VOPlanet

Look up the word versatile and it’s quite possible that a photo of professional voice actor Maria Pendolino is right next to it. From slinky smooth commercial voice overs to highly technical medical jargon, Maria is a voice over chameleon. We are quite lucky to have Maria on the VOPlanet VO Team and even luckier that she had moment between all her awesome endeavors to sit down and answer a few questions about her career, favorite voice over jobs and the future of voice over casting.

The demand for a neutral international sound has popularized a voice over accent that is not quite American, British or European. Transatlantic voice overs, also known as Mid-Atlantic English, International English or Neutral English, are in demand and voice actors who have mastered the accent are being cast with increasing frequency. Voice buyers and voice actors are sometimes unsure of what exactly Neutral English is. To get a better idea we went to the experts. We talked to Juliette Gray and J. Michael Collins, two of the top professional voice actors who book Transatlantic voice over work, about what the accent is, how it’s being used and what exactly it sounds like.

Whether you are new to the voice over business or you are a veteran voice over director, insights from the voice actor’s side of the microphone are invaluable. Preparation before and guidance during a voice over session are vital to bringing out the best performance from voice talent. VOPlanet's Kevin West asked voice over session masters Debbie Grattan and Kelley Buttrick for tips on how to direct voice actors.

Many voice actors have incredible voice over skills, but have no idea what to say in a business proposal. Voice over talent that audition for jobs online are often asked to make a few comments to the voice buyer in their proposal. If you draw a blank when filling out voice over proposals on P2P, you are far from alone. Let’s get you on the path to glorious client comments and conquer the comments box.

A lot of people have questions and misconceptions about casting on pay-to-play (P2P) sites. The client side of P2P can be somewhat of a mystery to voice talent. Many voice actors are simply unaware of what really goes on behind the scenes and inaccurate information gets shared and repeated. Let's answer some of the most common questions about voice over P2P sites.

Is it best to hire voice actors through a casting agent? What about Union versus non-Union voice talent? Does it make a difference? Let's explore.

We continue our discussion on hiring professional voice actors with a look at the different online voice over casting options. Are those top-of-page ads touting cheap voice overs legit? Hiring a voice actor direct from their personal site can be a great option if you have the time. We discuss some important points to consider when hiring a voice actor direct from their website.