How do you break into voice over acting?
December 21, 2015 9:43 AM Subscribe
How can some one with little to no voice over experience break into the commercial/narrative voice over field?
One of my dream jobs has always been to become a voice over actor. I love reading aloud, acting out characters doing accents, commercials etc. I've taken a few voice over classes to learn a little about the business, pros, cons and such. I'm still convinced I'd like to pursue this even if it starts out as something on the side.
I recently went to voice over class where I recorded a brief demo and had aspects of my voice rated and received suggestions about potential lines of work. My voice was described as breathy (which apparently can be a good thing) and sophisticated with good diction. Lines of work included training manuals, upscale product commercials and audiobooks. So my question is has anyone successfullymade into the VO field and if so how. Is there any coaching available? Also, I'm aware that I'll need to cut a demo and info regarding tips or how to best go about that would be appreciated as well. So far the one company I saw that offered both coaching and demos did it at the tune of roughly $5000 for an online program which is out of my budget.
One of my dream jobs has always been to become a voice over actor. I love reading aloud, acting out characters doing accents, commercials etc. I've taken a few voice over classes to learn a little about the business, pros, cons and such. I'm still convinced I'd like to pursue this even if it starts out as something on the side.
I recently went to voice over class where I recorded a brief demo and had aspects of my voice rated and received suggestions about potential lines of work. My voice was described as breathy (which apparently can be a good thing) and sophisticated with good diction. Lines of work included training manuals, upscale product commercials and audiobooks. So my question is has anyone successfullymade into the VO field and if so how. Is there any coaching available? Also, I'm aware that I'll need to cut a demo and info regarding tips or how to best go about that would be appreciated as well. So far the one company I saw that offered both coaching and demos did it at the tune of roughly $5000 for an online program which is out of my budget.
$5,000 for an online program in voice acting? Holy rip-off, Batman! These people may not have your best interests in mind. I'm not in the acting field, but I'm pretty sure none of the big names in voice acting started out by paying $5,000 for lessons to a company. At least, none of them ever said so in interviews (In all fairness, they may not have wanted to disclose that. Still, I'm pretty sure this is not a good deal for somebody starting out).
Voice coaching isn't an inherently bad idea, but you should be able to get that in person from a music or vocals instructor who lives near you for a reasonable amount of money. Regarding cutting together a demo, there's a bunch of tutorials on the internet which give advice. As somebody newer to the field, you're most likely to be able to get work in the cheaper radio ads, so I'd really look for any kind of talent postings requesting people for radio commercials.
posted by Strudel at 9:49 AM on December 21, 2015 [5 favorites]
Voice coaching isn't an inherently bad idea, but you should be able to get that in person from a music or vocals instructor who lives near you for a reasonable amount of money. Regarding cutting together a demo, there's a bunch of tutorials on the internet which give advice. As somebody newer to the field, you're most likely to be able to get work in the cheaper radio ads, so I'd really look for any kind of talent postings requesting people for radio commercials.
posted by Strudel at 9:49 AM on December 21, 2015 [5 favorites]
There is a school in Marin that has supplied some of the best known voiceover actors. As I understand it, it is a source for referrals as well as coaching, and their placement rate is fantastic. I was told by a friend who took classes with them, however, although this sounds a bit counterintuitive, that it is available primarily to referrals from the industry. Typing it out makes it sound even more counterintuitive. If you're in the bay area, memail me and I'll get contact info for you. It is not quick or cheap but the payoff is apparently huge, since this is a career you can carry into your dotage.
posted by janey47 at 10:06 AM on December 21, 2015
posted by janey47 at 10:06 AM on December 21, 2015
I recently participated in a production from a local radio drama group. We couldn't get recording rights for the particular production I was a part of, but the one they just did (that I couldn't make the sessions for) will be released for broadcast shortly, and was recorded on decent mics and mixed fairly well. And that group has at least one participant who's got serious contacts in the industry.
I was sucked into it because they needed another voice and I had an evening free.
Find that group in your area. Seriously, someone near you has a room with decent acoustics (this may be a closet where they've hung blankets on the wall) and a couple of better than average mics and is doing some sort of recording and would be more than happy to have you help them on a project and you'll get material for a demo reel out of it.
And then you'll be able to figure out what you need to work on.
Also, next time your local radio station has a meet-n-greet sort of event, walk down and ask if their ad department ever needs new voices. Bet they do. Probably don't pay very well, but it's another chance to get someone else to do the mixing.
posted by straw at 10:07 AM on December 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
I was sucked into it because they needed another voice and I had an evening free.
Find that group in your area. Seriously, someone near you has a room with decent acoustics (this may be a closet where they've hung blankets on the wall) and a couple of better than average mics and is doing some sort of recording and would be more than happy to have you help them on a project and you'll get material for a demo reel out of it.
And then you'll be able to figure out what you need to work on.
Also, next time your local radio station has a meet-n-greet sort of event, walk down and ask if their ad department ever needs new voices. Bet they do. Probably don't pay very well, but it's another chance to get someone else to do the mixing.
posted by straw at 10:07 AM on December 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
You get an agent, just like if you were an actor. You may want to find the nearest acting school and do some more months of classes both in acting and in voicework specifically (NOT coaching for $5K) and get some guidance from people there on the local resources for cutting a demo.
There are some ways to get hired without an agent - there are some audiobook production companies (example) that take personally-submitted auditions, and there might be some local ad production companies that will directly audition. If you're going to an acting school there will be productions contacting the schools with casting calls. But bigger productions generally use agents.
I have a couple of friends who make their primary living in VO - generally a combo of ad/industrial voiceover and voice acting for animated productions - and they are all actors with agents and lots of stage (improv, stand-up, plays, sketch, etc) experience.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:10 AM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
There are some ways to get hired without an agent - there are some audiobook production companies (example) that take personally-submitted auditions, and there might be some local ad production companies that will directly audition. If you're going to an acting school there will be productions contacting the schools with casting calls. But bigger productions generally use agents.
I have a couple of friends who make their primary living in VO - generally a combo of ad/industrial voiceover and voice acting for animated productions - and they are all actors with agents and lots of stage (improv, stand-up, plays, sketch, etc) experience.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:10 AM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
I do this.
It's a closed industry for the most part. It's hard enough to get work as a professional actor and extremely rare for someone with zero connections to break in.
Nobody who has work to offer you will ask you to pay for the privilege of doing the work. At any rate, that price? Highway robbery, pure and simple.
It's not a hobby. The people at the top of the food chain are people like Jon Hamm, Matt Damon, Patricia Clarkson, Katherine Keener, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, I could go on but you get the picture; and those are just the celebrities. Two of the top women voiceover in the field are acquaintances of mine and they have been scraping away for twenty years and are professional actors and artists besides doing VO work.
posted by TryTheTilapia at 10:13 AM on December 21, 2015 [14 favorites]
It's a closed industry for the most part. It's hard enough to get work as a professional actor and extremely rare for someone with zero connections to break in.
Nobody who has work to offer you will ask you to pay for the privilege of doing the work. At any rate, that price? Highway robbery, pure and simple.
It's not a hobby. The people at the top of the food chain are people like Jon Hamm, Matt Damon, Patricia Clarkson, Katherine Keener, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, I could go on but you get the picture; and those are just the celebrities. Two of the top women voiceover in the field are acquaintances of mine and they have been scraping away for twenty years and are professional actors and artists besides doing VO work.
posted by TryTheTilapia at 10:13 AM on December 21, 2015 [14 favorites]
Also, an agent isn't going to take on someone with no credentials, no work history and no pedigree, unless that person is ridiculously commercially viable (good-looking, young mom-looking, striking, non-threatening, paunchy dad-looking) and can also be sent on on-camera calls along with VO calls. You also have to be somewhere where the work is, which basically means if you're not in a major market, you are out of luck.
Edited: Oh, and young. Let's not forget YOUNG.
posted by TryTheTilapia at 10:19 AM on December 21, 2015 [3 favorites]
Edited: Oh, and young. Let's not forget YOUNG.
posted by TryTheTilapia at 10:19 AM on December 21, 2015 [3 favorites]
To echo what TryTheTilapia has said above, you might also like to read this from Mark Evanier, who has produced a number of animated shows over the years (in addition to many, many other things) and gets a lot of questions exactly like this.
posted by briank at 10:49 AM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by briank at 10:49 AM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks for all advice so far. To answer a couple questions, I'm based in Pittsburgh and have no desire to move to NYC or LA. If that means I only do regionall or local voiceover work for my career, I'm ok with it. I have a full time job and while I'm interested in making good a living from this one day, I am also ok with this being something that starts off as few jobs far and few between. Lastly, I am young, 26, so I feel I have some time to build things up if I work on it little by little. Is being relatively young an advantage in this industry?
posted by CosmicSeeker42 at 11:10 AM on December 21, 2015
posted by CosmicSeeker42 at 11:10 AM on December 21, 2015
For multimedia projects that need audio, I've used voiceover services online (voicebunny, voices.com is a another one I'm aware of). I've only ever used someone that has completed multiple projects before, but may be one avenue to get smaller jobs to start.
posted by typecloud at 11:41 AM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by typecloud at 11:41 AM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
I do this. I have a voice agent, I go to auditions at studios, I record gigs. I also do all the other acting stuff. But, I will say, I have an actor friend with a home studio who makes a decent living via Voices.com
posted by stray at 12:35 PM on December 21, 2015
posted by stray at 12:35 PM on December 21, 2015
I had the same questions a few years back when I was living in Dallas, and had a friend introduce me to a local, very successful voice actor. Over beers, he suggested that one of the best things I could do would be to take a couple of acting classes, especially improv.
Another good friend of mine is making a living this way now. What he has said to me is that it is just like a "regular" acting gig - you get into character, you play the character.
Good luck! It looks like fun.
posted by Thistledown at 2:18 PM on December 21, 2015
Another good friend of mine is making a living this way now. What he has said to me is that it is just like a "regular" acting gig - you get into character, you play the character.
Good luck! It looks like fun.
posted by Thistledown at 2:18 PM on December 21, 2015
Best answer: I'm really confused by some of these answers. I do voice overs for clients with a mic, a digital setup and digital delivery. We helped a friend get setup and provided the most basic advice about 5 years ago and she has a thriving VO career doing radio and TV ads, IVR and narration from home, from a closet, again with completely digital delivery.
I know she got her initial training from Edge but I don't know any more than that. I've dropped you a PM with her link.
posted by DarlingBri at 3:04 PM on December 21, 2015
I know she got her initial training from Edge but I don't know any more than that. I've dropped you a PM with her link.
posted by DarlingBri at 3:04 PM on December 21, 2015
And are you doing Union work, DarlingBri?
posted by TryTheTilapia at 5:52 PM on December 21, 2015
posted by TryTheTilapia at 5:52 PM on December 21, 2015
And is your friend a union member in the United States?
posted by TryTheTilapia at 5:57 PM on December 21, 2015
posted by TryTheTilapia at 5:57 PM on December 21, 2015
I used to work for a textbook publisher and we needed VO people for our ancillary CDs - narrators for blurbs about Pangea and biology. If you can find an ancillary producer - or publisher of textbooks - they may be able to give you a shot.
posted by bendy at 9:25 PM on December 21, 2015
posted by bendy at 9:25 PM on December 21, 2015
And are you doing Union work, DarlingBri? And is your friend a union member in the United States?
Oh, good point. I have no idea what the union situation is if you're in the US. Both of us happen to be ex-pat Americans working from Ireland. All of my clients are Irish companies looking for American voices and I should point out that I do this work on the most casual basis imaginable. I have no idea where my much more grown-up friend's clients come from but they seem to be from all over. She has certainly done TV ads that broadcast in the US.
Reading back through the above answers, I realise that my cousin (also here) is an actor and she does VOs for a radio station's house-produced ads here, too.
Reading back through the above answers, I also realise I know jack about the US VO market, so I guess all I know is that the market is bigger than the US and that there is at least a percentage of working VO actors who are not location-based and are working in a different way to the major market model.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:51 AM on December 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
Oh, good point. I have no idea what the union situation is if you're in the US. Both of us happen to be ex-pat Americans working from Ireland. All of my clients are Irish companies looking for American voices and I should point out that I do this work on the most casual basis imaginable. I have no idea where my much more grown-up friend's clients come from but they seem to be from all over. She has certainly done TV ads that broadcast in the US.
Reading back through the above answers, I realise that my cousin (also here) is an actor and she does VOs for a radio station's house-produced ads here, too.
Reading back through the above answers, I also realise I know jack about the US VO market, so I guess all I know is that the market is bigger than the US and that there is at least a percentage of working VO actors who are not location-based and are working in a different way to the major market model.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:51 AM on December 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:45 AM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]