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So I was recently helping a friend go through HUNDREDS of submissions for the creation of their casting database.
Plenty of great submissions! However, there are things I saw pop up quite a few times that I think you guys should keep in mind (this is completely constructive):
Plenty of great submissions! However, there are things I saw pop up quite a few times that I think you guys should keep in mind (this is completely constructive):
1. Please don’t put fandubs on your resume. I’m not gonna say don’t DO them (feed your creativity how you will), but when I see them on a resume, it looks amateur.
If you lack credits, focus your resume on who you trained with, on your demos, and on your skill sets.
If you lack credits, focus your resume on who you trained with, on your demos, and on your skill sets.
2. Acting matters MUCH more than what voices you can do. I saw a million impression reels and, while impressions can be impressive, they basically tell me that you have nice tools, but not that you know how to use them.
Focus on your own sound and your acting first :)
Focus on your own sound and your acting first :)
3. Theatre experience helps A LOT. But ONLY theatre experience with no VO training isn’t enough in this industry. There were people with HUGE theatrical resumes that we had no use for because they couldnt translate their skills to the microphone.
4. To add on to 3, the BEST submissions were people with VO training AND theatrical training. Basically, in your training, be sure to diversify :)
5. Continuing with diversifying, PLEASE train in commercial VO before recording a demo of it. Honestly, please do A LOT of training before you record any demo. I still hold firm to the belief that any job that doesn’t pay you doesn’t have the right to demand that you have a demo.
6. Reputation and how you behave matters. There were some submissions we didn’t even need to read because we knew the person was professional and great to work with. There were also some that we didn’t read for the opposite reason.
7. It’s not a great idea to send full audio dramas you were in as your demo. Nobody’s gonna scour through a 50 minute piece to try to guess which character is you. If it’s your only work, try cutting out your lines and sending those lines instead :)
8. Make sure your website is easy to navigate and features your demo and resume. No need to overcomplicate things :) I’d suggest putting your demos on your home page personally, but as long as one can find them easily, you do you.
Will add more to this thread as I think of em :) this is not meant as an attack on anybody who made these mistakes (hell, I made PLENTY of mistakes when I was still coming up), just some thoughts I had that you can do with what you will. Thanks for reading!!!
9. Try to send your demos/resume in a way where it won’t be deleted later. Unfortunately, it took a few months to go through a lot of these, and by the time we got to some submissions, the Google drive links no longer worked. Try to use your website :)
10. I listened to maybe the first 10-15 seconds of most demos. Some cases, I listened to more, some cases I had my answer in the first line. Make sure the top of your demo shows you off as strong as it can.
11. This was only a few cases...but when submitting, even if it’s through a Google Survey, DO NOT ask if the person can get you in with a bigger studio. You’re basically getting thrown out IMMEDIATELY.
