US voice agents - international talent

Glade Gordon · **Voice Talent** Joined: 06 Nov 2007 Posts: 21

About to pose a really ignorant question I know, but here goes.. Confused

I'm an Australian voice talent living in Switzerland (moving to France soon) and am currently seeking representation. I initially bombarded the English agencies with demo CDs etc. as I am guessing they will be more responsive to my accent and style. At the moment I am working through the Australian agencies and have a list of about 6 million in the US. Clearly, I find this a little daunting. As most of these do not post email addresses on their websites, I am left wondering which ones might possibly be worth my while. To send CDs blindly to every US agent from Switzerland would prove very costly on all accounts. I would love it if someone could post a shortlist of agents in the US who work with international talents, or just simply their recommendations.

Thanks in advance,
Glade

Deby Cedars · **Voice Talent** Joined: 23 Jan 2006 Posts: 1482

I doubt if your going to get much of a response to your thread. I sent my demo to one British agent. He quickly responded back that even if I had ISDN or Source Connect that he would not take on an American Talent because he already had American Talents living in his city in England and he did not trust ISDN or Source Connect. This was over a year ago when I only had two demos before I was even a premium member of voice123.

After getting that response I never tried again to get an agent in any other country other than my own. Was I wise with my time or did I give up too easily????? I have no clue. keine ahnung

I do know that I've had a handful of agents in the past but even with an agent.....you still have to market yourself.

Glade Gordon · **Voice Talent** Joined: 06 Nov 2007 Posts: 21

Hi Deby, problem is that here in Switzerland, there are literally NO voice over agents. I have already contacted all the main studios in Zurich which do voice over and it's prevalent that there probably won't be a great need for english voice overs in a country which speaks 4 languages and english aint one of them. I do speak italian but I think there will be an even smaller need for my lovely english-italian.

If ISDN aint working for anyone, then I had better either move to the US or UK, or just give up. I really don't see any of the above as options so I'm intent on finding a way. I'm certainly not expecting some agent to jump out from the woodwork and solve all my life's problems. I realize that whether I have representation or not, it takes a lot of work to get a business like this on the road.

Claire Dodin · **Voice Talent** Joined: 16 Aug 2005 Posts: 400

Glade and Deby,

Do not give up before trying everything!
Do not let one rejection demoralise you!
It's possible to get agents in foreign countries.
I have to say though that I could not identify agents in French speaking countries for some reason. It seems all the jobs are cast between friends. So the best way there is to get to the production companies and studios direct.
By the way, this is true anywhere, there's plenty of work you can get without an agent.
As for the US agents, have a look at www.voicebank.net
you'll get all the info on all big agents. To find out which ones are the best or have foreign voices, just look at their clients' list.
Good luck!!

Glade Gordon · **Voice Talent** Joined: 06 Nov 2007 Posts: 21

Thanks Claire, I'm a long way from giving up on this and by chance..I'm moving to France in 4 weeks. I too, have had some difficulty hunting down agents in France and it's nice to get a little insight as to why.

Thanks also for the link Wink

Michael J. Schoen · **Voice Talent** Joined: 21 Jan 2008 Posts: 198

Glade,
You can get some agents to listen to audio and video clips on a website, which would remove the costs of shipping CDs.
Of course it's not easy coming in cold -- they get a lot of requests and many from newbies.
Best of luck.