Welcome to episode 162 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!

As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast

Welcome to the first part of my interview with Sarah Elmaleh, who is not only an accomplished voice actor but is also a video game advocate and enthusiast! You may know Sarah from her acting roles in a myriad of AAA and independent video games including Katie in Gone Home, Lizzie in Gears 5, the Female Freelancer in BioWare’s Anthem, Tamitha in Pyre, Apollyon in After Party, and the Female Raider in For Honor. In addition to her voice acting work, Sarah is also an ambassador of sorts between the worlds of actors and game developers. She works hard to facilitate communication and collaboration between the people who perform in video games and the ones who create them. She’s been the awards director at the IndieCade festival which showcases independent games. She’s also the co-founder and co-host of GameDev.world, a global game developer conference that strives to help game designers from different linguistic backgrounds communicate with each other in their native tongues. In addition, Sarah and I have both participated in the Interactive Committee at our Actor’s Union, SAG-AFTRA, which helps negotiate video game contracts between the union and game producers. Sarah has been instrumental in helping to create a low-budget video game contract for independent game developers who would like to work with union acting talent. I thought it would be great to have Sarah on the podcast to talk about her experiences in the industry, and how her love of games helped her find her way into the world of voice acting!

In the first part of our discussion, I ask Sarah how she got started as an actor. When she was very young, she studied dance and was a ballerina. Unfortunately, she suffered an injury between 8th and 9th grade which required her to wear a leg brace. She was unable to practice ballet for an entire year and that discouraged her from pursuing dance professionally. However, with some encouragement from her mother, she decided to transition from dancing to acting. She was blessed to have attended a high school with an excellent theater department. She credits her teachers from high school for instilling in her a solid work ethic when it came to acting as well as an appreciation for how much vulnerability and honesty she needed to bring to the practice of acting. She was also really into video games as a child. Some of her favorite games were the Lucas Arts adventure games from the 1990’s including Full Throttle, Curse of Monkey Island, and Grim Fandango. She happened to be a huge Star Wars fan as well, and when she realized that Mark Hamill, the actor who played Luke Skywalker in Star Wars also played Adrian ‘Rip’ Ripburger in Full Throttle, she was blown away. Ripburger’s voice was so different from Luke Skywalker’s that she became fascinated with how Mark Hamill had changed the sound of his voice to play that role. From that moment on, voice acting for video games was something that she definitely wanted to explore. While she did continue to pursue stage and screen acting in theater, film and television, it was her love of games and her appreciation of voice acting that eventually lead her to pursue a career in voice over. But I’ll let her tell you how it all happened!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #162 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 161 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!

As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast

Welcome to the second and final part of my interview with voice actor and home studio guru, Jordan Reynolds! You may be familiar with Jordan’s voice acting work on games like World of Warcraft, Fallout 76 and the new Final Fantasy 7 Remake. He’s also been in numerous anime including Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Hero Mask, and Lupin the Third. He’s done voice over for thousands of commercials and corporate videos and he even produces demos at his website, DemosWithChops.com. In addition to being an accomplished voice actor, Jordan is also extremely knowledgeable about home recording equipment and how to build an effective home studio!

In the previous episode, Jordan and I discussed how he broke into the world of voice acting. He began by learning all he could about recording equipment. He did extensive research and in relatively short order, he had built himself a professional quality home studio. However, he quickly realized that it would take more than the right equipment to become a working voice actor. He also needed to have professionally competitive acting skills. So he began taking classes from coaches who were working in the industry. He also set himself the goal of practicing voice over on a daily basis and recording everything he practiced. After a couple of months, it was eye-opening for him to go back and listen to his audio files from earlier practice sessions, and to realize just how much he had improved! Once his skills became professionally competitive, Jordan was able to combine his acting abilities with his technical knowledge and began to make money as a voice actor part-time from his home in Denver, Colorado. Later, as his client list and voice over work load increased, he eventually decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue voice acting in a bigger marketplace. I was excited to share Jordan’s experiences with my listeners, especially those who may not live in a major voice over city like LA, and who may also be trying to figure out how to create a professional quality booth at home. If you haven’t already, I highly suggest you listen to the first part of our interview, because Jordan shared some truly useful information on these topics!

As we wrap up our discussion together, I ask Jordan what inspired him to become a voice actor in the first place. Much of what drove him was the desire to be creative, especially when he saw other people expressing themselves through music or acting. Jordan and I also share what animated shows influenced our childhoods and how they shaped our pursuit of voice acting! Jordan then talks about the value of improv and how he applies his improv training to all of his voice over work. We wrap up our discussion with Jordan’s advice to the aspiring voice actor and how important it is to step outside of your comfort zone on a regular basis to make sure you keep growing and expanding your abilities! It’s a very honest and personal conversation and I’m eager to share it with all of you. Let’s dive in!

If you are interested in hiring Jordan to help you with your own home recording setup, you can visit him at JordanAudio.ninja and make an appointment online!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #161 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 159 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!

As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast

This is the third and final part of my interview with the voice of Porky Pig himself, Bob Bergen! While Bob is most famous for playing Porky, he’s also played many other Looney Toons characters including Tweety, Marvin the Martian, Speedy Gonzales, and Sylvester Junior! He’s also done work on Disney animated movies, the Star Wars games, and anime as well. His resume is long and varied and he’s a three time Emmy award nominee! Bob has been teaching voice acting classes since 1987 and is a wealth of information and experience! I’m very grateful he spent so much time talking with us!

In the previous episode, Bob and I discussed what inspired him to become a performer. It turns out that being in front of the microphone is his happy place. He takes so much joy from performing characters that he can’t imagine himself doing anything else! We also talked about his audaciousness and how he always seemed to be able to take strong, decisive action towards his voice acting goals. Bob attributes his courage to being a precocious young boy with supportive parents, and while that’s definitely true, I also think that his deep passion for voice acting helped him overcome any nerves he might have experienced. I especially love how he admitted that when Mel Blanc told him how difficult it was to break into voice acting, that Bob didn’t really care. Bob was far more interested in with what he needed to learn and do in order to succeed at voice acting, and he wasn’t really interested in hearing about the odds of success or failure. As far as Bob was concerned, if becoming a voice actor was going to be a difficult journey, so be it. He would succeed regardless because he cared so much about doing it well.

In this final episode, Bob shares with us his advice for the aspiring voice actor. After more than 30 years of teaching experience, he has some great insights into the craft of acting! Bob stresses how important it is to come up with your own original characters. This may seem ironic for someone who is best known for embodying a classic Loony Toons character, but it’s true. Simply imitating existing characters is not enough to build a robust voice acting career. You need to find what unique insight and artistry you can bring to characters in order to differentiate yourself from your competition. Also in this episode, Bob talks extensively about agents, how to approach them, and how to collaborate with them effectively. He then discusses how to balance one’s artistry with business sense. When Bob is playing a character, whether in a recording session or even an audition, he is solely focused on acting to the best of his ability. He’s not thinking about how much money he might be paid to play that character. However, when he’s finished performing, he has to treat voice acting like the business it is. Not only does his agent appreciate his professional attitude, but producers respect it as well.

Bob has done a great job of combining first-rate voice acting abilities, with a business-savvy professional attitude. It’s something we should all aspire to as voice actors. Listen closely, because you’ll learn a lot about how to present yourself in the industry!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #159 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 158 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!

As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast

Welcome to part 2 of my interview with the voice of Porky Pig himself, Bob Bergen! While Bob is most famous for playing Porky, he’s also played many other Looney Toons characters including Tweety, Marvin the Martian, Speedy Gonzales, and Sylvester Junior! He’s also done work on Disney animated movies, the Star Wars games, and anime as well. His resume is long and varied and he’s been nominated for an Emmy award 3 times! Bob has been teaching voice acting classes since 1987 and is a wealth of information and experience! I’m very grateful he spent so much time talking with us!

In the first part of our interview, Bob shared the story of how he broke into voice acting. Ever since he was a kid, Bob wanted to play the voice of Porky Pig and he was relentless in the pursuit of his goal! Before the advent of the internet and easy access to information online, Bob was resourceful enough to use whatever means at his disposal to research famous voice actors and to learn about recording studios. His path into the voice acting world is a clear demonstration that almost anything is possible if you truly set your mind to it.

In this episode, Bob and I talk about what inspired him to become a performer in the first place. It turns out, he can’t imagine himself doing anything else. This is a common refrain I hear from actors. It was also the advice I was given by many of my acting teachers, which was: “Don’t pursue acting unless it’s the only career path that will make you happy.” Acting is a challenging profession. It requires not only great effort and persistence, but also an incredible amount of introspection and honesty with oneself. Those who succeed tend to have a deep level of commitment and unwavering determination. Bob’s dedication comes from the fact that he loves the art of voice acting so much. Even in the beginning, he was so passionate about performing that he couldn’t help himself! He just kept pressing forward in his pursuit of a professional career in voice over.

Also in this episode, we discuss Bob’s mindset and how he was able to be so courageous at such a young age! Fortune favors the bold as the old saying goes, and Bob has an amazing ability to take strong, decisive action in achieving his goals, even when he doesn’t have all the answers ahead of time! It’s an admirable quality that I hope will inspire all my listeners!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #158 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 157 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!

As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast

We have a very special guest on the podcast today! I’m honored to be able to share with you the first part of my interview with a paragon of the voice over industry, Bob Bergen! Bob is most famous for playing the voice of Porky Pig, but his resume is long and varied! In the world of Looney Tunes, he’s also voiced Tweety, Marvin the Martian, Speedy Gonzales, and Sylvester Junior. He’s played Bucky, the squirrel, in the Disney movie The Emperor’s New Groove, where he had long discussions in squirrel speak with Patrick Warburton’s character, Kronk. Bob also plays the voice of Luke Skywalker in both Star Wars games and in the animated series Robot Chicken. In anime, you may know his work as Lupin the Third in the Castle of Cagliostro, and No-Face in Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. Bob’s been nominated for an Emmy 3 times and is a member of both the Television Academy and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He’s also a firm supporter of his fellow voice actors by being active in the actor’s union, SAG-AFTRA. In addition to all of his acting accomplishments, Bob has also been teaching voice acting classes since 1987 and is a wealth of information and experience!

In the first part of our discussion, Bob and I talk about how he broke into voice acting. He became obsessed with voice acting when he was very young, and at the age of 5 he told his mother that he wanted to be Porky Pig. Back then, Bob wasn’t aware of voice acting as a profession and he had no idea how the entertainment industry worked. He just knew that it was his dream to play Porky Pig. That single-minded focus helped keep him on track to achieve his childhood goal!

Bob was born and raised in the mid-west, but fortunately for him, his father got a job that required his family to move to Los Angeles when Bob was 14. Bob took full advantage of this opportunity and began reaching out to voice actors and animation studios in Los Angeles to find out more about voice acting. This was long before the internet allowed easy access to creators and studios. Bob was resourceful and tenacious enough to use whatever information he could get his hands on to learn what it took to work as a voice actor in Hollywood. This applied not only to networking with professionals in the industry, but also to developing his own acting skills as well. Having a plucky attitude can do a lot to get your foot in the door, so to speak, but industry professionals only fully open that door for you when they can tell you have talent.

For example, in this part of our interview, Bob shares with us the story of how he met his hero, the voice actor Mel Blanc who originated the character of Porky Pig. Bob was precocious enough to track Mel down and figure out how to get into a recording session to watch him in action in the booth. While Bob’s sleuthing had led to his first meeting with Mel, Bob also realized that he had a lot to learn about the craft and business of acting before he could become professionally competitive, so he got to work! Bob’s relentless commitment to his goals and his sober, practical approach to achieving them is an inspiration and I’m so glad I get to share his story with you!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #157 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 156 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!

As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast

Welcome to the second part of my interview with the multi-faceted Julie Nathanson! Julie has worked on many high profile animated projects such as Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay, Elena of Avalor, and Avengers Assemble! She’s also worked on major games such as Call of Duty, Far Cry 5, and Lego DC Super-Villains. In addition to her voice acting work, Julie is also a professional screen writer for television and video games! And if that weren’t enough, Julie also has a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology! Her broad range of interests and talents all inform and enrich each other and I’m so grateful she’s been willing to spend so much time talking with us.

In the previous episode, Julie explained how she made the transition from on-camera acting work to voice over and how she took an audience member’s criticism of her voice and transformed it into the inspiration to begin a whole new career as a voice actor. She also shared with us her 3 step process for understanding a character. If you haven’t listened to her outline her process in detail in the last episode, I strongly suggest you check it out before proceeding to the final part of our interview.

As we wrap up our discussion, Julie gives her advice to the aspiring voice actor. She explains how important it is to be friendly and pleasant while collaborating on a project so that people in the entertainment industry will look forward to working with you again. A positive attitude can help in other ways too! For example, Julie’s enthusiasm and genuine interest in her peers means that she feels happy for her fellow voice actors when they succeed, rather than feeling jealous of their accomplishments or self-critical for not booking a particular gig herself. By maintaining this spirit of positivity and support, Julie is not only able to feel inspired by the work of her colleagues, but she can learn from what they do as well.

Julie also discusses how her study of psychology has informed her approach to acting. While it’s clear that her insight into the human psyche helps her own artistry, she’s also been generous enough to share her knowledge with others. Recently, Julie gave a very important presentation at the Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco on how game developers can use discoveries in psychology and brain wave synchronization to help improve collaboration between voice actors and the people who make video games! It’s a fascinating topic and I’m sure you’ll find it very enlightening!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #156 Here (MP3)