audiobooks Archives - Mary Morgan

So this was my first time at VO Atlanta and much like my favorite VO blogger Paul Strikwerda whom I finally met in person, I freaking loved it!

Good heavens I seriously don’t even know where to start. The people I met, the sessions I attended, the knowledge I absorbed, and the inspiration shared by veterans of voice over is worth every single penny!!!

If you truly want to be part of this profession, then you should know there are serious investments involved. I’ve also met quite a few people who insult VO conventions because they want to get work from attending it. But it’s not about that, even though I met people who have been signed by agents and got work with visiting casting directors almost right after the convention. You attend to build relationships with working professionals and get to know your VO family and friends. They’re the ones who welcome anyone and everyone with open arms whether you’re a beginner, intermediate or advanced talent. Egos are left behind as smiles and support flood the atmosphere.

I even brought some of my homemade macarons to share with guests!

The first day is nerve wracking for all of us, but once we’re all settled in and have our schedules in place people either go to an X-Session (a class of no more than 12 people that involves 3 hours of intense training and microphone time with a working pro, casting director or talent agent), or a breakout session (hearing advice, insights and helpful tips from pros who keep up with what’s current in the industry).

The only real downsides to the convention were not having enough money to buy an X-Session (unfortunately they have an extra fee), and having conflicts when one breakout session started at the same time as another.

There were VO specialists with decades of knowledge and experience giving discussions on video games, animation, audiobooks, automotive spots, radio imaging, narration, commercials, promos, elearning, automated dialogue replacement, and more. Agents and casting directors hosted panels for anyone wanting to ask questions about voice over and how they work with talent. A talent screening was held for anyone who wanted five minutes to audition for an agent or casting director. And last, a small exhibit hall displayed various products or advertised services for voice over actors.

For anyone totally new to voice over, this convention can be a bit stressful for the brain due to the endless amount of information passed around for four days. Even worse, the industry changes constantly and sometimes at the drop of a hat. If you can’t keep up, you may not last long. Time is money and no one likes to have their time wasted.

And as I mentioned before, there are serious investments which are not cheap. This means buying a sound booth (or adapting a space to record in like a closet or basement), or building your own (recording at home is not optional anymore and quality matters more than you may think), purchasing recording software, a proper microphone, an audio interface, subscribing to the latest technology that clients require for communication (Source Connect, Idptl, etc.), training nonstop with coaches who specialize in whatever genre interests you, then having a professional demo made (one per genre, never all on the same file). If you try producing a demo yourself with little or no experience you’ll ruin a first impression and won’t be forgotten for it. Don’t even think about ruling out marketing. No one is going to do it for you unless you pay good money. If you want to be taken seriously you need to find a brand for your voice and advertise your demos on a nice website (html is preferred, not flash). A pay 2 play site is optional (I only recommend Voice123 or Bodalgo and that’s it).

Then there’s the need to devote time to your craft. Many voice over talents have a second job to help pay bills while they’re building their career. With research you can find some good employment opportunities to fall back on that are flexible with VO.

Now don’t let despair override your enthusiasm. There’s room for possibilities if you look for them. And the convention does include some fun activities for those who need to unwind. On the third day there was a 70s theme party where everyone got dressed up and partied till close to dawn. I’m usually not crazy about parties but when surrounded by colleagues and friends I can easily let loose on the dance floor.

Now I’d like to briefly discuss the hotel itself. I’m told locations change now and then regarding the hotel of choice to hold the convention. I shared a room with two others which I highly recommend if you want to save costs. The room was nice and clean, the staff were helpful, but the restaurants were… not too great. Menu items are expensive, which is not unusual, but the service time was ridiculous. Perhaps the hotel was understaffed, or perhaps too many people attending the convention overcrowded the space. Whatever reasons, the hotel restaurant experience was unfavorable. Even worse, not everyone could afford to pay for a $22 breakfast buffet for 4 days straight. Some could not afford the $13 small Caesar salad every night. I knew of other restaurants close to the hotel but most took 15 minutes to walk to without a rental car (which I didn’t have). If you calculate the time to walk there, the unpredictable time it takes to get seated, then wait on your food, order, then eat and walk all the way back to the hotel, it can heavily affect your schedule throughout the day. With luck the convention did include some meals but not for each day which was unfortunate. If the rooms included kitchens I would have gladly cooked meals not just for myself but for friends as well since I love it. This is not to say it was a horrible hotel, far from it. But for anyone who isn’t used to staying hotels, prepare for the inconvenience of slow food service if attending conventions which are also held there.

Last to mention was the fourth and final day. The conference founder presented an inspiring speech, then gave out lots of great raffle prizes (one of which I won, was an hour marketing with a highly successful colleague), but what I remember most is something called the Unicorn Award. It’s an award reserved for people in VO who have experienced hardships and loss. More than 20 colleagues who included agents, casting directors, branding experts, marketing professionals, demo producers and so many others donated their services for free to one lucky individual who suffered due to disappointments in health or finances. Remember, it’s a tough industry! The person selected received all kinds of valuable help such as demo productions, agency representation for a whole year, marketing help, branding help, all from multiple, generous sources. That’s the other thing I love about my VO family and community. We can truly come together and support one another.

So, of all the VO conventions I’ve attended thus far, this is one of the best. If VO is your dream career goal and you want to learn all you can, consider attending VO Atlanta at least once. I network daily with other voice over talent as well as producers, directors, etc. Some great projects are in development to help others no matter where they are in voice over. Stay tuned for more posts in the future!

The internet is a treacherous playground, but it’s also fantastic and an absolute necessity for any business in general. And not only that, Voice Over work is more plentiful than ever because of ads, interactive games, industrials, web series, and so much more being broadcast online. It’s the perfect time to take advantage of pursuing VO work. You’ll most definitely need to make friends, build relationships and research, research, as well as research some more. By that I mean finding ways to connect with people if they don’t want to connect online (there are quite a few), so you’ll have to explore other ways to approach them without making them feel uneasy.

Now please understand that I make no guarantees whatsoever at having expertise in social media. I’m still learning the best ways to try and build connections. This means whatever worked for me may not work for you. So again, research, research and research some more. By the way, having an open mind wouldn’t hurt because EVERYONE has opinions and while you may not share them, it’s best not to antagonize others. It can backfire severely and never be forgotten. In the end, you’ll have to be the judge of what feels right for you.

Do you have profiles on Twitter? Facebook? Linkedin? Do you have a personal website? If yes, great. I’ll share some tips below on how to use them to your advantage. If not, I strongly advise that you create profiles for all the above. Social media is exhausting to keep up with and sometimes it REALLY sucks. But this is the age we live in. If you’re not keeping up with the times, you won’t get far.

So for this week’s post let’s start with Linkedin:

This is one of my favorites because I make it all about business. I strongly advise that you do the same. Warning: there’s a TON of research involved. Don’t use it as you would Facebook. I’m also picky with who can see my connections, because there are people out there who will use you for your contacts. And before you join any groups or connect with industry specialists, make sure your profile is as super-professional as possible. I recommend a good headshot for your profile pic and not something silly or the photo of a celebrity who isn’t you. My page isn’t perfect, but I have an honest picture of myself, some referrals, endorsements, links to other social media sites, and of course a website with links to my demos.

When your page looks good, find groups that interest you and try joining them. If you want to be in music join music-related groups and try connecting with musicians, composers, audio engineers, jingle producers, lyricists, etc. If you want to be in film then join film-and acting-related groups and then try connecting with producers, casting directors, production crew, screenwriters, etc. If you want to work in video games then find video game groups that focus on your area of interest (audio, programming, development, design, artwork, etc.), then try connecting with coders, designers, producers, creative directors, HR recruitment staff, and more. Now in voice over you have a plethora of choices when it comes to groups and even more choices with whom to try and connect with: audiobook companies/producers, animation companies/directors/producers, video game companies/directors/audio designers/sound designers/audio engineers, advertising agencies/creative directors, and yes there’s still more. Also, don’t limit yourself to one city, state, country or continent.

Voice Over is universal, so take advantage of opportunities to search for all the above at locations across the globe. Start with big cities. If you’re in Texas the cities would be Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, San Antonio and El Paso. If you’re in Louisiana then search New Orleans, Shreveport, Baton Rouge. If you’re in California (Lucky you!) then search the mother of all cities for entertainment: Los Angeles. Then search San Francisco, Sacramento, and San Diego.

Or if you’re wanting to focus on certain markets then you must research where the jobs are plentiful. For instance you’re based in the USA and want to focus on commercials, fortunately they’re everywhere, but think of places like New York City, Chicago, Dallas, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Portland, Atlanta and so on. For audio books, the Audio Publishers Association is in New York, but audio book publishers are located on the East and West coasts. For narrations, primarily the East coast. For video games, the major cities would be Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta, New York City and in Canada (Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto.) For animation, it’s most definitely Los Angeles, but also look in Atlanta, New York City, Austin and elsewhere. Thanks to Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and more networks on the way, original animated series and animated movies will be on the rise.

But don’t forget to search other countries. I’ve worked with clients in Slovenia, Russia, and other locations. I have friends who have worked with clients in India, Ireland, South Africa, Dubai and beyond. Important note: dollar values will be different everywhere. Be prepared to negotiate.

After you’ve connected with someone, send a brief message saying “Thank You”, but personalize it so that you don’t end up looking like someone sending the same note to everybody. By personalizing, look at the person’s page, who they’ve worked with, their experience and then compliment them on their skills. Then end by saying something like, “Please keep in touch”, your name and a link to your website. DO NOT ask for a job. The goal is to connect and build relationships, not to beg. These are human beings with emotions like everyone else in the world, please be respectful of them.

On the subject of groups, you have more than a plethora of choices. Some will accept you, and some may not. As always, try not to take it as an insult. Give it time for people to get to know you on social media or in person at a workshop or convention.

Here are some general VO groups to join:
Voice Over Professionals
Global Online Voice-Over / Dubbing Artistes, Studios, Agencies
Voiceover Casting Directors and Agents
All Star Voices
International Voiceover Bank
Radio, Television Broadcast and Voice-over Professionals
Voice Over Talent Needed: VoiceoverTV.net
Social Media for Voice Actors
Voiceover Gigs
Voiceover Marketing Strategists
World-Voices Organizations

E-Learning:
eLearning Voice Over Group

Animation:
Animation Army
Animation, Media and Entertainment
Characters Engage
Character Voice Actors

Video Games:
People in Games
Game Audio

Gamevoices:
Video Game Voice Acting

There are many more groups. You could even type in animation, video games, e-learning, audiobooks, narration, promos or such when looking for groups to join. See what you find!

Mary Morgan

VO Atlanta 2018

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