Great questions about the voiceover business are always coming in from The Magazine of Santa Clarita readers. This month, a voice actor asks about funding his V-O demo.
Q: I’m trying to get my voiceover career off the ground, but there is a huge obstacle in my way—money. I’ve attended voiceover workshops, have done a couple of commercials and have been told that I have an excellent bass voice and that I take direction very well (this coming from people that I have paid for training, of course). But I don’t have the money to cut my demo, which is extremely frustrating because I have already selected my demo material. I’d love to do voiceovers for a career. Do you have any advice? –Ken A., Sylmar, CA
A: Ken, if you’ve saved enough money for training, you’ll save enough for your V-O demo, if you want it bad enough. It’s okay that you’ve picked out your own copy, but a professional demo producer should really be the person picking and tailoring your copy for you, as well as music and SFX. They’ll be a lot more objective about your acting abilities, as well as knowing what the best fit would be for your voiceprint. In the meantime, while you’re saving up, do this:
– Practice every day. Don’t get rusty. If you don’t have a basic home studio setup, get one and learn it. Just learn Audacity, a recording software program that you can download for free, and buy a $100 USB microphone.
– Check out www.Voices.com for a ton of voiceover-related educational materials—scripts, blogs, podcasts, articles, etc. Keep yourself immersed in the business. If this is something you really want to do, you have to eat it, breathe it, and dream it in order to live it. Hope that answers your question!
Cashman Commercials © 2010
Marc Cashman creates and produces copy and music advertising for radio and television, was named one of the “Best Voices of the Year” by AudioFile Magazine, and will be a keynote speaker and Master Class instructor at VOICE 2010 (in Los Angeles, June 2010). Winner of over 150 advertising awards, and a working voice actor as well, he instructs voice acting of all levels through his classes, The Cashman Cache of Voice-Acting Techniques in Los Angeles, California. Marc can be contacted at cashcomm@earthlink.net or his website, www.cashmancommercials.com.