Birth of a voice-actor: (found at THIS blog)
“I work at a radio station as a front desk receptionist and I love my
job. I was asked the other day by my boss if I would be interested in
doing a commercial for the station…such fun I can hardly stand it.“
Voice-over pro’s have been battling this kind of thing since Marconi. How can we argue against the boss cutting corners on the budget, recognizing a budding talent, or taking advantage of such enthusiasm?
Uh, I don’t think we can. But the blog led me to THIS professional voice-actor’s website, which in turn led me to THIS site:
INSTANT VOICEOVERS, VOICEOVERS AT THE SPEED OF SOUND.
Hmmmmm…. anybody heard of this place?
They have a stable of “30 fresh news voices”, but only provide first names and a commercial demo sample. Plus, they offer the interesting category of who’s “currently available”.
I’m wondering if they have to constantly check-in, and if they’ve contracted to “be available” for so many hours a week.
Every time I run across another pay-to-play, or subscription VO site, I wonder if I should be on it. Yes, I am a paying member of some popular sites now…some of which have returned jobs, some of which haven’t.
Many and varied are the opinions of whether these sites are worth it. Some professional voice-actors make their way with these sites. Me? I’m starting to think they’re not the route to the kind of clients I ultimately want to curry (I’ll not unpack that statement for now). I do acknowledge, though, a minimal involvement in some of the more active subscription sites, merely as a marketing tool…although I’m not even sure I connect that dots on THAT theory.
I mean…if the front desk receptionist is voicing stuff that otherwise would probably be making it to the subscription site listing…do I really stand a chance against the hordes, the rabble?
Chart your own course, then go after it.
CourVO
