Dude, who even knows.
Post reblogged from Kontextmaschine with 38 notes
So when I was with those Hollywood managers a lot of our clients did voice work. I really appreciate it – it’s a way to actually make a career as a skilled thespian, not just try to become a celebrity – but in reaction to recent industry complaints of low pay I really have to point out that it represents wildly less time spent per unit of output than camera work – no time styling, costuming, doing makeup, physically getting on set for each scene, waiting for the crew to adjust lights and cameras between shots, redoing takes over and over (or having to memorize your lines in the first place), no driving around LA for multiple rounds of audition for roles you very rarely get…
We would see a breakdown for a commercial voiceover in the morning, send over the sides at 10am (“sides” are per-character audition scripts), the client would see them when they woke up at noon, go down to their basement recording studio in their slippers, record and send it in, record two full half-hour cartoon episodes of main character dialogue by 3, and then the next morning we’d come in to the office to see a 4am email from the casting director saying they got the part, there are like 5 casting directors (really, studios) in town so they already know our clients and their quotes are industry public knowledge so that’s go, she’d have attached the full script and the client would record it that day
Now, beyond this voice actors don’t have the influence to capture as much of a profit stream as live actors who draw on leverage accumulated through organization in the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the discrepancy in pay really exceeds that in input of work.
Let alone the way that this dynamic means you need more roles on a resume to matter, even as it’s more possible to use the same few VAs for every role – remember how there was like a movie trailer guy? “In a world” and all?
Of course this also challenges labor power because everyone with a home audio setup around the world – that is to say, every podcaster – is a potential scab and it’s not like if you occupy or picket your basement workplace anyone cares.
Which is to say, voice acting is now putting-out piecework with a global labor pool. VAs are hosed.