Anecdotes on the job: Break-neck Speed!

I just had to record a VO audition from home.

The direction was “young, animated and under 22 secs.” Fine, right? Well, sure.. unless the text you’re reading is technically 30 secs in length at best and not one of those hi-speed legalese tags. No, I’m still responsible for sounding like a normal human being.

Continued: Anecdotes on the Job: Break-neck Speed! | The NYC Actor

Ask Me!: Getting into VO's?

How did you get into voiceovers? And how would you recommend I start?

Anonymous

For the answer: Ask Me! - Getting into VO's? | The NYC Actor

Ask thenycactor a question

Ask me! - How much do I charge for voiceovers?

A.D.,

A.V.L. here with a voiceover question. Say your friend Anna has been doing voiceovers for her friend's video tutorials. I've started charging as of the last project, as I am unemployed now and can no longer do pro bono. So--how much do I charge? Or rather what calculation do I use to figure out a price? Any advice would be appreciated.

Anonymous

For the answer: Ask Me! - How much do I charge for voiceovers? | The NYC Actor

Ask thenycactor a question

Hold your horses..

Don't celebrate until the check's in your hand and the spot's runnin'!

I don't know if you've seen Mad Men, but in an episode in Season 3 they illustrate this point brilliantly with the Patio commercial story-line. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AgTnQok3RU

I cannot tell you the amount of jobs I have been hired or on-hold for that have fallen through. Just last week I was posing for the cover of The Wall Street Journal weekend edition and after an hour and a half of work the editors called the photographer and pulled the plug on the story...

Read more:  Hold Your Horses | The NYC Actor

VO Agents Won't Sign Foreigners

I was just given some fascinating information about representation as a foreign voiceover artist.

I currently freelance with a few different agencies in the city and after booking a number of "big" spots was curious why no one was signing me. Then, thanks to the insight and wisdom of my new voiceover coach, Peter Rofé, I learned something that I've never heard before:

Voiceover agents won't sign foreigners!

Why? As a foreign VO artist I am considered "specialty" talent and due to the rarity of available work in this field most agencies will refrain from entering into a contractual relationship with me - avoiding the contention that will undoubtedly arise when there aren't any jobs to send me on and I start harassing them about their "obligation" to me, etc, etc, blah, blah, blah.

Pretty straight forward, I suppose.

Read more:  VO Agents Won't Sign Foreigners | The NYC Actor

VoiceOver Home/Portable Studio

I've been making a modest living in voiceovers for the past two years. And recently I have been getting more and more requests to get my home studio together. As someone who travels frequently and who has nearly lost a couple of bookings by being out of town, I thought it would be wise to make sure I could take my home booth on the road, too. But, considering I'm not exactly making house-buying money yet, I can't quite afford the industry standard equipment. So, with the aid of a fantastic book "Voice for Hire" by Randy Thomas and Peter Rofé and some solid, online research I have come up with a low-budget option that is so far proving to be quite effective.

Read more:  Voiceover Home/Portable Booth | The NYC Actor

From Angela's Ashes - some helpful insights (I hope!)

Hello there,

Welcome to a blog designed purely for actors. I am very green at this whole blog thing so firstly I really have to prepare you for the fact that I am not a writer by any stretch of the imagination. But I am passionate about sharing information with you, so I will do my best to be clear and concise.

As an actor living in New York, I have begun to work more and more on higher-paying jobs, and auditioning/meeting with some of the biggest hitters in the industry. What I have realized is that there is very little information out there to assist a conscientious actor in their quest to become a truly successful business person in the field. There are tonnes of books and websites on how to be a good artist, which is brilliant, but what happens when you find yourself on the front-lines, as it were, of this gigantic and new business world? How do you make the right steps? What are the right steps, even? What do I need to be prepared for? What does a professional actor need to have to get their foot in the right doors? How do I get, and keep a good agent? What type am I? How do I write a cover letter? What should my headshot/resume look like? And so on and so forth.

My goal here is to answer as many of those question as possible in the most straight-forward way I can so that you as an actor can glide into success with grace - rather than fumble around blindly hoping and praying that you don't screw up and piss off the wrong person or team of people, etc., etc.

By sharing with you my experiences as they happen, you'll be able to sift through the ashes of my successes and failures and hopefully find your self a couple of diamonds to help you on your way.

And, as I mention in my title's intro at the top of the page, this is not the Holy Grail, "be-all, end-all" of the industry. It's just one woman's guide. Hopefully, this can be a place where people will share their experiences; correct me when I'm wrong; offer alternate approaches; or just offer their opinions/agreements/disagreements in the comments sections.

Ultimately, Francis Bacon said it best: Knowledge is Power. So here is a little knowledge from me to you. I hope you enjoy! Good luck in your life as an actor!