Auditions: Why's Everyone In Such A Rush? Tech, Time Zone & Money

Auditions: Why's Everyone In Such

A Rush? Tech, Time Zone & Money

By Stephanie Ciccarelli

VP Marketing, Voices.com

Why are most voice-over casting calls opened and closed within a matter of hours?

Recently, I received this question:

Can you tell me why the time window from post to deadline is frequently only 24 to 48 hours? It's awfully difficult to produce an audition in that time frame.

I am happy to answer this question, both for the person who asked it, and also for anyone else who may be wondering.

There are a number of reasons why shorter deadlines have become the norm in the voice-over industry with regard to auditions, and I'll outline three of them below:

1) Technological Efficiency

2) Global Marketplace

3) Money

FROM HOME STUDIO

Aside from the obvious (namely the Internet), one of the reasons why most job postings are only open for a couple of days is because the majority of talent auditioning for any given job have home recording studios and are able to audition at their convenience throughout the day.

That's one of the greatest benefits of having a professional-grade recording studio in your home.

If you are treating voice-over as a business, then auditions become priority, and to facilitate those auditions, a home studio is a must if not a necessity and business requirement.

SHORTER CASTING DEADLINES

Also, as talent are able to audition efficiently, the clients cast more quickly and fulfill their project requirements with speed and efficiency.

Technology has streamlined this process to such a degree that deadlines for casting are presently a matter of days (if not hours), when it used to take weeks in the past.

To give you a different perspective, casting directors in prominent centers for voice-over work such as NYC only take half a day to hear auditions for a voice-over, mainly because decisions can be made quickly and on the client's schedule.

GLOBAL MARKETPLACE

This is a global marketplace, and clients are posting jobs from all over the world, meaning that time zones other than your own also dictate when a job is being closed.

For instance, if you are an American on Eastern standard time, and a client in Asia or Australia is casting, they may do so in your sleep!

Likewise, if you are a talent living in Great Britain and a job has been posted by someone living on the west coast of North America on Pacific standard time, you'll note that there is significant time difference, too.

TIME = MONEY

Have you ever heard that time means money? It's true!

Everyone who is auditioning and hiring talent has a "pain" or a "need" that you, the voice talent, can alleviate for them.

Usually, people who need voice-overs have an immediate need, and the faster they can look after that need, the better. Each day, perhaps every hour, without a voice-over means money down the drain.

Why spend more time finding a solution to your problem than necessary? This is true of any client - from the biggest corporations all the way down to a fledgling startup.

If a client is working with a casting director, they may not allocate much time (or money) to the casting process, hence the shorter time frames for auditioning talent.

GETTING THE JOB

Conclusion: The talent who audition, meet the posted requirements, and who are the most accessible to the client will get the job.

Perhaps this reason, more than any of the others, is responsible for the brief deadlines.

Stephanie Ciccarelli is co-founder and Vice President of Marketing for Voices.com, the online voice-over marketplace. One of the most connected people in voice-overs, she is a sought-after expert and industry source, and is actively engaged in the voice acting community. She graduated with a Bachelor of Musical Arts '06 from the Don Wright Faculty of Music at the University of Western Ontario, and is the author of many eBooks, including the Definitive Guide to Voice Over Success. She is editor of the VOX Daily Voice Actors Blog, and also shares her insights and perspectives via podcasts.