VAMFR 006 | Interview with Matthew Mercer, Part 2

Welcome to episode 6 of the Voice Acting Mastery: Field Report podcast!

In this episode our correspondent, DanWill McCann, finishes his interview with the prolific and mult-talented Matthew Mercer.

Matthew has given life to characters in shows like Attack on Titan and Kill La Kill as well as video games like Fallout 4.  He has also made some amazing web content, like the Geek & Sundry show Critical Role. The show consists of a live broadcast of an actual Dungeons & Dragons role playing game, played by famous Voice Actors who bring their characters to life with deep commitment and believability.

He has also produced several web based projects through online crowd funding, including such shows as School of Thrones and Muzzle: the Musical, the latter of which Matthew wrote himself.  Matthew was gracious enough to share with us his experience and advice for any of you who might have your own pet projects that you hope to fund and create.  DanWill was inspired by his accomplishments and has learned several good tips from Matthew. Chances are you will as well. But enough setup, here’s Matthew Mercer to tell you himself!

DanWill mentions two of Matthew’s web shows in the podcast. Here are direct links to them:

Critical Role can be found at:
http://geekandsundry.com/shows/critical-role/

Muzzled: the Musical is at:

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 #6 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 110 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 talented and amazingly driven voice actress, Stephanie Sheh! You may be familiar with her work from shows like the Legend of Korra, Naruto and Sailor Moon. Stephanie is not only a talented voice actress, but she also has experience as a producer, director and even as a recording engineer! I’m thrilled and grateful to have someone with her breadth of knowledge on the podcast to talk with us about what it takes to be successful in the industry!

In our last episode, Stephanie discussed how she broke into voice acting and what emotional hurdles she had to overcome to pursue a voice acting career. In the second part of our conversation, Stephanie shares with us what inspired her to pursue acting in the first place. It was her burning desire to perform that kept her motivated to study the craft of acting, even in the face of disapproval and uncertainty. While Stephanie’s parents encouraged her to pursue acting as a hobby so that she could enrich herself on a personal level, they were very skeptical that acting could ever be a reliable career choice for her. They were understandably worried about their daughter’s future and wanted to make sure that she could provide for herself.

Stephanie realized that if she was truly going to make it as a performer, she would have to be resourceful and self-motivated. She pursued every avenue she could to develop her skills, and you can feel her tenacity when she speaks of what it takes to succeed as a professional actor. I think you’ll find her insights invaluable.

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #110 Here (MP3)

VAMFR 005 | Interview with Matthew Mercer, Part 1

Welcome to episode 5 of the Voice Acting Mastery: Field Report podcast!

In this episode our correspondent, DanWill McCann, begins his interview with the prolific and mult-talented Matthew Mercer.

Matthew has given fantastic voice performances in over 150 projects, ranging from Video Games, like Robin in Batman: Arkham Knight and MacCready in the recent hit Fallout 4, to animation, like Levi in Attack on Titan and Iron Man in Iron Man Rise of the Technovore.

In this segment, Matthew shares his beginnings, his journey, his inspirations, and he offers some advice for those aspiring to work in the field. DanWill sincerely appreciates Matthew’s straightforward honesty about the amount of effort it takes to become and remain professionally competitive in the voice acting world. Both DanWill and I think you’ll enjoy hearing Matthew share his ongoing love of animation as much as we did! So please welcome Matthew Mercer!

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 #5 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 109 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 the talented and amazingly driven voice actress, Stephanie Sheh! You may know Stephanie’s voice acting from her work portraying characters such as Zhu-Li in Nickelodeon’s hit series, the Legend of Korra, Hinata in the ever popular anime series Naruto, and most recently Sailor Moon herself in both the re-released original anime series and the newer Sailor Moon Crystal remake. What you may not be as familiar with is her work behind the scenes in animation and video games! She’s produced, directed, cast and even engineered voice acting sessions for numerous projects. She has hands-on experience with almost every aspect of the production chain, and because of her broad array of talents, she has a wealth of information about what it truly takes to succeed in the industry.

I had the great pleasure of working with Stephanie when I first came to Los Angeles. I was fortunate enough to direct her in an obscure anime show called I, My, Me Strawberry Eggs where she played one of the lead characters. I was impressed with her work and commitment level back then and my admiration for her tenacity and skill has only grown. What I really appreciate about Stephanie is how down to earth and practical she is. She never minces words about what it takes to succeed and always tells the unvarnished truth. She is focused and dedicated. She knows that her success is up to her and she tries to share that understanding with others so that they too will take responsibility for finding their own avenues to creating a viable and fulfilling career.

In the first part of our discussion, Stephanie shares with us how she broke into voice acting. She had a very unconventional path and her journey reveals a lot, not only about her and her level of commitment, but also about the entertainment industry and some of the unspoken expectations that people in Hollywood may have. She also discusses her initial fear that her family would not support her decision to pursue acting as a career and how she had to overcome that fear of rejection in order to follow her acting dreams. I’m honored to have Stephanie on the podcast, so pay close attention! She’s got a lot of great insights to share!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #109 Here (MP3)

VAMFR 001 | Introducing the Voice Acting Mastery Field Report and Correspondents

Welcome to episode 1 of the Voice Acting Mastery: Field Report podcast!

Greetings everyone! As promised, Voice Acting Mastery is continuing to evolve and expand to serve the needs of our listeners and students. As part of that expansion, I’m proud and honored to present the first episode of our brand new sister podcast, the Voice Acting Mastery Field Report!

All of us at Voice Acting Mastery have been working hard for quite some time behind the scenes to put together this exciting new show for you. It’s our goal to help you gain an even greater perspective on the world of voice over by sending real, working voice actors into the field to conduct interviews and share stories about what’s currently happening in the industry. If you’re already a Voice Acting Mastery fan, you know that I’ve done my personal best to share my own experiences and expertise on the subject and to provide the best road map I could to help my listeners and students succeed as voice actors. However, I’ve always known that my perspective was only one among many, so over the years I’ve also turned to trusted colleagues and industry experts to bring added wisdom and experience. It’s vitally important to me that my listeners have access to as many relevant viewpoints and up-to-date stories as possible, because the voice over world keeps changing as new technology, new markets and new media enter the scene. I’ve been looking forward to expanding the Voice Acting Mastery family and bringing in talented, enthusiastic voice acting professionals to help our listeners understand the current state of the industry, and how best to approach building a successful career in today’s environment.

In this, our pilot episode, you’ll be meeting our three VAM Field Report correspondents, Ashley Huyge, Tom Bauer and DanWill “DW” McCann. I felt it would be helpful for you to get a sense of who they are, to hear about their voice acting backgrounds, and especially to become familiar with how they sound! You’ll be spending time with them often in the future, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy getting to know them and hearing their unique perspectives on the voice over world. They were all gracious enough to sit down with me and give me some insight not only into their own personal journeys as voice actors, but also to share a little bit about some topics they’re planning on covering in future episodes of the Field Report. I decided to include all of their stories in this first episode so as not to break up the flow of the group interview, so I hope you’ll enjoy this bonus-length episode. I’m eager to share these vibrant and talented individuals with all our listeners.

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 #1 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 104 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

In this episode I want to impress upon you the importance of developing your acting skills in front of an audience.

Too often people approach me wanting to be voice actors, but they seem disinterested in or afraid of performing in front of people. They think that voice acting is somehow more “private” or “safer” than being a stage actor or performing in film and television, and they are hoping this “safety” or “privacy” will make it easier for them to be a voice actor. This misconception is quite common and can actually foster a mindset that can cripple one’s ability to succeed in voice acting, so I felt it was important to address it in detail.

You see, what most of these shy but hopeful aspiring voice actors don’t realize is that in trying to avoid performing in front of an audience, they are actually denying themselves something they critically need. Without the feedback and response one gets from an audience, an actor is just going through the motions, shooting blindly in the dark, unaware of whether they are communicating effectively. Avoiding the audience is like trying to learn tango without a dance partner, or shooting hoops without a net, or playing tennis by yourself. Not only are these things crazy, they are also ineffective. They don’t make you any better.

If you really want to be a pro at voice acting, there’s really no faster or more effective way I know than to practice acting in front of an audience. I realize this might still seem like a terrifying prospect to some of my listeners. So I’m going to do my best in this episode to explain why it’s so important as well as how to overcome any anxiety you might have about performing in front of others. I’m sure you’ll find it useful!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #104 Here (MP3)