VAM 223 | Want To Book More Work? Learn To Think Like A Producer.
Welcome to episode 223 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!
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http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast
One of the most common questions I get asked by voice actors, especially when they’re early in their career, is how they can book more work. Once an aspiring voice actor starts to develop their skills to the level where they can be competitive when auditioning for projects, they quickly realize that they will audition for many more characters than they will ever be hired for. The goal is to increase one’s booking ratio, which is calculated by figuring out how many auditions you tend to submit before you finally book a part. SAG-AFTRA statistics have shown that working actors, who are professionally competitive, tend to audition for 30 parts before they book a single job. Competition in the entertainment industry is fierce and voice actors early in their careers may feel like they audition for hundreds of parts before booking anything.
Every voice actor wants to increase their booking ratio. After all, it’s always more enjoyable to be cast as more characters rather than fewer. If an actor is industrious, they’ll focus on sensible things to improve their booking ratio, such as improving their acting skills, expanding the kinds of characters they can play, updating their marketing materials like demos and websites, and networking with industry professionals to make sure they are kept in mind when someone is thinking of actors to call for their next project.
And yet, I have noticed that many aspiring voice actors don’t pursue these activities with a practical mindset. Rather than focusing on improving their objective skills and marketability, they tend to approach the audition process like a test of personal approval. They may use language like, “How can I get casting directors to notice me?”, or “Who do I contact so I can get a job?”, or even, “If only someone would give me a chance, I’m sure I would be successful.” At the core of all of these statements is a common mindset: the actor is looking for approval from an authority figure. This mindset is often bolstered by TV shows that capitalize on this kind of wish fulfillment. Shows like American Idol, The Voice, America’s Got Talent, and others, can set an expectation in people who are unfamiliar with the entertainment industry, that the secret to becoming a success is to get the right people to approve of you.
In this episode, I want to suggest that a better way to improve your chances of getting cast, is not to look for approval from a producer, but rather, to start thinking like a producer. What is a producer looking for? What do they need to make their project successful? What sort of collaborators are they eager to find? If you start thinking like a producer, it will begin to shift your mindset. You’ll be less likely to pursue getting approval, and you’ll be more likely to start thinking in terms of what you have to offer a project and why they should hire you over everyone else auditioning for the same part.
As you start to think more like a producer, you’ll realize what sorts of actors you’d like to hire to bring your project to life if you were producing one. As you begin to imagine those ideal acting collaborators, you can start to model your own behavior as an actor to try and satisfy what producers are looking for. You’ll realize how important it is to be able to accurately evaluate your skills as an actor, and also to know which types of characters you can believably and competitively play. You’ll start to appreciate that if you can anticipate a producer’s needs, you can make their life easier. And if you make their life easier, they’ll be far more inclined to hire you for their project. They’ll do this both because you’re perfect for the role they’re looking to cast, and because you’re a reliable actor who’s easy to work with.
Thinking like a producer is a great way to reverse engineer the casting process so as to demystify it for you. No longer will you be wondering what the producers are looking for and if they approve of you. Instead, you’ll have walked in the producer’s proverbial shoes, if only in your imagination, which will help you approach the industry in a much more practical and effective way. So let’s spend this episode learning how to think like a producer!