the heads of HBO, NBC, top talent agents, etc. At one point the buyers did a Q&A. One comic asked how they could possibly judge a comic's talent on just one minute? The head of talent agency UTA told this comic to watch one minute of any comic on Johnny Carson. Joan Rivers, Jerry Seinfeld, Phyllis Diller, Rodney Dangerfield, etc. in LESS than a minute you understand their style, personality, timing, etc.

The same goes for vo. In far less than a minute if you can't grab em, you missed your one and only opportunity. Second chances are hard to impossible in this business. Which is why it's more important than ever to wait for that demo until you know you are ready and brilliant.

Deirdre · Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2015 7:29 pm Post subject:

ballenberg · Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2015 7:41 pm Post subject:

So it is

Deirdre · Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2015 8:45 pm Post subject:

Me and the people I work with. Smile

Some of the agency castings I've been doing have blown my mind— the submissions are devastatingly horrid. People apparently don't "get it" that an audition is sending a sample not only of your read, but also the sample of your recording space.
And some agencies either don't vet the submissions they send or don't care.
I did a casting recently where one agency sent us 60 auditions for 4 parts. 54 of these were thrown out straight away after hearing crappy sound quality– and we had specifically asked for ONLY talent that had a home studio.

If we hear something that had the kind of character we liked, sometimes we'll go to the actor's website to take a listen to his demos so we can gauge his range. These also get the 4-second acid test, but long demos that weren't audiobook or narration demos makes us roll our eyes. A demo that's longer than a minute screams "N00B" unless you're Dan Castellaneda. It prejudices us against you, but if your audition was exceedingly hot we might listen.
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Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2015 10:35 am Post subject:

Is there no leeway? I've got my producer chopping my demo posted above down to 68 seconds. Is that 8 seconds crucial? Or are you just trying to eliminate the boring 3 minute demos?
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Deirdre · Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2015 12:47 pm Post subject:

There's "leeway", but I'll bet there isn't anything you do that can't be fabulously revealed in 4 segments/ 30 seconds.
I can tell straight away if I can trust a talent. I'll click on other samples if I need to hear more.

We are far too much in love with ourselves, and I say this as the world's worst offender.
Get your Multi-voiced demo in under :35 and then go granular.

— and yes, I need to do this, myself.

And to folks who ask why we can't listen to the whole-minute-long demos— that recent 60-person submission took us nearly all day to get thru, even though we threw most of them out.
Life and business go on while you're trying to listen.
Casting requires notes, discussion, lists, casting/budget matrices, phone calls. Blah blah blah.
Time, time time.
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Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2015 2:16 pm Post subject:

This conversation has me back with my producer and we've pared it down to 60 seconds exactly. There's more than 4 spots, but the money ones are at the beginning.
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Jen Gosnell · Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2015 11:00 pm Post subject:

Frank F · Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 8:39 am Post subject:

I have not chimed in on this subject as I was sincerely interested in what would be exposed.

I have various lengths of demos, from :20 seconds to one minute to several minutes. Personally I have no preconceived notion about how long a demo should be. If it strikes my fancy at :20 seconds then that is what it shall be, no shorter, no longer.

Working as a producer, I hear hundreds if not thousands of demos for various castings. With the first words out of a talents mouth one can tell:

a) are they yelling at me?

b) are they real?

c) are they forcing their sound?

d) do they know how to enter a sentence properly?

e) can they deliver what I want for this character?

f) are they an amateur/newbee/wanabee?

g) and so much more.

Think about what a producer wants from you and if you can deliver the "right" sound. If you can't deliver it... try harder.

Frank F
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Deirdre · Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 10:19 am Post subject:

Bob Bergen · CM Joined: 22 Apr 2008 Posts: 950

Beyond valuable stuff, DB!!!!

And Frank!!!!!!

Jen Gosnell · Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2015 9:08 pm Post subject:

Very helpful to hear your thoughts. Thank you DB and Frank! Kiss

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Ed Fisher · Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 3:45 pm Post subject:

Valuable Thread. This is a keeper.
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mmellinger · Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2015 2:24 pm Post subject:

Muchos gracias! My current demo is 60, but it's time to re-do and the new one is going to be 30!
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