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To be competitive as a voice actor, you will need to become proficient with diction, speed and sustainability of character. You may be asked to perform paragraphs at a time. You must also be able to deliver the vocal goods without injuring your voice.

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"Whether the general public chooses to acknowledge it or not, voice-over matters," asserted Geena Davis, playing a hard-boiled Hollywood exec in Lake Bell's sparkling comedy In a World... "Everyone watches movie trailers, everyone sees commercials on television or they hear them on the radio and that is power."

Sondra James, a real life voice actor and producer, is more blunt about her career.

"You're background, you're furniture. You provide atmosphere. But let's face it, you're not important."

To be fair, Bell's 2013 indie flick didn't exactly glamorize the voice-over profession either - one of the protagonists, lauded as the preeminent American voice artist, manages to attract one lithe young groupie but still dwells in a modest suburban rancher. Still, the feature did grant some visibility to an otherwise (quite literally) unseen industry.

And a rather odd niche industry it is, one that banks on those rare actors who are able to eschew their breed's common-if-not-compulsive need for glory. Voice-over "stars" are often afforded little to no recognition, a fact that insiders seem remarkably cool with.

On Thursday, some of the field's top talent gathered at Astoria's Museum of the Moving Image for a seminar called Cracking the Voiceover Code, instructing fresh-larynxed newcomers on how to break in and sustain a career.

Joan Baker - who has voiced hundreds of spots for ABC, HBO, ESPN, E!, CNN and other television acronyms - hosted along with instructor and actor Pat Fraley, who you might know as one of the 47 different characters he played in the original 1987 Ninja Turtles series. (I recognized his voice immediately.)

"There was a time when I couldn't get arrested on camera, "Baker said. "No one could figure out what to do with me. I was bound and determined to have a career in show business when I came across voice-overs. It was very surprising that this community opened its doors to me since for years I could not make a dent. Once I got into voice-over and started to learn the craft my spirit soared."

"First I had to learn how to use a microphone," joked Dave Fennoy, the voice of Hulu and many-a casualty in The Walking Dead video games, as he proceeded to fumble with his own."Most people in voice-over come from acting, and if you don't then you need to learn how to be an actor. I had to take some classes. My very first voice-over lesson was with Lucille Bliss, who was the voice of Smurfette."

"You need to know how to play a role," Johnny Heller agreed. He's recorded over 500 audio books. "You could be in the studio just acting for 20 hours before anybody edits anything. It's 98 percent just you networking and getting yourself out there."

The voice-acting job pool is about as parched as the full-on acting job pool, which is to say, severely dehydrated. Everyone wants to land a Micky D's ad that goes national or make intentionally blasé conversation to dub over a restaurant scene in which Johnny Depp eats a sandwich and says something plot-significant.

Almost everyone cites "British accent" on their resume but almost no one can accurately follow up on that. Anybody halfway literate probably can land an audiobook deal, but the producers of bestsellers will audition like there's no tomorrow. The woman who narrated Fifty Shades of Gray probably had to leap institutional hurdles that were sky-high and on fire. But ultimately for voice-over artists, business isn't too dissimilar from the rest of the muted beige work-a-day world: It's pretty much who you know.

"Relationships are big part of this business, and can last throughout your career. I had done several things for Dick Wolf before Law & Order came along," said Steve Zirnkilton. He's the guy you hear during the introduction at the beginning of every episode and kind of a voice celebrity, if ever there was one. Afterward the panel a surprisingly long autograph line assembled in his wake.

The lively (and perfectly pitched) conversation also touched on the ubiquity of pay-to-play sites (where users pay a fee to audition, a hot topic of inner-industry debate), recent unionization, that pesky thing called puberty which has proven a career-ender for countless child actors, and the pretty overt racial stereotyping that goes on - particularly baffling in a field that's purely audio.

"For a while I would only get Spanish-speaking roles because of my name, even though I have no accent whatsoever," confessed Sylvia Villagran, one of the few female voice actors. "That changed in 1999 with Jennifer Lopez, Salma Hayek, and Ricky Martin. Then it became very sexy to be Latino."

For Baker, however, the recording studio was the first place in New York where her performance was based on merit and didn't necessarily need to address her mixed-race background. "It wasn't about if my looks or my type was used or wasn't used, but about bringing my own voice to life in a three-dimensional way."

The seminar broke with a cocktail hour sponsored by something billed as "French tequila." If there's one thing voice actors seem to love it's networking with other voice actors, and while the parties may not be lavish, the small talk is a joy to listen to.

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They're Just Like Us: Life as a Voice-Over Artist is Really Just a Constant Hustle | Village Voice

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"Whether the general public chooses to acknowledge it or not, voice-over matters," asserted Geena Davis, playing a hard-boiled Hollywood exec in Lake Bell's sparkling comedy In a World... "Everyone watches movie trailers, everyone sees commercials on television or they hear them on the radio and that is power."

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Salary- Voice Actors make anywhere fro $20 to a couple hundred dollars for just an hour of work

Earnings- Ranges from $100 for a 15 second recording, $250 for a 30 or 60 second commercial to about $3000 per audio-book

Benefits- The benefits of being a modern voice over artist include the ability to work  from home, choosing your own hours, declining jobs and generally being your own boss

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We often get asked what are the top voice over career salaries?

There is a lot of variables that go into any final set of earnings: how much work you are able to do in a week, how travel is involved, how many interviews, length of projects...

In this blog post we will out line what is possible. The aim of this is to hopefully inspire you to work hard and reach your full potential, not only in terms of talent, but also financially. The top voice over salaries are achieved by building a solid career platform.

What is a solid career platform? A great career is built on your reputation, network, branding, marketing and of course talent (constantly stretching and improving your capabilities).

Top Voice Over Career Salaries

It may come as now surprise that the highest paid voice over jobs are animated characters in feature length cartoons.

With more animated features being made than ever before, the market is booming. The bad news though is that it is increasingly getting tough for regular voice over actors to land these roles.

Whilst A list celebrities can command big money, unknown talents often do not get paid anywhere near the value. Take the case of Spencer Lacey Ganus, a 15-year old who played the voice of a young Elsa in Disney's 2013 mega-hit "Frozen"; she home less than $1,000 for her trouble. The movie itself went on to gross more than $1 billion worldwide!

A list actors lend their weight and popularity to films and in todays age where celebrities are brands that means that they carry a substantial pull effect for a new animated film when they star in it and subsequently promote it.

Bruce Kronenberg, a voice over instructor at Abacus Entertainment, points out that the internet has dramatically increased the number of voice over jobs in the advertising industry. Voice over work is split between union and non-union jobs, and the non-union market in particular has grown massively. Anybody can compete for work anywhere.

Some of the Top Voice Over Career Salaries Paid To A Listers

There are lots of examples but we have chosen animated films that are familiar to most of us:

Ben Stiller: Madagascar film series - Estimated $5 million: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Tom Hanks: Toy Story series - Est. $15 million: Toy Story 3

Adam Sandler: 8 Crazy Nights and upcoming Zookeeper -- Est. $2 million: Zookeeper

Owen Wilson: voices in Cars and upcoming Cars 2 sequel and Marmaduke - Est. $1 million

Nicolas Cage: G-Force - Est. $2 million

Cameron Diaz: Shrek series - Est. $10 million: Shrek Forever After

Johnny Depp: voice in Rango animated feature - Est. $7.5 million

Steve Carell: voices in Over the Hedge and Despicable Me - Est. $500,000: Despicable Me

Reese Witherspoon: Monsters vs Aliens - Est: $10 million: Monsters vs. Aliens

Just to give you a feel for the size of the industry, the top five animated movies of all time-which include names like Toy Story 3, The Lion King and Despicable Me -have grossed more than $5 billion.

Top Voice Over Career Salaries

Of course the A list actors earn a considerable amount of money from their 'regular' day job which is acting in big blockbuster movies.

The names of top voice over artists may not all be household names in the same way as movie actors but they their massive earnings are still highly impressive.

If you take a look at the A listers in terms of voice actors you can see that voiceover can earnings can be take you to a new level of earnings:

Hank Azaria: voice actor for the TV series, "The Simpsons". Hank is the voice behind the characters: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, and other characters on The Simpsons - Est: $400,000 per episode.

Nancy Cartwright: voice actor for the TV series, "The Simpsons". Nancy is the voice for characters, Bart Simpson, Ralph Wiggum, and Todd Flanders - Est: $400,000 per episode

Frank Welker: voice actor for many cartoon characters including Pinky and the Brain, Scooby Doo and also for the Transformers films - Est: net worth $15M

Billy West: known for voices in such cartoons as Futurama - Est: net worth $35M

Here is an interesting infographic that gives you an idea of the net wealth of some of the biggest names in voice over.

What Can You Expect To Earn As aVoice Over Actor

Established professional voice over actors get between USD 500 - 100 for an hour. But they can command these sorts of rates because of their skill and perfection.

There really is no hard and fast rate to go by so we at Gravy For The Brain provide guidance on rates often rates based on the type of project will differ; each circumstance is different

The average across the industry though seems to be about $200 for a job; so that is not necessarily an hour though. Many sites give an average rate per hour which across the industry varies between $250 - $500. The rate per hour for instance of voicing for a video game work is somewhere between $150 and $200 an hour, usually with a two hour minimum.

Putting it all together you can earn up to $325 for only 5 minutes work and as a salary voice over artists can earn between $50,000 - $80,000 per year.

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What Are The Top Voice Over Career Salaries

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We often get asked what are the top voice over career salaries? There is a lot of variables that go into any final set of earnings: how much work you are able to do in a week, how travel is involved, how many interviews, length of projects...

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a)- Voice Acting has no required education, but the courses in voice acting may be beneficial. the college that leads me to is Acting College Degree Programs. This career would guide me to a bachelor's degree.

b)-Internships- Entering a company in your career field is a great way to gain hands on experience.

Volunteering- Some companies look favorably on volunteer activities, so reach out to organizations that interest you.

Networking- Each interaction you have with people in your career field or contact that can get you an interview for a job you really want.

Freelancing- You may have to do first freelance job for free or low pay, just to gain the experience and positive reference

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Essential Information

Generally heard and not seen, professional voice-over actors play an important role in selling products and helping animated characters come alive in movies and television shows. Voice work requires a high degree of vocal versatility as well as attention to detail. There are no standard educational requirements for professional voice-over actors, but many of these professionals have completed some form of training or coursework in voice acting.

Required Education
No standard requirements, but courses in voice acting may be beneficial

Other Requirements
Vocal versatility as well as strong networking and auditioning skills

Projected Job Growth (2014-2024)*
10% for all actors

Mean Salary (2015)*
$37.47 per hour for all actors

Source: *U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Acting

Artisanry and Craft Design

Playwriting and Screenwriting

Theatre Arts Management

Theatre Design and Technology

Theatre History, Literature and Criticism

Theatrical Production

Career Information

Types of Work

Voice-over actors might contribute their talent to audiobooks, cartoons, commercials or video games. A voice-over actor might also find work on the radio as a disc jockey or talk show host. While radio and television provide many opportunities for voice-over work, actors are also needed to voice instructional DVDs for a wide range of products.

One can find work in local, national or international projects. A professional voice-over actor might find more opportunities and consistent work in a large city.

Work Environment

Voice-over work is usually freelance and work schedules can be inconsistent. Voice-over actors looking for work need to audition and send out demos frequently. For a fee, one may find work through a talent agency. While voice-over actors may travel to a main studio to record scripts, many actors might maintain a home studio and send sound files electronically.

While statistics specific to voice-over acting are not currently available, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics states that in May 2015, the mean hourly wage of actors was $37.47 ( www.bls.gov). Freelance voice-over actors are usually paid by the hour, though a longer project, such as a television series, could be salaried.

The BLS predicted 10% employment growth for actors in general from 2014-2024, which is faster than average when compared to all occupations. According to this agency, employment for voice actors was situated mainly in southern California, with work also available in cities like New York and Houston, Texas.

Requirements

While there is no standard educational background for voice actors, many actors seeking voice work have training in stage acting. Courses in voice acting are available both online and in-person. In addition to learning voice work techniques, most courses also discuss self-promotion and teach students how to create a demo.

Voice-over actors should be able to promote their own work and have strong networking skills. With home recording equipment, a voice-over actor can remain competitive and quickly create and send out demos over the Internet. Versatile voice-over actors, such as those who can perform accents or play multiple roles in one script, might have strongest prospects for employment.

A voice-over actor needs to warm up and practice consistently to prevent voice strain, especially when attending multiple recording sessions per day. As with all types of actors, voice-over actors should be prepared to audition and be rejected frequently before landing a role.

Actors face inconsistent work schedules, must compete for roles and may be required to travel for work. Voice-over actors who are versatile will have the best chances for employment. While the job growth for all actors is expected to be faster than average from 2014 to 2024, most of the opportunities will be in Los Angeles and New York.

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professional voice-over actor: career information and requirements

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Professional Voice-Over Actor: Career Information and Requirements

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Generally heard and not seen, professional voice-over actors play an important role in selling products and helping animated characters come alive in movies and television shows. Voice work requires a high degree of vocal versatility as well as attention to detail.

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a)- Voice Acting is the art of performing voice overs or providing voices to represent a character or to provide information to an audience or user. Examples include providing voices for characters in animated films, dubbed foreign language films, audio drama and etc.

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This site is a comprehensive overview of the art and career of voice acting for both beginners and more advanced performers. It is a distillation of everything I've learned from over two decades of earning a living voice acting in video games, movies and television animation in Los Angeles.

Those new to VO will learn that becoming a voice actor means becoming a specialized kind of actor. For those just starting out with little or no voice acting experience, I show how you might go about finding whether voice acting is a good fit for you.

For quick overview of how to become a voice actor .

All newbies should also read: " Starting from Zero," "," " Learning to Act," and "" These pages are relevant to all beginners, whether you live in Nowheres-ville or a Big City, whether you are clueless or confident, young or old, local or international.

To start improving your VO skills right away , click on over to my " Voice Acting Academy," for lots of at-home practice material.

For a quick overview read " What a Voice Actor Needs to Learn. "

Those who already have voice acting experience:

Those further along will learn how the VO business works and what to do or avoid in pursuing an acting career. You'll also find specifics on more advanced topics like how to make , how to , what happens in and how get an . I also discuss handling the ups and downs of an acting career and discuss the importance of keeping your artistic "" full.

I try to show you the "long game" as well as the "short game" of being a voice actor.

After giving my site (as well as posted comments) a careful read, if you still have a voice over question, ask it!

If your question is not already addressed and is relevant to others, I'll try to answer it.

Although no website or book or class can make everyone a professional voice actor, I hope these pages provide you a practical and comprehensive "launch pad" for exploring voice acting. I continually add new content as I keep polishing the old, so check back.

Have fun, best of luck and maybe someday I'll see you in the studio!

Dee Bradley Baker
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If you enjoy my site, why not make a donation of any amount to the American Humane Association, a wonderful charity that helps protect children, pets and farm animals from abuse and neglect ?
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"HOW DO I GET INTO VOICE OVERS?" * This site is a comprehensive overview of the art and career of voice acting for both beginners and more advanced performers. It is a distillation of everything I've learned from over two decades of earning a living voice acting in video games, movies and television animation in Los Angeles.