When word hit the interwebs that VOPlanet.com was returning to the casting site world, the voice over community was buzzing. Everyone wanted to know what the story was. Some talent who had been around for a while recalled VOPlanet from a number of years ago. It was a major player for a season, but then slowly faded away to the background. That is, until Kevin West came in to revive it.
Does the world really need another casting site? After all, it seems like a new one is popping up and asking for our membership dollars just about every week. Well, that’s one of the questions I actually asked Kevin, who was more than willing to answer!
One thing remains prevalent in our industry. After the VCD fiasco, talent aren’t going to trust any site that doesn’t offer transparency and a reasonable level of accountability to the community at large. We also want to know we’re getting fair opportunities at fair rates.
Will VOPlanet deliver? Read on for yourself. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!
Kevin West of VOPlanet Answers Your Questions
Marc: When the community heard about VOPlanet.com launching (or re-launching) many said, “Oh great. Another pay-to-play.” SO what sets VOPlanet apart from all the other casting sites trying to collect membership dollars? How is it unique?
Kevin: What’s great about your question is it’s the same first question we asked ourselves! How to build a P2P in 2018 is very clear: treat people better. The market very clearly demanded an alternative to the big greedy corporate sites. So, we asked the voiceover community what they felt was wrong with P2P and using that guidance built a voiceover platform that avoids the mistakes the other sites have been making.
My partner Christine Bloxom and I created a professional, transparent, work-direct P2P that’s actively being shaped by the requests and needs of the members.
Marc: Recognizing it’s still early in the launch, approximately how many opportunities a week are being posted on the site. Can you give us an approximate breakdown of male/female, languages and genres of work? What is the goal you’re targeting for the number of postings weekly?
Kevin: We are only in our fourth week and we are seeing jobs posted daily. There are hundreds of voice actors in about six languages split evenly male and female and we are adding members every day. All genres of work have been posted.
Our goal is “everyone works.” We’re working hard to attract better paying clients and jobs. We will push until everyone is auditioning multiple times daily.
Marc: What is VOPlanet doing to protect industry standard rates? Are budgets set or is there bidding? Is there a minimum rate or suggested rate card for voice seekers?
Kevin: We are not only working to protect standard rates, we are working to raise them. Another VOPlanet difference! A BIG difference! VOP created a no underbidding policy. We do not allow bidding lower than the proposed budget, which means no undercutting other voice actors. Think about that. While the big corporate sites have all encouraged a race to the bottom with bidding on voiceover rates for the past 15 years, we said enough.
Times have changed. If you feel the budget for a gig is too low, we encourage you to bid HIGHER than the client’s proposed budget. And you can tell the client why! It’s all built in our auditioning dash. No low bids? Please bid higher? Those are VOPlanet exclusives and our way of protecting rates, making our industry stronger and treating our people better.
Marc: Does VOPlanet do anything to vet talent? Are there any requirements or expectations talent must meet? Or can anyone with a microphone sign up?
Kevin: We are a professionals-only voiceover community. You must be an experienced, working professional with a professional studio. We listen to every demo and look at every vo site of every talent that registers. Expect to be asked to leave if you are not a pro. We’ll point you in the right direction of voice coaches and demo producers if you do not meet the requirements.
Marc: Within the industry, it’s no secret that VDC has an ad budget most can’t compete with. What kind of strategies does VOPlanet have for finding work and bringing opportunity to the site (without giving away any secrets)?
Kevin: VDC also has a reputation that clearly works to VOP’s advantage. We do not require millions in ad money when we have some of the strongest word of mouth networking of any P2P site in history. This at the very same moment the voiceover world is being turned upside down by corruption. Voice buyers and voice actors are searching for an honest alternative and we believe VOPlanet.com is clearly the best choice.
Part 2 of the Interview
Kevin wasn’t done answering your questions. To see the rest of the questions and his responses, please read Part 2 of the interview available by clicking here.
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