$1.1M Audition! Why I PASSED and Maybe YOU Should Have Too
Why would anyone in their right mind PASS on a $1.1 million audition?
And Paul, aren’t you the one always beating us over the head with, “Stand up for pro rates, “Know your worth,” “Make it worth your time,” and on and on?
First of all, who ever said I was in my right mind?
Secondly, I absolutely beat the drum of “Stand up for pro rates, “Know your worth,” and “Make it worth your time.”
So why did I pass on a 1.1 million-dollar commercial audition? Why did I not even take a swing? Have I stroked out? Lost my marbles? Has Pauly’s Little Choo-Choo gone around the bend?
Today I’m going to lay out for you exactly why it took me less than two minutes to pass on this opportunity, and why maybe…you should have, too.
So, I get this audition notice from one of my agents recently. For obvious reasons, I’m not going to disclose the agent, the casting director, the client, or the category of advertiser, but here are the pertinent parts of the spec, which, by the way was a page and a half long, plus an additional NDA, which I did not sign because I did not audition:
Major national brand
Non-union talent only – AND specifically asked FICORE talent to self-identify.
So, first point, a non-signatory producer (or one hiring for non-union work) is not legally entitled to force disclosure if an actor’s union or FICORE status, AND the FICORE designation is only relevant in union-covered work.
Moving on…
Materials: Unlimited video, digital, social, industrial, audio & radio commercial materials, which for the avoidance of doubt shall include award shows/case study videos.
Media: The Materials may be used in any and all media now known or hereafter devised, including without limitation, in all forms of television media including, but not limited to, national network television, free and basic cable (including but not limited to premium subscription and/or pay-per view cable), direct satellite and closed circuit television; non-broadcast industrial, including but not limited to trade shows, sales meetings, company meetings, events, jumbotrons, cinema and press presentations, voiced phone recordings (call-catcher messages for in-store); new media (i.e., cell phones); retail display, in-store, point of sale, digital billboards, signage, electronic out-of-home media and platforms, in-stadium, in-flight, cinema display, public monitors, public settings, electronic signage in venues and facilities; Internet, as made available or accessed via any platform or technology now known or hereafter invented, including via mobile phone technology, downloadable files, streaming formats, third-party links, blogs, company website and distribution via email; Social, including without limitation, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, X/Twitter, Snapchat, or any future platform Terrestrial, Satellite & Streaming Radio.
Territory: North America, including but not limited to The United States, its territories, possessions and commonwealths (including Puerto Rico). With respect to Internet use, New Media, Streaming/Satellite Radio, Social and for PR purposes (including award shows and case study videos) the Territory shall be worldwide.
Term:
Initial Term: Shall commence upon the initial voiceover recording session and shall continue in full force and effect for a sixty (60) day trial period.
First Option Term: An additional ten (10) month consecutive option term may be elected at the Agency’s sole discretion.
Compensation:
Initial Term (60 days): $37,500 (plus 20% Agent’s Fees) USD.
First Option Term (10 months): $187,500 (plus 20% Agent’s Fees) USD.
Renewal Term (1 year):
The compensation for the first Renewal Term (if any) shall be $236,250; compensation for each Renewal Term thereafter shall have a 5% (five percent) increase over the previous Renewal Term’s compensation amount. Renewal Terms must be consecutive, with Artist informed of Agency’s election prior to the end of the then-current Renewal Term.
Agency shall have the right, in its sole discretion, to extend the First Option Term for consecutive, one-year renewal terms (each a “Renewal Term”) for a total of 4 (four) Renewal Terms.
So, winning this work could mean anywhere between $37,500 for the first 60 days to $1,170,000 if the agency renews for all four years after the first option year.
Essentially this gig is $230,000 a year for up to 5 years, plus one unpaid year thereafter where you are prohibited from working for any other brand. And with this contract, there would be no renegotiation a long as the agency renews it annually for up to 5 years plus the non-compete.
14 minutes later, I get a second email from the agent, with the subject line, “Exclusivity Update”
It says…
“NO OTHER BRANDS - EXCLUSIVE TO [ADVERTISER] - this does not include any film, books, animation, video games etc - NO commercial VO at all.”
This made me dig into the contract terms included with the spec and script. It gets better. Or really, worse.
“During the Term of the Agreement and for the one (1) year period thereafter, all voice-over commercial and branded content categories. Artist is 100% exclusive to the Client for any and all branded content voice-over work.”
So not only is this client asking for category exclusivity, which is standard, but they are asking for total exclusivity for all branded content.
Maybe others have seen this before, but I haven’t. They’re also demanding that exclusivity for not just including the agreement term, but for a year thereafter.
$1.1 million, even over 6 years, is objectively a lot of money, potentially a life-changing amount of money for many people. And I’m not here to say if you got this audition and submitted that you made a bad choice.
I’m not here to judge you. I made a decision for me and my business to pass, and not even audition for a couple of main reasons. And I’m making this content to give you some points to consider if you ever get an audition like this.
To me, there were not one but two dealbreakers on this audition.
First, by asking for total exclusivity, the talent who agrees to accept this work effectively has to pack up their entire commercial VO practice for up to six years.
In every opportunity, there is what’s called opportunity cost. Opportunity cost is the value of what you give up when making a decision. In other words, it’s what you could have had if you chose differently.
Here are some of the opportunity costs of this gig:
Obviously, there’s the cost of all the other commercial and branded work you would have booked in that period that you will now not even be able to audition for. For some elite talent, that’s often more than the cost of this gig. But most of those talent are already union and not eligible for this casting, and so this is not a factor for the overwhelming majority of non-union talent.
Shutting down your commercial and branded work for up to six years means you may have to put relationships with other agents completely on ice or accept only non-commercial auditions from them. That can severely impact your relationships with those agents.
If the main genre those agents work in is commercial and branded content, they may decide to drop you. They may not re-sign you when your agreement with this advertiser is done. Any agents you do continue to work with will have to accept the fact that you are not open to that work for the term of the agreement with this advertiser. Some will. Many won’t.Shutting down your commercial and branded work for up to six years means you have to shut down your marketing for that work for up to six years. That means you not only kill the momentum you have from any marketing you’ve been doing so far, but also you have to recreate that momentum when you spin up your marketing at the end of this agreement with this advertiser.
And who knows what this business will look like in 6 years. Not me.By not doing any other commercial and branded work for up to six years, you are locked into one brand, one style, and likely one overall read for up to five years years, plus the non-compete year. While you’ll get really good at that read, your versatility and skillset as an actor will likely stagnate or maybe even degrade. And, let’s face it, there’s a boredom factor to doing the same brand read ALL THE TIME.
This advertiser could still decide to drop you at any moment, even during the initial 60-day term. That 1-year non-compete stays in place. Meanwhile, you’ve severed or your other agents have severed or downshifted those relationships.
And number 6 under opportunity cost is the second dealbreaker for me – this ridiculous “any and all media now known or hereafter devised” clause. This means they can use anything you record for them any way they want in any possible media, even if it hasn’t been invented yet.
So, this contract essentially means this: in effect, you become this advertiser’s employee, without having the legal designation of any of the protections or benefits of an employee like certain legal rights, health insurance, dental, vision, pension, paid time off, family medical leave, etc.
Yes, is possibly a $230,000 or so a year gig, but they literally own you. Your voiceover career is over for whatever period of time they see fit plus one year. And the cost of that opportunity, to me, is too high.
That’s not why I got into this business. And certainly not for that price, at that cost.