From everything I've read on this forum so far, voice over work is a tough business to get into, mainly because it's such a tight community. But I've been told on multiple occasions by a variety of people (most of whom I don't know well or at all) that I have a great voice. The guy that took my headshots told me I should do voiceover stuff as well. I've always loved reading out loud but I figured nothing would ever come of it, but now I'm wondering why not just give it a try.

So how would one go about getting into voice over work? Right now I've been focusing on getting into commercial work (have commercial and improv training), so I'm not sure if there's any voice over classes to take or if it's necessary at all. As far as credits go I have a number of theater credits, but that's it. Any advice/suggestions are welcome.

Change your name to Dee Bradley Baker

Improv is important. But it's also important to take a voice over class be it Kalmenson and Kalmenson, Susan Blu, etc. In those classes, you'll learn mic technique, vocal warm ups, proper diction, making the copy come to life and not just another read, etc.

Once you've had enough training, it's time to put together a voice over demo. These demos consist of minute clips ranging from commercial, promo, narrative, animation, foreign language, etc. and range from $1000-3000 to produce. A lot of the top classes provide this service.

Once you make a demo, mail the CDs to VO Agencies. Also, a good idea is to make a website with your demo clips. That way you can follow up with post cards that have the URL on it.

There are multitudes of genres within voice-over as well. The main ones being:

Commercial:

Should be your first go-to for training. Bread and butter of VO as it sometimes is for on-camera actors.

Animation & Interactive Media:

Characters and acting. Interactive media is the name for video games. Also a big business. Video games have overtaken the film industry in terms of monetary turnover. Do note that there are normally not huge budgets for voice actors in video gaming.

Audiobook:

An extremely fast-growing genre within the voiceover industry. Audiobooks demand a lot from you both in terms of time and versatility.

Trailer:

Normally reserved for the bass talkers. This is potentially a more open market since the unfortunate passing of Don Lafontaine. I'm just guessing though.

There are more, this is just a small pick of the major ones.

For training, there are a multitude of places all around Los Angeles. I recommend checking the voice-over resource guide. Google it for more info. It has A LOT of info on demo producers, places for training etc. After looking up certain places, you should get a second opinion from other people.

Good luck!

I got into VO work from on air radio while going to school. Just used spots that I had done at the stations and put a reel together. The problem was running 300 miles from school up to Chicago to record on weekends.
Also helps if your former roommate ran the recording studio and did most of the national spots coming out of Chi-town.
Most work was commercial spots for radio and tv markets, then I got hot with trailers with help from a rather famous player in the field...
I finished up in the medical and industrial market while working for a university med center studio.
Now I end up doing PSA's since I do it for the fun of it. I may end up getting back into VO's in retirement, if I retire.
Take a look at voice artists web sites for more info. Lots of folks have home studios so the commute is not so far. One of the guy's that works for a popular morning tv show has a studio in his condo in Florida. After a half hour of live takes to a studio in NYC he gets dressed and then hits the golf course outside his patio. Some life...

Definitely take a VO class. Ask your agent to suggest a good one. Check out voicebank.net, and the voice-over research guide, as suggested earlier. Getting a VO agent is nearly impossible without good training and a good demo reel.

And as far as books go, check out James Alburger's "The Art of Voice Acting Vol. 3"

Of the books out there, I think his is the best.

Wow, lots of awesome advice. Thanks guys!

Great stuff, thanks so much! Truthteller, people always tell me that my voice sounds like a little kid and I am in my 20's. They always say that I should do annimation. Do you know of any good acting classes that can help me with that in NYC? Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by ActinGirlie:
Great stuff, thanks so much! Truthteller, people always tell me that my voice sounds like a little kid and I am in my 20's. They always say that I should do annimation. Do you know of any good acting classes that can help me with that in NYC? Thanks!

Sorry don't know too much about NY Voiceover classes.

To all the people that have friends and others telling them that they have a great voice:

It's not about the voice. It's about the acting.

Unless the compliment came from a person who is active within this particular branch of entertainment, it does not mean much. A distinct voice means nothing if you don't have the acting to back it up.

Check voice-overs.com and post your questions regarding NYC teaching and workshops there.

it was an agent at CESD who told me that. so i think she knew what she was talking about!

quote:

Originally posted by ActinGirlie:
it was an agent at CESD who told me that. so i think she knew what she was talking about!

And my statement comes from casting directors, teachers and agents. While a great voice is a really good boon to your work, it's not gonna get you much if there's no acting ability to back it up. It is going to put you in the forefront if your skill-set matches the top-tier actors in voice-over.

Thanks, I have been training for a long time now. I am looking into actually studying voice over. You know of any good places for multiple areas of voice overs? Thanks!

What if you're broke? I need voice training and a demo reel but I can't afford classes. What is an affordable option?