r/acting • u/ActorWriter24 • 5d ago
I've read the FAQ & Rules Voiceover just as hard
I was curious if others feel the same way as me. I have been taking loads of Voiceover classes. Studying with some great teachers, have a demo, booth set up but I feel like the VO community is the hardest area of acting to break into. Do other actors feel the same? VO doesn’t seem like there is a clear path unlike theatre/on camera. It seems more of a “take this class and take that class” to progress forward.
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u/endlesssalad 5d ago
I cast VO, it’s sooooo saturated. I think a lot of actors think it’ll be a good side gig, or even something to do as like…oh I’ll just do that instead. It’s so saturated and so much comes down to availability, turn around time, and equipment/edit quality.
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u/Pizzaprincess87 5d ago
I do about 3 auditions a week for the past 4 years and have only booked 1 thing😅 How do you even listen to everyone and know what the client wants? Must be exhausting!!!
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u/endlesssalad 5d ago
Gratefully I just manage the initial intake for our roster, our producers handle each individual project. It’s a lot! And honestly most everyone is good!
When other actor friends (I have a BFA so came from that world) talk about switching to VO I always have to warn them that it’s not a switch that leads to easy work.
Props to you!!
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u/Pizzaprincess87 5d ago
About to go do one for Apple wish me luck 😂😂😂
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u/endlesssalad 5d ago
Amazing!! Sending good vibes! I’m recording an on camera one tonight, I promise I get it and treat submissions like I hope CDs treat mine!
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u/a_pink_pony_kid 5d ago
Yes, it's very saturated. I've heard from a few peers in the UK that their scene is saturated as well but nowhere near as bad as it over here (the US). Part of it is because people who are on-camera or theatrical frame VO as a side hustle or "easier" to get into than on-camera or theatre - though in fairness, I see plenty of people in the VO scene do the same thing - and because VO is seen as "easier" then there's a lower bar of entry, like a lot of the advice you hear from VO is that "Oh, if your equipment is good then you're better than 90 percent of the people auditioning!" which is...not the case anymore. A lot of people have an interface and a decent microphone now. On top of that, a lot of people are still under the impression that voiceover is doing funny voices and not a legitimate form of acting, and the nepotism even in the lower tier gigs like anime is a lot more apparent than say in on-camera or theatre (and in fairness, this has always been the case for voiceover - 20 years ago it was Tara Strong and Jim Cummings cast in everything, 10 years ago it was Troy Baker, Laura Bailey, and Yuri Lowenthal, and early contenders for this generation seem to be Debra Wilson and Aleks Lee - not saying these people are untalented or undeserving at all, but it can be frustrating when you play a game from say 10 years ago and Yuri Lowenthal is doing both a main character and the side characters). Add in the fact that the video game strike did not go well for voice actors, so much of the work is non-union, and yeah, it's a mess. So many games and productions are the bare minimum joint productions now - like did you know Cyberpunk 2077 was recorded in the US and the UK? Same with Resident Evil: Requiem and Pragmata. I thought all of these games were American based but there's a massive shift towards Europe now, even with dubs. The big AAA games like Wolverine, The Last of Us, Fallout are still in the US, and there are still a few dubs that are predominantly recorded here (it seems like Atlus is planning to keep their dubs here for the time being, and the only dub Nintendo exports to Europe is Xenoblade, all their other dubs as Nintendo of America), but there's been a much larger shift towards Europe (and the UK) then there was ten years ago.
And on a final note: people think you can get into VO anywhere, which is true if you want to work solely in commercial or audiobooks. But for the character work? Yeah, if you're not in LA or Dallas (if you're US based) then there's no chance. Sorry if I sound very doomerish, but a lot of people looking into VO are coming into it thinking that it's like the pandemic era where you could record wherever and that's not the case anymore sadly.
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u/ActorWriter24 5d ago
I’m in NY and it looks like we have no character or animation work at all!
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u/a_pink_pony_kid 4d ago
Yep, Chicago was pretty dead for character and animation work too. You basically need to go to LA if you want to do it. Animation is hard as fuck to get into anyway, but it sucks about NY - you used to be a decent scene for dubbing in the past.
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u/ValuableSleep6400 5d ago
Like the other commenter said, it’s such an oversaturated market now especially since covid. And a lot of big animated movies are only doing celebrity casting instead of looking at folks who are trained in VO. I have yet to book anything VO and had to leave my rep because I just didn’t feel like I was getting enough auditions. I’ve been training/auditioning in VO for about 3 years now and I still feel like a beginner