Reel Beans (00:00.046)
Welcome to Voiceover Casting Corner, the all things voiceover podcast brought to you by the Casting Pros. We're pulling back the curtain on the VO industry with candid conversations, casting insights, and plenty of opinions about what's really happening behind the mic. Whether you're brand new to the booth or you've been behind the mic for years, there's always something new to learn. So grab your headphones, step into the casting corner, and let's talk VO.
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Voiceover Casting Corner. My name is Kelly Moshinsky. I am the owner and head of casting at The VoiceCaster. And I'm Catherine Haran. I'm the senior casting director here at The Voicecaster. We are coming with an idea today that we had because we just got back from One Voice in Dallas, the One Voice conference and the One Voice Awards. And so me and Catherine were like, we should do an episode all about.
voiceover conferences because we know there are tons of them. There are a lot of Every year I feel like we add at least one more. Yeah. Yeah. It's there there are so many out there. And I know we've already been asked to go to a couple of other ones that we've never been to for next year. So they're they're all over. And you know the I think the cool thing about them is like they're at least all different. You know, it's like they're not
doing this the same things. They're not, you know, it's like, yeah, a lot of topics and things like that may be similar. But you know, they they have different layouts and different amounts of people. You know, it's like you've got the you've got VO Atlanta where there's a thousand people in attendance. You've got one voice, which we just went to, and that's like half of that, 500 people maybe. You've got Mavo, that's closer to a hundred. You know, it's like the VO summit.
this past summer, you know, I think that was around like eighty people, something like that. So it's like, you know, they're all they're all different sizes. Some of them, you know, they want to keep them more intimate. Some of them are a little bit bigger. Some of them are online. Some of them are on tropical islands. You know, like they're and they all have different vibes too, you know, different Yes. So yeah, if there's a one if like if a VO Atlanta's too overwhelming and too much going on, there's
Reel Beans (02:19.546)
Lots of other options that are a little smaller or a little more intimate and really get one-on-one time people with those, which is really cool. Yeah. And there's also like the Euro VO retreats, you know. So there's there's much smaller scale, you know, things like that too. and they all offer, you know, their own benefits, you know. I
I think one of the biggest things, you know, as an actor, if you're thinking like, okay, I've never been to a conference, or I've been to one conference and I wasn't a fan, or you know, whatever it is, know that you do not have to go to every single conference. Definitely. It's exhausting. We don't go to all of them, but we go to quite a few and it's it's a lot. you know, it's like they always say going to a voiceover conference is like drinking water from a a garden hose, and it is like it is three days.
with information and people and you know, so figure out what what kind of works for your style, you know, ask around, talk to other actors who have been to them. you know, like we're we're happy to give you our insights on, you know, what we see. And, you know, we we also go and listen to the panels and things like that. You know, it's like even on the the casting side, yeah, we can we can learn a thing or two for sure.
But I definitely recommend if you're able to check out one, even if it's, you know, the one closest to you. Check out one just to do it. Try it out. See what you learn. See who you meet there. Because you're gonna meet people from all over the country, from all over the industry. And it's a great way to we always talk about how networking and connection is so important. There is no better way to get that. And the people that are there are there because they want to meet you. So you don't have to feel weird or awkward going up to people and introducing yourself. So
When you see the agents or the managers or the casting directors, they want to talk to you. So you it's kind of like there's no better time or place to go up to these people and introduce yourself. Yeah, you're not inconveniencing us. Like we're literally there for that. You know, and if we didn't want to be social, then we'd be in our hotel room avoiding the conference. You know, it's like we can take breaks whenever we need to. Anybody can. so yeah, I think I think it's super important to, you know, kind of
Reel Beans (04:38.446)
You know, be be brave and go and talk to people. And networking in person is so different than online. You know, it's like, yeah, there are a lot of great things that you can do, taking classes, different workshops, seminars, things like that, all on Zoom, but get to things in person as well, especially if you're not in a location where there are other local meetups. You know, it's like if you're in Los Angeles.
There are enough like voiceover mixers and stuff that happen every month even that it's like you can see people in person that way. but you know, it's like if you live in Idaho or Kansas or, you know, wherever else, it's like there's probably not a huge market of voice actors or people hiring voice actors who, you know, you can network with.
And relationships are such a huge part of this industry. Like that is that is, I think that's the number one thing is, and I would even say, as far as conferences go, I think one of the biggest things is giving yourself that time to network. I feel like so often people will pack their schedules with back-to-back panels, talks, breakout sessions, paid, you know, paid workshops.
I know some people who they're like, Yeah, I have three paid workshops today. Those are three three hour workshops in one day. That's nine hours. How are you how are you getting out there to have lunch with people or to just talk to people while you're walking around? You know, it's like you do have to give yourself that time to just wander and see who you meet, see who you run into. You know, that's kind of the the magical part of it as well.
I think you have even for me, the most memorable part of all these conferences are the people that we meet. I feel like everyone we've gone to, there's been a handful of people that really stick with me for whatever reason. And then, you know, when we get back home, they reach out and, you know, we connect that way. So now we're all in each other's, you know, systems, you know, and we're you know, they we get them on our internal roster or what have you. And and every time I see their name I remember exactly who they were and
Reel Beans (06:55.512)
They stick out to me even more. You know, when you're going through these lists and thinking of people, the ones that you really know or have a connection with are always going to stand out versus the people that just sent me a, know, a cold email. Because what 'cause we have the face, right? You know, like for me, it's like I remember that conversation we had or you know, whatever it is. And there's always a few each conference that really stick with me. And so when I go back and do the casting side, I'm gonna remember them. And so it's always kind of cool.
having those new people after each each conference we go to. Yeah. I like I like the like personal connections too. You know, it's like I had somebody at in Dallas who just came up to me and was like, so I'm not gonna ask you about work. Like you talk about that on your podcast. And you know, like you're talking about it all the time in interviews and whatever. She's like, I want to know what you do for fun. And like it threw me off for a second. We don't ever get that question. But holy cow, I'm gonna remember that person because like we
connected on a more more personal level, you know. and yeah, like that, things like that are are so interesting. And it's like when you hear us talk about those things, you know, it's like I've I've had people, I had an interview with, you know, Mark Scott. And one of the first things he asked me, I've never been asked about this before, but was I I got a certification as an organizational specialist. So I'm a certified like totally random.
I just love to do it. I was learning how to do it anyway. So I'm like, why not just get the certificate? Right. And he asked me about it. And you know, so it's like if you hear things like that, like so then I had somebody in a class recently at a different studio here in LA, and she was like, She's like, she's like, and I heard you do organization and do you do feng shui and like all this stuff? And we started talking about feng shui in our homes and all this stuff. And it's like stuff like that, like that that makes a difference, you know, it's like
Hundreds Happen loves horror films, you know. It's like you talked a lot about that podcast over the week. Exactly. Or just even even Neil Vodeland came up to me. He's like, I hear you like the monkeys, and we had like a 15-minute discussion about that. Or another fellow he mentioned, I was hearing another conversation, he mentioned a restaurant I grew up going to called Lubies, which nobody knows. And I was like, my god, did you say Lubies? And you know, we go off on this tangent about that.
Reel Beans (09:18.006)
It just leads you to other topics and stuff. But I'm gonna always remember that conversation. Yeah. I'm gonna think of him and like, that's right. That's the we had that nice long discussion about whatever. And yeah. Yeah. Those are those are the memories I take home with me. Yeah. I mean that's that's it it's invaluable, you know, like that really is something that needs to
needs to happen, those natural conversations and you know getting to know people as people and not just as actors and casting directors. We're all yeah, we're all people and we're all doing a job. That you know, like why not why not make that job even more fun? let's talk about red flags and whatnot. You will encounter a lot of those too.
There's there's always things. One of my big things is like even though you're wearing a name badge, you can you know, the first of all, one of my pet thieves is that these name badges at all these conferences, the names are too small. They need to be bigger. They need to be better than the logo of the conference. We know what conference we're at, right? Exactly. So I need to see the name.
But you can only stare at somebody's belly button for so long before it becomes awkward. Right. That was a big thing. Like, I'm trying to find your name on this thing. And I'm just now I just feel weird about it. So when you introduce like introduce yourself, but say your first and last name. We are probably gonna know you by your first and last name. If you come up to me and say, Hi, I'm Jen, hi, I'm Michael, hi, I'm Scott, I'm gonna be like, I know 40 Jens and 40 Michaels. Tell me your last name. You know, that's that's what we need to know.
What's one what's one of your things, Captain? Yeah, that's definitely a big one. I mean, and even just there people that like maybe get a little too familiar right away. They came up to me and go like, How did you sleep last night? Or you know, and this and that and I'm like, great. Like I'm not gonna go into how I slept last night with somebody I've never met before. just things like that. Yeah, just you know, just hi, how are how's your conference going? That's one I got a lot, which is great. That's a nice you know
Reel Beans (11:27.104)
Easy. I talked and turned every time the air clipped on. I I woke me up. Right, exactly. What do you want to know about how I sleep? Or just a little more generic instead of how do you sleep last night? Yeah, just hey, how are you today? It's like where do I go from there? Let's talk about the conference crud. So everybody always goes home sick, but how do we all get sick? Because somebody goes to the conference sick. Exactly.
There's something. Yeah. I mean, I get that. You spent the money on it. You maybe traveled a long way to get there. You don't want to miss out, but you also don't want to get everybody sick just because you were sick. So Yeah. You know, just common courtesy, common sense. Yeah. If you're really sick, maybe don't go or you know, wear a mask, or you know, maybe stand away from people when you say hi. You know, get right in their face. Yeah. Don't
Don't reach out for handshakes. You know, it's like, yeah, there are there are things like that. And the other thing too is I'm always surprised at every conference, I have at least a couple of people come up to us and they're like, I'm I have a little bit of a cold right now. And it's like, I don't I don't know if they're announcing that because they don't want us to judge their voice in that moment, or I don't I don't know what that is.
But all that does is make people uncomfortable to be around you. Like, okay, stay away from you. Please don't give me sick. So maybe don't announce it. it's okay. And we also understand that like we're not expecting everybody to sound their best at a conference. No. You are talking.
Constantly. You're doing things like karaoke. Like, I don't know why there's you're even talking at all louder because it's such a loud environment, too. So you're constantly maybe shouting or projecting more than you're used to. Yep. And if you're doing breakouts or extra workshops and things like that where they're where you're performing, you might be you know doing creature sounds or screaming for video games, or you know, it's like there's a lot of of taxing things, plus you're not getting enough sleep, plus the
Reel Beans (13:35.66)
Hotel air is always weird. You know, it's like there's a lot of a lot of factors there. so trust us when we say we're not judging your voice just in a conversation. Definitely not. We're not. I mean I just in general, I don't do that. We don't care. We don't care what you sound like. It's it's what you can do with your voice. You know, I am not like sure, I'll notice a really unique.
Voice out in the world, but I've never walked up to somebody and been like, Have you thought about doing voiceover? Just because of the sound of their voice. Now, a really strong actor who does on camera or stage, I may have that conversation with because I know they have the acting ability. So it's yeah, it's not about the voice. We're not judging you every second of every day, I promise. We are judging you when you tell us that you're sick or when you're
And I think kind of piggybacking on that idea is I mean, we were working the entire time we were there, still sending out auditions. So if you are a voice actor and you're at this conference, I mean, yes, have fun and and do all the things, but also remember you don't want to blow out your voice because maybe you've got an audition that's gonna come in that you need to record, or maybe when you get back home, you've got a job waiting for you. And you want to make sure you aren't sounding hoarse or you can't.
live up to what the what the client is expecting. You still want to take care of your voice. I mean that that's your moneymaker, right? Like if you yeah, you want to be able to to work that last minute job on Monday after you got back at midnight on Sunday night, you know, if they come in, you wanna be able to do that. So make sure you take care of yourself, you know. Exactly. I get that, you know, no nobody gets a ton of rest on these weekends. And that's just part of it.
But you can still you can still take care of your voice for sure. All right. So if you, you know, if if there are conferences and things that you like or that you don't like, or you know, you sh wanna share that information, things like that, like share that with other actors. You know, talk be open to talking to other people about it. Ask them questions. If you've never been to a conference.
Reel Beans (15:50.978)
Start figuring out, like, okay, is there one close to you or is there one that you've heard great things about that you want to try out? You know. what if you never go to a conference? It's okay. It's not, it's not the end of the world. There can be so many benefits to it, but you know, don't feel like, I have to save up thousands of dollars so that I can go to this conference next year because it's the only thing that's gonna move my career ahead. It's not true. So yep.
Because you can do it. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Don't feel bad if you can't go. I know FOMO is real. But but it's also yeah. Yep, absolutely. All right. So that is everything for today. And we hope to catch you next time. Yeah. Check out our our website for our latest classes. We have a bunch coming up for the fall. So yes. Voice semester.com slash workshops. Very exciting things. And we're going to be doing another BAM challenge as well in October.
and probably in November might be opening up the insiders for some new enrollments as well. So keep an eye out for all the awesome things that are gonna be coming from the award winning voice caster. All right. Thanks everyone. We'll talk to you soon. Bye.
Thanks for hanging out with us in the Voice Overcasting Corner. Keep learning, keep growing, and keep showing up behind the mic. And if you enjoyed today's episode, please follow the podcast, share it with your VO community, and come back for more candid conversations from the Casting Pros. Want to keep learning with us? Head over to VoiceCaster.com and check out our upcoming workshops, training, resources, and everything else we have to offer. Until next time, keep talking VO.
