Okay, you got the audition. You studied your part. You worked hard at coming up with different options for the director and now you just found out that you got the job. “Ah,” you suddenly think, “Now I can kick back and relax. As long as I show up on time, I will be fine.” HA! Not quite. The real question you should be asking yourself is, “Now what do I do to be really good?!”

You see, the truth is, now more than ever, you are going to have to work even harder than you ever did before in order to succeed. It isn’t just a matter of getting the job, it isn’t a matter of just punctuality that marks the sign of a true professional — it’s hard-won know-how carefully applied. This is an industry that has a reputation, and/or, agreement in some circles, shall we say that, “Artists can get away with being just a little late, a little unkempt, simply because they are artists!”

Since the dawn of Dionysus, the reputation of actors has swung from shaman to charlatan, and today many believe artists are no more than “spoiled children.” In fact, during Shakespeare’s era, actresses were viewed in the same class as prostitutes, thus the men played all the female parts. It was not uncommon to see the posting outside of a building that read, “No actors or dogs allowed.” We artists have had to overcome some pretty ridiculous viewpoints. But even today, there is still the consideration that we’re spoiled babies who get paid “to play,” not unlike what we did as children.

Some of us lucky ones get paid to literally “burp and fart” and who in their right mind wouldn’t want to do that?! I have gone in for post-production work on a show and recorded ONE WORD and walked off with a check for nearly $800. You may wonder if this makes me feel just a tad bit guilty, knowing that I just made more money in that one minute than most people make in a week. To put your mind at ease, no it doesn’t. The nature of the acting industry is basically “feast or famine.” Considering all the years it took to get to the place where this could even occur, it is a much appreciated “perk,” and I sincerely hope it happens to you.

Having been a voice actress for 23 years, I started out as “the new kid on the block.” From the very “get-go” I played with some of the “pioneers” of the industry, including Joanie Gerber, Dickie Beals, Don Messick, Paul Frees, Bill Scott, etc. I knew most of them by watching the credits at the end of their shows. Imagine the thrill I had when I was invited to Hanna-Barbara by my mentor Daws Butler, to sit in on the taping of Popeye. He was the voice of Wimpy and it was the first I had seen him “in action,” so to speak. I was a kid in a candy store. My eyes were bug-eyed and my mouth was agape, slightly in awe of what I was seeing and hearing. I had no idea how this industry worked. All I knew is that I had plenty of people telling me that I should do cartoons and I was quickly working overtime to make that dream come true.

There weren’t any books on “how to break into the voice over business.” There weren’t any articles written by any professional, giving a perspective on how animation worked. I was “flying solo” and because I didn’t take on anyone else’s considerations of how it “couldn’t be done,” I didn’t create any of those negative thoughts — I just did it! And I can tell you in retrospect that this is actually a very powerful position from which to be operating as an artist, I suggest you start off with the same viewpoint. The fact that I had no clue that a demo tape should be about two minutes in length didn’t stop me. Mine was about 14 minutes long and it worked just fine!

Of course, the industry has evolved quite a lot since then and I would never recommend you submitting a 14-minute demo tape today! There are plenty of reference books on voice overs available at Samuel French, an entertainment-based bookstore. You can also go to www.samuelfrench.com to find all your show business-related books and materials.

As the years rolled by and little by little, audition by audition, I began to find out for myself what was “acceptable behavior” at an audition or record. I noticed that there really wasn’t any particular protocol, that the rules were really based on common sense. I also noticed that each show I did somehow established its own rules from which to operate.