Welcome to episode 55 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!

As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast

This is part 2 of my interview with the wonderfully talented Monica Rial! You can check out her amazingly long list of anime credits on the Anime News Network website!

In this part of our conversation, Monica shares with us the skill from her theater acting background that she has found most useful in her voice acting career. Turns out, it’s a secret, and Monica shares with me how to use that secret to your advantage! Also, she talks about her own challenge in figuring out which character types suited her voice the best and she gives advice on what you can do to find the character types that fit your voice. I think you’ll find it very enlightening!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #55 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 54 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!

As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast

In this episode, I’m pleased to be interviewing my good friend and amazingly accomplished voice actress Monica Rial! Monica has been in so many anime series, it’s impossible to name all of them here, from Dragon Ball to Excel Saga, from Noir to Soul Eater and everything in between. Monica has spent the majority of her career working in Texas and I was eager to get her on the podcast so she could share her knowledge of the Texas voice acting marketplace with those listeners who may be interested in pursuing voice acting in that area.

As of the recording of this podcast, Funimation is currently the largest distributer of anime in the U.S. and their studios are based in Dallas. ADV films, which helped fuel the anime market in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, is based in Houston and have now remade themselves into Sentai Filmworks. Suffice it to say, there’s a lot of anime that gets dubbed in Texas! In addition, more and more video games are now being recorded in Texas including such titles as Orcs Must Die!, Guitar Hero: World Tour and Halo Wars.

Monica will not only be able to give to you her insight on what it’s like to work as a voice actor in Texas but she’ll also share what it takes to succeed!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #54 Here (MP3)

Regular listeners to the Voice Acting Mastery Podcast may remember the interview I had with my good friend and legendary voice actor, Jack Angel. You can listen to the interview in episodes 13, 14 & 15 of the podcast. During that interview, Jack discussed his thoughts and insights from many years working on such famous animated series as Superfriends, G.I. Joe, Voltron and the original Transformers. Many of my listeners found Jack’s wisdom helpful and encouraging.

Well, Jack has now published a book about his approach to voice acting. It’s called:

How to Succeed in Voice-Overs Without Ever Losing

This book takes an inspiring and refreshingly candid look at the world of Voice Over, offering some perspectives you may have never heard anywhere else. In it, Jack expands on many of the concepts we touched on in our interview together, especially the idea that auditions in voice over are not a “rejection” process, but merely a “selection” process. To quote Jack on page 5 of his book:

“The plain truth of the matter is that there ain’t no damn rejection! The process of auditioning is one of selection, not rejection. Rejection happens only when you cause it.”

The power of Jack’s book is in the upbeat yet professional mindset he shares with his readers. His explanations are detailed, accessible and entertaining. They also come from experience. Jack’s view of the industry has been battle-tested, yet he remains essentially optimistic about a newcomer’s chances of breaking in to the world of voice over. On page 1 he begins his book by saying:

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say, “You can’t break into voice-overs. It’s a closed profession.” Well, it may look that way, but guess what? All you have to say is, ”I’m in!” and everyone will scooch over a tad to make room for you.”

In Jack’s paradigm, it’s almost like the world of voice over is a mirror that reflects back to you what you believe about it. However, this doesn’t mean Jack believes that all you need to do to make it as a voice actor is to think positively. Far from it. He continues on to say:

“Of course, we’ll eat you alive if you jump in without knowing what you’re doing. That’s why classes were invented. So take a few classes, learn the language of the game… Then, practice, practice, practice!”

Clearly, in addition to fostering a positive outlook, one needs to develop the craft of voice acting in order to succeed. Voice over is a competitive business. But what I truly appreciate about Jack’s approach in the book is his belief that the mindset of a professional voice actor is the first ingredient. Working on one’s craft comes after the mental and emotional decision that one is fascinated enough with voice acting to make a career out of it. If you can commit to identifying yourself as a voice actor first, the actions you need to take in order to realize your dream will begin to appear to you. While this approach may sound a little mysterious at first, trust me: many successful voice actors have had personal experience applying it in their careers, and those who know Jack appreciate his viewpoint.

Case in point: I was recently filling up my car at a gas station not far from my home in southern California. A man on the other side of the pump recognized me. He asked, “Are you Crispin Freeman?” I was a little wary at first, not knowing who he was, but my fears were quickly allayed. He introduced himself as Scott Menville, voice of Robin in the animated series Teen Titans in addition to many other famous roles. I was honored to meet Scott and was surprised our paths had not crossed before. Scott complimented me on the Voice Acting Mastery podcast, and I thanked him for his appreciation. As we were both turning to leave, he stopped me and said, “By the way, I really loved that interview you did with Jack Angel. He was dropping science!” I totally agreed with him. When Jack speaks about voice acting, it really feels like you’re getting profound life wisdom directly from a veteran of the voice over world.

I highly recommend How to Succeed in Voice-Overs Without Ever Losing to anyone looking to become a professional voice actor.

You can purchase Jack’s book on Amazon, or you can find out more about Jack and his experiences on his website at www.JackAngel.com. I hope you find Jack’s insights useful and best of luck in your voice acting endeavors!

Welcome to episode 44 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!

As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast

In this episode I want to ask you a serious question:

Do you think like an artist?

The reason I believe this question is so important is because often I find that many people who are attracted to voice acting, especially for animation and video games, started out as fans of those artistic mediums. That was certainly the case with me. Much of my desire to work as a voice actor was because of my love for animated storytelling. However, as I pursued my dreams of becoming a professional actor, first in theater and then in voice acting, I had to make a mental shift from thinking about working on stories from a fan’s point of view to thinking about collaborating on those stories from an artist’s point of view. You could also think of it as the difference between being a consumer and being a creator.

Consumers and creators don’t just think differently, they think opposite from each other. The best way I know to articulate this difference in mindset is to quote the famous acting teacher and father of modern acting styles, Konstantin Stanislavski. In giving advice to aspiring actors, Stanislavski once told them,

“Love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art.”

A pithy statement to be sure, but one that deserves a more detailed explanation. I spend this episode exploring that advice in depth and explain how important it is to have a truly artistic mindset if you want to succeed in voice acting!

Thanks for listening!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #44 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 40 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!

As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast

In this episode, I continue answering questions that my listeners have been leaving me on the podcast voicemail number. I’ve been getting so many good questions lately, that it seemed appropriate to go through a number of them. For those who don’t know, in past episodes,  I’ve given out a phone number where you can call in and leave me a question as a voicemail. From time to time, I’ll pick the most relevant questions I receive and answer them here on the podcast.

For this round of Q & A, I answer questions from Jelle Derckx of the Netherlands and Zach from Huntington Beach, CA.

Jelle wants to know what to do when things get awkward during a recording session. Sometimes a director will give a voice actor a note, the voice actor will do their best to incorporate that note into their next take and yet the director still seems to be unsatisfied. Worse yet, the director may seem to want the opposite of what they originally asked for. This is a common occurrence during a recording session so I share some helpful hints about how to get back on track. The secret is giving the director what they want, not what they ask for!

Zach wonders what’s the best way to approach producers as an aspiring voice actor. Should you try to contact them directly via phone or e-mail? What kind of credits do you need on your resume before you approach producers? How do you maintain a professional demeanor when approaching potential employers for voice over work? I answer his question by explaining the professional mindset of a producer. Then, I explain how to make yourself indispensable to a producer so that they’ll search you out for your unique talents and abilities!

I think you’ll find this episode very helpful for developing a truly professional mindset.

As a reminder, the number where you can call in and ask your question is:

323-696-2655.

Please don’t forget to include your first name and what city in the world you’re calling from. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Thanks for listening!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #40 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 31 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!

As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast

In this episode I continue the discussion I began last time about how to act professionally in a recording studio.

In the last episode of this podcast, I explained how to think and act like a professional when you go into a studio to record. I talked about how important it is to have the right mindset when approaching other people in the industry. This “professional” mindset is the foundation for how to behave in any voice acting situation. If you haven’t listened to the previous episode, I suggest you do so now before continuing with this one.

In this episode I want to walk you through a virtual recording session and give you some helpful “in-studio” tips. I’ll start with your arrival at the studio, continue on to what you should and should not do when you’re in the booth, and I’ll end with how to make a gracious exit. When combined with the professional mindset you learned in the previous episode, this advice will help you behave more like a seasoned veteran.

I hope you find it useful!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #31 Here (MP3)