Voiceover

I got to be a mermaid, a candy princess, a British little boy and a kitty cat!

February 5, 2018 by Laura Schreiber

What little girl doesn’t want to grow up and be a Disney princess? Well, maybe that is the wrong question to ask in 2018. Maybe some little girls want to grow up and be the handyman or the shopkeeper or the grumpy old lady next door. Well as a character voiceover actress I get to be all of them! From mermaid to candy princess to British little boys to kitty cats, I have voiced them all. So what does it take to get to do this kind of work and how does a voiceover gal like me prepare?

Pictured with the one and only Fred Frees In Studio City, CA 10/201

When I first started out, I was blessed to find amazing coaches! I took classes with the incomparable Cristina Milizia. I am actually almost a voice match for her so studying with her was extremely helpful. I also had more months than I can count of private lessons with the legend Fred Frees, who grew up in our industry. Fred insisted that I not make my demo until I had a roster of characters that I could hold 8 hours a day 5 days a week like you have to do when you book a job. I also learned that you aren’t doing voices, but are building complex characters and that made all the difference. Before I knew it I had a lot of people floating around in my head!

Fred also insisted that I take improv classes. This was way out of my comfort zone which is exactly why he said I needed it. He said I needed the improv to really be able to do the scripts justice. At the same time he really upped the ante with the copy that we worked with and every session was a real workout. I learned to go from character to character and I practiced for hours every day, building the roster of make-believe and building my skill set too.

By the time I did my demos, I was ready. I have been blessed to book a good amount of character work- from games to toy prototypes to E-learning, I LOVE it all! I can also switch from character to character with ease in one job and that is all because of my training. Is there any other field where you can say you have a lot of different voices floating around in your head?? I really don’t think so!

For a link to a character demo – click here!

Doing a Voiceover for a 30 Second or 60 Second Commercial- What’s really involved?

January 29, 2018 by Laura Schreiber

So you must be thinking, “Wow- money for 30 seconds of work, sweet gig.” Well- if only it were that simple. It is a sweet gig because because most of us friendly folks in voiceover would never spend all of our waking hours in a padded foam booth alone if we didn’t LOVE what we do, so in that sense the work is great. And it’s great in another sense- most voiceover talents are happy about every job we book. Whether we are newbies just starting out or well-established professionals, every booking is something we are proud of, so in that sense every 30 second spot is something to celebrate. But does a 30 second commercial- whether for tv, radio, or the web- or a 60 second spot- actually take that long to do? Heavens no!

When a booking comes in, there are specs from our client telling us when they needed it back and what kind of sound they are looking for. We also learn the usage- will there be visuals side by side enhancing the audio or will it just be our voice on the radio? It makes a difference. Whether the client needs it back in 3 hours or in 24 hours, we have to break down the script. We mark it up and begin to digest what it’s really about. A script that comes to me about a cleaning supply item sold at Target is not likely about the detergent, right? It’s more likely about the needs of the young mom or her busy life or the solution that this product will provide. Once we have connected with the copy, there is a business side to our work. Every talent handles this differently. I invoice every job so that means as soon as I submit a finished recording I immediately follow up my email with an invoice. Some talents do it once a week. But we have to keep track of our own billing and accounts receivable and that is a time consuming piece of the puzzle.

Then we move on to the recording. Depending on what kind of production the client wants, you can record on different software. If they do not need music or sound effects added, I keep it simple and prefer to use a program called TwistedWav which was created specifically for voiceover recording on Macs. Typically for a commercial I give my client 3 takes, a version A, B, and C. I try to vary these by tone, pace, and word emphasis. When I am ready to record I set up my named files and am ready to go with my marked script. Depending on how comfortable I am, it can take anywhere from 10-40 minutes to complete this. Some clients then want the recordings sent raw, some want them fully edited, and I am happy to provide both if that is their preference.

There is an exception to this process and that is when clients ask for a guided session. A guided session allows the client to feel as if they are there in the booth with me when in fact I only hear them in my headphones! I can record and the mic will not pickup the client’s voice as they give feedback live and in the moment. While there is a minimum fee for such sessions, the client is guaranteed to have all the takes they need and the guided session is considered final delivery with no revisions or retakes included in the price.

After I record I typically send a follow-up email summary describing the work that I sent them and letting the client know that I am there if they need anything more for the job. I also let them know to look out for the invoice.

That is what the process looks like, even for what is perceived by an outsider to be a “quick” job! There are a lot of little steps that go into giving the client exactly what they need, and I do each one of them with a big smile! I am sure that there are some people in my industry who are faster and some people who are slower, but I always try to do my best, and I have never been able to do my best at anything- my nails, my schoolwork, my laundry, my hair- when I rush. My goal is that every client is a repeat client and so I treat every job as if it is the most important job I have!

Yes, I’m a Perfectionist. So what?

January 22, 2018 by Laura Schreiber

I think I was born this way. I fixate on details. This does not mean that I am compulsively clean and spend hours organizing my drawers (not that there’s anything wrong with that), this just means that when I work I do not finish until it is exactly as I think it should be. It served me extremely well as a school student and now as a small business owner I think it really helps set me apart. While I do try to have a sense of humor about all things in life, here are several reasons that perfectionists make the best voiceovers, not in a particular order:

Any specific requests, whether written in the specs or given verbally, will always be met as a perfectionist takes such details VERY seriously
Editing is very clean and nothing sloppy is ever left on – no good perfectionist would ever stand for sloppy editing.
I have a very good ear – if I listen to something and feel that the overall gestalt of the piece is “off” I would never leave it. How could I? It’s either right or it’s…not.
I always meet the time window on an order or booking and never have scheduling issues because, as a good perfectionist, I take the planning very seriously:)
On a repeat job, I can easily match tone, pitch, and voice.

What is a Travel Rig? Why Should Clients Should ask about it?

January 15, 2018 by Laura Schreiber

So you are about to cast a delightful and pleasant voiceover actress who you have worked with before. Or maybe you have never worked with them before but you are finally ready to start your project and now you need the recording TODAY, or tomorrow, but either way it is now a rush job. You email the talent and they are out of the studio for four days. What do you do? Well, if the talent is really a pro, they likely have a travel rig and that travel rig is likely to be almost as good as their studio set up. In some cases you will not notice a difference AT ALL between the booth and the travel rig, it just depends on what they have at home and what they have on the road.

My travel rig is quite good and as I do a lot of work for Pandora, I have worked with their engineers to perfect its sound and I am quite comfortable with it. There are, however, some key differences between my commercial grade booth and the rig I take on the road. On the road I use an apogee which is a USB mic. At home I have a Neumann that goes through my high-end RME interface. On the road I use a sound treated Kaotica eye-ball for sound proofing surrounded by a pillow fort. At home I have an entire custom built booth. Can I give a quality sound on the road? Yes. Is it the same as the Neumann in my booth? No, but nothing will every be as good as the Neumann. So why not travel with the Neumann? Well, for one, it’s kind of like why a lot of women have travel jewelry. It’s way too expensive. Next, it’s heavy and requires a huge set up. It just isn’t practical.

This is what my travel rig looks like, inside a “pillow fort” at a hotel to ensure great quality recordings!

What other considerations are there when using a talent on a travel rig? What if the voiceover actor has recorded the job at their home studio, they are now on the road, and you need a pickup. It’s up to you to decide if the recording is a close enough match. I’ve had clients decide to wait and I’ve had clients happily use the recoding on my rig without issue. It depends on the usage and how much processing is going with the piece.

Don’t be afraid of travel rigs. Just ask the voiceover actor what their recording chain is and what kind of work they have successfully done on it. If the voiceover actor has made the investment in this, they want to make you happy so that you will work with them again so you are more likely to be safe than sorry.

Mine includes the items below. If you have questions about my abilities to record when I’m traveling, I’d love to talk to you about it.

10 Reasons I Love ❤ Being a Voiceover Actress

January 8, 2018 by Laura Schreiber

10. Every day is a surprise- no 2 days are the same!

9. I can take snack breaks whenever I want.

8. I make my own choices for my business.

7. My work is creative.

6. I am on social media all of the time.

5. My job is technology based and I can play with lots of gadgets.

4. I am constantly learning and growing new skills- my education and professional development never ends.

3. I meet lots of amazing people- from clients to other talents.

2. I can work from home!

1. My job is a happy, upbeat, fun job.

The Thread in the Voiceover Community

July 17, 2017 by Laura Schreiber

I arrive at the Tropicana Hotel for WoVoCon. The temperature outside was upwards of 110 degrees and my skin was quite dry. I was shlepping my computer, my bag for the conference, and some snacks. The princess in me is not used to schlepping anything and my inner monologue was embarrassingly kvetchy. I walked through the smokey casino, up the escalators, and back to the conference center. This area was a very different place because this is where the voice talent was! From newbies with associate memberships to professionals who knew each other for years, we all greet each other with big hugs. I met people I have only corresponded with online and I am overjoyed in an instant. No more kvetch-only smiles through and through. Meeting the likes of Diana Birdsall, Samuel Fleming, Michelle Blenker, Kim Handysides and her daughter Lisa… all true delight. Getting to talk to Dustin Ebaugh who is always so helpful actually face to face in person. Later dressed in my tropical party outfit, I stood with my lei around my neck and spoke to Dan Lenard at length. Being in the same room as David Rosenthal with whom I have both studied and worked- I was nothing short of elated. The list goes on and on and on. To talk to Jody Krangle, break bread with J. Michael and Armin Heirstetter… and to say that the connection goes beyond the immediate knowledge that we all work in voiceover. There is a thrill and excitement to this level of human connection and I am quite clear that the voiceover community is very special. But, how do you keep these warm sentiments going when you the adrenaline of the conference dissipates??

Whippany, New Jersey, Sometime in 2012

Several years ago now I found myself seated at a table at a UJA of Metro West Women’s Lunch. In truth, I went to the lunch out of obligation as a close friend was one of the organizers and most of my girl friends were going. I was, however, immediately drawn in by the presentation. The speaker was Laura Schroff, author of Angels on Earth, a book about the power of connections that people make. Laura shared the story of her life, beginning in 1986 when she met 11 year old Maurice Mazych, a homeless boy in New York City. I remember Laura saying that Maurice was different because he did not ask for money. He was hungry and she knew he really needed food. Having lived in Manhattan for 9 years, I was touched that what began as Laura feeding a hungry child blossomed into a life-long relationship. Schroff tied this back to the Chinese proverb about the thread that binds as all, and this concept resonated with me deeply.

For me, I felt the strands of this thread, never before identified but always present, tangled throughout the web of my world. I am super bubbly and have always talked to everyone but I feel like I connect with people. When Laura suddenly put a label on it, everything had more meaning. When my adult life took new shape as part of the voiceover community, this thread continued to weave and wrap in new directions. Fred Frees was one of the early connections I had the privilege of making. Fred was my very first character coach and we worked together online for many months. When my family came out to LA, I even met Fred and his wife. Besides his brilliance and creativity, Fred is the essence of our world in voiceover as he is caring and kind and works on his craft tirelessly. Fred explains “Growing up with people in the industry was just natural for me, and being with them today enhances that feeling.”Despite the fact that Fred has a deep family history in voiceover and historic connections, Fred works day and night like those of us who chose this path and knows the industry ups and downs from every perspective. When Fred created the Voice Peddler Interviews Family, it is clear that he is doing what Laura Schroff does in her book, he is fleshing out the power of connections in our voiceover community.

Whether you were born into the industry or this was your chosen path as it was mine, it is clear that there is a unique niche in the entertainment industry. While grueling auditions are a certain part of our reality, so is the support and the sharing for fellow talent. According to J.Michael Collins, voice actor and coach working in the community for more than 20 years, “The VO community is remarkable in that we willingly share our strategies and tactics with one another, and don’t feel the need to desperately guard our piece of the pie. It is unique among entertainment industry genres in the closeness and selflessness of the community.” It is a common occurrence that people new in the field seek guidance from established talent, and this is typically given with genuine support. When I got my start I spoke to my friend Marie Hoffman and she was so generous with both her time and her advice. I remember when I met Anthony Gettig at a conference in the Midwest last fall, and he told me that the rising tide in the harbor lifts us all. He later told me that this was a common axiom used by Faffers, and that too made me smile. And I can tell you that it was Anthony who sat next to me in a session at WoVo Con and played with my Twisted Wave settings and I was overjoyed. I recently reached out to Pierre Maubouche in France for help pricing a job and he did so as if we were long time friends. The kindness of talents like Marie, Anthony, and Pierre epitomizes the VO community.

The connections in voiceover run deep. Dan Lenard, whose VO career began decades ago, explains “You’ll hear it from all corners of the acting and voice acting community, but there is no question that those in the voice industry have a common thread of trying to make our business a better place for all. Even more amazing is the wonderful lifelong friendships we develop though our commonality and common commitment. Its like no other business. Do photographers, graphic artists, web masters and other freelance professionals have this type of community?” Whether you are looking at a Facebook group or conference photos, or pictures from a BBQ, the VO community is a tight knit group. How many people do you know who would visit a friend on a layover at the airport and bring bagels to them? It happened in voiceover, just ask Uncle Roy. Or ask Uncle Roy about late night calls for sound booth emergencies… those happen too. And in how many fields do people open their homes to out of town guests? This is the unique reality of the voiceover community.

Indeed, the voiceover community is a very special place, with threads very long and tangled. As Juliette Gray says, “When I discovered voiceover I knew I was home.” Now with the addition of the Voice Peddler Interviews Family, we have another way to get to know each other more. As Fred says, why join a group and do nothing? When thinking of the power of connections, those words are really loaded. We all have to think about content and context all day every day. This group is different and we have a real opportunity here to benefit from each other, so let’s see how long this thread is!