We have found 19,373 posts across 4 actor forums:
Should I have a backup when starting my acting career? by IndependentGrowth380 • last post Jun 21st
I know that obviously when you are studying for any career you have to start with a side job. But I was wondering if I should have a back up job that’s almost permanent as the actors do not get paid a great salary? I am 16 and have know experience but I am so passionate to do this for the rest of my life because I would love to help directors tell there story.
Can some commercials harm your future career? by JonfenHepburn • last post Jun 21st
I have been given the possibility to audition for an advertisement for a rehabilitation clinic, in which I would play a recovering addict talking about how well my road to recovery is going. But I got cold feet if one of my first acting gigs is playing someone with addiction for an advertisement, which can blur the lines between truth and fiction more than movies and TVs does, since it's not always obvious those are actors. The agency doing the casting is well-known, I guess, so maybe I'm overthinking this. But in your opinion, could this be harmful for a new career? ​ Thanks :)
Tips for new voice artists and customers by denniskb • last post Jun 20th
I'm a computer scientist and regularly need VAs to dub video presentations for me. So far I've hired 3 VAs from this sub (and referred many more) with great results. Based on this experience, here's a list of tips for new artists and first-time customers to help them work together smoothly and successfully. - For video presentations, by far the simplest process is for the VA to play the presentation and record the VO at their own pace, producing an audio file. Then you export the video and cut it to sync up with the audio (small adjustments to the audio (such as lengthening/shortening pauses) are easy enough to make even for a beginner). - There is no such thing as "the best VA", every project is different with different demands. Create an artistic vision for your project *before* you start browsing artists' portfolios. Think of what voice will suit your project best (male/female/don't matter, tone, pace, casual/corporate-y, etc.) *then* start looking for *that*. Sure this "epic EA sports-like voice" sounds...epic, but is it really suited for your use case? - If you're considering artists without portfolios (or you like a particular artist but their portfolio doesn't quite include what you have in mind and you're not sure they can deliver it) provide the script, a description of the project, and exactly what voice you have in mind (include examples!). Let the artists do a few lines and email you a sample. Don't focus on the quality--that will typically be much better for the final recoridng anway, focus on the tone/style. - Have a briefing, take your time, don't be shy (neither of you), don't leave any questions un-answered. For a 10min presentation I typically need 30min-60min to hammer out all the details (@artists: factor this into your pricing!). Start the meeting by dialing in the general tone. Artists should take the initiative here and do a few variations. There is no right/wrong at this early stage--you're just brainstorming/searching. Once you find something that you like fine-tune it until you love it. If you don't know the terms of the trade (I certainly don't) describe what you want as best as you can: too monotonic, too casual, more enthusiastic, less corporate-y, etc. Once you've dialed in the tone go thru the entire script and point out any special wishes/considerations ("I really want you to sell me on slice 14", "This part, talking about our competition, has to be presented in a neutral, more professional manner than the rest", ...), clarify the pronounciation of uncommon terms, etc. You want to spend too much time in this stage rather than too little and leave no room for interpretation/ambiguity to avoid questions/corrections/re-recordings =O lateron. Be as precise as [Jamie Foxx working with Tarantino](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K8j55V3Lvw). - VAs are basically actors (with their voices) and can do amazing things. Don't hesitate to be demanding, ask them what's possible if you're not sure. "Can you say that line half an octave deeper?" - @VAs, overall you need to take more initiative. You're selling a product, I'm just the customer. I want to be taken by the hand and walked through the whole process with you projecting confidence and giving me a feeling that everything is going according to plan. Give me clear, step-by-step instructions: payment, amount, return policy, any guarantees, briefings, recordings, exact specifications of the final product, delivery date, etc. (Just because you take the initiative doesn't mean you can't be accomodating to my needs/circumstances/etc. ;) ). Clarify the *exact* pricing and payment methods early on, be assertive. "OK we agree on $150 for 10min, plus $10 for every additional, full minute. $75 now, rest upon delivery. Payment via PayPal to ... with subject ...". I've heared of too many horror stories about disagreements/arguments where artists haven't been paid properly, most of which could've been avoided by better communication. - @VAs, many of you are pricing yourselves either too expensive or too cheap. I've had VAs without portfolios dig up some pricing tables floating around the internet and then coming back to me with "that's gonna be $300/min Sir"--yeah..no!, I'm not paying that esp. if you have nothing to show for. I didn't get hired into a $150K/year job straight out of high school either but had to work my way up. On the other hand many VAs offer to work for free, which is bad as well and not really that inviting/confidence-inspiring either: I have a project with a deadline that I need to meet. I need an artist who can deliver--I can't afford to gamble just so you can "gather experience". Not having to pay in case of failure is of little consolation to me. Sure, your pricing is a great way to make yourself more appealing to potential cusotmers, esp. if you lack a portfolio, but never go down to $0! If you don't have a portfolio and are struggling to find gigs, rather than offering low prices you should create a portfolio! Simply dub some commercials, scenes from animes/disney cartoons/etc.--you don't need to tell anybody that you haven't been paid for those ;) - @VAs please don't apply blindly for gigs, not every gig is the same. If you want to dub my video presentation for a math conference you should be vaguely familiar with mathematics. You should know that Euler is pronounced "oil-er" and not "you-ler". If you don't I probably won't think very highly of you and not hire you (back) even though you might be a perfectly good VA otherwise..
I used to think seeing actors dance in front of the camera on the BTS videos was so strange... by nnylhsae • last post Jun 20th
Then I actually got myself in front of a camera and was on a real set. The atmosphere just makes me happy, and I definitely believe that there's a certain group/type of people that gravitate towards that kind of place. I feel like I'm full of energy and just plain *life* when in front of the camera, so now I totally understand. I'm just an insecure person due to so many factors, yet that all seems to go away when I'm on set. The people, the equipment, the process... It's just my favorite place. I hate going to work, but I never hate *being on set*. I think it's more the idea of work than it is the actual work, for whatever reason (I can think of a few, but I'm sure it's different for everyone). But, yeah, that's my story. :)))
Among these living Hollywood veteran actors, who was the best at their craft? by Lissandra_Freljord • last post Jun 20th
[View Poll](https://www.reddit.com/poll/o3zqfl)
How do actors deal with unwanted criticism, outside of a teaching environment? by Citygal123 • last post Jun 20th
I've been creating a lot of my own work for the last few years and I have a friend who keeps giving me unwanted critiques. I wrote and performed in a show a good few months back. It was a massive challenge to get it on stage. The director abandoned us half way through so we ended up directing ourselves. But we all pushed through and I was so excited to get up on that stage after all myself and my fellow actors hard work and what we had to go through. At the dress rehearsal when we were just testing the lights and blocking out the performance my friend who was at it told me afterwards, she couldn't believe what a terrible actor I am and how weak my voice is. She said it's best to tell me the truth as she doesn't want to be one of those people who gives people fake praise. The director who abandoned us got back in touch and wanted to be involved again. When I told her this she said I shouldn't say anything to the director about his unprofessional behaviour because I'll be blacklisted and no one will ever want to work with me again. I was very shook. I was trying to hold myself, my project and everyone together to go on stage two days later. It was definitely a massive challenge. After she saw the show she told me 'that I was only a little bit better'. I did get some lovely feedback from other people. I have to say I can be quite a shy person so it does take enormous reserves to dig deep and put myself and my work out there, and I've had some confidence issues in the past due to being badly bullied but I've worked so hard on my confidence and pushing through. People would know me as a confident and very sociable person now. I've started creating and performing in my own stuff again and getting really great feedback from my work and invited to come on talks to talk about my stuff but this same friend again is giving me unwanted critiques and keeps telling me she'll sit down and go through all my stuff and give me feedback on everything. I try to ignore it and I'm trying so hard to put it out of my head but it's starting to paralyse me, especially after working through self confidence issues from my past and I'm finding old thought patterns are beginning to creep back in and I'm beginning to doubt myself again. When I'm creating her image and her voice keeps popping up in my head and it's making me want to stop and give up completely. She makes comments that I should just focus on one area, either acting or writing or producing, that it's not possible to do everything. But if I did that I wouldn't be able to stay in the industry because most of my opportunities are coming from my own work. And people are approaching me wanting to work with me and also I've proven in the past by winning little awards for my work. Also, there's so many examples of people being hugely successful from being an actor, writer, producer, the amazing Bo Burnham being one. When she does praise me...in the next sentence it's a but...and a critique. In a group chat she did it again, but I noticed another friend came out with lovely message of encouragement. I think my other friend noticed it. I have to say this friend who critiques me is a really good person and we generally get on very well. But I'm really struggling to deal with this to the point I don't want to hang around with her anymore. One minute we're talking happily away and then she switches and bombards with criticism. Also when we were working on a project together, she ripped me apart afterwards about everything I did wrong and what not to do working on my next project and she said she doesn't need the criticism because she's only doing this as a hobby. I have to say I never felt this way in a teaching environment or when I look for a critique because I'm aware of it and I see it as a positive thing to improve. I don't know why this friends unwanted critique is affecting my confidence so badly. Has any other actor/creator out there experienced this? If so, how did you deal with it?
Do Asians have a possible career in acting? by WorkingPuma • last post Jun 20th
I’m a Chinese (M16, Non-American) and I was considering taking acting as a future profession and maybe job. However, I noticed that I don’t often see Asian actors in shows and movies, as many popular movies are usually dominated by white-skinned and black skinned-people. (I am really sorry for phrasing it like this if I sound racist it is not my intention) Hence I am wondering is it possible for us asians (eg chinese, Korean, japanese) to get cast in a Hollywood movie or series? Or more importantly, is it plausible for us to even be working in the acting department if we aim to compete/work in the “American Market” of acting?
Career advice for an apprehensive early career professional Actor (New York v Los Angeles v Atlanta) by Str8tWh1t3Man • last post Jun 20th
TLDR: I am a Baltimore farm boy who is afraid of big cities but wants to be a working film actor. Which of the big three would you suggest. Hello everyone. I tried to research and find the answer to this question myself, but I figure it might be better to have direct opinions from people as well. I have been acting professionally for about five years now. Granted not all of that time has been as a working actor, but I got my first paid acting gig right out of college back in 2016, so I consider that the start of my professional acting career. For context, I grew up and still live in the Baltimore, Maryland area. I love it here, but unfortunately there isn't really much paid acting work around here. DC offers a notably larger theatre scene and a fair amount of industrials for film, but actors will be hard pressed to find and get cast in enough work to make acting a sustainable primary income. Needless to say, I have accepted the fact that if I want to become a full time working actor, I will need to move one of the big three (NYC, LA, ATL). My question is which would you suggest? To give you some context, although I have done more theater work than film, my long term goal is to become a working film actor (preferably in action related roles, but everyone and their mom also wants to do that...). I know some of you are thinking that LA is the way to go, if film is my endgame, but in the book Breaking and Entering by Phillip Carlson (a prominent agent in NYC) Phillip talks about how LA has loads of film auditions, but that is it. There is apparently no theatre scene whatsoever, so exposing yourself to agents and other members of the game is incredibly difficult. He counters that although New York is not known for its film scene, a plethora of roles for both film and television get cast there, and unlike LA, New York has an immense theatre scene (especially off Broadway) that always you attract the attention of casting agents, who can eventually get you into the auditions for roles that are appointment only (like most supporting and leading roles in film). The only issue is, New York terrifies me. I grew up on a farm, so I have never been gung ho about the whole big city living thing, and New York is about as big city as big city gets. I have accepted that this is just a frustrating necessity for my career, but the idea of getting lost in the concrete jungle makes me anxious, to say the least. I spent some time in La and I will admit, that if I had time to settle in there, I could probably get used to that environment (its more spaced out than New York) but then I refer back to the original problem of limited exposure options. I have heard that Atlanta is a nice scene because not only is it wonderfully more affordable than the other two, it also apparently feels closer to a small city like Baltimore than the booming metropolitan of New York. My main concern with Atlanta however is that I am not sure how much of a theatre scene is there, and I have heard that the majority of the supporting and leading roles for shows shot there are cast in LA and NYC anyway. Long winded explanation aside, I would like any personal anecdotes or advice that can help with this decision. Wherever I chose to go, my goal is to make the move some time in January, so I would like to have my mind made up and start planning well before then. Thank you for taking the time to read this all the way through.
some on-camera advice for theatre actors from a casting director (following some rambling) by whydub38 • last post Jun 20th
don't really now how to link to this video properly... [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv1DbUOw3o4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv1DbUOw3o4) tiny but useful advice on adapting your theatre training to on-camera from a casting director! skip to 2:00 for the actual advice. watch the rest of the video for the hell of it, and to get a little context for my advice.
Why do casting directors use Facebook groups and outdated sites like Actors access instead of new, nice sites that many people use like Backstage? by UltraConstructor • last post Jun 20th
Looking for VAs by AU-Reboot • last post Jun 20th
Up to £20/$20 payment depending on the amount of lines, these will be for a series of mine, its in the style of a visual novel (look at Danagnronpa for reference, its a good example!) I'm currently looking for female voice actors, as mentioned! You must have Discord, DM me on this site, I'll respond with my tag, please give examples^^
Bob Hoskins performance is Roger Rabbit is a must-watch performance worth studying, to anyone going into film and tv acting. by doowopcartoons • last post Jun 20th
Working with animated characters in a live-action environment is increasingly becoming more common these days. Jurassic World, Space jam, Game of Thrones, to smaller budget things like The Stanley Dynamic, or car insurance commercials, It is common for actors having to work with animated characters. However aginst with an animated character is something that even the best actors in Hollywood struggle with, It is hard for many of them to feel awkward to knowing how to act with something that isn't there. However, this Hoskins's performance in roger rabbit works, as He had professional mime training, meaning Hoskins's knew how to to do this trick. As a result, his performance feels natural, and real when he's acting with the toons. As such I highly recommended you Rewatch(Or most currently watch if you haven't) and study Bob Hoskins's performance in the film. Try your best and remove the toons from the eatch scene. Notice how 100 % of the time he accurately imagines the Eye line of every character. Notice how also accurately imagine the height and width, weight, and texture of every Toon/Object he interact's with. Then compare it with pretty much any other performance with an animated characters, and you will notice how much less natural and more awkward the performance is. I think studying Bob Hoskins's miming techniques in the film , is something that could potently help you stand out in an a audition, especially if their is visual effects of any kind involved.
ACTORS/ACTRESSES WANTED! - Action/Comedy Project by Nate_Oh_Potato • last post Jun 20th
Hey all! Long post here. I've been hard at work on my first big screenwriting project, "Thunderclap", for a few months now. I've moved into a phase of the project where I'd like to begin working on a "concept" or "pitch" trailer. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, it's essentially a smaller-scale movie trailer that serves to show the tone and style of the project, without the need to be a full-length trailer. Because it's just a concept trailer, I'll be piecing it together using raw footage from online and miscellaneous clips from similar movies. Although those parts won't be original, I'd like to have some voiceovers and dialogue from the main characters (and some others) during the trailer. That's why I wanted to reach out to you guys in this community! **Title:** "Thunderclap" **Genre:** Action/Comedy **Logline:** After the death of his former partner, a washed-up, middle-aged superhero must reunite his old team in order to vanquish the looming threat of supervillains. Since it's voice acting, it can be done during any time from anywhere (though I'd like to have a quick one-on-one with each actor/actress beforehand). Below I have the characters in the trailer, as well as a short summary and celebrity casting choice for each. **Character List (no specific order):** * **Joel / Thunderclap** *(Celebrity Casting: Will Ferrel)*: Male. Mid- to late-40s. A washed-up, middle-aged superhero. *Wants* superhero fame, but *needs* to feel appreciated. * **Snowstorm** *(Celebrity Casting: Carey Mulligan)*: Female. Joel's former superhero partner. Stole glory and fame from his years ago when they were young, causing Joel to be dishonorably discharged from the team. * **Newscaster**: Any gender. 20-35 years old. * **Night Owl** *(Celebrity Casting: Sigourney Weaver)*: Female. Late 40s, early 50s. Much more reserved than the others. Retired by her own accord years ago. * **Commander** *(Celebrity Casting: John Goodman)*: Male. Late 60s, early 70s. A rough-and-tough army man, current commander of the Justice Avengers. * **Blackwing** *(Celebrity Casting: Josh Hutcherson)*: Male. Mid- to late-20s. Edgy, hot-headed, and takes himself too seriously. If you have any interest in any of these roles, feel free to leave a comment or send me a message directly! The script for the concept trailer will depend on which roles we have filled, but I will send out a rough draft of it ASAP. I can also send the full-length script upon request, so you can get a better feel for whichever character you have. Thanks a million! I look forward to working with you on this fantastic project!
How easy is it to memorize a script? by JosueTinoco • last post Jun 19th
Hello, I am new to this subreddit, for years I have wanted to become an actor, I think I could get a little experience in my middle school musical. I have all the traits and vocal level and absolutely everything and a lot of potential according to the director, we have auditions in the fall but we have started working on it and will keep working on it during the summer. I want to do it, but the thing that I question is, how easy is it to memorize a script? Could anybody tell me, I’d appreciate if it could be told in a scale from 1-10. Thanks and have a wonderful evening!
Anyone in the Denver area that can recommend a talent agency for actors? by luckystar332 • last post Jun 19th
Cable length issues with the focusrite scralett 2i2 by Helpful_Bugger • last post Jun 19th
Hi there fellow voice actors and aspirants. I've been building a studio over lockdown and one of the issues I find is with the cable length of my interface being too short to reach into my booth, I have a hole drilled in the wall for it but it's still a bit too short. Now I read that you shouldn't have an overly long usb cable running from your interface to your laptop or whatever. Currently I have to make do by running my XLR under the door (as I don't really want to make an XLR sized hole in the wall) What are some methods that you chaps use?
10 Questions Of A Rookie by maquafresh • last post Jun 19th
Hi all! I'm very very new to the voice acting and voice over scene. I've done one voice acting character workshop in which I was told I have good acting ability and voice for acting and voice over work. That's about as far as my resume goes. So as you can see, I'm essentially clueless as to the finer details of starting a voice acting/voice over career. This brings me to the reason for this post. I have a lot of gaps in my knowledge. Though I've done research and have practiced reading scripts, I don't feel I know nearly enough to take any first substantial steps. I'm going to list a few questions about things I really feel like I should know, and will hopefully help others in my position. If you can answer one then please do! If you can answer multiple, then that's awesome! Any extra advice or information, as well as information resources such as gravy for the brain wouldn't go a miss either. Apologies if any of these questions seem irrelevant or stupid. And also, I already know to manage my expectations on this. For the moment, the reason I'm interested in voice acting and voice over is simply due to interest alone. I don't expect to get a lot of gigs at first, or even any for a long time, and I know there is a lot of competition for jobs. So, the questions: 1. Is voice acting included in the catagory for voice overs? This is more a terminology question. For instance, would a voice over coach be expected to be able to teach voice acting? 2. Voice over coaching is something I'm looking into. As I have no experience on the business side or the work side of voice overs, would a voice acting coach be a good way to learn both? Or is it a better idea to just try amateur work and learn by doing? 3. I am interested in both voice over and voice acting, I.e, character acting as well as voice overs/ narration work for ads and whatever. Is it smart to try to persue both? 4. Character actors seem to have a range of accents and voices they can do. These are usually shown off in demo reels. Are character voices and accents necessary to succeed in voice acting, or are they just preffered? 5. This ties into question 4. I am trying to learn to do character voices, just by playing around with accents and tone and voices. Usually I'll just change my voice however I can, think of what kinda character would suit that voice, then model it to that character slightly more (though, I'm still not good at that yet since, as mentioned, I am new). Is there a way YOU learned to do character voices that you could recommend me, or any resources that could give me an idea of where to start? (I've realised going through the alphabet in an accent helps with accents and so may help me become more fluent in whatever voice I create). 6. I know my voice is suited to voice over, narrations and advert kind of work as well as character work. I'm British (South England) with a upper middle class accent and a deep voice. Is this enough to just start looking for amateur work in narration? I assume acting work would require more practice and training than simply reading an ad script (not to shit on people who do ads, terms and conditions sound hard, I respect you for being the posh rappers of society). I get pronunciation and fluency in sight reading is important to train for both, but doesn't seem like something I'd need to get perfect considering I can just re-record it and stich it together if it's not right before I send the complete work. 7. Advertising your services sounds like a skill that you work on along with your voice over work. Improving your demo reels regularly, putting up your services on multiple websites, and actively networking to find work and keep existing contacts. Are there any websites you use, techniques you employ or resources you've found that help you manage this or simply advertise your services on? 8. What was your first voice acting/voice over job? Hearing how you started will really help prepare me for what I should expect! (I don't care about the money as much as the experience of doing work that will be used somewhere. Even if it's just an amateur film maker's project.) 9. Have you ever been offered a job you didn't know whether you were ready for at your level? And if so, how do you handle it? Did you inform them but take the job anyway? Did you decline? Did you take the job and practice certain techniques to be more prepared for the job? 10. Lastly, simply put, do you enjoy your voice acting /voice over? The reason I want to do this is because I think it'd have fun. To do it as a job would be a dream of course, but I don't expect it to be easy. None the less, simply doing it as something on the side for a time sounds like a lot of fun, and an accomplishment. I want to put my all into this none the less, but I want to know, is it actually as enjoyable for you as it seemed.
Fivver and Upwork or wait to get experience? by Dwayne_Man9323 • last post Jun 19th
My sister's been sending me some links and other things to help me along with my journey to becoming a voice actor. While I haven't been able to get classes yet, my sister sent me two recommendations for auditions and voice acting stuff known as Fivver and Upwork. I wanted to ask you guys if it would be worth checking out or not or if anyone has heard of these places. Your feedback is appreciated.
Best Talent Agencies in the DC Area? by poliwhirldude • last post Jun 18th
I'm getting close to the point where I want to get an agent, and I'm wondering where I should be looking. Capital Talent Agency seems to be the most popular option around here according to my peers (often reluctantly), but I'm wondering if Liquid Talent Agency in Richmond or some others I'm not aware of would be good places to look for representation as well. I'm primarily a theater actor but I have a few film credits under my belt and would love to expand in that arena too. Thanks!
Base-level actor PR. Like. The next step after social media. Anyone have any insights or recommendations? by WeirdNum3ers • last post Jun 18th
Recently got a manager and my prospects looked up. Really want some PR of some kind, but (am in UK btw) really wouldn't know what to do without paying ridiculous money to a big PR house that might not actually 'get me' anyway. Halp & advice dispensed, v appreciated!