The best way to get an agent is to put together a high quality professional demo which not only shows off your voice, but your sense of humor and your ‘entertainability’. We want to get the agent to say “That’s the kind of performer I want to represent.”

A great demo will show off the range of your voice and your powers of persuasion, fully produced with music and sound effects, professionally voiced with elegance, clarity and wit. Your demo should show you at your most persuasive, at your most charming. (BUY THE BOOK)

Voice work is a business like any other which requires your full attention 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. You must develop a strategy of self-promotion by creating a relationship with recording studios, or creating your own in-home studio because you will be forever producing new demos for prospective clients and replacing old material with newly produced spots. It is important to stay current. Things constantly change in advertising. New trends demand new voices.

Call your local SAG, ACTRA or Performer’s union office or log onto their websites and ask for the union rate card for a :30 second TV voice over commercial session and residual schedule. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at what you see.

If you want to be recognised as fully professional, you must eventually join the union. Your local SAG, ACTRA or Performer’s union office will outline the requirements necessary to become a member. While you are non-union, you can gain valuable experience by voicing public service announcements, volunteering at the local radio station, seeking non-union commercial work, reading for the blind etc. Your payment and reputation will grow with repeat business until you will be compelled to join the union with all it’s benefits.

Some questions to ask a new agent.
1. Is there a charge to join? (any amore than a $75. - $100. admin fee is too much)
2. Do they have a sound studio in the office and a VO department?
3. Do they regularly get calls for VO talent?
4. Who are some of their VO clients? (do you recognise any names from the media?)
5. How would they promote you?
6. Do they do the dubs and send them out or is that your expense?
7. Do they have a website with their roster of VO talent on it?
8. Are they listed with voicebank.net?
9. Are they a full-service agency ie. would they expect you to go to on-camera auditions as well?
10. Are you expected to sign a power of attorney for cheques to be processed by the agency? (this is standard)
11. If it doesn't work out is there a binding 30-60 day cool down time before you can join another agency? (not good because it puts you out of commission)
12. Ask them if they have signed the EIC Entertainmnt Industry Code of Ethics and therefore have been approved by Theater Ontario. If you like what they have to offer, start with them to get some experience. Once you have an agent, it is easier to move to another agency if it eventually doesn't work out.

If you like them, tell them you have a couple of other meetings before making a final decision. This will give you some time to reflect. Remember that your agent works for you and you have to look forward to speaking with them every day on the phone. The chemistry has to be right for both of you.

If you have any questions at all call the AMIS - Acting Modelling Info Service - hotline at 416-977-3832.

The ages vary. We have had participants from 18-68 but most are in their mid 20s-mid 50s.

We suggest that you get some acting training prior to doing voice work. Most people don’t realize that commercial voice work is a specialised acting skill and you need to understand how to convey the message with a strong emotional point of view.

We can point you in the right direction but we are not a talent agency.

We offer a printed and signed receipt of Commercial Voice-over Skills Training. We are members of the Toronto Association of Acting Studios but we are not accredited yet by the Canadian Association of Universities and Colleges. We are an artist-run company.

We accept Visa, Mastercard, Amex, cash or cheque. We accept a deposit to secure your spot but payment must be made in full prior to the first session. Participation is on a first-come basis. We don’t offer a payment plan, or financing.

We keep our Voice-over Workshop and Weekend Warrior Workshop sessions to a maximum of 8 participants and our Saturday Cartoon workshops to a maximum of 10, so we can offer a full refund if we are able to fill your spot with someone from a wait-list. If we can’t fill the spot, we offer a make-up session in the next cycle.

Yes. If we have a space available in the next cycle you are welcome to pick up the missed session, otherwise you may need to wait another cycle until a space opens up.

Unfortunately studio place is limited so we do not offer this service.

Voiceworx uses a variety of professional recording studios in downtown Toronto. Please visit MCS online at http://www.mcsrecording.com for the Monthly Voice-Over Workshop studio.