“Voice Acting Academy”
Welcome to my virtual “Voice Acting Academy.”
Tuition is free. There is no campus, no room or board and we’ve no teachers to report to or books buy.
Classwork focuses on mostly talking to yourself. The home study portion of your education consists of reading, watching TV, movies and plays and maybe playing video games.
Extra-class stage time is highly encouraged.
There are no grades, but feedback can be provided by an audience or a casting director.
Your application has been accepted. Let’s get started:
Here are the five areas of focus at our school (also accessible from the drop down menu above):
1. Develop your acting and VO skills:
* Click for: at-home voice acting practice
Click for: at-home study materials (practice monologues)
Click for: acting practice exercise
Click for: dynamic acting exercise
*Click for: workout in the car
* essential field work: get in front of an audience
2.Click for: Study the masters.
3. Learn how the biz works and prepare accordingly (most of my site is devoted to this).
4. Click for: Load up your “inner database“ with movies, TV, books, theater and video games.
5. Click for: Expand your knowledge with outstanding outside sources as well.
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If you enjoy my site, why not make a donation of any amount to the American Humane Association, a wonderful charity that helps protect children, pets and farm animals from abuse and neglect?
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I’d also recommend watching “Adventures in Voice Acting” :3
I would also recommend Voice Acting Mastery, with Crispin Freeman. There are a lot of golden nuggets in his podcasts.
..if I took classes and pursued this, at what point would I know if I had some real talent?
Become an actor because you enjoy acting, not to confirm your level of talent. You act because it’s fun to do. If you want confirmation beyond personal enjoyment, you’ll know you have “it” when someone casts you in their project or pays you to act.
…finances is what is holding me back. I can’t afford any sort of class/seminar or demo. I have been heavily researching Voice Over for the last 2 years and have had a few “evaluations”. What do you suggest for someone who can’t afford a demo/training but is ready for it?
My advice is patience and persistence, as you are still at an early chapter in all this, even though you’ve been at it a while. Keep at the slow process of gaining experience and paying down your debt and saving so you can take classes or meet those who cast who can give you an objective take on your “readiness.” This may take a few more years at least, which is typical for an actor. Taking a class or making a demo can wait. There is a lot more to keep strengthening and developing in your life that will enable you to endure what is ahead for an acting career.
In my 20’s I had little very money (I scooped ice cream, did stand up, children’s theater, open mics, singing telegrams, improv- some paid, some didn’t). I didn’t have any savings to speak of until I was in my later 20’s and started doing corporate shows and theme park work. Yes, I had talent, but I really wasn’t ready to show it to casting people or make a demo. I earned my living as an actor for about 10 years before getting a (not so great) demo together (I wasn’t ready to make a good one, again, despite having good talent). The important part was gaining experience and getting myself financially and creatively ready for making a go of it in L.A.
Once I hit L.A., in my early 30’s, I had to occassionally go into debt to get started and get a demo produced and take a few VO classes with working casting directors- with my wife backing me up with her temp work when work was lean. This team work was essential for me. It took me nearly two years before my wife could quit her job and I could support us in L.A. on acting, as I recall. This was after having already done a television series before hitting town! Not a quick or and easy climb at all, even though I’d already been earning my living performing any way I could for over a decade.
My point is not to do as I did, but that this could well take many more years before you are indeed ready to make a good demo and start getting auditions for the work you want– if you are indeed right for it. Being an actor is a long haul process, but that’s the mindset you gotta have. A demo or a class won’t solve this now. I’d rather you pay down your debt, save and keep strengthening your acting skills. But, that’s my temperament.
Sounds like you are moving in the right direction. Keep it up and don’t give up. Challenges to your patience and persistence won’t let up as your career takes off, just don’t let it get you down!
THANK YOU DEE BRADLEY BAKER!!!!!
But a quick interjection, I’ve seen that your German language knowledge/ability has come to use in several performances. As someone attempting to burgeon into the scene I’ve often thought searching for a niche that would give me an advantage over competition; some kind of ‘marketable’ specialty I could tote around…
Would you recommend other voice actors to learn foreign languages? I have studied Cyrillic alphabet and Russian language and hope to one day visit Russia itself; but do you think refining my Russian could seriously lead to job opportunities in the short-term?
Good acting and improv skill are the quickest and most important way to set yourself apart from other voice actors. I’d first invest in a good improv class, myself. Perfecting various international dialects and local regionalisms might be a better focus if you want to set yourself up for earlier employment in voice acting. Specialization like a foreign language or singing will possibly come in handy later, once you have established yourself as a good voice actor. I know a voice actress who knows French but I don’t think ever used it. I also know a few other voice actors who know German, but rarely use it. I never had much chance to use my German skills until after I had been in L.A. for a number of years and had established myself as a good utility player. That said, if you are into it, learning a foreign language is potentially useful eventually (I’d think mostly in feature and television ADR or video games), but I wouldn’t pursue it as a calculation for rapid employment per se. BUT: For me, pursuing a passion or hobby always pays off somehow in life. You must follow what you love and it will feed your life and career, just probably much later rather than sooner.