Voiceover Q&A #002: Dealing with objectionable material

This is the transcription of Voiceover Q&A with Brian Wiggins #002.

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Hello, good morning. All right, question, we have today. This one is from morinda Hargrave of Nashville Davidson Tennessee. Have you ever started narrating a book and then realized? Once you are into it that it contains objectionable material and if you have, what did you do? Is it okay to cancel a project or are you on the hook? Yeah, I mean I'll say that for the most part, I'm most authors, excuse me, most authors are really good about being upfront with what their material is. as far as it being like, whether it's it's got trigger a bull material in it, if it has

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it's like erotica or specific situations, most authors, I found when I look at descriptions of books on a CX are pretty good about that because it behooves them to make sure that they have a narrator that is going to Be able to do the best job possible. And if someone's going to be really disturbed by the material then, Disturbed and not supposed to be disturbed because sometimes you're supposed to, you know, you're writing something and you're supposed to feel Disturbed and that's kind of what we're I mean think about horror movies. There's a lot of heart. Yeah, we say scared but there's times where we watch that and we know we're going to be disturbed by the material, but we that's kind of what we're looking for. We want that visceral experience so but yeah, I find that most are pretty good about telling us what that is beforehand but have Have.

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I need this have. Yes, I absolutely have had books that I have narrated. Where there has been surprised material in it, that I was not expecting that I did find objectionable.

It really depends as far as like, am I on the hook? What did I do? Okay, so one time I was, I was started in narrate a book. And okay, so, one of the one of the warning signs, I should have seen was that there were typos in the audition that I did typos in the audition. And not just like one, like, where is obvious? Where Like an obvious typos in that. Oh, my finger slipped and it's spelled a different word and it's the correct spelling of this other word or word was left off that happens. I'm not ask, I mean

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I've written books. I've never read a lot of books. I have found typos in every single book that I've ever narrated. It is virtually impossible to get them all out and that's sort of accepted, I'm pretty sure if you went through just about any book. Traditionally published book, you might find a typo in there, it happens. And of course of tens of thousands of words, right? But if the audition I had I did had lots of typos in it, which should have been a huge red flag as to As to the quality of the of the material, but I did the book any ice? Well, I accepted the project anyway, when I auditioned and I was in the first chapter and there was already what I found to be objectionable material coming from a protagonist, the protagonist using derogatory language. And to me that's not a protagonist and There are ways to make that work.

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But it usually comes out of a level of self-awareness. If you think of characters like Archie Bunker, well who had no self-awareness but it was comedy. And if you look house comes to mind and who Lori's character, there was a self-awareness there and so it can be done. But anyway, when I saw that between that the typos, I knew I didn't want to do the book anymore, we were in the first chapter, so I just, I messaged the author, the rights holder and I said I wanted to dissolve the contract. and I explained why, and Yeah, so we dissolve the contract and I didn't do the book other times. I've been much further into the book when I'm discovered it. And I finished the project. Because sometimes you just got to do it.

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I looked at it like I was X hours into my narration. and, I had to make a decision for myself how objectionable was it? And there. Yeah, there was just like, some internal math that I needed to do as far as whether it was worth doing. And the answer in most of the times, it's been. Yes, because it's been like minor little, it's been individual scenes, or individual Snippets within scenes. And I looked at it like, I'm already core the way in halfway in. I've got time invested into this and sometimes it's a matter. I honestly it's a matter of a paycheck. It was objectionable to me, I do have hard lines that I will not cross. There are there are definitive lines for and it's usually and but that's you again it comes down to what the entire work is about.

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I find that I have to detach myself the person from the professional because I also find I'm not in a position right now and I can just turn down projects you know I got bills to pay. But yeah, that's kind of what I do and I wish I were in a position where I could be even more selective, but I'm not and at a certain point, just the reality sets in of I gotta I gotta pay the bills. I mean it's a tougher. It's a good question, but it's a tough question. Because I think you have to look at it. Like, what is the, what is the objectionable material? And what is the impact of that going to be? Because if it's objectionable and it espouses and objectionable point of view in a positive way and that's the theme of the book.

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Then that's when I would absolutely walk away from if I got even halfway in and it turns out that, oh, this is a version of mine Kampf. Then, yeah, I'm out. I will cancel that because that's I will back out of that project.

But yeah, for individual, I had one where there was so one of my very hard lines and anyone who knows, me, anyone who sat through any my webinars knows that a very hard line for me is animal abuse. Hardline for me in in in real life for one and it's a hard it's a hard line for me in books and I'll say very specifically, I don't want to have to read the description of what's Happening. Implied, animal abuse, animal. Abuse is not okay. I'm very clear on that, but implied, when the bad guy does it, I get it. You know, that's sort of a thing.

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You do you have you want to make a bad guys, Superbad? You have them kick a puppy, right? Metaphorically? But there was one where there was not overly, but graphic enough scene of animal abuse in a book. I narrated and that Disturbed me and I actually wrote my the, the producer Of that book and said something. Because that to me is like, that's that there needs to be a warning somewhere that, because that would disturb people because it came out of nowhere. That was the other thing. Yeah, so is it okay to cancel a project or are you on the hook? I mean, it depends on the terms of your own of the contract of what you signed up for. If you are really having a difficult time doing it then yeah. I would say go ahead and talk to whoever you're at. You have to deal with and cancel the project. When you do that though, you have to understand what the terms of, whatever contract you agree to our, you might have to walk away without being paid. That just might be the case

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and you have to be prepared for that sometimes when you're working on a project, you might actually be able to stretch it out that depending on how far you get into the book, you get paid a certain amount. The problem with that I find is unless you're setting a payment terms. Unless you've done it to set up payment terms, they say, well when I get to the 25 percent Mark, you pay me 25 percent when I get to 50%, I find that's better for when you have a brand-new person that you're working with and this is, when you're working 121 you the narrator, the voice actor are working with the working with directly with the author and if it's someone who's brand-new then. Yeah. Maybe you you say because we're first time working together and it's a way keep Both of us safe 25%. When I get to 25% of the book, you pay the first 25% of the /

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finished our rate and then halfway or whatever Milestones you want to put in there. And that way if you already have that and there's something objectionable that you just can't get past, you can get paid for whatever Milestone you're at because you agreed to that. I wouldn't necessarily want to enter the relationship saying and if I find any objectionable material, you owe me this because it kind of sounds like you're setting up for a way to walk out. I just I look at it, like, I mean you have I got halfway through and it just got to a point where I wasn't able to do it anymore. I would probably want to be paid something for my time and I would probably frame it like, well you didn't tell me that this was in here and that's something I need to know upfront. And this is a hard line that I don't cross. You should have been up front about the material in your book, but again, you have to be prepared to walk away and get paid nothing. And I think that's just to me that's how that's set up. But yeah, you should not be forced to go through a project that would traumatize. You absolutely not. But yeah, I think the big question is, how much can you really stomach?

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I've had books where there's been individual lines that are like, oh this person is saying some things that are leaning towards misogyny. Things like oh you know how women are you know something like that? That's not me saying that I want to make clear. That's not me saying that it's actually lines that I've had to read things like that something like that. Do I walk away from a project because of that individual line, no. It's not my words. I just have to say them again. I wish I were in a position where I could just flat-out say nope not doing it but it's just not the way it's set up right now. But I hope that helps Yeah, the majority of books. I've had to narrate have not been an issue. I've had inherited. Emerge are two books. I have narrated have not been have not been objectionable. So I've been fortunate that, I've been spared that. There's only two projects that I've actually canceled. One was the aforementioned one because of a combination of all of the typos and the language that was used right in the beginning. Because that just sort of told me what this project was going to be like, and I didn't want to spend the next 10 20 hours narrating this. The other time, was the person who hired me it was a memoir and it was very disorganized lot of Pose a lot of sentence fragments it wasn't ready for prime time. And I approached that author and I said, listen you, this is your first draft, it's not ready and I can't take your money. I didn't feel right. Taking the guys money. Because it wasn't ready. And I honestly, I didn't want to spend the next again 10 to 20 hours narrating this thing and having to deal because reading a book with typos is really hard, it's not pleasant. So I hope that helps

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and the yeah yeah that's sort of just the nature of the Beast fortunate. Like I said, most of the time I don't think it's really been an issue so hopefully you don't run into that. I that's the most I can say. So, Hopefully.

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