Note: I will be publishing my remarks regarding the final days before the untimely death of voice talent, and best friend, Vanessa Hart on Monday, February 24th.
This is an email recently received here at Bobbin’s Blog about a common question we face as we grow our voiceover careers: What do do about multiple agent submissions for the same job.
Hello! I just came across your blog and was wondering if I might ask a question of you! I realize this is very left field, but I see you mention having reps in different cities…And I would really like to hear your thoughts on this dilemma if you have a moment? Much appreciated if you do…I’ve been doing VO for years and in the past year have started working with my very first agency out of New York again via email auditions from my home booth. I live in LA now. Anyhow, this New York agency is often sending me auditions the day before my LA agency calls. Both agencies have booked me great work this year and I am having a hard time figuring out (without directly asking my agents) if it is ok to be auditioning the same copy twice (one from my home booth for New York) and then again when I turn up at the LA office to read with the both engineers. LA agents never tell me in advance what I am coming in to read, so I find myself sort of blindly doing the same copy again. Of course I could turn it down, but they are my local agents. Is it considered “ok” to audition twice? Or is double auditioning wrong? They are different markets, I tell myself and yet I also am afraid that I could be doing something bad…
Curious if you have encountered this… And again thanks in advance if you have a chance to chime in with your opinion!
Hi Mary,
Don’t ever submit for the same project through different agents. It is common to receive several audition requests for the same copy from different agents (which are usually sent out en masse from Voicebank) Then you’ll know you’re competing with thousands upon thousands of other voice actors.
So only submit once. You can always ask your LA agent what the copy is for before you make the drive. If it’s something you’ve already sent to another agent, you’ll save yourself and the agent time and possible aggravation should he or she learns you’re “doubling up”. So pick one, and tell the other(s) you must pass. And everyone moves on. I hope this helps! ~Bobbin
I face this dilemma a lot these days as well. Because I am not going into an agents office to do the read, I always know that it is the same copy. And my usual MO is to do the audition for the first agent that gets it in my Inbox.
There has been some discussion lately about this topic and I think it takes a bit more thinking to know what to do – what is the “right” thing to do.
You may not know that the audition is going to come from another agent, so you go ahead and get it sent off – and THEN the same audition arrives. In this case, it seems, on the surface, clear that you should politely decline and let them know why.
But looking at it another way – there is some truth to the opinion that you simply don’t know which agents have the best relationship (if any) with the producer asking for the auditions. Nor do you know if the agent you end up submitting through will have any of their auditions listened to, or if your particular audition will even be forwarded on to have a chance to be listened to.
I have had the same audition from multiple agents where I know (or am pretty sure) the lead was sent to every female on the roster – and then the same audition a few hours later – where it was specifically stated that I was one of only a handful of people asked to submit for the gig. The other audition for the first agent was already sent. In that case, should you resubmit? Should you contact the first agent and ask them if your audition was forwarded on for possible review?
These are very real situations – and the answers are not black and white. It is a fact of life with sites like Voicebank where any, all, some agents can be selected to receive a particular audition. We are not privy to that information.
In the “old” days, you pretty much knew who else was auditioning for something, because you saw them at the auditions! Bobbin and I rubbed shoulders frequently back in those days.
Hey Connie,
Great input. While it is true that not all agents are invited to the same auditions, it is a mystery that one never can “bank” on the fact that those who are invited, which agency’s submissions will be heard. Most voiceover people I know do exactly what you do, Connie, and send the audition out to the first one arriving in the inbox. And whether or not we’re listened to is certainly a concern, because the audition IS the work, and it takes time. And only submit through one agent, and hope you’re heard….beyond the first three seconds.
Best,
Bobbin