VOICES—Silence Isn’t Golden for Voiceover Actors in L.A.

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The once-blossoming voiceover industry in Los Angeles has weakened, having never quite recovered from the commercial actors’ strike of 2000 and subsequently hit by a softening ad market. Advertisers drawn to the area’s large pool of actors in years past have found talent elsewhere or taken to rerunning old commercials to save money.

“We have lost a lot of business to a lot of other cities and other states,” said Marsha Hurwitz of Special Artists Agency, a Beverly Hills firm that deals only in commercial and voiceover work.

When commercial actors, represented by the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, went on strike last year to push for more-lucrative residual agreements, advertisers turned to non-union actors and moved shoots to areas outside of SAG’s reach. Some of the work that left L.A. has failed to return since the unions reached an agreement with advertisers last October.

Compounding the problem is the nation’s economic slowdown, which has advertisers spending less on commercials this year. AFTRA’s L.A. local has seen a drop-off in radio and television commercial sessions, which have totaled less than 2,000 since January, according to union estimates. Last year, the L.A. local, which represents about 30,000 actors, saw radio and television commercial sessions far exceed the 5,000 mark.

“It’s been very slow,” said Treslyn Williams, director of commercials for the local. “There has been very little production because there’re so many companies that are not doing well.

“People are just afraid to spend money,” Williams added. “There are a lot of (commercial) reruns going on.”

That comes as especially bad news to people like Hillary Huber, a 37-year-old mother of two who makes her living doing voiceovers for everything from television ads to Internet sites. “The market as a whole has slowed down immensely,” she said. “I was working a lot prior to the strike, and I have not reached that same level of work since the strike ended at all.”

As the number of jobs shrinks, more and more people are vying for a piece of the smaller voiceover pie.

Voice veteran James Cummings, the sound of Winnie the Pooh and other well-known cartoon characters, said the potentially high earnings to be made in the industry are drawing in new people and “really muddying the water.” He also bemoaned the fact that many voiceover jobs are now going to non-union actors.

“That’s cheating,” he said.

After 15 years in the business, Roger Rose sees voiceover actors facing increasing competition from novices, non-union actors and celebrities.

“There are a lot of celebrities who have now realized…that they can make a lot of money in an hour that would take them maybe a month in a movie,” said Rose, the voice for soap-opera promos on ABC and the monster on Honey Comb Cereal ads.

But voiceovers are also a lucrative business for countless unknowns.

“All my clients make their livings only through voiceovers…and substantial livings, six- and seven-figure incomes,” said Jeff Danis, vice president of International Creative Management, a Beverly Hills talent agency with one of the West Coast’s largest voiceover departments.

“Many of them wanted to be on-camera actors, but realized they couldn’t afford to sit on a set for a week,” he said.

While it may sound easy to read commercial copy or be the voice of a cartoon character, Danis said only some people have the right combination of acting ability and voice talent to become voiceover actors.

“Everybody wants to do voiceovers, from the biggest superstars to my dentist,” Danis said. “In fact, I received a voice tape from my rabbi just recently.”


More classes offered

Some in the industry are taking advantage of the growing interest in voiceover work.

Though Kalmenson & Kalmenson Voice Casting has experienced a significant slowdown in casting requests, the Encino-based company is expanding its voice-training program.

Co-founder Catherine Kalmenson said the program would likely be expanded to 64 six-week classes this year, up from about 50 last year. Some classes have a waiting list nearly six months long, despite the fact that course prices range from $300 to $600.

“When the economy is slow, a lot of people turn to new career options,” Kalmenson said.

The increasing popularity of the voiceover classes is helping the company to offset the decline on the casting side.

Kalmenson & Kalmenson, which has some 15,100 voiceover actors in its database, cast slightly more than 300 jobs in the first half of the year, a significant slowdown from the 958 jobs it cast in 2000.

But despite the downturn, the market for voiceover actors has broadened, Kalmenson said.

Voiceovers are needed for everything from CD-ROMs to books on tape to in-flight safety announcements to Web sites.

“With the computer age and all the new video games, there’s a major market for CD-ROMs,” said Danis. There is also a growing demand for voices in animation, on the Internet and in toys, he said.

But non-traditional gigs, such as providing the voice of a video-game character, are far less lucrative for voiceover actors.

“Those are not huge money-makers,” said Huber. “The most money to be made is on promos.”

Promos often offer voiceover actors high-paying, regular work.

“If you want to make real money, you have to do promo voices or say ‘member FDIC’ or ‘if rash persists consult a physician’ or ‘your mileage may vary,'” Rose said, referring to phrases commonly spoken in commercials.

Another source of voiceover jobs that has dried up in recent months is the dot-com industry.

“The advertising dollars were extraordinary in that area,” said Hurwitz of Special Artists. “They were buying ads like mad like an insane, mad frenzy.”

Hurwitz and others don’t expect a turnaround in the voiceover industry until the end of the year, or later.

“What used to be a national network and good residual dollars has now become less residual dollars and less spending,” Hurwitz said.

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