The Whole Pie

Anybody know who first coined that term: “PIEHOLE”? (usually associated with the phrase “Shut your PieHole!”)

Regardless….in this case, PieHole is asking you to open yours….uh, your piehole, that is.

OK, wait-a-minute. PIEHOLE is the name of a company based in Ireland, that among other things, seeks to match voice talent with clients. 

Here’s the unique link, though: PieHole makes the connection through copywriters…not that uncommon in Europe, I understand.

It’s an idea that’s working.  Here’s the operative quote:  “…we stalk and harass advertising agencies to hire our voiceovers…”

PieHole is a fixture in the European ad market…expanding now into the UK and Canada, and – yes – they are seeking North American talent.

I was so intrigued, that I asked the founders – Priscilla Groves and James Kennedy – to offer a few quick answers to some pointed questions.

The result is below.  Click on the pic above to go to their site.

CourVO

Piehole brands itself as a voiceover site built by a copywriter for copywriters.  How old is Piehole?…and who DID start it?

3 years old and a bit.  Started by myself, Priscilla Groves and James Kennedy.  I was working as a copywriter in McCann Erickson Dublin at the time, and James is a Computer Nerd Extraordinaire.  So it was a match made in geeky heaven.

How successful has this business model been so far?  Where is the revenue?…from the voice-seekers, or the voice-talent?

So far so good.  The model is basically: we stalk and harass advertising agencies to hire our voiceovers.  The voiceover in turn pays us a subscription fee to be listed on our site. 

Does Piehole charge a percentage?

No, we charge a subscription fee to be listed on the site.  75% of our guys get work, and on average they make their money back 16 times. 

Do your copywriters actively match their clients with voice talent, or are jobs opened-up for anyone to audition for them?

In Ireland and the UK the copywriters tend to take quite an active approach.  They listen to the demos, make shortlists, and often get voiceovers in for paid auditions.  We’ve just launched phone auditions, which means a voiceover can do an audition using telephone technology.  It’s pretty sweet, since many European voiceovers don’t have home studios,  unlike the guys in the States.

Is Piehole an agency, then?…or just another pay-to-play subscription site (for free).

Do we have bad hair and wear cheap suits?  No. We’re not an agent.  It’s a subscription site for people who want work in commercials.

You are HQ’d in Ireland, but now in Canada.  So PieHole is expending into other areas?  Will Piehole choose to settle in the USA eventually?

Yeah, we’re multiplying like rabbits these days.    www.piehole.co.uk and www.piehole.ca is steaming ahead.  But we’re always looking for partners who are in the advertising industry (who have lots of juicy contacts in the big ad firms) to partner up with us.  USA? Yeah!!

How has Piehole been received by the European VO community?

For the voiceovers, reaching the advertising agencies has always been difficult.  So Piehole has helped to break things open and get their voices in front of the big brands.  So the response has been great.  Except that one guy who sent us hatemail about our gross logo.

Are your leads generated mostly from contacts with European firms?

Yes.  The majority being from advertising agencies and various radio and TV channels. 

How much call do you get for North American accents?

There’s a fair amount.  The North American parts are often when there’s a character in an ad that’s an American.  So the gigs tend to be more fun than the usual hard sell drivel.  Back in the old days, they always got some Irish voiceover to put on an American accent.  But thanks to the wonder of the internet, people can now get the real thing.  And they want it. 

How does PieHole deal with unions?  Does Piehole set rates?  Minimums?

In Ireland and the UK there are standard industry rate cards that the big ad agencies tend to stick to.  They can be downloaded with our E-book – UK and Ireland.

Our clients book the voiceover directly, so many of them negotiate directly with the voiceover’s agent or with the voiceover. 

Do you expect to set limits as to how many voice talents you’ll accept on your site?

For us the problem is normally finding a good palette of suitable voiceovers. "Suitable" meaning either 1) a professional voiceover who has time and availability to go into top sound studios of the advertising agency’s choice to record at short notice, or 2) a professional voiceover with a home studio.  Each of our sites have less than 150 voices, so it’s a reasonable selection, but we’re still looking for more choice.  Ironically, there are so many voiceovers out there, but they aren’t necessarily good enough, available enough, or willing to invest in their voiceover career.

Do you have minimum standards for your voice-talent candidates?

Oh yeah.  Too many people think they can just waltz into voiceovers and be the next voice of Coca-Cola.  We only accept advertising agency quality demos on our site, cut by top sound studios. 

What sort of work typically comes across your desks:  Commercial (Radio/TV) ad copy?  Long-format narrations?  AudioBooks?  E-Learning?

Mainly radio and TV commercials from the big ad agencies.  We also get other stuff, like audiobooks and web videos and that type of jazz.  But we like the commercials.  It’s better paid.  People working in advertising agencies don’t have many virtues. But this is one of them.