Use this thread to post your headshots for feedback, get info on your age range/type, find good headshot photographers, ask any questions you may have about headshots. If you are posting a DIY headshot for feedback, and not just a snapshot in order to get feedback on your age range/type/etc, it is advised that you do at least some basic research on what actor headshots look like--composition, framing, lighting. You will find a Google Image search for "actor headshots" to be very helpful for this. Non-professional shots are fine for age/typecasting; please keep in mind that one picture is a difficult way to go about this. Video of you moving and speaking would be ideal, but understandably more difficult to post. For what it's worth, the branding workshop at SAG-AFTRA recommends a five-year age range. That's inclusive, so for example 19-23, 25-29, 34-38, etc.
I’m an 18 year old girl from LA and have no acting experience. I am currently taking an acting workshop, and my coach said I need to get headshots. I don’t necessarily feel like a good actor. I think there’s a lot more I need to learn. I know classes and Headshots are necessary, so if anyone has any recommendations for either around the area, I would really appreciate it!
Ready to take your voice acting to the next level? Casting a Male Actor for an ASMR Best Kept Secret is an audio platform that creates fiction sensual audio stories for women. Our platform allows women to ditch the typical visual mediums and command their bodies in audio format. The listener is the star of their scene. Your voice and our sound effects set the scene to take the listener on an erotic journey. Not only providing steamy scenarios, but audio also allows for the female to take charge of herself and feel sexy doing it. We bring the fantasy to life. See our subreddit for example of our work- [r/MyBestKeptSecret](https://www.reddit.com/r/MyBestKeptSecret/) We're looking for a fearless, versatile male actor would who be interested in bringing to life various roles and scenes. From a caring loving boyfriend to a commanding dominant. This is a great opportunity for you to challenge your acting skills. Atypical & challenging scenes. Important- You MUST have acting experience and be able to properly perform a script with explicit material in it. Experience working on stage or with a scene partner is preferred. Consistent work every month for at least the next year. A few hours of recorded audio each month is what we are looking for at this stage. You must be 18+. You must own a microphone/recording setup. Strong acting skills - be able to deliver good performance over audio and be comfortable with working from scripts. However, improvisation can be discussed for certain audios. Experience is preferred but not a necessity Production status: "You can retain total anonymity and our typical pay is $100-$125 per hour of recorded audio. Great for anyone with some spare time looking to make some good money on the side. MUST be able to act and perform a script with adult material in it! Please do not apply if you are a commercial VO artist primarily with no acting experience. The audio will be posted online on our Patreon. Total anonymity for the performer. Interested? Please email Alexis Fire at [alexis@yourbestkeptsecret.co.uk](mailto:alexis@yourbestkeptsecret.co.uk) for Audition Information.
I understand that it's going to take a long time until AI is able to actually "Act" but as the technology advances, how long will it be until TTS can replace us for commercials, and jobs where acting is less important than transferring information? (I'm mostly thinking of explainer videos) A customer just sent me an explainer video that he wants me to re-do. The original video wasn't that great and I kept thinking "This voice actor is pretty bad." That was until I realized it was TTS technology. It's getting better, to the point that I thought it was a person reading poorly. I think they'll always be a place for "acting" in the purest sense of the word. But how long do we have explainer videos and basic commercials? 10 years? 20?
it makes me feel less like a proffesional actor. it just takes me so long and then i still get the nerves that make me forget... it sucks. im still new to this whole acting thing but i really do love it. i just wish learning lines was easier, even with the first letter method i still forget the lines until i look at the paper. ive got a long ish monologue to remember and im really struggling. i have to perform it in 2 hours and ive been learning it since yesterday and still cant recite it with my eyes closed, what do i do guys? thank you so much.
I live in LA, I impulsively sent my photo to an open call thing my friend reposted from a legitimate casting director (“applying does not ensure that you will be confirmed for an audition” it said) anyway, an hour later I was confirmed for an audition. The description also said “You do not need to be an actor to be considered. The director is very open to working with someone new and wants the film to feel as authentic as possible.” I have no experience acting or auditioning, which I guess is ok, but i have no idea what to expect, i just know I’ll have to read a few lines from a script. Does anyone have any advice?
For commercial, there are clear benefits to being non-union. It seems more and more ads are finding what they need, and for cheaper, from the pool of non-union actors. What about theatrical, though? I can't really think of any benefit to being non-union there. I guess better access to low budget student films? But even those often have microbudget agreements and can work with SAG. Is being non-union for theatrical explicitly bad?
I left acting several years ago to go into marketing/advertising. I'm curious to see where former/semiretired actors ended up!
I’ve always wondered how these highly successful actors have enough time to do all of their work in a single year. Like, you have actors who act as series regulars on a tv series ranging from like 13-22 episodes & then still do like 2-4 movies all in that year. Then you have actors who can find a way to do like multiple tv shows at once (this one is mind boggling lol) Rose Byrne for example is one I really know is ALWAYS on/in something & im like how does she have time to live a personal life, film all these movies & now she’s on a new TV show for Apple+ Emma Kenney is another one, she was doing two shows at once. Shameless & Rosanne/The Connors. For me, I feel like you have to be a GOOD actor to be able to do several jobs so often, because I feel like I’d struggle with like separating each character, remembering separate lines, etc. kudos to them lol
I've heard actors recommend it but they were all in L.A. Are projects posted on there in smaller markets too or at least NY and ATL? [uptodateactor.com](https://uptodateactor.com) is a new one for me and looking at the website I'm not even sure what they offer.
So I dove into acting during the pandemic, took a bunch of zoom classes, and have been firing off self-tapes for the past few months. I recently landed some major roles in a handful of local non-union & unpaid productions, and while I was excited at first, now that shooting has started I’m beginning to second-guess myself. These are literally some of my first ever film credits, so im trying to be a little easier on myself cuz Im not used to acting in front of, well, other actors, let alone on a real set with real cameras and all that. Like my one bit of experience before this was a small part in a high school play, years ago. But every time I come home from a day’s shoot, I can’t help but feel like my performance for the day was nowhere near as good as what I know I’m capable of. And when I run through how the day went in my head, I worry that I sounded too “rehearsed” if that makes sense, or that I spoke to fast, sounded too unnatural, too much like I’m “acting,” etc. And I feel embarrassed for myself, and can’t help but think irrational stuff, like how the director must regret casting me, and how the other actors must loathe acting off me, Like I can’t help but feel like I’m ruining these productions, and that I should just give up on acting after all this so I don’t ruin anymore lol. Like I know it’s irrational and melodramatic, but part of me is still like “what if I’m right to feel this way,” yunno? I know that to a certain degree, I won’t be able to act at my full potential until I’m more comfortable on set, but I really do feel like a failure, to put it concisely. Does this feeling ever go away? What can I do about it? I’ve also only had like, a week to learn my lines for two of these productions, which I think is contributing to my anxiety — is that the norm? Do actors typically have more time to sit with their lines for more “professional” productions? Ugh, I guess I just don’t know how to judge my acting now that I’ve already been cast. Like a good self-tape or audition is rewarded with being cast in the role, but now that I’ve gotten that part out of the way, idk how to tell if I’m on the right track, and idk if anyone would bother telling me if I was truly terrible, or if they’d just put up with it for now and just ghost me and move on, yunno? Anyway thanks for those who’ve read this far into my ramblings lol, any advice would be much appreciated!
I just booked my biggest item yet - a feature. I know they have already posted on deadline about it re: two major a list stars as leads (I’ll be one of the two supporting actors in scenes opposite of them) but I was wondering how and if you’ve ever made deadline? I don’t have lots of money to spend on publicists so I’d love any feedback as I know virtually nothing about this part. Thanks.
So I have always heard that actors need to book co star or guest star role before they are even considered by casting for a series regular role. Recently I saw a girl who I had never heard of book one of the leads on a new HBO max show and she has never been in anything before. This is her very first acting job. She's signed to a great talent agency and management. I also saw she goes to an acting school in NY. How do things like that happen? I'm really curious.
Hey guys I’m in my early 20s and am looking to fill the 6 months before I start auditioning for drama courses with some full time, guaranteed paid work, that isn’t dealing with rude customers and the same daily routine lol! So I’ve started to think about applying for an internship at a talent agency to get some experience of what goes on behind the scenes and make some connections with all the kinds of people that associate themselves with a talent agent. I was wondering if anyone else has done this and if it helped them open more door that where previously closed? I also am worried that they will think I’m just a wannabe actor who’s wasting their and other people time? Let me know what you guys think :))))
I’m strongly considering applying as I’m seeing a lot of their actors working and I think they could be an agency I could get into. Does anyone have experience working with them? What’s it like? I’m hoping I could have an agent that negotiates for me this time around.
I need the expert psychologists on this one. If I am a person who uses comedy to give meaning and indulges in self-depreciation, what sort of fields would I best be suited for and enjoy? Maybe stand-up?
So I really wanna be an actor but I have to wait a year (til I’m 18) to start trying out for auditions and hopefully get an agent. However, I’m wondering if YouTube can help acting in any way? If yes, are there specific types of videos I could make??
I'm doing an assignment for my careers course where we have to study a career of our choosing, and I chose to study voice acting. One of the aspects of the career we have to find out about is the earnings of entry-level, median, and experienced workers. I've tried looking them up but I couldn't find anything really helpful. Does anyone know what an average earning would be for the different levels of experience?
This is a question coming from someone in TX! Should I look into moving to the big cities? Are the big cities in states like Georgia, Florida, and Texas good places to start out? Are the chances of finding good projects and agents higher in what I call the acting “hotspots” (LA, NYC, etc)? I need some thoughts and answers from some experienced people! ;D thanks!
Because I’m a realist and I don’t want to chase something I might not enjoy in the long run. Say I book a TV or film roll, what can I expect in the day of the life as an actor? What’s it like being on set? What are the challenges?
I need a Photographer thats in TORONTO that can do a proper HS (Headshot) for **film actors**. One who does it all the time, in other words, one that "primarily" does HS's for film actors. Can you name any ? my guy retired last year, I only found that out today.
What would we as a community say that is? When do you think an actor is having their breakout? 2021 will the breakout year for many of us, but what does that mean?
My acting career was doing really well before the pandemic. I was getting one professional role per month and doing background work or working as a host the rest of the time. I went back to taking acting classes during the pandemic and it hasn’t been going well. My acting teacher refuses to believe that I am a professional actor. When I told him that I got more than 30 union roles, he says that it was just background work. It was not. Most of these roles were non speaking roles but they did require a special skill and I had an actor contract. And I also had many speaking roles. He refuses to consider me as a professional actor. He also says that the reason why I am not working is my “disease”, my “problem” and when he says that, he is actually talking about my autism. He complains that I make people uncomfortable, look crazy, have bad social skills, etc. and this is why I am not working. I never had any complaints from anyone else in the industry but maybe they are not telling me this straight to my face. Other than that, he is a great teacher when it comes to acting, but not when it comes to building confidence. I even developed an imposter syndrome because of him and believe I am not good enough when applying for roles. Is he a bully or should I really try to fix my “problem”?
Is it the writing, directing, casting director or a combination???
I saw a post on this sub asking about if Asians in general had a chance, and one of the comments was saying how South Asians have the least chance to be cast out of any group. It did discourage me a bit. Usually for most, "asian" means people who hail from Korea, China, Japan, etc. South asians are usually not included in the umbrella term "asian" so I wonder what opportunities for SA actors exist. if you have a good understanding of the industry is there any demand for south asians (desis- indians, pakistanis, etc)? Also for any SA actors who might find this, what is your experience when it comes to casting specifically looking for "Asians"- do you get callbacks or not?
Hello there! I’ve been researching acting showcases for my 16 year old daughter and saw one posted on Backstage as “featured.” A lot of research has lead me to believe they’re either really helpful or a scam, which is a really broad spectrum. So you can see my dilemma. Lol Have any of you participated in any actors showcases (online or in person) and did you find it to be helpful? Thank you!
I see people talk about promoting extracurricular skills that you *do* have but, I never see anything for the opposite. Should you tell an agent about an extracurricular skill that you can't do if you think it'll make their job "hard?" It would be silly to put it on your resume/profile but, what about discussing it once you get a meeting? I'm not a confident swimmer (I'm working on it) so, I'm wondering if it'll affect work later on if I don't get around to doing classes? Since most working actors can't pick and choose their roles/scripts. Yes, yes, I know swimming is a good skill to have for life, in general, but, besides that, how often does it come up in acting? It would be dumb to believe that if the CD isn't looking for a swimmer, it means the character doesn't swim at all, right? Has anyone ever done a water scene here? Strong/competitive swimmer or not, lol.
How's it going everyone. I'm a stage actor and have recently thought about moving some things online. I have thrown together a couple of pieces and uploaded them [here](https://soundcloud.com/michael-fogarty-9), I haven't put together a demo yet but really enjoyed doing these. I would love any and all feedback thanks.
Hello everyone! First post here! I'm an Israeli actress new to LA and would love to collaborate with filmmakers and other actors to create and collaborate. lets connect! check out my website if you got a minute. private message me or leave info in my website. See you out there! [www.morbenhaim.com](https://www.morbenhaim.com)
I know that obviously when you are studying for any career you have to start with a side job. But I was wondering if I should have a back up job that’s almost permanent as the actors do not get paid a great salary? I am 16 and have know experience but I am so passionate to do this for the rest of my life because I would love to help directors tell there story.
I have been given the possibility to audition for an advertisement for a rehabilitation clinic, in which I would play a recovering addict talking about how well my road to recovery is going. But I got cold feet if one of my first acting gigs is playing someone with addiction for an advertisement, which can blur the lines between truth and fiction more than movies and TVs does, since it's not always obvious those are actors. The agency doing the casting is well-known, I guess, so maybe I'm overthinking this. But in your opinion, could this be harmful for a new career? ​ Thanks :)
Then I actually got myself in front of a camera and was on a real set. The atmosphere just makes me happy, and I definitely believe that there's a certain group/type of people that gravitate towards that kind of place. I feel like I'm full of energy and just plain *life* when in front of the camera, so now I totally understand. I'm just an insecure person due to so many factors, yet that all seems to go away when I'm on set. The people, the equipment, the process... It's just my favorite place. I hate going to work, but I never hate *being on set*. I think it's more the idea of work than it is the actual work, for whatever reason (I can think of a few, but I'm sure it's different for everyone). But, yeah, that's my story. :)))
[View Poll](https://www.reddit.com/poll/o3zqfl)
I've been creating a lot of my own work for the last few years and I have a friend who keeps giving me unwanted critiques. I wrote and performed in a show a good few months back. It was a massive challenge to get it on stage. The director abandoned us half way through so we ended up directing ourselves. But we all pushed through and I was so excited to get up on that stage after all myself and my fellow actors hard work and what we had to go through. At the dress rehearsal when we were just testing the lights and blocking out the performance my friend who was at it told me afterwards, she couldn't believe what a terrible actor I am and how weak my voice is. She said it's best to tell me the truth as she doesn't want to be one of those people who gives people fake praise. The director who abandoned us got back in touch and wanted to be involved again. When I told her this she said I shouldn't say anything to the director about his unprofessional behaviour because I'll be blacklisted and no one will ever want to work with me again. I was very shook. I was trying to hold myself, my project and everyone together to go on stage two days later. It was definitely a massive challenge. After she saw the show she told me 'that I was only a little bit better'. I did get some lovely feedback from other people. I have to say I can be quite a shy person so it does take enormous reserves to dig deep and put myself and my work out there, and I've had some confidence issues in the past due to being badly bullied but I've worked so hard on my confidence and pushing through. People would know me as a confident and very sociable person now. I've started creating and performing in my own stuff again and getting really great feedback from my work and invited to come on talks to talk about my stuff but this same friend again is giving me unwanted critiques and keeps telling me she'll sit down and go through all my stuff and give me feedback on everything. I try to ignore it and I'm trying so hard to put it out of my head but it's starting to paralyse me, especially after working through self confidence issues from my past and I'm finding old thought patterns are beginning to creep back in and I'm beginning to doubt myself again. When I'm creating her image and her voice keeps popping up in my head and it's making me want to stop and give up completely. She makes comments that I should just focus on one area, either acting or writing or producing, that it's not possible to do everything. But if I did that I wouldn't be able to stay in the industry because most of my opportunities are coming from my own work. And people are approaching me wanting to work with me and also I've proven in the past by winning little awards for my work. Also, there's so many examples of people being hugely successful from being an actor, writer, producer, the amazing Bo Burnham being one. When she does praise me...in the next sentence it's a but...and a critique. In a group chat she did it again, but I noticed another friend came out with lovely message of encouragement. I think my other friend noticed it. I have to say this friend who critiques me is a really good person and we generally get on very well. But I'm really struggling to deal with this to the point I don't want to hang around with her anymore. One minute we're talking happily away and then she switches and bombards with criticism. Also when we were working on a project together, she ripped me apart afterwards about everything I did wrong and what not to do working on my next project and she said she doesn't need the criticism because she's only doing this as a hobby. I have to say I never felt this way in a teaching environment or when I look for a critique because I'm aware of it and I see it as a positive thing to improve. I don't know why this friends unwanted critique is affecting my confidence so badly. Has any other actor/creator out there experienced this? If so, how did you deal with it?
I’m a Chinese (M16, Non-American) and I was considering taking acting as a future profession and maybe job. However, I noticed that I don’t often see Asian actors in shows and movies, as many popular movies are usually dominated by white-skinned and black skinned-people. (I am really sorry for phrasing it like this if I sound racist it is not my intention) Hence I am wondering is it possible for us asians (eg chinese, Korean, japanese) to get cast in a Hollywood movie or series? Or more importantly, is it plausible for us to even be working in the acting department if we aim to compete/work in the “American Market” of acting?
TLDR: I am a Baltimore farm boy who is afraid of big cities but wants to be a working film actor. Which of the big three would you suggest. Hello everyone. I tried to research and find the answer to this question myself, but I figure it might be better to have direct opinions from people as well. I have been acting professionally for about five years now. Granted not all of that time has been as a working actor, but I got my first paid acting gig right out of college back in 2016, so I consider that the start of my professional acting career. For context, I grew up and still live in the Baltimore, Maryland area. I love it here, but unfortunately there isn't really much paid acting work around here. DC offers a notably larger theatre scene and a fair amount of industrials for film, but actors will be hard pressed to find and get cast in enough work to make acting a sustainable primary income. Needless to say, I have accepted the fact that if I want to become a full time working actor, I will need to move one of the big three (NYC, LA, ATL). My question is which would you suggest? To give you some context, although I have done more theater work than film, my long term goal is to become a working film actor (preferably in action related roles, but everyone and their mom also wants to do that...). I know some of you are thinking that LA is the way to go, if film is my endgame, but in the book Breaking and Entering by Phillip Carlson (a prominent agent in NYC) Phillip talks about how LA has loads of film auditions, but that is it. There is apparently no theatre scene whatsoever, so exposing yourself to agents and other members of the game is incredibly difficult. He counters that although New York is not known for its film scene, a plethora of roles for both film and television get cast there, and unlike LA, New York has an immense theatre scene (especially off Broadway) that always you attract the attention of casting agents, who can eventually get you into the auditions for roles that are appointment only (like most supporting and leading roles in film). The only issue is, New York terrifies me. I grew up on a farm, so I have never been gung ho about the whole big city living thing, and New York is about as big city as big city gets. I have accepted that this is just a frustrating necessity for my career, but the idea of getting lost in the concrete jungle makes me anxious, to say the least. I spent some time in La and I will admit, that if I had time to settle in there, I could probably get used to that environment (its more spaced out than New York) but then I refer back to the original problem of limited exposure options. I have heard that Atlanta is a nice scene because not only is it wonderfully more affordable than the other two, it also apparently feels closer to a small city like Baltimore than the booming metropolitan of New York. My main concern with Atlanta however is that I am not sure how much of a theatre scene is there, and I have heard that the majority of the supporting and leading roles for shows shot there are cast in LA and NYC anyway. Long winded explanation aside, I would like any personal anecdotes or advice that can help with this decision. Wherever I chose to go, my goal is to make the move some time in January, so I would like to have my mind made up and start planning well before then. Thank you for taking the time to read this all the way through.
don't really now how to link to this video properly... [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv1DbUOw3o4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv1DbUOw3o4) tiny but useful advice on adapting your theatre training to on-camera from a casting director! skip to 2:00 for the actual advice. watch the rest of the video for the hell of it, and to get a little context for my advice.
Up to £20/$20 payment depending on the amount of lines, these will be for a series of mine, its in the style of a visual novel (look at Danagnronpa for reference, its a good example!) I'm currently looking for female voice actors, as mentioned! You must have Discord, DM me on this site, I'll respond with my tag, please give examples^^
Working with animated characters in a live-action environment is increasingly becoming more common these days. Jurassic World, Space jam, Game of Thrones, to smaller budget things like The Stanley Dynamic, or car insurance commercials, It is common for actors having to work with animated characters. However aginst with an animated character is something that even the best actors in Hollywood struggle with, It is hard for many of them to feel awkward to knowing how to act with something that isn't there. However, this Hoskins's performance in roger rabbit works, as He had professional mime training, meaning Hoskins's knew how to to do this trick. As a result, his performance feels natural, and real when he's acting with the toons. As such I highly recommended you Rewatch(Or most currently watch if you haven't) and study Bob Hoskins's performance in the film. Try your best and remove the toons from the eatch scene. Notice how 100 % of the time he accurately imagines the Eye line of every character. Notice how also accurately imagine the height and width, weight, and texture of every Toon/Object he interact's with. Then compare it with pretty much any other performance with an animated characters, and you will notice how much less natural and more awkward the performance is. I think studying Bob Hoskins's miming techniques in the film , is something that could potently help you stand out in an a audition, especially if their is visual effects of any kind involved.
Hey all! Long post here. I've been hard at work on my first big screenwriting project, "Thunderclap", for a few months now. I've moved into a phase of the project where I'd like to begin working on a "concept" or "pitch" trailer. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, it's essentially a smaller-scale movie trailer that serves to show the tone and style of the project, without the need to be a full-length trailer. Because it's just a concept trailer, I'll be piecing it together using raw footage from online and miscellaneous clips from similar movies. Although those parts won't be original, I'd like to have some voiceovers and dialogue from the main characters (and some others) during the trailer. That's why I wanted to reach out to you guys in this community! **Title:** "Thunderclap" **Genre:** Action/Comedy **Logline:** After the death of his former partner, a washed-up, middle-aged superhero must reunite his old team in order to vanquish the looming threat of supervillains. Since it's voice acting, it can be done during any time from anywhere (though I'd like to have a quick one-on-one with each actor/actress beforehand). Below I have the characters in the trailer, as well as a short summary and celebrity casting choice for each. **Character List (no specific order):** * **Joel / Thunderclap** *(Celebrity Casting: Will Ferrel)*: Male. Mid- to late-40s. A washed-up, middle-aged superhero. *Wants* superhero fame, but *needs* to feel appreciated. * **Snowstorm** *(Celebrity Casting: Carey Mulligan)*: Female. Joel's former superhero partner. Stole glory and fame from his years ago when they were young, causing Joel to be dishonorably discharged from the team. * **Newscaster**: Any gender. 20-35 years old. * **Night Owl** *(Celebrity Casting: Sigourney Weaver)*: Female. Late 40s, early 50s. Much more reserved than the others. Retired by her own accord years ago. * **Commander** *(Celebrity Casting: John Goodman)*: Male. Late 60s, early 70s. A rough-and-tough army man, current commander of the Justice Avengers. * **Blackwing** *(Celebrity Casting: Josh Hutcherson)*: Male. Mid- to late-20s. Edgy, hot-headed, and takes himself too seriously. If you have any interest in any of these roles, feel free to leave a comment or send me a message directly! The script for the concept trailer will depend on which roles we have filled, but I will send out a rough draft of it ASAP. I can also send the full-length script upon request, so you can get a better feel for whichever character you have. Thanks a million! I look forward to working with you on this fantastic project!
I'm a computer scientist and regularly need VAs to dub video presentations for me. So far I've hired 3 VAs from this sub (and referred many more) with great results. Based on this experience, here's a list of tips for new artists and first-time customers to help them work together smoothly and successfully. - For video presentations, by far the simplest process is for the VA to play the presentation and record the VO at their own pace, producing an audio file. Then you export the video and cut it to sync up with the audio (small adjustments to the audio (such as lengthening/shortening pauses) are easy enough to make even for a beginner). - There is no such thing as "the best VA", every project is different with different demands. Create an artistic vision for your project *before* you start browsing artists' portfolios. Think of what voice will suit your project best (male/female/don't matter, tone, pace, casual/corporate-y, etc.) *then* start looking for *that*. Sure this "epic EA sports-like voice" sounds...epic, but is it really suited for your use case? - If you're considering artists without portfolios (or you like a particular artist but their portfolio doesn't quite include what you have in mind and you're not sure they can deliver it) provide the script, a description of the project, and exactly what voice you have in mind (include examples!). Let the artists do a few lines and email you a sample. Don't focus on the quality--that will typically be much better for the final recoridng anway, focus on the tone/style. - Have a briefing, take your time, don't be shy (neither of you), don't leave any questions un-answered. For a 10min presentation I typically need 30min-60min to hammer out all the details (@artists: factor this into your pricing!). Start the meeting by dialing in the general tone. Artists should take the initiative here and do a few variations. There is no right/wrong at this early stage--you're just brainstorming/searching. Once you find something that you like fine-tune it until you love it. If you don't know the terms of the trade (I certainly don't) describe what you want as best as you can: too monotonic, too casual, more enthusiastic, less corporate-y, etc. Once you've dialed in the tone go thru the entire script and point out any special wishes/considerations ("I really want you to sell me on slice 14", "This part, talking about our competition, has to be presented in a neutral, more professional manner than the rest", ...), clarify the pronounciation of uncommon terms, etc. You want to spend too much time in this stage rather than too little and leave no room for interpretation/ambiguity to avoid questions/corrections/re-recordings =O lateron. Be as precise as [Jamie Foxx working with Tarantino](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K8j55V3Lvw). - VAs are basically actors (with their voices) and can do amazing things. Don't hesitate to be demanding, ask them what's possible if you're not sure. "Can you say that line half an octave deeper?" - @VAs, overall you need to take more initiative. You're selling a product, I'm just the customer. I want to be taken by the hand and walked through the whole process with you projecting confidence and giving me a feeling that everything is going according to plan. Give me clear, step-by-step instructions: payment, amount, return policy, any guarantees, briefings, recordings, exact specifications of the final product, delivery date, etc. (Just because you take the initiative doesn't mean you can't be accomodating to my needs/circumstances/etc. ;) ). Clarify the *exact* pricing and payment methods early on, be assertive. "OK we agree on $150 for 10min, plus $10 for every additional, full minute. $75 now, rest upon delivery. Payment via PayPal to ... with subject ...". I've heared of too many horror stories about disagreements/arguments where artists haven't been paid properly, most of which could've been avoided by better communication. - @VAs, many of you are pricing yourselves either too expensive or too cheap. I've had VAs without portfolios dig up some pricing tables floating around the internet and then coming back to me with "that's gonna be $300/min Sir"--yeah..no!, I'm not paying that esp. if you have nothing to show for. I didn't get hired into a $150K/year job straight out of high school either but had to work my way up. On the other hand many VAs offer to work for free, which is bad as well and not really that inviting/confidence-inspiring either: I have a project with a deadline that I need to meet. I need an artist who can deliver--I can't afford to gamble just so you can "gather experience". Not having to pay in case of failure is of little consolation to me. Sure, your pricing is a great way to make yourself more appealing to potential cusotmers, esp. if you lack a portfolio, but never go down to $0! If you don't have a portfolio and are struggling to find gigs, rather than offering low prices you should create a portfolio! Simply dub some commercials, scenes from animes/disney cartoons/etc.--you don't need to tell anybody that you haven't been paid for those ;) - @VAs please don't apply blindly for gigs, not every gig is the same. If you want to dub my video presentation for a math conference you should be vaguely familiar with mathematics. You should know that Euler is pronounced "oil-er" and not "you-ler". If you don't I probably won't think very highly of you and not hire you (back) even though you might be a perfectly good VA otherwise..
Hello, I am new to this subreddit, for years I have wanted to become an actor, I think I could get a little experience in my middle school musical. I have all the traits and vocal level and absolutely everything and a lot of potential according to the director, we have auditions in the fall but we have started working on it and will keep working on it during the summer. I want to do it, but the thing that I question is, how easy is it to memorize a script? Could anybody tell me, I’d appreciate if it could be told in a scale from 1-10. Thanks and have a wonderful evening!
Hi there fellow voice actors and aspirants. I've been building a studio over lockdown and one of the issues I find is with the cable length of my interface being too short to reach into my booth, I have a hole drilled in the wall for it but it's still a bit too short. Now I read that you shouldn't have an overly long usb cable running from your interface to your laptop or whatever. Currently I have to make do by running my XLR under the door (as I don't really want to make an XLR sized hole in the wall) What are some methods that you chaps use?
Hi all! I'm very very new to the voice acting and voice over scene. I've done one voice acting character workshop in which I was told I have good acting ability and voice for acting and voice over work. That's about as far as my resume goes. So as you can see, I'm essentially clueless as to the finer details of starting a voice acting/voice over career. This brings me to the reason for this post. I have a lot of gaps in my knowledge. Though I've done research and have practiced reading scripts, I don't feel I know nearly enough to take any first substantial steps. I'm going to list a few questions about things I really feel like I should know, and will hopefully help others in my position. If you can answer one then please do! If you can answer multiple, then that's awesome! Any extra advice or information, as well as information resources such as gravy for the brain wouldn't go a miss either. Apologies if any of these questions seem irrelevant or stupid. And also, I already know to manage my expectations on this. For the moment, the reason I'm interested in voice acting and voice over is simply due to interest alone. I don't expect to get a lot of gigs at first, or even any for a long time, and I know there is a lot of competition for jobs. So, the questions: 1. Is voice acting included in the catagory for voice overs? This is more a terminology question. For instance, would a voice over coach be expected to be able to teach voice acting? 2. Voice over coaching is something I'm looking into. As I have no experience on the business side or the work side of voice overs, would a voice acting coach be a good way to learn both? Or is it a better idea to just try amateur work and learn by doing? 3. I am interested in both voice over and voice acting, I.e, character acting as well as voice overs/ narration work for ads and whatever. Is it smart to try to persue both? 4. Character actors seem to have a range of accents and voices they can do. These are usually shown off in demo reels. Are character voices and accents necessary to succeed in voice acting, or are they just preffered? 5. This ties into question 4. I am trying to learn to do character voices, just by playing around with accents and tone and voices. Usually I'll just change my voice however I can, think of what kinda character would suit that voice, then model it to that character slightly more (though, I'm still not good at that yet since, as mentioned, I am new). Is there a way YOU learned to do character voices that you could recommend me, or any resources that could give me an idea of where to start? (I've realised going through the alphabet in an accent helps with accents and so may help me become more fluent in whatever voice I create). 6. I know my voice is suited to voice over, narrations and advert kind of work as well as character work. I'm British (South England) with a upper middle class accent and a deep voice. Is this enough to just start looking for amateur work in narration? I assume acting work would require more practice and training than simply reading an ad script (not to shit on people who do ads, terms and conditions sound hard, I respect you for being the posh rappers of society). I get pronunciation and fluency in sight reading is important to train for both, but doesn't seem like something I'd need to get perfect considering I can just re-record it and stich it together if it's not right before I send the complete work. 7. Advertising your services sounds like a skill that you work on along with your voice over work. Improving your demo reels regularly, putting up your services on multiple websites, and actively networking to find work and keep existing contacts. Are there any websites you use, techniques you employ or resources you've found that help you manage this or simply advertise your services on? 8. What was your first voice acting/voice over job? Hearing how you started will really help prepare me for what I should expect! (I don't care about the money as much as the experience of doing work that will be used somewhere. Even if it's just an amateur film maker's project.) 9. Have you ever been offered a job you didn't know whether you were ready for at your level? And if so, how do you handle it? Did you inform them but take the job anyway? Did you decline? Did you take the job and practice certain techniques to be more prepared for the job? 10. Lastly, simply put, do you enjoy your voice acting /voice over? The reason I want to do this is because I think it'd have fun. To do it as a job would be a dream of course, but I don't expect it to be easy. None the less, simply doing it as something on the side for a time sounds like a lot of fun, and an accomplishment. I want to put my all into this none the less, but I want to know, is it actually as enjoyable for you as it seemed.
My sister's been sending me some links and other things to help me along with my journey to becoming a voice actor. While I haven't been able to get classes yet, my sister sent me two recommendations for auditions and voice acting stuff known as Fivver and Upwork. I wanted to ask you guys if it would be worth checking out or not or if anyone has heard of these places. Your feedback is appreciated.
Recently got a manager and my prospects looked up. Really want some PR of some kind, but (am in UK btw) really wouldn't know what to do without paying ridiculous money to a big PR house that might not actually 'get me' anyway. Halp & advice dispensed, v appreciated!
Hello all. I am fairly new to acting and I have sort of been out of practice for a few years. I recently had this audition where I had to read a poem out of a play and I did terrible at it I was all fake sounding and didn't even show emotion right. I used to be fairly good and got a few compliments but now I am losing my touch. To make matters worse I was followed by an excellent nsinger and a really good actress to aced the audition and blew people away. No body commented on me. It means I am bad. I am devastated as I hate the thought of giving up my dream.
Hello everyone! I have always loved acting but due to being in a very abusive household growing up, I was never allowed to explore or learn about anything liked. I am now moved out but completely clueless on how to start a resume etc with no experience whatsoever. Would anyone be able to give me a few tips? What should I include in auditions, etc. I got a job as a lifeguard on set of a movie in my city, and just being around everything gave me such a rush! I sadly was only there for a few hours and wasn't able to mingle that much with the crew. Thank you so much!! I am planning on getting headshots taken within the next few weeks!
Why you are not getting hired or, my experience hiring a voice actor from Reddit today. *** Hey there, I run a channel called The Grand Dames and we are a group of four Grandma Gamers who have monthly tea party livestreams and talk %!&@# about games. Next month, we are coming to Twitch and I need to create an announcement for that. So I went to /r/VoiceActing and /r/recordthis and put a detailed request for what I needed, including a video that said EXACTLY what to do to apply for the job. https://www.reddit.com/r/VoiceActing/comments/o1sag9/paid_voice_actor_needed_to_voice_a_short/ Edit: To clarify, I was paying $30 for about a minute of recording. The first take was 53 seconds and the second take with silence added was 1:07. Fair for $30 in my opinion. I got around 15 applicants who were interested and only THREE, just three, followed the directions to submit their applications. The third one, /u/MickyV123, I hired because he was able to improv to bring the character to life (only one other person did this) and he was able to make the character funny. His sound quality was great as well. We met on Discord, I explained the character of Luigi and he completed the job in less than an hour, did another take with some changes in about 15 minutes and I paid him. He was kind and professional and knew I needed the job done quickly and well. It was a very pleasant experience. But the others? Man. You guys. First many, many of them just messaged me here asking me: * For the email address to send it to (I stated it TWICE in the video) * For a script (I acted out the **entire** part and then asked you to record a few, just a few, similar lines and improv something into it because I wanted a voice ACTOR, not a voice READER) * To tell me you would love to work with me (wonderful, then why not apply and stop wasting my time?) * To tell me you had a demo (and one did not even link to it after telling me that! Plus, I did not want a demo, I wanted to know if you could **do what I needed**) * To let me know you could do it in a few days (I expressly said I need a quick turnaround and I am supposed to wait for your audition for days just to see if you are a good fit? Really?) * To ask me where I lived and tell me where you lived (Just, umm, what??) And here is the kicker. After I replied with a general: >> Hi! Please follow the instructions in the video I put in the post to apply, thank you! No one actually then followed up and one of the applicants argued with me. LOL It is like, do you even want a job? The person who got the job is happily paid and hopefully spending his new found wealth (okay, well it was not that much) at the local pub and I have my voice lines. What I am looking for is someone who is: Professional Kind Quick Can follow directions, especially simple ones And can do the part (sound like the Luigi I am hearing my head)! So yeah, that was my experience hiring from the pool of talent here and maybe one of you could have done the voice even better than the actor I hired (who was wonderful don't get me wrong), **but I will never know because so many of you could not follow instructions**! I am writing this because I thought it would help some of you understand how to up your game and what it is like on this side of the hiring process. TL:DR - Follow Directions. Be quick and professional. Get hired. Get paid. Go drink.
I'm actually a PA on a project right now, but I am working towards being an actress myself. I really love this community, and I would like some advice or reassurance or anything from fellow people in the industry. So there's this one actress who is apparently a little more well-known than any of the other actors on the set. I say this because I don't know if it could have an impact on the problem. Because of the pandemic, part of my job is to take the crew's temperatures every other day (as well as the reoccurring actors) and to go around with hand sanitizer approximately every hour since we're all touching the same stuff. Today I was going to take this person's temperature, and she was outside on the phone. It takes a second or two to get a reading on the forehead thermometer thing, and I walk away as I write it down on my sheet. She knows this as she's seen me do it to countless others on set. I walked up to her, didn't say hi or anything because I noticed she was on the phone, but I figured I'd go ahead and get her temperature when I saw her because she runs around set a lot, and I have other tasks to move on to when I'm done with temperatures. She sees me walk up, and I lift the thermometer but she walks away from me very fast. I'm like okay, that's fine. I know I wasn't trying to snoop, and I'm pretty sure she knew it as well, but perhaps she just wasn't wanting me to be in her space right then? Was it wrong of me to go up to her even though I was just trying to get to my other tasks? I've only gotten her temperature once out of the three or four times I've had to take them, and that was her very first day on set. The other times she wasn't on the phone. But she also refuses the hand sanitizer. The other actors let me take their temperatures (I have done this in front of her), and they also take the offered hand sanitizer. By set protocol, it's actually supposed to be *required* to help prevent any illness among the crew and actors (emphasis on help). Even when she has nothing on her hands, she refuses and straight up ignores me. She's super sweet when I'm not trying to do this part of my job, and I know she isn't allergic to the hand sanitizer because I was actually specifically told who the one crew member was that can't have it due to skin irritation problems. I just don't know what to do. I don't know if I crossed a line somewhere, or if she's just being finicky and whatnot. Have I done something wrong? I'll be honest, I have complained about her to a fellow PA just because of her rude behavior at times (there's this and some other things), but she wasn't around, no one else should have been able to hear us, and I always acknowledged that she was nice but was just acting weird in those times. I only told the PA because I wanted them to know what they might experience when dealing with her. We both do this for the other, so we always know what's going on. I want to reiterate that nothing I ever said about her was inherently bad. Am I just worrying for no reason?
Weeee, you found me!
I'm your buddy Bottie, I was hiding behind the scenes, but now that you've found me I'd be happy to tell you what I'm doing.
I just wrote a few fun facts about Web For Actors
Would you like to take a look?
Click here to check them out. I hope it will cause involuntary audible response.
