Santa Clarita Magazine readers continue to send in great questions about the voiceover business. Here’s the most recent one:
Q: I recently took a voiceover class at a local community college and thought I did pretty well. After I completed the course, someone from the company sponsoring the class contacted me, asking if I wanted to have a demo produced for $3,000. Is this legitimate? Is this unusual? I didn’t take the bait because I felt that they were pressuring me to rush into this. What’s your take? —Nancy P., Canyon Country
Nancy, you were smart to take a course at your local community college and very smart not to jump into things right away. Some people think, though, that after taking one course in voice acting that they’re ready to make a voiceover demo right away. But that’s like thinking that after only a year in med school, a student can operate on a patient. You probably know where I’m going with this, any career takes a healthy investment of time, study, practice and money. And in the wonderful world of show business (of which voice acting is a significant, albeit anonymous part), that goes double. Anyone who tries to get you to pony up a lot of money to do something like this before you’re ready is doing it for one reason only, to line his or her pockets. This is a red flag that I warn students about and one they usually recognize on a gut-level basis. But some people are so desperate to break into the business that they’ll throw a lot of money into a scheme like this before they’re ready. Get ready to run the other way if you are pressured to make a voice over demo before you’re properly trained or asked to spend a lot of money to produce a demo. The average price for a demo (with a director/producer, studio time, music, sound effects and a demo master) ranges between $800 and $2,500. If you’re promised work right away, run the other way. Job placement assistance in voice acting doesn’t exist. There are some printed resources available that can direct you to agencies and production companies, but voice actors find and get work by submitting their voiceover demo, auditioning or by word of mouth from someone who has heard them or worked with them before. Beware of anyone who promises work if you pay for classes.
I’ll be sharing more voiceover questions and answers in the coming months.
Marc Cashman creates and produces copy and music advertising for radio and television. He is the winner of over 150 advertising awards and instructs voice acting of all levels through his classes, The Cashman Cache of Voice-Acting Techniques in Los Angeles, CA.
For more information, please contact Marc Cashman at cashcomm@earthlink.net or at his website, www.cashmancommercials.com.