Tag: Clubhouse

Huge thanks to Marc Guss and his three guests and ACM Talent colleagues tonight on the Marc Guss Voiceover Club: Jeffrey Umberger, Andrew Atkin, and Melanie Thomas. May the Fourth be with us in the club tonight!

In what Jeffrey called “a sampling of our morning meetings,” the audience heard the ACM crew discuss their business philosophy, give advice to talent, and talk about what voiceover representation looks like in 2022.

One major note to talent was to be professional when approaching an agency in hopes of getting signed. Don’t be needy, and don’t check in too often. Don’t call every single day. Melanie said to give some time for them to digest an audition before following up, be reasonable.

What’s the fine line between being persistent and being a pest? Andrew suggested having a reason to reach out to agents, such as giving them an update about a new demo, for example. He recommended checking in every 2-3 months, or 3-4 months, even every 6 months to give an update. As he said, time is a blur, and it may feel like just yesterday that they last heard from you.

You could also check in with a question, such as asking for advice on classes to take or which coaches to work with. They may have some suggestions for you.

And what should you do if an agency says that they already have someone on their roster with your sound? Just keep checking in. Take note of the suggestions on the agency’s website, for example if it says to check back in 3 months, and follow those directions. Jeffrey explained that it’s a year-round thing for agencies to update their rosters, so keep checking back. You won’t be a pest as long as you adhere to the guidelines, and if there are none, use 3-6 months as timeframe for followup.

And when asked about ACM having competitiveness or rivalry within the company, they talked about how that doesn’t happen. In fact, when founding ACM, Marc said that part of the philosophy was to get rid of that competitive environment and some of the other negatives that they had experienced at other agencies. Jeff mentioned that they are all very much on the same page when it comes to vetting talent and discussing what’s best for everyone.

Marc shared something that he says he tells talent all the time, “Don’t get caught up in the audition process, don’t get caught up in the representation process — get caught up in the you process. Get caught up in making sure that you’re in charge of your destiny.”

And Jeffrey advised the audience to, “continue to work hard at being YOU.”

Thanks so much to Marc, Jeffrey, Andrew, and Melanie for the amazing conversation, and for the insightful audience questions that furthered the discussion! Check out the Marc Guss Voiceover Club every Wednesday night on Clubhouse at 8:30 pm ET or catch the replay later.

Tonight on the Marc Guss Voiceover Club, Marc took audience questions about his new book, “Instincts of a Talent Agent: Entrepreneurial Takeaways from an Industry Insider.” This book club-style Q&A allowed the audience to share what resonated with them and to ask Marc questions about his stories and advice to those who have an entrepreneurial spirit.

Marc said that he wanted the book to be more than a memoir — he wanted it to be different — and he aimed to also include career events, stories, successes, and failures so readers could get the entrepreneurial takeaways from his experiences. To me, and others who spoke on stage tonight, Marc achieved that goal by providing those colorful and deeply interesting examples from his career — the good and the bad — as a way to illustrate the takeaways that lead each chapter. I also love the optimism and support that Marc brings from his own outlook and applies it to us, his readers, and our careers.

It can be difficult to admit when we’ve made mistakes, to ourselves and especially to others, and Marc’s candid sharing of his missteps shows us how we can learn from those mistakes and remember those lessons to guide us in the future. I especially liked his idea of building a “Resiliency IRA” fund to help when we’ve had a challenging experience by remembering the lessons learned so that we can do better next time.

And on the topic of challenging experiences, Marc touched on the importance of not taking things personally in this business, like if you don’t book a job, for example. He says to focus on your successes and keep at it. “I’m so exited for my clients on a daily basis,” he says, and that he loves to see people going for it every day.

Don’t get caught up in that kind of rejection and just stick with it, he says. He shared memories about joking around in the office with Will Arnett (how fun does that sound??) and how for several years Will would go out for pilot season without finding much success — until Arrested Development, of course.

Marc also said that he’s seen VO talent that don’t book for over a year, and then eventually go on to become household names. “You just have to stay with it,” he says. And Donovan Corneetz, the voice of the Today show and VO coach, joined the speaker area to share that it took him about 10 years to get to where he is as the voice of the Today show. From never doing promo work and coming in second in the SOVAS CBS Audition Spotlight, to networking and training, to getting a call to do a one-off for the Today show, which turned into several more, which turned into where he is today…at Today!

As Marc said, “You have to stay positive and can’t give up. There’s a uniqueness to you, and that’s yours to own.”

And speaking of uniqueness, we heard some of Marc’s stories about the late, great Gilbert Gottfried. Like the time Gilbert was invited to the Advertising Hall of Fame Parade and rode in a convertible with a huge stuffed Aflac duck, until his driver took a wrong turn and got lost halfway through the parade. Marc also said that any time Gilbert was on the Howard Stern show, just being his wildly inappropriate self, Marc’s eyes would be glued to his phone just waiting for Aflac to call him, upset about something Gilbert said. “He really stayed true to himself,” Marc said.

Huge thanks to Marc for taking time to talk about his book on Clubhouse tonight, and huge thanks also for writing it and sharing the perspectives, advice, and encouragement in its pages! Check out the Marc Guss Voiceover Club every Wednesday night on Clubhouse at 8:30 pm ET or catch the replay later.

Huge thanks to Marc Guss and his guest tonight on the Marc Guss Voiceover Club, Tim Friedlander! Tim is possibly the most chill guy in voiceover, and he is also the owner of the soundBOX:StudioGroup, the founder of Gardner St. Workout Group, the co-founder of The VO Weekly Workout (VOWW), and the co-founder, along with Carin Gilfry, of the National Association of Voice Actors (NAVA), and he’s also an awesome voiceover artist.

After studying music at Boston University (Go Terriers!) Tim eventually opened his music studio to other voice actors. When he saw a need for a workout group and a place to talk about the business of VO, he started the Gardner St groups. Another unmet need that he’s taking action on: healthcare for voice actors.

Tim co-founded NAVA with Carin to try to bring health insurance to voice actors. Changes to national laws in recent years now allow associations to offer group healthcare, and that is NAVA’s goal. Imagine being able to pursue VO career and not having to worry about where you’ll find healthcare – thanks to the efforts of Tim and Carin, that may one day be a reality. What an amazing opportunity NAVA could provide to the VO community! Check out the NAVA website, fill out the census, and take the 2022 VO survey, too.

Tim and Marc took audience questions, and here are some highlights:

• How often should you work out? As often as you can. It’s all about constant improvement and constant feedback. Getting perspectives from others is so important.

• He’s encouraged by the willingness to take feedback that he has seen lately with talent that he works with. “The overall rising quality of auditions and quality of people willing to take critique and get better is blowing my mind.”

• The conversational read is not going anywhere. “It’s less about it being a conversational read as it is about having authentic interaction with people and knowing that the listener wants to have an authentic interaction with you. That’s what a conversation is, it’s the back and forth that is authentic.” And as Marc said, it’s about not overperforming and hard sells as it may have been in the past, it’s relating and connecting to your audience that has resonated with consumers.

• Something that can interrupt that authenticity is the habit of judging yourself while you read. Tim has some rules for his booth: No apologizing after a read and No stopping in the middle of a read to say you didn’t like how it sounds. “Commit to your read and go for it, and don’t apologize – especially not in the middle of your read.”

Twice tonight Marc said, “Now is the best time to be in voice over.” And who could disagree, especially with people like Marc, Carin, Tim and his team helping the community?

Thanks so much to Marc and Tim for the amazing conversation, and for the insightful audience questions that furthered the discussion! Check out the Marc Guss Voiceover Club every Wednesday night on Clubhouse at 8:30 pm ET.

Huge thanks to Marc Guss and his guest tonight on the Marc Guss Voiceover Club, Scott Brick! The “maestro of the genre” as Marc dubbed him, gave a masterclass in audiobook narration tonight. Scott also discussed his two upcoming sessions at VO Atlanta next week: one focuses on how to approach your VO craft as a business, and the other is a deep dive into third-person narration, which is his favorite part of the business.

Some highlights and tips from tonight’s conversation are:

• New talent should avoid choosing jobs that are low hanging fruit, meaning they don’t pay much, or jobs where the subject matter is something they may not be proud of later. The word “No” can be very important early on in your career, and it’s worth being patient to do work that’s best for you.
• “Storytelling is manipulation.” You need to stay out of the way of the story. Let the audience go on the journey.
• A researcher can be a big help when it comes to things like tricky pronunciations, foreign languages, etc.
• Scott said that listening is interactive and that the person listening to an audiobook is actively using their imagination.
• He explained that the word protagonist doesn’t simply mean the main character, it’s the character who changes. He makes notes when reading the book so he knows the points of that character’s arc.
• If you’re nervous about editing, pay someone to do it. And if you don’t like punch and roll, you’re not alone — Scott doesn’t either.
• He said that the moment that the narrator connects to the text is the moment that the listener connects to the text and to the author as well.

Thanks so much to Marc and Scott for their time and such an interesting Q&A with the audience questions! Catch up with both of them next week during VO Atlanta. And check out Scott’s website for information about coaching.