Jesse Springer - Filmmaker & Voiceover Artist

I recently had another voiceover session for a fast food chain I’ve been working with. After we were wrapped up, I had a chat with one of the producers at their advertising agency who expressed interest in breaking into the voiceover world. I sent him a followup email today, and this is how it went:

Hi, <Name>-

Sorry it’s taken me so long to shoot you an email!

It was good talking with you last Wednesday at the <Client Name> session. I’d say voiceover would definitely be something worth considering, especially with that wonderful accent you have! More and more people have been able to break into voiceover recently due to technological advancements, the ability to audition from a home studio that can cost under $3,000, etc. It’s a double edged sword - there’s been a democratization of the artform, and the bar of entry has greatly been lowered, and that naturally means there’s more competition. Even just a few years ago, I might have been up against 5-10 other people in LA or Orange County for the same job, but now, I might be reading against 25, plus another who-knows-how-many in other states.

Voiceover is an uphill battle for the first 4 years or so. It’s all about getting the training, meeting the people, finding your “niche, signature sound”, and then marketing the hell out of it. I’ve actually found that about 30 - 50% of the work I’ve booked this year has been through my own efforts, rather than through my agency advocates. It’s very interesting to see how things are shifting so heavily with technology, but at the same time very exciting.

If you’d like to consider breaking in, I would first of all re-enforce the fact that it’s a very uphill battle, very frustrating and difficult, even lonesome at times, until you hit that “nirvana” point, when the sailing starts to smooth out a little.

The general steps I took (and which I see most fellow artists have taken) are:

• Training ($1k)
• Start building a home studio for auditions: microphone, computer, audio interface, acoustic foam/sound dampening, etc. ($1k - $2k)
• More training ($1k - $2k)
• Produce a demo ($1k - $2k)
• Market yourself to agencies ($500)
• Sign with an agent(s) (though this could take years)
• Constant auditioning, practicing and updating your demo

The cool thing about the voiceover community is that, unlike many or most industries out there, particularly on-camera acting, it’s very friendly and community-oriented. There are thousands of full-time voiceover artists out there, most very willing to offer input and help along the way. There’s an enormous support network, and it’s a joy to be a part of. If you pursue it, I would suggest getting involved in the forums and community at www.voiceoveruniverse.com and consider signing up for a premium membership on www.voices.com, which will allow you to audition (and maybe book) a number of low to mid-range jobs, but is mostly great for practicing and honing skills.

Please let me know if there’s any way I can help. I’d love to offer any input or advice I can!

Best wishes,
Jesse Springer

Wanted to share a few short videos I’ve shot recently around Southern California. If you follow me on my Vimeo channel, you may have already seen these.

This weekend, I’ll be taking a brief trip to Las Vegas, and I hope to put something together there on the strip. The following weekend, I’ll be visiting my family in Seattle for a week and a half, and while there, will hope to put together at least two videos as well. Stay tuned!

Thanks for watching, and as always, I’d love your feedback. If you’d like to see some other recent projects, you can see them here.

I recently performed a voiceover for a cosmetic company called Luminess Air at Stewart Sound here in Orange County.

Stewart Sound Studio in Santa Ana, California

The script I read was for a new product called “iLuminess”. When I came across part of the completed video online, I realized they had edited the voiceovers to refer to the product as simply “Luminess”. I thought the edit sounded very… edited… But I’m hired not to be concerned about a final product, but to perform to my absolute best, regardless of what the creative team decides to do with the result.

I’m sure the producers had their reasons for making this change, and if they’re happy, that’s what’s most important. Take a look at a clip from the finished spot below and let me know what you think!

My friend and VO colleague, Zurek, will be hosting a free, live webinar in 20 minutes! Registration is free, so why not hop in at 9AM PST today, Wednesday, 10/6 to hear from Zurek, ask questions, and more?

Register for free here: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/726680182

Best Always,

Jesse Springer

This commercial I did the voiceover for just started airing. The product is called Scum-Off, and the spot’s pretty wacky and amusing. Think “Big Mike” can be the next Billy Mays?

Scum Off Infomercial

I watched The Social Network today. It’s been a few months since I’ve caught a movie at the theater, and this one did not disappoint. It’s a great story, and very well told. One of my favorite directors, David Fincher, proved yet again his remarkable ability to focus closely on the internal drama of a character: awkward pauses, very uncomfortable moments, and plenty of emotionally-charged dialog.

The Social Network Trailer

About halfway through the film, I realized something strange. There seemed to be no clear protagonist. Sure, Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg was the focus, but he was difficult to root for. He backstabbed his friends, couldn’t speak respectfully with a woman, and was really a very agitating character to watch. Jesse Eisenberg played that role perfectly.

More than anyone, I found myself rooting for Eduardo, Zuckerberg’s only friend, and the young moneyman behind Facebook. Everyone, and I mean everyone, in the film seemed to be a stuck-up, self-obsessed jackass besides Eduardo Saverin. It’s rare to see, but a movie really can keep a viewer’s heart pounding without an emotional, full circle character arc.

If you haven’t seen this yet, it’s worth the ten bucks. Check it out and let me know what you think here or on Twitter! (…Or Facebook)

Well it’s been a busy week. A lot of auditions going on. Yesterday, found out I’ve got a shot at being the next network voice for a popular cable channel, which could potentially mean a daily workload and a heck of a lot of fun. It’s been a several year goal of mine to work in promos, and with the youthful “edge” I bring to my work, I think this particular network would be right up my alley.

When I first got started in voiceovers, I remember being the official network voice for Rogers Television in Ottawa, Canada, at age 15! The people there were so kind to me to open that door, give me the opportunity and the feedback to improve that skill. From that point, recording in my closet with an old, trusty AudioTechnica AT-4033 microphone, I feel like I’ve come a long way, but have so much more I can’t wait to accomplish.

I was watching the 2010 Little League World Series on ABC a few months ago and realized they didn’t have a promo voice for the show. When I brought it up to my agents, they reminded me it’s possible they simply didn’t want one, but my gosh I think it would have helped the excitement and drama of the show. So much so that I even recorded a little sample promo for it with my spare time.

I’ve been seeing so many opportunities out there recently where I feel my voice could fit right in, but hey, sometimes I get ahead of myself, and the producers know what they’re doing! If they don’t have a voice on the program, it really may be because they just don’t want one.

Anyway, like I said, there’s a lot going on for me. I’ve been doing a lot of mobile recording, and I’m shocked at the quality I’m getting. From my home studio, I get an extremely dead sound, and after recording in my car, where I have just the slightest bit of diffusion, I’m beginning to think my home studio may be just a little too dead. Here’s an example of a recent recording from my mobile recording studio.

I know this picture’s not the greatest, so let me break down the simple chain I have going on here. I’ve got my Sennheiser MKH-416 on my small, portable mic stand with the shotgun shockmount. That’s hooked into the CEntrance MicPort Pro (which I picked up at Zurek’s recommendation). From there, I run a micro USB into my MacBook Pro where I capture audio into Audacity (free!) Couple that with the utter quiet inside the Lexus, and it makes for a pretty convenient (though sometimes hot) recording booth.

Well, tonight I have a few auditions out of New York to tackle. It’s interesting working with the different time zones; I would normally record them first thing in the morning, but morning to me is nearly lunch to them!

What’s new in your world? Hit me up on Twitter, the website, or in the comments section below. I want to hear from you!