Computer hardware mega-companies can agree on USB across the board, so why can’t voiceover-land agree on a common way to name audition files?
Can We Just Standardize Audition File-Naming Please?
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Auditions
Your 5-Millionth Audition
They pop up in my Gmail, and I exhale deeply. No longer do I gleefully greet each audition request with the hope of opportunity. I used to. But now, they've become a hassle. Like a robo-call. "Just go away, willya?" I look for reasons to delete them one by one until only the likliest seem...
Producers & Agents: Tell Your Clients to Define “Conversational”
You Can't Handle the Truth! "Conversational" is the most lame, hackneyed, and meaningless script direction you can give. Admit it, clients typically have no idea what conversational means. Asked to define it, they would end up writing directions longer than the script itself (and you often do). ...
The Discerning Auditioner
You should audition for every job that fits your wheelhouse. Knowing your wheelhouse is the trick. So...half the jobs are off the slate for me. I'm not a woman, and I don't do female voices. I'll also pass on most of those that ask for a youthful, energetic 20-something. Honestly, I think I can...
7 Essential Reminders Before You Send That Audition
Actually, there are maybe 15-20 things you CAN do before you send each audition...but these 7 points cannot be overlooked...the Holy Grail of "must-do" actions on the pre-flight list. This checklist is humbly submitted as my own intellectual content. I'm not making even close to $5,000/week in...
Audition Head Trips
THE POSER Most foundational psychological theory holds that we present to the world the person we want people to see. Apparently as young humans, the world seems too daunting for most of us, and we learn early on to construct a facsimile of ourselves (with a few unique modifications) through...
(Embarrassingly) True Story
Setting the stage: A well-known, top-notch commercial audio studio in a major city puts up a call for auditions on Voices.com. The Specs: The voice-seeker is looking for a Pirate voice...something...well....loud and boisterous and over-the-top mean sounding...like the sterotypical pirate we all...
How To Sound Like Yourself
'Seems like a ridiculous proposition -- sounding like you...but where a voice talent gets waylaid is in reading the directions that accompany the audition script. What's even worse is when the casting director sends along a link to a YouTube video, and they want you to emulate the style of voice...
The Trouble With Traveling
This is more than coincidence. This is uncanny. At least twice before I’ve blogged that a regular part of my business plan should be that I travel…like…all the time. ‘Cause when I do..I invariably catch a boatload of sudden interest in my voice. Wednesday, it took me 12 hours to drive...