Voice Acting And Where To Find Auditions
Voice Acting And Where To Find Auditions
Whether you’re a seasoned or budding voice actor, you’ll know that finding auditions is not always as straightforward as stage or film acting – except perhaps during the global pandemic.
While the pandemic made many things harder, one thing it has helped with is an increase in remote working practices. This has been a boon for voice actors who can now audition online for jobs all over the world with no need to be in the same city or timezone.
While in-person auditions may still pop up from time to time, online is increasingly common. However, in this guide, we’ll look at both options and how to make sure you’re never missing a valuable opportunity to audition.
What Is Voice Acting?
An art in itself, voice acting involves the use of only the actor’s voice to convey meaning or disseminate information. The actor is never physically seen, only their voice is used in production. This makes it ideal for those who have acting flair but prefer privacy or hate being in front of an audience.
Can Anyone Engage In Voice Acting?
Voice acting is often performed by individuals who are well-known already actors – particularly in animated productions where their star power is recognised. However, many voice actors exclusively do voice work with no physical acting at all.
Virtually anyone or any age can try their hand at voice acting. However, it does require a certain level of skill, it is not simply talking into a microphone for money! Most voice actors work on their craft consistently and engage the help of acting coaches and voice coaches to progress in their field.
What Type Of Work Can I Audition For As A Voice Actor?
Voice acting is required across many industries and comes in many forms including but not limited to:
- Video games
- Animated movies or television shows
- Documentaries
- Commercials
- Audiobooks
- Audio/radio plays
- Apps
- Radio advertising
- Instructional videos and more.
Voice acting can be just as lucrative as stage or screen acting provided you know where to find consistent work and establish yourself as a sought-after performer.
If you’re hoping to become a voice actor, you may like to view our blog on how to get started.
Finding Voice Acting Auditions
Whether your audition is online or in-person is going to be outlined in the job advertisement itself. There is no differentiation on where to look for online or in-person auditions, however there will be certain guidelines and expectations for the audition.
There are several trustworthy platforms on which voice-acting work is advertised. Popular options include Voice123, Voices and freelancing platforms such as UpWork. These types of roles will often be for commercials, radio advertising or similar.
Many of these jobs will be once-off, smaller parts but can be a great way to expand your portfolio and gain experience.
If you’re hoping to secure work with a larger corporation such as Microsoft, Google, Shopify or similar within the tech industry you’ll need to keep an eye on their recruitment process directly. You may even like to send them an expression of interest with examples of your work for consideration on future projects.
Similarly, if your dream is to work in animation such as with Disney for example, you’re going to need to be proactive in reaching out to their casting team.
Working on large-scale productions such as animated films is highly competitive, in these instances having an agent who will seek out and submit you for these types of roles can be highly beneficial.
Securing Auditions
Aside from Googling and trawling through job listings, there are some other practical steps you can take as a voice actor towards securing work. Just as with any small business, much of your time is going to be spent on admin, rather than an actual voice recording.
Be sure to include these tasks in your operations to increase your chances of finding work:
- Email companies directly that you are interested in working with
- Be sure to attend industry events where networking can connect you with new opportunities
- Work on demo reels showcasing different voice skills – voice work on a documentary will not be the same as for a video game for instance
- Keep your online profiles up to date with current work and demos
- Continue to hone your skills through acting classes and voice coaching
Being prepared and proactive is the best way to not only find voice acting work but secure it. Once you begin to secure more roles, you will also establish your own industry connections which can further support you in finding roles you are interested in.
Help With Voice Acting
If you’ve been applying for a variety of roles as a voice actor but are having limited success, the team at The Actors Pulse can help. With specialised voice and dialect coaches as well as seasoned acting coaches, we can help you refine your vocal performances.
We work with our clients to not only develop their voice skills but help them diversify their performances to suit a wider range of audiences. Different speaking and acting styles are required depending on the voice work required – for example, an audiobook will not have the same sound as a commercial.
As leading experts in the Meisner technique, we can help you transfer believable, natural acting skills into your voice work and help you stand out from the crowd.
We’ll also teach you valuable techniques for protecting your voice such as warm-up techniques, how to breathe at punctuation, memorise scripts, how to keep your jaw relaxed, shape words properly and other important voice skills.
Through consistent coaching in voice and acting, your confidence as a voice actor will shine through in your auditions whether in-person or online. With our guidance, your demo reels will truly showcase your abilities and enhance your chances of securing your ideal voice over role.
For support with all things voice acting contact the expert team at The Actors Pulse today at 0414 475 515.
Billy Milionis is one of the few Australians to have ever studied under the legendary master teacher, the late Sanford Meisner. Billy has also studied story structure and scene analysis techniques with John Truby and later at UCLA. He has also spent several years doing improvisation in Hollywood with the L.A. Connection. In addition, he trained in the technique of Stella Adler, Practical Aesthetics and Lee Strasberg’s method.