Welcome to episode 128 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 voice actor, director and teacher, Zach Hanks! You may be familiar with his performances as Garnac in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Morgan and Custis Pendleton in the video game Dishonored and Lars Halford in the game Brutal Legend.

Not only is Zach a voice actor, but he has also worked as both a voice director and casting director on multiple video game projects including Company of Heroes, Saints Row, and Warhammer 40,000. In addition to all his voice over industry accomplishments, Zach has also taught voice acting as a professor at the Stephen F. Austin State University in Eastern Texas. He currently resides in Atlanta where he is continuing to pursue his own voice over career in addition to founding the Voice Over Career Launch Pad, a service that helps voice over artists learn the skills they need to become business savvy professionals in the industry. I’m very excited to bring you Zach’s story because his experiences are so wide and varied!

In this first part of our interview, we cover Zach’s journey from when he started as a young high school student interested in acting, all the way through the myriad twists and turns of his acting journey up until today. We touch on his training, the challenges he faced when he first entered the entertainment industry as an actor, the lessons he learned going back to school to get his Master’s degree, the success he had as a performer, casting director and booth director after returning to Los Angeles, and even the insight he’s gained from teaching others how to pursue their voice acting goals when he was a college professor. It’s an amazing story filled with surprises! At each step in his adventure, Zach learned important lessons that I think you’ll really benefit from hearing! But I’ll let Zach tell you all about it in his own words!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #128 Here (MP3)

VAMFR 023 | Interview with Kelly Moscinski, Part 2

Welcome to episode 23 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 episode is part two of DanWill McCann’s interview with Kelly Moscinski, the owner and head of casting for The Voicecaster, a busy and well respected recording and rehearsal studio in Burbank, California. For over 40 years, The Voicecaster recording and rehearsal studio has been a one stop shop for voice acting needs including auditions, final recording sessions, voice over classes, demo production and more! Kelly has been working at the Voicecaster for almost a decade. In 2013 she had the opportunity to buy the company and since then the business has continued to thrive. The staff at the Voicecaster work on many types of projects including commercials, industrial narration, video games and animation!

In the last episode, we learned about Kelly’s journey from her time in the theater to eventually working in the voice over industry. She’s always felt more drawn to directing rather than performing and her theater experience working with actors has helped her tremendously in voice over for the last 10 years. She brought her passion for directing with her to The Voicecaster and continues to foster a supportive environment there for performers. DanWill and her discussed the audition process where Kelly shared her insight from a casting director’s point of view. DanWill enjoyed her perspective, as well as her advice on how to prepare for an audition while avoiding over-rehearsing. It’s changed how he’ll be approaching future auditions, and he hopes you found it helpful as well.

In this, the 2nd and final part of their interview, Kelly and DanWill talk about appropriate etiquette for voice actors when in a recording booth. She shares with DanWill her expectations for actors who come to audition for her as well as advice on how to put your best foot forward in front of casting directors. Hearing what she’s looking for from an actor has helped DanWill feel more confident about how to present himself when he comes in for an audition. After taking her advice to heart, he feels that he’s less likely to make a mistake that might seem thoughtless or unprofessional. Kelly gives some great suggestions about keeping in touch with casting directors, something we all need to do if we want to make a career of voice acting. She and DanWill also chat about demos, the voice actor’s main way of marketing themselves to prospective clients. Kelly has a vast amount of experience with demos. Not only does she listen to actor’s demos all day long in order to cast projects, but The Voicecaster also produces demos for voice actors. DanWill thinks you will find her advice and stories very useful for your own demos, whether you’re looking to make your first one, or update your existing one. He’ll certainly be applying her suggestions as he prepares to update his own demo!

With that covered, Kelly and DanWill finish up their time together by discussing what kind of services The Voicecaster offers. Even if you don’t live in the Los Angeles area, it’s good to know what kind of classes they offer so you can research similar classes you might be able to take in your own neighborhood, or even online!

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 #23 Here (MP3)