Creative Industries - Voice Over - Deanna Cooney

Voice-over artists play a crucial role in the creative industry by recording voice-overs for various mediums such as advertising, television, radio, and online content. They also narrate documentaries and corporate videos, and even voice characters for animations. One legal issue they face is the unauthorized use of their voice recordings, which can lead to their voices being used in inappropriate or offensive ways without their consent. Voice-over artists also need to respect cultural protocols and avoid taking on roles that are culturally offensive or not in alignment with their own background. Technology has greatly influenced the voice-over industry, making it more accessible for individuals to record from home and work globally. However, AI poses a challenge as it can easily clone voices and is often preferred for fast and cheap voice recordings. Voice-over artists typically work as freelancers, but there are opportunities for contracted work with specific brands. There are plenty Okay, number two Voice-over artist actor. Okay. What is their role in the creative industry? I am a voice-over artist so I record voice-over for Advertising television radio online Cinema ads all that kind of thing. I also narrate documentaries and corporate videos I do quite a bit of Kind of non broadcast work as well like the the corporate videos but also explainers and a little bit of messages on hold and I've also voiced some characters for animation So how long have I been in this role? I have been doing voice-over work for 25 years I think now somewhere between 25 and 30 years professionally What is an example of a legal issue? They need to be aware of in performing this role I actually don't know the answer to this. I actually haven't got a clue Perhaps like if I Pretended to be someone else that could be a problem Yeah, I think the legal issues happen to us more than things that that that like we do that get us into Potentially legal kind of hotspots So the biggest issue for voice-over talent at the moment legally I would say is is the potential for our voice to be Taken and used in circumstances where we don't want it to be used. So there's a woman named Bev standing who's an American who Did a bunch of voice-over work for a company and then they sold her voice recordings to another company who cloned a voice and and made it be available as part of a online kind of platform where people could use that voice to kind of record messages saying whatever it is that they wanted and And she found out because some friends of hers heard her her voice saying some very very Nasty noxious disgusting rude, I don't even I haven't heard it but like apparently it was I don't know like lots of swear words and and Like racist things and all sorts of really bigoted yucky stuff that people were just making her voice say So it's not her saying them, but it is her voice and and so she sued that company Not just because they were using her voice in a way that she didn't like but because they didn't have They didn't have her consent. It got sold without her consent It was being used without a consent and also she wasn't being paid For the use of her voice and she does this professionally like this is using her voice Her voice is her craft not just a craft but her tool and she sells access to that, right? So There were a few different kind of layers of problems there and she took them to court and she won So that is probably the biggest legal issue that we need to be aware of It's that our voice can be taken and used in all sorts of different ways because it's a recorded voice, right? It's once it's recorded and it's it's put out into the world. There is the potential there for it to be used in all sorts of nefarious kinds of ways, but also Ways where we're not getting paid for the use of our voice or it's being used in ways that we don't approve of or consent So, yeah, I'd say that's probably the biggest legal issue How do I respect cultural protocol in my role? Well, I I won't play roles that That are culturally not in alignment with me Racially All of those kinds of things so It's a bit of a diversity and equity and inclusivity issue If there's a group of people and there are people in that group who can play that role And someone casts me or wants to hire me to play that role and I'm not part of that cultural group I won't do that, right? I will say no hire someone from that cultural group to play that role So that's a diversity and equity thing. But Yeah, I think I think that probably answers that question How do I respect cultural protocol in my role? But also like if I'm working with a group of people who are culturally not in alignment with me I don't feel good about doing that. So I would not I would not take on a role. That was culturally offensive Yeah, I think I think that probably answers that question How do I respect cultural protocol in my role? How do I respect cultural protocol in my role but also like if I'm working with other people I want to make sure that I'm Respecting their their cultural protocols. So much like the photography thing. It's a matter of being aware and Asking questions and being open to learning new things and understanding that if I get something wrong it's my responsibility to acknowledge that I got it wrong and Sort of make reparations in some way for Having having Done something that is not necessarily just offensive to people but is Belittling or damaging or or in some way hurts them, you know How do new and existing technologies influence or impact upon their work? Well, man, I mean Technology is the reason that voiceover has become such a big broad diverse Craft or industry, right? It used to be really small because you had to go into big professional studios to record things so like sort of 25 years ago when I first started it was very geographical you lived where you worked where you lived because the studios that you went to you had to be able to get to so Then about I don't know 10 years ago or something like that The technology shifted and suddenly it was available to people just in in general and you could buy a microphone and and the bits and pieces and an interface and Laptop and set yourself up at home I mean, I'm recording this from my voiceover booth in my bedroom and I record broadcast quality national Advertising from here, you know, so That was not possible 15 20 years ago, right? It was much much much harder and more Complex and much more expensive to to be able to record as an individual You had to be part of a bigger studio kind of space. So that's really really changed the game It meant that it became way more accessible for people. So many many many more people entered the field which increased the competition especially at the kind of like entry-level end because suddenly you didn't have to be Technically skilled or like you didn't have to have very much in the way of craft to get through the door you know like all you have to do is go buy some equipment and set it up and Suddenly you could hang out your I'm a voiceover artist jingle, you know so that really really really changed the It changed the industry and it made it made it much more possible for people to work on a much broader scale So you went from being really really local to being able to work globally You know, I can work with people from all over the world now So that's very very very cool And then AI is another kind of technology that is having a big impact I talked about it a bit before, you know, like we as voiceover artists We are at risk in a couple of ways from AI. The first is that It makes it much easier to copy and clone and use people's voices. And the second thing is It's having a big impact on their kind of like entry-level end of the industry I don't think AI matters that much at the high end of advertising where I work Because they want real people there and they want to work with real people and They want all of the nuances that a human voice can bring to whatever they're recording but at the lower end where people want things done fast and cheap AI is like the way that people are going because AI will always be faster and cheaper than a human. Always, you know, even a human who's willing to do really shit work for not much money and pump it out really really fast You know, like AI can still do that faster. So that's a challenge for lots and lots of people Yeah, so there's different kinds of ways that technology has been positive and negative for voiceover But like it's a it's a massive massive part of the industry and it's a huge part of the industry and it continues to change and evolve and I'm very interested to see how the industry itself continues to evolve over time. Yeah So what are my employment conditions like? So I have a bunch of different employment conditions for voiceover I'm really self-employed like that's really what I am. I'm a freelance voiceover talent, but There are some ways that you can be contracted to people so if you're a freelancer You can be contracted to people. So it might be that like there's been times in the past where I've been contracted to a particular brand And I've been their brand voice. I've been able to do other work as well But like for instance, I was the brand voice for Red Rooster for like about five years and I didn't do any other fast food Work in that time. So I was still self-employed, but I was contracted to them to do their particular work for them But mostly it's self-employed. It's not commission-based. It's not full-time employment Although possibly you could be a full-time voiceover talent for someone else I don't know for sure that that exists, but it might who knows The rate at which people are coming into the industry is really enormous and the way that The way that it's developing and moving and changing and really becoming a part of lots and lots of other industries Is really changing the way voiceover works, you know, like in the world So we'll just see what happens. I'm very interested to see how things change What work opportunities are out there for someone to looking to get into a similar field? Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots All you have to do is think about where do I hear the recorded voice? Like literally spend a couple of days wandering around taking note of where you hear the recorded voice And you'll notice that like it's freaking everywhere, right? So there's lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of opportunities to do it And there's many pathways that you can go down to get into this as well Really the fundamentals that you need are the equipment and the skills So once you've got those really you can go and kind of shop those skills out to anyone anywhere, you know There's lots of different niches. There's the commercial side of things with advertising Obviously there's like character work in video games and animations There's other types of broadcast work like documentaries And like other types of narration that show up in, you know, TVs and movies and all that kind of stuff There's all the non-broadcast work which is things like e-learning E-learning is massive. It's so big and it's just getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger It's like a multi-billion dollar industry. So that's just growing all of the time And voiceover is fundamental to e-learning If you think about the fact that you sit in front of a computer and you watch a video that tells you some things There's a voiceover artist behind the voiced component of that, right? So e-learning is huge. Lots of other kind of non-broadcast corporate things like internal videos for companies Stuff that they stick on their website, might be training videos that they make for their staff Or, you know, handover videos. There's all sorts of different stuff There's more work than you can poke a stick at So the opportunities are endless if you're willing to jump in there and see what you can do What are the current industry trends within the industry? Diversity is massive right now People are bored of hearing the same voices all of the time saying the same things So everyone, clients and buyers of voice are looking for new and different voices all the time Harks back to what work opportunities are there The fact that people are looking for new voices all the time means that there are always new opportunities For new voices who are coming into the industry Natural raids, authentic sounding voices are a very, very big thing right now It used to be that everything got very modulated and controlled And now everyone wants to hear texture, like a bit of a little fry, like that kind of rasp in your throat They want to hear breathing Five years ago, breaths got taken out of everything You didn't hear a person breathe on something that was recorded Breaths got cut out in the edit But these days, sometimes breaths get kept in if they help the raid But probably natural, authentic, real sounding human voices are a really, really big industry trend And that's got a bit to do with AI as well If you listen to a human voice next to an AI voice, you can really hear those differences And AI voices have their role, they're really, really useful in a lot of ways But they're not human And so there's kind of like these two side-by-side trends There's a big push for AI, lots of people are using AI And I would call that a bit of a trend, right But also having a very human sounding voice that sounds like a real person And is authentic and real, that's a big trend too And it's funny that they kind of sit side-by-side So what career advice do I give to someone starting out? It's going to take a while Don't expect this to be fast People say in voiceover all the time, it's a marathon, not a sprint, right Because it takes time It takes time to build the skills, it takes time to get good with the equipment It takes time to build your own networks And find clients, and build up a client base And that kind of thing So I always suggest to people, if they want to get into voiceover Do it as a, I wouldn't necessarily, I don't like the word side hustle Because I think if you're going to step into creative industries You want multiple things that you do Fingers in multiple pies And voiceover can be a revenue stream, right It can be one of your revenue streams And so I think it's really, really important that you don't just put all your eggs in one basket And that means creatively, in terms of different income streams You want to make sure that you've got lots of inputs as a creative Because it can get really challenging if you only focus on one creative income stream And for some reason that stops working for some period of time Maybe you get sick and you can't do it Or maybe something changes in the industry And you've got some, you have to, it takes a bit of time to pivot And catch back up with where the industry's gone If you've only got that one income stream It can be really challenging during that time So firstly, if you're starting out as a voiceover artist, fantastic Just don't make it your only thing Because it does take time to build that up And then also inside of voiceover Don't get all your eggs in one basket inside of voiceover either, right Make sure that you're building your skills across many, many genres and niches It can be really good to focus on one and have one be your main thing Like for me, commercial is definitely my main thing, right But I also do a few other kinds of things And I have bits and pieces of those different types of work coming in all the time So just keep your options open is what I recommend And don't give up, okay You're going to need resilience, you're going to need persistence You're going to need to keep getting up in the face of lots and lots and lots of no's You're going to get lots and lots of no's But just consider those no's to be not right now's instead of end points So that's my advice Can I share a funny or memorable moment from one of my recording sessions? Yes, absolutely So a pretty long time ago I was recording some stuff for Scratch and Win for Lotto And it was like a robot Scratch and Win Some robotic thing was happening, I can't even remember It was a long time ago But what I do remember is that just before I went into the session My partner called me, right He called me to just have a chat with me And I thought I hung up but I didn't And I put the phone down in the booth And then like outside of the booth in the studio Where the engineer and the clients were sitting And then I went into the booth which is a separate door A separate room And I shut the door behind me And I started doing the job and we did the thing And we're recording and everything's great And then they're like, oh can you do it in a robot voice? And so I did this whole ad talking like a robot like this And came out and they decided not to use the robot voice But we did it anyway because it was funny And when I came out I said goodbye to everyone I picked up my phone and I walked out And it turns out my phone had been on the whole time Like the call that I had had with my partner hadn't hung up properly And so he listened to the whole session, right And when we talked about it afterwards He was like, oh I really loved your robot voice That was hilarious And now he just gives me shit about having a robot voice all the time This is like eight years ago or something ridiculous And he still thinks it's hilarious at every opportunity He says, ah, ah, ah, ah, says things in robot voice And gives me grief about my robot voice This is very, very, very funny So yeah, that's really, it just sticks in my head It's funny because I'm performing in front of people When I'm in the booth Because there's the engineer, there's clients, all that kind of thing But I'm very used to those people hearing what I do Hearing someone from outside of it Even though it's my partner Hearing me do it at that time was really, really challenging It's not so much anymore because I work from home now And people hear me make weird noises And do funny things into a microphone all of the time So it's not quite such a big deal But back then it felt really, really confronting To have someone from outside of it listen to me And then when he gave me grief about it all the time And teased me about it It was just a reminder of how weird it was So yeah, it was fun though I really like that story If I wasn't a voiceover artist, what other profession do you think you would be in? Oh man, I don't know But I'm already in a bunch of other professions So I'm a photographer, I'm a teacher, and I'm a coach So I have acting and voiceover as one of my creative pursuits And photography is another one And then, like I said, I also teach at the WA Academy of Performing Arts And I have a private coaching business So I have a lot of different professions that I'm already in If I had to stop all of this and start completely from scratch I don't know what I would do I'm already doing all of the things that I want to do Maybe I'd become a psychologist I think possibly if I was going to start completely from scratch And I couldn't do any of the things that I was currently doing I would probably go down some sort of therapist path, I reckon It could be physical therapy It could be psychological therapy But I suspect that's the kind of profession that I would go down Do I prefer working on animation, video games, commercials Or other types of projects and why? I love commercial because I'm very comfortable with commercial I've been doing it for a very long time And I feel very competent and very confident doing commercials I've done a bit of work on animation and I really enjoy it It's very new to me And I don't trust myself in that space just yet I'm still pretty insecure about it But I really, really enjoy it And I'd love, love, love to do more of it Video games is something that I haven't had a chance to play in yet And I think I would like to But it's a challenging space to get into And it requires a lot of time and effort and focus And I don't have that time and effort and focus available to me right now So I'll keep trying to work on animations when they come up I'll audition for them I'll keep working in commercial because I love it And it makes me plenty of income And it's my main income source for voiceover And I really, really, I just love doing it It's super fun I don't think I'll ever want to stop doing commercial work It satisfies me on a lot of different levels It's really quick because most ads are only 30 seconds long So even if I'm recording a bunch of them I'm still only in the booth for a pretty short amount of time There's other people that do longer form work like audiobooks Oh, I haven't mentioned audiobooks That's another big genre and niche of voiceover That long form kind of work takes a lot of time in the booth And I tend to like to be in and out So commercial is probably my favourite But animation is really fun because you just get to play And it's like being a little baby Not a baby but a kid It's like being a little kid And I get to play and explore And do all sorts of weird and wacky wonderful things with my voice And that's really, really fun To be able to stretch and try different things And even the fact that I'm not very good at it yet And I don't feel confident and competent in it yet is fun Because I'm learning new things all of the time And it's really, really stretching me It stretches me creatively And it also makes me step outside of my comfort zone And I really enjoy things that get me outside of my comfort zone So yeah, that's why How do I keep my voice healthy and maintain its quality? I pay a lot of attention to how functional and healthy my voice And my whole body is Because it's not just about voice The body is really important It's what drives the voice and creates the voice So for me, keeping my voice healthy and maintaining its quality Is about constant awareness of what kind of physical state I'm in And how well everything's working I try to stay fit And I eat healthily I drink water And try and stay hydrated And if I'm ever sick, I rest it But really the most important thing for me is I don't run around screaming my head off And trying to damage my voice that way I used to party, party lots and lots when I was a kid When I was younger Not a kid, actually A kid, right But when I was in my 20s When I was a younger adult And that always really damaged my voice Because I'd go out and yell and scream and dance and sing And have a really good time But I would wake up the next day with a really trashed voice So I tend not to do that anymore And I try to protect my voice that way But mostly it's about being healthy That's the healthy overall Systemically healthy is what keeps my voice healthy How do I handle difficult or complex scripts? Well this is a really, really big question Because this is basically what I teach people when we do voiceover training Right But effectively I handle difficult or complex scripts with patience I just, I'm curious about what's happening And I'm very committed to finding a path through it And often difficult or complex scripts just require more time spent On analysing the script and working out Whatever the complex thing is Trying to simplify it Right Because even if it looks complex on the outside There is going to be a way For it to be simple And straightforward So it's just about finding that So breaking the script down into all of its little components And really digging into things like the meaning What are the words saying Is there any subtext here that I need to explore And I really think about like Who's hearing this and why they need it And what's important to them If it's a character piece We're thinking about the other character and the environment And all of those kinds of things If it's a commercial piece I'm very much thinking about does this make sense What's the message here Who am I saying this message to And why do they care Why is it important to them And you know those kinds of things If it's a complex script to say Like if the words are complex And it's really like complex sentences And that kind of thing Then what I do is Is really work on being Fluid and agile in my articulation So that I can get my mouth around the complex words And the complex sentences So that means being really well warmed up But also practicing I have a little trick that I do Where I put my knuckle in my mouth In between my teeth And say hard to say things In a really over enunciated Over done kind of way And when I take my finger out I'm able to say the words And the premise here is That if you put an obstruction in place You could use a pen or anything You just put a pen in your mouth And if you put an obstruction in your mouth And you work hard to make the shape of the word For instance Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Right, if you put a pen or your finger in your mouth And kind of bit down on it gently And said the word around that obstruction It makes your muscles work harder So when you take the obstruction out It's easy for the muscles to make that shape So if it's complex words Wordy sentences that are hard to say If I find myself stumbling over something And that's the complexity That's how I resolve it Yeah, I hope that answers Your questions the way that you wanted to hear them Yeah, bye