When you are thinking about hiring a voice actor, the first thing to consider is what kind of project you are working on. Is it an ad for TV or radio, an explainer narration or corporate industrial, a promo for a TV show, a trailer for a movie, a political or cause based project, a video game, an IVR or telephone system, or a cartoon (and what age is the cartoon targeting)? Is it a digital project that can be more irreverent, or a buttoned up corporate narration that needs to walk the line?
If you are producing or casting something for a creative director or film director, usually they will relay their vision to you of what they have in mind for any voices that will be heard on the project. All of that information is great to relay to us so that we make sure we send out auditions to the proper talent. “Specs” are also helpful to have in advance of requesting auditions, but sometimes we will also audition voices who might not fit the specs but will bring the project to life in unexpected ways. For example, the creative director or copywriter might only hear a male voice when writing a certain spot, but a good producer or agent will also have a few female and non-binary voices audition for the project so that they can hear the words from a different vocal perspective.
Voice talent are very aware that their job is to audition for projects. The more they can audition, the more jobs they will book, and eventually the pro voice talents build up a roster of producers and creatives who love to work with them when their voice is right for certain projects.
At RSH we love identifying new super star voice talent who might not be represented all over the country, and then we love to go to bat for those talent to help them launch their careers. We will always make sure voices that we pitch to clients will match what the client’s project has specified for their needs, though.
Another consideration is price. While we do have union actors who work for scale and over scale, we also represent non-union actors who work for the RSH price list and for specially negotiated jobs. Definitely let us know what your budget is in advance so that agent, talent, and producer are all on the same page moving forward. RSH is a fan of a win-win situation, and we will always do our best to fairly negotiate so that all parties involved are happy.