VAMFR 021 | Theme Park Voice Over, Part 3
VAMFR 021 | Theme Park Voice Over, Part 3
Welcome to episode 21 of the Voice Acting Mastery: Field Report podcast!
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.vamfieldreport.com/podcast
This is the third and final part of a special report on Theme Park Voice Over jobs by our special correspondent, Tom Bauer!
If you haven’t listened to the first two parts of this series, we highly recommend that you do so first. In this episode Tom will be referencing many of the ideas and concepts he covered in part 1 and part 2. In the previous episode, Tom discussed at length the auditioning and casting process for voice over work in theme parks. He started by telling the story of how he broke into working as a voice actor at Disney California Adventure on the “Turtle Talk with Crush” interactive show. He shared his experiences of what the auditioning process was like and how it took him a total of six attempts over multiple years before he finally landed the role of Crush.
He also talked about the different ways Voice Actors can look for theme park VO auditions in the previous episode.
In this episode, Tom will be discussing some of the challenges one may face as a theme park voice actor. He’ll also be focusing on the importance of maintaining a sense of professionalism in a Theme Park setting. We’ll be using the term ‘professionalism’ as a way to describe what is commonly understood in the entertainment industry as ethical and responsible behavior. An actor who is able to maintain a sense of professionalism will inspire confidence in their collaborators, whether they’re working with booth directors to create pre-recorded narration or with fellow cast members bringing characters to life in front of an audience. Conversely, if an actor behaves unprofessionally, their negative attitude can end up reflecting badly on them, damaging their relationships with collaborators and any prospects for future work.
If you’ve been following this special report so far, you’ll be delighted to hear that Tom’s five special guests have returned to share with me their thoughts on overcoming challenges and maintaining one’s professionalism in a theme park environment. We’ll be hearing from Rebecca Lumianski, who is an experienced actor and Consulting Director at Disneyland for shows like “Turtle Talk with Crush”. We’ll also hear from Joe Hernandez, who is the head talent and show trainer for Turtle Talk and a gifted voice actor who was recently featured as the character of Daruk from the video game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Later, Tom will speak with the husband and wife team of Bill Rogers and Camille Dixon, who provide the official announcement voices for Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, respectively. Finally, Isaac Robinson Smith will also be joining us in our discussion. Isaac is a versatile performer for Universal Studios Hollywood and a former Turtle Talk actor. He provides the voices of Megatron and Optimus Prime from the Transformers film franchise as part of a character meet and greet that Universal Studios audience members can interact with. Tom found a lot of his guests’ insights and stories fascinating during this round of interviews and we think you will too!
The VAM Field Report will be released on the 1st Wednesday of every month so stay on the look out for it!
Download VAM Field Report Episode #21 Here (MP3)
Hi Crispin,
Thank you so much for all the effort you’ve put into making these podcasts for us aspiring voice actors. I’ve listened to episodes 1-18 at this point and I’ve learned a lot and have had a lot of my questions answered.
However theres one question I havn’t had an answer to yet and I didn’t notice anything resembling my question based on the titles of the podcasts, but if you have answered my question in an episode feel free to simply point me in the direction of the episode.
My question is that I’m curious as to how you balanced your voice acting career(business) with stuff like friends, family, love interest, finances, and entertainment/media(a.k.a anime, video games, etc…)?
Currently I’m working full time hours as a sales associate in a retail position (barely making minimum), my parents have been divorced since I was very young so I have 2 seperate families I visit frequently, I live with my girlfriend who I’ve been with for almost 5 years now, I have quite a few different friend groups I like to spend time with, and like yourself I love anime so I spend the majority of my free time watching anime or playing video games(these are what inspire me to become a voice actor).
So how did you balance the start of your business with life?
Thank you again!
-With the emphasis on Improv, have you found yourself in a situation in the show where it DOESN’T work out? How do you get out of those situations?
-In regards to professionalism, if you run into someone who isn’t professional, is it the best response to simply let them burn their own bridge down? Is that the best way to deal with that situation?
-Finally, and you don’t have to answer this if it is inappropriate, but can theme park vo be a career that would make enough money to pay off the bills?
Thank you for taking the time to delve into this subject, and with all of the fires out there, Be safe man.