Last week my manager sent out a casting notice to their talent roster and asked us to help spread the word. It was a “seeking non-actors for a TV commercial” casting notice so I posted it on the GKN and a few other places. Among the specs were:
You must have two children between the ages of 8-15, and
The entire family must be available to be interviewed over the weekend.
I got a number of responses but only one of them qualified. Why? Either their children weren’t in the required age range, they weren’t available this weekend, or both.
I checked what I posted and as far as I can tell the specs were pretty clear. Why did people ask to be considered anyway even through the casting notice clearly disqualified them?
TIP OF THE WEEK
I think it’s for one of two reasons:
They didn’t read the entire casting notice
They read it but submitted anyway hoping an exception would be made for them
To be fair, a suburban family of four has probably never read a casting notice in their life and doesn’t realize that (at least in my 20+ years of experience) exceptions are almost never made. Most casting notices that are posted by representation tend to be crafted very carefully, especially ones for major products/services that will air on television.
I have helped cast numerous on-camera, theater, and voiceover projects over the years and you would be astounded at how many people ignore the casting notice specs and submit anyway, thinking that even though we’re not looking for their type for this particular project we’ll consider them anyway. They are wasting everybody’s time by doing that.
This is why the majority of aspiring actors and voice talents fail: they don’t listen. If you can’t or won’t take direction regarding the casting notice, why would you listen to anyone when you’re in rehearsal, on set, or in the booth?
Good voice actors are good listeners ALL of the time, not just when it’s convenient or important to them. If you can’t or won’t listen as a voice talent, you won’t make it.
NEWS AND NOTES!
On Wednesday March 23 @8:30PM EST I will have a delightful conversation with fellow audio book narrator Andi Arndt called Give Yourself a Raise: Time Management for Narrators. This free webinar will be hosted by award-winning narrator Tavia Gilbert courtesy of the Audio Publishers Association. This webinar is for APA members only so if you’ve been considering joining, now is the perfect time. Sign up at www.audiopub.org
On Friday April 1st, I will be shutting down the Good Karma Network Facebook Group. The group get limited traffic and almost everything I post there is also posted on the Tom Dheere, Voice Talent page so it’s become redundant. If you read this blog via the GKN group page and want to continue doing so, you can either Like the Tom Dheere, Voice Talent page or you can subscribe by going to my website www.tomdheere.com, scroll to the bottom, and fill out the “Never Miss An Update!” form. Make sure you check off the “Weekly Blog” box.
I’m heading to Vegas, baby! I will be attending WOVOCon 3 April 15-17 in Las Vegas. My seminar is called “Turn Your WOVOCon Knowledge Into Action“. It will be the last seminar of the conference. I’ll help you convert what you learned at WOVOCon into an action plan. Are YOU going…?
HAPPY HAPPYS!
Happy Goof Off Day and Make Up Your On Holiday Day!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
From my village to yours; this is Tom Dheere, GKN News…
Tom Dheere is a 20-year veteran of the voice over industry who has narrated thousands of projects for clients in over a dozen countries. He is also a coach at Edge Studio, voiceover business consultant known as the Voice Over Strategist, and is currently writing & producing the comic book “Agent 1.22”.