The Voiceover Casting Director
I was recently asked to work on a project which required a lot of very specific voice actors. I of course went to my usual pool of actors to facilitate this request, but I simply could not get everything I needed. In turn, I had to partner with some other talent hosting companies to complete the job. Overnight over 500 applications came in but what surprised me was how the 80-20 rule applied here. 20% of people consumed 80% of my time whilst 20% of people delivered 80% of the results. In this article, I am going to offer my top tips from a voiceover casting director perspective.
Unneeded Voiceover Samples
Having worked on both sides of the brief, I feel I have a unique perspective on this topic. From a casting perspective, I would often send potential voice actors a question regarding their set-up or accent. Often the answer could have been as short as ‘yes’ or ‘no’. What I regularly got in response was an essay beating around the bush with an attachment to the email showcasing what they can do. If you are asked to send a sample, then send a sample. If you have not been asked to send a sample, please do not send a sample… It just clogs up the inboxes, gets mixed up with submitted work and wastes time looking through requested and needed content.
Casting Director Brief Specifics
To my surprise, when applying for multiple roles some talent would be submitting content in one file despite the brief stating I needed two. One voice actor even suggested I split them on his behalf. As someone who has voice acted for years, my chin hit the floor… In fact, I still have not sufficiently got it back into position now as the shock remains great. If you are asked for two separate recordings, provide two recordings. When dealing with the end client, a raft of auditions and navigating successful work the last thing a casting director wants to do is boot up Adobe Audition and split up a file. Sorry, there is not enough time for a casting director to do their job and yours – so the odds are in that instance, you just lost out on work.
Voice Actor Questions
Questions are a part of life, and often good questions get asked and it is helpful to avoid future oversights. Short, to-the-point questions, they are great. However, this is not always the case, some of the questions on this project were bazaar. Even though the script was a monologue I was asked if I would like someone else to read in so the character could respond. The answer is always no, just read what is on the page and send me the file. I appreciate talent and want to make a good impression and go the extra mile. I appreciate there is a desperation to book work which leads to wanting to stand out from the crowd. Well, stand out from building a good strong relationship with casting professionals not by consuming their time with questions that deviate from the brief.
The Voiceover Casting Director on the Clock
Deadlines come around so quickly, and it can be a nightmare to manage sometimes. Late hours and early mornings are a norm in this field. So, when I open a file, I expect to hear the work. 10 seconds of silence is frustrating. Imagine hearing 10 seconds of silence 500 times. You just took 83 minutes of my life over the course of this project on silence. Fortunately, this was not the case for all 500 but I hope you understand my point. Moreover, we need to talk about slates! In today’s voiceover world if you are asked to slate, then slate. Perhaps sometimes briefs will say ‘no slate’ but if there is no information on the slate then take it that no slate is required. At worst ask the question but I can guarantee 99,9% of the time if it does not state to slate or not, then do not do it, it just wastes time. If in some scenario a casting director needed to slate and forgot to mention it on the brief, you can be sure to know they would be quick to request it and very apologetically at that.
Voiceover Keyboards
My recent brief on one of the portal avenues I shared stated that I was accepting submissions by email only and not to reply on the portal. 5% of people replied on the portal. Out of 500 people, 5% did this, which counted for 25 people in total. I needed to keep my portal inbox empty to manage other projects and clients. When casting asks talent to do something, there is usually a good reason. Please just read the instructions and follow them. The consequence of this oversight meant 24 people were not considered (I replied to the first one and then could not after that). The second thing on this is when you actually do engage with the casting director just follow the specs. I had one guy asking for examples, well… examples are just not always a thing. You get the brief and if you are lucky some stimulus to get you on the road, you are the example!
ALWAYS Be Professional in Voiceover
This one took me by surprise. 500 people applied for a number of roles available. The fee was on the brief from the on-set. One guy booked the job and decided he wanted more money. I still have a red mark on my face from where I face-palmed here. But wait it gets worse! This individual began arguing with me on this topic. Well guess what happened next, he soon realised there were a number of other projects I had available, and regret suddenly consumed him when he saw the rates. Why? Because he was so rude to me that he is forever blocked on my projects. All the voice actors were happy to work for the fee, which for the nature of the job was fair. It could have been a smidge higher; it could have been lower. You do not book the job under the agreed rate and then change your mind when recording. If you do not want to work for a specific fee, do not do it, that is fine! But if you agree to it, then do not waste people’s time and u-turn. If you misread the brief (which was the case in this scenario) at least own up to it rather than kicking off accusing casting that spec info was missing.
Top Tips – Voiceover Casting Director by Alan Shires