Rules & Fees

Enter Voice Arts® Awards

Society of Voice Arts and Sciences™ presents:        [Leer en Español]     [Ler em Portugues]


VOICE ARTS® AWARDS 2021

Voiceover Acting / Promotion / Marketing / Programming / Video Gaming / Virtual Reality / AI / Toys / Voice Assistance Devices / Mobile Apps / Web Sites /Podcasts / Dubbing / Audio Description

The following guidelines are designed to explain the CONTENT & MATERIALS that can be entered, along with the category names, rules, fees, and deadlines for entry. The Voice Arts® Awards celebrate the best practices in voiceover acting, voice technology, creative direction, production, directing, casting, copywriting and audio engineering, throughout the many facets of entertainment, education, marketing, TV & Film production, spoken word, video gaming, animation, radio, virtual reality, audio description for the visually impaired, and website design. 

Eligibility & Rules: 

Eligibility Period For Work Entered – January 1, 2020 through August 31, 2021
The work entered into the Voice Arts® Awards contest for 2021, must have been aired, broadcast, published, or otherwise made available to the public or B2B (business to business) constituents between January 1, 2020, and August 31, 2021.

  • “Demo Reel” and “Body of Work” categories are the exception to the eligibility rule, as they have no restriction on the time frame in which the work was created or distributed. Demo Reels, however, will be judged according to contemporary, professional expectations for today’s marketplace. Therefore, it is not advisable to submit a Demo Reel that may be deemed outdated or obsolete. SOVAS™ reserves the right to determine the competitive viability of any and all entries submitted in any category.
  • B2B includes corporate, instructional, marketing, and other works that are intended for a non-broadcast or restricted audience. For example, an instructional video intended only for the employees of a given company would fall under the definition of B2B and is therefore eligible for submission.

Who Can Enter?

Categories may be entered by an independent artist, (non-company) or by a company (Corporation, LLC, etc.). Entries are accepted from anywhere in the world. In most cases, the work must be in the English, Spanish, or Arabic language, but categories labeled international, for example,  OUTSTANDING BODY OF WORK – INTERNATIONAL nad OUTSTANDING DUBBING – INTERNATIONAL, accepts works in the following languages: Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Hindi, Mandarin, Arabic and Japanese.

The following list represents an example of entrant types but this list is not exhaustive.

  1. Independent Artists (not a company) Voice Actors, Directors, Spoken Word Artists, Copywriters, Creative Directors, Producers, Casting Directors, Audio Engineers, and Podcast Hosts. 
  2. Broadcast Networks and Streaming Services

  3. Cable/Satellite Networks

  4. On-Line Content Channels/Platforms

  5. Local TV Stations

  6. Radio Stations

  7. Advertising Agencies

  8. Production companies, Casting Agencies, Talent Management Agencies, Talent Agencies, Creative Services Agencies, Marketing Agencies, and other companies that create or facilitate works where voice acting plays a central creative role.

  9. Distributors/Syndicators

  10. Podcasters

  11. Mobile App Developers

  12. Gaming (Developers/production/distributors)

  13. Toy Manufacturers

  14. Virtual Reality Developers

  15. Voice Assistance and AI developers/manufacturers

  16. Web Sites Designers and/or Owners


What
Can Be Entered?

Any media work created using the human voice as a primary element for communicating the intent, purpose, engagement, and experience to be derived from the work. Voices created via artificial intelligence (AI) are designated to categories created specifically for AI. See the categories listed below. All work must be entered in a digital format. Please refer to the technical specifications within this document regarding physical and digital materials for submission and refer to the eligibility dates and categories for all other possible qualifying details.

File Types Accepted:

The term Video Upload encompasses all material submitted by way of the Voice Arts® Awards’ digital upload system known as “ACCLAIM” Accepted file types are as follows:

  • Audio (MP3, WAV)

  • Video (MP4, MOV, H264 or ProRes)

  • Video files to be uploaded must be no more than 200mb

  • Jpegs, Pngs, Tiffs

IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO KNOW:

  1. In the unlikely event that any individual category attracts fewer than 3 “award-worthy” entries, SOVAS™ reserves the right to withdraw that category from the competition or combine the entries into the next most suitable category as SOVAS™ deems appropriate. If a category is withdrawn by SOVAS™, for any reason, the entrant in that category will receive a credit towards future entry fees. No cash refund will be given
  2. If in any category, entries do not meet the minimum professional standard deemed “award-worthy” by the jury, it is possible that there will be no award given in that category.
  3. The statue awarded to winners in any category is the singular gold statue known as the Voice Arts® Award. Only a winner of a category and those credited on a winning entry are eligible to acquire the statue. On the other hand, both winners and nominees are eligible to acquire plaques and certificates, which designate the status of “winner” or “nominee”.
  4. SOVAS™ is not responsible for holding any materials received after the awards entry period, which concludes once judging is complete. Submitted materials will not be returned to entrants. 
  5. The organizers reserve the right to add, subtract, amend or otherwise revise any category during the course of the competition. Notices and updates of revisions will be posted on our website at www.sovas.org.
  6. Entries submitted as a campaign must consist of a minimum of two elements, utilizing any of the following platforms: TV, Radio, WEB, In-theater, virtual reality, mobile apps, live announcements, and voice-assistant devices.
  7. Audiobook entries may be produced from a book manuscript prior to the manuscript being published in written form. Qualifying audiobook entries are determined by SOVAS™ to be audio recordings where the written text is narrated (spoken), and the resulting recording is distributed for sale or public consumption within the eligibility period. The work may originate in any country. At present, only English and Spanish languages are accepted in the audiobook categories.

RIGHTS & DISCLAIMERS Entrants assume all responsibility for all rights and permissions to submit work on behalf of themselves and/or the owner of the works submitted. All entries must have been created as “work for hire,” which includes pro bono work that can be verified as such by the hiring entity. i.e., non-profit organizations or institutions of learning. SOVAS™ retains the rights to disqualify entries that offend national, religious, cultural, racial or gender sensibilities. 

Enter Voice Arts® Awards

DEADLINES

  • Super Early Bird – June 30, 2021

  • Early Bird – Aug 25, 2021

  • Regular Price – Sept 7, 2021

  • Late Entry – Sept 10, 2021

FEES

ENTRY FEES (US DOLLARS ) Mar 15 – June 30 July 15 – Aug 25 Aug 26 – Sept 7 Sept 8 – Sep 10
 
COMPANY FEES Super Early Bird Early Bird Regular Fee Late Entry
Single Entry – Member $131 $140 $152 $161
Single Entry – Nonmember $145 $155 $169 $179
INDEPENDENT ARTISTS FEES Super Early Bird Early Bird Regular Fee Late Entry
Single Entry – Member $113 $122 $131 $144
Single Entry – Nonmember $125 $135 $145 $160
         

Fee’s for categories accepting multiple files (Campaigns and Body of Work,) are 15% higher.

* Entry fees are non-refundable. Credit will be given if an offer of extenuating circumstances is accepted.

CLICK THIS LINK FOR CATEGORIES
Categories will also be available when selecting and submitting work through the award entry portal.

ALL CATEGORIES

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2014 nominees