VAM 056 | Interview with Monica Rial, Part 3
Welcome to episode 56 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 part 3 of my interview with the wonderfully talented Monica Rial! You can check out her amazingly long list of anime credits on the Anime News Network website!
As we wrap up our discussion of the Texas voice acting market, Monica explains how to approach companies like Funimation and Sentai Filmworks in order to audition for voice acting roles in anime. She also explains what you’ll need to do in order to be truly competitive as a voice actor.
Then, Monica shares with me her 3 part checklist of things she wants every aspiring voice actor to know about before going in to audition:
- Study your craft.
- Find your archetype.
- Don’t fan out.
Monica expands on this checklist and shares all sorts of insider information. Trust me, it will save you a lot of heartache!
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #56 Here (MP3)
Excellent. As an aspiring Texas voice actor myself, this has been very helpful. I’m going to start my last year of college next month and moving is expensive, so I’m pretty sure I have enough time between here and there to help study my craft.
Thank you and Monica for your time and wisdom, and I look forward to our class next week.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the episode!
I’m an aspiring Texas voice actor as well and this episode answered many of the questions I had about getting started at Funimation and Sentai Filmworks. The only question I have left is would it be of benefit to have a professional demo reel ready to give to Funimation in addition to putting your name on the audition list or is simply putting your name on the audition list good enough? I ask because if it is better to have a demo ready I’ll have to prepare myself to make that investment sometime down the line.
That’s a good question, and I’m honestly not sure since I’m not a part of Funimation.
It can never hurt to have a demo for them to listen to, but I do think they’ll want to see how you actually perform in the booth to see if you can take direction and match the lip flap of characters on the screen.
Maybe you should hit Monica up on Twitter and ask her.
Monica was such a delight in this interview! She was such a well of knowledge.
Her telling us how to get on the rosters is invaluable. I’ll definitely keep that in mind.
David Tennent was a brilliant Doctor. It definitely showed when he played him, and now he’s everyone’s favorite incarnation. But I’m super excited about Peter’s portrayal of the Doctor. I hope he has a bit of Nine in him.
Can’t wait till the new podcast!
~Kalyn
So glad you enjoyed the episode!
Great interview! It was great hearing about some of the history back when it was just a few people and how much it has grown over the years. I had one question. I for one have an issue with reading ahead. Mostly use one eye my other is horrible. What is the expectation of flawless reads after seeing the script for 10 mins before auditioning? Do they expect 3 almost perfect reads or is there a bit of toss out your choice then a bit of correction and a 2nd / 3rd try. I know when i record at home i have the full editing time etc. While I do try to do things in as few takes as possible.. what is the real world expectation? Especially since a lot of the dubbing and scripts can be all over the place even within a scene.
So glad you enjoyed the interview!
Cold reading is a very important skill for voice over. They do sorta want you to be able to read text very soon after you’ve taken a look at it. If you have 10 minutes to study a script (and that is actually quite a long time) then they do expect you to perform it with very few if any stumbles. If you trip up once or twice, they’ll let you do it again, but more than two stumbles on the same line and you look unprofessional. This can be different in the ADR dubbing world where matching the lip flap on the screen is more technically challenging. But if you’re recording wild, i.e. not to picture, then you sorta need to be able to read the words without too many mistakes.
Hope that helps!
Crispin,
This was a phenomenal interview, and couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.
I live in New York where I studied acting and I’m currently working on my demo at a great studio in the city (and looking forward to working with you in your September web class). My plan was to get that all together and THEN consider moving to Dallas to introduce myself to Funimation when I can have a website and a demo ready to offer.
I feel like it all fits in with your philosophy of “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”
I’m going to ping pong Terance’s comment, to say that I found it very interesting Monica didn’t mention demos at all.
I can’t imagine having one wouldn’t benefit you though, especially in the face of people being on that list for a year.
Awesome! So glad to hear you found the interview useful!
I appreciated this episode so much, especially with Monica’s advice about going into the first audition at Funimation/Sentai. I feel the urge to call both company’s and ask to be put on the audition lists, but i’m hesitant about doing so at this point, at the moment my acting experience is predominately stage acting, and i have yet to start any voice work. However that is going to change this weekend as i am doing a read through on an audio drama script being produced by a group in Iowa, but even then i still don’t feel fully confident about stepping into the big leagues until after i do this audio drama, as well as continue working in theatre to improve my art. I would love to know where else i can go for more voice acting experience or any classes that i could take. As i am currently living in Orlando Florida until January and my time off and extra money is an issue, is there anything available for an aspiring voice actor on an extremely tight budget? Also do you know what the wait time on these audition lists can be, Monica said something about it taking a year possibly but is that a regular wait time, or and extreme example of how long it will take from when i leave my name till when i get the audition? Finally you were stressing appearance at the audition, and what not to wear during the audition, but what would be a good choice of attire for the audition, casual, business casual, or should i go all out and “suit up” as it were?
Once again Crispin thank you so much for this podcast, it has helped me a great deal in giving me an idea about what it takes to become a professional voice actor, a personal goal i’ve been striving for awhile now. I hope to one day be able to thank you in person for what you have done here, even if i never achieve my goal, for i feel that you have provided an invaluable resource to young and aspiring voice actors, and actors in general. Even though i have yet to step into the voice acting side of art, i have taken your advice to heart when it has come to my continued acting endeavors, thank you.
Congrats on your audio drama! It sounds like you’ll learn a lot from that.
As far as classes go, you are always welcome to take class with me in LA or online. I’m not aware of any acting classes in Iowa but I’m sure you could research some yourself.
If you’re on a tight budget, have you listened to episode 10 of the podcast: How to Practice Voice Acting Anywhere. I think you might find it helpful.
I have no idea what the wait time is at Funimation. Your best bet would be to contact them and ask.
Dress nicely for an audition, but not suit and tie. That may come off as too stiff. I tend to wear a very nice collared shirt with jeans when I’m dressing to impress at a voice over audition. I wear about the same thing when I go to conventions.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the podcast. Best of luck to you!
Hi Crispin,
Since Monica mentioned agents not necessarily being happy when actors decide to focus on directing a show, I was wondering — how much control do agents actually have over your work?
Agents don’t necessarily have control of the work of a voice actor, they are there to negotiate contracts and to be an avenue for casting opportunities. The problem an agent has if you become too unavailable is that you don’t become as valuable a client. They’re not making as much money off of your jobs. Agents have a limited amount of time and a limited amount of people they can represent. They want to represent the most talented and marketable actors. The more unavailable you are, the less marketable you are. They may decide that you’re not worth the investment and decide to stop representing you.
Thank you for the interview, the warnings, and the continued ideas about mindset changing. It is very helpful.
It is also helpful hearing about the difficulties of working on both sides of the booth, and the problems that can occur when trying that. I’m glad that Anime is resurging in Houston. It’s always great to hear about more opportunities, and the locations they reside in.
I’m glad you found my interview with Monica helpful.