Actor & voiceover Joshua Swanson writes of his experiences in the entertainment business.
Here’s an adorable story coming out of the Huntersville Herald in North Carolina about two of the youngest voiceover actors around. It’s worth reading not only for the cuteness factor, but because there are several helpful hints to be picked up thanks to the wise advice of the sisters father Brian Haymond.
Huntersville sisters launching their voice-over acting career from family’s closet.
Here is a great podcast that I subscibe to called “The Business” on KCRW, which is a local NPR station out in LA. Frankly, it’s the only radio station in LA worth listening to and it’s subscriber supported. What does that tell you about the state of LA’s radio scene?
In this episode Claude Brodesser-Akner, the host, interviews a therapist named Dennis Palumbo. I have never felt so understood as an actor as when I was listening to Dennis describe what it’s like for creative people living and working (or attempting to work) in Hollywood. Dennis touches on jealousy, the highs and the lows of success, feelings of self worth tied into how well your career is going, and more. If and when I move back to LA and when I can afford him, I will most definitely be contacting Mr. Palumbo for a few sessions. Just a quick tune up is all I really need. I’m not a narcissistic self loathing actor at all. I actually probably only need one session with him just so he has time to get to know me and tell me how amazingly adjusted I am for an actor. Help me let out the rear and beautiful person hiding inside me. OK, two sessions. Continue reading →
For actors there are countless recourses available that promise to improve your skills, but as a voiceover it can sometimes be more challenging based on the fact that voice-over is a specialized skill within the acting field with a smaller pool of talent than mainstream acting circles. So when Joan Baker compiled her book Secrets of Voice-Over Success: Top Voice-Over Actors Reveal How They Did It
Radio Imaging Demo - Joshua Swanson Voiceover
Chasing Radio Imaging jobs these days can be a real headache for a number of reasons. The first being less people are listening to radio stations which makes for tight budgets and a slowing economy adds even more incentive to cut the bottom line. Therefore the pay for the imaging voice of a station has seen a decline. Why, as a radio imaging talent, spend money on demos and marketing when the return is so little. The mere accessibility to talent these days, thanks to the internet, has also saturated the marked driving prices down. The last offer I got was $50 a month. Industry standard, as I understand it, for radio imaging voice talent in the past ranged from $500 - $1,000 per month or about $100 a page. The range was in place because the smaller the market the smaller the radio imaging voice talent budget.Yet, with all of the Station Managers and Programming Directors complaining of tight budgets Clear Channel, the biggest employer of radio imaging voiceover talent, “performed better than the industry as a whole.”
I guess I’m not the only one who thinks this may be one of the best plays ever…if not ever definiely this year! Very exciting news for Tracy Letts, Steppenwolf, and the actors in the cast! I’m very excited for all of them.
Rachael and I saw this show last night. Now I know one would think I’m biased because of my Chicago origins and all of the connections this play has to Chicago. BUT, that only convinced me to purchase the tickets and I can honestly say I had low expectations for the show and was ABSOLUTELY blown away by it.
THIS SHOW IS LITERALLY THE BEST PIECE OF THEATRE I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE.
On the set of “For Pete’s Sake.”
So in March of ‘08 Rachael and I BOTH got cast in a TV movie called “For Pete’s Sake” or “Baggage.” It was a great blessing to both be in the same film! We spent three weeks back in our home town of Chicago shooting the film and I think we both learned some valuable lessons through this experience.
Rachael got the call from her Chicago agents the second week in February informing her she had two auditions, one for a Michael Mann film shooting in Chicago called “Public Enemies” and the next week she had an audition for “Baggage.” So she got the sides and meanwhile I emailed my manager to see if there was anything in either films for me. She got back to me with an audition for “Baggage” as well. So we both had auditions the last week in February and we both got decent roles in the film!
Hello all you voiceover geeks out there, present company included, and I hope you are all too busy working to read this posting! If you’re not then at least you can fill your time watching other people work and probably work a lot more than you.
I’m sorry, but this is possibly the WORST morning show interview I’ve ever seen. Now, before I rip it apart, I want to make sure I’m clear about one thing…I TOTALLY respect Joan Baker and I actually just ordered her book on Amazon. She is a very talented woman and what she did in her book was fabulous and I’m very much looking forward to reading it.That said…WHO IS THIS WOMAN THAT INTERVIEWED JOAN — Gigi? SHE IS HORRIBLE!!! Joan has been so much more interesting and informative about voice over, being a voice talent, the life of a voice over actor, etc. in other interviews, but here the interviewer made her sound like a freakin’ moron. I’m sorry for Joan that she had to endure this tragic interview.At the same time Joan’s answers to questions like “what is the secret to voice-over?” kind of rambled on and didn’t make much sense. “So it does take a lot of courage, and it does take a lot of fearlessness, or naivety…haha” Ummm, I’m sorry Joan, what? Joan that comment escapes me.
Since August of 2008
