"Trials" of a Voice Actor Part 3

                                         "Trials" of a Voice Actor Part 3

                                                               by

                                                                  Jay Agan

      I get home after a particularly arduous day at work & am greeted with a message on the machine from my agent. "Get down to XYZ Studio at 10 AM for an anti-smoking radio spot. Pays 200 etc....." O.K!.

      Anti-smoking? Hmmmm. I don't mind telling folks what a dumb thing it is to smoke. No sense in hurting yourself & others. Yet .....

      I e-mail the agent inquiring wether this is a simple public service announcement or an advocacy of an anti-smoking LAW. He sends me the script.

      It was as I feared. The Dept. of Health & Human Services of a state out west wanted to innaugurate the activation of a new LAW voted in by the state legislature a year before. The law affected private businesses (Bars, restaraunts, etc.). The ad agency doing the ad thought my voice perfect for it. Wrong!

      As a small L libertarian I believe one has the right to kill oneself as fast or slow as desired as long as no one else is harmed. The government has no right to declare private businesses/property to be public places (If you can't stand the smoke/heat, get the heck out of the bar/kitchen!).

      I e-mailed the agent & declined, giving my reasons.

      I could have used the 200 bucks (less agents' 20%.). I could have used the exposure (My voice would have been heard all over the state extolling Big Brother.). To heck with it. There are some things I won't do for money.

      About a month later, around contract renewal time, I get an e-mail from the agent informing me that due to the bad economy, they were dropping me & others from their roster.

      I would like to thank all the well meaning politicians from both parties for helping to make my life less than it could be. It is because of their well intentioned efforts that I & many others have had to put our dreams on hold. Again, thank you. Now go "help" someone else. Like Libya for instance.

                                         Article copyright © 4-5-2011 Jay Agan

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"Trials" of a Voice Actor, Part II

                                        
                                          "Trials" of a Voice Actor, Part II

                                                                 by

                                                                    Jay Agan

     It was March '09. The end year/new year "slump" is over & activity in the voice over field was going to pick up. Already had three "gigs" under my belt & was confident things would "look up". Little was I to know the polititians on both sides of the aisle, had the recession "cemented in" for a good long while to come (My agency later informed me the economy was the reason why things slowed down. It was also the reason they dropped me over a year later.). A conversation with my voice teacher (She also owns a studio.) revealed that this field is "a leading economic indicator" and is one of the first hit. I guess a lot of peoples' dreams have been put on hold.

     So I get this call from the agency. I was to "get ready" as someone from a nationwide car insurance company heard my demo & liked it. Nothing definite but I was on the list of choices for a radio spot or two. All right!

     Two days later, another call. They settled on someone else. Those are the breaks. You can imagine my disappointment.

     It wouldn't have been so bad had they settled on someone with a better voice .....

     Yeah. Ego plays a part.
                                           
                                          Article copyright © 3-27-2011 Jay Agan

"Trials" of a Voice Actor, Pt I here.

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