hi there
I am seeking to begin a career in voice over work in animations and am wondering whether anyone knows of organisations or individuals in Australia that use or require voice over artists and where I could possibly get this type of information.
kind regards
Chris
I agree with your statement but I think you should have given one example of what to Google for. Googling for me is more offten an exercise in frustration.
thanks skinnylizard and Wontobe,
It can be frustarting at times going through Google but I'll see what I can conjour up.
For those of you that never go to AWN's main pages you should get in the habit there is a lot of very valuable information there.
Try this to get you interest whetted.
http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=all&sort=date&article_no=2433
And I did a basic search on AWN's homepage and came up with this result.
http://catsearch.awn.com/search/catsearch?sp-a=sp1001c4e6&sp-p=phrase&sp-s=page_date&sp-q=voice%20over
There are a lot of good resources here you just have to venture off the forum from time to time.
Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.
It is sometimes quite hard to get into this part of the business. You need to be unionized to act (do voice over work) with the S.A.G. or ACTRA (in Canada). However, to become a member of these unions, you need to have some film credits. Always seemed like a catch-22 to me... Almost like "experienced animators wanted", but if all anyone wants is experienced animators, then how does anyone actually GET experience?
Good luck with that. You should look into the S.A.G.'s (Screen Actor's Guild)web site. I am sure they would have some infor for ya.
Cheers
"Don't want to end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard" - Paul Simon
Radio-work is great experience for this field. The key is to get your voice and personalities onto broadcast somehow, stand-up comedy is another way, as is doing impersonations. If you have to start out with small stations, or community TV that helps. The more distinct you are and the wider your ranges of voice personalities the more likely someone will grab you. Also if you do work in a foreign location, where the rules for starting out are different and sometimes advantageous, then that counts at home.
The experience doesn't always have to be paying gigs to qualify either.
"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)
As they say, "invent your experience." Seek out work or volunteer it. Do anything to have a credit, anything that will count legitimately, pay or no pay.
In the U.S., SAG will "Taft-Hartley" you into the union if you book a union gig as a non-union actor. Used to be you could do up to 3 union gigs before you had to join, but I don't know if that's true anymore.
While the pay is less, it can be more lucrative to do non-union voiceover work. There is a lot of it, and union actors can't do those jobs. That said, the pay is lower and tends to be a "buyout" where you get paid once, rather than a session fee and residuals.
I used to do some voiceover work, and I once busted the treasurer of the union who was waiting to audition for a non-union gig. The unspoken rule was that on non-union gigs no one asks about union affiliation, and union actors can slip in as long as the casting agent doesn't know. I asked this guy if he wasn't the union treasurer in front of the director. He had to admit he was, since the word "union" was now out there, and he had to leave.
Yeah, it was probably childish, petty, and uncalled for, but this dood made the choice to be a union actor. I stayed non-union for a reason, and I didn't appreciate this union guy trying to take food out of my mouth.
I don't think it was childish, simply because as you said he made a choice. If you are in the union, own up to it good and bad. Those are the same kind of people who would moan for weeks if someone else imposed on them, but so long as they feel they can get away with it they'll be silent in breaking the rules for their own benefit. Give me a break. If there's one thing I can't take it's a double standard, especially from the ignorant. I'd have done the same thing.
Ha, DSB! That's awesome. I think you totally did the right thing. They would have busted you, and smiled, had you gone to a union gig.
The unions aren't all bad, production is going to try and get you for as cheap as possible. Every job I've taken that pays a flat weekly rate and swore that they hardly ever do overtime, I usually averaged a 60+ hour week.
One major conundrum over union/non-union debate is seniority. Just about any company would love to lay off all of its high paid senior employees if it knew it could replace them with younger talented ones. However, I've come in contact with several union workers that are on autopilot while everyone else busts their ass to make up for them. Definitely a double edged sword. Typically, the union benefits the older guys, non-union benefits the new guys.
Keep in mind that the union reps (ie. the ones that collect dues and don't actually take part in the craft) have their own interests to protect. If there's a strike, the reps still collect full pay, while they're members don't until whatever "strike insurance" kicks in. And sometimes they end up forcing work out of town because of some outrageous practices. Boston hasn't had a major film in nearly 8 years since it came to light that the teamsters were pulling stuff like collecting checks on dead members, extorting film crews, not to mention the legal stuff like paying a guy to nap in the truck even if it isn't moving for the length of the show (low budget indy truck drivers typically pull double duty and work as grips/electrics, too).
And I never understood why the entertainment industry made it so hard to get in the union. The more people they have, the stronger their bargaining position. If they're worried about protecting the union jobs, they can still keep track of seniority.
Producing solidily ok animation since 2001.
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That one must have PHYSICALLY acted BEFORE one has VOCALLY acted
is,to me,bullpuqi.I would NEVER cut it as a conventionally conceived stage/
TV actor;I have trouble remembering all those friggin' lines.The stage/TV
acting that I'd like to do:reading the script,conning as much of it to memory
as possible,and,when the time comes,REACTING to others' lines.That is,
IMPROVISING THE HELL OUT OF what I can't scriptually remember.
One can,and should,use one's voice to achieve whatever the hell one
wants to w/out being physically/emotionally BULLYRAGGED into believing
that a physical acting journey is prerequisite,dammit.
Catham there are a couple of people who could probably guide you quite well with this.
there are quite a few seminars etc that happen around the United States which you can participate in where people can guide you as well. Do a bit of google.