I just spent an absolutely pointless 48 hours bidding for a voiceover job. I sent samples of my work, emphasising that I had worked in the client’s country. He sent me a script. We agreed the fee. He went silent. I prompted. He asked for a sample of the script, voiced in a documentary style. I provided that. He went silent. I prompted. He said his manager insisted on a male voice.
Gnnnnnrrrrr!!!!
Guys, this is not rocket science. If you KNOW you want a male voice, than say so! You have wasted everyone’s time – yours, mine, the manager’s!
To be fair, it was quite a ‘male’ subject (so maybe that should have set alarm bells ringing), but they said they just wanted a clear, understandable accent, explaining the details for an international audience. And I have done some very serious topics in the past – engineering, defence, the military – so there’s no reason I wouldn’t have been be suitable.
So, some learnings for me, and them:
For Me: red flags: if people go silent, after a flurry of messages, there’s something wrong (OR maybe people are busy, making sales calls, bathing the kids, talking to clients, doing actual work? How was I to know?) Also, if people don’t initially give you their name, even after a few promptings, it’s a red flag.
For The Client: stipulate what you want in as much detail as possible. To be fair, in this case, something may have got lost in translation ie ‘Actor’ means male in many countries – and in those countries, they still use ‘Actress’ to specify a female (eg India). In the UK, it’s ‘Actor’ for both (although we still have the word Actress, just to be difficult). This ad was from the Middle East.
If you want English – specify the accent you want eg British-English, American-English (sometimes I see “lightly accented English” required – in fact, quite a few UK radio ads have a slight foreign accent, and not just for IKEA – even when the brand is actually British. Why? Maybe to reflect the many non-native English speakers who now live here? I don’t know).
So as not to waste everyone’s time, state what you want.
But, on the other hand, if you don’t want to miss out on people who might be great, but you haven’t considered them, go ahead and keep it broad. I often see ads that say, “We are looking to recruit a Person of Colour but please send other options as they might be amazing.” Now, I am not sure how that sits with Equal Opportunities etc, but we are talking about acting and modelling so it’s probably OK – they have a demographic they want to reach, and an image they want to project (regarding age, ethnicity, look and feel) so it’s OK. We’re not talking about accountants here.
Finally, if you delegate the recruiting process to a more junior member of staff, make sure you let them know what you want. Otherwise they will spend a lot of time (and I have done this myself), chasing blind alleys that seem fine to them, but which aren’t, to you.
My point is:
…and this is my point: be as specific as you can when recruiting. It’s not difficult, is it?
