Video Producer’s New Goal Isn’t Just Talk
With his deep, rich baritone, Rob Constantine can make a humble voicemail message sound like a promo for a Hollywood epic.
That’s a good thing, because Constantine, a 36-year-old video producer, hopes to break into the voice-over business. He has already narrated a few corporate videotapes and audio magazines, but he knows the road ahead is tough. In Los Angeles alone, more than 20,000 aspiring and professional voice-over artists are circulating their demo tapes and CDs, trying to impress agents and nab jobs.
Constantine has tackled harder challenges, though. The San Diego resident has had cerebral palsy since an injury during birth. After earning a bachelor’s degree in film and video production and an associate’s degree in television production, Constantine sought work as a videotape editor. But employers routinely turned him down, he said, telling him their jobs required heavy lifting and other physically demanding tasks.
Undeterred, Constantine, with his family’s help, set up his own freelance video production business three years ago. He has produced, directed, edited and done post-production work for nonprofits in San Diego but is earning less than $20,000 a year. He doesn’t want to give up the video production business. Rather, he would like to expand it as he branches into voice-over.
For help with these goals, Constantine consulted with Susan Berkley, an Englewood Cliffs, N.J.-based voice-over artist and coach, and Bryan Ashby, a video producer who heads Ashby & Associates in Washington. Here are the tips they and other experts offered Constantine:
* Breaking into voice-overs. Berkley first listened to Constantine’s voice-over demo tape. “There’s nothing to prevent you from going into the business,” she said, complimenting him on his resonance, articulation and diction. “You’ve got great pipes, and I don’t say that to everyone. But the tape isn’t usable to get work.”
Constantine will have to rerecord a more compelling, professional demo to impress agents and prospective employers, Berkley said. But first, he’ll need to build his voice-over skills.
Other experts offered ways he can accomplish that. For example, Constantine should enroll in acting and improvisation classes, along with voice-over workshops such as UCLA Extension’s “The Craft and Art of Voice-Over,” said Cathy Kalmenson, chief casting director of Kalmenson & Kalmenson in Burbank. Experts agree that voice-over success requires far more than a golden throat. Voice-over artists need to develop excellent timing and an ability to interpret text with panache, said Mark Kaplowe, the signature voice of HBO. They also must create deliveries that set them apart from their competitors, said Dick Ervasti, the voice of Fox Sports.
Because Constantine experiences occasional voice tremors when he is nervous, he should practice vocalizing “up in the face, [which is less taxing to the vocal cords] and not in the lower throat,” suggested West Los Angeles voice expert Morton Cooper, author of “Change Your Voice, Change Your Life: A Quick, Simple Plan for Finding and Using Your Natural Dynamic Voice” (Wilshire Books, 1996). If Constantine needs more guidance, he should consider taking a few sessions with a voice coach, Cooper said.
Constantine also can read how-to manuals for the profession, such as “Voiceovers: Putting Your Mouth Where the Money Is” by Chris Douthitt (Grey Heron Books, 1997), “Word of Mouth: A Guide to Commercial Voice-Over Excellence” by Susan Blu (Pomegranate Press, 1996) and “There’s Money Where Your Mouth Is: An Insider’s Guide to a Career in Voice-Overs” by Elaine Clark (Back Stage Books, 1995).
Next, Constantine may want to target a voice-over niche. He has plenty of choices: industrial narration (recording announcements and narrating videos for corporate clients), TV and radio promos, movie trailers, audio book reading, commercials and animation voices, to name a few.
Berkley said Constantine’s voice is well suited to industrial narration, where his authoritative baritone is highly desirable. If he chooses that specialty, he’ll need to make a 1 1/2-to-2-minute professionally recorded demo of corporate-related material to show off his narrating abilities. He may want to record on CD, rather than tape, because top voice-over agents are beginning to prefer CD-ROM submissions, said Los Angeles agent Rita Vennari.
But he shouldn’t make a demo until industry pros acknowledge that he is ready. The worst mistake a voice-over newcomer can make is to cut a demo prematurely, Kalmenson said. Voice-over agents bemoan the number of badly recorded tapes they receive every day from hopefuls. The tapes contain unprofessional readings, inferior sound quality, irrelevant narrative material, bad or missing soundtracks and, in some cases, profuse apologies about their amateurism from the senders, said Jeff Danis, a senior vice president at International Creative Management, who has been representing voice-over talent for 30 years.
“I get tapes every day, and I’m lucky to find one out of 100 that would make me say, ‘Let’s meet,’ ” said Steve Tisherman, an L.A. voice-over agent. Tisherman added that most agents offer to represent professionally referred talent rather than the senders of unsolicited demos.
As a voice-over newcomer, Constantine should build his resume credits even if that means accepting nonpaying gigs, said Erik Jensen, an audio production director and voice-over artist for the Portland Trail Blazers. He’ll need to stay tough while he is auditioning and going on callbacks, said Gary Owens (formerly of “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In”), who records more than 1,000 commercials each year.
“You must have the carapace of an armadillo when you’re starting,” Owens said, “because rejection is frequent.”
Technological advances often allow voice-over artists to record promos in their own home recording studios. They can transmit recordings over ISDN lines or send them as MP3 files via the Internet to producers. Berkley recommended that Constantine consider that option at some point. He can set up a studio for about $10,000 or less, she said.
* Building the production company. Constantine told Ashby that, as long-term goals, he would like to offer Web-based video services, do commercials and even edit movie trailers.
One potential avenue for Web-based videos is Yahoo Broadcast (https://www.broadcast.com), which can disseminate video productions online, Ashby suggested.
To move into TV commercial and movie trailer work, Constantine will first have to gain on-the-set experience in both areas and make new professional contacts, said Dave Larson, editor at High Impact Television in Newport Beach. He will need to familiarize himself with industry-standard Avid digital editing equipment, and, when he is ready to tackle his own projects, hire experienced film crews, Ashby said. As with voice-overs, Constantine will have to create a top-quality demo reel of his work to show prospective clients.
Recently, Constantine began interviewing established voice-over and production professionals to plot the next steps for his fledgling businesses. He received career advice and encouragement from Owens, who is his voice-over idol. He also submitted a reel of his latest video projects to producer Ashby, at Ashby’s behest.
Constantine realizes that success in his chosen fields will take time and dedication. But he says he couldn’t be more determined to make it happen.
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Time for a Change
* Name: Rob Constantine
* Occupation: Video producer
* Desired occupation: Multimedia producer and voice-over artist
* Quote: “Upon graduation, I faced some of the toughest years of my life. I would apply for editing or production jobs. . . . When I arrived for the interview and it was discovered I was disabled, the interest waned.”
Meet the Coach
Susan Berkley is a professional voice-over artist based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., whose voice is featured in TV and radio commercials and on telephone recordings for AT&T; and Citibank. She is chief executive of Berkley Productions, Inc., a voice mastery training company, and the author of “Speak to Influence: How to Unlock the Hidden Power of Your Voice” (Campbell Hall Press, 1999).
