 Hey, it's time for voiceover body shop and George and I are gonna be very happy to have with this our good friend Everett Oliver say hello Everett. Hello Everett I was really hoping if I said his name wrong enough times it would get stuck in your head and then you'd screw it up That's right. You keep doing that. That'll probably work. He's too professional. Exactly. So we're all remote here and But so are you guys watching the show if you've got a question for Everett or for George and I Put it in the Facebook chat room because I know Jeff Holdman's hiding in there somewhere taking down all your questions and We got anything else exciting going on George? Nope in that case voiceover body shop right now From the outer reaches they came bearing the knowledge of what it takes to properly record your voice over audio and Together from the center of the VO universe. They bring it to you now George Wittem the engineer to the VO stars a Virginia Tech grad with the skills to build set up and maintain The professional VO studios of the biggest names in VO today and you Dan Leonard the voiceover home studio master a Professional voice down with the knowledge and experience to help you create a professional sounding home VO studio and Each week they allow you into their world Bringing you talks with the biggest names in the voice of a world today Letting you ask your questions and giving you the latest information to make the most of your voice over business Welcome to voice over body shop Voice over body shop is brought to you by voiceover essentials.com home of Harlan Hogan signature products source elements remote studio connections for everyone voice actor websites.com where your VO website isn't a pain in the butt Voheroes.com become a hero to your clients with award-winning voiceover training JMC demos when quality matters and voiceover extra your daily resource for VO success and now Live to drive from their super secret clubhouse and studio in Sherman Oaks, California Here are the guys Hey there, I'm Dan Leonard and I'm George Whidham and this is voiceover body shop or VO B As that didn't work at all I Didn't even say anything that time. I just let Jeff do the talking for me. There we go. All right anyway The the the lockdown continues here in Southern, California, and it's like this is a wonderful place to live If only we could go somewhere And I take it you're just hanging out in your apartment I'm very lucky that I can actually go outside We are still allowed to do that even in California believe it or not. Yeah, that would but yeah It's it's it's it's not fun time to be celebrating the holidays not Not the way we wanted to celebrate but we're doing our best and Cooking and making and decorating and you know everybody in the neighborhood that would normally be out of town because nobody lives in LA Well, they got all the dudes that they decorated their houses there since so many Christmas lights. It's a good Venice and all around I've never seen so many Christmas lights here. Yeah, it's the fifth night of Hanukkah So I have to go light candles when we're all done here We had my mom over yesterday who's always in isolation. We'd sort of keep her isolated and You know pancake, you know potato pancakes and brisket and all that kind of stuff. Yeah, you know, it was nice It was good to have you know, just you know have family there But a very tight pack family and I hope all of you guys are having a really, you know Making the best of this holiday season Just watch the video on YouTube type in SNL SNL Christmas time for the Jews Have you ever seen that? I have so with with Darlene love and yeah, so good because it's very true Chinese restaurants love us on Christmas Anyway, it's time to introduce our guest tonight because you know We're about voiceover and our guest is really a voiceover guy been in the business a long time He's been in it for 25 years Currently operating his voiceover company formally known as my booth director, but that's we're going to erase that now He specializes in professional directing for voiceover auditions He was an animation demo co-producer a private coach for a commercial animation as well as a career building consultant Let's welcome once again our good friend Everett Oliver ever it welcome back Thank you. How are you guys? We're doing okay as you heard so How has the The COVID epidemic pandemic Yeah, they hit it. How has that affected your bi-coastal being? Well, this stopped me from getting on planes and visiting everybody back east. Yeah, but My business expands so vastly. I mean I speak I have I work with kids now I'm getting auditions Very very very frequently now Lots of private coaching lots and lots of newbies Coming in especially from the TV and film world. It's gonna say the newbies are not new to acting, right? They're more new to voice acting Mm-hmm acting for sure But I have been actually getting a number of you know newbies as well into the business Because they're just trying to find you know a niche and you know, they've been told that they have this great voice and and I so lovingly in a way give them the smiling up. Okay Now let's get to work Yeah, and what what percentage of people do you think? Actually, you're gonna have the talent to do it. I mean we've we see I mean George and I and you we see people coming I want to be in voiceover Okay, you know, you could go to law school. There's so many other things you could be trying that could be a little bit easier Are you finding some I'm sure you're finding some very talented people out there? I'm fine. I am But I'm also, you know sending them to You know, they need to go to class I'm sending them to basic you need to go take another general acting class or if they're up to par on their general acting They definitely need to take an improv class Nine times out of ten. They haven't taken impromptu within like a year or two. So I'm like, oh Yeah, go take an impromptu class and then reach back out to me So then I can just you know at least because I want to hear their story. I'm more or less I want to find out everything about them and then I can easily guide them in a certain direction So yeah, so you're like George was saying you're seeing a lot of actors I mean, I've seen that too. It's a lot of people who were you know screen actors They're here in Hollywood or in various places and suddenly they can't work like oh, I'll try voiceover and And boy, they're in for a real surprise. Aren't they? Oh Totally you can you can hear the difference from them from them acting on stage Versus, you know speaking into the microphone. I've had a couple of clients who are actually screaming Into the microphone great great and I saw in my in my facial expression as you all know, I'm very animated I do. Okay. Can you please stop screaming? But my mother told me to scream. Oh, okay Mother on the field. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So you can scream at her that's gonna cost extra though Actually had a kid who was auditioning that she was literally screaming and her mom was in the room at the same time And I was like, oh Use your hand to her voice. Yeah, and she's like, oh my god, she sounds so much better duh I mean, I mean that's one of the things that you know I'm always teaching people is like you stout project the louder you talk the more the acoustics of the room come into play and So if you've got marginal acoustics, you you know, you definitely want to be able to You know not make sure you make sure that you're not reflecting off the walls too much And so that's why you're self out and right and where and where your voice out in the same process so I mean as we were saying you've been in the business a really long time I mean not since the beginning of time, but you've been there for a fair amount You've seen obviously seen a lot of things change You know, especially in what? Clients out there are looking for and what do you seem today that you're hearing from casting directors and From the industry in general, or is it still all over the place and nobody really knows what they want? I'm Couple of things that I'm you know the home studio. I am hearing that their home studio really has to be Intact and really up to you know par That's one of the things that I'm definitely hearing that Going forth, but Really is the acting I mean, I think the thing that a Lot of people are doing is they're just so dishing and then that really Connecting with the copy If I really want to get serious and get into it explain to us what that means because I hear that from coaches all the time Connect with the copy. Well, I mean you've got to be able to get the words off the page You've got to be able to find the nooks and crannies. I always call it like a negative and a positive You're reacting to someone instead of just reading the copy. You know, they're not They're sticking too close to just the specs of the scripts. They're not being creative And being able to add their Personality to enhance that character. They're playing it too safe They're worrying about the voice. They're worried about booking They're worried about so many other different things that's going in their life that they can't really hone down and just have fun You know, so, you know, you've got to approach the script You know and really you've got to come go through the whole entire script Read the scene direction really understand How it is to make this character come to life and make it pop Stop worrying about who you're competing up against. I think they're all in their head about that Oh, everybody's gonna do this, but you have to bring you to it and I'm one of them I'm one of the few people who I really like to home in and Understand how you take us a person in order for me to get the performance out So, you know as going back to your question is You know, I I know that cat I know that agents want to hear that they want to hear more of them You know, as well as the cast and directors to make them stand out Right, you know, and they're not doing that. They're just basically sticking to the specs of the script You know, I would say do one pass that's close to the specs of the script in a second to a second take Step outside the box do something. That's totally Unusual insane crazy to have fun and See how that plays out because if you're not right for that specific Episode or show you might be right for something else and I've seen that happen and actually one of my clients We worked on a an audition and he actually booked something that he was you but we worked on a character He didn't get that character, but they added him later on for a couple of episodes So it does happen. That's well that that's gonna make some people very happy to hear that that You know that eventually that you're gonna book something Right, so you're saying you've got you you've got to be able to you know know how you're different How do you help someone? find their voice Grounded I want to make sure that they ground it. I have that I have a I Will put this out loud. I have a Intuitiveness that I can tell I tell people to Go play I told the actor yesterday. I said you haven't played enough So go play with your children's whether or not video games go do something fun I know we're all in COVID, but you're allowed to exercise go exercise I told them to go play tennis Go swimming They need to be able to have to physically shake their body They think shake their body they're making should go ahead in audition Because by them to be entire they're not thinking as much That's one little trick that I do. Yeah. Yeah, it's always important to get your physical energy up to do something You know some sometimes I'll do some jumping jacks and then and then I go into booth and I'm Helps to be a better shape when you do that, but go fast walk then you should fast walk around the block I as my mom says go jiggle the fat It sounds like something your mom would say Yeah So what is so what are some of the things you look for when you when you when you first start working with somebody and Yeah, and they'd say they say I have a great voice and you say yeah, okay fine How do you get them from out of their own head? What's what's one of the techniques you might use to do that? I you know acting I'm listening specifically for your acting. I'm listening for How will you? Connect to the character and then I could vocally place them They start naturally talking to me then I can go ahead and tell them. Oh This is this is possibly your money versus right here in the center your throat or when you go down here and you're forcing I'm like, that's not you So I just you know, I play with them. I talk with them a lot just to get them out of their head Just to get them relaxed and then I go ahead and I just start working with them All right to get them out of there I got to get them out of their head the key is to really relax them and get it out head. I make jokes You know just to you know warm them up a little bit Sometimes they we started getting into a discussion about what's going on personally Yeah, I'm just kind of sort of just different with them You know tell me tell me your hobbies tell me about your family You know to get them out of a mood Right exactly once again if you're just joining us our guest is Everett Oliver who is a voiceover director He's a guy force acting director. Yes, and and and and I'm gonna say he's forcing it I'm good. I'm cool voice acting director Uh if you've got a question for I mean I got plenty of questions But if you have a specific question for Everett about technique and stuff like that Throw it in the facebook chat room if you're watching there right now And I know see there's a bunch of people in there. So go in there ask your question. Jeff Holman is sitting there Going I want some questions so I can copy and paste stuff He'll get it in there. So ask your questions right now and we'll get to that in the next segment uh So Everett, you know Every day we open our email if you know those of us that have been doing this a while and people who are just finally getting themselves Established and we see the specs You know an agent or we're on a roster or something and they're like they shotgun blast Uh an audition to you with the specs And usually you know look at it go. I don't fit those specs Why should I even bother to try and do that? Yeah, I could try and stretch myself a little bit And maybe I could try this except that I'm not 22 years old and can't pass for 22 Uh in which case I might actually pass on it, but when you're looking at the specs As you were saying people are doing the specs How do you get yourself outside of that? How do you what's what's a good technique for you're looking at this? Okay, they want somebody, you know and always says the same thing You know somebody you'd like to have a beer with or Your girlfriend who you'd like to have coffee with or something along those lines It's like so I immediately go. All right, so I'm sitting across from a bar, which I haven't done in years so, uh What's a good way to to look at the specs and go? I see what they want. I think How do you go at it? What's how do you? Break down a script from there. I mean just by I would I mean the thing is I would find some emotions I would get four or five emotions that kind of stick to Who you are and speak to your inner truth And I would apply those emotions to the specs. I mean you have to follow at least some Some of the key words are some of the adjectives, but go ahead and add some more You know adjectives to that to bring out You know a better read you can't just stick specifically, you know to the script because you know From a casting perspective since I worked in casting for so many years We listen to the same stuff over and over and over again And literally after we hear maybe one or two words. That's it. We go to the next person We go to the next person that means you're clearly not using your imagination You know, so I would that would be the first thing that I would do Um Improv, you know Add some improv to your reads now what I will say this I probably will get in trouble But I will say the people on the east coast can't improv as mostly Commercially because they have been told by casting directors On the east coast to not improv as much Whereas we have to we on our coast on the west coast. We're allowed to do pretty much and play around So, um Be careful of that. Why do you think that is why why do you think there's a difference? I mean, I'm not really sure I mean, it's just that that's just this is just how the east coast is They just really are just there's no lot a lot of room for them to move around and play You know, um, you know, I tell actors when I'm listening to them that uh This is not our coast So be careful and conscious as to who you're reading for and which coast And a lot a lot of casting people are not going to say that there is a general overall read If you're doing campaigns, but as far as when you're doing, you know animation stuff Um, when you're auditioning for our coast Um, it's much more of a mush mouth sound and tone to it Whereas we're not over articulating our words and speaking clearly Um, so yeah, I mean and that's a that's a problem say, you know, now I know our audience pretty well some of them I I know by by name a good deal of them But you know, so our demographic is not 18 to 25 It's it's not even 25 to 30. It tends to be more You know middle age, you know, or is is my drama teacher in high school used to say middle age is five years from wherever I am um How isn't I looking at each other? Exactly exactly I'm way past middle age But how how do you That's a good way to put this out. How do you sound? How do you how do you try to sound? Younger, yeah, you can't I mean it's it's you really can't I mean there is a trick for I do something with Um, some of the girls to make them sound teenagers, but literally you really can't um You know, so really you would just nicely Put in the email that you're gonna kindly pass on the audition You know, why waste your time if you can't I was just working with somebody today and the specs read 40 to 50 and I was like There's no way you sound 40 years old. You realize that don't do it just pass, right? But I'll give you a little small tip. So Underneath your neck or your lift notes So if you take your lift notes, are you hear me speaking? Sort of up. Yeah. Yeah, I hear that So if you take your lift notes, yeah, and you compress them, you hear my vocal quality change a little bit just a little bit Yeah, just a little bit This ten just a little small ten eight will make you sound Just slightly a little younger To your read Not everybody can do that and not everybody can hold that for that quite sometimes so you have to get used to it Don't squeeze it to the point where you can't breathe do not try to sit home alone I wouldn't I wouldn't do that. I really wouldn't But some some people but I do teach do I do do that technique when I'm in class With everyone just to make them sound maybe slightly just very slightly But sometimes they have trouble finding their lift notes So um, but not everybody can do it and not not everybody can maintain that for Two to four hours No, probably not. Yeah, I find it fascinating. You know, I've got a box in the back here with all the old You know demo reels and air checks from 1980 and um What was that year again 1980? And and I'm listening and I'm like who the heck is that? I mean, I mean, you know, I was yeah, it was like I sound very very much higher pitched And and uh, I'm like it doesn't sound anything like me anymore. I mean, I clearly I've gotten a little older since then but Uh, it's like just very slight. Yeah, but I I mean, I'll try to go back and imitate that and I'll go It's not not happy even if I do this it's not gonna do it To the tuning. Yeah Uh, well, you listen to terry gross, you know on on fresh air and she'll say here's an interview I did with the guy who just died and right in 1987 like And you're like wow. Yeah, it goes up like a third, you know, or it's like a third octon It's really interesting. Are you This is what comes to my mind because I'm thinking well now we're all working remote I can get away with all kinds of stuff Have you anybody try to get away with using any kind of voice processing because I mean, we've been doing that for many years for singing Who's to stop what's to stop a voice actor from using a something that has like a formant Or pitch adjustment software. Yeah, I cheated. I'm sure I mean, I'm sure some people probably I mean There's this one of the other coaches. I'm sure it's listening Um There's this thing about normalizing your auditions Um I would I fight all the time. I I don't think your auditions need to be normalized There are some people that say they should there's some people that say they shouldn't we haven't got a collective answer as to Uh, I did hear some, you know an agent. I think I spoke to an agent um said Just leave it alone. I've talked to a couple of casting directors. They said they don't really care. So it's that Who knows so right people are doing it, but the you know, but the casting person is going to know Oh, yeah, they're gonna hear it right away if it's if it's you know process and go Well until until they aren't until they can't anymore. Tell that the difference is That's happening. I think next year. That's going to be my one of my projections for next year is that People are going to start doing those kinds of effects to play other roles and it's going to be convincing Enough there's already deep fake Things where you can sound like a celebrity Right. So yeah, what that that's an interesting point. Um, it's true. Yeah, I mean I find you know because you were talking about normalizing If you record it right up front, which is what george and I are constantly teaching people if you get it right up front If you normalize it shouldn't do anything Yeah, it shouldn't change much at all right, you know, which is really the test to see if you've done it right And uh, so that's our advice about that. Once again, we're talking with everett oliver. Who is a Voice acting director. Did I get that right this time? I'm smiling. Oh good That's the most important thing If you've got a question about about voiceover technique He's one of the best coaches here at la and in the business on both coasts. You're bicoastal Is he like Yeah If you've got a great question for him, please put it in the chat room and we will get to that question in a bit um One of the now you you you also help people with their careers you give them career advice and how do you How do you help people? What is what is it that you're you're telling people and are you telling them like Maybe this isn't the business for you or you can really really do something here You get a tough love you get a tough love ever. Yeah, I'm born and raised in new york I've said Kill them gently I tell the truth No, I mean there's a certain thing that I listen You know for and and I try you know, I guide them and I give them all the necessary tools and information And I also send them to the other people as well just to say this is the personal unit start off with um You sound like you you know, they tell me what they really interested in Once I kind of understand what they're really interested in and then I can say to them You have a niche for video games Or you know you or you know, I can also hear You know, maybe audiobooks or narration. So I listen to Really how they speak I learned a little bit about them What they really want to do and then I bypass all the you know bs and I Go directly and tell them this is what you need to do um So I'm an excellent It's amazing how people want to know what to do and then never do it Right, you know, which is and I send them to the marketing. I send them You know all over the place the conferences Tell them directly these are the coaches who specialize in these areas who you need to go ahead and eventually meeting coach with You know, so I give them a full perspective Of when I go ahead and counsel them. I have and I actually do follow-ups. Believe it or not I have um, I check ins with them. Those are my favorite When you go ahead and I sometimes I have time to just give them a two second call Right, it's like being the principal and then you know, they did something wrong and they're like I It's okay. You can breathe you've got three seconds to tell me what's happening. So I have you in the back of my mind go So On everything. Yeah, so I pay attention a lot I have a whiteboard that I look at and I have people on my whiteboard and I check them regularly Excellent. That's great coaching right there. Mm-hmm. Take a notes. Take a notes not taking any prisoners All right. What once again, we're yeah, we're we're uh We're talking with ever at Oliver and again if you've got a question for him I got a few more things I want to talk about but if you have a question about voiceover technique or You know, really about what your styles should be or whatever Throw it in the chat room once again, and we'll get that question in a bit um You you were now I remember when I first arrived here in LA And you and I were talking you were you know, you were a a booth director You were I can't remember which agency you were at. What was that like and and and what really went on there? um day one Didn't know what a booth director was had over what 75 people that would come in an audition in person And just thousands and thousands of copy from commercial to animation of video games and was just like Okay, so I'm supposed to direct the actor on this and then the agents would come in and say Oh, this just came in they need to read this. Oh, and they need to read that too And I'm like whoa, so it was an overload, but it was a good training for me. It allowed me to Really hone in on my skills, but it also gave me the opportunity to learn each Of all of the actors who I usually represent their personalities So I was able to I think we had over 200 or something people on the roster So I got to know each and every one of them And it was great. I mean there was a lot of work Uh, sometimes the agents were listening to the auditions Sometimes um, they didn't and they allowed us to make the you know The decisions as to whether or not we were going to send it to the clients But it was just a non-stop from 9 30 to about maybe six Listening to about probably about 500 auditions To between yeah, I say about maybe I say no more than Through I say no more than 500 auditions a day a day on a day So, you know your ear It's tired You know of listening just to you know, so we knew right away. It's like oh And sometimes, you know the thing what what actors don't know is When agents put you on a roster They're putting maybe 10 in on you. Maybe they'll give you I'll take that back They'll give you maybe they put 15 people on there, but they can only send their top top 10 So we were doing that and we were like nope Nope, they didn't make the cut. Nope. They didn't make the cut. So It's important for you to when you're sitting in your auditions to really really Bring up the best performance, you know on there because you could be cut just like that And now with everything happening with covet Who's to say that there's actually still booth directors that they have for the agents? So your agents are probably listening to your direct auditions directly And they're probably just like oh look that's in the net. That's in the net That's in the net So but that's what the volume was back then it was just constant constant You know our lunch to the grind Right You know and I did it for five years straight There's still there was smoke coming out of your ears problem. Oh, I was You were toast How much has the Quality okay, I'm gonna always talk from the sound quality perspective not so much the acting but The sound quality of the audition that people are sending in Has that gotten better over the years and is it gotten better since they've gone to home studios or What do you think it's gotten better for sure? I think everyone is more or less. They're paying attention now more or less to the sound quality I'm still one for The acting per se You know because I think At this point You know the agents are like we'll just send it You know, we'll just tell tell the clients. Oh the home studio. We'll we'll figure that out later But I will say yes The sounds has definitely gotten much better and everybody's just more conscious of because the guys like you guys and and People on the east coast who've been saying get your sound quality up You know Yeah, because I mean they want to use clean, you know, especially for commercials and promos and stuff They want their copies, you know, your sound to just be clean so they can go straight to air Animation stuff is a totally and video games is a totally different beast because they're gonna bring you in You know or not bringing you in but you know, I'm saying they're gonna go ahead and they're gonna just Call you in anyway, right? You know, yeah, once again, we're talking with Everett Oliver and we're talking about You know how to really approach your auditions and things along those lines And again, if you have a question for him throw it in the facebook chat room I see we got a couple we'd like to get a few more in there And Jeff Holman will will get that Into us in our next segment but right now we're gonna take a quick break And we'll be right back with Everett Oliver here on voiceover body shop. Don't go away Hello, welcome to voiceover body shop as a place where you can get your body Shopped with voices. Come on. Look at Dan's head. So shiny You've heard great things about the acx masterclass Maybe you've been watching it waiting for the next class looking for the best price and knowing that when you hear it You'll grab it You already know the acx masterclass is the best and fastest way to build a successful business Narrating and producing audiobooks on the biggest platforms in the world Audible and acx Well, it's time to get grabby the 2021 classes in february But if you act right now, you can take advantage of a three month no interest no fee payment plan And the class is the lowest price it'll ever be again So grab it now the offer ends this friday night december 18th Grab this deal at acx masterclass.com forward slash v obs. That's acx masterclass.com forward slash V obs three monthly payments no interest no fees acx masterclass.com forward slash v obs Well, hello there I bet you weren't expecting to hear some big voice to announce her guy on your new orientation training for snapchat, weren't you? 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Thanks for watching the voiceover body shop If you're demo ready or looking to get there check out jmc demos.com and see a sample of our work Now let's get back to dan and george and this week's tech wisdom Yep, it's time for gift giving for the vo person in your life and that's probably you And right now at voiceover essentials.com you can get the 20 color led vo recording sign It's flying off the shelf Seriously, it's the holiday presence of 2020 from voe Now this multicolor led sign is perfect for alerting your household that you're recording and to keep it down It comes with a remote that can control the colors of your secret codes Get it now at voiceover essentials.com and the top stocking stuffer this year It's the abs the adjustable boom stop no more droopy mics Works with a tripod or a solid round base It's three ounces of protection for your expensive microphone Get them now at voiceover essentials.com That's voiceover essentials.com. Thanks harlin Yeah, hi, this is carlos ellis rocky the voice of rocko and you're watching voiceover body shop And we're back here at voiceover body shop. Everett oliver is our guest. Hey everett having fun I'm having a great time. Oh good. I'm relaxed. That's that's what I like to hear and uh, we're talking about uh, you know in your voiceover career you get scripts and it's like, how do I do this and What makes me different people just think it's about their voice and it really isn't it's about like you said It's about being an actor because that's why they call it voice acting Although they're good. So one thing that just hit me too is you have to your scripts need to be marked up I mean, you really need to go through each and every line Before you know at least before you really come, you know go speak help somebody help you with your audition Because it just sounds like that actors are waiting till the last minute Just like oh, I got the script and I got to just get it out. They're not taking a necessary time with themselves to really Coke through everything and kind of figure out How can I approach this differently? You know, how can I add my authentic truth to this script? I find that a lot right. I mean and what how what are some of the things you can do to mark up a script I mean, I know when I look at it. It's like, okay I should probably go up here and if you don't mark it you tend to forget and you just tend to ramble through it Well, it's just I you know, my thing is is what what's my truth to the whatever I'm reading It's um, you know, I'm right now dealing with a lot of people using their emotions Their actual emotions when they approach in the copy. So how do you feel? About, you know, whatever script you're, you know approaching that video game character How do you feel about where that character, you know, should be at that specific moment? You know, you're feeling sad and you're feeling happy, you know and stuff like that. So, you know the approaches, you know Figuring that out And bring it once you understand that concept. Where can I add lip? You know to enhance that, you know, a lot of people leave all of that stuff out You know, and they're just all over the place, you know, the two Here it is. Thank you. You're two one-sided. They're just they're not Opening it up that they're thinking too small right, you know So um one track mine, I should say and then in that confident enough too You know, you've got to add a little bit that when you're making a pot roast those meats and potatoes and stuff So that approaches, you know adding all of these elements to make those words come up the page and be true You know, right to yourself Yeah, once again, we're talking with everett oliver if you got a question throw it in the chat room We got a few in here and let let's go to a couple of questions from our massive audience out there all across the fruited plane and across god's green earth from It's nicole Unless it's nicole Depending on how she spells it nicole b. Harper question What is the first thing a new person who is never voice acted should start trying? We'll take an acting class first Then go to an improv. That's what they should do first And then come back Uh, depending on who you are, I need to hear you I would physically need to hear you. I probably would have um speaks you over the phone Once I um speaks you over the phone that I can guide you and tell you But that's if you're really approaching this for the first time and not know any train go get some training first Is basically that's what I would do. Yeah Well, so it's always good to take a class to see if you actually can can do this kind of act Who see if you can act right? Yeah, it amazes me that people think that you know, it's like Oh, I just read for a living now. You you got to become somebody else every now and again Or or the other thing is what people have an out trouble is is finding out who they are That's the other main thing, you know, and you can hear that In the read as well because I'm like, you don't know who you are. I could totally tell So we need to find who you are And you know, so that's a challenge too because that's when I get dark and dirty and start fronting out about there I'm a psychologist apparently I I find that with a lot of voice coaches that you're like you'll end up sitting on the couch and they're like How do you approach this and then what do you really think about that? It's like Absolutely, George, you got the next question And this one's from Jay Horace Black He says what is your schedule for coaching like and are you booked up through several weeks? And how do we get in to work with you? That's always a good question, right? Um I'm always busy. What you should do is email me actors email me at eo voice acting director calm If they have an audition They say to me they fill out the form on my website and they just tells me what time the audition is due so I can pinpoint it and then I Sometimes call you on the fly That's my favorite to catch you off guard in ink you in but yes, I'm always busy If I'm not busy coaching I'm busy with the business itself Or I'm following up with actors or preparing group classes, so The answer to your question is just email me directly. I get the email and then I will reach back out to you but you have to you know, um Make sure your voicemails are not full There's like what's that mean because I call you and your voicemails are full My voicemail is not full Delete that stuff for crying out loud. Can I tell you something about that? This is something that gets people screwed up with iPhones specifically So like you'll go in there and you'll think you've deleted all your voicemail But it's in this other place Like purgatory or maybe trash or something and you got to go in there and then empty that And then it clears out your inbox. I've only had an iPhone for a year. I had to learn that the hard way George, I'm gonna tell you what dan is thinking And what I'm thinking that's a personal issue I Said it in a very loving way You need to figure that out if you want to be You know professional and what's going on when I'm calling you I leave a message Usually the actor calls me back It's easier for me to speak to you on the phone rather than sitting and write a book report That drives me insane Right, it's more efficient for sure more efficient. So yeah, that's how you get a second part And he said with improv olympic Improv olympics, I guess closing recently Which improv program do you like? What do you recommend any any particular and any typical particular type of improv long short firm form that kind of I just send somebody to an improv class Or I send them to people who teach it I believe that there's a second city or something like that I think there's a second city. I send them there, but I send people who train in improv To go there. That's what I've been doing lately. I've been sending them to someone specifically and they're probably like every stop Every stop a robo load you'll be fine. You'll be fine. I'm a giver So yeah, and it depends on where they are too, you know, I'm one of these people also that I'm a believer in Whoever you fit with you need to be able to work with a coach who You have to have the right fit weight not everybody fits, you know, like men and women I have to really listen to you to once I understand and if you know, depending on like for example, I wouldn't see you to a I'm a strong coach strong personality So I'll get people who are very, you know, they want to tip toe And I'm like, oh, I want to break break that out of you So I want to send you to a person who's going to really Make you step up your game. I'm not going to take, you know, every single client, you know So that's that's just who my personality is You know, so I did I do remember one person I sent to Uh, there was a I had an attorney one of the voice actress was an attorney and I told him I said you need a strong woman to kick you in your butt And physically I I think jr says a client of mine. I think he's in the chicago area It's got to be some good improv Oh, I think it's called second city. Tell him just to reach out to me. I have a contact that's in chicago and he'll I'll get that information to him Excellent, and then he should put your name in the subject line. So I know who you are That's very helpful for me Right on interesting question from sarah swightek. Uh, she says that she says if you're on the east coast Which apparently she is Uh, but have a broadcast quality home studio don't ever say broadcast on this particular show It's professional quality if your broadcast means well, I'm on the radio You're not on tv, right? That's right. Uh, is it possible if you have a good studio? We'll just tell you I'm just going to change that to have a good you have a proper home studio Is it possible to get animation work? I believe so Um, you know, I mean with covet happening. There are people looking all across the country for new talent Um, I will say that I've been getting a lot of copy from actors on the east coast Um auditioning for west coast material. So I'm gonna say yes But there's also east coast Animation there's east coast animation. It's preschool. It's more less preschool. It's not the big stuff that we have out here But the um, but yes, I would say she would she would be able to she should be able to work Out here for us, but you know, here's some loopholes, you know, you've got to have an animation agent And you have to really be in the union. I mean, let me be clear There are not a lot of anim. There's not a lot of animation. That's non-union. There's some I'm not saying there's some, you know stuff on youtube And there are you know people who are developing the pilots, but the majority of the heavy hitter stuff is all union Right, okay video games is a different beast. That's a whole little different subject There are a lot of non-union video games. It's out there too You don't necessarily have to be in the union as well. So it flip-flops depending on the genre Yeah, let me ask you about representation for a second because everybody says, oh, I'm gonna get an agent Then I'm gonna be on easy street, you know, but you know nice work if you can get it Nice if you can get an agent What's the best way you found it? I mean because you worked in an agency. What's the best way for someone to actually Find an agent that that you know that's willing to work with them and that they feel comfortable with Contacts I'm a I'm a big time networker You need to find somebody who's at that agency Who you know who can pass your name on to the agent That's the that's probably the best thing. I do it all the time You know I I'm I'm actually you have to have it They're not going to the agents do not have the necessary time to be flipping through their emails You applying for you know new talent the best way is the word of mouth So, you know and to use well, I guess everybody saw but if I say that but I will say this I tell people to use my name the subject matter, but I they will the agents will call me And check to make sure Then I know this person So, um, but that's the way to go about it. It's all about networking. Yeah. Oh, I would say I I think that's true with any business Especially in an entrepreneurial business like voiceover, which some people tend to forget. It's not showbiz It's entrepreneurial business that networking. It's it, you know, it's what you know, but who you know is just as important Absolutely, uh, we got it. You want to get this last question one last one in there Yeah, from Jensen ogle v What's the best way to get better at self direction when you're doing your auditions? Where do you start with that? That's a whole master class in itself, right? Well, I You know, my I come from an old school agency. It's really hard to self-direct You should all you know, I say to get get somebody to coach you You know, that's really the best way. Self-direction is hard. I mean I did hear an agent say um I can remember correctly audition in front of the mirror and record it Record the audition and then listen back to it So not video but audio record it but act it in front of the mirror in front of the mirror Interesting and then played it to sit back, you know, and then the you know The other thing that I will add to it is due to takes in front of that mirror And then go do something to distract yourself And then come back around for your third take so that way You're not thinking about it. Have like a brain reboot, right? And that way you'll have three different versions. So that's one technique but play like around a call of duty right But technically, you know, you really it's really you shouldn't really self-direct I mean, you know, this there's thousands of coaches Who are out there, you know, there will work out groups where people go And you know, they might have the same audition audition in front of your workout groups Help each other, you know Out one additions, you know, the workout group is a great. That's a big one. Oh, yeah You really need to have people to listen to bounce things off of try things I send people to workout groups all the time. I know one actor is probably going to call me Trust me So, yeah, so workout groups, you know, find a good workout group that that fits you And uh, you know The next question I can already predict it is ever it. How do I find a workout group? Facebook Facebook has tons of workout groups type up a voice actor workout groups. They should all pop up linked in You know, use your social media outlets Um or start your own for crying out like your own you can You know, you know, George has time, you know And by George at the workout group Don't check out this app for free Well everett. Yeah, everett. It's always great to talk to you and hear what's going on with you and what's going and What's going on in the business if someone would like to work with you and fill up your ever-increasing Even inbox, how can they get a hold of you? my my initiatives e o At voice acting director calm. That's my email address And my website is voice acting director calm or ever at oliver dot com All right, and it'll go into the same place. So it doesn't it'll go all the same All righty. Well, thanks for being with us and uh, we look forward to when we can all get together face to face one of these days Yes, for sure. All right, sure. I was with you in 2021. Thank you God willing and the creek don't rise Anyway, that's not going to happen here in southern california. Anyway, it doesn't rain. Anyway, all right. Thanks everett Thank you. All right. We'll be right back after these messages Hello, welcome to voiceover body shop It's a place where you can get your body shopped with voices. Come on Look at Dan's head. 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No fees acx masterclass.com forward slash vobs This is the latin lover narrator from jane the virgin anthony mendez and you're enjoying dan and george on the voice of our body shop Alrighty time for source elements the creators of source connect Wow, what a year it has been for source connect Wow They are clearly uh, it's been a heck of a time because this is really the preeminent tool That's being used to do recording remotely Around the globe and that's what we are all doing now folks. It's recording remotely So you really need to have the best tools for that job And 12 years plus running now source connect has really established themselves as being The one of the best ways to do it because their quality of the of the tool and the support behind it Is what makes it so good. It's not just Another software on the internet that runs on a browser This is software that's been developed honed and improved year after year after year And has been adopted by the studio producers and engineers Of the world one of the reasons it's so prominent and why it's been around for so long Is because the plug-in was designed it was initially designed as a plug-in to run natively in pro tools And since the vast majority of what's being produced or being used to produce commercials and radio and Especially television stuff and film a lot of it's done on pro tools. That's why it's everywhere So if you want to be working in all those studios doing all the big gigs at the very very least get yourself signed up with a 15-day trial So you know that it runs on your system and you have an idea of how to use the whole thing So you can go to source dash elements calm and sign up for that trial They also have two-day passes now So you can just sign up and then when you're ready buy a two-day pass for that gig So you don't necessarily have to commit if you don't have regular clients using it So get on board start learning how to use it and if you can't Start struggle through it on your own or you just want to have some more help Let me know go to george the tech george the tech slash sc For my support channel on source connect. Anyway, that's enough. Let's wrap up the show and we'll be right back Thanks for listening and thanks source elements Before time began there was v obs dot tv watch or else Hey By the way, it it is the fifth night of hanako and we've already done the blessings. So it's it's safe So we're we're gonna light the candles and Make you know standing by with the fire extinguisher. Yeah Yeah, really No, okay, there we go. You can tell by the menorah which day it is because the Where the it's already dripped all the other waxes all I think I got it Hold on. All right got to light with that candle. That's very important. Yeah this little light of mine And there we go Night number what are we supposed to be singing right now? Oh, we're supposed to be sing. Oh, there's lots of songs we could say Yeah, we won't get into that right now But anyway, thank you dear Alrighty if I was a rich man We don't think that one. No, not not for hanaka Bye y'all. Yeah, there you go Anyway, um Next week on this show, we'll be doing tech talk number 47 Yep, 47. That's what we're gonna tape up here in a minute. All right We'll be doing that just a minute. So if you want to stay tuned for that live you can do that Uh, and then we're gonna be off for a couple of weeks because the 28th the next monday that we would do the show Is my birthday. So we're not gonna do that No good for you dan. That's right. You deserve a night off I think we deserve some time off for the holidays and then start fresh In 2021 and get away from this dumpster fire Anyway fresh exactly. Who are our donors of the week? Let's butcher some names this time Martha con don griffith, steven chandler Noreen reardon, michael cerns, christie burns, graham spicer, antland productions, michelle blanker Mike gordon and dwayne desalvo. Oh, those were easy ones this week. Yeah Yeah, thank you everybody. Yeah, those are names that I've read before and probably because they're all subscribers Um, actually norim is a new win. I think steven chandler and noreen. Yeah, those are new names Yeah, so anyway, we appreciate it and if you donate we'll read your name And then if you subscribe for as little as a buck a month or whatever the paypal thing lets you do Well, we'll read your name every time. It seems like a no-brainer. Doesn't it it does Well, we of course would like to also thank uh all sorts of people You know aside from the fact that people are donating to the show, which we really appreciate Uh, we need to thank our sponsors like harlin hogan's voiceover essentials voiceover extra voice source elements boheroes.com voice actor websites.com And jmc demos. Alrighty also need to thank uh, jeff holman for doing a great job in the chat room tonight Sumer lino who's having a day in a week and a 2020 like the rest of us Amazing her it's still here. Her power went off right before the show and she got it up and running again That takes guts man. Good job to her and of course lee penny for being lee penny. Well tech talks coming up next We really appreciate you watching the show and uh, but we got to tell you look if it sounds good It is good. I'm dan Leonard and i'm george widdum and this is voiceover body shop or vo b See you later guys. Happy honeycomb