Bad English for a Voiceover Business

I have previously posted about a bizarre phone call which I received regarding voiceover work and an odd email from an American guy seeking voiceover representation.

So, as I seem to be on a roll, I thought that I would share with you part of an email from a company which has been sub-contracted to deal with voiceover payments on behalf of a very large public sector organisation which really ought to know better. How many mistakes and examples of poor English can you spot?

“Please provide us a written communication form ******* ********stating that your company acts in behalf of him and also a copy of VAT registration certificate of BigFish Media Ltd. Kindly provide us the foresaid details so that we will amend our records which will avoid all confusions in future.”

I counted five. One confusion at a time is enough for me.

An odd voiceover email

In a previous blog, I was chatting about a bizarre phone call. So I thought that I would share with you an odd email.

As well as emails from clients, and potential clients, we often get emails and calls from people wanting to be on the list of voiceover artists who we represent. This one has to be the oddest. It starts of rather formally (but I can forgive that) but in paragraph two….

“To whom it may concern,

I am an Instructional Designer with ***** and am well known for my voice-over work with my Instructional Design Material. I am looking to expand my reach beyond ***** and thought that it would be a great to reach out to agents who specialize in such representation.

Please review my extensive body of work and circle back to me if you feel that we can synergize our efforts to generate profitable work. To view, please provide me with your email address and I will send you a workspace share invitation so that you may view samples.“

I think this guy is American. Or Is it David Brent?

A bizarre voiceover call

Sometimes life as a voiceover artist and agent is exciting: you never know how the day is going to turn out or what challenges and riches await.

Other days it is just bizarre.

So there I was in the garden, gardening (and saving money by not employing the services of the gardener) when I got a call from a guy who we will call Mark so claimed to be, let's say, Leeds. We have a chat: what's the voiceover price for a job and what's the project etc. We agree a fee and he will email me the script. He is surprised that I can deliver by tomorrow lunchtime, so I thought here's another potentially happy customer.

A few hours later there is still no email, so, after checking my spam inbox, I call him. Mark must have been on the phone because it was one of those annoying "I am busy, call back later" answerphone messages that don't allow you to leave a message. This is my first alarm bell.

A while passes and I call him back again and speak to the same guy (at least it sounds like the same guy) who denies being Mark. Bemused I hang up.

Is it me?