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Answerman - How Well Paid Are Dub Voice Actors?


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jr240483



Joined: 24 Dec 2005
Posts: 4369
Location: New York City,New York,USA
PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 12:14 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Many actors do it as a bit of extra side work, or something to get some income when nothing better comes along. Others simply do it because they love anime and the anime scene.


understatement of the year! if it was me , my reasoning's would be 100% for the latter and not the former. if it was just for the money i could work in the airport or remained in the military!

and i'm not the only one. i would bet yea at least half or more than half of the otakus out here in both the US and in Japan would more or less do anything to be a VA industry and it wont be for the money or as a side work. it would be their head over heals in love with the industry and everything about it!
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MiloTheFirst



Joined: 10 Dec 2014
Posts: 429
PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 1:10 pm Reply with quote
jr240483 wrote:

and i'm not the only one. i would bet yea at least half or more than half of the otakus out here in both the US and in Japan would more or less do anything to be a VA industry and it wont be for the money or as a side work. it would be their head over heals in love with the industry and everything about it!


I am guessing most of those people you refer to just love anime and don't really know the industry at all. Being a freelance talent is not a work just any people would be wiling to put off with.

I think you are misinterpreting justin´s statement, when he says
Quote:
Many actors do it as a bit of extra side work, or something to get some income when nothing better comes along

he doesn't mean they decide to dub anime for the money but that most people in their situation don't particularly want to dub anime to begin with, they just can't get picky on what work they do. if that's the job offer they get then they suck it up. gotta pay the bills

of course there must be voice actors that personally like anime but once they made it their means of sustenance they would take doing an audio book or voicing for video games as a priority any time
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belvadeer





PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 1:30 pm Reply with quote
Troy Baker visited my university once many years ago, and the anime club (now long gone) asked him some questions about dubbing in games and anime. He mentioned that video game voice acting tends to pay more on average than anime dubbing, and this was quoted in the school's newspaper. I wish I had kept that old issue.

On an additional note, Derek Stephen Prince mentioned at Anime L.A. 2007 that when you're in this line of work, it's best to take what dubbing offers you can get and not be too picky about it, especially if you're just starting out. The more you do, the more you get noticed, and the more likely you might get called in for some bigger work down the line. It sounds simple when one just looks at it like that, but it makes sense. Everybody started off somewhere.
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Tenchi



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 4463
Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer.
PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 2:03 pm Reply with quote
Aren't a number of dub voice actors also general "voiceover" talent where dubbing anime is really only a small part of their professional voiceover career?

I know it's a bad example as it wasn't a typical anime dub and also because the dub was produced over a quarter century ago now, back when anime was a lot more obscure in North America and almost nobody involved in dubbing back then got involved in dubbing because they were an anime fan to begin with, but several cast members of Samurai Pizza Cats could also be heard on English-language Montreal radio, both as on-air personalities and also on commercials, and I doubt that's atypical for any city where anime is dubbed.
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Яeverse



Joined: 16 Jun 2014
Posts: 1135
Location: Indianapolis
PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 2:12 pm Reply with quote
What are these actors doing? Plays? Audiobooks? An occasional network live action tv show background character appearance?
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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5296
PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 2:12 pm Reply with quote
jr240483 wrote:
i would bet yea at least half or more than half of the otakus out here in both the US and in Japan would more or less do anything to be a VA industry and it wont be for the money or as a side work. it would be their head over heals in love with the industry and everything about it!
I do not know about Japan, but I find in the US, a lot of the good VAs didn't come from the Anime fandom or did not have a great deal of interaction with it before becoming a VA(I'm sure there are some exceptions).
Яeverse wrote:
What are these actors doing? Plays? Audiobooks? An occasional network live action tv show background character appearance?
I've heard a good number of ADV/Sentai VAs came from the stage
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LastJediKnight7



Joined: 04 Jul 2018
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 2:32 pm Reply with quote
Can someone tell me what anime that is in the thumbnail?
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Lactobacillus yogurti



Joined: 17 Aug 2011
Posts: 839
Location: Latin America
PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 2:39 pm Reply with quote
I had the chance to speak with a Mexican VA living in Canada, and he really enjoys dubbing, but he knows very well that's not what he can do full-time to bring food to the table, which is why he works also as a voice-over for documentaries, as well as on radio.

In this world where money is a necessary evil, doing what you love doesn't always mean doing what's best for you.
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Ronolo



Joined: 09 Jun 2005
Posts: 13
Location: Dallas
PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 2:42 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Other reasons include geography: if a voice actor lives in Dallas, chances are almost all of their anime work is going to come from Funimation (and perhaps Sentai Filmworks if they feel like driving to Houston).


To my knowledge for the most part this is true. There are some exceptions. With today's technology a person can do voice work across the country or anywhere for that matter. I understand Chris Patton currently resides in Los Angeles. Yet, he does some voice work for Funimation still.

He would go to a local studio in LA that would have the same equipment/software that would also be in the Texas location. Chris would only see the engineer, the director would be talking to him from Texas providing direction via Skype or whatever application they are using.
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Ronolo



Joined: 09 Jun 2005
Posts: 13
Location: Dallas
PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 3:00 pm Reply with quote
Яeverse wrote:
What are these actors doing? Plays? Audiobooks? An occasional network live action tv show background character appearance?


From what I hear in Panels, many of these voice actors do various things. Many are doing other plays to gain more experience. Veronica Taylor voices for Audio books. Tiffany Grant was in a small Independent film decades ago. Voice actors mention in panels, since it is contracted work, you need to continually hustle for that next project so you can continue to receive income. It is not easy.

Although, you are not always stuck doing voice acting. People do move up to other jobs with benefits. My understanding is Monica Rial and J Michael Tatum have done script writing and directing. The experience they gain from acting does help with script writing and directing.
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Double Mangekyo



Joined: 17 Aug 2011
Posts: 179
PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 3:30 pm Reply with quote
LastJediKnight7 wrote:
Can someone tell me what anime that is in the thumbnail?

Sore ga Seiyuu! (Seiyu's Life!)
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LastJediKnight7



Joined: 04 Jul 2018
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 3:42 pm Reply with quote
Double Mangekyo wrote:
LastJediKnight7 wrote:
Can someone tell me what anime that is in the thumbnail?

Sore ga Seiyuu! (Seiyu's Life!)



Thank you! I love you!
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Primus



Joined: 01 Mar 2006
Posts: 2758
Location: Toronto
PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 5:20 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Usually this is in the $60-80 per hour range


[YouTube Clickbait] Here's Why You Don't Hear From Canadian Voice Actors Anymore*




*In anime fan oriented projects
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johnnysasaki



Joined: 01 Jun 2014
Posts: 922
PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 5:34 pm Reply with quote
belvadeer wrote:
Troy Baker visited my university once many years ago, and the anime club (now long gone) asked him some questions about dubbing in games and anime. He mentioned that video game voice acting tends to pay more on average than anime dubbing, and this was quoted in the school's newspaper. I wish I had kept that old issue.


there's a reason he doesn't come back for any of his older roles from before he became mainstream.Especially if it's anime.
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Top Gun



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 4566
PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 5:50 pm Reply with quote
A lot of the California-based actors in particular do a bunch of game roles. I have a friend who plays Elder Scrolls Online, and she keeps snickering over hearing Crispin Freeman pop up everywhere. It's a shame, because a lot of that crew were in arguably most of the best dubs of all time, but they do very little anime work these days, since just about everything's Texas-based.
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