VAMFR 022 | Interview with Kelly Moscinski, Part 1
VAMFR 022 | Interview with Kelly Moscinski, Part 1
Welcome to episode 22 of the Voice Acting Mastery: Field Report podcast!
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.vamfieldreport.com/podcast
This episode is the first part of DanWill McCann’s interview with Kelly Moscinski, the owner and head of casting for The Voicecaster, a busy and well respected recording and rehearsal studio in Burbank, California. Nestled in between several major Hollywood studio film lots, The Voicecaster helps cast and record projects from all areas of Voice Over including, commercials, industrial narration, video games, animation, and more! The Voicecaster office was originally founded back in 1975 and has been in business ever since. Kelly had over a decade of experience in the production side of the voice over industry before she was hired at the Voicecaster, first as an assistant and later as a full time casting director. The previous owner of the Voicecaster admired her passion, commitment and ambition and it was clear to him that Kelly would be the ideal steward for the company moving forward. After three and a half years of working for them as an employee, Kelly was offered a chance to buy the business and she jumped at it. Kelly has owned the Voicecaster since 2013 and the company has flourished under her leadership.
In this episode, we’ll get to know Kelly and her studio as well as learn more about how she got where she is today. DanWill is especially excited to share with you Kelly’s tips and tricks for voice actors to help us perform our best during auditions! From a performer’s perspective, the auditioning process can be very mysterious. So much of it happens before an actor even arrives at the studio to record. Every audition DanWill goes into, he often wishes he could be a fly on the wall to hear the conversation of the casting agents and marketing representatives on the other side of the glass from where he’s standing in the recording booth. DanWill would love to hear what informs their choices and how they finally decide on which voice actor will suit their project. DanWill’s really grateful that Kelly was generous enough to share with us her stories and advice on how to navigate this potentially intimidating process. Getting such insider information has helped him feel more confident when he approaches auditioning and we have a feeling you will enjoy and value her information as much as DanWill did.
The VAM Field Report will be released on the 1st Wednesday of every month so stay on the look out for it!
Download VAM Field Report Episode #22 Here (MP3)
VAM 125 | Interview with Richard Tatum, Part 3
Welcome to episode 125 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 the third and final part of my interview with my good friend Richard Tatum! Richard is not only an accomplished voice actor, and voice over teacher, but also an amazing producer of voice over demos. You may know him as Rex Goodman in Fallout 4, the voice of Theodore Roosevelt in Civilization VI and Omar Harmozi from the animated series Static Shock. I first came across Richard’s work as a demo producer when one of my students played me her demos and I was blown away by how well they represented her abilities as an actress. Not only was her character demo very compelling, but her commercial demo was impressive as well. When I asked her who had produced them, she introduced me to Richard and he and I have been friends ever since.
In our previous interview segment, Richard and I discussed how he began producing demos for voice actors. He not only shared with us some great advice about what one should put on a demo but he also outlined the mindset one should have when using your demo to market yourself to agents and casting directors.
In this episode we discuss some of the most common misconceptions about demos. We talk about when the best time is to make a demo and how important it is to have professionally competitive acting skills before investing one’s valuable time and money into producing a demo. We wrap up our discussion with Richard’s final advice to aspiring voice actors. His words of wisdom are based not only on his years of acting but also his experience directing hundreds of performers on stage and in front of the microphone. I think you’ll find his insights incredibly helpful.
If you’d like to find out more about Richard’s classes and voice over demo services, please visit his website at:
AbsoluteVoiceOverLA.com
or contact him via e-mail at:
AbsoluteVOLA@gmail.com
Thanks for listening!
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #125 Here (MP3)
VAM 124 | Interview with Richard Tatum, Part 2
Welcome to episode 124 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 the second part of my interview with my good friend Richard Tatum! Richard is not only an accomplished voice actor, and voice over teacher, but also an amazing producer of voice over demos. You may know him as Rex Goodman in Fallout 4, the voice of Theodore Roosevelt in Civilization VI and Omar Harmozi from the animated series Static Shock. I first came across Richard’s work as a demo producer when one of my students played me her demos and I was blown away by how well they represented her abilities as an actress. Not only was her character demo very compelling, but her commercial demo was impressive as well. When I asked her who had produced them, she introduced me to Richard and he and I have been friends ever since.
In our previous interview segment, we discussed the beginning of Richard’s acting journey and how his strong theatrical acting background helped him pursue a voice over career. Amazingly, Richard broke into voice acting not just once, but twice! The first time was around 1996 when he got his first agent and started booking voice over work in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, when the actor’s union strike against commercials in 1999 dragged on for 6 months, Richard found that he needed to pursue other employment opportunities outside of voice over. Years later, in 2011, he decided to approach voice acting again. This time around he had a more methodical approach as well as far more experience under his belt. I think it’s incredibly useful to hear what changed and what stayed the same between both time periods when it comes to trying to break into the voice acting world.
In this episode, we’ll talk about how Richard began producing demos for voice actors. Through some wonderful synchronicity, Richard was able to join forces with a colleague of his to start coaching voice actors as well as help develop their demos. Not only do we discuss what you should and should not put on your demo, Richard also explains the mindset you need to have in order to use that demo to market yourself effectively to agents and casting directors. I certainly learned a lot from this segment with Richard and I’m sure you will as well!
If you’d like to find out more about Richard’s classes and voice over demo services, please visit his website at:
AbsoluteVoiceOverLA.com
or contact him via e-mail at:
AbsoluteVOLA@gmail.com
Thanks for listening!
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #124 Here (MP3)
VAM 123 | Interview with Richard Tatum, Part 1
Welcome to episode 123 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
Welcome to the first part of my interview with my good friend Richard Tatum! Richard is not only an accomplished voice actor, and voice over teacher, but also an amazing producer of voice over demos. You may know him as Rex Goodman in Fallout 4, the voice of Theodore Roosevelt in Civilization VI and Omar Harmozi from the animated series Static Shock. I first came across Richard’s work as a demo producer when one of my students played me her demos and I was blown away by how well they represented her abilities as an actress. Not only was her character demo very compelling, but her commercial demo was impressive as well. When I asked her who had produced them, she introduced me to Richard and he and I have been friends ever since.
Like myself, Richard got his training in the theater and even had an opportunity in college to perform on stage with Patrick Stewart in a production of Shakespeare’s the Tempest! After moving to Los Angeles, Richard pursued both voice acting and theater and has made quite a name for himself as a director and adaptor of stage plays. He’s been nominated repeatedly for the prestigious LA Theater’s Ovation awards for his work as a director, and he applies these admirable directorial skills while helping voice actors create their voice over demos.
In the first part of our talk, we focus on Richard’s acting background and how he began his career as a performer. Early on he worked as an actor in a repertory theater company in Philadelphia, but it didn’t take long before he realized he wanted to make the move to Los Angeles to expand his acting prospects. Upon arriving in LA he began working as a tour guide at Universal Studios. This was fortuitous as it made it possible for him to take a workshop with a former tour guide who had become a professional voice actor, the famous Bob Bergen. Bob is probably most well known for being the current voice of Porky Pig, but he’s worked on hundreds of other influential voice acting projects. Bob was able to help Richard learn how to take his existing theatrical acting skills and best apply them in the world of voice acting. Making the transition from theatrical acting to voice acting can be challenging. I know it was for me at times. That’s why I really enjoy hearing how Richard was able to internalize Bob’s advice and apply it not only to his own voice acting career, but also to producing voice over demos for others. I think my listeners will really benefit from this time-tested wisdom.
If you’d like to find out more about Richard’s classes and voice over demo services, please visit his website at:
AbsoluteVoiceOverLA.com
or contact him via e-mail at:
AbsoluteVOLA@gmail.com
Thanks for listening!
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #123 Here (MP3)
VAM 119 | Interview with America Young, Part 3
Welcome to episode 119 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
Welcome to the third and final part of my interview with the multi-talented America Young! In part 1 and part 2 of this interview, America shared with us her experiences working in almost every aspect of performing! She’s worked on-camera, as a voice actor, as a stunt performer and most importantly for our conversation, as a motion capture actress in video games! We’re very fortunate to have America talk with us about what it takes to succeed in the developing world of motion capture.
In the last episode, America helped define for us what motion capture is and how it differs from the more recently coined term, performance capture. She also explained how her experience as an on-camera actor and stunt performer informs her motion capture work. In addition, we discussed some of the most common practices in the world of motion capture.
As we wrap up our time together, America explains how she creates a character physically when she has very little information to work with. This is a common occurrence in video games where actors are rarely given an entire script from beginning to end to study before they are asked to perform. She also stresses the importance of using your imagination when performing motion capture. The MoCap volume is basically a big empty space that requires you to fill in the details of the world around you with your own creativity. We also touch on how America’s knowledge of geeky subjects like comic books can be both helpful and a hindrance when approaching her work.
Make sure to check out America’s movie, The Concessionaires Must Die!
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #119 Here (MP3)
VAM 118 | Interview with America Young, Part 2
Welcome to episode 118 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
Welcome to the second part of my interview with the multi-talented America Young! America has had experience in almost every aspect of performing! She’s worked on-camera, as a voice actor, as a stunt performer and most importantly for our conversation, as a motion capture actress in video games! I was eager to talk to America so she could share her insight with us about what it takes to succeed in the developing world of motion capture.
We begin our discussion in this episode by defining what motion capture is and how it differs from performance capture. We then explore how America’s background in acting and stunt work helped her when she had the opportunity to audition to be a motion capture actress for a Spiderman game. After that, we go into detail about some of the most common practices in motion capture and what you can expect when when find yourself on a motion capture stage.
America has a wealth of information to share so listen closely! You’ll learn how important it is to have a solid background in acting before attempting to perform as a physical character in video games!
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #118 Here (MP3)