There is a part of the industry that many actors overlook, even though it can have big career implications.
In fact, over the years, I have lost count of the number of actors I have met that in some way looked down on this part of the industry.
I’m talking about voice overs...
Sure, most actors would love to voice a blockbuster animated studio film but many actors are unwilling to pursue projects that don’t have that high of a profile.
Voice Overs can take your acting career on a unique and unconventional path and there are many opportunities available that many actors are unaware of.
Professional actors are very good at finding opportunities that have limited competition and voiceovers is where many of them first find success.
If you have been struggling to get your career to the next level, maybe it’s time to change things up and try something you hadn’t committed to before.
Afterall, voice overs have several unique advantages that can provide you with many more opportunities.
Here’s where to start...
For starters, when it comes to doing voice overs, you only have to be a vocal fit for the role you are auditioning for.
When you are pursuing anything in front of the camera, you have to be a visual fit, vocal fit, and an ensemble fit in order to even be considered by casting.
You might be a great visual and vocal fit, but there may be another actor that is a better ensemble fit for a number of reasons.
That’s why many actors find it easier to focus on doing voice overs. There are fewer factors involved in casting decisions.
As long as you are a vocal fit, everything else is irrelevant and it is now easier than ever for you to be a vocal fit.
New technologies now make your vocal print easy to manipulate. Even in the recent past, the world of voice overs was dominated by actors that could manipulate their own vocal print in many different ways, to match a number of different characters.
Now, your audio can be captured in your normal voice and be edited to sound like almost anything imaginable.
That opens up the category of voice overs to actors who don’t possess that specific talent of varied vocal manipulation.
In other words, there is no reason that every actor shouldn’t be pursuing voiceovers, but many of them simply don’t understand how it works.
Voiceover work is as varied as on camera work and new mediums are developing all the time.
That means the demand for talented voice over actors is also increasing. That demand is coming from the traditional places like commercials and animation studios.
However, other categories are quickly outpacing that demand. For example, gaming now has a huge demand for voiceover talent.
Audio books have been around a long time, but it wasn’t until recently that audio book publishers began to focus highly on the talent reading the books.
There is a growing trend towards making the books sound more like radio programs than what we have grown accustomed to. They are now casting different talent for each character in the book and many publishers are also adding sound effects and music to enhance the listening experience.
What this means is an audiobook that would have been read by a single voice actor is now more likely to require several more actors.
Nonfiction works are changing too, focusing on casting professional actors to voice the book instead of having it read by the original author.
The new voice over opportunities are exciting and they can really be a lot of fun.
Traditional voice overs are evolving too. As I mentioned, because of the new technologies, it is no longer necessary to cast actors that can produce certain vocal prints on their own.
In the past, it was common to see a single actor voice more than one character. That has changed and it too is increasing the opportunities available for actors to develop a career in voice overs.
If you haven’t yet been focused on doing that, there are a few things you will need to do to start pursuing opportunities.
Of course you will want to develop your voice over skills. Voicing a character in a sound booth is a very different experience than doing it on set.
So, having some training in this area may be helpful.
The nuances in your voice will be much more important in the booth than they are on set, so regular vocal exercises will help to increase your flexibility and help to develop vocal control.
In the sound booth, there is also an increased focus on breathing. Your pauses can be edited of course, but many voice actors find that their exertion increases in the booth compared to being on set.
Breathing exercises and practice with actively engaging the diaphragm can help increase vocal stamina.
Aside from training, you will also need to build a voiceover portfolio. You want the demo to be compelling and showcase your vocal talent to casting directors and industry decision makers.
If you are just starting out in voice overs, your initial demo can be a compilation of material you record specifically for this purpose and it can also be sourced from your on camera work, if it is vocally suited to be included.
Casting Directors will be listening to your demo closely so you want to produce something that will grab their attention and show them that you are a true professional.
We will talk more about some additional ways to do that another time.
For now, start working on what we went over today. Building a career with voice overs doesn’t mean that you have to abandon your on screen pursuits.
In fact, there will be many things that overlap.
Whether you are pursuing a more traditional acting career or whether you decide to focus on voiceovers, much of the same industry norms apply.
Whether you are auditioning for a voice over project or an on screen project, if CDs don’t know you, they can’t hire you.
It’s also beneficial to have a conversation with your agent about your desire to pursue voice over opportunities, so they can submit you for suitable projects.
That is another area where things will overlap.
Whether you are pursuing a traditional on screen opportunity or a voice over opportunity, having a solid industry reputation can be helpful.
Because there is so much overlap between building a traditional acting career, and simultaneously pursuing voice over opportunities, it’s something that you can start doing almost immediately.
If you are not sure whether to continue on the traditional route or if you want to pursue a career that also focuses on voiceovers, this is still a great next step.
As always, if you want to bounce ideas about what we talked about today shoot me an email or leave me a comment below. I’m happy to help however I can because I truly want to...
See you at the top,
Scott