Voice Over Success Formula

Here is a perfect example of age is just a number when it comes to voice acting…    80 year old Adam West, best known as TV’s Batman from the camp 1960′s live action series, has kept his voice and on screen acting quite current..You probably know him from his long running voice work on “Family Guy,” on which he plays Mayor Adam West; that namesake role, along with his portrayal of himself (albeit, a cat-obsessed version of himself) on the loopy Nickelodeon series “The Fairly Oddparents” has given him entire new generations of fans who have never seen the odd “Batman” series except maybe in snatches on YouTube. There’s also his voice roles in “Chicken Little,” “Meet the Robinsons” and animated Batman shows on which he played the mayor of Gotham, not its infamous mystery man.“I’m like Madonna, I keep reinventing myself,” said West, who splits his time between Palm Springs and Sun Valley, Idaho. “I get called ‘Mayor West’ a lot in airports. I’ve been very fortunate to have a fan base that keeps growing and the work gets such a warm response and humor from people.”

This week, West is back in a familiar comedy vehicle — literally. The new film “Super Capers,” yet another superhero parody (it follows “Hancock,” “My Super Ex-Girlfriend,” “Zoom,” “Sky High,” “Superhero Movie,” etc.), opened Friday and while its showing in just 80 theaters nationwide, it’s a memorable gig for West because it puts him back in the driver’s seat of his most famous ride.

“It’s a very bright comedy adventure. In it I’m a cab driver whose gotten a hold of the Batmobile and converted it to a taxi cab –- with air conditioning,” West said. “I meet up with a young guy who’s trying to be a super hero, played by an actor named Justin Whalin, who is quite good, and I’m able to drive him around on some of his misadventures.”

So…If you think your idea of a voice over acting career is an idea who’s ship has sailed…Think again, and remember Batman… er Adam West.

admin Animation Voice Acting

I wanted to share this story with you to illustrate the variety of ways voice acting and voice over is need beyond the traidtional channels. Check out what David is creating and visualize your voice being part of these new voice acting opportunities.

David Hayter, known as voice actor for Solid Snake but also Watchmen co-writer, has formed Dark Hero Studios. Hayter has teamed with Bratz/Doomsday producer Benedict Carver to form “a company that will generate film, TV, Internet and video game projects in the action, sci-fi and horror genres,” according to Variety. Dark Hero Studios’ first project will be a movie called Demonology, about a student attending an international high school in Belgium.

admin In The News, Personalities

The folloing is a great lesson for any voice or on camera talent. Do your research on who you are providing your voice acting skills. Please feel free to share your thoughts on the following….

CBS SPORTSCASTER Greg Gumbel was recently in a Fort Lauderdale courtroom.

Gumbel is suing TV producer Paul Douglas Scott, owner of Encore Television Group, claiming Scott tricked him into hosting a series of Internet infomercials.

The suit charges that Scott told Gumbel he would be announcing introductions for educational programming. Instead, Gumbel says his introductions were used in infomercials for time-shares, magnet therapy and other products.

Gumbel wants money and the videos’ taken down.

According to the Miami Herald, Gumbel claims he did not see any script for any of the content that appeared with his introductions. He just got paid to read intros – five hours work, $50,000, he alleges.

Gumbel should count his blessings then that his talk leading into “The Economic Report” didn’t take viewers to a money shot.

“It’s not anything that our company has breached or done wrong,” Scott said. “It’s just a contract he wants to get out of.”

Scott approached Gumbel and his agent, Barry Frank, in 2007, the suit says. Gumbel did not know, however, that the Florida Attorney General’s Office had recently reached a settlement with Scott and his companies prohibiting them from “making false representations regarding programming, sponsorships, affiliations and airtime.”

In 2008 Gumbel says he was paid $60,000 more for an additional day of work.

admin Business Tips

I found the following comments by Lord of the Rings star Sean Astin very interesting and genuine as it relates to becoming a voice actor. As we have said, you are doing more than just reading a piece of copy. Your voice acting must make a listener or viewer believe that your voice embodies the product, character or project theme. Take some time to read a seasoned actors view on entering voice work and realize that whehter you are new to the business or a seasoned professional, when it come to entering the business, everyone is on an equal playing field. Hope you enjoy….

Sean Astin arrives early on a January morning to Studiopolis Burbank, the recording studio where Oso gets his voice.

Although the 38-year-old Southern California native has been seen on-camera in everything from “Rudy” to “24,” Astin is best known for his portrayal of Sam Gamgee in the “Lord of the Rings” movies.

Giving voice to a stuffed panda is just the latest job for Astin, who has been a working actor since age 10. He made his feature film debut as Mikey in “The Goonies.”

But parting the steel curtain of voice work was a tough mission for him.

“I sort of feel like it took forever to get gainful employment in the voice-over universe. It is a very beautiful, but small-knit group of folks,” Astin says, moments before recording work for future Oso animated missions. “It is not a matter of bias. It is a very specific skill set you have to have.”

That skill set, Astin says, requires the actor to understand just how to use only the voice to make a performance work. It didn’t matter whether he had a passion to do voice work. It wasn’t until Astin learned those skills that he landed animation jobs.

Astin conceded it has been a little easier to be considered for voice work since he was part of the popular “Rings” trilogy.

“I was in England when they sent me a courier package that had these drawings of Oso. I was like, ‘Hey, I’m Oso!’ Even though they had made an offer, I started to get a panicky feeling they would get someone else for Oso. I had such an affinity for the role, I thought it would just be too weird to hear someone else’s voice coming out of his mouth,” Astin says.

His fears were unfounded. Astin is now the one and only voice of the new Disney Channel character. He’s particularly happy about that because two of his three children fall in the show’s target age group of 3-to-6-year olds. His older daughter is 12.

admin Animation Voice Acting

Victoria Beckham has become the latest celebrity to give her voice for a cartoon series by recording for the hit animated kids show “Spongebob Squarepants”.
Contactmusic.com reports that the Spice Girls star, who now runs her own fashion empire, follows in the footsteps of Johnny Depp, Scarlett Johansson and David Bowie.

“She isn’t interested in becoming an actress but voice-over work is something that appealed. Scriptwriters created the role of a posh British princess especially for her and were blown away by what a natural she was. Network bosses have been in touch ever since, offering more work,” a source told British newspaper the Daily Mirror.

admin Animation Voice Acting