[Rich ODonoghue]

Today we’re going to be talking about when should you update your voice demo. I think this is a really important subject because they can get left behind and not updated as much as they should do. And your voice reel is very much an organic process. It’s constantly changing, your voice changes, your skills change. And that’s why you need to update your voice reel.

If you’ve had a voice reel for the first time and you’ve only just come into the industry, you’ll probably find that your skills improve quite dramatically and rapidly over a short period of time,  six to twelve months. So you might have a voice reel produced and then listen to it six months down the line and think, I can do so much better than that now and I’ve collected work that I’ve done since I’ve had that showreel made. From auditions or  jobs that have gone to air. So collecting that real work is really important. Don’t be afraid to get in touch with these people that you work with and just ask, is it OK if I have a copy of this to put on my voice reel? So just make sure that you collect that portfolio of work and keep that voice reel updated.

It’s also important to update your voice reel as you identify what jobs you’re getting booked for as well so that your voice reel is made up of your unique selling points, your signature read and what you’re actually getting cast for. All this kind of work is going on to that reel. The flip side of that is that you end up with a reel that sounds the same all the way through because you’ve been pigeonholed by people for your signature read.

We offer a service whereby when you’re at that stage, say somebody says, Rich, I’ve got a show reel full of stuff that I’ve been booked for, the real jobs, but they sound all the same. We can then create scripts to fill in the gaps where they’re not getting booked for and make up scripts to  showcase all the skill sets, all the deliveries and performances that they can do.

You might have updated your acting skills or your accent skills or whatever it might be needs to be going on that voice reel. So it is a constant turnover. Again, only do it if it’s necessary and you feel that it’s going to get you work. I mean, that’s the whole point of having this show reel is to go out into the industry and gain work. So don’t just load it up with things just because you feel that you have to.

And do be aware of types of reads that you could be doing. One of the interesting things I find with the more established voiceovers is that they don’t necessarily feel that they need to up date their voice reel. And because they’ve been getting work from it for a long time, doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve been getting work from that voice reel. But they’ve had repeat clients. You know, I know people that are still working off the same voice reel from 15 years ago. That’s not necessarily a good thing. But it doesn’t mean they’re not necessarily getting work from the show reel. They’re getting work from repeat clients without having to use that show reel.

So if you are an established voice actor and have been around for a long time, then I would recommend that you update it with current trends in voice over. And also, with established voiceovers, your voice changes with age. So it’s really important to showcase what your voice sounds like now. Because if somebody’s listening to a voice reel, it’s 15, 20 years old, they’re probably not getting the true representation of what your sound is now.

And also an interesting point with child voice reels is that, you know, child’s voice develops and changes a lot quicker than an adult’s voice. So we offer a service whereby we work with child voices from the ground up. So as their voice changes, which is, quite rapidly, we can interject with like one or two scripts just to showcase that kind of development in age and voice.

To end with I would say update your voice reel as  much as possible so you stay up to date with VO trends and your current skillset is highlighted in your reels.

• This topic was modified 10 months, 2 weeks ago by Rich ODonoghue.
• This topic was modified 10 months, 2 weeks ago by Rich ODonoghue.

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