Help me pimp my voice?

December 25, 2005 3:38 PM

How to seek voice-over work?

As a way to supplement my income, I'm looking to hire myself out for voice work to...well...anyone that needs recorded voice work or voice talent. I've got a good, resonant, accent-free voice, with excellent diction, and I've even got a sample or two from a commercial I cut for an internet radio bit and some of my older shows. I know my way, somewhat, around a board and decent mic techniques, etc. I am by no means a pro, but I'd like to be.

Do I create a "reel" (I think that's the term) and shop it to post houses, or ad agencies, or radio stations, or what?

What do I charge, just starting out? What do you professionals look for in voice talent? What gets you hired and fired?

I'm looking to work cheaply, build a voice resume', and then gradually increase my rates with experience. Any and all information you can provide would be helpful. Going to be cash-short over the next year and this will be a good way to bring in a little extra money.

Bonus Karmic Goodness^(tm) to anyone who is in the business and willing to give me a critique. Thanks!

posted by TeamBilly to Media & Arts (10 answers total)

Is there a college / public radio station nearby that you can volunteer with? It would probably amount to reading the AP newswire at 4AM, but you would at least get experience behind the mic, and you would have something tangible to show to people. It might get your foot in some doors. *shrug* That's just a wild guess though.
posted by Rhomboid at 5:26 PM on December 25, 2005

Response by poster: I'm fine behind the mic - I'm looking for commercial opportunities, but thank you.
posted by TeamBilly at 5:43 PM on December 25, 2005

You really need an agent, since most commercial opportunities are sent out to agents, rather than generally advertised. So yes, put together a reel and send it to agents specializing in voiceover talent. Try to put a good, wide range of styles on the reel, too -- if necessary, do your own versions of commercials or whatever.

It's worth mentioning out that voiceover is a tough business to be in; just having a good voice isn't enough. It's very competitive, and tends to be something of a 'closed shop'. Good luck, though...
posted by littleme at 6:06 PM on December 25, 2005

Why not ask the people who do it?

This guy does a lot of voice and character work, and he blogs a lot about how it works here. He appears to be open to questions about the industry. Could be worth a poke.

This other guy produces a terrific animated series and works with a lot of voiceover actors, and he answers a lot of "industry" questions also.

My first post, btw. Be gentle, but thorough.
posted by Dunwitty at 7:15 PM on December 25, 2005

If you want to get some good practice without going straight for big guns in radio, there's always a hunger for voice work (i.e. promos, intros, etc.) in podcasting. There are even some sites where voice work is "exchanged" for credit, like RadioDaddy.com.
posted by pzarquon at 7:47 PM on December 25, 2005

This thread may be helpful, although there weren't a ton of responses.
posted by amro at 9:39 PM on December 25, 2005

Hi, TeamBilly. I can't offer much in the way of expertise in terms of voice-over work, other than to say that I have a passing interest in it. I've not done any voice-over work, professionally or otherwise, but I have a respect for those actors who have mastered their diction and enunciation to the degree that they can sell their voice.

(Not to derail the thread, but since you know me IRL, I'm also curious if you have any comments on my voice. That is, whether in your opinion voice-over work might someday be worth considering in my case. And I won't be offended if you think my voice is rubbish.)
posted by Handcoding at 10:41 PM on December 25, 2005

try: http://www.interactivevoices.com/

I have been a member for 3 months, you can put up sound clips of yourself, so that people may hire you.
posted by stevejensen at 11:04 PM on December 25, 2005

stevejensen, have you found much work on that site?
posted by Jairus at 1:58 AM on December 26, 2005

Best answer: I have a wee bit of exposure to this field from my work in audio description, and I am told that voiceover work is even more cutthroat than regular acting. I think the reason is that you can be a voiceover actor even if you have a face for radio, so the talent supply is larger. It's also viewed as somewhat easy money, though I have been party to all-day nightmarish VO sessions where the actor ends up feeling like he should have become a garbageman or something else easier than VO.

You do need a reel and an agent. You also have to expect to do work only in your local area; the promise of telecommuting VO remains vapourware. It seems to be going out of style to hire real actors to do audio-description work, which is another example of the race to the bottom we find in accessibility, otherwise I would suggest trying that out, although it is actually a highly demanding subgenre of VO, with many requirements for instantaneous changes from neutral to actorly voices. (That's why it makes no sense at all for description writers to deliver their own descriptions, but I digress.)

You may find, after listening to a few people's reels, that you develop a capacity you never knew you had to evaluate voices. It's a strange thing. You can take that capacity and analyze yourself, which may stream you into certain VO fields.
posted by joeclark at 7:47 AM on December 26, 2005