Seeing Your Casting on TV - Levi's Edition

This was a fun project to work on. Raw and poetic. I spent the whole day recording various poets and performers. I really like how this commercial came out.

Seeing My Work on TV: MeowMix Edition

This was a fun project to cast.
We got to bring in all of my favorite, "chill next door neighbor" guys, and it was one of the most competitive days of casting I've ever directed.

The final spot is charming and simple, a perfect pairing for Ben Shields who booked the job.

 

From a Producer: We’re Not Getting What We Need

Had an interesting and enlightening chat with a producer over the weekend. He wished to remain anonymous, but is established in television and feature film production.

Recently working on a commercial package for a zoo he ran into an interesting challenge while trying to cast the voice of an animal.
By “interesting” I mean “difficult”.

“Not having a lot of VO relationships, and a lean budget, we went with web-casting hoping to throw a wide net.”

They got a lot of responses.

“That became a major hurdle to completing the project and making our delivery deadline. Funnily enough, with all of the options, a few patterns emerged very quickly. About a third of the auditions were bad, distractingly bad. Poor audio quality and performances. Noticeable edits, some on every single line of the copy. Audio levels too low or too high, and there was a lot of background noise. Of those “really bad” performance auditions, there were several with talent that could barely be understood due to accents (the copy called for a “regular American” read) or a couple that were having actual difficulties reading the copy, adding and subtracting words, stuttering.”

The rest weren’t much more helpful.

“We ran into odd issues with the rest of the auditions which weren’t outright awful. One of two things would happen. Either the actor would try to mimic [Famous Actor] who last portrayed a [Type of Animal] in [Recent Movie], or the read was just sort of a generic read. We absolutely didn’t want a [Famous Actor] read (the copy didn’t specifically mention the actor, but the direction indicated a very different personality than what the actor is known for), so those were out too. Of the plain reads, a lot of them came from talent agents. You’d hit a stretch of auditions from an agency, and the five or six guys we’d get would all kind of feel the same. A similar rhythm, or vibe. One agency sent half their guys using the same “ad-lib”. Nothing really felt honest or unique about the process. A lot of the reads felt like just that, someone reading them off the page.”

It’s not all on the actors of course.

“The production did get away from us. Deadlines were looming. Budgets were tight. Honestly, with the fast turn around, fatigue set in really quickly. Trying to listen through dozens of auditions at a time was exhausting. We thought our script was hilarious working with the writer. Trying to listen to over two hundred interpretations of it, it became noise...”

Their solution was one we’ve seen before.

“The writer we were working with had us cracking up describing the character, so we used him for the spot. We knew he wasn’t the best actor, but we knew exactly what we’d be getting.”

Where do we go from here?

“We have more spots to do with more voices to cast. Our budget and turnaround wont get any better, and after this experience I doubt we’d get more money or more time to improve the situation.”

I of course offered my services...

If you're looking to step up your VO game, I'm offering a four week commercial intensive online!

Mailbag: Did I Mess Up a Relationship With A Casting Director?

Just got this question, and for all the criticizing of voice actors I do on Twitter, I felt it was really important to answer this one publicly.

hey man...have a question for you.

I've gone to [Respected Casting Director] several times over the last few years. Specifically, the last 4-5 weeks i've gone in 3 times. The 2nd time resulted in an avail. I went in today and just did horrrrribly: I wasn't loose. Didn't really add much to the dialgoue script (improv-wise) Both times we read I flubbed a (different) line and had to restart it. And I had to sing 1 line in it, and the first time I sang horribly ([CD] even said "sing better").

As a casting person, do you think the tendency is to think "oh, he had a bad day / bad audition" or "oh, he sucks" ?

Thanks RL

Please don't beat yourself up about this. You're human, and you're allowed to have a bad day. The game we play should NEVER be that kind of tight rope act. It's just not fair to yourself.

From my perspective, my relationship with an actor changes with each experience we share. Considering that, you'd have to bone it pretty hard for me to write you off.

After a series of positive experiences it would take more than one off day for me to bucket you. You'd have to have a series of bad reads in a row, and even then you'd probably need to start actively disrespecting the process for me to stop bringing you in.

To be fair, what it might do is take you off the list for singing auditions for a while, but honestly, singing auditions are few and far between, so I wouldn't be too upset at losing out on a number of "opportunities".

If this CD is worth her salt at all she'll get it.

Seeing Your Work on TV: Anti-Smoking Edition

We went multiple rounds casting these PSA's, and out of all the final versions, this one is my favorite.

Titled "Don't Stop Fighting", we watch someone struggle (with themselves) to quit smoking, and speaking as someone who hasn't lit a cig in over seven years, I know exactly where this spot is coming from...

Voiced by actor/writer extraordinaire Brian Bloom (A-Team, The Avengers Animated, Dragon Age II), he is genuinely one of my favorite people to direct.

You can watch the PSA on the official site here:
http://www.TobaccoFreeCA.com

From The Twitters: Advice for Partner Reads?

If you follow me on Twitter, you know I like to vent my frustrations there.

When someone does something utterly douchey during a casting or session, I have no problems calling them on it, but when someone just doesn’t know that they’ve done something wrong, it’s my duty to correct the behavior in as conflict-free a fashion as possible, so as not to disturb the rest of the session. Sometimes I’m able to swallow that annoyance, sometimes not, but I find myself doing A LOT of teaching...

[Tangent: I lay the blame for most of this at the feet of our current fascination with locking voice actors in their closets to act, record, direct, and edit all on their own, devoid of any outside influence or support, but that’s for another rant...]
During one of my more recent tantrums on Twitter, the subject of partner reads came up. Partner reads are a hot button issue for me. We get to do them so rarely in this “record from home” obsessed culture, that they SHOULD be my favorite projects to cast. Unfortunately they  often end up becoming the most frustrating days to work.

Upon receiving this tweet from a follower:

@Kholdshift

@SomeAudioGuy What issues are they [partner reading actors] having that I could potentially avoid in future auditions?

@SomeAudioGuy It would be much appreciated for all of us left behind, waiting for the end of the universe in October

I figured it was time to throw my two cents in.

Why do a partner read?
With how fast commercial casting is, it can be imperative to hear whether or not your actors can actually act. With skill sets WILDLY fluctuating, and with many actors becoming better editors than performers (see my above tangent), there’s no guarantee that putting a voice actor in a booth means they’ll be able to relate to another human being in an honest way.
While working at a talent agency, even though it was a lot of additional work to go through setting up times and partners, we held to reading actors together, in specific groups, designed to play to the strengths of each performer. We really believed that it increased the likelihood that one of our groups would book the spot. I hold to that line of reasoning now working for a casting company.
When a group clicks, it really can raise the level of the audition beyond that of the individual performances.

How to approach the partner read?
It’s an acting gig. Just as you would approach a Theater/Improv/Film/TV gig, it’s all about developing some chemistry with another individual. You can’t get away with just delivering your lines, your involvement in the process needs to show how you can create a relationship with the other body in the room. Listening is key.
All those classes,workout groups, workshops you attend, I’m here to tell you today, that your time OUTSIDE the booth listening to other actors is MORE valuable than your time INSIDE the booth reading. From an educational standpoint, your ability to think critically, interpret direction, and analyze copy on the fly is greatly improved by observing what works and what doesn’t work for other actors. If you’re not paying attention outside the booth, you’re wasting the class, your time, and money.
Likewise, if you’re serious about VO, alongside VOICE acting classes, you should be augmenting your education with any other performance based classes you can get your hands on, theater, improv, even singing. I was not surprised to find that several of my really successful VO pals routinely refresh their skills by taking new classes and workshops.

Analyze that Script!
Script analysis is a vital tool that is often overlooked. If you enter a casting booth figuring that the director will tell you everything you need to know, then you are already statistically on the losing side of the booking game. It means you are waiting to get lucky. However, walk into the booth with an idea of what you hope to accomplish, and you’re MUCH more likely to deliver a competitive take. Even if your idea is WRONG, it still gives your director more of a starting point to properly guide you. Walking in like a blank slate means the director is just going to cram his or her voice down YOUR throat. How successful can you be if you’re constantly performing someone else’s voice?

Things to ask yourself:
*Who is the audience for your character?
*Who is the spot trying to reach (often a different audience than who your character is trying to reach)?
*What is your character trying to accomplish?
*What is the tone of the spot?
*What is the pacing/timing of the spot?

And here’s a gimme, if the spot is being played for comedic effect, it’s usually because one character is doing something out of the ordinary. Now read carefully because this next point is GOLD:

Does the “silly” character do silly things all the time, or is this a first time occurrence?

You should be able to craft substantially different reads with your partner based on that one question alone.

If you can’t answer at least a few of the questions above, I’m sorry to say it’s not as likely that you’ll book the job, and you’ll be pulling your partner down as well.

Of course these all wont completely apply. For example, I recently cast a project where an Announcer was narrating while another character delivered pieces of a monologue, but even in a situation like that, where conversational elements might not apply, you can still glean a lot from the copy to make decisions based on the character’s relationship, proximity, and what they are each trying to accomplish.

Technical concerns for partner reads?
DON’T SWALLOW YOUR MIC! I’ve already posted a WHOLE nuther rant regarding the proximity effect, but it bears repeating. You CAN NOT sound like you’re in the same room as another human being if you are hogging the mic. It’s gotten so bad that I routinely mic groups of three or more with overhead mics, and actors will STILL try to hog a microphone while the mics are HANGING FROM THE CEILING.
Don’t do that.
Seriously. 

Cease.

Desist.

Direction concerns for partner reads?
Now this is more of a personal preference situation. 

It will largely depend on how your director communicates what they need from their performers.

For me, I tend to err on the side of "natural". 

I figure there’s little point in wanting to hear voices in tandem just to do a “clean take”, where there’s no overlap of the dialog between people in the scene. We just don’t speak to each other as humans like that.
I want that “life” that permeates conversation. The overlaps, the interjections, agreement, disagreement, it’s all vital in my opinion, so vital that I often refuse to “direct” it. Giving specific notes on how to craft conversational elements is often the fastest way to kill the "natural-ness" of a given interaction.
Listen for buzz words, “conversational”, “interruption”, “overlap”, etc. 

If the producers DO need a clean take I’ll specifically ask for one, or record one as a safety for a take two.
You have to listen to a director. 

I’m often shocked at how two actors will talk over me the entire time they’re in the booth, then expect me to help them out after three or four takes have failed to vibe. I have neither the time nor inclination to hold an actor’s hand, or validate an actor’s choices,  when he or she is being dismissive of my role in the casting process.
I am not a talent agency booth director, whose role is to make the agency’s actors (THEIR clients) sound as good as possible. My job is to provide MY clients with the best options for their projects.
Even if an actor has an amazing read, if they are difficult to work with, dismissive, rude, late, it’s often in MY best interest to closely consider whether or not MY clients should also be subjected to that behavior should the actor book the job.

If you make us look good to OUR clients, we'll bring you in more often. Simple as that.

Ask questions! But not too many questions...
No such thing as a stupid question. I do believe that, especially if the actor has  tried to ask themselves some of the questions I listed above. I’d rather you ask than waste our time. However there is a fine line between clearing up a couple points before recording, and TALKING A PIECE OF COPY TO DEATH before recording. It’s different for every individual, but there comes a point, where a realization will dawn, that the actor is already stale, dissecting a piece of copy, asking me further and  further nuanced questions about specifics in the copy, that they’ve already talked themselves out of booking the gig.
I can’t find a good rule for this one. It just sort of happens, but it often feels like a defense mechanism, usually  from someone that spends more of their time focused on delivering a piece of copy rather than performing it...

It’s all the same.
These are all the same concerns and notes people have heard time and time again. Partner reads aren’t really any different than any other acting challenge, but maybe that is what is so unique about them. They are acting challenges, NOT editing challenges. 

We live in an age where we are actively encouraging voice actors to NOT be actors. Instead requiring them to focus on self directing, recording technique, equipment maintenance, editing, post, and delivery. Somewhere in there, a performance needs to happen. Placing the actor in my booth, I often find actors who just don’t know what their role is anymore, actors who can’t relinquish control over things like mic placement, constantly futzing with their copy, stands, or headphones. It’s frustrating, for both me AND the performer. We’re constantly stepping on each other’s toes.

At the end of the day (and this terribly long rant), if I can only impress upon you that there are different processes in place between web casting, agency auditioning, and showing up to read at a standalone casting facility, that might just be good enough.
Just respecting the fact that everyone does business in their own unique fashion, and being flexible or amenable to the different goals each are trying to accomplish, will make you more successful in this business.

Now you crazy kids, get the CRAP OFF MY LAWN! Kids... walking around with their pants on the ground... Twittering their facebooks... Just awful...

Getting to see your work on TV - Dodge Edition

Well I guess in this case it's "getting to see your work on Youtube", but same deal...
This was an interesting project to cast. Robot voices can always be tricky to nail down the right vibe (is it HAL? Robbie? C3PO? Star Trek? Funny? Serious? Butler-ly? Evil?), and in the current culture of commercial casting, we're often flying blind as to what the tone of the spot will be. In this case we got JUST the robot lines, and a couple adjectives for direction...



I think our casting fits in nicely with the spot as a whole (and I'm really digging Michael C Hall on this campaign), but I TOTALLY understand why this commercial isn't seeing a lot play...

Three Spots Open for the February Microphone Workshop!

Hey all!
If you're in the LA area, I run a workshop on Microphone Technique which also includes a mic shootout!

The next workshop is scheduled for February 26 from 2pm - 6pm (or whenever we get tired of hearing the sound of our voices), and admission is $250.

We'll be going over several different types of mics, and you'll get to hear what you sound like on ALL of them!

We'll be hosting this workshop at The Voicecaster in Burbank, and you can contact them for more info if you're interested at 818-841-5300 or email them at "Casting AT voicecaster DOT com".

Hope to see you there!

A Voice Over Historical Landmark - The Voicecaster Demo Wall

In downtown beautiful Burbank...

The Voicecaster is the oldest (and one of the most respected) voice over casting facilities in California, and it's still being run from the same modest (rustic) building Bob Lloyd started the business in 35 years ago.

The most talked about feature of the building however is the Voicecaster Demo Wall. A collection of interesting looking demos from successful voice talent literally taped and glued to the wall. Also, heading back to the VC office, you can still see the library of reel-to-reel cases the casting directors used to use to select talent for auditions.




It's a charming display of our roots, and in this day and age of digital distribution, a little sad that we don't put the same flair into showcasing our demos anymore...

The Daily Renita Casting Podcast is LIVE Today!

News from my pal Chris Emerson over at PlanetEmerson.com, The Daily Renita Podcast is up and ready for your podcast consumption.
Renita (of Renita Casting, and a narration voice actress) is setting up five minute daily audio episodes to answer questions on the world of casting. Very helpful stuff for you actors looking to get a leg up, and very motivational to boot!
My pal Chris is hosting!

Here's their take on the show:

Five-minute MP3 audio lessons delivered directly to you daily from premiere casting director, producer, and director Renita. Listen as she keeps you up-to-date in today's world of acting, commercials, the casting process, the art of filmmaking, and the minute-by-minute changes occurring in the industry.

Download, listen, and learn from Renita on your way to auditions, interviews and bookings. Equip yourself with the industry insider information, audition techniques, and casting secrets which separate the highly-paid always-working actors from the rest.
     

"If I call you in for an audition, I want you to win. It does not behoove me for you not to rock that audition."
-- Renita

Subscribe to The Daily Renita Podcast!

Portal 2 Voice CASTING! Character Spoilers! AWESOME!

Damn you Kotaku!

This is a hella tasty scoop...

A reader there sent in info from Breakdown Express (an on line casting/breakdown service for actors) on auditions coming up for Portal 2!

Click on this image below for more details:

Hmmm...

Becomes the primary antagonist, eh?

Does this mean there's no GLaDOS? Does she become an ally?

The mind REELS!

Thanks for letting me rip this off Kotaku! Though you really didn't have any say in the matter!

Vote for the New Voice of the NBC Nightly News

...but not really.

Were you not entirely thrilled by the announcement that Michael Douglas was going to be the new voice of the NBC Nightly News?

Well neither was voice actor Peter O'Connell. He runs the AudiO'Connell blog, and he's holding a casting call. Submission time is already up, but you can still vote on which voice you like (I'm voting for Kara Edwards cuz she's awesome).

The winner gets ... nothing ... far as I can tell (this being TOTALLY unofficial), but bragging rights are bragging rights, so go check it out. There are some classic voices up to listen to.

Listen to the nominees.

Vote on your fave.