VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Eddie Eagle]

This is an article from a casting director I know in Seattle.
Some very good points on being a diverse actor and breaking molds for the creatively challenged creatives you will encounter.

http://completecasting.com/index.php/2015/07/15/know-you-brand-hmmmm-not-buying-this-one-and-i-hope-you-dont-either/

[Mike Harrison]

Exactly: alleged "needs" conjured up by those wanting to separate us from our money.

Similar thinking behind, for example, air fresheners with motion sensors. "Ya gotta have this!"

Thanks, Eddie.
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

[DougVox]

Wow...this is a pretty myopic view of branding. The one example that the author bases his example on does help him prove his point, but...

There's no rule that says that your branding has to pigeonhole you. Your branding could (and probably should) just as easily help you teach potential clients about your range, flexibility and adaptability.

Please pre-ignore this next part, I couldn't help pointing it out:

Tough to take advice from a casting director who thinks that "Arnold Schwartenegger" has a German accent, or that Danny spells his name DiVito.
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Doug Turkel (tur-KELL)
Voiceover UNnouncer®
UNnouncer.com

[paulstefano]

Hmmm. Very interesting. So what's the moral of the story for the seasoned pros here? A VO brand is not necessary? Or that is should be vague enough as to allow room for imagination?
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http://www.paulstefano.com

[Dayo]

[Philip Banks]

Sell YOU ...No one can compete with that! I get all Philip Banks' work. Iffin he ever finds out I'm in all kids o'deep sh*t. Not only does he look like a Bond villain he ...just' sayin'.

[Bish]

There are many different flavours of branding. (Even my own pedantic use of the "U" in "flavours" brands me as a Brit in a predominately US-centric environment). It's all about letting people know who you are and becoming synonymous with your brand. My own brand (totally unoriginal but effective) "An Englishman in New York" tells people a lot about me in five words... the only exclusion it might imply is that I'm not available for the UK market... but that's not my target anyway as I'm in a far more productive pool selling my differences, rather than my sameness. My mission is to become top-of-mind when someone thinks about a male Brit VO in the US market.... but within that geographic boundary, I don't pin myself down to any specific genre or style.
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Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

[Eddie Eagle]

So this is a good conversation. A little push. A little pull. A little dissection.
There be gold nuggets in this vein!

A bit of info on the author of the article. He is an On Camera Casting Director so his take on this is skewed to screen talent. But I think some of this goes for VO.

[HeatherMasters]

I am loving this discussion. Thanks so much for posting this article Eddie. This is a topic I have really struggled with, as I am a bit rebellious by nature and have a "Don't you put a label on me" chip on my shoulder. We are all so multifaceted, so full of colour (that's for Bish ) I'm a total clutz, a goofball, and have the voice of a teenager (or so they tell me) Yet I LOVE Shakespeare, classic literature, philosophy and poetry. Does my outward appearance and voice limit me to only light and fluffy work? What about this other half of me that is begging to be expressed? That's a tricky one, because I do understand that my vocal quality limits me to some extent. So there is something to the idea of understanding and having reasonable expectations about my "brand" and the way others perceive me. But the thought of being boxed in, and told I am only suitable in ads for acne cream or makeup (don't get me wrong, I would jump at the chance to do either) makes me want to rebel.

[Bruce]

Truth be told I'm having a devil of a time rethinking my branding for my website upgrade and all. I'm an American and a lot of my work is in the storytelling mode, fiction to non-fiction, but "an American storyteller" is kind of taken and maybe overused(?).

I specialize also in character voices for everything from children's work to violent video games. My tag line here on the board, "I'm not a zoo but I've played one ...(behind a microphone) " might be catchy but limiting(?).

I'm lucky to be very adept at complex medical narration and get a fair amount of that work, but how do I market that too?

I also do a lot of political work but I keep that marketing totally separate and specific to avoid shading my other work.

Variety in what I do has kept me going all these years but how do I market all that or should I just pick one and run with it? Or do I create separate sites and marketing approaches? oy!

Your thoughts are welcome!

B
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

[Eddie Eagle]

"I'm not a zoo but I've played one"
That's a good one.

The author is also from the PacNW. That to me says something. West Coast folks especially NWesterners have a certain avant individualness. (ie Think about Silicon Valley and how they set the pace for tech.) It's definitely different.

On that note Bruce, Heather, and our Brit living in NYC, maybe a multi front approach would work. Market to the zoo (clients) where ever they are in a way that they can palate.

Yes that does splinter things but take a look at some movie campaigns and how they focus on certain parts of a release when promoting trailers. If the release has a couple underlying themes (genres/ or storylines) running through it they create a few trailers with a focus on each theme and bring it all together. Not that we are all a movie but the approach can work in the right situation.

Traditional....NonTraditional. Use what works for you where it works for you. Broad strokes are good and targeted strokes are too. Viewer discretion is advised.

[paulstefano]

[Bob Bergen]

Interesting read. The author looks at the world of theatrical acting in his piece. Very different for the vo actor's brand in some ways.

I agree with Philip in that you ARE your brand. This is one of the reasons you might hear a spot on the air that doesn't reflect the audition specs at all. Someone was confident enough in their brand that they made it their own. I do this with every audition. In fact, my process is to do my first take of a commercial without looking at the specs. Once I go back and look at the specs I do another round. Sometimes I submit both takes, sometimes just my first. This guarantees I organically give them my take or brand before being influenced by the writer's intent. Now, that said, often my first take IS their intent. My agents sent me the copy for a reason. They thought I was right for it. But even if I get a piece of copy I'm not right for, I still submit my slant on it. Today's audition is an insurance policy for another. If I don't get the gig, my goal is to impress and be remembered the next time one of my reads comes across their desk.

And Paul, when it comes to marketing you want to market each genre of vo independently. So your audio book career is marketed to the audio book industry. No need to be concerned that your audio book read is different from your commercial read. In fact, it should be. Very different techniques. Same can be said about radio imaging, trailer, promo, games, animation, etc. I market to the buyers accordingly. My imaging buyers don't receive my game demo. If they have time on their hands they can surf for it. But I've found today that buyers have very short attention spans. They want to think you live and breathe for them. In the old days, when I got into vo in the late 70s, demos were 5 minutes long and included a snippet of everything you did. That's just not acceptable today.

[Eddie Eagle]

OR maybe you just become the super Kung Fu master of everything

Bruce Lee considered his art a style not a brand. The Shaw Brothers and movie companies tagged Bruce as a brand for Kung Fu.

This is a good read for actors as a path to become water as Bruce learned from Master Yip. So too do we actors become water for our client.
https://www.quora.com/How-do-you-interpret-Bruce-Lees-Be-water

[paulstefano]