Tips for Amateur Voice Actors

One of the largest problems facing amateur voice acting productions is a lack of commitment in the actors. Not meeting deadlines, dropping out of productions or just plain falling off the end of the internet into a place where no e-mail is ever returned are all very real threats that can put a production to a screeching halt. The only real cure is a more educated voice actor.

-A Change in Mentality-
If you told your friends you'd meet them at the mall and at the last minute discovered you couldn't go, wouldn't you call and let them know? There are lots of common sense social etiquettes we adhere to on a day to day basis that for some reason, when it comes to the internet, get thrown out the window. There's something about the ability to just walk away with ease that becomes a real test of ones character in this technological age. Rather than think about your internet relationships and personal relationships as separate things which require different etiquette, consider the fact that regardless of how you met them, they are all human beings and deserve the same amount of respect. Your day to day things may still come first but a quick e-mail to let the people you work with on the internet know what's going on doesn't take a lot of effort and helps maintain a great social network you can rely on as you continue in amateur work.

To keep those difficult e-mails to a producer to a minimum, consider these few tips:

1. Don't audition for everything.
When you audition, you are telling a producer that you are interested in their production and want the role you have auditioned for. While it's unrealistic to think if you audition for everything you will be cast in everything, there is the possibility of you biting off more than you can chew with this method.

Keep your schedule in mind, considering work, school and social interactions and decide how many roles you could feasibly handle before auditioning. Make sure to pay attention to the scale of each production, the size of the role you are trying for and the amount of competition. You won't want to take on too many large scale productions or else you'll find yourself unable to audition for new roles because of the ones you are still locked into. A lead role will require more of your time than a minor one and the more competition there is, the safer it is to audition for another production as well. Try to pick productions which have audition due dates a few weeks apart to decrease your chances of overlapped due dates for finished lines and always leave yourself flexibility to audition for that must have role that pops up unexpectedly. This should keep you from ending up with too many productions and not enough time to get them all done.

2. Set your own due dates.
The date a producer gives you to have your lines in is not tailored to your schedule so why go by it? Take a look on the calendar and find a date before the producer's deadline that does conform to your schedule and use that date instead. You'll save yourself from not making use of the time you do have and avoid finding out at the last minute that you simply have no time to get things done.

By better managing your time and understanding your schedule, you can maintain a professional relationship with your producers and develop a good reputation. Even with that said and done though, occasionally things will happen that make it impossible to meet deadlines or even continue with a production.

Never walk away from a production without notifying the producer. It's beyond rude and shows a lack of respect on your part. It is so easy to e-mail and no one needs to know all the details of why you suddenly can't continue. Most producers will be very understanding if you are up front about it.

Don't tell them on the due date that you're going to be late. If you have to wait until the due date to get things done then there's already a scheduling problem and realistically most issues that won't allow you to continue will have been known about before the due date. There are some exceptions but rarely will a due date and an unforeseen happenstance coincide. Let the producer know there may be an issue as soon as you can rather than at the last minute. Keep in mind the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have done unto you. If the producer was going to drop a production, you'd like to know before you've recorded and sent your lines in, yes? Try to be just as prompt in the other direction so you can give the producer time needed to replace you if need be.

Being considerate is not hard and helps maintain good relationships in the co-dependent field of amateur productions. If you don't think it's important to maintain a good reputation, consider how well you'll fair when someone is scouting or in a close race in casting if you're renowned for dropping out of productions and not meeting due dates. It is something you can control and doing so should make you feel good too.

Happy recording,
~Niko