VO-BB - A VO Family

Philip Banks

Now more than ever there is a case for getting a worthwhile, credible qualification which will lead to a professional career.

"But I love being a Voice Actor!"

No you don't! You love the idea of being what you THINK a Voice Actor does.

It's a public holiday here in the UK. My first session was a TV promo for CNBC International at 0715 BST. I know I am very lucky but I did not sign up for between 6 and 7am starts and regular 8pm finishes. I DID sign up for 11am starts and 4pm finishes, each commercial paying $15,000, every TV promo paying me $1,500 (including tags) and a couple of corporates at $750. Still waiting. The early starts and late finishes feed me and Bess the Border Collie.

I can't help how I sound, it really isn't my fault; but that sound, my ability to listen to what I am being told and simply being available and polite pays my bills. Business acumen is where it's at, not paying for abstract and often banal voice acting concepts.

Voice Over - Technical term ONLY. A Presenter for a TV show does a piece to camera.

"The desert. Big isn't it?"

Cut to Aerial view with the presenter continuing his commentary out of vision but in voice over. If the Presenter, Jay Leno, is being himself, he is not Acting, so not a Voice Actor.

"Philip is telling us we should not pay for Voice Coaching!"

No I'm not. If a person feels they can take the financial hit they should do it but be strong enough to be pushed by the Coach and above all know how to push back. The latter because there are so many unproven concepts out there that they need to be questioned and Coaches need more real world, evidence supported answers as opposed to trite responses only worthy of a Bubble Gum card or the contents of a Fortune Cookie.

None of the above is negative or intended to be. Because of the Social Media hyperbole about doing voice work we, all of us, in some way or another have, like the worst kind of TV Evangelist, lured the innocent into the world of tithing with the promise " Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."

No one suspected that their tithes would buy a Private Jet for the Preacher yet leave them with a credit card debt that would make Greece weep!

Wanna be a "Voice Actor"? Ok! Do what you love on weekends and in the evenings after work.

Work? Yes! Train/Qualify for a proper job, it's the future.

A few years ago a very dear friend said the following .

"Y'know Philip, making a living doing voice over work is the least interesting thing about you!"

Long may that remain the case.

todd ellis · Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 7:26 am Post subject:

i know that i am an anomaly in many ways. i stumbled blindly into a full-time voiceover gig. i haven't had any formal coaching - although i have had some directed sessions that i think have made me better in general. i rarely ever "act" - sometimes i affect my voice in one way or another, but i wouldn't call it "acting".

i have one microphone & a spare in the closet. i fear all the time that i am a fraud, and one day folks will figure it out and stop hiring me.

i almost always refuse to use upper case type and sometimes punctuation

i don't have a certificate of ... well ... anything or a list of accolades from coaches and/or my betters. i consider myself a "wannabe gentleman farmer" who talks out loud to pay the bills. if i could do that by wistfully watching a field of timothy or the sun setting on a flock of wild turkey, i would ... but i can't ... because i've become fond of the finer things in life, like a roof, some food to eat and a whisky every now and then.
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

Bish · Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:56 am Post subject:

Y'know what there are too many of in voiceovers today? Egos. Social medial has served us the biggest delusional con of all time. It's convinced everyone that they are important... an influencer... an aspirational character... a thought leader. Sigh.

Nearly every week, someone whom I've always just accepted as a working VO (because that's how they present themselves) announces that they're running a class or webinar on, "How to get into the business of VO" - now whether or not there is a financial reward or just a big ego massage is academic... the sole purpose seems to be to boost their account (bank or ego) by "helping" people get in to an over-saturated business. The question is (obviously) "Why would you do that?" If someone really wants to do it, they will investigate, do their own research, discover what they need to do, and take some tentative steps.

I'm getting tired of the, "I just want to pay it forward and help people achieve their dream!" - because it's all self-serving BS that actually harms and devalues the business.
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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.

todd ellis · Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 10:35 am Post subject:

Bish · Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 11:39 am Post subject:

Todd... I absolutely agree that there are genuine exceptions! But most of the people I'm talking about are simply offering, "How I Got Started - I Did It... You Can Too!" - and have nothing to offer beyond that... notably not how they grew and maintained a career over a decade or more! Smile

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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.

todd ellis · Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 12:34 pm Post subject:

no argument there.
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

Mandy Nelson · Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 6:00 pm Post subject:

todd ellis · Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 5:29 am Post subject:

mandy nelson is a pro.
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

Karyn OBryant · Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 5:35 pm Post subject:

Mandy Nelson IS a pro. And so are you, Todd Ellis.

It's okay to be in The Abyss sometimes, Mandy & Todd. We all go there. But please don't stay. It's damp there and room service never comes.
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* * * * * * * * * *
Pretending to be other people since 1986.

www.karynobryant.com

melissa eX · Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2021 2:23 pm Post subject:

todd ellis · Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2021 4:52 pm Post subject:

hey - if you can't stand the Dimethylamidophenyldimethylpyrazolone get out of the kitchen!
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

MikeN · Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2021 8:34 am Post subject:

Philip Banks · Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2021 6:57 am Post subject:

I know I posted this in the Chat section but on seeing the way this thread has developed ....

It's a bit like saying "Stop drinking too much alcohol" a very sobering message.

https://vimeo.com/636992555

Moe Egan · Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2021 7:40 am Post subject:

SO much gold in this thread. (gah- don't get me started on "VO Coaches" who don't/can't make a full time living as a VO.) I've often thought, especially recently, when everyone is virtually screaming 'Look at me! Look at Me! LOOK AT ME' in VO groups and pages- is there anyone left to do the looking? And who has time to read all this CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT? If one is actually doing the work, how does one have SO MUCH time to write so much about it? (Granted, I am very lazy and even more unorganized...so they might just be way better at time management than I ).

Mandy, I feel you. I've been a full time VO since 2004. I was a single mom starting in 2009. This IS my day job. I stopped all side hustles after 2007. I've raised three kids, paid off my mortgage and put two kids through college with just my voice. (Captain Fabulous, the ex, didn't contribute so much as a pencil toward the kids' college)...yet I read all this LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME CONTENT, CONTENT, CONTENT and I feel like the biggest, fakest, loser on the planet because I buy into the hype of these shiny, glossy, smiley, interwebs influencers. I do get that it is a different world in LA, and sometimes castings are won or lost on internet followers...but I'm, by choice, not in the running for those sorts of jobs.

I'm one of the lucky ones. I get to do what I love to pay my bills. As I told Don LaFontaine when I was lucky enough to meet him in Vegas at the first VOICE conference, I'm a staff sergeant in the VO army. I don't ever want to go to LA or NYC; but because he blazed the trail, I am able to do what I love where I love and raise my family on my terms (Seems everyone jumping into this world wants to go straight to 4 Star General overnight). This is my job- no more, no less, but I am very grateful I get to do what I love and am pretty good at for a living. I have friends who are special needs teachers, and photographers and CPAs who feel the same way.

If I had the ovaries, I would like to tell SO many 'influencers' to get over themselves. I did miss this place. SO glad to be back home. Kiss

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Moe Egan
i want to be the voice in your head.
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Moe Egan · Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2021 8:03 am Post subject:

I do realize and appreciate the irony of how much CONTENT, CONTENT, CONTENT I added to this thread. Rolls Eyes

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Moe Egan
i want to be the voice in your head.
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