Posted by Dale on Apr 12, 2010 in
Voice Over “It’s down to you and another guy!”
Agents love this! They love to call you at those times where you think they’re calling about a job.
They don’t want you to get to excited, but they just got a call from the producer and they said they’ve narrowed the massive nationwide search down to you and 5 other guys. So stay by your phone, cause the call could come at any moment and when they make up their mind they’ll want to record right away!
My advice…Do not stay by your phone! Do not call your family to tell them “the good news!”! Do not start thinking about how much money is coming your way! And do not start spending any of that money!
Do whatever you can to put it in perspective. Yes, it is an accomplishment. Yes, you have a much better chance then you did when it was down to you and 1252 auditions via VoiceBank. Yes, you need to be able to record if they do go with you. And, Yes it could change your life.
Just remember, chances are what they are and the “House always wins in the long run”, and it’s not down between you and another guy, cause they just went with Matt Damon, who’s schedule just cleared up, and who they wanted all along.
One more thing, try to stay positive.
Tags: actor, How to act, Matt Damon, Money, Voice over advice, voiceover
Posted by Dale on Jul 9, 2009 in
Voice Over From the outside in, Voice Over is one of the greatest jobs on earth. (Always: As long as you’re working.) To be honest from the inside out, it’s even better then that!
I love working in Voice Over and that is why I do it.
Unfortunately why most people get into it is for the lifestyle and/or the money.
Silly, Silly, People.
"I'm just in it for the Money!"
Though they both may be great products of a successful VO career, they don’t provide the drive for attaining a successful career.
The Hope must be fueled by the right desire. In my opinion, that desire is the WORK itself.
Money and Lifestyle make for false hope’s that are much easier to disappoint.
Tags: acting, actor, Add new tag, artist, How to act, la, Money, voice, voiceover
Posted by Dale on Jun 22, 2009 in
Voice Over Walked into a casting directors office today and had to make sure I was signing in for a voice over audition, and not for Kevin Costner’s roll in The Big Chill 2.
Never get cast as the Dead Man in a movie.
Things are slow, real slow. The office was scary quite, just as work for most is scary quite. The only thing you can do when it gets slow, is to get busy!
The more you think about the slow, the slower it’s gonna get. So get out there and do what you always wished you had the time to do. Do what you’re good at and get better.
Take a class, work on your craft.
One guy I know has dropped his golf handicap by 2 points.
I’m hitting the “To Do” list around the house, and our garden has never looked better. Might even make it to the Ukulele jam session I’ve been meaning to go to.
Never let slow draw attention to itself. It makes you do things like think about getting another job, and that’s almost as bad as thinking about teaching.
Tags: acting, actor, artist, business, Costner, la, Money, voice, voiceover
Posted by Dale on Mar 16, 2009 in
Voice Over 
Everybody want to be a Voice Over actor. I mean, it’s easy right?
The Good
You show up to work in your T-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops. You read a few words that you don’t have to memorize, drink coffee, eat free food, and then about an hour later go home to your fantastic VO pad, pour the Margarita’s and wait for the fat checks to come raining down like candy at a 4th of July Parade.
The Bad
You send out your demo, that cost you 1500 dollars, to potential agents for the 3rd time and for the 3rd time they tell you they have too many people with your voice on the roster. You take class after class, go to audition after audition, and then finally you get a booking… and it’s to be voice #2 for Sun Drop Soda.
It’s your big break! Your part consists of saying “Awesome!” and the commercial is going to run in the SouthEast and Wisconsin. You go home to your one room garden apartment, fire up the hot plate for afternoon Ramen and Beans and wait for your $250 check to arrive 2 months late.
The Ugly
Your Agent calls you in the morning (all good agent calls come in the morning), to tell you , that you just booked “The Voice Of…” You have multiple recording sessions from your new home studio, and you know spend more time on the phone with your agent then your girlfriend/boyfriend.
You buy the car/shoes/house/boat/ski condo on the beach (just cause you can). You pay for dinner… for the table next to you. The sessions just keep coming and the fat checks arrive in your mailbox like pre approved credit cards.
Then one day while watching your 70 inch Waterproof Hovercraft LCD that’s floating above the pool, you see your commercial… except the voice at the end isn’t you… somebody else is “The Voice of…”.
You call your agent, he says they went a different direction/lost the account/is as shocked as you.
It was your only account, the fat checks go anorexic. Your monthly bills rivals the GDP of Guam, but you’re so used to spending like Bradgelina and investing like Madoff that you find yourself sleeping in your friends garage next to his Ferret Farm wishing you could go home to your one room garden apartment, fire up the hot plate for afternoon Ramen and Beans and wait for your $250 check to arrive 2 months late.
Tags: acting, actor, Add new tag, artist, business, la, Money, voice, voiceover