Huge thanks to Marc Guss and his guest tonight on the Marc Guss Voiceover Club, J. Michael Collins! JMC, the legend himself — voice actor, demo producer, coach & producer — visited the club to talk about voiceover trends and answer audience questions.
J. Michael shared that he started out in radio, getting a taste of voiceover when he did the occasional spot for the station. He became intrigued and then hooked, saying, “unlike Marc, I passed up the chance to go to law school” so that he could concentrate on VO. As for how he got started making demos, he said there was no grand plan; it happened organically. He noticed that when he would get the spots that he voiced back for his reel, the audio quality didn’t sound as good as it could. So to solve that problem, he worked on producing demos that would sound better to agents and casting directors. He started out with commercial and narration, and it grew after that. He’s happy to announce that recently Scott Brick joined the team at JMC Demos.
On the subject of audiobooks, Marc talked about his recent announcement that he will be narrating the audiobook for his book, Instincts of a Talent Agent. At first, he heard a “No” when he floated the idea, that the role would probably go to an audiobook narrator of the publisher’s choosing. But, as Marc said, he used the mantra from his book: “An entrepreneur never thinks about why something can’t be done; we focus all our energy on how it can be done.” He was persistent and he made it happen.
Time for audience questions and pearls of wisdom from JMC:
In response to a question about the future of the conversational read, J. Michael said that we should stop saying “conversational” and start saying “real.” What they want to hear are things that are more authentic, not as polished. There’s a real need for “less is more,” for taking authenticity to a place where there’s no sense of trying, that it’s almost stream of consciousness, he said. “The younger generation has a very sensitive BS meter,” he said (and by younger generation he means folks under 40). They don’t want it too slick, or to sound like you’re trying at all.
When someone asked about international markets, J. Michael’s advice was that the international market is a tough nut to crack, and he recommends establishing your business in the US first before branching out internationally. He said the UK may be the likeliest place for US voices to book work outside of the US, and that Germany also frequently uses American voices. He added that sometimes different markets may be behind the US in certain trends, which was interesting to me because I’d never heard any conversations on this subject. The US and Canada are probably the main places that are using this real, unpolished type of read, he noted.
Speaking of trends, how does he know when he spots a new one? J. Michael says that seeing the copy from his various agents, 3-4 months in advance of when the spots are due to air, helps as a talent and a demo producer. You can start to anticipate trends, but you can’t get too ahead of yourself in thinking you know the next big thing. He shared one example of a unique commercial that he wondered about, but it didn’t turn out to be a new trend or style.
He shared something that is under-taught in the VO world and that is to consume all media — not just listen to commercials, but to consume pop culture. For example, a popular musician may not be your vibe, but they may be important to know about in case they are used as references in copy or other projects. He encouraged us to look something up when you don’t understand it, and to stay on top of what people are talking about. He also said that he regularly discusses trends in his talks with agents, casting directors, people like Marc – “We talk about it amongst ourselves,” he said.
Thanks so much to Marc and J. Michael for the great advice and insight into the industry, and thanks to the audience questions that helped everyone listening learn so much! Check out the Marc Guss Voiceover Club every Wednesday night on Clubhouse at 8:30 pm ET.