I have a friend, a trained radio broadcaster (male, 50s)who is gifted
with a fine, distinctive voice. He would like to be available to do narration
for commercials, videos, animated films etc. and is willing to work in
areas that may have an interest in voices with a distintive celtic
lilt. He is seeking talent representative(s)in the eastern US, Canada
and Ireland. My question: 1) to seek names & contact numbers of
recognized 'voice' talent agents and 2) advice on how to proceed.

Thank you for your interest.

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 26 May 2003 20:00 PDT

Hi, brudenell!

Can you tell me whether any of these sites would meet your friend's
needs? If so, I would be glad to put together a collection of similar
sites.

http://www.starsnsites.com/voice/voice_index.html

http://www.castassist.com/talent/voice.php

http://www.futurenet-surf.com/YahooLinks/links2/pages/Voiceover_Industry/

~pinkfreud

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Clarification of Question by brudenell-ga on 27 May 2003 11:52 PDT

Hello pinkfreud

Good to see you again and I appreciate your interest.

Thanks for the url sites. I checked them out and they appear to be a
good place to start.  Unfortunately my friend is rarely on the web and
is cursed with dialup which makes the whole process tedious. He would
prefer a text type of answer. May I suggest a text answer pointing to
specific links that would assist with his endevour. That way he could
go to a high speed connection and print off the web info with the
answer as a guide.

Regards

Brudenell

---

Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 27 May 2003 12:08 PDT

In view of the fact that your friend needs a "text answer" that goes
beyond the Web, it is my hope that a Researcher who is associated in
some way with the entertainment industry will be able to answer your
question. While I'm no slouch at finding links to useful info, I do
not have personal knowledge of the industry, and cannot offer any
insights or tips other than those found online.

Hi! Thanks for the question.

Since using a purely “text answer” will not be fine with Google
Answers for problems with copyright regulations, one way to help your
friend will be to provide small snippets of the articles that directly
answers your friend’s needs for tips. But I still highly suggest that
your friend read the articles in their entirety and original form so
as to get a better coverage of the discussion.

Tips on Voice Career:

1. “The first thing you need is a voice demo to distribute. Before
that, I do recommend professional voiceover training. The better
classes don't necessarily teach you how to DO voices...but rather
they'll show you how to make the voices you do believable (i.e.:
conversational, real, living breathing beings -- not just "good" or
"funny").”

2. “Your demo is your key to all those closed doors. A good demo
should be no longer than 2 minutes total. That means you should have
only about 7-12 seconds of each spot or performance on your demo.”

3. “The next step is to get representation (an agent), since these
folks are privy to where the voice work is and they'll make sure you
don't get shafted on your AFTRA and SAG benefits.”

4. “And even if you do get a demo and an agent, it'll take time to get
"known" and called on for auditions. In New York, your agent will send
you around Manhattan to casting agents. In LA, auditions are usually
done at your agent's office. Either way, avoid saying "no" when
instructed to go to auditions. Show you're willing and able to do what
you must.”

“Starting Your Voiceover Career”
http://www.toonvoices.com/starterflash.html 

5. “Relax, be yourself. There is no one voice. Agencies may be looking
for a woman who can do a child's voice or a man with a deep voice like
James Earl Jones. Often they don't know exactly what they want until
they hear it. People who have a wide range of styles do well. It all
comes down to being consistent and creative. Agents are always looking
for new voices that have a certain attitude or style that gets the
listener's attention.|

6. “It's nice if you're fairly close to a radio or television station.
You may want to start your career in Radio as a DJ or on Television as
a Station Announcer. As a freelance Voice-Over Artist, you often
record in a nearby studio for clients that are not even located in
your area. They will typically fax or email you the script and direct
you via a "phone patch" into the studio.”

“Frequently Asked Questions About a Career in Voiceover”
http://www.1-800-the-voice.com/faqsvo.html 

7. “The ability to take someone else's words (the script) and make
them sound believable and sincere, as if they were your own. This has
more to do with acting ability and timing than voice quality. With
proper training this skill can be learned.”

8. “There are two unions which govern voiceover work: AFTRA (American
Federation of TV and Radio Artists) and SAG (the Screen Actors Guild).
The talent unions offer many benefits which members fought long and
hard to gain. For instance, the client must pay you scale and
residuals and contribute to a pension and welfare fund on your behalf.
Should a client not pay talent for work done under a union contract,
the union will sue for collection on your behalf.”

9. “When you work as non-union talent, you are on your own. You
negotiate your rate with the client and you are responsible for
collecting your talent payment.”

10. “Before you can get work, you need to market yourself. This is
done by consistently sending out tapes and following up with phone
calls. Tapes can be sent after hours and calls can be made during
lunch time or breaks.”

11. “Agents work with talent two ways: freelance or exclusive signed.
Agents give first priority to their signed clients and are more
willing to take an active interest in their career. Freelance means
you choose not to be exclusive. In this case, several different agents
can represent you. This can increase your exposure but because you are
working with many agents instead of one, they are less likely to be as
supportive and loyal as they might be if you were a signed client.”

Please read the bottom part of the page to avoid voice over scams.

“How to Break into Voiceovers Without Wasting Your Time and Money”
http://www.greatvoice.com/voiceover/speaking.html 

Here are some tips about the demo tape.

12. Make a demo tape like you are a professional voice over.
13. The demo tape must be produced in a professional recording studio
to be competitive.
14. Find a coach to help you improve your skills before you make that
demo tape.
15. Shop around for different studio rates.
16. You must be comfortable in that studio and with the people you
work with.
17. Provide variety in your voice tape.
18. Don’t make 50 tapes at a time so as to gauge yourself if you still
need to improve before making another tape.

“How to Produce a Killer Voiceover Demo Tape”
http://www.greatvoice.com/voiceover/demotape.html 

Other articles that will be of help to your friend could be found
here. All of them are in simple to read text with very few easy
loading graphics so no problem for dial-up connections.

“Finding The Talent Agent That's Right For You”
http://www.greatvoice.com/voiceover/ivo_library/talentagent.html 

“The Bottom Line On Accents and Funny Voices”
http://www.greatvoice.com/voiceover/ivo_library/accentreduction.html 

“Top 4 Ways To Improve Your Timing”
http://www.greatvoice.com/voiceover/ivo_library/vocal.html 

“How to Avoid the Most Common Mistakes Causing Voiceover Careers to
Crash and Burn”
http://www.greatvoice.com/voiceover/careerinvoiceover.html 

“Getting into the voice business”
http://www.speak-voices.com/career/training.html 

“BEAU WEAVER Answers someFrequentlyAskedQuestionsabout Voiceover Work”
http://www.spokenword.com/faq.html 

----------------------
Our next links meanwhile are for Voice Talent Agencies and their
contact information.

US list of Voice Talent Agencies from Voicebank.com
http://www.voicebank.net/default.jsp?ptype=reels

Here is a list of other US based talent agencies I found both in the
west and east coast.

CED Voices
257 Park Ave. South
Suite 900
New York, NY, 10010
http://www.cedvoices.com/contactouroffices.php 
http://www.cedvoices.com/ 

Atlas Talent Agency
http://www.atlastalent.com/about_atlas_2002.htm 

Voices Now
http://www.voicesnow.com/voice-over-agency.html 

Voice Casting
http://www.voicecasting.com/ 
http://www.voicecasting.com/contact.htm 

Voice Over Factory
http://www.thevoicefactory.com/ 
http://www.thevoicefactory.com/contact.htm

Voice Talents
http://www.voice-talents.com/ 

Lenz Agency
1591 East Desert Inn. Road
Las Vegas, NV 89109
Phone: (702) 733-6888
Fax: 702-731-2008
http://www.lenztalent.com/Lenz-Agency/ 

Acclaim Talent Agency
http://www.acclaimtalent.com/html/contact.htm 
http://www.acclaimtalent.com/html/how_tos/vocs_ht.htm 

Canada: Vox Talent
http://www.voxtalent.com/ 

Our last two links provide voice talent agencies in Ireland and the
rest of UK.

UK Screen List
http://www.ukscreen.com/dir/agent/Voice+Over/3 

UK Vocalist.org
http://www.vocalist.org.uk/voice_overs.html 

Search terms used:          
voiceover career
voice talent agency "new york" ireland
              
I hope these links would help you in your research. Before rating this
answer, please ask for a clarification if you have a question or if
you would need further information.
              
Thanks for visiting us.               
              
Regards,               
Easterangel-ga               
Google Answers Researcher

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Request for Answer Clarification by brudenell-ga on 28 May 2003 09:36 PDT

You're welcome! I look forward to meeting again.

Brudenell

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Clarification of Answer by easterangel-ga on 28 May 2003 17:02 PDT

Sorry I hhave to respond to the clarification for technical purposes.
I look forward to your future questions. Thanks again! :)

THANK YOU for this thorough answer covering all my requirements and
MORE! On behalf of my friend- for whom I posted this question, I
extend appreciation.

I know the exact answer to this question, but don't want to deprive a
GA researcher, who may know it too and could collect the fee, so won't
post unless nobody comes up with it.  Hint: it's one website and it's
free.

Thank you for posting. Ah, go ahead and give us your "exact answer to
this question". I will still gladly support any GA Researcher who
posts their answer too. There is definately room for more than one
type of answer for this question especially for part 2). Appreciate
your interest!

Brudenell

Ooops.. that should have been 'definitely'.

B

Hi brudenell~

I'm not posting this as an answer, because it's not exactly what you
were asking for. However, with this information, your friend should be
able to get work, if he has talent.

Websites and talent groups are fine, I suppose, but as a former voice
over artists and actress, I can tell you that if he really wants to
get work, he should do the legwork himself. In other words, he needs
to look up talent agents in the phone book for his local area(s), call
them, and drop off materials to them. He should also be aware that
there is a *big* difference between a "talent agent" that mostly
offers classes and a real talent agent, who can actually get someone
regular work. So he should scrutinize what the agent has to offer, and
make sure he gets a referral list. He shouldn't neglect to call the
names on the list, either :)

Your friend must start out with a CD, which will have 4 to 5 samples
(usually commercials) recorded in a professional studio with
appropriate background music/sound effects. The CD should sound just
like the national commercials one would hear on the radio or tv. Each
sample on the CD should show a different aspect of his talent. For
example, one sample should be comic, another serious. One commercial
should be softer and gentler, another more boisterous. At least one or
two samples should be done in character voices, especially if he's
interested in animated films or television.

Then your friend should work up a resume showing his background doing
voice overs/broadcasting and/or related work.

With his resume and CD in hand, a good talent agent will be able to
find him work.

Tell him to break a leg! :)
Kriswrite

OK, here you go: I hire voice over artists all the time and in my
opinion, THE # 1 resource these days is www.voicebank.net  It has, I
believe, every important talent agency for VO talent there.

You're asked to register, but I don't think you have to.  If you do,
just do it, no big deal.  But what you want to do is click on the icon
for "HOUSE REELS."

There you will find lists of agencies and where they're located. 
Click on each individual one and you'll not only find addresses and
phone numbers, but you can LISTEN to the demo reels of men and women
on their rosters.  You can search by narration, promos, etc., too.   
And you can listen to celebrity voice over talent as well.

There are agencies for NY and LA and other cities, including Canadian
agencies.  I did see one for Dublin, too.

It's a big list.  But the ones most known for this stuff in NY and LA
are DON BUCHWALD, ICM, PARADIGM, ABRAHMS, CUNNINGHAM, ESCOTT & DIPENE,
SUTTON BARTH VENNARI and WILLIAM MORRIS.  SPECIAL ARTISTS is good,
too.

There are a whole bunch of them I don't know, so can't vouch for their
caliber.  But you can get a quick sense of these agencies by listening
to the demo reels and hear the types of work their clients get.

Even if your friend has a slow, dial-up modem, he can still listen to
the reels.  Click low-fi rather than hi fi as a choice.

Hope this is helpful.  I really can't think of any better source.

Both of you have very interesting advice and information.
Unfortunately since we live on Prince Edward Island one cannot go to
the phone book and find 'world class' talent agents to check out. This
information on GA, especially from experience in dealing with this
global industry, is truly appreciated. Thank you both for taking the
time to share your thoughts. Your words will be acted upon

Regards

Brudenell

Thanks brudenell-ga for the kind words, the nice rating and for the generous tip!