Demos.
They can be a touchy, divisive and expensive topic.
When should I get mine done? Should I pay to have it done professionally? Should I do it on my own? How long should it be? How many spots? What should I include in it?
Let’s start with professionally produced demos.
They can be expensive (like thousands of dollars expensive). But if you can afford it, going the professionally made demo route is almost always the best decision for your career. Assuming you go with a renowned, trusted demo producer like J Michael Collins or Eric Romanowski. I personally have not worked with either, but their accolades speak for themselves.
When you’re working with this caliber of producer, they have their “ears” on the pulse of the industry. You’ll get a high quality product, unique and custom scripts, insight into what’s hot and booking and live direction (among other things).
With a homemade demo you get pretty much none of that. Again, some of these pro demos are pricey, but there’s a level of prestige working with these producers and they take pride in their work and will likely even share your finished demo with their network.
But there are a number of other demo producers that are great that you DON’T have to shell out massive amounts of cash for. I’ve worked with Erik Solarski on a few of my demos that turned out really well and I know there are other producers that churn out great demos for a mid-tier price.
You should be wary of producers that promise demos “at the end of a 4 hour workshop” or “after 3 classes with me!” These demos are usually just slapped together and there likely isn’t very much quality control. You’ve just been introduced to the copy the same day, the copy PROBABLY has been used for someone else’s demo too AND in some extreme cases, some of these producers will put THEIR AUDIO WATERMARK ON YOUR DEMO.
Yeah, you read that right. There are producers out there that will use the first 5 seconds of YOUR demo to market themselves. “Bob Bobberson, demos that make your head bob!” or something stupid like that.
Okay so I’m 350+ words into this thing and still haven’t explained when home-made demos are okay. I’m getting there!
Demos have a few different purposes, but mainly give potential clients a snapshot of what you can do. Most of the jobs that you will end up doing (outside of the odd low paying/indie jobs) won’t require you to add music or edit too much, but a demo is expected to be pretty polished, almost like “if I did a commercial for McDonalds it would sound like this if you heard it on the radio”. Basically as if that spot in your demo was lifted from a commercial or game or tv show.
Here’s the juicy part that you’ve been waiting for… When I think homemade demos are fine (this may not be the industry wide opinion, just my own):
When you are NOT submitting to an agency.
That’s pretty much it honestly. Agent’s have sharp ears and will likely be able to spot the difference between homemade and professionally made. Agents want to know you’ve invested in yourself, that you’re willing to spend money to make money and that you will make THEM money. That’s why you have to put your best foot forward with them.
Plus, if you send an agent a BAD demo, they might temporarily blacklist you and just assume that you’re not ready for representation for another year or two.
There is another important factor here: your editing skills/background.
I went to school for Radio Broadcasting and worked as a producer/copywriter for a few years so I can edit and produce reasonably well. And I have produced a handful of my own demos myself. But even still, my commercial and animation demos were done professionally by others, with one of my coaches directing me live during the session.
So if you ARE going the homemade demo route (you want a demo that you are NOT sending to an agent but may just post on your Soundcloud/Online VO profiles/Website), follow this checklist:
1- Research the type of demo you want to do (commercial, animation, video game or others)
2- Write/source unique copy that has not appeared in other people’s demos
3- Get a friend/colleague/coach to listen in on your recording session to provide feedback (you can always just send the recorded audio AFTER the fact, but having someone listen live saves you time)
4- Have a decent handle on editing/sound design in order to produce your demo
Alternatively, this is a much shorter checklist:
1- Be a seasoned veteran of voiceover/audio production and understand demo production AND have the skills to write/edit/produce your own demo.
But that checklist isn’t exactly as accessible for most voiceover artists and voice actors…
There is also the possibility of doing SOME of the work but not ALL of the work in producing a demo. You can write/source the scripts and record in your own space and then send the audio off to be mastered and mixed with sfx. Producers like Erik at Soles Sounds (as mentioned earlier) can do the post production for you, no matter where you are in the world.
Recap
I’ll keep the recap simple this time.
Homemade demos are okay to showcase your skills/versatility/home recording setup to possible clients.
They are discouraged when you’re submitting to a new agent.
Take steps to ensure your scripts are unique and play to your strengths.
Have fun doing your demo! The more fun you have, the better it’ll turn out.
To find at how to go about making your own demo, check out this post
Please keep in mind, this is my personal opinion drawn from nearly a decade of experience in the industry. Always question people’s opinions and take them with a grain of salt because that’s only one point of view.