Sirenetta Leoni Inside Voiceover—Information + Insights On Voice Acting

This rare video, which we're guessing is vintage late 70's-early 80's, was recorded during a visit these two voiceover geniuses made to a Boston radio station that to promote a fan fest in which they were appearing at the time..

How rare is it? We've viewed literally 1000's of voiceover related videos over the past 2 1/2+ years since we've started InsideVO, and have never seen anything similar to this that provides a glimpse of how the two worked together and developed their now classic, character voices. 

Sadly, Bill Scott, who also voiced Mr. Peabody, Dudley Doright and George of the Jungle passed away in 1985. (For more about Mr. Scott, who considered himself an animator first and foremost, here is a link to a fascinating, detailed interview with him from 1982: http://cartoonician.com/bullwinkle-speaks-an-interview-with-bill-scott/)

The amazing Ms. Foray as many of you know, is still going strong and working at the age of 95! In fact, she will be presented with the Governors' Award at the Creative Emmy awards this Sunday. Certainly gives the rest of us something to aspire to!

A  surprisingly enjoyable and easy (non-technical) read with smart advice that voice actors can benefit from, even if you have zero aspirations to become a sound designer. Since voiceover is a major component of game sound design, it makes you a better collaborator if you have some understanding of a sound designer's process and priorities, and how you fit into the grand scheme of things,

In addition, almost all of these same tips can be very helpful for game voice actors, too, For instance, carrying a digital recorder to capture interesting sounding people or accents to study is a very useful idea as are investing in an education; broadening your horizons; studying the masters; practicing and studying your craft; avoiding cliches; not getting hung up on gear; leaving the ego at home; and learning from mistakes.

Excellent advice from this LA agent that taking positive action---even if it's a longshot---is a whole lot better than doing nothing at all, and certainly better than wallowing in bitterness or self-pity, because things aren't working out quite as well or as quickly for you as you had expected. 

If it's something that doesn't require a huge investment, why not give it a shot?  You can't pre-determine whether something is going to work or not, and even if it doesn't, if you go in with realistic expectations and a good attitude, you may learn something. If nothing else, just the fact that you are pushing yourself and challenging yourself to try new things will help bolster your self-confidence, which every actor needs a healthy dose of to succeed.

Additionally, sometimes things that don't appear to pay off in the short term can yield unexpected dividends down the road that you couldn't have foreseen....those friends that you make in the Casting Director workshop decide to self-produce a project next year and invite you to be in it...your demo lands in an agent's mailbox just after someone in your same category has switched to another agency. As the article correctly points out, the odds are that nothing will come of it, but one thing is for sure...iIf you never try, you'll never know. 

Casting Director, Marci Liroff has written much on the topic of how actors should (and shouldn't) use Twitter and social media in the past, but you really need to pay close attention to this post, because she explains how and why you can actually be disqualified for or even fired from acting gigs for tweeting/posting about them too soon. This advice applies equally to voice actors and on-camera actors.

So what is a actor/voice actor to do and when can you talk about a project that you've auditioned for or booked online?

Just stick to the following simple rules and you'll be fine:

1. If you aren't sure whether you are allowed to discuss a project you've auditioned for or been cast in on social media (or anywhere for that matter), DON'T.

2. If you've signed an NDA (AKA Non-Disclosure Agreement), you should absolutely NOT discuss it. In fact, don't even post "hints" about what the project might be on social media, no matter how badly you want to let everyone know. (We tried to warn Ben Affleck about this a couple of weeks ago, but did he listen..?)*

3. Wait until the production company makes a public announcement, or in the case of commercials, internet project or audiobooks, when the video or audio is broadcast or available on the internet; then you can tweet about it or shout it from the rooftops.

An interesting, offbeat 9-minute documentary about the legendar promo/trailer voice actor, Hal Douglas, who, at age 89, is still working regularly from his home in Virginia.

Ironically, though the film is entitled "A Great Voice," you may be surprised to learn that after a decades-long wildly successful career in voiceover, even Hal Douglas finds fault with his own voice, as most voice actors do, though he seems to have made peace with it. 

And in case you are wondering, Hal was 17 years older than the late, great Don LaFontaine and on the voiceover scene long before him. In fact, many in the industry contend that it was Hal, not Don, who immortalized the phrase,"In a world...

Many of our regular followers have been lucky enough to take workshops with Jacquie in the past, and if any of the rest of you ever get a chance to work or study with Jacquie, we'd highly recommend it. She's the real deal---smart, knowledgeable, funny, knows her stuff inside and out and is well-regarded in the industry.

If you have any interest in auditioning for motion-capture work pay careful attention to her advice. If you're primarily a voice actor and this is work you seriously intend to pursue, it may require additional training. But for those of you trained as stage actors, who've been hearing "you have to rein it in" for years, it looks as though your time has finally come!

You need to read and really UNDERSTAND what this agent is saying. Talent agents may not alway be able to sign you, even if they like you and think that you're talented, because they have other considerations and are obligated to honor existing relationships.

This is a concept that diificult to understand (and not take personally) for someone who is a new, up and coming, hard-working talent, but very much appreciated by anyone who is a represented voice actor.

Let's be clear. No professional voice actor worth his or her salt should mind strong competition in the marketplace. In fact most smart, successful actors welcome it, because it prevents them from getting dull, repetitive and complacent and pushes them to keep their chops up. On the other hand, most actors think of their agent as their advocate, and while they understand and accept that their agent may have several people in their same category in order to offer variety to clients, no one wants to be with an agency where they're basically interchangeable with 20-30 other actors. 

There is an upside, though...For the same reason it's also important to not get discouraged and keep submitting to agents periodically. The agency that told you to "check back in six months" may have actually liked you, but had too many people similar to you at the time. A couple of their clients may have left since then, so that's why you need to follow up, especially when an agency leaves the door open for you to re-submit down the road. You never know when an agency might be looking to fill a you-shaped hole in their roster, so keep trying. 

Even if you're not normally a fan of celebrity voiceovers, we promise you that you'll love this one...Welcome back, Marty McFly!

This appears to be the second ad in GE's movie-inspired  "Brilliant Machines" campaign. The first was the Matrix-themed commercial featuring "Agent Smith," AKA actor, Hugo Weaving.

An excellent reference guide to of the many terms/lingo that are frequently used in voiceover recording sessions. You may know many, but there are a probably a few that may be new to you.

We also noticed that there are also a couple of terms that are slightly different in the UK than they are in the US. For instance, "series of three" is more commonly referred to as "three in a row" in the US. 

The always interesting Mark Westmore, aka "Acting Coach of Scotland" considers whether great acting ability is the result of nature or nurture?

Mark comes down strongly on the side of nurture and contends that great acting can be taught; however he also recognizes that there are limiting conditions that have to more to do with early upbringing than whatever "natural" talent you were, or weren't, born with.

For instance, if you weren't encouraged to fully and actively use your imagination when you were 3, 4 or 5, it's going to be a huge challenge for you to develop this skill when you are 35 or 40.

One additional linguistic note...Writer George Bernard Shaw had it right when he famously noted that, "The United States and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language." The use of the word "graft" is used to connote "hard work" in the UK, but has an entirely meaning in the US, where it's used tin conjunction with a criminal activity and corruption, i.e., "to extort." It took us a minute to understand that Acting Coach of Scotland was suggesting that actors put in a lot hard work to achive greatness; not advocating that actors go out and break a lot of kneecaps. 

We've said it before and we'll say it again...there is absolutely no better way to learn a dialect than by going right to the source. Evidently Martin Scorsese agrees with us.

Great story of how British actor, Stephen Graham and Mr. Scorsese recruited a member of the "Boardwalk Empire" film crew to tutor Mr. Graham on the finer nuances of authentic Brooklynese for his portrayal of Al Capone. 

If you want to get an accent as close to authentic as possible, record yourself and ask a native speaker to critique you. You'll have to set your ego aside, because you may not always like or agree with the feedback, but if you keep an open mind and ears, it's probably the best and quickest way to improve. 

Don't feel too sorry for Julia Roberts...she's an exception to the rule and is supposedly pulling in seven figures for Nationwide Insurance, but it's otherwise true that most of the high profile, super-lucrative voiceover jobs are still going to male celebrities. For the most part, as the article points out, female celebrities are still relegated to doing voiceover for industries that have traditionally tended to be cast "female," such as the “'women's products' ghetto of wrinkle creams, food products, and drugstore chains."

It finally looks as though that might be changing a tiny bit, to which we say "Hallelujah!" but while we've definitely noticed more females voicing ads for investment firms lately, that may have more to do with investment firms trying to rehabilitate their predatory, "win at all costs" image post-Great Recession, than Wall Street's suddenly undergoing a feminist awakening.

We'd also be remiss if we didn't add that we are strongly opposed to changing voice actors from male to female (or female to male...or male to male...or female to female) purely for the sake of change when the person being replaced is clearly so much better than the person he/she is being replaced with.

And, yes, we are talking to you, Acura. While we totally get that the new actor who is doing your new SUV voiceover is likely being directed to sound depressed and sullen, and that it's probably not her choice, we really have to question your decision to replace an actor of James Spader's caliber and skill with that joyless delivery. Seriously guys, if you're trying to persuade affluent women---your MDX target audience---to drop 50-60K on a car, shouldn't it at least sound like a positive experience? And if you doubt that Mr. Spader can make a compelling case for just about anything, you really need to go back and rewatch old episodes of "Boston Legal," or better yet, "Sex, Lies and Videotape." 

Some very helpful, practical "how to" tips for getting through a long audiobook recording session from audiobook pros Scott Brick and Shelby Lewis, such as taking a sip of water after every page to stay hydrated, whether you're thirsty or not; and limiting yourself to just a couple of pages at a time to maintain a level read and consistency.  

While Scott recommends printing out the text, If you prefer to read off your iPad for convenience and to avoid wasting paper, there's a good suggestion in the comments section on how to set up book marks to remind you stop every coupld of pages.