Forum - View topicAnswerman FAQ - How Do I Become A Voice Actor? (Revisited)
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Mr. sickVisionz
 Posts: 2173 |
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Holy smokes. These questions usually get answered in a very just give up and don't even try soul crushing way but this one was actually like uplifting and it'll be hard but try your best imo. Nice one.
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Beefy
 Posts: 7 |
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One thing I did not see mentioned in the answer was whether getting an agent is still needed or not.
Do dubbing studios still go through agents to find voice actors? Or do studios just do auditions open to anyone who shows up? Or maybe closed auditions for just the "friends of friends" group Justin mentioned? |
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Greed1914
 Posts: 4426 |
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I think it's a mix of those things. I always listen to commentaries, and if someone is new the "How'd you start here?" question comes up. Some of it is open auditions, most seems to be that an established voice actor suggested they audition, or the established actor suggested that a director get in touch with a another actor from a play or the like if the director is struggling to fill a role. I don't think I've heard any say that their agent was contacted, but many, if not most, seem to have at least some level of agency representation. |
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crosswithyou
 Posts: 2892 Location: California |
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But it's better knowing what you're up against going in rather than being all starry-eyed and finding out the hard way, isn't it? I think only people who can read this and still genuinely give it a shot have an actual chance at surviving the industry. |
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CandisWhite
Posts: 282 |
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A realistic portrayal of what a person is getting into, and what they need to do, will do more good towards actually getting that person into a flourishing career than filling their head with ideas of overnight, inherently sustainable, success will. I would encourage anyone who is talented in that area to go into the cosmo industry but I would never pretend that it won't mean hours on your feet, making minimum wage while you build a clientele, and working in one of the most capitalistic industries out there. |
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Kadmos1
 Posts: 13553 Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP |
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Since I don't go to the big cons (save for Phoenix Comic Con), I have been listening to YT videos of con panels for close to 10 years now. The most common questions are variants of "What is your favorite role?" and "Can do you do a line is [character's voice?]". but questions on getting into voice acting are by far more common than these 2.
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jr240483
 Posts: 4378 Location: New York City,New York,USA |
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afraid its more complicated than that. a year ago media blaster's ero sister company kitty media actually announced in their facebook page that they were doing an open audition for one of their newer licensed series. of course i applied, though the emails i received was downright confusing on what to do. the easier part was of course they were only taking people living in the NY/NJ area which wasnt an issue with me since i live in Queens. BUT one of more complicated issues was where you mainly had to have your own recording of performance or something like that. it was way too confusing to me that i pretty much forget it. so i am afraid that meeting and knowing the right people wont cut it right away. the best bet would be to take voice acting classes at full sail university since its well known that most anime and video game voice actors first started there. |
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CCTakato
Posts: 514 |
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An interesting article but was the bipolar jab really needed? https://twitter.com/CristinaVee/status/847937431156400128
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SWAnimefan
Posts: 634 |
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Another thing that could be added to the list: Work at a studio and work your way into the job.
Some of them don't admit it, but some voice actors are discovered. (Just like regular actors). You could have a unique voice that get's someones attention. They could be recording and need an emergency replacement and ask you to do some lines. And even smooze your way into getting good with a producer. No matter what, it boils down in you being in the right place and the right time or selling yourself and show them what you got! |
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jsevakis
Former ANN Editor in Chief
 Posts: 1684 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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Thank you for bringing this up, this has been bugging me since she posted that tweet last night. Yes, it was necessary. Many "problem children" actors do suffer from bi-polar and similar personality disorders, and I personally know of at least 2 instances where an obvious manic jag has completely derailed production on a dub. In one of them, a main character actor went on strike 3/4 of the way through a series and held the show ransom for more money. (He went back after days of drama and legal threats.) If we talk about non-anime dub productions I can name many more, including one of my own student film projects. I realize Ms. Vee was trying to stick up for her friends, who I'm sure are lovely. However, there's a very thin line between being sensitive and being blind to the very real problems that disorders like this can cause. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2003 and was on medication for about five years. My manic episodes nearly cost me my job on several occasions, to say nothing of the stretches of lethargy that came between them. (I've since mellowed with age, and also my condition was made far worse by untreated sleep apnea... who knew that never achieving REM sleep could completely screw with your brain chemistry?) So, yes, people are on the lookout for bipolar and other problem-causing personality disorders when looking for talent and other jobs that attract dramatic/artistic types. They don't necessarily call the behavior by its actual name, but sometimes dismiss it as "actor drama" which frankly is insulting to the many many actors that are professional and don't cause problems, regardless of whatever's going on under the surface. That is true, and it was completely appropriate. |
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MarshalBanana
 Posts: 5316 |
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@jr240483 It was a joke |
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nobahn
 Subscriber Posts: 5120 |
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Link deleted. |
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leafy sea dragon
 Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Dunno if I'm weird or not, but I have never been interested in any sort of acting, voice acting included. I live in L.A., and when I took an introductory acting class in college as a general-education prerequisite, I got an A, but I'm a low profile sort of person and I don't like having attention focused on myself.
Of course, these voice actors will tend to be low-profile too. Odds are you wouldn't recognize them if you saw them on the streets around here, and they're not going to show off "I'm a voice actor!" wherever they go. But there were definitely at least a few who shopped where I once worked.
Well, at the very least, the tone of the question gives the impression this Michael is willing to try anything to get started on being taken more seriously. He knows it won't be easy, and he knows he doesn't have the first clue what to do, and so he asked. That puts him above all those kids who think they can go look for an audition, win, and become the next convention superstar.
That being said, veteran voice actors today like Yuri Lowenthal and Anthony Del Rio were once those starry-eyed kids. What they did was look up and understand inside and out HOW to reach their career goals. It's no guarantee even if you do that, of course, but it is a better chance than someone becoming a voice actor by accident.
I was thinking about Steve Blum narrating the "Oh thank heaven!" commercials for 7-Eleven and how half the documentaries on Identification Discovery are narrated by Dave Wittenberg. One of the Blum-narrated commercials had him use his Toonami Tom voice, and it confuses me every time that commercial shows during Toonami.
I don't know about anime dubbing, but western animation voice work still runs on an agent system. I used to work next door to one.
Full Sail University is a for-profit school, however. I am not too sure on its accreditation status though, so I don't know how seriously it's taken by the industry. But Cal Arts it is definitely not.
That's a natural progression in an industry. When it's still a fledgling group of companies, they'll bring in anyone who's interested because they need all the help they can get. When the industry grows and people become interested in working within it, that's when the companies get more selective in who they hire. There's a kernel of truth in The Simpsons on how Homer Simpson got work at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant: He showed up on the first day they were hiring. |
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RANGIT
Posts: 80 |
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Yes, they still go through agents. It gets mentioned every now and then when listening to English dub commentaries. I believe they said you can choose to go without one, but they'd recommend that you do. Also here's Kyle Hebert's very informative page: Frequently Asked Questions. « Kyle Hebert: Professional Voice Actor |
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belvadeer
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Well if anyone wants to hear what Robbie Daymond recommends: http://www.rpgfan.com/features/Robbie_Daymond_Interview/index.html
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