You’ve launched your voice-over business. You market your demo. You network. You audition. You get gigs. Now all you have to do is get paid.Union or Non-Union?
For AFTRA and/or SAG union talent, getting paid in a timely fashion is a benefit of union membership. It’s built into
union contract. Union talents fill out a form at session and then submit it to a paymaster (someone contracted with union to handle talent payroll). The paymaster ensures that talent is paid within a time period specified by union contract.
Non-union talent and financial core talent doing non-union work are totally responsible for collecting what’s owed to them. Financial core, if you aren’t familiar with term, refers to less than full union membership. Financial core union members have paid portion of dues and fees dedicated strictly to collective bargaining, excluding any activity not directly related to collective bargaining. You might call it “union lite.” Financial core members do not have voting rights and cannot hold elective office in union, but they also do not have to abide by union rules and regulations.
Types of Clients
So, what payment policy should you, non-union talent, adopt? Just as Internet has changed voice-over business by making home voiceover studio possible, Internet has changed collection by making it possible to take payment electronically. PayPal is just one of a number of online options that make requesting immediate payment possible, instead of sending a paper invoice through postal system and then waiting for a paper check to be sent to you. But before discussing methods of accepting payment, let’s look at various types of clients out there and payment policy that may best apply to each one.
Most businesses base their payment policies on assessment of risk. Assessing risk you take with a client usually is a matter of simple common sense. If an individual contacts you through your web site and asks you to narrate a wedding video or tribute to a deceased relative, then probably it would be wise to request payment up front before delivering voice over. If individual balks at paying up front, then you can agree to voice script, play voice-over down phone line to prove you did it, get paid, and then deliver voiceover.
Working with ad agencies and production houses usually means giving up a little control of payment terms. You can request payment up front, but most ad agencies and production houses expect to be invoiced. You can put “due on receipt” on invoice, but that is often interpreted as “30 days net.” There are some excellent ad agencies and production houses out there that pay promptly, but very often you will have to wait 30 days or more for payment. Be aware: many smaller ad agencies and production houses have adopted a policy of not paying you until they get paid. In ad biz, this means you can wait a long time for payment.
(On a personal note, after waiting a year for payment from a small agency for a VO I’d done for a local electronics and appliance retailer, I finally reached an agreement to accept a color television in lieu of cash. A couple of months later, retailer went out of business, a victim of serious negative cash flow! Did ad agency ever get paid? Good question.)
