Voiceover, voice-overs, Voice Talents, Voice Actors, Character Voices, Voice Over Talents.

The following is excerpted from of a letter I wrote to an aspiring voice artist:

Dear Soon-to-be-VO-Colleague,

So you want to be a Voice Actor? Go for it! If you think of it going to grad school, in terms of time commitment and money, you'll be fine. Now to begin:

Your mission, should you choose to accept:

Start here: www.best-voice-actress.com/voice2.html and read the article from SPOTLIGHT ON SPEECH/VOICEOVER/DIALECTS June 20, 2002 : Voice Breaks - Experts share their tips on how to get into, and sustain, a career in voiceover. By Jamie Painter Young

If you STILL want to be a voice actor, then ... :-)

Order Jim Alburger's "The Art of Voice Acting," Elaine A. Clark's "There's Money Where Your Mouth Is" and "VO" by Harlan Hogan and hear straight from working voice artists how and what they do.

As you're waiting for your books to arrive, go to http://www.voiceartist.com
and read every, I mean every message post dating from day one. This will be your map. Read, read, and read some more. If there are some classes you can take, take them.

Because of digital audio, you now have the opportunity and exposure and the means to be your own 'hyphenate' voice actor / producer. And you're going to have to be in order to be a working voice talent. You'll need a website, an in-house digital audio studio with the finest pro audio equipment you can afford and excellent audio engineering skills. You¹ll have lots and lots to learn. And that never stops! You will always give to your clients much more than you can ever bill. And you always must. That never stops, too.

You're going to find that when you have your website up, you will discover many opportunities for marketing and affiliating with production houses, et. al. Eventually, you¹ll want to have in-house ISDN capabilities. You can do it all in stages as time and moolah permit.

Continue to develop your engineering skills, website (people have to be able to find you,) and contact every ad agency and production house within 200 miles with cd demos and cover letters and follow up phone calls - start doing the footwork .... just keep working at it 'til someone breaks down and gives you a chance to show what you can do. Bit like planting a garden while keeping your fingers crossed. Give it a full time effort for 2 years. If you have to have a 'day job' to keep money coming in, that is a given in our business - a time-honored tradition - do what you have to do. Just don't give up until you get your miracle.

I hope this will be yours as it is mine - a wonderful craft, the best, most generous colleagues in the world and hundreds of happy clients. Keep me posted as you go along.

Best wishes,
Kim.