Huge thanks to Marc Guss and his guest tonight on the Marc Guss Voiceover Club, Everett Oliver! Everett started his journey in voiceover about 28 years ago, moving from production on animation hits like The Simpsons and King of the Hill, to casting, to booth directing, and now to teaching classes as well as directing and coaching talent.
Everett led an animation intensive tonight, taking audience questions and giving feedback on character performances. Not to put anyone who read on the spot, here are some notes that he gave to different voice actors throughout the night:
- He says that he often tells VO talent that after your first take, go right into your second take. Step away from it for about 10 minutes, then do third take. Then listen to it all and make your choices.
- It should not take you more than 30 mins to do an audition. If you go past 30 mins you are overthinking it. You should be in and out.
- To one actor, Everett said that he wasn’t hearing their voice and that they needed to let their guard down and know that this is a safe space. Everett wanted to hear the actor’s personality come through.
- In other instances, Everett asked the actors who they were talking to, and helped them to visualize who their character was and who was listening to them. Incorporating physicality was important, as was being confident.
- At one point, Everett felt that an actor was rushing through a script, he said to “take a minute to ground yourself because I’m not believing what I’m hearing.” He asked them to take a drink, add some physicality, and directed them to an amazing level of performance. It was so interesting to hear Everett push and direct the actor to do different things.
Thanks so much to Marc and Everett for the amazing conversation and direction, and for the brave audience performances that helped everyone listening learn so much! You can find out more about Everett’s services on his website. Check out the Marc Guss Voiceover Club every Wednesday night on Clubhouse at 8:30 pm ET or catch the replay later.