Getting Started

Go For It: But BEWARE!

Welcome back!

I know I said Go For It…but I had an interesting experience this past weekend, and thought today might be a good time for a cautionary tale! So I reprise my admonition to Go For It, But BEWARE!

A Tale of Two Castings

As I mentioned last week, I’ve branched out into on-screen acting along with my voice over pursuits. It’s definitely been an interesting time, and Ive had more success with it than I could have ever imagined. Who’s have thought a middle aged man would be able to BEGIN an acting career at the ripe old age of sixty? Not me, that’s for sure.

On top of the background extra work I booked on a Hulu Original limited series (I promise I’ll write more about this later, when I can in accordance with the NDA I signed), I booked two additional jobs for last week, one for the 14^th and one for the 16^th. Needless to say I was excited about each of them.

On Thursday I was scheduled for filming at 11AM, and expected to be working till 2130 (that’s 9:30PM for all you non-military types). Initially, because of the company I was working with, I expected this work to be for a documentary film, but it turns out it was pick-ups for ANOTHER TV series (this tine a NETFLIX original series. I didn’t find this out till I showed up on set. I was pleasantly surprised.

Before you start looking for me on NETFLIX, it was extreme close-up work, so my face is not part of the show. Again, I’ve signed an NDA, so can’t mention the name of the show or who the characters are yet.

Both the Antagonist and Protagonist

The really interesting part of this job was that I would be playing both the antagonist (the bad guy) and the protagonist (the sheriff who is chasing him. I showed up on set and brought the wardrobe indicated, but soon found that the director/producer in LA had provided the wardrobe for me to wear. I was given a sheriffs outfit (which looked legit to me!) complete with a badge and gun belt.

Interesting note: The gun belt was completely full of all the paraphernalia you’d expect like a gun, radio, handcuffs etcetera…all rubber. They definitely LOOKED legitimate enough, but would never pass for the real thing in real life, so I was not likely to get shot by a real policemen thinking I had a real gun if he saw it.

I was also given a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, long sleeved shirt and boots. I learned these were the actual items worn by the actor in the series. Kinda cool.

A note about the importance of size cards

If only they had fit.

For any aspiring actors, ALWAYS keep your size cards up to date. While I was able to get the clothes on and fastened BEFORE dinner, after dinner…not so much. Part of the issue, I believe, is the clothes (primarily the pants) were not actually the size indicated on the cards attached, they were actually at least one size smaller.

On location…

Once in costume, we got the actual director on the line (Zoom) so he could watch and direct and began filming in their studio. Well, not an ACTUAL studio, but locations in their office set up for use as a studio. All of the filming concentrated on my hands/feet and…well…almost anything but my face. We spent several hours in the studio, then a quick wardrobe change, and we headed out to the first on location site. I’d love to tell you all about THAT site, and maybe in a later post, but…NDA again so I won’t.

I’ll just say that it was more hands and feet. Precision walking sand item handling for me. I am now a hand and foot actor! LOL

Professionalism, dedication, talent…

I was working with a local documentary film maker who was subcontracted by the production company in LA to do this pick-up work, DDC International. I’d like to give them a BIG shout out and thank you for the work. These guys, Colby and Lance, were consummate professionals and very dedicated to their craft. On top of that they really knew their trade, and came up with some framing and lighting that blew me away. If you need any camera work done, or have a documentary you need produced, I couldn’t possibly give them a higher recommendation.

Colby worked like a machine on the camera, and we kept retaking scenes until we got them just right…several times. His favorite phrase for the day was “OK, one more time for safety”.

Needless to say, my 10 hour day turned quickly into a 12 hour day. Of course, much of that was driving as we worked at three separate locations throughout the day/night. We finished up about 2300 (11PM), packed up and headed home. These guys paid me the daily rate for the acting, a stipend for helping to move and setup up equipment as well as mileage for driving all over the state. I consider this a professional job, with professional pay.

All in all, while it was a long day and hard work, my day with them was completely enjoyable, and once again I learned a TON about film making. I sure hope to work with them again some time!

And then, the OTHER job…

Maybe it’s the hazard (or one of the hazards) of online casting sites, but the next job was a COMPLETELY different experience. I WILL note that I booked the previous gig through an online site, so they’re not all bad.

I applied for a role in a “feature film” to be produced by a local independent film maker. Some of what ultimately transpired was probably my fault, based on my eagerness to be considered for a speaking role in a feature film, but part of what transpired is a less than forthcoming production company. I won’t name them here, and I am sure they are not the only ones like this one.

Initial contact…

I reached out through the casting site, sending my head shots and an acting resume, and received a response that they’d like to see me for a supporting role as a “factory supervisor”. Note that as an independent film maker, this minor role (only 4 lines) would be unpaid, however, I felt the opportunity to be in a feature film was enough, and agreed to meet with them to do my lines. I mean, it’s only 4 lines after all!

Of course, I emailed back and agreed to do the role. I received an email directly from the producer/director letting me know that my lines would be provided along with the details I needed at a later date

Preparing for the role…

To prepare for a role, it’s necessary to “build” your character based on what you know about them and the scenes they will be in. As I’ve learned in my acting classes, the character doesn’t just “show up” in the scene and then cease to exist once the scenes are over. Each character in a play, movie or TV show, show up on scene with a full life behind them, and some life ahead of them when it is over. In order to make a character believable in the story, the actor needs to know about their prior life and their plans for the future.

Each scene in a production is there for a reason, and each character has a goal in the scene. The character’s past life and experiences, along with their relationships to other characters (in or OUT of the scene) and what the scene is attempting to accomplish all color how the character acts in the scene. As Samuel L. Jackson says in his Masterclass, each character enters the scene coming from somewhere, and exits the scene going somewhere and his actions are controlled by what HE (or SHE) is trying to accomplish in the scene.

If the project is based on some source documentation, like a book or some actual historical event, preparing for the part includes reading source material to get a sense of who this person is. If it’s a book, the author has given the reader many details about this person that can’t be given in a film, and if it is a historical figure there are likely many documents that talk about what happened and the people involved. To portray someone as a complete human being with a past and a future, you HAVE to get to know who they are so you can decide how they’d react in a given situation

But, what if there are no source documents?

In the event the character is completely fictional and the project is not based on a book, how do you find the “whole person”? Well, in a nutshell, the actor makes it up. You read the script to get some clues, then just sit down and write a brief bio of the character, maybe any prior dealings with other characters they interact with throughout the script and just make up a back story that fits how you see them acting. Knowing this back story well helps the actor know how to play them in each scene and makes them that “whole person” for the audience. The audience HAS to believe them a real person with a past and a future, or it just doesn’t work. Think about all the bad shows or even bad characters in a good show you’ve seen, and you can almost always see that it is because the character is too one dimensional.

All that to say…

After I was given my four lines, I started asking a bit about the movie, what was going on and who my character was. I wanted to be able to portray this person as an tire three dimensional person so that I acted in character based in his experiences and what was going on in the scene.

My lines were pretty easy:

“Rest assured, we’ll get to the bottom of this”

“Get me all the names of the employees who worked 3^rd and 4^th shift last night”

“I want to see all department managers. Emergency meeting in 5 minutes”

“I’m not letting this go any time soon”

Pretty easy lines, right? But it makes you wonder what kind of guy this “factory supervisor” is, and what thing occurred to cause him to say these things. Also important is who he was talking to in this/these scene(s)? Is he on the phone? On the factory floor? What kind of factory is it (what do they make)? How in the WORLD can I accurately portray this person if I don’t know these things?

It was all a little surreal…

So, I emailed the director and I asked these questions. Reasonable, right? Otherwise the persona I came up with may be WAY off base for the character and what is happening in each scene! Consequently, I asked for them to set the scene for me, let me know who I am talking to and what event I was talking ABOUT. I asked for either the entire script of at last the script for the scene I was to be participating in. I wanted to not only understand what was happening, but also what are my cue lines…when do I SAY these things? I was excited, and wanted to make sure I did this right so I didn’t look like an idiot in front of the crew and especially in front of the camera!

Red flags…

There were a number of red flags even before I showed up “on set” (and I’ll talk a little more later about why on set ins in quotes here). First, I was told that they don’t release scripts to the actors (WHY?), that the lines were as the lines were written and I was told to “make them my own”. I mean, how am I supposed to do THAT if I don’t know who this guy is? Finally I was told that this supervisor was beat down and felt trapped in his job. Not much to go on, but OK, something. I asked about this character so many times, the director had one of the other actors call me to tell me I was “overthinking” this. Plus (a BIG red flag here that I ignored) I was admonished to say my lines exactly as written, but that we were encouraged to improvise lines. Sort of mutually exclusive there.

On the phone call I was let in on one of the secrets. First, this was not a part in a feature film, but a part in a trailer for a feature film that might be produced some day. There IS no full script, which is why it can’t be released to me. I should have bolted then and there…but eagerness.

And MORE red flags…

I received several more emails from the producer/director (I keep saying it like that because I was never sure exactly what role they played). One admonished me to research the part (WHAT? I’ve been TRYING to do that and you are preventing me!) and even suggested several old movies to use as a guide. I was also instructed to “Be on time” and understand that masks were required and I may be working alone or perhaps with one or two other actors. My time was scheduled (1830-1900) on the 16^th, and again admonished to “be on time”. I asked for the address so I could plan the drive to make SURE I was on time (clearly punctuality was important to them!) and was told I’d get that later. Oddly, I received the location just one day before filming. Along with that, I was given the wardrobe instruction to “wear back and white”. Black and white WHAT? Black pants and white shirt? Black shirt and white pants? Black pants with white socks? I was SO confused and nervous and certain I was going to get it all wrong!

The big day arrives…

On the heels of the work I did on Thursday, I was feeling a lot more confident. I donned a pair of black jeans, a white button-down shirt, black tie loosened with open collar, black boots and a hard hat. I should at least LOOK the part of a factory supervisor (although I was still confused about fourth shift…24 hours in a day, and three eight-hour shifts….where did fourth shift come from?). I plugged the address into Waze, an hour and fifteen minutes, ugh.

Now, a quick note: My son and his family were visiting from Indian, so this was going to take time away from visiting with them. But hey, it was 2 ½ hours driving and 30 minutes filming. So only three hours. I can deal.

I apologize to my guests, let them know to have dinner without me and jump in the car to go to the gig. After driving for an hour and fifteen minutes I arrive at..

A Hotel.

Along the way I receive a text letting me know we would be in “Suite 515”. Hmmm…OK.

Something is NOT right…

I pull into the parking lot of the hotel, And I am feeling some kind of way about this whole thing. I’m starting to wonder if I’ve been roped into some sort of porn movie (and believe me, you don’t want to see me in a porn movie) or even worse a snuff film, and I am the victim. Ewwww.

SO I did what any reasonable person would do (NOPE, I didn’t just leave)…I texted home to give my location, the name of the hotel and suite number and let them know to contact the police if they didn’t her from me by 1930. Smart, right? At least that way they’ll find my body right away and have a chance to catch the murderer.

Seriously, that’s what I did.

I entered the lobby to find several of the other actors standing near the elevators. They introduced themselves (one was the guy I spoke to on the phone) and I felt better about it. So, I texted “It’s legit. Don’t worry”, and headed to the 5^th floor with them.

Then it gets REALLY weird…

As if it wasn’t already weird enough, right!?

We arrive at suite 515, knock and are let in. Inside are 3 other people, and the scene is set as…a hotel room. Where the HECK is the factory? How in the world ae we going to film a factory supervisor in a HOTEL ROOM!?

I look around. There is no sound or video equipment set up, no props, no crew…nothing. Just a bunch of people hanging in a hotel room! And they are filming with (wait for it…)…a hand held GO PRO! WHAT!!??

I could go on and on about what happened in the next 45 minutes (yeah, I was trying to be patient and give them the benefit of the doubt)…but I won’t bore you with all of it. Needless to say, it was the least coordinated, least professional, fly-by-night 45 minutes of my life.

I’d had enough…

At 1930, thirty minutes PAST my scheduled “filming” time, when we hadn’t yet gotten to my lines, or even the trailer I was supposed to be in, I looked at my watch and asked “How much longer are we going to be? I was schedule 1830 to 1900, it’s 1930 and I have a 90-minute drive (I exaggerated a little) and guests at home.”

Apparently, that was the WRONG thing to say! After being admonished several times about being punctual, and having been kept 30 minutes past my scheduled time without yet being able to perform my lines, I was told “Oh, NO…rule number one is we never ask how long. We are being creative here and that takes time!”.

I explained (again) my situation, and told, you can stay or go, it’s up to you.

I left.

The moral of the story…

Here is the thing. I should have recognized all those red flags ahead of time and gracefully detached myself from this “project”. However, I let my eagerness and desire to be in a feature film outweigh the reservations and clear signs that this was not a REAL job. I wasted 3 hours of my time and time with my family. This was a BAD idea.

While I clearly understand the emotions involved here, I would caution everyone to do a little more research than I did and not let your desires to overtake sense and reason. I had a negative gut feeling and should have followed it. If things just don’t “feel right”, listen to your instincts and bow out beforehand. My kids will tell you I didn’t listen to my own advice, given to them over and over again: 1.) Don’t make decisions based on emotion and 2.) If it seems too good to be true, it is.

To my kids, if they ever read this, I say – I am human too.

In conclusion…

Even though this was a bit of a goat rope, and I wasted a bunch of time (and gas), it was still a pretty good learning experience for me. I learned a little more about what to look for in agreeing to work for people, and gained valuable experience in how NOT to produce a film. I also re-learned there are predatory people out there who are willing to take advantage of people’s eagerness to work for their own motivations. As my dad used to say “Experience is the thing you get just AFTER you needed it”. I’d like to say that won’t ever happen again, but I’m not sure I can say that definitively, but I CAN say it is less likely now, even though it MAY mean passing up a good opportunity due to red flags.

For those of you just getting started, please learn from my mistake. Again, as my dad used to say, “A smart man learns from his mistakes, a wise man learns from other people’s mistakes”.

Be Wise!

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know. If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!

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Pay to Play (P2P) Casting sites

Getting Started, P2P Sites

Welcome back!

Well, here we are in the dead space between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Since not may people are paying attention this is probably a good time to talk about something pretty controversial: Pay to Play (P2P) casting sites! Fun, right? (and maybe a little sneaky too).

Where do I find work?

If you are relatively new to the voice over world you may be wondering: How do I find work? A great question to be sure! What was the point of buying all that gear and getting all the great training and coaching if you now aren’t working because you just don’t know where to find the work? Odds are you don’t yet have a big-name talent agent out of NYC and LA, and unless your family owns a production studio or are already knee deep in the entertainment industry you are probably looking around at a pretty barren landscape of work right now. Don’t fret, this scenario is pretty common for almost everyone just getting started.

But you don’t have to be just getting started to find yourself staring blankly at your DAW wondering how in the word you are ever going to find someone to hire you. Even if you’ve been at this for a good long time there are going to be “down times” where it seems you just don’t have any prospects.

Competition, OH MY!

This is a very competitive line of work (even though the vast majority of voice artists are not so competitive in that they are willing to help you achieve success – it’s a bit of a dichotomy really). What I mean is that while there are certainly 10’s of thousands of voice over jobs available each day, there are 100’s of thousands of voice actors all trying to book them. Your voice and capability must be competitive in the market or you are probably going to need a “day job” to put food on the table. On top of having skills to compete in the market, you really need to be able to successfully market yourself.

There are some long-time industry experts who will tell you that the only way to really find consistent work in voice over is to direct market yourself to clients. And while I agree that this is the BEST way to get good, consistent, work, it is not the only way.

You Gotta use everything you have…

In the voice over industry you need to have many arrows in your quiver, or you are going to struggle for a very long time. Directly marketing yourself and signing with an agent are two of the bigger sources of work, but there are plenty more. Networking, advertising, having a professional website are just a few of the ways to get your name (and voice) out there.

There are actually innumerable ways to find work in this industry. Yes, you can work to land yourself a talent agent, and I definitely recommend doing that, but casting agents want talent that has proven themselves able to book work, since they don’t get paid unless you get paid, and if you don’t already have SOME sort of portfolio of paid work to show them, your chances are not good. Honestly almost ALL of the best strategies to find work are going to require you to already HAVE a body of work completed, along with professionally produced demo reels, in order to land those elusive gigs. It’s the age old “Chicken and egg” conundrum. The one place you really don’t need to have examples of work you have already completed is online casting sites.

Now, to be sure online casting sites, or Pay to Play AKA P2P sites are not the place you are going to find work that will sustain you long term in the industry. You are not likely (or as likely) to find the high paying national television commercials you really want there, and as a matter of fact you are not very likely to find work that is paying “standard” rates as established by the unions or as advertised at the Global Voice Artist Academy (GVAA). But you are likely to find SOME work there, and there are both good and bad casting sites.

What makes one site good and another bad?

Well, there are a couple defining features. The first and most obvious one is good casting sites vet their talent. Now, like the saying “All dogs are animals, but not all animals are dogs” I could say All casting sites that vet talent are good, but not all good sites vet talent. But if you have to apply with an audition to be accepted on a casting sites roster, you can feel pretty confident they are a good site. A couple sites that come to mind are voiceovers.com and Bodalgo. These two sites provide an audition script and review your submissions to be sure not only that you have the performance chops, but also can provide good quality audio. There are more sites that vet talent, but these two are the ones that come to mind. Both of these sites also work hard to ensure their clients are offering competitive rates to their voice actors.

Speaking of rates, this in itself is another defining feature for a good casting site. It can be a little difficult to ferret out, but if, for example, you see the same gig offered on multiple sites at different rates, then the ones with the lower rates are somewhat suspect. One big problem with some sites are the rates the charge clients for posting versus the rates they offer talent. If you notice the same job posted to multiple sites and one (or more) are offering the talent much lower rates, what may be happening is the client is offering, say, $500 for the work and the site is offering $100. In this instance the site is keeping (skimming) $400 for that work in addition to whatever they are charging producers for being able to list the job on their site.

Hey, they gotta eat too!

Now I don’t begrudge the fees charged by these sites for producers and talent to be able to use the site. I mean, we are ALL in this to try and earn a living, and it does cost something to host and maintain a website. On top of that they need to pay employees AND take home a profit to fee their families. The fee for participation is not the issue; it is that the fees are not transparent, so the voice talent cannot determine if the client is offering a much higher rate than what the site shows as the payment to the talent for the job. Honestly, MOST sites are not this transparent. The only site I am aware of that reveals both the client budget and voice actor payment is voices.com who reveals to the voice actor the budget and how much of that budget is fee for the site. They MAY also be charging the client a fee for the privilege of posting the job for auditions, but I can’t find that information.

Watch out for Bargain Basement sites…

There are also some “bargain basement” casting sites like Fiverr that are well known for low rates. I get it that some people just don’t have a large budget for voice work, but Fiverr (and others) are pretty well known as the “Dollar General” of professional services. And like Dollar General, the majority of talent on this particular site are relatively untrained and have a poor recording space. Most of the time you get what you pay for, so I recommend you steer clear of sites like Fiverr as a voice talent.

For the sites that are reputable, you are going to have to pay a monthly or annual fee to be allowed to audition for work. Fees vary by site, so make sure you understand the fee structure before signing up. Sites like voice123 offer a tiered membership plan, where the more you pay the more often and earlier you see available jobs. As you can guess, the more you pay for a membership the more likely you are to see and be able to audition for the more lucrative jobs. And the fewer people you will be competing against for that work. You have to decide which tier is right for you, but make sure you are able to at LEAST break even at the end of the year. Of course, breaking even is not the goal: You want to be earning far more with a site than it costs to be a member. Keep that in mind!

Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t…

Now, there are some very experienced and well known (or at least known) voice actors that will tell you that using a P2P site is a waste of time and money. And if you are a well-established voice actor with an agent (or three) and some clients that call on you to do voice over work for them, then that is probably true. However, if you are a relatively new, not yet established, voice actor trying to “break in” to the industry, I say the P2P sites have their utility. Before my established colleagues lambaste me for saying this, hear me out.

Be a collector….

If a voice over artist is using these sites properly, as opposed to letting them use you, they can be beneficial. On top of potentially earning a little money to keep your business moving, these sites are handy for a couple things, not the least of which is building a portfolio. One of the best marketing tools a voice artist has in his or her quiver is examples of work already completed. Not just the raw unproduced audio, but a fully finished video or audio segment that has had music and sound effects added. If you are booking gigs through a P2P site, you should ALWAYS be asking for the finished product that you can add to your website as an example for potential clients to listen to. Building a portfolio takes time, but the more finished work you can show, the more likely a client who likes your voice is to hire you.

The next thing these sites are useful for is collecting testimonials. A good client review, just like a review on Amazon, helps give prospective clients confidence that if they hire you their job will be completed professionally and on time. If you are a person who, like me, scours reviews for online purchases then you understand. When you book a gig on a P2P site, along with the finished product ALWAYS ask for a brief testimonial about your work. This can also be added to your website for prospective clients to read.

Your mileage may vary…

Be cautioned though, not all clients on P2P sites will provide the finished work or a testimonial. This is the nature of the beast, of course. However, if you have completed a job and they don’t provide the finished product, you can sometimes find the work on their website or YouTube, so when you have some time look there. Without permission, the best you can do is link to their content, but if you find it, ask for permission to display it on your site, then download it and add it as your content. If you don’t have a professional website, you should definitely consider getting one!

By far, the most useful way to use P2P sites is in finding and securing direct clients. The majority of clients posting available work on these sites are agencies and production houses trying to find fresh talent. Many (if not most) agencies and production houses maintain a roster of talent they use, and your number one goal with these sites should be to establish yourself with them and to be added to their rosters. To be sure, you will need to maintain these relationships, and be able to respond when they call on you, but establishing and maintaining relationships with these clients will pay big dividends down the road.

I mean, what’s REALLY wrong with P2P?

One of the biggest complaints I hear about P2P sites are the low rates most jobs bring. And I can’t dispute that the vast majority of the work I see posted to most of these sites is well below industry standard. A direct consequence of this is that it drives the industry standard down and impacts voice actors across the board. I’m not sure I’ve seen empirical evidence of that, but it sure does make a lot of sense. Please keep this in mind when you are deciding whether or not to work at a reduced rate.

If you choose to work for these reduced rates in the hopes of establishing a long-term working relationship with these clients, then I caution you that it is going to be very difficult to later command higher rates if you do become a regular voice talent for them. Only you can decide what your time and talent is worth, but I urge you to review and understand the standard rates published at SAG-AFTRA and GVAA. I suggest you stay away from the low paying listings altogether, and whenever the listing is looking for a rate “quoted by actor”, then bid ethically in alignment with these established rates. That means if the posted budget is $500 but the established rate is $5000, you bid $5000. And yeah, that also means if the job lists a budget of $5000 and the rates indicate an appropriate fee of $500, you bid $500.

Does that mean you may lose work because your rates are too high? Sometimes, yes. Will they likely find someone who is willing to work for the lower rate? Maybe. But if they REALLY like the work you did on the audition, then they may just hire you at the higher than budget amount. You need to let your conscience be your guide here.

Only YOU can decide what’s best for you!

At the end of the day, YOU have to manage your own business and make decisions on where you’ll find work rates that suit YOU. No one else can tell you how to chase your dreams, and online casting sites are just one way to find work, find clients and build a portfolio. Remember that, even if this is a hobby, it is also a business. You’ll need to use everything at your disposal to build your business, and maybe someday, even if it IS “just” a hobby for you, it can become a full time endeavor.

If you are just getting started in voice over, head on over to my earlier posts and look for the series on “Getting Started in Voice Over” where I talk about what you need to get started in this business and talk a little about my journey.

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know. And if you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!

Please feel free to subscribe so you don’t miss anything!

Training- Acting Classes

General, Getting Started, Training

Welcome back!

This week, Let’s talk a little bit about honing your trade through training in acting classes.

For those of you that have been reading this blog regularly for the last twelve (TWELVE! – who knew I had THAT much to say!) weeks, you will have heard me harping on something over and over: Training. Like any other profession, success is determined by a couple of factors, one you can control and a couple you really can’t: Training, experience and, well, luck. The only thing you, as the talent, can really control is the training. Experience, as my dad used to say, is what you get just AFTER you needed it (he could be a pretty funny guy), and luck is completely at the mercy of the universe.

What do you really control?

To be fair, you have SOME control over your experience, after all auditioning can be counted as experience, but since we rarely, if ever, get constructive feedback on our auditions, that experience is hardly useful. Sure, you learn how to submit auditions, but the experience I am talking about is actually working on projects and learning how to take direction, or self-direct, so you book MORE jobs. THAT kind of experience only comes from working, not auditioning. So that leaves the one thing you have absolute control over and that’s training.

There are probably a million different ways for a voice actor to receive training, some good, some bad. Well, maybe not “bad” per se, but there are definitely degrees of good when it comes to training. I’ll talk some more about voice over specific training and coaching in another blog post, but for this one I’d like to concentrate on acting training.

What does a voice actor really do?

As a voice ACTOR, you are charged with bringing a character to life, to make them “real” a whole person – even in a 30 second radio spot. How do you do that? It’s definitely a skill that can be developed and honed through training. True, if you have natural talent, that makes the job easier, but even if you have ZERO natural talent (and let’s face it, there are some who have none), even though it may take longer, it can be developed.

Here’s the thing I’ve learned about voice acting: this is not as easy as it seems. Sure, you sit behind a mic in a small room all by yourself so you never have to appear “in front” of your audience. But make no mistake, there IS an audience, they are just not sitting in front of you when you are on the stage. You are performing for people. At first the director or client, but then the masses who will hear your voice over the airwaves or through the internet. And you are delivering a performance that does not benefit from things like your body language or facial expression. In many ways, voice acting is MORE difficult than stage or film acting.

You may be thinking; So how do I learn to do this, to bring a character to life when the audience can’t see my face or my actions? I’m glad you asked!

How do I learn how to bring a character to life?

If you’ve done some training or coaching (and let’s face it coaching is just a form of training) with a voice over coach, they’ll have talked to you about trying to figure out from a script a couple of things; What is the point of the text? Are there any underlying themes? Who are you in the script? Who are you speaking to? WHY are you saying the things you are saying (and many scripts have you saying things most normal people would never say out loud were it not for the script)?

Essentially, what your coach is telling you to do is to develop a character. Most of the time in voice acting, you have only a short window of time to do that and get your audition submitted before the casting director is overwhelmed with submissions, so you have to learn to get good at this part. This is where acting classes come in handy.

What IS acting?

Acting for stage or screen requires you to “become” your character long enough for the audience to “suspend disbelief” and to see you as a whole person. In a play, TV show or movie, the audience only gets a very small segment of a characters life to actually see, but that character has had a full life up to the moment you first see him, and will continue to have a life after he (or she, I’ll use he because I am a he, but it applies to anyone’s pronoun of choice) walks off stage. That full life dictates how the character speaks, acts and interacts with other characters in the piece. It is that full life that determines WHO the character IS.

Think about the people you know, or even get introspective and think about yourself. Family members, friends, colleagues at work, acquaintances. Every one of them has a history, and in interacting with them you can almost predict (assuming you know them pretty well) how they will react in a given situation. I assume that like me you have met new people who you were shocked acted in a particular way only to find out there was some event in their past that made you say “OHHHHH, I get it now…that’s why he is such a…”(fill in the blank for yourself).

What makes you (and others) act the way they do?

And think about this too: YOU act somewhat (if not completely) differently around some people than you do others? Why? Because you know about them and how they act. You have particular feelings about people, or even sometimes groups of people, that cause you to interact with them in a particular way.

Are you the same person with your parents that you are with your wife? Your kids? Do you talk to your boss the same way you talk to your golfing buddies? Do you act the same way around your crazy uncle (every family has one, of you don’t know who yours is, it MAY be you!) as you do around your grandmother? Odds are: no. This in my mind, is the essence of acting, and by extension voice acting.

They key to good acting is to figure out who the character you are portraying IS, and who the other characters you are playing alongside are as well.

How do you BECOME a character?

Pretty sure everyone reading this has seen Samuel L. Jackson portray a character, and he is REALLY good at it. In his master class, Samuel L. Jackson (I’ll leave out all of his colorful language here, this IS a family friendly blog after all) talks about how he develops a character. I’ll summarize briefly so I don’t take away any revenue from him selling his master class, but in essence he tries to figure out those things I mentioned previously. How does he do that? He reads source material: If the play or movie is based on a book, he reads the book. An author can give you much more detail about the character in 300-500 pages than you can get in a 90-minute movie or a 1-hour show. He tells us that a given character, even if only appearing briefly, has “come from somewhere” and is “going somewhere”. There are motivations for what he is doing, and there are goals he is trying to achieve.

As an actor, even a voice actor, you are charged with portraying the WHOLE person. As Mr. Jackson says, every character is an entire person who came from somewhere and is going somewhere.

But what if there is NO source material? 30 or 60 second voice over scripts hardly come from some sort of source material like a novel or auto biography. What do you do THEN?

Simple. You MAKE IT UP. Yep, that’s right…you make it up. And here is a little trade secret that might help: You MAY get it wrong. Ever wonder why a particular person is or is not cast in a movie? That’s probably why. The character they are portraying is not what the director and producer(s) had in mind when they watched the audition. Even WITH source material, an actor still has to make choices about and interpret certain aspects about the character and that may or nay not be how the people making casting decisions interpreted the character.

A little perspective…

Which brings up another salient point, that may help your ego if you are not cast when you think you’ve nailed a performance: It is a process of selection, not rejection. They are not likely thinking you suck as an actor, they just liked how someone else developed the character better. So don’t get discouraged by rejection – it’s not real. They are not rejecting you, they are selecting someone else. OK, pep talk over.

All of that to say this: Acting classes are how you learn to do these things. When I first got started in acting classes (which admittedly is not very long ago) I thought “Hey, this will be pretty easy. I meet with my teacher and act out a few lines and BINGO! Trained!”. Yeah, no. Actually ACTING in my class is the least part of the class. Character development, both in class and between classes, is the order of the day. I am generally given a monologue from some play or movie, just a piece of it, with little or no directional instructions and asked to develop the character and break down the script.

Where does the character come FROM?

That means I am charged with coming up with a back story for whoever I am set to portray, and then to identify within the script how the character is feeling when delivering a particular line or set of lines (and for class, explaining WHY he feels that way). How they feel may be different from line to line, so I need to identify transitions as well. It’s a relatively simple exercise if I am unfamiliar with the piece, but MUCH more difficult if it is something familiar especially if it is from something well known or popular – it’s tough not to just mimic how the actor already portrayed this character. Try it, take the “You can’t handle the truth” monologue from A Few Good Men portrayed by Jack Nicholson and try NOT to do it the way he did. Go ahead, Ill wait.

Not so easy, right? I didn’t think so. It’s fairly straight forward to come up with a back story, at least for the bits we see IN the movie, but what about the person who existed before he shows up in the movie? What makes him act the way he does? Why is he even THERE at that particular point in time in the movie? What gives him his disdain for the Navy? How about the arrogance? There are reasons, in a real person’s life, why they act the way Nicholson’s portrayal of Colonel Jessup acted. Suffice it to say that the character you are portraying can’t just show up as a two-dimensional entity that miraculously popped onto the scene and popped back off again once his lines were delivered. They have to be a complete person with reasons for how they act, and why they are trying to achieve whatever goal they are trying to achieve.

OK, you’re probably wondering when I’m going to get to the bit about how to find ways to train as an actor and what exactly it has to do with voice acting, right? Soo, patience grasshopper (and props to you if you get THAT reference!). All of the foregoing pontification is designed to convince you that acting classes actually ARE beneficial to a voice actor. In summary: They are.

Where do I find training?

One quick diversion before I go on, though. While acting classes, or IMPROV workshops, ARE beneficial to a voice actor, voice acting is different than stage or film acting. As a voice actor, the only arrow in your quiver is your voice (although actions and facial expressions surely come through in your voice!). You don’t have the luxury of using body language or movement or facial expressions to show your audience how you are feeling or why you are saying the things you say. While acting classes are helpful, they do not REPLACE the need for a good voice over coach or classes. I just don’t want to give the impression that taking classes for acting is the end-all-be-all for your career.

Anyway, how do you get the acting training you need? The best place to start is Google. Search for local theater groups in your area that offer acting classes, or for nearby schools that offer acting as a discipline or even degree or certificate programs. Where you get your training and how is determined largely by what is available locally and what your budget for training is. You can also get some training AND experience by volunteering in a local community theater group.

What if I am just getting started and don’t have a lot of cash?

Sure, there are some very inexpensive (sometimes free!) ways to get started in learning this trade, but the real meat of the training is going to come from a training program that you’ll have to pay for. If you just want to dip your toes in the water to get an idea what you’re in for, check out some of these resources:

These are just a few, and don’t mistake their inclusion here as an endorsement, just an example of what is available for free. Do your own Google search for “Free Online Acting Classes” and click around till you find one you like. Do a class or two and decide if this is something for you and then maybe move on to something a little more beneficial.

And where do I go if I have a little bit of money to invest?

Here are a few places I’ve gotten training I enjoyed that were not very expensive:

Udemy
Master Class
Just Be Acting (I haven’t used this one, but I considered it and it is reasonably priced)

I started my online acting lessons through Udemy (very reasonably priced – cheap even) and have now moved on to Master Class, which is a little more expensive, but the lessons are from recognizable actors (such as Samuel L. Jackson) and they are presently having a 2-for-1 special so I was able to gift an account to my daughter who is interested in investigating an acting career. But the issue with online video training such as these is they lack direct feedback on YOUR ability. They’re good, don’t get me wrong, but they can’t replace a real human who is able to give you feedback directly to YOU. I mean you don’t think Mr. Jackson has time for YOU individually!

Training is WAY better with feedback!

So the second BEST method of training is to find a class or a one on one acting teacher in your area. Personally, I found my acting teacher through Lessons.com where you can search for independent instructors in your area. Lessons are available in many areas, and acting is just one of them, but you have an opportunity to interact with prospective instructors before deciding who to hire. This route is going to wind up being more expensive than others, but the feedback and individual training you receive is invaluable and well worth the extra cost.

In the same vein as one-on-one training are group classes. There is SURE to be available acting classes and workshops available in your area, and with the current pandemic most are now offering these classes virtually, so you are not limited to local classes. These are good, as you get to interact with not only an instructor, but other students as well. This is not MY preferred method, but it may be yours. You should definitely investigate local acting classes and workshops if learning in a group environment works well for you. I’d provide a link here, but honestly unless you live where I live it wouldn’t be helpful. Just Google “Acting Training Near Me” and look around.

What if time and money is not really an object?

Of course, the VERY best way to get trained is through an accredited college or University. This one is clearly going to be the most expensive and will require 2-4 years of commitment from you as the student. In a university setting, you will get not ONLY acting training but well-rounded training across the entertainment industry. Having a diploma or certificate will be a welcome and helpful addition to your resume or CV. For those of us getting started later in life, even though we may be able to afford it, this may not be the preferred method of getting trained. If you are younger and just getting started, you should definitely consider a school that offers degrees or certificates in the entertainment industry.

But how does this relate to VOICE acting?

OK, so lastly, how does this relate to those voice actors who are auditioning for a 30 or 60 second radio or TV commercial? You won’t have the luxury of time to fully develop a character through source material or even sitting down to really think about where that character is coming from or going to. But it WILL help you decide WHO it is you are portraying in the commercial. Looking at a script, even a short one, requires you to decide WHO the person talking is, WHERE they are, who they’re talking TO, what MOTIVATES them, and what their GOALS are. All of these things, which you’ll need to decide before recording your audition on are needed for you to make decisions about how the script is voiced. Putting yourself into that character’s life, even briefly, will define your attitude and HOW you say what you have to say. You may get it wrong (according to the people making casting decisions) but you MUST get it.

Even after all of this, I will repeat that nothing can replace your own personal coach for voice over. A coach is someone who is working in the industry, who follows and understand industry trends and can help guide you in making good decisions about any given read. A coach essentially helps you become better at self-directing, which for most auditions is critical for success in the voice over industry.

Now go get some acting training!

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know. If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!

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Getting Started in Voice Over Part VI: Finding Work

Getting Started

Welcome back!

In Previous Posts we’ve talked about everything “Getting Started in Voice Over”, all the way from thinking this is the career for you, to getting your studio set up and equipped, with a little tech fun thrown in because, well, I love tech stuff and finally coaching and training. By now you should be well on your way to getting your professional voice over career moving.

BUT, wait…how do you find WORK?

This may be the hardest part yet…

Yeah, now you have to find people who are willing to part with their hard earned cash to hear you say the lines they have written. Well, the very FIRST thing you need to know, and if you can’t get past this part you may have wasted a lot of time, money and energy getting this far, is this: You are GOING to get rejected. That’s right, it is 100% guaranteed.

In this business, you need to have a very thick skin. If you can’t live with the fact that 90+% of the auditions you submit for work will either be overlooked or outright rejected, then you may be in the wrong line of work.

We audition for a living…

What, you thought we did voice over for a living? Nahhhh. As my coach likes to say, “We audition for a living, and sometimes people give us money”. (James Andrews)

Seriously, the average voice over artist/actor is booking far less than 10% of the jobs they audition for. Unless you are a well-established (and since this is the “GETTING STARTED IN VOICE OVER” series, you aren’t) voice over artist, you are booking 1% to 2% of the jobs you audition for. Probably less. Truth is, some studies show that on average, it takes roughly 200 auditions to book one gig. If you are a mathematician, you’ll see that is a .5% ratio. One half of one percent. Let that sink in. Maybe you have the golden silky voice everyone is looking for, maybe you have massive range in capability, maybe you are highly skilled right out of the box (but probably not). In that case, you will probably book – 2% of the jobs you audition for. So you’ll book 4 jobs out of those 200 auditions.

I’m not trying to discourage you, but you definitely need to be realistic. This career is a numbers game. The more you audition (and what you audition FOR matters as well – more on that later) the more work you’ll get. The more often “…people give you money”.

And people giving you money is really what you’re after here, right?

Let’s talk about genres again…

Listen, one thing I’ve learned (OK, I’ve learned a LOT in a very short time, but one important thing) is that there is work in voice over for EVERY voice. For some voices there is more work than there is for others, but your voice, the way you sound, is only about 5% of what matters. The other 95% is made up of skill, tenacity, drive, dedication, and yeah, a little bit of luck.

Find the genre your voice fits…

One of the skills you need to acquire is knowing what your “signature” voice is, so you know where you fit within the voice over community. What type of read are you BEST at? As we discussed in Part 5, there are multiple genres of voice over. To repeat myself, here again is a partial list:

Audio Books
Commercial
Movie trailer (IN A WORLD…)
Narration
Documentary
eLearning
Corporate
IVR/On Hold messaging
Animation
Video Games

Where in the long list of voice over genres does your voice belong? How do you figure it OUT? These are the questions for the ages!

A couple suggestions…

I confess, I haven’t figured it out for myself yet, but I can tell you the three main ways to discover it that I have landed on (and I am still working on it).

Ask your coach.
Get a mentor and ask them
Audition, Audition, Audition – and then look at what jobs you book most frequently
Hire a “branding” specialist

Ask your coach…

If you’ve found the perfect coach for you, work on several different genres over time with them and then ask them where they think your signature voice belongs. The right coach will be one who has been working in this industry for a long time and who keeps track of shifting trends in the industry. Odds are he can help you either identify the most likely genre you’ll have success in, or help train you for the genre you are aiming at. Then seek out and audition for the jobs you are best suited for. Your booking ratio should increase if you are aiming at the jobs you fit into the best.

Ask your mentor…

I know, we haven’t talked about a mentor yet, but a mentor, like a coach, is someone you can talk about your career with, who you look up to, respect and (probably most importantly) get along with. This is not someone you pay for training or advice, but someone who is willing to take the time to meet with you periodically, who understands the ins and out of the business and who will be straight with you. They should be someone who is actively working in the industry, and who has the time and is willing to share that time with you. This can be a lonely business, since you are sequestered in what amounts to (or may actually BE) a small closet somewhere hidden in your house all day. Find a mentor, get to know them (and let them get to know you!) and ask them where they think you fit in this industry.

Audition, audition, audition!…

I know this blog is about “Where to find work”, but bear with me for a few more minutes here, and we’ll get to the where, but for now I’ll just say audition for as MANY jobs as you can find. Try to audition for jobs across a wide spectrum of different genres and types, and then KEEP TRACK OF THE JOBS YOU BOOK. You are going to have to become somewhat of a data analyst here. If you are consistently booking jobs in one area of VO, this is an indication of what you are best suited for. Seems obvious, but a lot of people miss this: I know I did at first. Pay attention to what gigs you DO book, as compared to all the gigs you’ve auditioned for, and if you see a trend that should tell you something.

Hire a branding specialist…

Truth is, like any other business (This IS a business after all), in order to position yourself in the market and capture a share of it, you need to have a brand. The brand here, is YOU. Your brand is not just your voice either. Your brand is who YOU are, your voice, sure, but also your personality, background, work ethic and all the other aspects of you that make you…YOU. A branding specialist is trained to help you pull that unique brand out of yourself, and then put that forward to the world. Once you know what your brand is (and you already have it, you just have to figure it out and then USE it to market yourself) then you can aim at the jobs that best fit your brand.

Expect to pay for this….

This is going to be the most expensive way to discover your signature voice and figure out which genre of VO you belong in, but assuming you are treating your career in VO like a business, it is an investment in your future that should pay dividends.

To be honest, I’ve only just started looking into this so I can’t make a recommendation, however the one specialist I have found that concentrates on voice over is Celie Siegel. Not really an endorsement, as I haven’t (yet) worked with her, but this gives you an idea of what “branding” is and how it helps.

FINALLY we talk about where to look!

So, if you are going to Audition, Audition, Audition…where are all these auditions coming from? There are four main sources of auditions (and work) I am aware of. One of these is shrouded in controversy, but I will include it anyway and then just wait for the hate mail.

Self-promotion, direct marketing…

This is probably the BEST source of work, and also both the hardest to generate and the one that most of us dread. I know I do!

What is self-promotion and direct marketing? This you putting yourself out there, looking for leads and then cultivating them. Look (or listen) around you. Where do you hear disembodied voice the most? (And if the answer is in your head, please seek professional assistance, that’s just NOT normal). Voice over artists are all around you. Local radio stations, television stations, corporations, museums…the list is almost endless. The key here is to look for and find places with a need for voice over work, then put yourself out there with an offer to help fill their need. These jobs, when you book them, are the best because you are establishing a direct relationship with a client, and then building that relationship over time. These are the clients that will keep coming back to you when they need help. They will get to know you, and your brand, and will come to trust and rely on you to deliver consistently. The additional bonus here is you won’t have to share your paycheck with anyone.

Treat your business like…a business

Remember, in this business you are not only the talent, you are the Senior VP of marketing and business development.

They are also the worst, because you have to put on your sales force hat on and get out there in front of people (in person and virtually). You have to step OUT of your closet (which is where you really want to be) and start tooting your own horn, selling yourself. There is definitely a right way and a wrong way to do this, and since you are likely NOT a marketing major, definitely seek out some training in the area of marketing. A couple great resources for that online are Gravy for the Brain and with Marc Scott. You can check out Mark’s Face Book group as well, VOPreneur. Just a couple to get you started thinking about marketing yourself.

Talent Agents…

Signing with a talent agent, for me, felt like “I had arrived”. This is the second-best place to find work, and auditions, only because you have to share a commission with them. To be clear, I do not begrudge them their commission, they only get paid when you do and they are doing the marketing for you. Agents tend to have access to higher paying work, and (ostensibly) a smaller pool of talent than the next place to find work (online casting, or Pay to play (P2P) sites). The competition for these jobs is tougher though as you are competing with established professional artists through an agent. While them getting paid only when you get paid is a benefit, it is also a bit of a detriment in that they are not going to want to sign you unless you are already booking work. I mean, hey, they want to get paid too and investing time and effort in someone who cannot book work for them is a waste. You generally have to be screened by an agent before they will hire you.

Caution!

A note of caution about signing with an agent. While they are vetting you, vet them. I hate to say it, but it is a simple fact of life that talent agencies are run by humans, and there exist in this world (as much as we may hate this) unscrupulous humans. There are predatory agencies out there! Be wary of any agency that offers to represent you “sight unseen” or better “voice unheard”. Also stay away from an agent that wants to charge you for getting on their roster, or who insists on your paying for training (through them – they all will want to know what training you’ve had) before they will represent you. Do your research if you are thinking of booking with an agent.

One last note about agents. They are going to want you to sign a contract with them. Since you are probably ALSO not an attorney, you should definitely find an attorney that specializes in the entertainment industry and establish a relationship with them (and by that, I mean pay them for their services) to help you review contracts and advise you on them. Chances are there are entertainment lawyers in your area.

Controversy – Yep, P2P sites…

Odds are, P2P casting sites are the most maligned part of the voice over industry. The basic premise here is that you pay a site for access to voice over jobs posted there and the privilege of auditioning. Not bad really from the 40,000 foot view. The site acts as an “agent in kind” connecting clients with talent to complete their jobs. You pay them for access and the ability to audition through their site, similar to the way you would pay an agent a commission on wrk you’ve booked. They provide a service, and you pay for that service. Nothing wrong with that on the surface for sure,

Now, I am not going to tell you not to use P2P sites, I use several of them myself as I am working hard to “break in” to this business and get noticed, however there are (or can be) issues with them.

There are some issues….

The issues with these sites are several layers deep. The first and probably most often talked about issue is that most sites do not screen talent. This means there are loads of people on the site with minimal skills, and who are willing to take a much lower rate of pay for their work than a trained professional voice over artist. This is evident if you take a look at the offerings (most will allow you to register a free account where you can at least see what jobs are offered) and compare the rates with a professional rate card like the one found at the Global Voice Acting Academy. It is true that many, if not most, of the jobs posted at these sites are looking for bargain basement VO artists. It’s a sad fact that people accepting work at below industry standard rates can, and are, driving down rates for everyone. It’s also a sad fact that these sites are not going away any time soon, or ever.

People will always be people, and it takes all kinds…

Another issue I hear batted about is unscrupulous actors who are managing these sites. Not all, but some. One of the things that you see from time to time is a job being posted at one site for say $150 and the SAME job posted elsewhere for $600. This indicates (and may or may not be true) that the SITE is siphoning $450 of that job before it ever gets to the talent. In other words, the client lists the job for $600 and the site lists it for $150. You book the job, the client pays the site $600 and the site pays the talent $150. This means the site is making $450 from that job on TOP of your fee for membership. The only way to combat this is to not audition or accept jobs when you see it, and then disengage from that site.

There are other issues, and a quick google search will help you get some more insight into what the pros are saying.

But hey, you may think – better to be working for less than not working at all for nothing. And that thinking can be understandable – but remember that eventually you want to be working on some of the higher paying jobs too, and if they don’t exist when you get to them, well you are hurting yourself too.

Use them, but do it wisely…

But there is a way to effectively use these sites to your advantage and not damage the entire industry in the process.

Vet them! (Some vet YOU)

First, make sure to vet the sites as you would an agent. After all, that is essentially what these sites are doing – being virtual talent agents and connecting clients with talent. The next thing you can do is to bid ethically. What I mean by that is to consult the GVAA Rate Card, or better yet develop your own rate card based on that one and considering your amount of experience, and then bid the job appropriately, even if it far exceeds the budget posted. This ALSO means bidding LOWER than the budget if the job calls for it – it’s rare, but I do see it. This accomplishes two things: It sets you out as an ethical business professional, and it educates clients on what the true value of your work is. Just don’t undervalue yourself for the sake of booking something, ANYthing.

Use them to your advantage…

The other way to effectively use the P2P sites is to use them to establish direct relationships with the clients who book you there. Be careful not to violate the terms of service agreement (you know, that boring legal document you didn’t read but agreed to when you signed up?) in doing so. If the site connected you to a client, and you booked work through them, they should get their cut. But that doesn’t mean you can’t then get work later from that same client outside the P2P platform. For beginning VO artists, this is probably the BEST thing about P2P sites: They connect you with potential future direct clients.

A couple of the sites I use and would suggest you check out (again, not a “recommendation” per se) in no particular order: Voices Dot Com, Bodalgo, VOPlanet and VoiceOvers Dot Com. There are a LOT more, but do your research and make your own decision about investing in any P2P sites!

Referrals….

You likely know someone who knows someone that really needs some VO work. Talk to everyone you know about your business (without being a pest) because you never know who might be interested in having you work for them. Ask friends, family, acquaintances and ESPECIALLY clients you have worked with if they know anyone who needs help that you might be able to provide. Furthermore, as you get to know fellow voice over artists, refer them to jobs that you are not right for, and as you build your network they will likely do the same for you. Truth is this is the least cut-throat industry I’ve ever seen. There is PLENTY of work to go around and almost all the artists I know genuinely want to help (they want to work too, so they aren’t going to pass along the jobs they are perfect for…) and I’ve seen them refer work to other artists many times. Make sure you are networking with fellow voice over artists!

Also, make sure EVERY email you send has a link to your website, Facebook page, Linked In account, Instagram, etc. etc. etc….in the signature line. You just NEVER know where a job might come from.

Last words…

This has wound up being longer than I thought when I started, but just a few last things to say about the topic of where to get work. Try to remember that success in this business is a journey and not a destination. Listen to what other people in the industry are saying, but make up your own mind about where and how you will go about getting work. There are as many places/ways to get hired in this industry as there are people IN the industry. Use your imagination, try things. You will invariably fail at some, but keep trying, keep putting yourself out there, keep building relationships and above all, when you fail, get back up and keep on trying. Learn from your failures and perfect YOUR marketing approach; it may not be just like someone else’s

Break a leg, everyone!

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know. If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!

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Getting Started in Voice Over Part V: Training, Coaching and Professional DEMO reels

Getting Started

Welcome back!

In Previous Posts we’ve talked about everything “Getting Started in Voice Over”, all the way from thinking this is the career for you, to getting your studio set up and equipped, with a little tech fun thrown in because, well, I love tech stuff. Well, that was all the fun stuff (really!) but now it’s time to get down to the real nitty gritty.

You see, many people think “Hey, how hard can it be? I read to my kids at night so reading out loud is no big deal. I can do this.” …and you’d be partially right, and mostly wrong. (Sorry – no sugar coating here!)

Voice Over is WORK

Hey, anything you do that results in people forking over some cash HAS to be work, and Voice Over is no exception! Yes, you have to be able to read, and you have to be able to speak, but this is NOTHING like reading a bedtime story or reading aloud to your spouse or SO. This line of work (Yep, I said that nasty four letter word again) requires dedication, training, practice and ART. Yes, ART.

Sadly, the truth is, this career is not for everyone…but not for the reasons you might think. The truth is, anyone that can read well and is capable of speaking COULD be a successful VO artist, but not everyone WILL be. However, there are ways to improve your chances of becoming successful, and that’s what we’re going to talk about today.

Short Detour: Success

Before we dive too deep, let’s talk about success: What is it?

Honestly, there is no single answer to this, and only you can define what success means to you; for most of us, that definition will change over time. You might measure your success by how much money you make, how many jobs you book, awards you receive, positive reviews or being able to pay the rent ONE MORE MONTH. Whatever definition is right for you, make sure you know where you are now and what you are aiming for before you get started. A career in voice over is a journey; like any journey the first step is to check out the map (yeah, I’m old…these days you check GPS), determine where you are at and where you are headed then decide on the route you’ll take. Before going ANY further, think about what success means to you in the context of your voice over career, write it down, and then you’ll know when you become a successful voice over artist: And don’t ever let anyone else define your success for you! There are as many definitions of success in this business as there are people in it, YOU DO YOU and ignore all the noise from others trying to define success for you.

OK, preachy prose is over.

Voice over genres

There are a LOT of different genres, sub-genres and niche genres in voice over work, and while they all have some skills in common, each one requires unique skills in order to be proficient at it. A short list of genres will include:

Audio Books
Commercial
Movie trailer (IN A WORLD…)
Narration
Documentary
eLearning
Corporate
IVR/On Hold messaging
Animation
Video Games

And believe me when I tell you: This is a SHORT list.

I was having a discussion with a non-voice over friend yesterday talking about my journey into voice over. During the discussion, I mentioned some of the different work a voice over artist might find themselves doing and he was somewhat taken back by what voice over work actually is. I mentioned that any time you can hear someone speaking, but not see their face, THAT was a voice over artist working. He was shocked to learn that the voice of Siri was an actual person! You may also be shocked, I don’t know (but I was when I learned that!). Just think about any time you can hear a someone talking, but not see them, and you may be amazed just how many different genres exist in the world of voice over.

Consequently, in order to determine which training or coaching is right for you, you will need to decide or determine which genre of voice over you’ll concentrate on as you begin with. There is no reason you can’t be or become proficient in multiple genres, but if you try to train for several or OH NO!) all of them at the same time, you will surely delay whatever success target you have for yourself.

Voice Over Assessment

The very first step in your training should be an assessment. The best way to have an assessment done is to hire a coach who will have you read practice scripts in a variety of genres to see where your innate talent lies and who can help/direct you in which genre or genres of work to concentrate on initially. This will very likely NOT be simple or fast, and will require several sessions working together over multiple weeks. You can stop in over at Edge Studios education and either arrange to attend an Investigate Voice Over Class or sign up for a Private Evaluation. It’s not free, but well worth the investment before starting any other training or coaching (which will also NOT be free).

You can also reach out to an independent voice over coach and arrange for an assessment, but make sure that whoever you choose is experienced in several different genres of voice over to give you the broadest possible look across genres. The issue with starting out by getting an assessment from an independent coach is finding the right one, with the right experience who can assess your voice and skills across multiple genres. What you are aiming for, initially, is an idea on where to concentrate your time, and money, as you get started so you don’t waste either in an area you are just not well suited for. I used Edge, and I definitely recommend them.

Focused training/coaching

I am lumping training and coaching together, because while they are different, they are also the same. All the advice below is true for each. I’d define training as learning/improving the MECHANICS of an aspect of this business, and coaching is learning/improving the PERFORMANCE of those skills. Below I talk about finding help with the voice over performance, but eventually you’re likely going to need help with marketing, finances, contact management and other areas related to running a small business, not just performing voice overs.

Once you have gotten assessed and have an idea what genres you might achieve success in, you can start looking for the training YOU need to hone your skills (and develop new ones) for your voice over career. What you are looking for is someone who is a working voice artist, in the genre you are aimed at who also offers coaching. Why should they be a working voice artist? Trends, baby, trends. Someone actively working in the genre you are working on, is going to be aware of the present trends in the industry and can guide you to develop/improve the skills that match the current trends. Make SURE whoever you approach about coaching is actively working in the genre you are aiming for!

Initial Consultations

Once you identify someone you think you might like to work with, see if they offer an initial consultation (either free or paid, but I like free), any GOOD coach will have some sort of initial consult available. Getting coaching is as much about personality as it is about skill and experience, so you really need the initial consult to see if there is some “chemistry” there. Make sure you have an idea, from your assessment, what areas of voice over you are interested in and are suited for before arranging a consult. You’ll likely have only 15-30 minutes initially, so write down what you want to say and any questions you have BEFORE the call. If you just don’t “click”, that’s OK, just move on to another consultation. Don’t worry about “rejecting” someone…voice actors are used to rejection (more on that in a later post).

Well, one short comment about rejection before we continue: If you are thin skinned and can’t handle rejection, this is NOT the career for you. Just sayin’.

Anyway, actually finding the right coach is going to seem overwhelming at first, I get it. I can’t give you a list of coaches to check out, but I can point you at some resources to help you at least start to weed through some to find the right guy/gal.

Some ideas on how to find a good coach

Well, you can google “Voice Over Coaches” like I just did and you’ll get 124,000,000 results. Yes, One Hundred Twenty-Four MILLION hits on that key phrase. Frankly, while you may learn something from weeding through that search return, it’s going to be like finding a needle in a haystack. YOUR coach may be on page 118,346,298 of the search results and you’ll never find them. Which means you’ll wind up settling for someone who MAY be able to help you and MAY not. It’ll be a crap shoot.

Honestly, the best way to find your coach is through (I know it is a dirty word): Networking. Yep, that’s right, get involved in the voice over community and get to know people. You can get involved by joining groups on social media like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Quora and others. Use the search function THERE to search “Voice Over” and you’ll get a ton of results (but NOT 124,000,000). Peruse some of the groups, read the posts and ask to join the ones that “feel” right to you. Search within groups (whatever question you have has probably been answered a couple times already) and if you don’t find the answer ask the group. I’ve found that, for the most part, the voice over community is friendly and helpful. Yeah, there are some buttheads too…but they are pretty rare and you can spot them a mile away.

Remember: This is a journey

It will take some time to find the right person, who is available, but it is well worth it and along the way you’ll make connections and friendships that are sure to last a lifetime.

One note of caution when looking for the training and coaching you’ll need: Be VERY wary of any person or organization that promises to make you a successful voice over artist if you sign up for their amazing program that consists of “X number” of classes or coaching sessions for only $XX.99” (It’s always $XX.99…what’s the deal with that extra $.99?). Everyone’s journey is different, everyone comes to the table with their own skillset and level of proficiency. As in other areas of life, there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to training and coaching in voice over. Anyone who guarantees they can make you successful, or prepare you for a professional demo reel, in some pre-defined umber of session has only one goal in mind and that is to separate you from some of your hard-earned cash. Forewarned, is forearmed.

Speaking of demo reels:

One of the first things you are going to want to do is have demo reels produced. Your demo reel is your calling card and should show your range of abilities in a particular genre. So, right…you will want to have a professional demo reel in EACH genre you specialize in! You’ll post your demos to your website (yes, you need to have a website…this IS the 21^st century after all. We’ll talk about websites in a later blog episode) and will provide them to auditions (when they don’t need a demo of their copy) and in emails when marketing. Once you have found a genre to concentrate on, and the coach that is right for YOU in that genre, he/she will be able to help you prepare to produce your demo reel.

The demo reel is a :60 montage of 5-6 “spots” in that genre that highlight your talent and range. You’ll want to source your own copy, or if they do it this way, your coach will provide copy for you to include in your reel. You’ll want some contemporary copy that fits you, and is no longer being broadcast. And when I say contemporary, I mean recent…something that will likely be recognizable (depending on genre). The only time your reel should be longer than :60 is if you are producing and Audio Book reel, or eLearning, which are longer form narration genres that require longer demos.

Your coach will be able to help you know when you are ready to actually produce your demo.

One additional note about demos

PLEASE, refrain from producing your own demos. First, it is almost impossible for you to be objective about your performance. You REALLY need an objective ear to listen and direct your performance to make sure you are presenting your very best demo. Further, especially if you are just getting started, you will not be able to engineer the audio in a way that both highlights your strengths and ensure the highest audio quality. Demo production is expensive, because it’s worth it. Check out some demo reels through one of the online casting sites, and you will pretty easily be able to recognize those demos that were self-produced.

Expense versus Investment

A LOT of what we’ve talked about up to this point include a discussion about cost. But as part of cost we need to differentiate and expense from and investment. And expense is something that could be categorized as “the cost of doing business”, for example paying your electric bill and heating fuel. These are things you need to pay no matter what. An investment is something that will, eventually, pay a dividend. Equipment, training and coaching, among others, are investments that will result in a payoff somewhere down the line. As you embark on this voice over journey, keep in mind that you are running a small business, and one of the ways to grow your small business is to invest in it. Your investment includes both time AND money. Remember that all of the items we’ve discussed up to this point do not represent an expense, but an investment. Make sure you are investing in YOU and your voice over business!

Next Time:

Next week we’ll talk about how to start finding work!

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know. If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!

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Getting Started in Voice Over Part IV: Choosing equipment (PT3) – The Audio Interface

Getting Started

Welcome back!

In the first part of this topic in Getting Started in Voice Over Part IV: Choosing Equipment, we talked about your computer and recording/mastering software (DAW). In the second installment of the post, we talked all about the microphone. In this final installment of Getting Started in Voice Over Part IV (3), we’ll talk about the audio interface and a few other miscellaneous items to finish of this part of the series.

Recap:

Sitting and talking to yourself in a small enclosed space all day – Check.
Choosing yourself a coach and starting to work with them – Check
Fashioned, built or bought a suitable booth for recording – Check.
Have, or have gotten, a computer powerful enough to run your DAW – Check
Downloaded, installed and learned to use your recording and mastering software – Check
Researched and found the perfect mic for your voice, in the price range you can afford – Check

Great and congratulations!

Now what?

Getting the audio from your mic to your DAW

As we discussed in the last installment, your microphone is a transducer that senses the air pressure changes from your voice, and recreates them as an electrical signal of varying frequency and amplitude. This electrical signal is an analog signal that is of little use to your digital audio workstation (DAW). Before the audio you are recording can be saved in the digital environment, it must first be converted from and analog signal to a digital signal. This is accomplished through the use of an Analog to Digital converter (ADC). EVERY DAW requires this conversion in order to be able to reproduce the analog signal digitally for use in your computer and DAW. Every ADC does essentially the same thing, but some are better than others. In order to play back the digital audio, you employ a Digital to Analog converter (DAC) to return the signal to an analog state (which is what speakers and headphones…AND your EARS need to reproduce sound).

How do A/D and D/A converters work?

ADC

In simple terms, an A/D converter “samples” an analog waveform sequence where the signal is broken down into a series of digital signals that depend on the sampling rate of the ADC. Since an analog signal is a continuous change in frequency and amplitude and a digital signal is represented by ones (on) and zeros (off), the digital signal cannot be a smooth, continuous wave like the analog signal.

For each time period sampled, the device creates a digital representation, and it does this repeatedly thousands of times per second. The number of times the ADC samples the analog waveform, the sample rate, determines the “fidelity” of the digital signal, or how faithfully the analog waveform is captured. The easiest way for you to understand is with an image:

(Source: Izotope)

The ADC captures both the frequency AND amplitude of the analog signal. As you can see by the image, the more often the analog signal is sampled and captured, the more “truly” the digital audio signal will represent the analog waveform. This is definitely an oversimplified explanation, but definitely adequate for understanding that the “sample rate” of your ADC is important to voice actors who are recording their voices in a DAW.

DAC

The DAC does the same thing, but in reverse, sampling the digital signal and creating an analog representation of that signal to output to whatever speakers will be used to listen to the audio. Important, to be sure, but for the voice over artist not as important as the ADC, since the artist has no control over what device a listener will use to listen to their audio. Suffice it to say that, as in an ADC, the sampling rate of the DAC drives the fidelity of the sound.

But, I thought this was about audio interfaces?

Yes, it is…but all of that was necessary. Here’s why: Your audio interface, whichever one you choose, will employ an ADC to convert the “audio” from your microphone and “interface” it with your computer and whatever DAW you’ve chosen. As with DAWs and microphones, there are MANY, MANY audio interfaces to choose from, with a LOT of different features, and when selecting yours one VERY important aspect to consider is the sample rate of the ADC in your interface. That will determine how closely your interface represents the analog signal from your mic.

A note about USB microphones

If you decide to use a USB microphone when you are getting started (I don’t recommend it), then you will not need an interface. A USB mic has a built in interface with an ADC and gets its power from the USB port on your computer (thus it does not require phantom power). It also does not give you the flexibility an XLR mic with an interface gives you, for example you get limited (or no) gain control at the mic, no headphone jack (you’ll need to use another port on your computer) and it is its own (and only) channel, so no way to ever add a second mic if you needed it without using another I/O port on your computer. As you know, those ports are finite and are taken up by things like external hard drives, mice, headphones and other peripherals you use that may or may not be related to audio.

OK, so now let’s talk about the interface itself

Setting aside fidelity for a moment (but not to forget about it!) some things to consider when choosing your interface are: Phantom Power, number of inputs/outputs (channels), interface type between the device and your computer, and gain adjustment. If you do some research on interfaces, over at Sweetwater for example, you’ll notice that other features are available such as installed effects plug-ins, talkback switches, padding and others. These are important only for your specific application and are going to be chosen based on personal preferences. NONE of those features are “needed” necessarily, but some can be pretty cool if you want them.

Phantom Power

Most microphones today require power to operate. Recall from the microphone installment (Getting Started in Voice Over Part IV: Choosing equipment (PT2) – Microphones) that professional microphones use an electrical signal with moving plates or ribbons to capture the sound waves (air pressure) and convert them to an electrical representation of the analog sound. This is usually 48V AC power to drive the capsule. Whatever microphone you choose may, or may not, require this phantom power, but some day you’ll either need to replace your mic, or upgrade it once you start making the big bucks and if you don’t want to have to buy a new interface when you do that: Choose an interface with phantom power.

Channels

Audio interface devices come in all shapes and sizes, from single channel to HUGE boards used in professional studios with 32 or more channels. Each channel allows you to interface a device to your DAW. In a studio setting, the engineer will need to mic multiple instruments and vocalists. A drum kit ALONE is going to require 8-10 mics to capture the sound from the symbols and each of the drums. And a piano is going to need at least 4 mics all by itself. As you can see, having an interface (built into the mixer board, or simply “board”) that allows many inputs and outputs (studio monitors, headphones for the talent etc) is an absolute must. But you, sitting alone on your closet or booth can get by with a single input (for your mic) and a single output (for your headphones or “cans”). As a voice over artist, you will rarely if ever be recording multiple inputs. Having said that, as you grow it may become necessary to add a second mic/headphone combination, for example if you decide to branch out into podcasting. My suggestion is to select an interface with at least 2 channels. If you are also a musician, then 4 channels may be better for you.

Computer interface type

This one is kind of a no brainer, but when selecting your interface make SURE that the I/O cable type on the interface is compatible with the I/O interface you plan to use on your computer. Choose the highest speed, highest fidelity I/O port on your computer that is available to make sure audio quality stays high and transfer speed will not “bog down” your processor. I can’t give you specific advice, because I have NO IDEA what computer you’ve selected, just make sure not to get a Thunderbolt interface for a Windows PC, or you’ll be playing around with adapters, and losing quality while you’re at it.

Gain adjustment

Again, a bit of a no brainer, but you definitely need the ability to adjust the gain of your microphone going INTO the interface, which helps with noise floor and making sure the input to your DAW is both adequate and also does not overdrive (clip) your audio. There are ways to deal with this digitally in your DAW and whatever program you use to edit/master your audio, but the simplest, cleanest, way to deal with it is by adjusting the input gain at the interface BEFORE the audio is digitized. And if you are in a closet and have some external noise (from your fridge, HVAC or a noisy neighbor) to deal with…being able to adjust gain periodically can help minimize those sounds.

Interface Summary

Next to your microphone, the interface you choose is the second most important piece of equipment you’ll own that affects the quality of your audio. At the end of the day, make sure you choose an interface with a high sample rate (at least 48Khz, but for more flexibility I suggest one that samples at 96Khz), phantom power, at least two I/O channels, the correct computer interface for your setup and a variable gain adjustment. Anything else your interface offers is gravy.

All the other cats and dogs

We’ve covered all the major equipment you’ll need in your home studio, but there are a couple more things, WAY less technical, that will make your life a lot easier in the booth.

Microphone stand

You’ll need a way to hold your microphone, so definitely look at a mic stand. Depending on your booth and how it is set up you can go with a desktop stand or something permanently mounted to the desk, wall or ceiling. I highly suggest you get yourself an adjustable stand, since sometimes you will be standing, sometimes sitting, sometimes whispering, sometimes “yelling” and everything in between. You’ll want to adjust the mic for the given copy and have it stay there. You DEFINITELY don’t want to touch or hold the mic as it will introduce funky background noise.

Computer monitor

You need a monitor (assuming your computer, and it’s noisy fan, are outside the booth – seriously, do everything you can to reduce noise sources inside your booth) so you can control your DAW while recording for convenient punch and roll etc. I use a remote monitor and a second wireless mouse/keyboard in the booth for this.

Copy stand

Since you’ll be reading, you’ll need a way to hold your copy. Don’t make editing and mastering more difficult by holding (and shuffling) papers or a mobile device with the copy you are reading on it. Minimize EVERYTHING that might make any noise inside your booth! Invest in a stand to hold copy, whether it be a music stand for paper, or some kind of stand for a phone or tablet. I have a large monitor where I display both the DAW and copy while I’m recording, but I also have a tablet stand for the long form narration where I don’t want to be wheeling around with the mouse (and making noise).

Seating

If you plan to sit, you’ll need a QUIET chair or stool. Nothing worse than a pop, squeak or squeal from your chair in the middle of a perfect take that needs to be re-recorded. Either find yourself a comfortable quiet seat, or stand for recording.

You might consider high quality studio monitors to listen back in a “live” environment (not in your headphones) to catch any stray noises you don’t want. This is not a necessity, but it can be useful. While most listeners are using low to medium fidelity speakers to listen to you (like a phone, computer or television) the better the quality of your audio at the start, the better it sounds no matter what it is being played back on by the end user. These are a “nice to have” option, and totally not really needed when starting out. I have a pair of high-quality studio monitors in the booth, and I use them only rarely.

Lighting and ventilation

And finally, lighting and ventilation are important. Make sure you have adequate lighting so you can read the copy and see everything you need to see while recording. As far as ventilation, sitting in the booth for 4-6 hours a day, closed up and surrounded by sound dampening items and with electronics running can get HOT. If possible, consider a QUIET way to move air in and out of your recording space. You can get fans designed for recording booths that have baffles and reduce the noise floor of the fan. Just know you will eventually want to ventilate your booth so you can stay in it earning big money longer.

SWEET!

If you’ve been reading along with all three parts of the Getting Started in Voice Over Equipment series, you should now have, or at least know enough to get, yourself a SWEET setup so you can produce professional quality audio and start earning cash and winning awards! Well, maybe not QUITE yet…remember that “Becoming an overnight success takes YEARS of hard work” (Original author unknown – well, to me at least). So now that you are all set up, what’s next?

Next Time:

Next week we’ll talk about training/coaching and possibly producing professional demo reels. Stay tuned, till next week!

443.624.3014

gary@audiomaticvoice.com

Getting Started

Welcome back!

A Tale of Two Castings

Both the Antagonist and Protagonist

A note about the importance of size cards

On location…

Professionalism, dedication, talent…

And then, the OTHER job…

Initial contact…

Preparing for the role…

But, what if there are no source documents?

All that to say…

It was all a little surreal…

Red flags…

And MORE red flags…

The big day arrives…

Something is NOT right…

Then it gets REALLY weird…

I’d had enough…

The moral of the story…

In conclusion…

Be Wise!

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know. If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!

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Welcome back!

Where do I find work?

Competition, OH MY!

You Gotta use everything you have…

What makes one site good and another bad?

Hey, they gotta eat too!

Watch out for Bargain Basement sites…

Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t…

Be a collector….

Your mileage may vary…

I mean, what’s REALLY wrong with P2P?

Only YOU can decide what’s best for you!

If you are just getting started in voice over, head on over to my earlier posts and look for the series on “Getting Started in Voice Over” where I talk about what you need to get started in this business and talk a little about my journey.

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know. And if you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!

Please feel free to subscribe so you don’t miss anything!

What do you really control?

What does a voice actor really do?

How do I learn how to bring a character to life?

What IS acting?

What makes you (and others) act the way they do?

How do you BECOME a character?

A little perspective…

Where does the character come FROM?

Where do I find training?

What if I am just getting started and don’t have a lot of cash?

And where do I go if I have a little bit of money to invest?

Training is WAY better with feedback!

What if time and money is not really an object?

But how does this relate to VOICE acting?

Now go get some acting training!

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know. If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!

Please feel free to subscribe so you don’t miss anything!

Welcome back!

This may be the hardest part yet…

We audition for a living…

Let’s talk about genres again…

Find the genre your voice fits…

A couple suggestions…

Ask your coach…

Ask your mentor…

Audition, audition, audition!…

Hire a branding specialist…

Expect to pay for this….

FINALLY we talk about where to look!

Self-promotion, direct marketing…

Treat your business like…a business

Talent Agents…

Caution!

Controversy – Yep, P2P sites…

There are some issues….

People will always be people, and it takes all kinds…

Use them, but do it wisely…

Vet them! (Some vet YOU)

Use them to your advantage…