- There a few things you need to know
about each job before your approach voice actors
to hire them.
The right you pay for each voice actor
will depend on the type of project you're producing,
how many people are likely to see it
such as is it a local or a national spot,
how many lines of dialogue there are for each character,
how many characters you may want each actor to perform
and how many hours you might expect a session to last.
Now, there are union and non-union jobs
and the pay is often quite different,
so for instance, for voiceover union jobs
a base rate is predetermined by the union,
however, lots of professionals do charge more
than the base rate, especially if they're experienced.
Union rates are based on a lot of different variables
such as market coverage,
so different rates are going to apply
whether it's a local, a regional or a national spot.
The duration is a part of it,
how long, not how long the piece is
although that's part of it
but also how long it's going to run.
So, for instance once a commercial airs
for more than 13 weeks,
the voiceover artist is going to receive another payment.
And now to find the updated base rate pay
for union gigs
you can look at their website
and that's sagaftra.org.
Now, rates for non-union jobs
are negotiated just between you the producer
and the voiceover artist.
So, you can over a rate based on whatever you think
you can afford
or ask an actor what their rate is.
And with most non-union jobs
the actors are paid a base rate,
so that means it doesn't matter how long it runs
or how it's going to be used,
they don't get anything extra.
Now, once you agree to everything,
you'll have your talent sign a release
stating that they agree to all the terms.
Determining a rate for any non-union gig
is going to be based on if it's a commercial,
how big is the advertiser,
how long it's going to air,
how long the piece is,
if it's a 15-second spot
versus a one-minute spot,
you're paying differently.
Maybe you're doing a bunch of them once.
A local TV spot may pay as little as 50 to 100 bucks
while a national spot
for some big car company
could pay $1,000 or more.
For animations, you'll come up with a rate
that you can afford
and again that's going to vary depending
on if it's a lead character or a smaller character.
For animatics I'm using paying anywhere from one
to $200 per session
and then if you're asking someone
to do narrations, generally then you're going to be paying
by the hour,
so rates then are based on anything from your company budget
to the length of the job.
The longer the job is,
the less per hour you'll pay.
The shorter the job is, the more you'll pay per hour.
That's general freelancing.
Who's likely to hear it,
so for instance, if it's just a presentation piece
for one on one or if it's for the general public.
The purpose of the recording,
maybe it's in-house training
or maybe it's a soundtrack for a huge documentary.
Totally different and of course,
the experience level of the actor.
Now, non-union voice artists
their hourly range is going to be anywhere
from say 100 to $500 per hour
and generally there's a one-hour minimum,
makes sense and then additional hours are billed
in quarter hour increments.
So, know the details
of what you need before you contact your actors
and be really up front about what you have in your budget.
Luckily negotiation seldom take more than just a few seconds
to finalize any deal.