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question:  Can artificial accents and dialects obtain voice-over work?

answer:

Producers and casting agents rarely desire artificial accents and dialects. However there are occasions when they do. Most of it depends upon your proficiency and your location.

Let’s begin with proficiency. When a casting agent requires an accent or dialect, they need someone who sounds genuine. However many people who can affect their voice with accents and dialects do not do it genuinely. This occurs because their ‘sound’ and/or intonation (way of speaking) is not accurate. It also occurs because their affectation is inconsistent (one syllable sounds genuine while the next does not).

If you desire an evaluation to determine how genuine your accents/dialects are, I suggest our EVALUATION PLACEMENT PROGRAM. A two-part program designed to assess potential and create a personalized learning program based upon your ability, voice-type, and goals - it builds the foundation for a long-term voice over career.

Next let’s discuss location. As a New York city producer, with a large voice-over artist talent pool at my disposal, I can generally find professional voice-over artists who naturally have the accent and dialect I require. Therefore, I rarely request a voice-over artist affect his or her voice.

Conversely, colleagues of mine who work in smaller, less competitive voice-over markets occasionally request that voice-over artists who affect their voice, as they don’t have a large talent pool and subsequently a genuine voice talent (who speaks the required accent/dialect) is not available.

With respect to those of you who indeed can pull off genuine sounding accents/dialects, you may do best marketing your talent to smaller markets.

Good luck!

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