Marc Guss’s Clubhouse group, Instincts of a Talent Agent, moved to LinkedIn this week with its first-ever LinkedIn audio event on Wednesday night. The discussion started off with a conversation between Marc and his colleague Jeffrey Umberger about what voice over representation looks like in 2023.
Accountability was the next topic, which is what Billie Jo Konze discussed when she was in the speaker area. When she started an accountability group, she said that she gained focus in her career and that things started happening for her.
Next at the mic was Tom Antonellis, following up on this topic, adding that you need to be accountable to yourself and your career. A major breakthrough for him was when he realized that he needed to establish core values for his business, which he says help guide his decisions.
Gina Scarpa joined the stage and talked about how patience is such a big piece of a voiceover career. She talked about how she persisted for 3 years before the time was right for her to join Marc at ACM (Congrats on that, Gina!). As she and Marc discussed, it’s about playing the long game and seeing the big picture. Staying consistent and being patient is the key.
Unfortunately at this point I had to go, but I’m happy to hear this first part of the discussion. As always, thanks, Marc for hosting these audio events, and thanks to everyone who takes the stage to share!
Huge thanks to Marc Guss and his guest tonight on the Marc Guss Voiceover Club, Cliff Zellman! Cliff is a leader in the world of automotive voiceover, and tonight he worked with Marc and the audience in an automotive VO intensive.
Cliff shared a bit about his background, and his start as a guitar player working at a recording studio, where he became interested in production. He worked his way up to chief audio engineer, and after a while he got into voiceover for animation. His work as a recordist for Saturday morning cartoons, Disney, and others allowed him to learn a lot sitting next to many brilliant directors and watching them interact with the talent.
When Cliff moved from LA to Dallas, he got into automotive, where he was able to write, direct, and use his engineering skills. Cliff estimated tonight that he may have produced nearly 23,000 car spots in his career.
Cliff and Marc discussed the 3 tiers of automotive advertising:
Tier 1 is vehicle-specific advertising and they are national ads (with no specific location)
Tier 2 is for regional groups. Cliff said that dealerships in a specific region get together to discuss strategies and budgets, and that they pool resources for advertising.
Tier 3 is for one-owner dealerships. That owner may have multiple dealerships, but it’s usually an ad for one owner. These ads change frequently because of different sales incentives, so that means a steady flow of new spots for the talent to record.
Cliff said that there are about 18,000 new car dealerships and around 37,000 used car dealerships in the US — that’s a lot of Tier 3 ads! Marc added that it’s one of the top volume areas of work in voiceover, and he and Cliff agreed that they have seen talent keep clients year after year.
“Sometimes the voices become members of the community,” Cliff added, explaining that the dealership owners often don’t want to change a voice if it’s been working for them. This is because of the importance of branding in automotive advertising, Cliff said.
Marc asked about the current trends in Tier 3, with the traditional big, booming voice sound. Is that changing at all? Cliff recalled the start of the pandemic lockdowns in early March 2020, when he suddenly had every clients telling him that they need to change their ads immediately. Instead of saying “come down this weekend,” owners needed to change their message to being accommodating and reassuring to customers.
“Hopefully we’ll maintain this level of community involvement,” Cliff said, noting that the trend is still along the lines of “come on in, we’re your family.” He said that “yellin’ and sellin’” style (I love that phrase!) seems to be out in favor of this more understanding approach since the pandemic started. “We’re not yelling anymore,” he said.
Thanks so much to Marc and Cliff for their advice and insight into the industry, and thanks to the audience reads that helped everyone listening learn so much!
Marc noted that the club will take a 2-week summer break, but after that you can check out the Marc Guss Voiceover Club every Wednesday night on Clubhouse at 8:30 pm ET. You can read more of my recaps of Marc’s Clubhouse rooms by checking out this link.
Huge thanks to Marc Guss and his guest tonight on the Marc Guss Voiceover Club, Jake Gerloff! Jake is part of the West Coast team at ACM, and tonight he worked with Marc and the audience in a sports promo intensive.
Jake said that he moved to LA after attending UC Davis because he knew he wanted to work in entertainment. After 6 months in the mail room at WME, he started working in voiceover, saying he liked the fast-paced nature of the business. He’s been with ACM for the past 2 years and loves it.
Jake has worked with so many networks on sports promos that I didn’t catch them all, but they include Fox Sports, NFL Network, ESPN, Tennis Channel, and many more. He and Marc talked about how it can be hard to break into sports promo, but Jake said that most networks he works with keep their talent year to year. They also discussed the rise of opportunities for female talent in sports promos.
In terms of the sound of the reads, Jake and Marc talked about how some channels want a big booming voice, but that a more conversational read is preferred by other channels, or for certain events or sports. You want to feel like your buddy is telling you to watch an upcoming Lakers game, Jake said as an example. But if it’s a bull-riding competition, that’s something that jumps off the screen so it’s going to be a more booming voice, he said.
Marc asked Jake about sport promo demos and how often networks ask for them. Jake said that he feels it’s not as necessary as perhaps it was in the past, adding that networks rarely ask him for demos and that it’s mainly about auditions.
Regarding auditions, Jake’s advice was to stick to the script’s direction and throw in 3-4 takes since promo scripts are usually short. “I encourage variety,” he said, advising voice talent to show off their range and give the buyers some options. Marc agreed, adding some advice that he’s discussed in the club many times before which is that producers may not know what they’re looking for until they hear it. So giving options is a good idea.
Thanks so much to Marc and Jake for their 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. You can read more of my recaps of Marc’s Clubhouse rooms by checking out this link.
Huge thanks to Marc Guss and his guest tonight on the Marc Guss Voiceover Club, Carli Silver! Carli, the Chief Creative Officer for the voicecasting company Sound & Fury, took the audience through a Sound & Fury intensive with Marc tonight.
With her background in acting and degree from Syracuse University, Carli knew after graduating that she wanted to work in the space in some way, but that acting wasn’t for her. Someone suggested she get into voiceover, and she tried it for a while. She later saw a job listing for an assistant, then worked her way up to becoming a talent agent. She did commercial, promos, political — a bit of everything — but commercial was her specialty, she said.
Carli said that Jill Kershaw, the founder of Sound & Fury, invited her to join her in casting. Carli credits Jill with being an early adopter of working remotely and breaking down the barriers of working with people in different cities. “She was on the forefront of what VO is now,” Carli said about Jill.
Carli took questions from the audience and also listened to commercial reads. She gave great feedback and advice, which includes:
Think of the copy as being in your head. That inner speech can turn out a read that doesn’t sound so presentational, and it can tap into something that’s more human.
When your personality comes through, we feel like we know you.
“Good for you for trusting that you are enough, that’s the key to the copy,” she said.
“Confidence is everything, literally everything. Trust that you’re doing the work and the bookings will come.” Carli added that even if you don’t book, it may make a big impression on her team or on the buyer, and they may remember you for next time.
Even a stumble can make you sound more real, and it can make you sound authentic and not too polished. “None of us are perfect and we want to hear ourselves,” Carli said.
Sound & Fury’s work does have a certain vibe, she said, and it’s because they do a lot of national spots, which have a different sound from local market ads. “That’s why people come to us”, she said.
Carli said that talents agents can reach out to Sound & Fury on behalf of talent, and she confirmed that they only work with talent who have representation. To find out more, check out the website for Sound & Fury.
Thanks so much to Marc and Carli for their 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. You can read more of my recaps of Marc’s Clubhouse rooms by checking out this link.
Huge thanks to Marc Guss and his guest tonight on the Marc Guss Voiceover Club, Erikka J! Erikka, the “natural born hustler,” musician, and rising VO star, talked about the evolution of VO talent success with Marc tonight.
Erikka discussed how she started out as a musician, writing and releasing her own music. She works full time as a project manager for the Department of Defense and is the mom of two boys — and she has a baby on the way (Congrats!) When she heard about voiceover she dove in, saying that she loved this new way of communicating with her voice and the psychology of it. Plus, VO offered a better lifestyle and more family time compared to being on the road as a musician.
She said that after a few years of some success here and there, she wanted to dig in and try to understand how to elevate her career. She committed her “extra time” to focus on learning through classes, webinars, podcasts — she wanted to figure out why she wasn’t connecting the dots, she said. Her dedication paid off and her career started to take off.
Marc told Erikka that he saw her on stage at VO Atlanta this year and said “you were captivating and had so much value to provide to the audience.” I wasn’t at VO Atlanta, but I did see Erikka speak on a panel and host her own session at eVOcation last month, and I completely agree with Marc’s opinion. Her presentation about Work-Life Balance was so encouraging to me, (as I also try to balance kids with my freelance writing work and my VO career), and I’m thankful that I had a chance to talk to Erikka tonight and tell her how much her words meant to me.
Marc also mentioned that Erikka was reliable, and she explained that she appreciates the partnership that she has with her reps, saying that she feels like she’s on a team and they are all trying to win the job. This idea of the business partnership is something that Marc often talks about in the club, and how important it is for talent to collaborate with their representation.
When asked about what she reflects on at the end of each month, she said that she evaluates several things, such as money coming in; how many auditions she did; how many jobs she booked (so she can gauge the efficiency of her auditions); her energy level (something she really needs to consider lately due to her pregnancy); and how much time she’s been spending with her family (hoping that they don’t feel like she’s been neglecting them). She said that she’s learned that “rest is part of the work.” That is excellent advice for anybody who is thinking about their work-life balance regardless of their career.
Erikka talked about how she approaches her reads, saying that sometimes she immediately feels connected to the copy and gets some great takes right away. But, she said, a lot of times it’s not and she’ll stumble through it. Sometimes, she’ll decide not to send it in. Some reading tips that she shared include:
She keeps props in her booth. If they want a warm read she’ll hold a fleece blanket or stuffed animal to get that tactile feeling of warmth.
Another example is that for a strong read, she’ll grab a screwdriver or stress ball to get her muscles involved.
She’ll adjust the lighting in her booth for different moods.
If she’s feeling anxious, she’ll do a flat read and go through it quickly just to get both the words and the nervous energy out — then she’ll go back and tell the story.
One final piece of advice that Erikka shared was, “You’ve got to remember why you started, and what you love about it, every day.” She said you’ll have bad days and hard times, but it’s important to remember the reasons why you got into voiceover in the first place.
Thanks so much to Marc and Erikka for their 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. You can read more of my recaps of Marc’s Clubhouse rooms by checking out this link.
Huge thanks to Marc Guss and his guest tonight on the Marc Guss Voiceover Club, Juana Plata! Juana is a voiceover talent and SOVAS board member, and tonight she and Marc discussed the world of Spanish VO.
Juana shared that she started as an on-camera talent as a host and a producer in Atlanta. She also would occasionally do casting for various projects. This was valuable experience, she noted, because it gave her a sense of what the clients were looking for. When she began a career as a voiceover talent — with the support of her father who has a successful VO career in America and Columbia — her prior experience helped her understand what the clients wanted to hear and enabled her to nail her reads.
She advises VO artists to do their research for auditions and jobs. Studying a brand and what the product is like will help inform your performance, she says. “It’s about knowing the product that we’re working for.”
When Marc and Juana discussed trends in Spanish-language VO, Juana had some statistics ready. According to recent census data that she shared, there are 65 million Hispanics in the US, which make up 19.5% of the population — and this demographic has $1.7 trillion in spending power!
Marc and Juana talked about two distinct styles of commercial read that are popular now: the big, announcer voice and the more conversational style. “Both styles are valid,” Juana said, explaining that the announcer style is heard throughout Latin America, and “it’s an effective way to get to consumers.” But first-generation consumers may look for more of a conversational style, she added.
Another trend that Juana said she is seeing more frequently is the use of Spanglish in advertising, which is when parts of a sentence is in Spanish and other parts are in English. Brands are using this more often, and Juana pointed out that this technique can reach across different generations of consumers.
She advised people who want to improve their Spanish-language skills to watch TV to “help your ear get used to the sound.” Getting a coach to help with pronunciation is another option, she said. You can also look for VO jobs that want a non-native speaker — Spanish with an English accent for example.
Thanks so much to Marc and Juana for their 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. You can read more of my recaps of Marc’s Clubhouse rooms by checking out this link.
Huge thanks to Marc Guss and his guest tonight on the Marc Guss Voiceover Club, Al Murdoch! Al talked about his journey from working in radio, to VO, to a PA announcer for the Vancouver Canucks and NHL special events, and as the voice of the Emmy Award winning Judy Justice.
Al shared how he was fascinated as a 6 year old when his dad brought home a transistor radio. He remembers the impact that it had on him and feeling an instant connection with the voice. After studying broadcasting in college, he started a career in radio working behind the scenes, then on air, realizing that he liked reading commercials and became interested in production and sound design. This career evolved into more voiceover work, in radio imaging and other genres as well.
Through coaching, Al learned how to “dial back” his booming announcer style that he developed in his radio work to fit other styles of VO. He said that he’s noticing a trend in radio imaging where they want two voices: a big voice, but will also have a more casual “guy or girl next door” voice. Marc invited Eric Romanowski to join the stage and weigh in on the trends he’s seeing in radio imaging. Is the big voice still relevant? Eric said that he sees a lot of big voices, and that they lean toward rock, classic rock, country, and sports. “I think there’s still room for the big voices,” Eric said.
Al shared some advice throughout the conversation:
Persistence is key. “If you can be persistent enough without being creepy, that goes a long way,” he said.
Al shared that he learns a lot by osmosis, just by listening to everything around him. It’s important for people who want to pursue this business to be patient, he said, and to listen to everything on the radio, on TV, to people’s voices in restaurants — everything is an opportunity.
Before the end of the club, Al had one more piece of advice. “As Marc said, it’s a marathon, and as soon as you cross that finish line, get ready to train for the next one,” Al said. Marc added, “Don’t lose sight and keep the journey going.”
Thanks so much to Marc and Al for their 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.
Huge thanks to Marc Guss and his guest tonight on the Marc Guss Voiceover Club, Debbe Hirata! Debbe, the renowned voice actor and SOVAS Board Member, shared her time with the club to talk about the longevity of her career and to answer audience questions. In a heartfelt discussion that ranged from all aspects of voiceover and beyond, both Debbe and Marc shared a great deal of vulnerability, particularly in their exploration of the many ways that their mothers inspired them with their strength and resilience. Thank you, Debbe and Marc, for sharing your stories.
Debbe shared her career’s journey, which started at Gonzaga University and led to jobs in TV and radio, writing and voicing promos, news, whatever came her way. She later worked in advertising and then at Xerox, creating campaigns and voicing them. What struck me after hearing her story was the number of times she said she was doing something she’d never done before and was figuring out how to make it happen. She saw something new as a challenge and found a way to realize her vision. “Figure things out yourself — it may seem impossible, but go learn it,” Debbe said. “That’s the true entrepreneurial spirit.”
Debbe later found her way back into the VO world, and after getting a demo produced, taking classes, and finding a great agent, things took off for her. And when non-union work became predominant, she adapted. And when home studios became the norm, she adapted. When her daughter moved to LA and needed a roommate, Debbe joined her and said that’s when she started to book a lot of work, including ADR work, which was something new to her. Throughout the interview tonight, Debbe showed that she has a willingness to do what needs to be done in order to succeed, and I find that so admirable and inspiring.
When asked about how she deals with burnout, Debbe said, “In today’s market it’s much easier to get burned out now than it was a long time ago. We didn’t have a lot of technology to worry about — it was a much slower life.” What she suggests is taking time each day to check in with yourself. “I listen really carefully to my body. When I go to sleep at night, I have a conversation with it, and if there’s any little aches or pains, I really try to say ‘What are you telling me?’ Because your body will tell you to slow down,” she said, adding that it’s important to recognize when you need self-care.
Another question for Debbe was about social media and how to post without sounding like you’re bragging. Debbe understood that feeling, saying that her generation was not encouraged to talk about themselves. But what she advises is not to think of it as bragging and more about celebrating yourself, adding that Joan Baker is a good role model for not being shy. Debbe said that she’s inspired by Joan (who isn’t?!) and that Joan is “such a great example of being her truest self at its fullest expression.” So re-framing social media posts as sharing a collaboration you were involved in, or expressing yourself, and not thinking about it as bragging is an important shift in mindset.
Thanks so much to Marc and Debbe for their 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.
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.
Huge thanks to Marc Guss and his guest tonight on the Marc Guss Voiceover Club, Eric Romanowski! Eric, trusted demo producer and head of Ear Blowing Audio Productions, joined Marc in the Club to discuss commercial demos and analyzing that all-important first spot.
Eric has a background in radio imaging, which Marc said can sometimes be a negative in the voiceover world because people can get pigeonholed. However, Marc said this was an asset for Eric because of his creativity and talent. Eric said that when he got into voiceover he worked hard and studied to learn what he needed in order to be competitive and make the best demos possible.
First, Marc and Eric talked about the importance of nailing it on the first spot because you don’t want the listener tuning out after the first few seconds. It’s about finding a way to grab the attention of decision makers and to keep them listening. “We have to get to the point very, very quickly,” Marc said. How quickly? Forget 15 seconds, even 12 seconds is too long. The ideal length for the first spot is around 6-8 seconds, they said.
The stage was open to those who wanted to play their demo’s first spot and get feedback from Marc and Eric. Here are some key points from the discussion and demo analysis:
Your first spot should reflect the real you on a daily basis and show your relatable, conversational sound.
Something slightly different from a conversational spot, like dramatic or warm, could be good for a second or third spot.
Eric likes a contrast between the first and second spot to keep people listening.
The subtlety of the spots was something that Marc talked about, and he said that even a quarter of a second could make or break someone continuing to listen to your demo. “There’s no luxury anymore to wait to get to the next spot,” he added.
Your first few seconds are valuable real estate on your demo, and it can feel like a lot of pressure to choose exactly the right spot. But then again, Eric reminded us that “not everyone is going to like your first spot.” He said that you can go crazy if you try to please everyone, and that ultimately it’s your business and you’re in charge of your career. Good to remember. And, as we heard from the people who shared their demos tonight, spots can always be reordered and moved around. So try to make the best decision with your demo producer, but know that it can be changed up later.
Thanks so much to Marc and Eric for the great advice, and thanks also for talent who played their demos, which helped everyone listening learn so much! Check out the Marc Guss Voiceover Club every Wednesday night on Clubhouse at 8:30 pm ET or catch the replay later.
