Voice Over Success Formula

So how, you ask, can I make such a bold statement that Voice Over Acting is the best gig in entertainment? One word….Simpsons.

The Fox animated TV series, The Simpsons is reaching a new milestone… TV’s longest-running scripted nighttime series marks its 450th episode!

After 20 years these animated characters (and the Voice Actors behind the animation) can easily claim the title as TV’s longest-running scripted nighttime series — period…. With the same Voice Actors that started it all! That the great thing about Voice Acting….you can play roles outside your age, gender or even species!

Had this not been an animated series, no doubt the actors would have been written out because they started aging or gaining weight, etc. But not so in Voice Acting! You can forever be the same lovable character you were 20 years ago…(as long as you keep training and exercising your intrument(s)).

So, that is why Voice Acting is the best gig in entertainment….the opportunities are endless!

Congrats to the Simpsons…. Dan Castellaneta  as dimwitted dad Homer, Julie Kavner is mom Marge, Nancy Cartwright is first-born Bart and Yeardley Smith is daughter Lisa…Also regular Voice Actors - Hank Azaria, for numerous characters including police Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy and convenience-store owner Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, and Harry Shearer, whose stable of roles includes Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, Ned Flanders, Reverend Lovejoy, Kent Brockman, Dr. Hibbert and Principal Skinner….Plus EVERY celebrity in the last 20 years has made guest appearances.

Here’s to another 20!

Animation Voice Acting, In The News, Personalities Animated Tv Series, Animated Tv Series The Simpsons, Comic Book Guy, Dan Castellaneta, Dr Hibbert, Entertainment One, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Julie Kavner, Kent Brockman, Mr Burns, Nahasapeemapetilon, Nancy Cartwright, Police Chief Wiggum, Principal Skinner, Reverend Lovejoy, Tv Series The Simpsons, Voice Actors, Waylon Smithers, Yeardley Smith

So…. For years it always rubbed me the wrong way when I’d see famous actors getting these awesome Voice Over roles for big Disney or Pixar animated movies or series…or for major, national ad campaigns. I always thought that the famous actors should just stay in their own field and leave the “voice over” jobs to the Voice Over pros.

But recently it hit me. Since I’ve really started blogging and coaching so much more…I’ve been heavily emphasizing that this is Voice Over ACTING…Not just a disconnected voice, over some cartoon or visual imagery. It’s ACTING…and in the truest form!

So…That being said…I guess I really have no right to be upset or deny a fellow actor the right to practice his or her craft. We’re all in the same pool…just different areas. And if you really want to look at it as: “The glass is half full”, this is really a great wake up call to a lot of the seasoned voice actors to step it up…go back to get some more training/coaching…expand your offerings, etc.

Whatever the case… Don’t let this deter you from pursuing the dream and becoming the absolute best and most successful Voice Actor you can be! Bring on ALL contenders! Famous actors or not! 

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Following a recent contract renegotiation, directors of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists have voted to extend the actor’s union’s video game contract, and will ask union members to ratify the change.

The proposal, if approved, would give actors a 2.5 percent pay raise and a .2 percent increase in employer contributions to health and pension beginning January 1, 2010. It would also create a new category for actors in games, “atmospheric performer.”

Back in 2005, a Variety report claimed only 10 to 15 percent of video game voice work is done by SAG or AFTRA actors — although included in that figure are such heavy hitters as Halo and Madden.

Wages for game voice actors under SAG were raised by 3 percent, bringing them in line with existing AFTRA wages. This would be followed by a 2.5 percent wage increase for both organizations’ workers on April 1, 2010. The SAG agreement is still awaiting ratification.

“AFTRA members pioneered union work under the Interactive Media Agreement in the early 1990s, and today this contract generates millions of dollars in earnings and benefits for thousands of AFTRA members in both large and small markets around the nation,” said AFTRA president Roberta Reardon in a statement.

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More tensions between the two major unions (SAG/Screen Actors Guild and AFTRA/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists,) that represent voice over actors. According to Variety, the two unions do not agree on the latest terms that the video game industry is offering Voice Over Actors.

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Screen Actors Guild thesps have thrown a wrench into the world of videogame voice work, rejecting a tentative deal for a new contract and asking employers to return to the bargaining table.

The American Federation of Television & Radio Artists, which covers the lion’s share of unionized voice work for vidgames, is sending out the same deal to its 2,200 members who work the contract with a Nov. 12 deadline for response. AFTRA’s national board OK’d the deal Saturday with “an overwhelming and strong” recommendation for a yes vote.

Click here to read the rest of the story…

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This is so cool…Video game technology is opening up a whole new world for Voice Actors. Check out this article about the voice acting AND on camera acting for the new video game, Uncharted 2.

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