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VOICE OVER TODAY – March 10, 2004
Helping voice-talent build careers.

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Published by EDGE STUDIO
     New York training - 212-868-edge
     Washington DC training - 202-398-edge
     Connecticut training - 203-374-edge
     Tele-Training - 888-321-edge

established 1988
member Better Business Bureau

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WHAT IS EDGE STUDIO?

Voice Over Career Building
- training, evaluations, demos, marketing resources, guidance, duplication

Production Studio & Casting
- commercial and narration productions

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WANT CD DEMOS?
visit www.edgestudio.com/cd_duplication.htm

NEED PRACTICE SCRIPTS?
visit www.edgestudio.com/scripts.htm

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THIS ISSUE INCLUDES:
1.) Not Sure About Voice Over Taxes?
2.) Get Going Washington DC!
3.) New One-Day Marketing “Get Me Work Now” Class in NYcity
4.) Where Can a Voice Artist Work From?

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The 2004-2005 edition of the Audiobook Reference Guide, from the publisher
of AudioFile magazine, is worth checking out. This comprehensive sourcebook
to the audiobook industry provides contact information for 600 audiobook
publishers, wholesale and retail distributors, creative, manufacturing and
support services.

Check out the section on Voice Talent--and sign up for YOUR listing in the
2004-2005 Edition.

Call 800-506-1212 or visit www.audiofilemagazine.com to order your copy
now. Just $24.00 (inc. s/h). For info on the Voice Talent listings email
guide@audiofilemagazine.com.

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1.) NOT SURE ABOUT VOICE OVER TAXES ?

In case you were wondering if you can deduct voice-over Training and Marketing expenses, we asked an accountant to give us a sound report.

BY SPEAKING ABOUT DIFFERENT BUSINESS TYPES, this article will help you decide how you can deduct business expenses against your income. Please read the disclaimer at the end of this article.

This article will address two points:
* Which voice-over expenses can you deduct?
* Should you incorporate yourself?

What is the right entity for my voice-over business and what about taxes?

While there are a myriad of ways a voice over artist can conduct his or her business. The three that make the most sense for most voice over artists are:

a sole proprietorship
a limited liability company (LLC)
an S corporation

Other possibilities include, and are not limited to, partnerships and c corporations.

The sole proprietorship has the virtue that it is simple to form and that its income is taxed once at the owners individual tax rate. Gross profit (or loss) for the year is reported on Schedule C (or schedule C-EZ if certain tests are met) of your Form 1040 and becomes part of your adjusted gross income.

Profit (or loss) is calculated by deducting all ordinary and necessary expenses incurred by your business from the income that you have received (reported on Form 1099 in box 7 as non-employee compensations) for your voice over jobs.

A word about ordinary and necessary expenses - at the start of your voice over career, the largest expenses you probably will incur is the production of your demo (training, workshops, demo production, etc.) and the marketing of your demo (demo copies, mailers, postage, phone bills, etc). These should be deductible on Schedule C as promotional or marketing/advertising expense.

Of course, other expenses such as telephone, postage, professional publications, travel, and printing of business cards are also deductible.

Another potential deductible item is office space. While office space used primarily for business is not deductible, office space used exclusively for business purposes is. (Note that office space not used exclusively for your marketing endeavors may be deductible to a percentage, for example, if your office space takes up 10% of your home, then 10% of your rent/mortgage may be deductible.)

Some items are not deductible, such as clothing purchased for voice over sessions. Even buying a nice suit to meet new clients is not deductible, because clothing is adaptable to general wear.

You will, in addition to owing income tax, usually be liable for self-employment tax and will have to make quarterly estimated tax payments as well. The sole proprietorship is not a separate legal or taxable entity from its owner, does not require a separate transfer of assets and does not limit your personal liability for the debts of the business- your individual assets remain at risk.

An LLC is formed under the applicable state’s limited liability company statute. A one owner LLC is generally taxed as a sole proprietorship. Although the tax consequences of a single-member LLC and sole proprietorship are the same, an LLC provides its owner liability protection not available to a sole proprietorship – your assets are not at risk.

An S corporation is a business entity whose income is taxed at only the individual level and has the same advantage of limited liability as a shareholder in a regular or C corporation. Unlike an LLC there are restrictions on an S corporation’s capital structure and on who may be a member. An S corporation’s income, gain, loss and deductions pass through to its shareholders and are reported on individual tax returns.

Important information:

If you are not incorporated, and earned $600 or more from a payor, that payor must send you a 1099misc form by January 31st 2004. If you should have received one, but did not, call that payor. Note that the payor should also send a copy of the form to the IRS.

Taxes must be mailed out on or before April 15, 2004.

IRS tax help-line = 800-829-1040

IRS tax forms and distribution center = 800-829-3676

IRS on-line tax order form = http://www.irs.gov

disclaimer:
This article is intended to provide general guidelines on matters of interest to voice over artists. The application and impact of tax laws can be very complex and vary widely from case to case. Readers are encouraged to seek professional advice concerning specific matters before making any decisions. The author and publisher disclaim any responsibility for positions taken by taxpayers in their individual situations. This article was updated February 17, 2004.

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2.) GET GOING WASHINGTON DC

Four Intensive Workshops. One location.
$159 each. Two for $299. Three for $425.

Audiobook Intensive Workshop (some prior voiceover training required)
…Saturday May 1, 3pm-7pm.
…details: www.edgestudio.com/studio_training_workhops.htm#10

Intensive Technique EVALUATION Workshop
…Friday April 30, 9am-1pm or Saturday May 1, 9am-1pm
…details: www.edgestudio.com/studio_training_workhops.htm#1

ADVANCED Technique Workshop (some prior voiceover training required)
…Friday April 30, 6pm-10pm
…details: www.edgestudio.com/studio_training_workhops.htm#2

Intensive MARKETING Class
…Friday April 30, 2:30pm-5:30pm
…details: www.edgestudio.com/studio_training_workhops.htm#4

Voice Over Training by Edge Studio’s Voice Design Group.
Offered at BCI Media Recording Studio in Bethesda, MD.

Interested? Call 888-321-edge (3343).
Instructor’s biographies at www.edgestudio.com/meet.htm

since 1988.
member Better Business Bureau.
sponsor: Special Olympics, Cancer Foundation, Seeds Of Peace.

Workshops are straightforward and organized.

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3.) MARKETING “GET ME WORK NOW” CLASS IN NYCITY

Okay, you finished your demo…

NOW WHAT?
Attend a half-day, organized, detailed, and clarifying marketing class. This is for voice-talent seriously interested in their career.

OBJECTIVES
Learn how to get your demo into the hands of industry professionals, in the most proficient ways: individually and cooperatively. Afterwards, participants combine information marketing resources and can share hand delivery of demos. Results are incredible.

COVERED
1) Analyze your individual skills, create an image, and define your marketability. 2) Research industry periodicals and partner with participants to swap information resulting in an extensive database of voice over clients. 3) Determine a comfortable budget. 4) Learn how to get your demo hand delivered to industry professionals. 5) Form your own Voice Over Marketing Co-op. 6) Source materials for upcoming projects. 7) Learn to make good promotional materials. 8) Learn how to use the "Round Robin" strategic marketing plan and create relationships with Casting Directors, Talent Agents, Radio Stations, Production Companies, Advertising Agencies, Networks & Studios.

IS THIS RIGHT FOR YOU? Do you want work?

RESULTS? We don't know how Scott Glasgow (the instructor) does it, but results are amazing!

SCHEDULE: Thursday, April 22 6pm – 10pm

LOCATION: Edge Studio, 307 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1007, New York, NY 10001

PRICE: $99

INTERESTED? Please call us weekdays 9-5 EST at 888-321-edge.

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4.) WHERE CAN A VOICE ARTIST WORK FROM ?

“Work From Anywhere! Limitless Marketing Potential!! Make Killer Money!!!”

Sound like an info-mercial?

Sure does. But some of it is true. This article discusses where one can reside to work as a voice artist.

First, a little background. Until the early 1990s, most voice over work was recorded in production studios located in urban areas, and voice talent who lived in those areas received the brunt of the work.

During the early 1990s, "phone-patch machines" (machines that allow voice-over recordings to be played clearly over a telephone) gave producers the ability to hire voice talent that lived far away, because they could direct them via the telephone. At the completion of the recording session, the voice-over artist would Fed-Ex the recording to the producer. Now voice over artists could live anywhere…just as long as they had a studio with a phone-patch machine.

A few years later, ISDN machines (machines that allow voice-over recordings to be recorded over digital telephone lines) became as popular as phone-patch machines. Now producers could hire voice talent anywhere and record it themselves, meaning that they didn’t need to wait for the voice-over artist to Fed-Ex them the completed recording.

In today’s market, voice-over artists with home studios often e-mail completed recordings to the producer.

Sounds like the voice-over world has become one large telecommuting industry. Well it's not there, but it is certainly moving in that direction. Today, the majority of national commercial work is still recorded in large, urban production studios. However local commercial work is recorded in three places: urban production studios, rural studios, and home-studios. And narration work (corporate industrials, telephone systems, documentaries, educational films, audiobooks, cartoons and animation, website narration, training videos, etc), which is 90% of the voice over industry (yes, commercial is only 10%), shares the same 3-way divide as local commercials.

Where does this leave you? In a great place. Because no matter where you live, voice over work is possible. And while national commercials, generally the highest paying jobs, are rarely found outside the large studios, voice over artists work in this industry because of the love of the craft. In which case, for those of you even in rural areas, voice over can be for you.

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Are you tired of reading off of cue cards? Memorizing long scripts only to
get to the job and receive changes? Then this is for you.

EAR-PROMPTER--The ability to speak, simultaneously, pre-recorded material
from a micro-cassette recorder, while hearing it through an earpiece,
giving a flawless performance.

This extraordinary on-camera class comes from a leading ear-prompter
proficient actor and trainer. Receive a nation-wide list of "Ear" agents at
the end of the course and open the doors to more moneymaking opportunities.

Call Andréa Urban 917-664-7777 for private or group lessons.

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HAVE A DEMO?
We're always searching for new talent. Please mail us your CD demo to:
Edge Studio, attention: demo submission, 307 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1007, NY, NY 10001 USA

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WANT TO ADVERTISE in Voice Over Today?
Results have been great!
Email info@edgestudio.com or call us weekdays 9-5 EST at 888-321-edge

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