Being an actor requires passion. Some would say that it requires you to be a little bit crazy too.
After all, there are not many people who would spend weeks working on an audition piece, fight LA traffic, just to wait in a crowded room with 30 other actors who are there for the same reason you are, trying to get the same role you are.
If all goes well, you will get 3 minutes with the Casting Director, followed by weeks of radio silence while you wait on pins and needles to hear if you got a call back or not.
Yes, doing this, being an actor does require you to be a little bit crazy but it’s the good kind of crazy that people tend to call being passionate.
Some actors (the crazy-crazy ones) get a rush out of this. The rest of us dread the process.
We may not admit it or even dare to say it out loud, but deep down inside the thought of going to another audition with 30 other actors waiting to be seen, kills us.
While every good actor does enjoy the competitive side of the industry, it’s really gotten out of hand lately.
A little bit of healthy competition is great.
Actually, let me rephrase that!
Winning when there is a bit of healthy competition is great, but being one of dozens of actors in the room isn’t great. It also means there are dozens more scheduled to be seen and the chances of your standing out are slim.
It’s a big waste of time, even if do end up getting the part in the end. More on that in a bit.
What if there was a way that you could get tons of auditions and book acting work with almost no competition?
What if you could be 1 of 3 actors in the room, rather than being 1 of 30?
See, there is a hidden in plain sight, not so secret, treasure trove of ready to book acting jobs that not even 1 actor in 100 are taking advantage of.
If you are self representing, I know you are not taking advantage of this yet. If you have an agent, chances are they are not doing this either...
Most actors don’t even think of going this route because it doesn’t fit into the traditional career path for an actor.
Some don’t do it because they simply can’t wrap their minds around how to make it work nor do their agents know how.
Frankly, some don’t do it out of ego.
That creates a huge opportunity for you, because there is next to no competition and there are a number of other factors that open up roles for you that you may not even be considered for in “traditional acting.”
You can’t be too young, too old, too short, too tall, etc. Even if you are not the right fit for a role, but are close enough, things can be fixed and easily adjusted in post.
I’m talking about voiceover acting.
When we hear this, most of us instantly think of the voiceover work done for tv ads.
While that is one aspect, there are many more sources of voice over work and new ones are popping up constantly.
Today, there is a ton of voiceover work available for video game narration, that didn’t exist just a couple of years ago.
As more companies shift from traditional “bodies in buildings” staff, to having remote workers instead, their training platforms are moving online, creating tons of opportunities for corporate VO work also.
But even that only scratches the surface.
Look at any studio’s slate and you will see that a growing number of them have greenlit projects requiring characters that are fully CGI.
More projects are being done fully in CGI. There is even a trend that is remaking classic films as photorealistic animated films.
All of these require talented voice actors to bring the characters to life.
While it may not be the most traditional form of acting, doing voice work will make you even better.
When you are doing voice work, it’s just you and a microphone. Most of the acting happens in your mind.
You don’t typically have the other person you are doing a scene with, in the booth with you. While that keeps the sound “clean” for production, it means that you don’t have anyone to play off of.
You have to imagine how they would deliver the lines and react accordingly. This helps to sharpen your skills.
There is more work available in voice acting, than there are actors, and the barrier to entry, if you don’t have a lot of credits to your name yet, is much lower than other categories of acting
Your voiceover samples can be produced at home with a $7 microphone from Amazon, and whatever smartphone is in your pocket.
You can even download apps for $1.99 that will clean the audio for you and make it professional quality.
While some voiceover actors do have reels with visuals, CDs prefer to sample the work without the visuals so they can listen to the voice without overlaying imagery that is in conflict with the project they are casting for.
With traditional acting, they want to see the visuals and if they are not of high production quality, they can hurt your perception with CDs, even if your acting work is stellar.
So put together your vocal reel. You can script out a few pieces and record them in an afternoon, so there is no excuse not to get started on this right now.
Talk to your agent. Chances are, the thought of submitting you to VO work has probably never crossed their mind.
If they are hesitant to do this or don’t have the knowledge to do it, ask them about working with an agent that is specialized in finding VO work for their talent.
Even agents who specialize in voice actors use the traditional industry criteria to decide who to take on as a client.
So, if you want to land a high quality voice agent, this could be a major factor.
Agency contracts vary, so this could be allowed or it could be explicitly prohibited in your contract.
Even if having a secondary agent isn’t allowed in your contract, any reasonable agency will modify the terms for you as long as they get a cut of any profits.
Don’t worry about that part though, that’s for your agent and your new VO agent to work out. That’s it. You could be in the VO business as soon as tomorrow afternoon.
Like any other part of the industry your reputation will be a big part of the success you experience, so be sure that your reputation matches your goals.
Even if you don’t have a ton of credits right now, CDs are less hesitant to give you a chance when doing VO work because it’s much easier for production to re-record an actor of a production, than it is to do a reshoot.
Of course, it’s still an expense for production and nobody ever wants that to happen so having a solid industry standing will help open doors and make casting more comfortable with booking you. Here’s how I can help with that.
The industry is changing and voice acting is becoming a much bigger part of it.
Don’t let get left behind. Get started on making your mark on this growing part of the industry.
If you have any questions about this, remember that I’m always only a comment or an email away. I’m always happy to help in any way I can so that I can...
See you (or hear you) at the top,
Scott