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Tesco disrespecting the voiceover industry

September 28, 2022 by Rachael Naylor

I’m Rachael Naylor, CEO of The VoiceOver Network and a well-known voice actor.

Tesco have announced that they are running a competition to find someone to do the voiceovers for all of their checkouts in the UK, with the winner being awarded a bundle of clubcard points in addition to becoming ‘the voice of Tesco’.

By running a competition to find a voice for their company, Tesco are giving the impression that voice acting is an unskilled job that anyone could do, which devalues our profession. Voice acting is a respected profession that takes many years of training, hard work, dedication and investment to perfect.

Can you imagine if Tesco ran a competition to find their next CEO with the pay being made in clubcard points instead of money?

This is not the first time that our industry has been disrespected in this way. In 2019, Virgin Trains announced a similar competition on their social media pages which caused outrage throughout the UK voiceover community and lead to the General Secretary of Equity writing to Virgin Trains to express the concerns of its members about Virgin Trains’ disregard of the entertainment industry.

The UK voiceover industry needs support, and respect for the work that we do. Too many voice actors are being taken advantage of in the UK and this needs to stop. Voice actors are not paid just for the sound of their voice but also for the years of hard work and investment that they have put into their businesses.

Through this competition, Tesco are withholding the type of job that could provide an essential source of income to a member of our community and undermining our livelihoods. They are also potentially stealing the right for their ‘winning’ voice to undertake future work with its competitors that will pay proper industry standard rates.

In the current climate of financial hardship, this competition is both ethically and morally inappropriate. I would recommend that professional voice actors should not get involved with the competition and that as many people as possible should stand up to this supermarket giant.

Shame on you Tesco.

Rachael Naylor
CEO of The VoiceOver Network,
Editor of The Buzz Magazine and Voice Actor

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Best Business Enabler – The VoiceOver Network

September 20, 2022 by Dale Tulmo

Here at The VoiceOver Network, we’ve got something very exciting to celebrate! We have been recognised by The National Entrepreneur Awards here in the UK and are a finalist for the Best Business Enabler award 2022.

“I set up The VoiceOver Network in January 2015. I’m a busy voice actor who had a vision of bringing voice actors together. I launched it and quickly recognised that the industry was growing and that there wasn’t a safe place for voice actors to go to get advice, training and feel part of a supportive community. I didn’t have an easy start as a voice actor when entering the industry over 20 years ago. I struggled to get traction, get an agent and get work. I made a lot of mistakes and found it very difficult. But I never gave up and I kept on going even when people were telling me to quit and try something else. After a lot of rejection, hard work and perseverance I gained traction and became a very well known voice actor in the industry.” – Rachael Naylor

Rachael has always believed in helping others and so decided that she wanted to make a positive difference to the voiceover industry that she loves. The VoiceOver Network started as a little meet up group in a pub in West London. It grew and grew, and she saw the positive difference that it was making to so many people’s lives. Rachael did a rebrand and properly launched it in January 2015 at the BFI in London as The VoiceOver Network, a membership organisation to help, support and strengthen the voiceover industry. She believes that by bringing people together, sharing information, empowering voice actors around the world that we will all benefit – A rising tide raises all boats.

The VoiceOver Network has helped tens of thousands of voice actors around the world to not just book work but become better voice actors.

There have been many challenges along the way including our founder Rachael’s health issues. But here at VON we have a mission, and we are dedicated every day to helping to empower voice actors around the world to have the careers and vo businesses that they deserve. All while raising standards and making this industry stronger and more connected.

This is a very special award that The VoiceOver Network won back in 2015, the year we launched the membership and started doing large full day voiceover events. So, we are incredibly proud and excited to be finalists again in 2022 for this amazing and sought-after award. The awards will be held at the ICC in Birmingham on Sunday 25th September, presented by the brilliantly funny Jimmy Carr.

Here at The VoiceOver Network, we would like to say a massive shout out to all our amazing members, clients, partners, sponsors, teachers and supporters.

Feedback that Strikes a Chord

August 30, 2022 by Alan Shires

Ever had a setback? Ever been told something which is hard to hear? Great, you’re reading the right article!

As voice actors, we find ourselves in a melody of chaos when it comes to competing in a heavily saturated market. We find ourselves lost in a symphony of different tasks needed to run a business. I am not talking about the creative tasks but more the business tasks! The bookkeeping, the marketing, the social media, and everything else it takes to make a business run. It is wild! But what do we do when we have a setback? Here is the thing, life is full of setbacks and in the vast majority of situations things don’t go as we planned. The exciting thing about any journey often isn’t the destination but more how we get there. Now, I am a late 20’s skinny 5ft 8, northern British male with more enthusiasm than I know what to do with but recently I was told “I am not tall enough and my accent will be a challenge.’’ This was not easy to hear, it was frustrating and for a moment it was a setback. Does this sound familiar?

Take a moment to reflect on your setbacks. Have you ever had feedback from someone who just hit the wrong chord? Well, let us work out how we can get our rhythm back after some hard to hear comments!

In performance, we can always try something different and critique our show, but going back to my earlier feedback, what about my height? Well, guess what, that is not changing! The good news is, it doesn’t matter. It really doesn’t matter! Someone who is 6ft 2 isn’t going to get the job listed for someone 5 ft 4. Though I missed out on a gig for a 5ft 10 role, at least I still have access to roles for my height. It is about using what you have to your advantage not about drowning in what you don’t have! ‘’Don’t stop! Don’t quit! Don’t give up! Know you are perfect just as you are and utilise your unique perfections to your advantage!’’ What about accents? We can also work on this but, similar to the above, I may not have access to RP or Standard American, but when something comes up which needs a Northern voice, competition is less fierce! I had the pleasure of discussing this with Casting Director, Randall Ryan, who gives his perspective below, from a casting side as opposed to a performer’s side. Here is my top tip after speaking with Randall. Don’t stop! Don’t quit! Don’t give up! Know you are perfect just as you are and utilise your unique perfections to your advantage!

“My mental goal is always to have a very difficult casting decision because the submissions are so good.

ALAN SHIRES: How many actors do you get per audition and what are the challenges with casting?

RANDALL RYAN: There’s no one answer for this. I tend to control the audition process, having learned over the years that if you open it up to too many channels you get too many auditions, and the majority aren’t going to make the cut. The myth of the “diamond in the rough” coming out of 2000 submissions is just that: a myth. If there is a bell curve, the high/low for the big part of the bell would be 50 and 20 auditions for each role. Higher numbers tend to be because I’m looking for something really specialized. The challenges vary as well. One project might need the actors to have a very specific voice print to match someone (generally a real person). Others may require a niche accent or a deep emotive range. My mental goal is always to have a very difficult casting decision because the submissions are so good.

“It’s about acting, and it’s about the social and professional dance with the client and the director.

ALAN SHIRES: When you teach voice talent what is your number one message to drive home?

RANDALL RYAN: It’s not about your voice. It’s about acting, and it’s about the social and professional dance with the client and the director. As a subtext, it’s also about your ability to listen and interpret, and then quickly process and produce on the fly. Be authentic; “wear the skin” of the character, so to speak. Johnny Depp became Captain Jack Sparrow. Misty Lee owns Lady Liadrin in Hearthstone and World of Warcraft. And so on. They are more than the voices of those roles: they shaped those roles. Not every character is as deep or complicated, but there’s usually more than just the veneer, and it’s that deep grain that’s waiting for you to rearrange it and give it the intricacy that takes it from two dimensional to complex. Another is to remember that in voice acting, you are throwing away all of the other big tools: facial expressions, body movements, stances, clothing, hair, costuming. You still have to convey what those things would normally shortcut, it’s just that they have to be conveyed with your voice. Still, another is that your job is not actually to act. That’s your skill, certainly. But your job is to train, to audition, to become a decent engineer, to continually upgrade your studio, to learn to network and market.

ALAN SHIRES: Is there space for ALL accents in the industry?

RANDALL RYAN: 100% yes. It’s easy to look at your own country, of course. It’s not just a British or American accent; it’s Yorkshire, Georgia, Manchester, West Country, Boston. The same goes for other accents. It’s not just Russian, it’s Georgian, Muscovite, the Ural Steppes, etc. Or it’s Austrian as opposed to German. Of course, acting is still essential. The point is that a specific accent shouldn’t hold you back. I will suggest that if you possess a niche accent and you want to work more regularly it may be necessary for you to develop the ability to become fluent within something with more opportunities. But the ability to hone in on your native accent or adopt the tongue and vernacular of a region you grew up in will often land you roles that others simply can’t do credibly.

ALAN SHIRES: What makes an artist stand out?

RANDALL RYAN: If I think back to the people who made me sit up and say to myself, “Who IS this person?”. The number one reason would be something about their acting that was unteachable; an innate understanding or fearlessness to go to a place that took a role to another level. Even though I do say, “it’s not about your voice,” there are those people whose voice absolutely captured my attention. It could be their bearing and the energy they brought to the session. There are times that an actor and a director are just so on the same page that it becomes as if one thinks it and the other conveys it, which can be arresting.

ALAN SHIRES: Is musical experience helpful for a VO? If so how?

RANDALL RYAN: That’s best answered by my unscientific, anecdotal observation that somewhere around 70% of the great actors have a musical background. Understanding music principles provides shortcuts for acting; they’re cut from the same creative vein running through the shale. Music and acting are so intertwined that I often speak in musical terms to actors. “Raise that a full step.” “Slow your tempo 5-7 beats/minute.” “Flatten out your melody.” I’ll give them a cadence in lieu of a line read, or even a musical analogy. Especially in video games and animation, the actor is often more jazz soloist, riffing off the script instead of reading copy. The great ones have a sixth sense to know, when to push, when to change verbiage, when to ignore punctuation or to honor it. The best teams are the ones where everyone else: the director, the writer, the developer (or whoever the client is) recognizes when to pull the actor back, or more importantly when to stay out of the way. An actor who can convey that she knows what she’s doing, with the grace to respect all of the other team members, is going to be in high demand!

Interviewee:

Randall Ryan
Video Game Casting Director

Interviewer:

Alan Shires
Voice Artist and
VON Business Development Manager

The Method of Making it in Anime

August 30, 2022 by Mami Okada

Top Anime Casting Director Mami Okada shares some great tips for those who want to make it in Anime

Mami Okada
Casting Director and Director of Operations at
Bang Zoom! Entertainment

How did you come to be a Casting Director?

To cut a long story short, I came to the States as an International student and secured an internship with Bang Zoom, at the time the company was very small and only had three other people working there. They were just starting out but they had a big series already and I came on as its first intern, then I just stuck around and it’s been 20 years now! I really didn’t know anything about Anime prior to starting at Bang Zoom because I didn’t really watch it when I was in Japan. When I arrived in the States I realized how huge it actually is!

What do you enjoy about your job?

There Are so many things that I enjoy. Sometimes even actors who I have been working with for years can still surprise me. I can hear a new voice from an actor that I’ve worked together with for years. It can be different experience every day and often very challenging but that is what keeps me going and my work interesting,

How has the industry changed since you started out?

So many changes are happening in the Anime industry. It’s definitely changed dramatically since when I first started the job. It used to be that only a very small group were passionate about English versions of Anime, now it is becoming more mainstream. There is more attention coming from places like video games and it changes the way I think and approach my work.

Tell us about the process you use to cast an Anime series…

The casting process is not the same every time. In general, when we get a series from our clients we discuss with our producers to find out what they’re expecting to hear when it comes to auditions. The final decisions will be up to the producers and sometimes the creators in Japan. We’ll discuss the requirements and then we’ll decide which roles we need to do auditions for.

How do you choose who to audition?

I select group of actors who are most likely to fit in a role or come close to the range of the character. I will send around 10 characters to each actors so they can choose which one they understand or connect with the most. I will send that out to about 25 actors at most, then I’ll narrow it down to a shortlist and submit them to the producers.

If a character requires something very specific by the producers that I haven’t found, I will reach out to agents. Agents might have someone who would be perfect for the project we are looking to cast.

What are you looking for when you are casting an English version of Anime?

We have to be respectful to the original performance when casting English versions. We take the directions from the original voice so we look for the voices that are similar to the original. We are never looking for a perfect fit but they should bring the same energy and emotion to the performance. We definitely focus more on that than who sounds like the Japanese voice. That can be your direction and then you need to make your own character. We still need to make sure that the character performance will fit visually with the animation. Performance is crucial when it comes to casting.

The performance has to come from the heart. I always suggest actors should make sure ti have all the emotions reachable. Keep your emotion within your reachable range stored in mental “drawers”. open the “drawer” and get the emotion. In the next moment, you’re going to open a different “drawer” and get to that emotion.

Do you have to have an Anime demo to work in the genre?

I personally don’t think you need to have a special Anime demo. A lot of actors have commercial demos and character animation demos. I’m not sure about the other casting directors but for me, I like to listen to both of them. I love to actually listen to anything and everything you’ve got. As I mentioned, Anime can be cinematic or it can be wacky or cartoony, I love to listen to the range of the actors.

Is being able to do ADR essential?

It’s definitely essential to be able to do ADR, which is the process in which you match your performance to the video. It’s not only animation that is a preferred skill for, but also tons of foreign language tv shows that adapt to other languages. All the big steaming services are grabbing good foreign titles and dubbing them into English or other languages so it’s really busy and it’s good for you to learn the skills of how to do it. It might feel a little intimidating at first because you have a beat’s timecode and you have a restricted time that you can perform, but eventually, it will come to you more naturally. It’s a lot like music – when you’re listening to the music, you know when to start singing. It’s a similar concept. I recommend taking classes o ADR because if you book your first gig and don’t know what to do, your nerves about doing the technical aspects will affect your performance.

Mami Okada’s Top Tips for delivering a successful lip sync!

Practice a neutral American accent.
Trust the script.
Preview the original language if the studio allows you to watch the original video.
Quickly look at the line, then quickly memorize.
Pay attention to the actual lift movement so you can practice during the preview.
Keep the rhythm.
Have a reason for performance choices.
Watch Anime in both languages if you can. Stop, rewind, switch the audio channel, and try to perform alongside the original voice.

Brand Brilliance

August 26, 2022 by Celia Siegel

Celia Siegel is the author of the popular book VoiceOverAchiever, and founder of Celia Siegel Management, widely recognized for developing strong personal brands for voice talent. As an experienced brand building pioneer, certified life and business coach, success strategist and former talent agent turned manager, Celia has advanced the careers of top VO talent for more than two decades. Celia’s multi-leveled expertise and extensive knowledge of the ever-changing voiceover industry has helped voice actors, across the globe, successfully brand and grow their VO businesses.

We caught up with her to ask her a few of our most pressing questions.

What motivated you to write VoiceOverAchiever?

I have always known I was going to write a book. From a pretty young age, I have been interested in success factors, positive psychology, and the concept of branding. So this book has been wanting to be written for a long time. Because I love connecting with people and building and branding their careers as artists and business people, I decided it was time. I made a commitment to doing it and set aside a bit of time each day. Et Voila, VoiceOverAchiever was born! It felt like the right thing to do — the best way to share my expertise with the whole VO community. What is a common question that people ask you about voiceover branding? A few questions come up again and again. Number one: I don’t think I have a brand — how do I figure out what my brand is?

When I look at people I can see their brand immediately. It’s so obvious to me — like they are wearing a sticker on their forehead. But of course, it’s harder to see your own brand when you look in the mirror. Yes, you have a brand. It’s not something you create out of thin air. It’s about owning who you already are and what people already say about you. But oftentimes, people spend so much time trying to be what they think they should be, they lose sight of this. It takes some exploring to rediscover the essence of your brand.

Another one: What if my brand turns somebody away from me or makes them not use my voice?

This is the most powerful of all the questions. Going through the branding process, you learn exactly who you are trying to attract and how to connect with the right people. When you find those automatic yeses, you will also find some automatics no’s. Great brands repel as many as they attract. To flip that idea: If your brand is so safe that everybody sort of likes it, nobody will really like it and actually choose you. I call that being a beige wall.

Branding is not bragging — it is simply explaining who you are to your clients. You are the product and it’s important that you can tell them what they are getting.

Another concern people have is that branding is bragging.

Branding is not bragging — it is simply explaining who you are to your clients. You are the product and it’s important that you can tell them what they are getting. Sometimes I do grounded humble brands and sometimes I do really big bold show-offy brands. Muhammed Ali’s brand fit him like, well, a boxing glove. But that’s because he was being true to himself. When you go through my methodology, the brand you come up with will feel like your favorite pair of slippers and fit like a bespoke suit. It will be uniquely yours.

Vocal Acrobatics

August 26, 2022 by D'Arcy Smith

“…before you run off and join this circus, make sure you
do a little work on your acrobatic skills.

The video game industry is growing exponentially and shows no signs of slowing down. But before you run off and join this circus, make sure you do a little work on your acrobatic skills. Working in video games means you need to be a vocal acrobat who can sound like they have been set on fire, but survive to come back the next day. By now most people know that voice acting for video games can be extremely demanding and can leave actors bleeding. Most actors have no idea what being shot at should sound like, let alone how to create these sounds in a healthy way. I’ve sat in sessions where actors make it up on the spot, approach it emotionally (which is also mentally stressful), or hurt themselves, just to please the director.

The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) had a strike about this issue three years ago and now stipulates that sessions including these extremes can only occur for two hours at a time. Still, two hours of screaming like you are on fire, thrown out of a plane, being electrocuted, or dying in poisonous gas is vocally stressful. Even though the sessions are shorter now, the number of lines recorded is intense. Most sessions record about 90-120 lines an hour. Actors will sometimes get the script a day before, but sometimes they don’t see it until they are in the booth, so there is no time to prepare or know what you are walking into.

Five years ago I was teaching a class at Rapier Wit, a combat school in Toronto, Canada, after Daniel Levinson was kind enough to give me a space to work. I was approached by Ivan Sherry, John Nelles, and later Kim Hurdon, who wanted to know if this voice work could be used to help video game actors. While I was already training actors to do vocally extreme work, this was next level. The challenge was not only being able to create these sounds in the healthiest way possible, but make sure they were extreme, believable and that the actor could sustain their voice through the two hour session – and then recover well enough to record the next day. With the help of Kim Hurdon (Kim Hurdon Casting) and Katelyn Reid (SLPUC Health) I created a methodology called Vocal Combat Technique to help actors create these sounds. We then tested the technique and found it reduced fatigue by 50% and improved recovery time by 60%. They could metaphorically “breathe fire” and come back the next day.

“When should you see a doctor? Most people find that their voice returns to normal after 48-72hrs. Doctors say to see an ENT specialist if you are hoarse after a recording session and that hoarseness persists for two to three weeks.

With the help of Kim Hurdon (Kim Hurdon Casting) and Katelyn Reid (SLPUC Health) I created a methodology called Vocal Combat Technique to help actors create these sounds. We then tested the technique and found it reduced fatigue by 50% and improved recovery time by 60%. They could metaphorically “breathe fire” and come back the next day. If you haven’t been able to train with someone in vocal combat or voice for video games, here are some top tips to help you to stay healthy before entering the big top tent.

Get and stay hydrated. It can take anywhere from one to four hours to hydrate your vocal folds so make sure you are hydrated before and during the session. The folds are not a muscle, they are a membrane and the mucosa that covers them protects them. Drink water during the session.
Ask for a break. Most directors/ designers would rather you take a five minute break to rest and come back than have you keep pushing through and have to cancel the session. If you need a break, ask for one.
Guide the session. You can ask to have more extreme lines come later, especially if they don’t involve words.
Warm up and rest afterwards. Make sure you vocally warm up before the session and take time to cool down and have time for vocal rest afterwards.
Prepare for the session by doing your homework. If you are a video game player you will have an idea of what it sounds like when you get shot, if you don’t play video games, that’s fine, but listen to some game play.

“The power and exhilaration of screaming and shouting can be thrilling: just like walking a tightrope. Make sure you have trained for the moment and have a safety net, because this circus isn’t for everyone!

When should you see a doctor? Most people find that their voice returns to normal after 48-72hrs. Doctors say to see an ENT specialist if you are hoarse after a recording session and that hoarseness persists for two to three weeks. The power and exhilaration of screaming and shouting can be thrilling: just like walking a tightrope. Make sure you have trained for the moment and have a safety net, because this circus isn’t for everyone!

D’Arcy Smith
Vocal Coach & Voice Actor