Maybe Some Ranting Does Work ...

[mirrenlee]

Arlene,
Ohm - exactly. Over at TOF, I posted about this subject, and we still get basically, well, it's good they fixed it, and why didn't everyone get the email, well, they must have a good reason for it ... and there goes the White Rabbit. Someone said it must have only gone to those most affected by the problem. Okay, but I haven't been affected at all because I haven't been opening auditions, and yet I got it. How hard is it to send an email to ALL the subscribers announcing a very important glitch getting fixed? I have a newsletter I send out to a huge list - it ain't hard.

And naughty Arlene, obviously it's your fault you're not getting the emails because TeflonCast would never be wrong.

I live by, "You can't get a solution if you don't identify the problem first". Which is why it will never get fixed over there - they don't want to even ADMIT there are any problems.

No, actually, I'm wrong and Joe's right. It's all our fault because ... well ... it just is ...

Hey, how about instead of "Ministry of Funny Walks", we can call them the "Ministry of Funny Talks"? No? Okay, now I'm just being silly. Sorry.

[avitoots]

I posted on one of the forums (can't remember which one) that the voiceseekers may be turned off by SmartCast and then I was asked why by one of the forum members I thought that. This is a good example. If I was a voiceseeker who was asking for a specific voice match and the idiots running the lead board blocked the sample, I'd be pissed and wouldn't use them again because they have totally wasted my time. Also, on one of the forums (again, can't remember which one) one of the guys managed to track down a couple of voiceseekers who had given him a bad rating to find out why (they were using the ratings for an internal sorting system). It was suggested by another forum member that it was unprofessional for him to seek them out because they obviously didn't want their identities known since it was blocked by V123. I questioned if it was because the client wanted their identity hidden or if V123 was afraid to divulge that information. Now, one would think if you want people to match a voice sample on your website and they have to access the website to hear the sample, you're perfectly willing to have your identity known. So, the scepter of suspicion again falls on V123 management.

Arlene

[mirrenlee]

I saw those posts and agreed at the time with you. I just can't understand why it's all so hard for people to understand. Having been both an actor's agent and a casting director myself, I know the number one valued currency was TIME! Whoever made things the easiest and quickest went to the top of the employment pile, on all sides of the fences. If it was too hard to cast someone, we moved to someone else. If we found an agent couldn't supply actors fast enough, we moved on to another agent. The "Time is money" slogan isn't just empty words in the entertainment business - in any area.

So if I was a Voice Seeker, and anything got too hard with a service, I'd move on. And if I found out, like we know has happened, that things like the infamous Ratings System was being used the way it had been when I thought it was simply a sorting system for my own purposes, I would have not been happy about that, either.

It could just be me, but the leads seem to be slowing down and getting less desirable, so maybe the Seekers ARE pulling away. I don't know. But it works from the other end, too. If enough good talent pulls away (and we HAVE been hearing about that), then good Seekers will stop coming because they'll think it's only a site for the less experienced.

I still am concerned about their other site, Casting 123. It doesn't appear to have high standards about jobs, in fact seems to be mostly models, and with no Forum one can't tell what anyone thinks about it. My point is if they're satisfied with what appears to be a low level over there - the actors out there can tell me what they think about it as an actor's site compared to, say, Actor's Access - then maybe they have the same level of expectations, ultimately, for their voice-over wing?

Just wondering ...

[RonaldTRobinson]

Since I'm not a Seeker -- except, maybe, in the "spiritual" sense, and even that's only until the meds wear off -- I can relate to the Talent-side (and I accept that's depending on who you talk to).

Ranting is good! It serves a number of worthwhile causes and is less time-consuming than getting dressed up in "Sunday-go-to-meetin" clothes and worshiping at the church of your choice. The affect, however, is similar and may be longer-lasting.

It keeps the ne'er-do-wells' feet to the fire and serves notice that the most tolerant and forgiving of butts can only take the insertion of so much smoke. Even Gomer Pyle had a threshold.

Given that - as Talent - I'm paying for all of this and I figure I've got more rants left in the bank than Britney Spears has offers of "professional" help and financial "guidance".

Given the slipshod methodology of "choosing" prospective Talent for any given lead, I expect James Earl Jones would have an audition glossed over and stapled with a "2" rating. (See how long it takes for you to get another lead, James.)

As to V-123 management-responses: I've bought cars from guys with month-old, soup-du-jour stains on the parts of their shirts that weren't already caked with three different brands of underarm deodorant who could muster up more sincerity.

Still, with the fascination demonstrated by ghouls who hang around train-wrecks for waaaay too long, I hang in there.

[KaraEdwards]

Good for you Ronald! I only understood half of what you wrote but I liked it! As for me...my subscription ends in December and I plan to let it go. I figure $300 is better spent in areas that will help my career and won't insult me when I have a question or a problem. I mean really, if my customer service was even a hundredth as bad...I'd be broke! I'm glad for the folks the new system is working for and wish them continued jobs!

[avitoots]

O.K. Guys -- Here's the response I got from the genius at V123:

Thank you for contacting us.
Actually, the reason why the company name is hidden on the public pages (replaced by asterisks) is because we do not want non Premium subscribers to see that information and use it to contact the companies and take advantage of the projects posted. However, if you go through the answering process you will find a complete version of the script on the answering page.

Now, maybe I'm an idiot, but how am I supposed to determine if I'm suitable for the project if I can only see the whole script on the answering page? Furthermore, it makes more sense to start recording before going to the answering page because the clock will start ticking as soon as you go to that page. What happens if you're in the middle of recording the audition and get called away on other business? Also, did anyone notice that you are now judged by how many auditions you "complete"? So if you go to the answeirng page first and then don't complete the audition you will be penalized for not completing an audition. Also, we are told to be selective about which leads to audition for. How am I supposed to evaluate a lead to determine whether I'm right for the project if I don't have access to peretinent information provided by the client? Their need for secrecy is detrmental to my ability to play by their rules and, therefore, detrimental to my ability to competently evaluate to which leads I submit auditions.



AAAAAAh!



Arlene

[avitoots]

Mirren -- I would never have expected Casting123 or any of the other online casting services to match ActorsAccess. The reason being is 1) a couple of my agents put me on the ActorsAccess because they use it for electronic submissions and 2) it's connected to Breakdown service. Those two facts gave ActorsAccess instant credibility with me. The public (free) auditions aren't much but when the agencies, casting directors and talent buyers are spending a whole lot of money on the service, I don't mind.

Ronald -- Been seeing that white rabbit, have we? Shall we all have a tea party? Mirren, will you pour and Kara, pass the teacakes, please.

Kara -- I know that I've posted on another forum a comment about their customer service and my reaction was the same as your's. One guy was talking about his Dad being in the insurance business and I told him in no uncertain terms that if his father had treated his insureds as poorly as V123 has treated their paying members he wouldn't have been in business for long because as the policies came up for renewal, they would go elsewhere to renew. We'll just add your name to that list of going elsewhere.


Arlene

[bobbin beam]

I responded also to V123's customer service about the "bug" and described that I received a lead that was looking for 15 auditions. 14 had already been sent, so I replied immediately and there were 16 auditions by the time I was done.

Looking forward to that free month.

[RonaldTRobinson]

My "White Rabbit" has morphed over time. These days, I'm up close and personal with "Bobby, The Burnished Bunny". We're great pals! (I'm willing to drop that rascal, however, and run to bobbin's.)

And V-123 is correct in maintaining the anonymity of Seekers as I will hound them; stalk them at their churches, synagogues, mosques, bars and casinos and I will leave heavily eq'd, compressed, and expertly-edited breathing on their answering services along with 20-dollar quotes for re-doing... everything. I will leave a few seconds of silence to demonstrate a noise-floor of -70 db.

Further, besides offering to write their copy, clean the ashtrays and erase their security video-drives, I will also offer to write their epitaphs -- a generic "To Be Defined" carved crisply into cold marble should be quite satisfactory.