Voiceover Mom

[skwarner]

Hi--I am sending this email on behalf of my ten year old daugter who has an interest in doing voiceover work. My first question is-- where to start. She can do various accents and character voices, however, we are not sure what path to take to get her started. She has been "playing around with voices/accents since about age six. Any suggestions or guidance would be greatly appreciated. We are in the Atlanta area.

Thanks, S

[JoeActor]

Hi S,

Welcome to the forum. We've got some folks in and around the Atlanta area, so I'm sure they'll chime in with some good regional advice.

First things first: as with any job or career, your daughter will need some training. I'd suggest she start by getting involved in theatre (either school or community). Improv and singing can be valuable too.

If this is something she'd like to start sooner rather than later, she'll need your help on the business side... and it is a business! A good VO coach can better guage her potential and help guide her to some audition opportunities. There are VO roles for kids, but because they grow up, a lot of roles are actually voiced by adult women.

Here's a great thread on the forum with some more information:
http://www.voice-overs.com/forum/newbie-board/1342-random-thoughts-newbies.html

You may also want to look for a good book on VO and the business. We have several standards reviewed in our "Reviews" area...

Hope this helps some - feel free to ask more questions as they come up.

Look around too. Lots of questions have already been answered.

Happy Friday,
Joe J Thomas
www.JoeActor.com (http://www.JoeActor.com)
www.SoundsGoodToYou.com (http://www.SoundsGoodToYou.com)

[Scott Pollak]

Hi, I'm one of those in the Atlanta area and I make my living fulltime doing v/o. Odds are you've heard me if you even turn on a radio in Atlanta.

Interestingly, I've done some theater with a young lady who is now probably about 12 or 13 who is amazing, and who is pursuing getting into doing some v/o.

For starters, I'd suggest you go give her demo a listen here:

http://www.voice-overs.com/forum/hotseat-will-you-critique-my-demo/1939-someone-elses-demo.html

Let your daughter hear it to understand what it takes to be good at this. Acting skills are an ABSOLUTE MUST, especially for youngsters who have a harder time taking the printed word and making it sound believable.

Invest in some professional coaching and training. Get her into local theater and acting classes. Once she really shows she can do this, there are several reputable agencies here in Atlanta. One of my favorites is Houghton Talent. Check them out at: Houghton Talent | The LINK Between CREATIVE People (http://houghtontalent.com/) and (not now) when your daughter MAY be ready to dip her toes into the big sea, give them a call and ask for advice. Have a PROFESSIONALLY PRODUCED DEMO (like the one you'll hear on the link I provided above) ready to send to them.

Don't get frustrated. If your daughter doesn't have the maturity or ambition to do all this, it's cool. She's still young and may be easily sidetracked. But lay the necessary groundwork and see where it leads.

Best of luck!