Auditions: To Custom or not to Custom?

Hi all,

Had a thought this morning. I was in the midst of my daily auditions, and found myself engaged in a curious little observation I’ve developed.

Before I put in for the Audition, I like to see how many people have already put in for the project. Then I do my audition and get the quote together, and after I submit the Pitch, I look at how many people have put in for that project in the time it took me to prepare my pitch for the prospective client.

I’m often surprised at the number. I’ve done the experiment in the past, to take a slow production day, plant myself in the studio and try and catch auditions as soon as they get emailed to me, and put in for them immediately, comparing the numbers.

What have I found? Well, today I was in front of the computer when I happened to get an email for an audition. I jumped on, put in for the audition and by the time I had submitted the package, 5 people had auditioned. I thought. “Hmm… let me give this a minute” and waited approximately 2 minutes just to be sure.

When I refreshed the status of the job, it was now 33 people that had put in for that particular project. “Whew!”

I’ve had lots of chats with other voiceover friends of mine as to which is better, putting in the general demo that we all have for the audition or taking the time to create a custom audition?

Both have their advantages. Putting a general demo in, many times will put you in a higher position on the response list. If you’re a busy ad person, then you may only be listening to the first ten seconds of the first 15 or 20 people that put in, and if you find someone you like, they get the job. If you take the time to produce a custom demo, the prospective client gets to hear their copy in your voice, an obvious advantage. They can envision you as the voice delivering their message and can make it easier for them to pick you.

BUT, what do you do if you go through the time and effort to create a custom demo on a really hot project that you want badly to do, and by the time you submit the audition, you’re number 101 and they’re only listening to the first 100 to submit?

It’s a quandary for sure.

I am of course only talking about online submissions. If you have an agent the process is very different, but with this scenario that I’m describing it can be a tough choice to make.

If the posting says “Only custom demos will be considered” well then your choice is obvious. I generally submit my latest fresh tasty demo if it doesn’t specifically request a custom audition be created. The reason I do this, is that I’ve found through my own experiences, that a client will generally funnel down the voices that they want from a large pool, to a smaller group of voices they like and finally to the voice they choose.

I have found success with getting my demo in the door, and with having a higher chance of the client hearing it, they have often just sent me an email saying “Hi, really loved your voice, would you shoot us a couple lines of this copy so we can gauge your read?” Of course I get it done for them, and I’ve booked a lot of jobs on that formula.

It doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily right for what you do, but for me personally, I’d rather they hear it, than not. They may hear my demo and say “Hmm.. you know, he’s not right for this project, but that one we haven’t posted yet? Let’s ask him about that one, he’s perfect for it!” That has also happened to me.

SO.. To custom or not to custom? Your thoughts?

Till next time,

Bye for now.. :)

Adam