Tag: recap

Huge thanks to Marc Guss and his guest tonight on the Marc Guss Voiceover Club, Bart Smith! Bart is an award-winning audio engineering and producer, casting director, and co-founder of the nation’s first all-digital post audio facility. Bart was also described by his friend and fellow engineer Frank Verderosa tonight as “a god among men in the world of audio production.”

Bart said that loved being an engineer and always had great rapport with the voiceover talent in the studio. He said that earlier on in his career, he found himself wishing that he knew more about the script from a creative standpoint. He then he went out on his own and got into all aspects of production: casting, booking, directing, sometimes writing, and putting it all together. It’s clear that he enjoys the creative process.

Several brave audience members read commercial scripts for Bart, and just listening to his direction was a great educational experience. Here are some of the tips that he shared:

• The first sentence of a script is so important, as it needs to convey the idea of here’s what I’m talking about and here’s why you should listen.
• Another note about the first line of a script is that sometimes it helps to act like you are answering a question about the product. Imagine someone says, “What’s that?” before you read that first line. It will come out so much more natural.
• Even when time is tight, do as much as you can to slow down, have pauses, and make it dynamic. That’s what makes it sound conversational.
• Even in a 30-sec commercial, there’s a beginning, middle, and end.
• Use some physicality in your reads, like raising your eyebrows, physically smile, stop and wink at something — those things come across in your read.

Thanks so much to Marc and Bart for the amazing conversation and for the brave audience performances that 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.

Huge thanks to Marc Guss and his guest tonight on the Marc Guss Voiceover Club, the legendary voice talent and coach Dave Fennoy! Dave’s recently been teaching his way across Europe at different VO events, and tonight he spent some time on Clubhouse before he and Marc switched over to his weekly Ask Dave Fennoy Anything on Facebook. But even with just a few audience questions, Dave gave a lot of great advice and insights.

He talked about the ability to cold read copy as perhaps being somewhat overrated when it comes to voice over, and described it as coming across as read-y, non-focused, and that it’s like “singing a song that is not your real song.” This, he says, is not going to get you booked.

Dave said that he’s a believer in preparation: read the script in your head 3 times, mumble it 3 times and by the time you’re ready to do a performance, you’ll be at the point where “the words are only there to remind you of what you’re saying.” And make sure that the first few times you read it that you’re doing it slowly and accurately so your brain doesn’t get stuck repeating a mistake.

When asked about warm-ups, Dave says that he relies on his morning coffee, tongue twisters, fake yawns (they realign your pipes), and breathing exercises through a straw. When he’s working on a game with a lot of shouting, he takes as many breaks as he needs to, for example, instead of every hour, take breaks every 15-20 mins.

What does Dave recommend to make efforts seem realistic? He says to think about the breathing, that there are all these sounds that our character might make that aren’t words. Imagine yourself getting hit, jumping, running, etc, and although it all comes from your mouth, your body informs the voice, so get physical. Think about air coming in when you get hit, or if your character is hitting someone else, think of air going out. Bring the acting, be familiar with what’s going on in the script, and read the stage directions.

“The voice is the exhaust of the acting engine.” This is a quote from a colleague that Dave shared tonight, and he says he likes it because it’s a good way to explain what voice acting really is about. “We think it’s all about the words; it’s not,” Dave says. “The words are the last thing — the words are giving detail of what we’re thinking and feeling, what our action is. But it’s about what we’re reacting to, what we’re thinking, what we’re feeling, what we’re doing, and what’s the relationship with the person we’re talking to.”

Thanks so much to Marc and Dave for the amazing conversation and for the audience questions that furthered the discussion! You can find out more about Dave 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.

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.