Our talent onboarding coordinators will reach out to you asap.
Please do not call. Thanks for your understanding!
Sorry, but please don't call us asking how to get into the biz. (Can you tell
we receive lots of calls?) There's plenty of informative web sites, forums
and blogs about this subject. You can also find out more on our site
too.
Just click here for some tips. We wish
we had the time to take your call and discuss your vocal qualities,
but due to our dedication to our clients and our voice talent it's
prohibitive.
Also, remember that unlike many pay-to-list
sites we do not charge voice talent a fee to join SunSpots roster.
However, due to the competitive nature of the business we only
accept those talent who fit specific niches with us. You may
be a wonderful working professional voiceover talent, but we
may have a large group of people with us already who have a similar
sound and therefore not being taken on. As a licensed talent
agency we work for you and try to make every session a win-win
situation.
How can I learn how to do voice overs?
Maybe you've
been told what a great voice you have or saw an article about
being a voice talent or have a friend who's done it and wondered
how you can do it too.
First off, and probably a little surprising,
is that you do not need to have a big, booming, voice if
you're a man nor do you need a sexy, low, voice if you're a woman.
If your dog can sound like that...well...that IS something and
should be explored later but not right now.
It's true, to be a profitable, working,
voice over talent today you need to be able to, above everything
else, ACT. Successful voice talent are voice actors.
"Years ago they liked the
big booming voices for guys. Now, if you can do multiple
styles and really know how to bring copy to life naturally
you'll be a success."
Here's the Top Ten Things You Can Do To Learn How To Do Voice
Overs:
Study audio media, what you hear on
radio, tv, the web-whatever you hear read aloud. Listen to
it critically. Think of what makes it different. Tone? Pitch?
Delivery? Is it real? Excited? Intimate?
Practice reading out loud. Read billboards aloud when you're
driving. Read text out loud at home.
Use your closed captioning and a
vcr/dvr/Tivo to record tv commercials for review.
Transcribe recorded tv commercials
and read those aloud along with the original voice over.
Record yourself reading those commercials.
Listen to playback of your recording
and listen critically. Does it sound anything like the original
voice? Find
your own voice and make the spot "yours".
Talk to working voice talent and have
them evaluate the recording.
Find voiceover groups on the web and
ask professional voice-over talent to evaluate your recording.
Keep practicing recording your voice with different commercials
and voice styles.
PRACTICE MORE and read up on the subject.
You can also take classes for learning
how to do voice overs. Pick a class that is selective in who
they chose as students. It's very important to choose your
voiceover instruction wisely. If you have a strong dialect
you'll have to learn how to remove that, which will take a few
years to have it removed completely. Classes are a great way
for some to get a jumpstart into this lucrative career. Search
the web for voice over classes and you may find something
in your area. You should also visit voiceover
talent bulletin boards and voiceover resource sites that
give tips and advice to those starting out in the voice acting
business.
When you think you're ready to pursue
the voice over career follow these steps to voice talent success:
Send your demo out to EVERYONE that accepts free-lance voice
talent demos.
Beware of companies
who want you to be exclusive to them without a guarantee of
payment or salary. Some talent agents and
studios require you to be exclusive to them preventing
you from working. You
want to be available to everyone, so why exclude yourself? We believe
that the more you wor,k the more you enhance your voice over
skills.
Complete auditions as requested including
labeling your files as the studio or agent requests. Don't
add introductions or comments beyond what the studio wants
you to do for labeling of your audition.
Be early for your sessions. Be courteous,
cheerful, helpful, thrifty...hey, wait a minute...that's the
boy scout code. But you get the idea. The bottom line is simply
to be a professional voice talent.
Do not call the studios or agents
asking why you are or are not working. Keep doing auditions
and sending out demos. Stay positive and move forward.
Ensure your demos are up to date.
For example, if you're a child talent and your voice changes
get a new voice over demo made. Same concept for adults applies.
You should always be adding material to your demo. Here's a
special note about SunSpots and voiceover demos: Send us your
best work regularly because we take snippets of those cuts
and add them to our exclusive EZCast™ search
engine. The more snippets you send in to SunSpots,
the more
chances you have of getting more voice over work.
Keep good records of the work you've
done. Find an accountant to take care of all things financial.
Software such as Quickbooks and MYOB can help if you want to
manage your own financial affairs.
Ask the studios for copies of your
spots. They may not be able to do it right away, but a good
studio or agent that wants to see you succeed will give you
copies of your recordings. Also
realize that often the studio may not be allowed to release
a copy of the work you've done due to the client's confidentiality
or general request. The audio production you've
voiced is our client's and not ours.
Let the studios or your agent know in advance
when you're on vacation or off for any reason.
Make sure that all your voice over
booth equipment works and that you understand its operation.
That means everything from microphone, amplifier, board, mixer,
computer, email system all the way down to the fax machine.
NEWS/Noticias:
SunSpots needs Spanish speaking voice talent immediately. We're
seeking out the best Spanish voiceover talent in the Americas
and Europe for all dialects. Our clients need Hispanic talent
to voice:
Spanish Radio Commercials
Spanish TV Commercials
Spanish Web Content
Spanish Instructional DVD's and more
Spanish Voiceovers in general
Send your Spanish demo to the address listed above.
Please DO
NOT CALL.
Good luck, we wish you the best with
your voiceover career!
