You would have to have been living under a rock to escape the talk about the now infamous interviews that have taken place this November with Voices-Dot-Com Co-founder, David Ciccarelli.  Interview #1 was conducted in the Voices headquarters in London, Canada, with Edge Studios, Graeme Spicer.  It was a very fair interview conducted by Graeme. However, David’s responses tried to time out the allotted time and the tap-dancing was clearly on exhibit.  I don’t think David had any idea that their changing of their business model, by adding the Professional Services Managers and their lack of training, would snowball as it has with inaccurate responses and propaganda double-talk. Triple-Dipping, lack of listening to all auditions, etc., was covered.

Judge for yourself. Interview #1 (audio only)

BTW…this interview was NOT released publicly by Edge Studios or Voices. Excuses were made. Fortunately, the voiceover community had the foresight to record it themselves and it has made it’s way around the Internet without much trouble. The cat is most definitely, out of the bag.

Interview #2 was conducted over the Net, once again with David Ciccarelli, by Bill DeWees. A Q&A Webinar that was definitely not as volitale as the first. Bill is a great Podcaster, Voice Talent and shares his knowledgable wealth of the industry freely. However, David basically double-talked all the way through the webinar again and Bill, unfortunately, did not hold his feet to the fire to get to the truth. No disrespect meant to Bill’s ability. He just didn’t press David to be honest and let answers that were clearly inaccurate go by without question.

Only again, judge for yourself. Interview #2 (full audio/video)

Needless to say, these complications at VDC are not new. I had felt this change last Spring when some of these items came to my attention. At that time, I requested my membership be stopped and a refund issued asap. I was told by Customer Service at Voices, that the terms of membership didn’t allow for refunds of membership. So, I asked that when my membership expired on August 31st, I wanted the auto-debiting of my account to be stopped. I was assured that a note had been put on my account and they would be sure that I was not charged and that my membership standing would end as of that date. I’ll give you 3 guesses what happed on August 31st and your first 2 guesses don’t count.

Yup, I got an alert from Chase Bank that my account HAD been debited to the tune of 199.00 for Interactive Voices – Canada. (Their original name in 2004 when I first started) I was angry and immediately wrote to customer service asking what was the deal? The CS rep acted surprised and asked when did I request that I not be billed? I responded with my story. They responded by asking me to produce this email in writting that I had received. I reinterrated the story and told them that I had spoken to their rep via phone. Thus, there is no written transcript on my end. The next email I got started with an apology and they assured me again that my debit would be refunded. About a week later, it was completed.

Since then, other disgruntled members have followed suite and have even gone to the extent of asking that their “free” profile be taken down too, so there would be no signs of them supporting Voices now, or in the future. I too felt that was a worthy effort and I did the same in September. Recently, a graphic has been garnering a lot of attention to help get the word out. Feel free to SAVE AS this graphic and share it on your site, if you believe the same.

Here is the latest news from the VP of WoVO.  Exciting times ahead!

In order for your session or project to go as smoothly and successfully as it possibly can, it is suggested that producers and those engaging voice talent strive to:

1. Allow adequate time so that voice talent can perform their duties properly, whenever possible. This includes giving talent adequate notice in scheduling sessions, preferably 24 hours, and allowing enough studio time to properly record the session.

2. Start and end sessions on schedule.

3. Avoid rescheduling previously scheduled recording sessions, only rescheduling under circumstances beyond control. When talent commits to a scheduled time and that time is postponed or canceled, they forego potential income from other clients’ sessions.

4. Have any script/copy approved by the client prior to the recording session so that Talent can review the copy prior to the session, and to avoid rescheduling due to non-availability of the final copy. If client requests changes after the copy is recorded, compensate the talent fairly for those post-recording changes.

5. Never request that talent place themselves in a situation where physical or financial harm may occur.

6. Pay talent on time, preferably 30 days after receipt of an invoice from the talent or their representative, and pay talent regardless of whether having received payment for the session from the client or not.

7. Treat talent professionally and with respect at all times and refrain from using profanity or other derogatory comments towards the talent.

8. If a talent has been hired for a session, but a change of talent is deemed necessary during the session for whatever reason [except for misrepresentation by talent], refrain from negative comments to the talent concerning same and agree to pay the talent for their time in the session, even if talent’s role is recast.

9. Provide copies of the finished work to talent as soon as possible after the work is completed, unless releasing the work violates a confidentiality agreement signed by talent or producer/client.

10. Provide all proper paperwork to be signed by talent prior to the session, including any fee agreements, contracts, tax forms, client releases, non-disclosures etc., and at talent’s request, provide them in advance of the session so that talent has an opportunity to have their representative, i.e., agent or attorney, review them should they wish to.

11. Talent should be allowed to decline to voice any material that they deem to be illegal, offensive or criminal or which promotes offensive, illegal or criminal behavior.

12. Voiceover recordings should only be used for a single project unless a buy-out fee has been negotiated in advance. A recording made for one project should not be used for another project by the same client without prior agreement and fee negotiation. For example, a voice recording made for a website may not also be used in a corporate video.

Heading to WoVOCon in a few weeks and for the first time, I’m going to set up my mobile rig. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not a “Johnny come lately”, but since it’s a voice biz trip, I believe it’s appropriate.

I still maintain, when I go “on vacation”, the reason I go is to decompress from my daily full-time job of voicing. Give my mind AND voice a break. That is so important for your piece of mind and your mental health. Now, I’m not trying to push my beliefs on those who DO carry their portable studios everywhere they go, including their family vacations, but just give it a thought. Everyone takes vacations and not everyone takes their work with them.

When I need a break, I need the distance from my work. Just thought this might be a good time to try out my mobile rig while I’m attending a business-related event. Most likely, since most don’t know I even have a mobile setup, I’ll probably not get any requests. But at least I’ll learn what to deal with in the airport with our lovely & talented TSA agents. My recent trips have been uneventful and frankly, I’d like to keep it that way.

What do you think?