Every day until that monster in San Diego commences, I'm going to be plugging/promoting a couple of the panels I'll be doing down there. Today, let's talk about Cartoon Voices, which is one of my areas of interest and alleged expertise.
Saturday and Sunday, my buddy Earl Kress and I are hosting panels of folks who do that kind of thing for a living and do it well. These are extremely popular events at the con…and for a good reason. We gather six or so actors on each, have them demonstrate their silly sounds, talk about their craft, and then we stick them with what's called a Cold Reading. This means making actors act with a script they haven't had time to study and learn and think about. Wonderful, unpredictable things are sometimes heard when this is done.
The folks we have this year are as good as anyone I could find. They're all artists you've heard on loads of cartoons and as they'll show you, they also do commercials and dubbing and narration and other lucrative things with their talents. Some of you are already telling me how excited you are that the Saturday panel will include Mr. Chuck McCann, who gets mentioned on this blog more often than Jack Kirby, Groo the Wanderer or me. Here are listings for these two panels…
Saturday, July 26
12:30-2:00 Cartoon Voices I — It's the first of two gatherings this weekend of actors who lend their voices to animation, as they discuss and demonstrate their craft. Co-hosts Mark Evanier and Earl Kress welcome Jason Marsden (Fairly OddParents, Loonatics Unleashed), Wally Wingert (The Garfield Show, Family Guy), Phil LaMarr (Justice League, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends), Alicyn Packard (The Mr. Men Show, World of Warcraft), TV legend Chuck McCann, Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants), and a few surprises. Room 6CDEF.Sunday, July 27
1:15-2:30 Cartoon Voices II — It's another one of those panels where folks who do animation voice work demonstrate their craft and dazzle you with their talents. Co-hosts Mark Evanier and Earl Kress welcome Chris Edgerly (Harvey Birdman, Celebrity Deathmatch), Dee Baker (American Dad, SpongeBob SquarePants), Cheryl Chase (Rugrats, All Grown Up), Katie Leigh (Dungeons & Dragons, Totally Spies!), Billy West (Futurama, Ren & Stimpy) and a few surprises. Room 6B.
Now then. When I started moderating Cartoon Voice panels at the convention, they were in smaller rooms and they were largely about how a person who thinks they have the ability can perhaps obtain a career in that line of work. As the panels got more popular, however, they became more about entertainment and performing, and less about agents and demos and classes and the stark realities of The Biz. This year, we aim to correct this a bit with yet another Cartoon Voice panel, a different kind. This year, and I suspect the next few years, Earl and/or I will be hosting a gathering that just focuses on the feasibility and possible attainment of employment. Here's the listing for this one…
Sunday, July 27
12:00-1:00 The Business of Cartoon Voices — Lots of people think they can do them…but how does one go about making a living as a voiceover actor? Co-hosts Mark Evanier and Earl Kress gather together a panel of agents, casting directors and performers to explain all about agents, casting directors, demos, classes, what to do and (most important) what not to do. If you've ever been interested in a career in the field, this is the panel you've been waiting for. Room 7AB.
I haven't listed the participants yet because schedules are still being juggled…but we'll have an agent or two, a casting director or maybe more than one, a couple of actors (Gregg Berger and Bob Bergen), plus you'll have Earl and me giving out some hard truths about the field.
We're doing this in large part because the Aspiring Animation Voice Actor is fast becoming prey. What with the Internet and home recording studios and online videos and zillions of new markets, we now have zillions of ways that folks are seeking to separate the wanna-bes from their wallets. There are some very good teachers and classes and advisory programs out there. There are also some in the "those who can't do, teach" category and a few outright thieves.
This is an area about which I am somewhat militant. Every month or so lately, I encounter someone who has spent an awful lot of their money and youthful years looking for love in all the wrong places, paying for lessons and demos and "access to casting people" (something for which one should never pay) and all they have to show for it is a couple of non-union, $50 jobs that if you amortize the money they've spent on lessons and guidance, comes down to about a thousand bucks per gig that it cost them.
(There's an old joke in the acting game: The agent tells a performer, "This gig will pay you $100." The performer says, "But it's going to cost me twice that to travel to that city and get a room." Whereupon the agent answers, "Yeah, well, you have to save up for some jobs.")
Let me emphasize: There are some very good, very helpful teachers and trainers out there. I'm sure some will be endorsed and recommended at the panel. But note that I am not saying they're the majority because I'm beginning to think that they are not. Those that are not can be divided into two categories — those that mean well and just aren't all that good, and those that just want to exploit someone's dreams.
Last month, I met a lady who's been, I believe, taken for all she could afford (and then some) by the latter. Someone should have told her how rough the business can be and, frankly, that she has certain deficiencies in the talent department. Alas, there's moola to be made by telling people what they want to hear; by saying, "Yes, yes…you can have everything you dream of…you just need to keep paying us money to train and steer you." Many thousands of bucks later, she's about as close to a real voiceover career as Teller.
I'd decided that a panel of Free Advice to such folks was needed before I met her, but she reinforced my notion. If you think you might have what it takes to be the new Mel/Daws/June, you might want to make it to this panel…and I'm sorry we only have an hour.