Hi, Marc -
Thanks for your blog! Really helpful. I'm not so interested in voice acting work as I am in singing - commercials, jingles, etc. I have a demo, but I'm not sure if the channels are the same for singing jobs as they are for vo acting. Someone told me that it's more word-of-mouth for jingles? Am I better suited to go through on the ad side? I also don't have a SAG card yet... how does that all fit in?
Thanks!
Melissa
Do Big Talent Agents Not Sign Talents they Really Want to Work With?
- Written by Marc
- October 9, 2008 at 12:04 PM
- Add Your Comments (6)
How does agency repping work when they love you but won't sign?
Find out the Voice Cat's take on this now!
An agency wants to sign my daughter, are the fees they're asking legit?
- Written by Marc
- August 21, 2008 at 4:03 PM
- Add Your Comments (1)
Q: Hi Marc,
I got a lot of info from your web site but I have a question: the agency that wants to sign my daughter for voice and on-screen wants wants me to pay the following: Are these legitimate fees?
Informational seminar on the talent industry $70
To get her on their talent web site $100 per year
Thanks,
Cindy
Do Watermarks Hinder Auditions?
- Written by Marc
- April 30, 2008 at 4:03 PM
- Add Your Comments (2)
Q: Hello Marc,
I listened with interest to your podcast on Voices.com regarding auditioning in a home recording studio. Good information since I began doing voice overs 5 years ago after retiring from stage touring. Although Spokane is a small town, there are a number of good studios that do national work. Of the auditions I do in the studio, I get a very high percentage, yet my voices.com auditions are not yielding what I would call a similar percentage! It has been suggested to me that watermarks are "putting off" potential clients. What is your opinion on using watermarks? If watermarks are not used, should I still read the entire 60 or 30 second script?
Many thanks in advance.
—Andrea Bates, Spokane, WA
How Do I Interpret Scripts When There's No Direction Whatsoever?
- Written by Marc
- March 17, 2008 at 12:53 PM
- Add Your Comments (1)
Recently, a Voices.com subscriber wrote in asking about direction.
Q: I’m a working voice actor who auditions a lot of different scripts, and I’m not always sure how to deliver the script when direction is provided. Sometimes they’re really explicit in what they want and other times they make no sense at all. I get a lot of copy where they ask for “conversational,” but the copy is all announce-type stuff. It’s very confusing. Also, how do I interpret the script when there’s no direction whatsoever? Any tips?
—Valerie P., Hollywood, CA
Should Voice Actors Edit Punctuation in Scripts if it Doesn't Make Sense?
- Written by Marc
- February 14, 2008 at 9:14 AM
- Add Your Comments (3)
A pertinent question from a Voices.com subscriber comes in asking about grammar and punctuation.
Q: I’m a working voice actor who’s read hundreds of scripts, and I’ve noticed that copywriters are very inconsistent and confusing with punctuation. Some scripts have words that are all capitalized. Others have directions inserted in the copy. Some scripts seem to have virtually no punctuation, and others have punctuation marks that make no sense. Then, of course, there is the constant, embarrassing misspellings of words or incorrect grammar. Should I change the grammar in these scripts when I audition, or will that piss off the writer? Should I change the punctuation if it doesn’t make any sense?
—Bobby V., Venice, CA
Help! Advice on Pronunciation for Voice Actors
- Written by Stephanie
- January 8, 2008 at 2:48 PM
- Add Your Comments (7)
Hope your holidays were happy and healthy. Here’s a recent question from an aspiring voice actor, asking about articulation.
I call this Pro-nunciation.
Q: I’ve been taking voice acting classes for a number of years and am finally starting to get booked for V-O work. Occasionally, though, clients ask me to articulate certain words they say I’m not speaking clearly. They seem to contradict the direction they give me. For instance, when they ask me to be conversational, and I say the word “to,” it comes out sounding like “ta.” When I say the word “for,” it comes out sounding like “fur.” I don’t want to over-articulate, because then I sound “read,” and therefore not conversational. What do I do in these instances? How can I walk that fine line between over-enunciating and under-enunciating? Help!!!
—Janice W., Hollywood, CA
