THE SECRET TO BREAKING INTO VOICE-OVERS AND SUCCEEDING
By Rob Sciglimpaglia

I am an actor, voice-over artist and teacher of voice-overs for Such A Voice. Up until two and half years ago, I was a full-time attorney. I began my voice-over career in March 2005 in a New York-area adult education class conducted by Dan Levine (founder and president of Such A Voice). Dan allowed all of us to record a sample voice-over in the class. After the class, Mr. Levine invited me to his advanced class, and I then cut a demo. That was in April 2005. In May 2005 I took a class on ProTools and set up my home studio. I also signed up with www.voice123.com when my demos were ready in about mid-May 2005.

In June 2005 one of the first auditions on Voice123 that I did was for a PBS national documentary on the American Experience television series called "Hijacked." I won the job and dubbed two voices from foreign languages into English and Campbell Scott was the narrator of the show. It aired nationally on February 26, 2006. This was my very first voice-over job. Since that time I have gone on to do many national voice spots, and have gotten into acting, playing leading and supporting roles in television and film. Feel free to check my website at www.robertpaglia.com or my imdb listing at http://imdb.com/name/nm2215197/ to see what an exciting two and a half years it has been for me.

Now, I am teaching the very introductory class that got me into the business in the New York City tri-state area. I'm pleased to have this opportunity, not only to introduce my students to the art of voice-overs, but also to help them explore the entire business, including guiding them through the legal issues involved with any business (i.e., the decision to incorporate).

As a teacher, I hear this misconception all of the time: "It's impossible to break into the voice-over business." Recently, I even had a well-known disc jockey, who has been in the business for 30 years, take my class, and even he said it. I have learned in doing these classes and polling my students that the reason for this is because people have a very narrow understanding and definition of what a voice-over is.

Most students think that voice-overs revolve around something that is broadcast on radio and television. You all know that voice-overs are much more than just radio and television. In fact, my definition of a voice-over is any place you hear a recorded voice speaking to you. Once I get my students to think in these terms, it makes them realize that the voice-over world is a vast universe that is separated by no boundaries.

You also undoubtedly already know that much radio and television work is centered in one of the four major markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami. It is no coincidence that these are also the places where there is the most competition and where the talent agents still control who is seen (or, in our case, heard) for most of the major jobs. So it's no wonder people think it is tough to get in because they think they need an agent to get them there.

The simple truth is, I had no agent and no contacts when I started, but I got myself in the door. How did I do this? I have boiled the secret to success down to a simple formula for me.

1. You need a "marketable" voice. Notice that I do not use the words "good" or "great". God gave you a good or great voice. It is up to you to learn how to exploit it. You need to find the proper market for your voice, or you will fail. Unfortunately, this may not always coincide with the ultimate area that you want to get into. However, it must be a building block to get you where you want to go. A good voice-over coach can help you define and master this niche.

2. You need a slam-dunk, fantastic demo, period. If your demo does not have the proper spots that show off your "marketable" voice, if the music is not appropriate and if the best and strongest spot is not at the beginning, it will not serve its purpose. It may even have the opposite effect and make you appear completely unskilled.

In addition, in order to achieve a slam-dunk, fantastic demo, you need to perfect the art of the voice-over. I define the art of the voice-over as the ability to have a conversation using someone else's words. I am always asked the question, "How much training is enough?" The answer is that it varies by individual. Whatever you need to perfect this art is the right amount of training for you. And for most, the answer is that you will always need training.

I know that I am constantly training with acting classes and voice-over business classes to stay on top of the market. If I expect my career to get to all of the stages that I want, then how can I expect that to happen if my skills remain stagnant? I know I certainly was not at my best when I graduated law school. That was just the beginning for me. It is the same with any other profession: medicine, accounting, athletics, etc. Voice-overs are no different.

3. Business and marketing: These are the areas that most of my voice-over and actor friends ignore most often. I hear students in every class, and sometimes even experienced people in the business, say, "I need an agent." Presumably, they are saying this so the agent can do searching for work for the actor/voice-over artist, so the actor/voice-over artist can do nothing except sit by the phone and wait for his or her agent to call. That is just insane! I wait by the phone for no one! I am not going to rely on anyone but myself to advance my career. I am always doing something on my own to advance my career! Period, exclamation point! If an agent calls with an audition, great. But I am still going to work very hard so that I have my best opportunity to win the job at that audition.

Name me one other successful business or professional in the United States of America that relies on someone else to get them customers or clients. Why, then, do actors and voice-over artists think that this business is any different? In fact, anyone in this business knows that as artists, we have to work extra hard to drum up work since many people don't look at us as serious business people. Most people think we're doing this to have fun and not to make money. Those of us who are successful beg to differ, and in fact, almost all of the most successful actors and voice-over artists that I know are also very successful business people as well. This is no coincidence.

As I said before, I had no agent when I started, but with the great invention of the Internet, you don't need an agent to get started. I now realize that beginners are not ready for one! At the very beginning of my career, I made the mistake of sending my first demos around to the talent agents, only to get very polite answers such as "No, thanks. We already have too many of your type," or "We are not taking on any new clients now."

Of course, at the time I believed in these polite rejections, but now, many agents later, I see them for what they are: rejections! I now realize that it doesn't matter how many of "my type" agents have or how many clients they have. If they think I'm good, they will represent me. Why? For the same reason that beginners should not try to get an agent right off the bat. If the agents think that I can make money for them, they will be jumping out of their chairs to represent me. Not many beginners I know are ready to compete for jobs at auditions with the experienced professionals. Agents send me auditions; that's all! It is up to me to win the jobs!

So, if I were not a tenacious person with thick skin by nature, I would have done what several of my friends did after they ventured into the business: quit! Many of them quit because they received their X number of rejection letters from the agencies confirming their worst irrational fear: "I knew I was no good at this." X represents the artificial goal they placed on themselves. Could be 10, 50, 100, whatever. In fact, it is not that they aren't good, it's just that they don't know better, so they don't market to the right people.

Many students also tell me, "Well, if I don't make it in X years, then I will quit." Substitute any number you want for X. Again, this is an artificial number that means nothing! When my students ask me when they can expect to see results, I tell them, "Look at your initial investment like the stock market. The longer you are in it, the greater the returns. The real results will be long-term results." Looking at this business as a short-term business and putting unrealistic goals on yourself can only lead to disappointment and frustration. Nothing will make you quit something faster than disappointment and frustration will.

The bottom line on this very important issue is that you need to know all the players in the business and what their functions are, i.e., talent agent, casting director, advertising agent, production company, etc., so that you can market your unique voice/personality to the proper people in the business.

This advice also applies to auditioning. My friends in the business are always telling me, "I'm not getting any results from my on-line auditions." Then I find out that they are auditioning for the movie trailers looking for the "regular-guy voice." I realized quickly that in order to have the best chance of winning the gigs, I had to do the ones that matched my voice type. I also never get hung up about the "numbers" when I audition. I never say, "Boy, 100 people already auditioned for this job. I only have a 1% chance. Why bother?"

Like my career goals, I have a long-term goal in mind for auditioning. I do the best audition I can so that the people conducting the audition remember me for future jobs. I do the best I can, let the chips fall where they may, and on to the next one. I know this works because I frequently get calls from people I've auditioned for in the past, not for the original job I auditioned for, but for future jobs, which they frequently give me without the need for another audition.

If all of the above bases are covered, I can't see any way of failure in this business. If one or more is missing, then I can certainly see why someone could fail in the business. These three things has also given me a better perspective of the goals I should be setting for myself (and the ones I have in fact set for myself) to achieve ultimate success.

The four steps on the success ladder as I see them are:

1. Start with non-union jobs and build a nice little core business in the smaller markets, which of course leads to more experience.
2. Transition to start getting jobs in the larger markets.
3. Get major market agents, join the unions (SAG/AFTRA) and get steady union gigs. And, if time allows,
4. Achieve fame and fortune!

Thank you for reading.

Rob Sciglimpaglia, Jr.
www.robertpaglia.com