A reader of The Magazine of Santa Clarita sent in a question this month about the large number of voice talent in Los Angeles.
Q: I’ve been a voice actor for about five years now, and I’m encountering more and more people who say they’re voice actors. I’ve also heard that about 6,000 people in L.A. alone call themselves V-O actors, but the bulk of the top commercial work go to the same 75 people who are known quantities and have a tight lock on the market. I’ve been pretty successful so far, and I’ve booked a lot of work outside of L.A., but I was curious as to what the odds are today of breaking in this crazy business? –Margeaux L., Long Beach, CA
A: It’s true that approximately 6,000 actors call themselves voice actors, but it’s the top 10 percent that get the bulk of the work. That goes for any field in show business. Voice acting may be an anonymous side of show business, but it’s still show business, so there’s a ton of competition out there. But if you’ve got talent, and a decent head for business—because you need to treat V-O as a business—you could even the odds of breaking in. What are the odds of breaking into anything in the arts? It’s impossible to ascertain, but the odds are against you if you don’t have the drive, that “fire in your belly,” that thought of, “How bad do I really want this?” I maintain that if you’re dedicated—if you train for it, practice it constantly, improve your skills and contacts, you may have a shot at this business.
Cashman Commercials © 2011
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 was the Keynote Speaker and Master Class instructor at the international voiceover conventions VOICE 2008 and 2010 in Los Angeles. Winner of over 150 advertising awards, and a working voice actor as well, he teaches voiceover technique at California Institute of the Arts and instructs voice acting of all levels through his classes, The Cashman Cache of Voice-Acting Techniques in Los Angeles, CA.
Marc can be contacted at cashcomm@earthlink.net or his website, www.cashmancommercials.com.