This past week was a great work week!  My jobs included recording voiceovers (looping) for a TV show, and I had one of the best voiceover sessions ever for a wonderful movie. The film session was particularly enjoyable because there were ten incredibly talented voice actors in the studio, capable of doing over a dozen languages and accents between all of us.  It really keeps you on your toes to work with such an impressive group of actors.  Best of all, I enjoyed working with friends.

The looping voiceover jobs I work on are SAG-AFTRA day player rate jobs, meaning they pay $842 each, plus residuals, going up to $859 in July. (See SAG-AFTRA Theatrical Wage Tables here.) Having special skills with languages and/or accents as a union actor is one of the best ways to break into this lucrative line of work, and yet, many union actors do not update their profiles with SAG-AFTRA or promote these skills!

The day I worked on the TV show, the casting director told me she had a hard time finding union talent who could do certain voices because actors had old profiles at SAG-AFTRA. She had booked me because she needed my Southern accent that day, but she also needed some fluent Hungarian speakers.  She eventually found a couple of stellar actors, but not without a search.  She was actually getting old answering services when she called people.  Who still has an answering service?!

Your website may be up-to-date and your agent may have your latest resume, but don’t forget to update with SAG-AFTRA!  Not all roles are filled via breakdowns and agent submissions.  Many people like to find talent on their own and will book you directly.  It’s not enough to have a great agent or to promote yourself with a fantastic website or to update friends and followers on Facebook or Twitter if someone who has never met you is searching for talent with specific skills directly through SAG-AFTRA. Make sure you can be found easily through key words on your resume (such as any languages, accents or dialects), and that you are easy to get in touch with so you don’t miss out on work!  You can update your profile with SAG-AFTRA here.