VC Radio
Voice Coaches Radio Episode 723 ” Interview With Producer David Bourgeois”
John: [00:00:00] Right. Hello, my friends. I'm John
Tina: And I'm Tina
John: And this is Voice Coaches Radio
Tina: Radio, radio- Radio ... radio.
John: And, and we know we said we're gonna do this, and we're doing it. Mm-hmm. We have an interview today, so we are gonna be interviewing someone, and that person is David Bourgeois, producer extraordinaire.
Tina: That's, that's a great intro right
John: there. And CEO, yeah, CEO of Voice Coaches and White Lake Music and Post. Am I right?
David: Hello, people.
John: Yeah. Is that a good intro?
Tina: Hello. Hello, people. Hello, David.
David: I'm sure you're, uh ... What was it? Extravagant? What was the descriptive word there? Extroordinaire. I'm sure ... Whatever that was, I'm sure you're that, too.
I'm, I'm sure both of [00:01:00] you are, are, are that.
Tina: Oh, yes, we are. Absolutely.
John: Ah. So k- So we figured to have you. Y- you've been ... How long have you been a, a producer in the voiceover industry?
David: Next question.
Tina: What? Come on, you're only 29, so...
David: That's what, but Tina, see- Yeah ... that's what I, that's- Mm-hmm ... the pretense that I operate on.
Uh, you know, uh, I am not 29, I'm 61, and, uh, I have been, uh, casting and producing voiceovers since I was kind of in my early 20s. Um, I was working, you know, I'm a, uh, I'm a musician and a music professional as well, and I f- I found myself working in recording studios. I really enjoyed it, and I was bound and determined to find any way I could to spend as much time in recording studios as I [00:02:00] could.
And it turned out a lot of the, quote unquote, "cool" audio people didn't wanna bother with the voiceover stuff back then. So I said, "Hey, I, I, I, I could do it." Uh, so I started recording, uh, and directing voiceover, and I found it to be not, you know, not too similar to music, uh, you know, as far as what you're listening for in the way that somebody says something.
So I got good at it, and I began to be called, uh, by other studios to direct and produce voiceover work. And now I'm about four decades, uh, into this, and it's a blast. I love it.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Oh, that's cool. That's cool. Well, that's great. So, uh, let me ask you this. When you cast for a voiceover job, what kind of voice actor do you look for?
What are the qualifications, or what are the things that you look for in a voice actor in general?
David: Sure, John. It's changed a lot. It used to be [00:03:00] really, really easy. W- w- we used to... The voiceover field, if you talk about, uh, going back to the '90s, the early 2000s, was very, uh, very male-dominated, very announcer-driven.
So it was simple. We'd go to the same handful of people over and over and over again. As, you know, as options increase for people in products and services and ways to learn about things, uh, and at the same time our awareness of options increased, um, having somebody dictate a viewpoint or announce became much, much less effective.
Uh, so we began to look for voices that could compel the listener or, or, or engage the listener authentically. Uh, so today, y- you know, to answer your question, the voices I cast, the voices I look for are very specific and unique to the client. A- a- honestly, and more so to the audience that they're trying to [00:04:00] communicate their message to.
That's really, really what we look at. Um, who can communicate that message most authentically? I think for people who pursue voiceover, I, I, I know for, for the professional coaching clients we have, such an enormous part of, of what we're doing is trying to figure out, okay, where, where most specifically would your voice fit this field?
You know? W- what would you enjoy? W- what would you like to get out of it? But w- what does your voice do best? Uh, because as a voice actor, i- if you're approaching people who cast with an understanding of what your, uh, your own personal strengths, what you bring to the table, um, uh, are, you really give yourself a great, uh, a great opportunity to develop relationships.
John: Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. So this industry is very relationship-driven at this point, and so my question is, i- how [00:05:00] important is it... 'Cause we actually did an episode about this. Yeah. How, how important is it, uh, to build those relationships? In other words, you know, I, we always say that everyone who's in the studio when you get there as a voice actor, they all wanna be there.
Uh, how important is it for you to also be, number one, obviously an, you know, a, a, an educated or skilled voice actor, but also easy to get along with?
David: It's, it's, it's a foundation of long-term success. Uh, you know, it, it's, the voiceover's a wonderful field. Um, but like many other things, there's a great deal of misinformation out there. Um, it is not... Pursuing the field with, uh, what I call a break-in mindset, you know, "I'm g- I'm gonna, I'm gonna dabble, I'm gonna break in," is counterintuitive to the way that people behave in the industry.
Um, as a casting professional, [00:06:00] not everybody's gonna love hearing this, but, but I'm gonna put it out there. W- I, I... We're very habitual. W- we go back to people we know that we can count on. If you think about, uh, in, in your own life, whatever people listening to this podcast do, this is not unusual behavior.
We, when we've got something important to handle, we tend to rely on people that, that, that we, that we know and that we've trusted before, or people who we're aware of in some way. So as a voice actor, i- if you, if you, uh, build what, what... When we're working with coaching clients, what I'd refer to as a relationship-based mindset, that's a mindset where you're not looking at voiceover as, "Gee, I'm looking to get a voiceover job."
You're pursuing this i- in a manner where you're wrapping your arms around relationships. That is exactly in sync with people who, who are writing the checks in this field, people doing the casting. So I think it's, I think it's incredibly import- I... Listen, it's a good [00:07:00] habit in life to shake a hand and say thank you.
Uh, but i- i- this is one of those cases where good behavior and strategy are very much in sync with one another.
John: Love it. All right, cool.
Tina: What would be your top three pieces of advice to give to a voice actor just starting out?
David: Um, sure. Uh, that's easy, Tina. Number one is easy. Go ahead. Go ahead would be my top piece of advice.
Voiceover, um, learning to fly a plane, um, uh, taking that trip, wherever that trip is. Um, these are things that we don't have to do. They are things that we want to do, and sadly, we, as we become adults, we sort of lose the affinity to do things that we wanna do in favor of things we feel like we have to do.
I've been interviewed over 200 times about this field, and I get asked, "What is the, what's the [00:08:00] number one, uh, challenge?" And the number one challenge is people want to do this, and they want to do this until they've missed the opportunity to do it. So my first piece of advice is, uh, voiceover or anything else for that matter, please go ahead.
Be my guest. Do it. I, I can tell you right now, there's people doing this, um, earning money, enjoying it, right?
Tina: Yeah.
David: Who are no brighter, who, who have no more capacity to do it than some, than, than you might have. So listen- How dare you ... whatever your thing is, whatever your thing is- Yeah ... do it. My second piece of advice is, you know, ta- do some reflecting and determine what you're asking for from the thing.
So if it's voiceover, what do you want from it? If it's just a goof, you can... There's a thousand different ways you can do it. Record yourself with your phone at home. Have fun. Play it for your family. But if you ask yourself what you're [00:09:00] looking for from this, and the answer is some type of professional response, you wanna earn supplemental retirement income, whatever you would...
If, if that's a piece of the equation, then that sort of gives you a better roadmap for how you're gonna position yourself. And where I'm going with this is, uh, i- is if you're looking for a professional result, be a professional. Develop skill. Um, like I say, as I said earlier, determine wh- where does your voice fit in the field?
Do you have any vocal obstacles to overcome? Um, and, uh, a- and just be a professional. So that's number two. Uh, and, and number three is, um, number three is really important. Um, have a blast. Like I, I've been asked for years, w- i- is there something in common that successful voice actors have? I struggled with that for a long time.
Um- At this point in my career, you know, w- I've worked with [00:10:00] everybody from the pizza shop up the street to Netflix and Nickelodeon, and, uh, there, there's, there's something, there is something that voice actors, successful voice actors have in common. And all of you can perceive this. It has nothing to do with their voice.
There's a lot of lousy voices out there doing very, very well, okay? Um, the thing that successful voice actors have in common is they love it. It's fun for them. They enjoy it. Mm-hmm. My third and maybe most important piece of advice is, is in addition to other motivations, money, whatever your thing, pride, uh, developing a skill you can use in something you already do.
When it comes to voiceover, have fun. Make it fun. Make it fun. Enjoy it.
John: Ah, yeah, I love that.
Tina: Yeah.
John: And we've been talking about that a
Tina: lot. Yeah, we do, 'cause it is, it's something you enjoy.
John: Yep, yep.
Tina: Yeah. That- Absolutely ...
John: now we, we've done something,
David: um- It is. There's t- there's, there's t- d- I was gonna say, there's too many things in life [00:11:00] that are, you know, uh, that we don't look forward to, like- Yeah
paying taxes or whatever. But, you know, i- if you're gonna do something like this, you know, hey, there's gonna be some effort you're gonna put in. Mm-hmm. There might be some stress to, to wanna be better at it, but along the way, definitely find ways to enjoy it.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Absolutely. For
Tina: sure.
John: Yeah. Now, we've done episodes like this before, too, and since we have you here now, let's have you...
How about w- g- give us, um, how about the most interesting job you've ever produced? Voiceover job. And it can be funny. Mm-hmm. It could be weird. Sure. It could be
David: Yeah, yeah. There's, there's just so many examples, um, uh, there's so many examples, so many examples of things I absolutely cannot talk about here because they'd be inappropriate. So I'm getting rid of all
Tina: those. We'll save that for another time.
John: Yeah, this
Tina: is
John: a, this is a G-rated
Tina: show. Yes. Yeah.
John: Yeah. Believe you have
David: to make sure Tina doesn't, doesn't curse all the time.
The time I produced, the time I was producing [00:12:00] the voiceover and I looked in the vocal booth and the voice actor had removed most of their clothing. There was that. Um, we don't run into that
Tina: much, so very- It does get hot in there.
David: It's, it's one method to avoid... Listen, it's one method to avoid clothing noise and things like that.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. That's true, Bill. You know, I think one of the coolest things, uh, I, I've got, I've got one, I've got one for you. Uh, we were working with a wonderful young actress named, uh, Gabriella Pizzolo, Gabby Pizzolo, and Gabby, um, is very talented. She was a Broadway star when, y- you know, she was nine or 10 years old.
And she'd picked up a show for Nickelodeon. And, uh, she wrapped up with that Broadway show and moves back home. And, uh, so we picked up, uh, production for the Nickelodeon show for her voiceovers. And she's a wonderful kid and very talented. Um, uh, went on to be one of the stars of, uh, the Netflix show, Stranger Things, which we also got to work on.[00:13:00]
Uh, but she's so, she was working on this Nickelodeon series and over the course of a couple years, and all of a sudden, her voice changed, right? Mm-hmm. Completely changed. She was getting older. So she had to learn to do her former voice- Oh, wow ... as a character voice. Yeah. Yeah. Which she did incredibly well because the directors, they needed her to m- ma- they, they couldn't have a thing where that, that, uh, animated character's voice suddenly changed.
Right. Right. I, I... Gabby always blows me away. She's super, v- super kind and friendly, but her, uh, her talent and how, like, laser focused she is on making the thing be exactly what it's supposed to be, that was an experience that really took me back. So I, I, I have to throw that one out there.
John: Yeah. That's great.
That's funny doing a character voice of yourself.
Tina: Yeah.
John: That's great. That's great.
David: [00:14:00] Right.
Tina: Right, right. Mine sound evil.
John: All right. Now before we, before we wrap up, is there any, like any- Yeah ... final wisdom you would give to someone who wants to pursue voiceovers, besides coming to, to, to, uh, my intro to voice acting webinar?
Mm-hmm. Besides that. Uh, obviously that's the first piece of advice. That
Tina: is-
John: But besides that. The best.
David: Yes, yes. Yeah, because John, I know that you would never self-promote anything.
John: No.
Tina: No, absolutely never does. He never, ever.
David: I had to try really carefully today to not dress or look like John because- Thank you. ... we don't have a dissimilar, we tend to make similar choices a lot.
Tina: Yes, you guys do.
David: Um, you know, um, eh, I'll go back to something I said. Eh, this isn't specific to voiceover. I- if you have something that you want to do, don't let anyone talk you out of it, most importantly, most, most [00:15:00] commonly yourself.
Don't, don't, don't talk yourself out. Don't postpone things that are priorities to you. Um, do the things that are priorities. Uh, m- as I said earlier, i- if that thing is voiceover, um, take a little inventory of what you're looking for from the field, and if you want to, i- if you wanna be treated as a professional in the field, and you wanna be in that position, then, then, then execute behavior that is in sync, um, with those goals, and learn, and devel- The best voice actors I know, the voice actors doing the most work, they're always learning.
The learning's never done. Mm-hmm. But the fact of the matter is, voice acting is a skilled profession. Um, as a voice actor, I can make it very easy for everybody listening, make it very easy for you. As a voice actor, you are a, a sole proprietor in a, a small service-based business. You're a sole [00:16:00] proprietor in a service-based business, and here's the great news about that.
I don't know how someone would, would break into something, but I, I... There are endless resources for people who are beginning small businesses. There are resources from business groups, your chamber of commerce. There are gazillions of books and examples of how people build. And you don't need to just look at voiceover.
You can look at a- any similar model, small service-based business. So you, you set your goals, you develop skills specific to the voiceover field. But as it comes to success building, just recognize you're running a small service-based business. And, and, you know, when I'm working with coaching clients, I know a lot, as we get toward the end of a program with them, we're talking a lot about the resources that are out there.
Eh, th- people will hand things to you, essentially, knowledge, opportunities, and [00:17:00] resources. Those all fall through if you don't recognize the simple fact. You're, you're a service provider in a, in a sole proprietorship. Uh- And hopefully you're having a blast doing it.
John: Absolutely. Yeah. Love it. I love it. All right.
Well, David, thank you very much- Thank you ... for appearing on this award-winning show.
David: Mm-hmm. Oh. I have my speech all set. Well, and congratulations. Uh- Yeah,
John: yeah ... I'll, I'll look for the awards.
David: Yeah.
Tina: Yeah. They'll be lining up.
John: Yeah. And again, don't forget, I do an intro. I mean, I know David mentioned it too, or he was going to.
Mm-hmm. Uh, don't forget, I do an intro to voice acting webinar. Go to our website, voicecoaches.com, and you can buy a ticket on our, on our website. And if you use the code POD, you get 50% off. Pretty crazy. But, uh, I wanna thank everybody very much for attending again. Um, email me at [00:18:00] [email protected].
Tina: Or [email protected].
John: All right. Thank you very much, everybody. We out.
David: Take care.
Tina: And I'm Tina
John: And this is Voice Coaches Radio
Tina: Radio, radio- Radio ... radio.
John: And, and we know we said we're gonna do this, and we're doing it. Mm-hmm. We have an interview today, so we are gonna be interviewing someone, and that person is David Bourgeois, producer extraordinaire.
Tina: That's, that's a great intro right
John: there. And CEO, yeah, CEO of Voice Coaches and White Lake Music and Post. Am I right?
David: Hello, people.
John: Yeah. Is that a good intro?
Tina: Hello. Hello, people. Hello, David.
David: I'm sure you're, uh ... What was it? Extravagant? What was the descriptive word there? Extroordinaire. I'm sure ... Whatever that was, I'm sure you're that, too.
I'm, I'm sure both of [00:01:00] you are, are, are that.
Tina: Oh, yes, we are. Absolutely.
John: Ah. So k- So we figured to have you. Y- you've been ... How long have you been a, a producer in the voiceover industry?
David: Next question.
Tina: What? Come on, you're only 29, so...
David: That's what, but Tina, see- Yeah ... that's what I, that's- Mm-hmm ... the pretense that I operate on.
Uh, you know, uh, I am not 29, I'm 61, and, uh, I have been, uh, casting and producing voiceovers since I was kind of in my early 20s. Um, I was working, you know, I'm a, uh, I'm a musician and a music professional as well, and I f- I found myself working in recording studios. I really enjoyed it, and I was bound and determined to find any way I could to spend as much time in recording studios as I [00:02:00] could.
And it turned out a lot of the, quote unquote, "cool" audio people didn't wanna bother with the voiceover stuff back then. So I said, "Hey, I, I, I, I could do it." Uh, so I started recording, uh, and directing voiceover, and I found it to be not, you know, not too similar to music, uh, you know, as far as what you're listening for in the way that somebody says something.
So I got good at it, and I began to be called, uh, by other studios to direct and produce voiceover work. And now I'm about four decades, uh, into this, and it's a blast. I love it.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Oh, that's cool. That's cool. Well, that's great. So, uh, let me ask you this. When you cast for a voiceover job, what kind of voice actor do you look for?
What are the qualifications, or what are the things that you look for in a voice actor in general?
David: Sure, John. It's changed a lot. It used to be [00:03:00] really, really easy. W- w- we used to... The voiceover field, if you talk about, uh, going back to the '90s, the early 2000s, was very, uh, very male-dominated, very announcer-driven.
So it was simple. We'd go to the same handful of people over and over and over again. As, you know, as options increase for people in products and services and ways to learn about things, uh, and at the same time our awareness of options increased, um, having somebody dictate a viewpoint or announce became much, much less effective.
Uh, so we began to look for voices that could compel the listener or, or, or engage the listener authentically. Uh, so today, y- you know, to answer your question, the voices I cast, the voices I look for are very specific and unique to the client. A- a- honestly, and more so to the audience that they're trying to [00:04:00] communicate their message to.
That's really, really what we look at. Um, who can communicate that message most authentically? I think for people who pursue voiceover, I, I, I know for, for the professional coaching clients we have, such an enormous part of, of what we're doing is trying to figure out, okay, where, where most specifically would your voice fit this field?
You know? W- what would you enjoy? W- what would you like to get out of it? But w- what does your voice do best? Uh, because as a voice actor, i- if you're approaching people who cast with an understanding of what your, uh, your own personal strengths, what you bring to the table, um, uh, are, you really give yourself a great, uh, a great opportunity to develop relationships.
John: Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. So this industry is very relationship-driven at this point, and so my question is, i- how [00:05:00] important is it... 'Cause we actually did an episode about this. Yeah. How, how important is it, uh, to build those relationships? In other words, you know, I, we always say that everyone who's in the studio when you get there as a voice actor, they all wanna be there.
Uh, how important is it for you to also be, number one, obviously an, you know, a, a, an educated or skilled voice actor, but also easy to get along with?
David: It's, it's, it's a foundation of long-term success. Uh, you know, it, it's, the voiceover's a wonderful field. Um, but like many other things, there's a great deal of misinformation out there. Um, it is not... Pursuing the field with, uh, what I call a break-in mindset, you know, "I'm g- I'm gonna, I'm gonna dabble, I'm gonna break in," is counterintuitive to the way that people behave in the industry.
Um, as a casting professional, [00:06:00] not everybody's gonna love hearing this, but, but I'm gonna put it out there. W- I, I... We're very habitual. W- we go back to people we know that we can count on. If you think about, uh, in, in your own life, whatever people listening to this podcast do, this is not unusual behavior.
We, when we've got something important to handle, we tend to rely on people that, that, that we, that we know and that we've trusted before, or people who we're aware of in some way. So as a voice actor, i- if you, if you, uh, build what, what... When we're working with coaching clients, what I'd refer to as a relationship-based mindset, that's a mindset where you're not looking at voiceover as, "Gee, I'm looking to get a voiceover job."
You're pursuing this i- in a manner where you're wrapping your arms around relationships. That is exactly in sync with people who, who are writing the checks in this field, people doing the casting. So I think it's, I think it's incredibly import- I... Listen, it's a good [00:07:00] habit in life to shake a hand and say thank you.
Uh, but i- i- this is one of those cases where good behavior and strategy are very much in sync with one another.
John: Love it. All right, cool.
Tina: What would be your top three pieces of advice to give to a voice actor just starting out?
David: Um, sure. Uh, that's easy, Tina. Number one is easy. Go ahead. Go ahead would be my top piece of advice.
Voiceover, um, learning to fly a plane, um, uh, taking that trip, wherever that trip is. Um, these are things that we don't have to do. They are things that we want to do, and sadly, we, as we become adults, we sort of lose the affinity to do things that we wanna do in favor of things we feel like we have to do.
I've been interviewed over 200 times about this field, and I get asked, "What is the, what's the [00:08:00] number one, uh, challenge?" And the number one challenge is people want to do this, and they want to do this until they've missed the opportunity to do it. So my first piece of advice is, uh, voiceover or anything else for that matter, please go ahead.
Be my guest. Do it. I, I can tell you right now, there's people doing this, um, earning money, enjoying it, right?
Tina: Yeah.
David: Who are no brighter, who, who have no more capacity to do it than some, than, than you might have. So listen- How dare you ... whatever your thing is, whatever your thing is- Yeah ... do it. My second piece of advice is, you know, ta- do some reflecting and determine what you're asking for from the thing.
So if it's voiceover, what do you want from it? If it's just a goof, you can... There's a thousand different ways you can do it. Record yourself with your phone at home. Have fun. Play it for your family. But if you ask yourself what you're [00:09:00] looking for from this, and the answer is some type of professional response, you wanna earn supplemental retirement income, whatever you would...
If, if that's a piece of the equation, then that sort of gives you a better roadmap for how you're gonna position yourself. And where I'm going with this is, uh, i- is if you're looking for a professional result, be a professional. Develop skill. Um, like I say, as I said earlier, determine wh- where does your voice fit in the field?
Do you have any vocal obstacles to overcome? Um, and, uh, a- and just be a professional. So that's number two. Uh, and, and number three is, um, number three is really important. Um, have a blast. Like I, I've been asked for years, w- i- is there something in common that successful voice actors have? I struggled with that for a long time.
Um- At this point in my career, you know, w- I've worked with [00:10:00] everybody from the pizza shop up the street to Netflix and Nickelodeon, and, uh, there, there's, there's something, there is something that voice actors, successful voice actors have in common. And all of you can perceive this. It has nothing to do with their voice.
There's a lot of lousy voices out there doing very, very well, okay? Um, the thing that successful voice actors have in common is they love it. It's fun for them. They enjoy it. Mm-hmm. My third and maybe most important piece of advice is, is in addition to other motivations, money, whatever your thing, pride, uh, developing a skill you can use in something you already do.
When it comes to voiceover, have fun. Make it fun. Make it fun. Enjoy it.
John: Ah, yeah, I love that.
Tina: Yeah.
John: And we've been talking about that a
Tina: lot. Yeah, we do, 'cause it is, it's something you enjoy.
John: Yep, yep.
Tina: Yeah. That- Absolutely ...
John: now we, we've done something,
David: um- It is. There's t- there's, there's t- d- I was gonna say, there's too many things in life [00:11:00] that are, you know, uh, that we don't look forward to, like- Yeah
paying taxes or whatever. But, you know, i- if you're gonna do something like this, you know, hey, there's gonna be some effort you're gonna put in. Mm-hmm. There might be some stress to, to wanna be better at it, but along the way, definitely find ways to enjoy it.
Tina: Yeah.
John: Absolutely. For
Tina: sure.
John: Yeah. Now, we've done episodes like this before, too, and since we have you here now, let's have you...
How about w- g- give us, um, how about the most interesting job you've ever produced? Voiceover job. And it can be funny. Mm-hmm. It could be weird. Sure. It could be
David: Yeah, yeah. There's, there's just so many examples, um, uh, there's so many examples, so many examples of things I absolutely cannot talk about here because they'd be inappropriate. So I'm getting rid of all
Tina: those. We'll save that for another time.
John: Yeah, this
Tina: is
John: a, this is a G-rated
Tina: show. Yes. Yeah.
John: Yeah. Believe you have
David: to make sure Tina doesn't, doesn't curse all the time.
The time I produced, the time I was producing [00:12:00] the voiceover and I looked in the vocal booth and the voice actor had removed most of their clothing. There was that. Um, we don't run into that
Tina: much, so very- It does get hot in there.
David: It's, it's one method to avoid... Listen, it's one method to avoid clothing noise and things like that.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. That's true, Bill. You know, I think one of the coolest things, uh, I, I've got, I've got one, I've got one for you. Uh, we were working with a wonderful young actress named, uh, Gabriella Pizzolo, Gabby Pizzolo, and Gabby, um, is very talented. She was a Broadway star when, y- you know, she was nine or 10 years old.
And she'd picked up a show for Nickelodeon. And, uh, she wrapped up with that Broadway show and moves back home. And, uh, so we picked up, uh, production for the Nickelodeon show for her voiceovers. And she's a wonderful kid and very talented. Um, uh, went on to be one of the stars of, uh, the Netflix show, Stranger Things, which we also got to work on.[00:13:00]
Uh, but she's so, she was working on this Nickelodeon series and over the course of a couple years, and all of a sudden, her voice changed, right? Mm-hmm. Completely changed. She was getting older. So she had to learn to do her former voice- Oh, wow ... as a character voice. Yeah. Yeah. Which she did incredibly well because the directors, they needed her to m- ma- they, they couldn't have a thing where that, that, uh, animated character's voice suddenly changed.
Right. Right. I, I... Gabby always blows me away. She's super, v- super kind and friendly, but her, uh, her talent and how, like, laser focused she is on making the thing be exactly what it's supposed to be, that was an experience that really took me back. So I, I, I have to throw that one out there.
John: Yeah. That's great.
That's funny doing a character voice of yourself.
Tina: Yeah.
John: That's great. That's great.
David: [00:14:00] Right.
Tina: Right, right. Mine sound evil.
John: All right. Now before we, before we wrap up, is there any, like any- Yeah ... final wisdom you would give to someone who wants to pursue voiceovers, besides coming to, to, to, uh, my intro to voice acting webinar?
Mm-hmm. Besides that. Uh, obviously that's the first piece of advice. That
Tina: is-
John: But besides that. The best.
David: Yes, yes. Yeah, because John, I know that you would never self-promote anything.
John: No.
Tina: No, absolutely never does. He never, ever.
David: I had to try really carefully today to not dress or look like John because- Thank you. ... we don't have a dissimilar, we tend to make similar choices a lot.
Tina: Yes, you guys do.
David: Um, you know, um, eh, I'll go back to something I said. Eh, this isn't specific to voiceover. I- if you have something that you want to do, don't let anyone talk you out of it, most importantly, most, most [00:15:00] commonly yourself.
Don't, don't, don't talk yourself out. Don't postpone things that are priorities to you. Um, do the things that are priorities. Uh, m- as I said earlier, i- if that thing is voiceover, um, take a little inventory of what you're looking for from the field, and if you want to, i- if you wanna be treated as a professional in the field, and you wanna be in that position, then, then, then execute behavior that is in sync, um, with those goals, and learn, and devel- The best voice actors I know, the voice actors doing the most work, they're always learning.
The learning's never done. Mm-hmm. But the fact of the matter is, voice acting is a skilled profession. Um, as a voice actor, I can make it very easy for everybody listening, make it very easy for you. As a voice actor, you are a, a sole proprietor in a, a small service-based business. You're a sole [00:16:00] proprietor in a service-based business, and here's the great news about that.
I don't know how someone would, would break into something, but I, I... There are endless resources for people who are beginning small businesses. There are resources from business groups, your chamber of commerce. There are gazillions of books and examples of how people build. And you don't need to just look at voiceover.
You can look at a- any similar model, small service-based business. So you, you set your goals, you develop skills specific to the voiceover field. But as it comes to success building, just recognize you're running a small service-based business. And, and, you know, when I'm working with coaching clients, I know a lot, as we get toward the end of a program with them, we're talking a lot about the resources that are out there.
Eh, th- people will hand things to you, essentially, knowledge, opportunities, and [00:17:00] resources. Those all fall through if you don't recognize the simple fact. You're, you're a service provider in a, in a sole proprietorship. Uh- And hopefully you're having a blast doing it.
John: Absolutely. Yeah. Love it. I love it. All right.
Well, David, thank you very much- Thank you ... for appearing on this award-winning show.
David: Mm-hmm. Oh. I have my speech all set. Well, and congratulations. Uh- Yeah,
John: yeah ... I'll, I'll look for the awards.
David: Yeah.
Tina: Yeah. They'll be lining up.
John: Yeah. And again, don't forget, I do an intro. I mean, I know David mentioned it too, or he was going to.
Mm-hmm. Uh, don't forget, I do an intro to voice acting webinar. Go to our website, voicecoaches.com, and you can buy a ticket on our, on our website. And if you use the code POD, you get 50% off. Pretty crazy. But, uh, I wanna thank everybody very much for attending again. Um, email me at [00:18:00] [email protected].
Tina: Or [email protected].
John: All right. Thank you very much, everybody. We out.
David: Take care.
John and Tina interview Producer David Bourgeois. A voice over producer with over 30 years of experience in voice over production.
