Post by Kreindis on Jul 10, 2018 4:37:20 GMT -8
Good evening! I'm Alyssa a.k.a. Kreindis.
I've only recently gotten in the VA industry back in 2016 when I decided that I wanted to actually do something with my life rather than spending it in the hospitality industry (Front Desk Guest Service Rep and Night Auditor for 4 years). I've always messed around with the idea of being in the entertainment industry off and on but it's something I never really thought about doing seriously up until now.
Currently, I'm a very knowledgeable but unsuccessful voice actress. Which I'm hoping to resolve this week with my coach. I've also been very unsuccessful as far as connections go as I recently decided to try a completely different approach to my business: Coming out fully as a transwoman.
This might sound weird, but I am someone who took the issue of "hating one's own voice" to extremes. It was a constant, unchanging reminder of my biological gender. One that I have never liked. So why be a voice talent then? Because I've always really like female parts in choir. But it was something I never had the courage to actually try and do. I never even considered being a Voice Actress until recently because I thought it wouldn't have been possible. It wasn't until I was watching a playthrough of Danganronpa 2, that I really started thinking about voice acting. It was the first time I listened closely to the performances. And maybe only the second when I started to really (mentally) dissect them.
From that point, I started to look up more things about VO and eventually threw my hat into a class about the basics. While I knew I could get a bunch of information online, I haven't acted/sung seriously in years. So I figured that an in-person class would benefit me if just for the opportunity to get used to that again. Little did I know, my instructor was Rick May. The voice of The Soldier from Team Fortress 2, and Peppy Hare. Needless to say, it was very intimidating! But it was also a great experience, he led me to my current coach and was inspiring to me throughout the classes. Most notable is that when we were practicing radio play scripts and rotating roles, I requested to play Cruella De Vile-type character. He allowed it, and it was.. difficult, but probably one of the (secretly) happiest moments of my life.
So now come a few years later, I haven't really had much luck as far as VO goes. Between free platforms (Fiverr, ACX, Craigslist) I've done maybe 15 jobs. Mostly commercial work, two audio books. And I've never gotten to the point where consistent auditions were easy to get.
Obviously that isn't working, and I've even had a prolonged mental breakdown in 2017 which resulted in a cease of productivity for a number of months, and when I couldn't get the ball rolling again. I just gave up. Until around March or April this year. Since then, I've re-established all of my platforms that I've been using. And still do not have the inkling of a business.
And that brings me to right now. I figure since I really wasn't getting anywhere as a male voice talent, and it's my dream to be a voice actress anyway... I might as well try and start on that path and see how it goes! At first, I tried to join a local group of Washington-based VO actors who were very accepting. Up until the point where I came out as a transgirl to them. So much for those connections.
But I figured I wanted some kind of connections still since I had literally zero. I came across VAC when I was looking up female characters and in turn, the people who play them. Because I feel like I needed some sort of reference even just unconsciously for how to sound more feminine, since I was struggling. Double points if I could find characters that I felt like I could voice match somewhat naturally.
For some reason, Edna (Tales of Zestiria) came to mind. And of course, you could guess how I ended up here at that point.
Anyways, hello! I haven't really been part of any VO communities but VAC seemed interesting to me, so I figured why not? And that's my story for being here! Thanks for reading. I'll try to be a helpful community member where I can be.