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So you just got off the bus from Kansas, and you want to make funny voices for a living? Sure, why not. Somebody has to do it. The big question becomes: How to begin?

Courtesy of Art Today.

In the noise and hustle of L.A., it may at first appear a little daunting. But fear not. There is hope. If you have the talent and passion to work in the voice over business, there are plenty of people here to help you. While this advice centers on resources in the Los Angeles area, some of the advice can easily be transferred to London, Toronto, Sydney and all points in between.

You Need Help
The general trajectory for any successful career begins with training. (After you have attained some level of skill and comfort in creating voices, you will put together a demo tape. And the demo tape will help you to find an agent to represent your talents. And the agent, God willing, will help you to find work. But all of that comes later.)

To prepare you for the industry, you need to take the time to hone your technique and explore your creative range as a voice over artist. Don’t be surprised to realize that you should devote a good six months to a year to develop your craft.

Demo tapes can be expensive to make. It can cost anywhere between $500 and $4,000 to create one. (If it’s any consolation, you can rationalize this expense as an investment in your future.) It is an incredible waste of money to make a bad tape, with only a few, poorly developed voices to show, thinking that your Bullwinkle or Donald Duck impersonation is going to make you competitive among all possible artists.

You need to know how to market yourself. You need to know how to conjure up fifteen different characters’ voices, and how to sustain them over ten pages of emotionally varying script. A teacher will help you to do this. Through beginning, intermediate and advanced classes, a teacher will direct you on how to perform: not just for your demo tape, but also for auditions, in front of agents and casting directors.

So, that’s the punchline: find yourself a good teacher. Find someone with whom you feel you can learn and work. She, or he, will mentor your introduction into the industry from there.

Courtesy of Art Today.

Here’s Some Resources
For a comprehensive, one-stop looksee into the services, companies and studios around town, pick up a copy of the quarterly publication, The Voiceover Resource Guide. It is updated every three months, and costs US$10 for a year’s subscription (or five or six bucks for a single issue). Dave & Dave, Inc., the publisher of the guide, can be reached at (800) 851-DAVE.

If you live elsewhere you can find who is out and about in your town by visiting newsstands, specialty book stores, coffee shops, theaters, recording facilities, etc. that cater to actors and performers. Here you can find fliers, magazines and guides for your region. You can also just pick up the good ol’ telephone directory and start making calls to recording facilities, radio stations, animation studios, traditional acting schools and workshops, and anyone else listed that you think might be related to the voice over biz. You will find if you call and ask, while they may not be able to help you directly, they might make some recommendations. If the same name or company keeps coming up then you know you have someone that is known in the professional world and is probably not a fly-by-night type of organization. Also, to speak to a real, live, helpful human being, you may have to call back several times. Be prepared to call, get transferred, leave a message and wait, to no avail, for several days. Then call again! Be persistent. Remember too, while one person may not be helpful, the person that answers the next day might be.

Don’t underestimate the power of advice from professional organizations. The Screen Actors Guild (SAG), unions, clubs and associations, like Women In Animation and ASIFA (the International Animated Film Society), can all direct you. Lists of guild sanctioned agents and other resources can be obtained through these agencies, guaranteeing a level of professionalism and dependability. Also joining these types of organizations, or at least attending their events, can introduce you to the right people who can give you the real lowdown. In Los Angeles, Women In Animation has a Voiceover Group, headed by Muriel Whitaker. There are no scheduled, regular meetings, as of the writing of this article, but the mentor for the group, M.J. Lallo, can be reached at (818) 980-6576.