Voicebank.net’s VoiceRegistry Blog

The San Francisco Voice Over Market- Q&A with Voice One’s Elaine Clark

I’ve known Elaine Clark for years, when I began studying voice over in San Francisco. Elaine’s very successful school, Voice One , is one of San Francisco’s best known places to train for voice over (and on-camera acting). Not only is she a great teacher, Elaine is a successful voice talent and actor. I interviewed her recently about her school and the San Francisco voice over industry.

-Tracy Pattin

TJP: How long have you had your Voice Over School in San Francisco?

EC: I founded Voice One in 1986.

TJP: What’s the market like in San Francisco today?

EC: The voice over market in San Francisco is strong. The Bay Area is rated 4th or 5th (behind Los Angeles, New York and Chicago) in advertising.

TJP: What types of voice over projects are produced in San Francisco?

EC: San Francisco is often thought of as a radio commercial town. Corporate narration remains consistent with all the high-tech industrials (one of the benefits of being so close to Silicon Valley). The video game industry continues to hire actors. Toy voices and voice mail systems are bread and butter for many actors here.

TJP: What was the industry like when you started?

EC: In the early days, I walked my demo reel (yes, reel-to-reel tape) into advertising agencies and production companies and asked for work. You definitely can’t do that now! There are too many filters that prevent talent from contacting advertising agency people directly.

TJP: How has the industry changed in San Francisco over the years?

EC: There have been numerous changes over the years. I became a voice actor in 1980. At that time, there were only a handful of people doing VO in San Francisco, 25-50 at most. Now, there are hundreds if not thousands. Another change of course is that demos went from cassette to CD to mp3.

TJP: What 5 tips do you have for voice over success?

EC:

1.You need to develop your ear first, emotions second and your voice third.

2.Get training, listen to commercials, dissect them, figure out what works and what doesn’t work.

3.Understand what motivates the listener to take action.

4.Then, connect with your feelings and share them with your audience.

5. Once you’ve done your technical and emotional homework, the appropriate voice usually follows.

For more…check out Voice One’s podcast.