July 11, 2024 • 34 mins
Today, an eye-opening chat with the best animation coach in the business, Everett Oliver, as we discuss the state of the animation business, Everett's background in the animation industry, the importance of developing relationships, and the difference between voicing a character and creating a character.
We also touch on the impact of the SAG-AFTRA strike and the need for diversity in voiceover roles. Everett emphasizes the importance of being creative and bringing a unique perspective to voice acting.
Everett Oliver: https://voiceactingdirector.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Well, our guest today is not only a goodfriend and my personal animation coach,
but he's one of the most accomplishedcoaches in the entire genre.
Everett Oliver has worked on primetimeshows, including The Simpsons, King of the
Hill, feature films like Men in Black,Jackie Chan Adventures.
He's worked with Disney.
(00:24):
He's worked with Columbia TriStar.
He's worked with stars.
And I guess the one strike on his resumeis he's worked with me as well.
I say that to kid him.
He is one of the greatest coaches inanimation today.
In fact, the way I found Everett Oliverwas when Dave Fennoy mentioned to me, he
said, if you're going to go into animationor seek any animation work, Everett Oliver
(00:47):
is the best in the business.
And I still believe that to this day.
Please welcome my good friend and coachEverett Oliver.
Man, it's good to see you.
Thank you, it's good to see you too.
I didn't hear anything out of the crowd inmy head.
You know I hear things.
Yeah.
Only me, only me.
I tell you, I entertain myself.
(01:08):
I've been looking forward to today for along time because I mentioned this to you
when we were getting ready to go oncamera.
The last time I saw you was almost a yearago.
You blew through the room in Dallas at OneVoice.
And, you know, as you like to say, thatcolor works for you.
(01:28):
And then he was gone, right?
Like just a puff of smoke.
So we didn't get a chance to chat a wholelot.
And so I've been looking forward to thisfor a long time.
We've coached together.
We've hung out together.
We've had drinks together.
But yeah.
And I honestly, I don't know a ton aboutyour story, right?
(01:52):
I mean, people obviously recommended youhighly, people that I respect like Dave
Fennoy and others.
But I don't know.
a whole lot about your story, how itstarted and how you got here.
So let's start there.
I know you're a native New Yorker.
I know you spent a cup of coffee in myhometown, Richmond, Virginia, spent time
in Georgia, and now you're kind of bi-coastal, right?
(02:15):
Alternating between New York and LA.
Where did you start in this crazybusiness, Everett?
I started here.
I actually started here in LA.
I'm actually going on 30 years in thebusiness.
I know, I know.
I can see the little gray hairs.
I trimmed that stuff yesterday.
(02:39):
So 30 years, I started in animationproduction.
I'm basically like a sponge.
I get bored easily.
I watch people, I watch behaviors.
I don't watch my own work, what I workedon.
(03:00):
But I've worked in casting.
I worked in development.
I've worked in post -production andanimation.
I've worked at a talent agency, directedactors on auditions.
I'm going on as of next week, I would havebeen eight years.
I'm running my own business.
(03:21):
I am.
Thank you.
by coastal.
I'm heading back East for about threemonths.
So how I really just started this is justbasically a string of luck.
Being really wise.
(03:42):
and soaking up stuff, really, reallysoaking up stuff like a sponge and not
knowing what I really.
anticipated as to what I was going to doin LA.
Like I had a big thing of, you know,everybody thought I was going to come out
here and be an actor because I'm soanimated.
I wanted to work in live TV.
(04:03):
It didn't end up that way.
All of my friends who I went to collegewith were still around.
They've worked in live TV.
So I thought, I'll go work in live TV withactors or produce.
And then it just so happens I just
ended up at Film Roman, their firstanimation company.
And people generally just liked me.
(04:24):
I had a little Southern accent.
My little Southern charm.
Yes, ma 'am.
Yes, sir.
That didn't go along real well.
And I was just so nice and polite and justnaive and didn't know what was happening.
And just opportunity presented itself.
(04:47):
worked with, didn't realize that I wasworking with top voice actors and top
voice directors and top animation showsand producers.
And looking at it now, I'm very, veryfortunate.
(05:07):
Yes, I still have my bumpy roads andstuff.
And I've decided to just take a clear pathon
on figuring out, I'm still figuring outwhat's the next, I'm calling it the next
phase in my life of what I want to do.
Because there's more phases that I stillwant to do.
And I'm learning from different coaches,you know, expressions and sayings.
(05:31):
What doesn't serve me, I cut out.
I'm a straight shooter.
And I do personal appearances.
I love popping in and popping out.
You've got three seconds really to impressme and tell me your life story.
And what's scary enough is I retain itall.
And then I can move on to the next person.
Because there's so many people I need tosee and check up on.
(05:53):
You're breathing?
You're doing great?
What's wrong?
What's the problem?
What you need?
You need to come see me.
We need to schedule this meeting so I canget you all on the right path.
So that's me and I'm in trouble.
I know.
I know what my purpose in life is.
I know what I'm here to do.
I gotta tell you, when I saw you last yearin Dallas at One Voice, I turned around
(06:15):
and it was Saturday evening, it was theevening of the One Voice Awards, everybody
was all dressed up.
I turned around and Everett's here and Iwas elated.
And I turned back around and Everett wasgone.
You, that might've been the greatest Irishgoodbye in history, right?
You just, it was almost like in a cloud ofsmoke.
(06:36):
You just, you just disappeared.
Mm -hmm.
worked for, you were a booth director fora talent agency for several years.
And I've always wanted to talk to youabout that because we've never discussed
it.
What did you learn in those years aboutboth sides of the glass, about both being
a booth director and about an actor,right?
(06:58):
What they go through on their side of theglass as well.
Well, I had no clue what a booth directorwas when I first, day one.
So it took me years to figure out thatprocess and why the hell I was there
because I could not figure out my mentorat the time, Charlie Allen told me and
(07:20):
said to me, you need to go be a boothdirector.
And I was like, what is that?
I don't even know what that is.
So in my time being a booth director forfive years, I learned.
for myself that I had a gift that I wasable to connect to actors.
And the actors who I worked with,surprisingly enough, majority of them said
(07:43):
to me, I've never booked an animatedseries before.
And so my mouth was like, what?
Because I had come from that whole world.
So in learning my special gift, inlearning how to pull performances,
Learning how to direct that's really andthat the fact is that Life is serious But
(08:07):
it ain't that serious meaning Yeah,there's some people I booked I got them
guest roles There's some people who whoare really connected with that I would
book on a consistent basis one of myreally good friends who I just saw about
two weeks ago and so it was for me oflearning how the agency
(08:29):
world work.
Now, I was asked to be an agent, I turnedit down.
Because I had that in casting.
I had, you know, negotiated, I negotiatedsalaries in casting.
I had told actors, you need to be here.
I had covered for actors if they wererunning late to a session.
(08:49):
I've done everything I could in castingthat I didn't need to do it as a talent
agent.
Because I had done that.
I wanted to be on the creative side andsee what the actors could do and also see
what they couldn't do and get them towhere they could do it.
That's what I did.
But still soaking up everything.
(09:10):
It was a fast moving pace and I come froma fast moving pace world.
So it was just like, you didn't have timeto think.
You didn't have time to, it was just thecopy comes in.
You get them to audition.
They had to copy the night before.
And I do it to this day.
When I'm directing actors, when I'm doingauditions for actors, you've got to be in
(09:33):
a fast moving pace.
That's why I move so fast and move soquickly.
You don't have time to think.
So that's what we, it's the differentpersonalities that I also learned.
Because I was dealing with probably, weprobably had about 250 people represented
at the agency back then.
The actors who came into the office, Iwould say probably about 30, about maybe
(09:59):
30, maybe 40 actors that would come in.
So I learned, had to learn 40 differentpersonalities.
Plus the copy.
Rather be commercial, rather be promo,rather be animation.
Then I had to report to my agents.
Then it was like, you know, we've got toget these projects out in a timely manner.
(10:21):
So.
I'm feeding off of people's energies.
I'm feeding off of agencies energies I'mfeeding off, you know trying to you know
people who audition from home that had tosend in the actual audition So it was all
of those factors and it's just after fiveyears.
It's just a burnout now I know what actorsgo through when I see him on TV and
(10:44):
they've done a series for 14 15 years andthe same repetitive stuff It's just
burnout and so from the actors
point of view, they had to come inprepared.
They had to just be able to take simpledirection.
I learned for myself that all I have to dois tweak you.
(11:04):
I don't have to tell them whatspecifically to do it this way, do it this
way.
I can submit suggestions, but most of thetime I just tweak them.
Most of the time I just hit the button,hit report.
And then you'll be like, I like that.
I'm a type of person that I have also hadto learn that I'm hard to impress.
That's just the nature of where I comefrom.
So I'm a straight shooter.
(11:25):
So I'd go, when they saw me smile or theysay when I kicked them out of the booth,
they know that was brilliant.
Because remember, I come from the castingside.
So I know who you're competing against.
And all of the stuff that I learned fromAVO Talent, I bring to my professional
(11:45):
career to this day.
The same way I do with non -union actorsis I know the level of what's happening
what's happening out there and thecompetition now that's on a much larger
scale It's even harder Everybody in theworld wants to do animation Everybody
(12:07):
that's the hardest profession to get intoI Didn't think about it at the time
because I've been doing for so long.
I ain't even been I hadn't really thoughtabout it
you have to bring something unique anddifferent to the table.
You have to network.
You have to put yourself out there.
I just had a client today that was justtelling me that and talking to him from a
(12:30):
person who's outside of the States, who isdoing animation in other European
countries.
And I literally just had this wholeconversation with him as to, do we got to
negotiate?
That's also affected at actors, you know,especially non -union actors.
(12:52):
If you're gonna do animation, which isprobably 2 % happening, I'm not gonna say
it's 90 % because that's where all thesex, most of the animation is all sac.
Most of the animation, 98, 99 % of it isall done in Los Angeles.
The other half is done in New York.
That's just the way, the nature of how thebusiness runs.
(13:13):
Unless you're doing stuff that's onYouTube.
then you can be anywhere around thecountry.
My perception is, and maybe you cancorrect me here, that that's not as true
as it used to be.
And I'll use examples of Atlanta foranimation, Toronto for video game work,
(13:35):
right?
It used to, it feels like, and maybe thisis where I'm wrong, Everett.
It feels like, man, you know, even fiveyears ago, before the pandemic, you had to
be in LA.
Still true?
They've changed it within the lastprobably three, I would say within the
last month, all the animation has comeback to Los Angeles.
(13:57):
I would say 98%.
So a lot of actors are getting LA only, LAtalent only.
Now there's an exception to the rule.
I would say you live in maybe SanFrancisco, San Diego, you can get there
fast, Vegas.
You can get there fast all those otherstates You have to develop a relationship
(14:22):
with your agent.
I would if you're gonna have a betterrelationship with your Casting person even
better if you knew the producers of theshow Those are the tickets those are the
people who won't get you in if you havethose kind of relationships you can
negotiate and do it anywhere
So for somebody who is not in LA, is iteven possible to use your example to
(14:47):
develop a relationship directly with thosepeople, the producers, the casting
directors, right?
The folks you just named.
Is that even something that people in EastJabip, Kansas can do?
If you can, I mean, you have to thinkoutside of the box.
(15:08):
So when I'm naming these producers,there's always, we're all connected in
some way, in some form.
So this is what I would do.
Let's say, for example, you're ananimation artist and you work on a show.
I know that I want to voice that show andI want to have the connection with that
(15:31):
producer.
I would connect myself with that artist,send my stuff to the artist, develop, at
least you develop that relationship withthe artist.
The artist who draws for that show live inthe same city as that producer and might
say, hey, why don't you send your demoreel to me and let me see if I can send it
(15:52):
to my producer.
That's one way of doing it.
I think the key there is you've got todevelop the relationship first.
You cannot come out of the box going, hi,I'm a voice actor, would you send my stuff
to your producer?
That's not the way anything works.
Yeah.
I mean, you know, I'm always, that's why Imove so fast.
(16:13):
I'm literally developing relationships.
I have people who come to me and say, I'mon X, I'm on LinkedIn, and I'm contacting
people who teach.
And I'm just saying, hey, I'm Everettblah, blah, blah, this and that.
I just want you to come teach for mystudents, because there's something that
you have.
(16:34):
I've done my research They're like, mygod.
I'm so honored that you even asked.
I'm like, yeah You know, so it's all aboutthat, you know figuring it out and what I
call it is a system I've always said thissince I was probably eight or nine years
old.
The world is made up of a system I don'tcare what any field that we're in whether
(16:59):
or not you work in a medical field youyou're working
and political office or whatever.
It's all a system.
And if you know how to get into asystem...
You learn to navigate.
That's how I did.
That's how I did my career.
I figured out the system.
It ain't hard Working for example workingat a talent agency.
(17:21):
They all do the same thing All the talentagencies all do the same thing you got to
know the players Who the big people?
And if the big people are gonna like youthey all give out copy they all negotiate
your salaries They all they all tell youwhere you need to be
Not one does something different from theother.
(17:44):
You asked me you asked me I Stopped soonce you figure that out You know, that's
how I learned how to move fast one of myagents one of my agents It's so funny cuz
he called me last week and he said everyou never say goodbye at a party That's
why I just leave I pop in I get to knowEverybody I see their faces.
(18:06):
I connect with everybody just to remainrelevant and then someone almost stopped
me Talk to me
Let me know whatever the situation is.
Get back to me.
Yeah.
a hoover shaker, but the only thing isthat I just absorb everything like a
sponge.
And that's where I think, especially thosefolks interested in animation are, you
(18:31):
know, it's, it is more challenging outsideof Los Angeles, even markets like Atlanta,
Toronto, et cetera.
And it is like every other genre, it'sbuilt on relationships, but those
relationships are not built as easily.
We'll call it digitally.
Right?
Like you might reach out to e -learningproducers online, things like that.
(18:55):
It's not as easily done in animation.
No, it's not.
I mean, like I said, you have to gothrough what I also think of as too, you
have to go through back doors and you haveto go through the side doors.
Cause going through the front doors istotally in this day and age.
And this is when they, and let me repeatmyself, think about it because Toronto has
(19:17):
a lot of animation.
New York has animation.
New York has preschool animation.
New York doesn't have the bigger stuff.
They might be working on getting thebigger stuff, but from my understanding,
it's Disney Junior and Nick Jr.
All of those preschool shows are all basedout of New York.
(19:41):
And Toronto, I believe, is also in that.
time span where they're doing little smallshows.
Vancouver, which I'm looking into, mightbe doing maybe a little bit more bigger
shows.
But also too, you should also talk to yourvoice talent with people who book the
(20:01):
animation type stuff as well, becausethat's where you're going to get a feel
for,
I mean, people are reaching out to me.
I'm doing some side stuff for actors tooand getting them connected.
And that's pretty much a part of mybusiness too and a part of who I am is
connecting people to other people as welltoo.
(20:23):
So if you're nice to me, I'll connect you.
Right, exactly.
feel like most people, and obviouslyyourself included, but most people, the
vast majority, want to be helpful.
They don't want to be sold.
They don't want to be manipulated, butthey do want to be helpful.
(20:46):
So if you're genuine and honest andauthentic and real and try to bring some
value to the relationship,
Absolutely.
will typically bend over backwards to dowhat they can for another human being.
also, too, talent.
When an agent, and I know my mind isracing, when an agent is looking for new,
(21:10):
I don't want to say customers, clients,you got to bring talent.
You got to come with credits.
You have to come with recommendation.
And I could hear it.
I can hear it in my head.
You gotta be ready.
Because when it happens, it's gonna happenthis quick.
(21:34):
And you're not gonna be able to, as I lovelooking at actors' faces, and they go,
here they go.
I say something to them, process, process,process.
And I'm saying it to them, and they'relooking at me because they can't say
anything.
Stop processing.
This is about money.
This is what I really wanted to come talkto you about.
(21:55):
This is about money and this is aboutratings That's what?
The business is like agents ain't gonnatell you Producers not gonna tell you I've
been in it long enough that I can go aheadand I can share this with you and tell you
I'm not talking about your personal stuff.
(22:15):
I'm talking about when you when youlooking especially to get into animation
It's about at the end of the day The toppeople at the networks are gonna go is
this show making me money And the agentsthey ain't gonna tell you but I'm gonna
(22:38):
tell you they're like how much money youbreaking me I'm making you money how much
money you making me money and if you ain'tmaking an agent money I don't know what to
tell you I Didn't sit that in about 36seconds
He is a straight shooter, if nothing else.
That's what this is a world about.
So and everybody should know that going in
(23:01):
Let's get a little more straight talkgoing if we could.
I have heard from some folks in theanimation side, and of course we had a
kind of a seismic shift in the last fewyears with regards to ethnically
appropriate actors playing roles, right?
(23:24):
Used to be guys like me would get cast,didn't matter what the role.
Great example, the classic example is HankAzaria as Hapu on The Simpsons, right?
And then we had a movement a few years agoand there has been a huge push in the
industry, which is fantastic, todiversify, to get appropriate roles to
appropriate actors.
(23:46):
Are we in a place now where guys like mecan get hired anymore?
Probably right now, not right now, no,probably.
That's my sense.
And I don't think that's a problem.
I think it's a market correction to whatwas happening before.
Agree?
I think that people weren't aware untilstuff happened in the world.
(24:12):
And so I get that all the time fromactors.
I don't know.
And my thing for them would be it's atiming.
It's all about timing.
You're going to have to sit and wait.
I have been...
And I can say this honestly, I wasprobably one of two African Americans in
(24:36):
casting.
I remember going to the Silvers.
I brought my parents.
And Dave Fennoy said something that wasvery interesting to my parents.
And of course, my mom, she's an advocatein the community for everything that she
(24:58):
touches.
And we asked how many people of color arecoaches?
This was back in probably 20...
16 2017.
Dave Fennoy said probably you can countthem in one hand.
Which would be him Joan Everett Sorry if Imissed anybody else cuz those are the only
(25:23):
three I can think of back then
Has that changed significantly?
It's changed a lot I could think ofprobably two or three more off the top of
my head So yes, it has changed.
It's it's it's growing slightly You know,they're not even not enough You know, God
(25:45):
bless of Michael Scott is killing it forvideo games Killing it.
I don't even see him anymore kill it.
I see him at the conferences wave.
You're doing well you breathing
(26:10):
But not enough.
he's like, hey, you know, this is what Iwant to do boom cuz and he said it to me
in a conversation Yeah, I don't see a lotof us at all.
What's happening.
I'm like, but then you need to take thetorch and do it You know
have the challenges lifted for people ofcolor or is it just this sort of social
(26:34):
movement that may end up being temporary?
Right?
I don't get that sense, but it's aquestion worth asking.
Who knows?
Hollywood shifts, you know, listen,Hollywood is funny.
Now you talking about, one of my friendssay, no, you a Californian.
You've been out here in California long inlife.
(26:54):
No, I'm a New Yorker.
Let's get, I'm half California and I'mhalf New York.
California is funny.
And all the Californians who's gonna lookat this, they're gonna go ahead, they're
gonna talk about me.
And I'm like, bring it.
because I don't know every, with this, itchanges.
It's like when you change your socks everyday, that's how people are having here in
(27:16):
California to me.
I can't give you a straight answer becauseI don't know, because it's like quiet as
kept.
Now I'll give you another tip.
All the video game producers only gonnacast actors in LA.
What?
(27:36):
Now I'm hearing this tip from a fewpeople, few sources.
So I got a little few spies that I stay incontact with.
I'm like, what do you mean the video gamesis being cast and only in LA?
You've got to be kidding me.
Video games is done all around the world.
Well, they don't have the same microphonesand they're not sure about the studios if
(27:57):
they're built correctly.
And this is why I'm like, for real?
So we're going to go do that now too?
That's what I'm saying.
I can't get a straight answer.
I'm fishy like mmm.
I'm not sure but my spies will say yeahEverett as quiet as this cat they doing
video games out of California as well Andthat's why I said I can't give you a
(28:17):
straight answer because California itflips back and forth and no one won't have
a clear answer We're just lucky as peopleof color are lucky enough that now We're
hoping that it'll stay the path.
Eventually, it's gonna
Open back up to you know, everybodybecause you're seeing a shift even in
(28:39):
television On prime time shows you'reseeing more people of color So i'm like
and you know, i'm like, okay, we'll see wecould just hope And pray the women are
killing it black women are killing it Mysisters are killing it.
I mean they're all of all over the placeYou just see them even on tv and there
(28:59):
there are a lot more opportunities forblack women I would say for and then for
males
You know and all genres across the boardSo we'll see
long overdue.
Let's switch gears for a minute.
We've had a lot of upheaval in thevoiceover business at large over the last,
(29:21):
let's call it two years.
We had SAG after strike, we had a writer'sguild strike, we've had the introduction
and hysteria around generative AI.
I think...
Maybe of those for animation, myimpression is that the biggest disruptor
(29:42):
of all so far has been the SAG afterstrike of last summer.
Are we back from that?
Is animation back?
Where is the animation?
What's the state of animation right now?
75 % down 75 and down I got that from asource 75 % because of there's lots of
(30:05):
changes going on with Disney They justsealed the deal with paramount
And there's one more I can't even thinkof.
It'll hit me.
And Warner Brothers.
I think there's some stuff happening atWarner Brothers.
And it's an election year.
(30:25):
And I was told early in my career, anytimethere's a presidential election year,
things are going to be a little wonky.
So my thing is, until after what happensin November,
Maybe into January things will start buteverybody is keeping they're keeping
(30:47):
they're not they're keeping their moneytight across the board So shows are gonna
be down a video games probably gonna bedown as well I think there might be a
strike coming from video games.
I can't confirm that as of yet There mightbe sort of they might but who knows like I
said, everything is so uncertainty one wayIt's this one way is that
(31:12):
Kind of a one -two punch of the strikelast year, the election year this year,
and now we're looking at a quarter of thebusiness being done in animation than we
normally are.
Wow.
Man.
this stuff lifted, because it's aboutthose budgets and we're going back to
money again, as soon as the networks feelcomfortable to talk to the showrunners,
(31:36):
then they'll go ahead and they'll donate,they'll get those monies for those
budgets.
As I said, it's all about money.
And then they can go ahead and make itlook at the Nelson ratings.
Now I'm a junkie.
I'm a Nelson's junkie.
That's one of the things that people don'tknow about me is people laugh at me like I
post stuff and I watch how many hits thatI get.
(31:57):
Because that to me reminds me of ratingsto see how relevant you are.
It's the exact same thing because I comefrom the land of television.
It's the exact same thing in your personallives when you're on social media.
Those numbers could tell you whether ornot you're, as people say, unpopular.
which I am, but popularity doesn't putcash in my pocket.
(32:21):
But it's just about me being relevant andpresent in the moment.
Let's.
wrap up with a little bit of talk aboutactual animation performance, because I
want people to understand one of thelessons that you made clear to me.
And that is there is a huge difference,and this is especially applicable to newer
(32:44):
folks.
There is a massive difference between avoice and a character.
Would you talk about that for a moment?
So a voice is when you're, well, first ofall, we're gonna call it voice acting.
It's all about your acting.
So when people are putting on characters,there's a sense of they're imitating
(33:10):
people who they know.
They're not bringing themselves to it.
So when you're voice acting, you're beingcreative.
and you're adding a point of view to it.
You're bringing maybe, what's it called?
(33:33):
What's it called?
I'm not being unique, but it's like, youknow, when a stutter to a character to
make it funny.
A character is just, you know, peoplecreate these characters that it's just,
it's not them.
It's put on.
It just doesn't, you could tell that it'sput on.
(33:54):
And I use different peoples and techniquesfor when people are voicing, voice acting,
I should say, a character than rather thanbeing that.
You gotta be that character is what I'msaying.
But there has to be a part of you in thatcharacter that I hear it.
(34:16):
Like some people, they'll look at apicture.
I can tell when they voice the picture.
That's no...
That's not even leaving it up to theimagination.
You just basically imitated that pictureto what you saw.
And then I say to them, what happens ifthat drawing wasn't there?
Give me a different spin and give me adifferent take on it.
Because this here has so much that youshould be able to be creative enough to
(34:42):
come up with different toolboxes ofcharacters that
will make you separate you from the crowd.
One of the things that I learned from youis it might be an animated character, but
it's still a character and it still has tohave backstory and subtext and motivations
(35:06):
and needs and everything else.
Even though it might be two dimensional.
Right.
So, dude, I'm glad we got the chance to tocatch up today.
I'm sorry.
I will miss you in Dallas altogether thisyear.
Maybe you'll be in New York when UncleRoy's rolls around.
Maybe.
(35:26):
You know?
will be there.
I will let you know.
Yes.
I will be coming to Uncle Roy's becauseother than that, I will be on his list
until the day he closes his eyes.
So I will be back East for at least threemonths starting in September.
I will be there.
I will be at MAVO.
(35:46):
I'm doing some other workshops back Eastthat I'm working on.
You check my social.
with social media listings.
we're, tell people where to find you, youknow, out in the social TV guide, as it
were.
You both are.
(36:07):
You can reach me at eo at voice actingdirector all one word .com
And of course the website isvoiceactingdirector .com and on socials.
Social media, I'm on LinkedIn.
I'm on Twitter.
I'm on Instagram.
(36:27):
I am on Facebook.
I don't like to add too many people on myFacebook page because there's a block on
Facebook once you get to, I believe, 5K.
So I don't do, I don't add everybody onFacebook.
So unless I know you, then I add you.
And I do delete people as well.
(36:48):
If I haven't heard from you in a year, youdo get deleted.
Yeah.
I just, literally just last week, I didwhat I call, I Thanos my Facebook friends.
I cut it in half, right?
And it certainly wasn't the snap on myfinger.
I wish it were.
It took three hours.
but yeah.
if there's no value, if there's norelationship there, then I tend to prove
(37:10):
them.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm at the stage in my life where I amdoing that.
I'll say that.
Because people have to bring, I'm at adifferent phase and a different stage.
You have to have some, there has to besome sort of value for me.
And I'm around.
(37:32):
People know where to find me, email me,I'll get back to you.
I do return phone calls and hear peoplelike panic.
I'm not, you know, I'm not a politician.
I'm not a president.
I do eat sleep and go to the bathroom likeeverybody else.
I'm a little bit, just a little bit moreraw, a little bit more real.
And I'm sarcastic.
(37:52):
That's just part of who I am.
I'm sorry America.
We will not take things so seriously.
It's not, we're in voice, we're invoiceover land.
We're not surgeons watching Grey's Anatomyor Chicago Med, which is one of my shows.
It's not that serious.
(38:13):
I get it, it's our livelihood, but we needto let go and have some laughs.
I just came back from Nashville and had anawesome time being in Nashville.
The food was fantastic.
So if you're looking to get diabetes, I'mpromoting Nashville.
(38:34):
You know.
Oliver, the voice acting director himself,the great EO, it was great to spend time
with you today.
And we got to, we got out of the habit ofcatching up by phone every now and again,
and we need to get back into that.
So this would be a great entree back intothat for you and me.
Thank you for spending time with us today,man.
I really appreciate it.
(38:55):
No, thank you.
Lots of ratings, big ratings for you.
Alright.
I'm lo -
Well, our guest today is not only a goodfriend and my personal animation coach,
but he's one of the most accomplishedcoaches in the entire genre.
Everett Oliver has worked on primetimeshows, including The Simpsons, King of the
Hill, feature films like Men in Black,Jackie Chan Adventures.
He's worked with Disney.
(00:24):
He's worked with Columbia TriStar.
He's worked with stars.
And I guess the one strike on his resumeis he's worked with me as well.
I say that to kid him.
He is one of the greatest coaches inanimation today.
In fact, the way I found Everett Oliverwas when Dave Fennoy mentioned to me, he
said, if you're going to go into animationor seek any animation work, Everett Oliver
(00:47):
is the best in the business.
And I still believe that to this day.
Please welcome my good friend and coachEverett Oliver.
Man, it's good to see you.
Thank you, it's good to see you too.
I didn't hear anything out of the crowd inmy head.
You know I hear things.
Yeah.
Only me, only me.
I tell you, I entertain myself.
(01:08):
I've been looking forward to today for along time because I mentioned this to you
when we were getting ready to go oncamera.
The last time I saw you was almost a yearago.
You blew through the room in Dallas at OneVoice.
And, you know, as you like to say, thatcolor works for you.
(01:28):
And then he was gone, right?
Like just a puff of smoke.
So we didn't get a chance to chat a wholelot.
And so I've been looking forward to thisfor a long time.
We've coached together.
We've hung out together.
We've had drinks together.
But yeah.
And I honestly, I don't know a ton aboutyour story, right?
(01:52):
I mean, people obviously recommended youhighly, people that I respect like Dave
Fennoy and others.
But I don't know.
a whole lot about your story, how itstarted and how you got here.
So let's start there.
I know you're a native New Yorker.
I know you spent a cup of coffee in myhometown, Richmond, Virginia, spent time
in Georgia, and now you're kind of bi-coastal, right?
(02:15):
Alternating between New York and LA.
Where did you start in this crazybusiness, Everett?
I started here.
I actually started here in LA.
I'm actually going on 30 years in thebusiness.
I know, I know.
I can see the little gray hairs.
I trimmed that stuff yesterday.
(02:39):
So 30 years, I started in animationproduction.
I'm basically like a sponge.
I get bored easily.
I watch people, I watch behaviors.
I don't watch my own work, what I workedon.
(03:00):
But I've worked in casting.
I worked in development.
I've worked in post -production andanimation.
I've worked at a talent agency, directedactors on auditions.
I'm going on as of next week, I would havebeen eight years.
I'm running my own business.
(03:21):
I am.
Thank you.
by coastal.
I'm heading back East for about threemonths.
So how I really just started this is justbasically a string of luck.
Being really wise.
(03:42):
and soaking up stuff, really, reallysoaking up stuff like a sponge and not
knowing what I really.
anticipated as to what I was going to doin LA.
Like I had a big thing of, you know,everybody thought I was going to come out
here and be an actor because I'm soanimated.
I wanted to work in live TV.
(04:03):
It didn't end up that way.
All of my friends who I went to collegewith were still around.
They've worked in live TV.
So I thought, I'll go work in live TV withactors or produce.
And then it just so happens I just
ended up at Film Roman, their firstanimation company.
And people generally just liked me.
(04:24):
I had a little Southern accent.
My little Southern charm.
Yes, ma 'am.
Yes, sir.
That didn't go along real well.
And I was just so nice and polite and justnaive and didn't know what was happening.
And just opportunity presented itself.
(04:47):
worked with, didn't realize that I wasworking with top voice actors and top
voice directors and top animation showsand producers.
And looking at it now, I'm very, veryfortunate.
(05:07):
Yes, I still have my bumpy roads andstuff.
And I've decided to just take a clear pathon
on figuring out, I'm still figuring outwhat's the next, I'm calling it the next
phase in my life of what I want to do.
Because there's more phases that I stillwant to do.
And I'm learning from different coaches,you know, expressions and sayings.
(05:31):
What doesn't serve me, I cut out.
I'm a straight shooter.
And I do personal appearances.
I love popping in and popping out.
You've got three seconds really to impressme and tell me your life story.
And what's scary enough is I retain itall.
And then I can move on to the next person.
Because there's so many people I need tosee and check up on.
(05:53):
You're breathing?
You're doing great?
What's wrong?
What's the problem?
What you need?
You need to come see me.
We need to schedule this meeting so I canget you all on the right path.
So that's me and I'm in trouble.
I know.
I know what my purpose in life is.
I know what I'm here to do.
I gotta tell you, when I saw you last yearin Dallas at One Voice, I turned around
(06:15):
and it was Saturday evening, it was theevening of the One Voice Awards, everybody
was all dressed up.
I turned around and Everett's here and Iwas elated.
And I turned back around and Everett wasgone.
You, that might've been the greatest Irishgoodbye in history, right?
You just, it was almost like in a cloud ofsmoke.
(06:36):
You just, you just disappeared.
Mm -hmm.
worked for, you were a booth director fora talent agency for several years.
And I've always wanted to talk to youabout that because we've never discussed
it.
What did you learn in those years aboutboth sides of the glass, about both being
a booth director and about an actor,right?
(06:58):
What they go through on their side of theglass as well.
Well, I had no clue what a booth directorwas when I first, day one.
So it took me years to figure out thatprocess and why the hell I was there
because I could not figure out my mentorat the time, Charlie Allen told me and
(07:20):
said to me, you need to go be a boothdirector.
And I was like, what is that?
I don't even know what that is.
So in my time being a booth director forfive years, I learned.
for myself that I had a gift that I wasable to connect to actors.
And the actors who I worked with,surprisingly enough, majority of them said
(07:43):
to me, I've never booked an animatedseries before.
And so my mouth was like, what?
Because I had come from that whole world.
So in learning my special gift, inlearning how to pull performances,
Learning how to direct that's really andthat the fact is that Life is serious But
(08:07):
it ain't that serious meaning Yeah,there's some people I booked I got them
guest roles There's some people who whoare really connected with that I would
book on a consistent basis one of myreally good friends who I just saw about
two weeks ago and so it was for me oflearning how the agency
(08:29):
world work.
Now, I was asked to be an agent, I turnedit down.
Because I had that in casting.
I had, you know, negotiated, I negotiatedsalaries in casting.
I had told actors, you need to be here.
I had covered for actors if they wererunning late to a session.
(08:49):
I've done everything I could in castingthat I didn't need to do it as a talent
agent.
Because I had done that.
I wanted to be on the creative side andsee what the actors could do and also see
what they couldn't do and get them towhere they could do it.
That's what I did.
But still soaking up everything.
(09:10):
It was a fast moving pace and I come froma fast moving pace world.
So it was just like, you didn't have timeto think.
You didn't have time to, it was just thecopy comes in.
You get them to audition.
They had to copy the night before.
And I do it to this day.
When I'm directing actors, when I'm doingauditions for actors, you've got to be in
(09:33):
a fast moving pace.
That's why I move so fast and move soquickly.
You don't have time to think.
So that's what we, it's the differentpersonalities that I also learned.
Because I was dealing with probably, weprobably had about 250 people represented
at the agency back then.
The actors who came into the office, Iwould say probably about 30, about maybe
(09:59):
30, maybe 40 actors that would come in.
So I learned, had to learn 40 differentpersonalities.
Plus the copy.
Rather be commercial, rather be promo,rather be animation.
Then I had to report to my agents.
Then it was like, you know, we've got toget these projects out in a timely manner.
(10:21):
So.
I'm feeding off of people's energies.
I'm feeding off of agencies energies I'mfeeding off, you know trying to you know
people who audition from home that had tosend in the actual audition So it was all
of those factors and it's just after fiveyears.
It's just a burnout now I know what actorsgo through when I see him on TV and
(10:44):
they've done a series for 14 15 years andthe same repetitive stuff It's just
burnout and so from the actors
point of view, they had to come inprepared.
They had to just be able to take simpledirection.
I learned for myself that all I have to dois tweak you.
(11:04):
I don't have to tell them whatspecifically to do it this way, do it this
way.
I can submit suggestions, but most of thetime I just tweak them.
Most of the time I just hit the button,hit report.
And then you'll be like, I like that.
I'm a type of person that I have also hadto learn that I'm hard to impress.
That's just the nature of where I comefrom.
So I'm a straight shooter.
(11:25):
So I'd go, when they saw me smile or theysay when I kicked them out of the booth,
they know that was brilliant.
Because remember, I come from the castingside.
So I know who you're competing against.
And all of the stuff that I learned fromAVO Talent, I bring to my professional
(11:45):
career to this day.
The same way I do with non -union actorsis I know the level of what's happening
what's happening out there and thecompetition now that's on a much larger
scale It's even harder Everybody in theworld wants to do animation Everybody
(12:07):
that's the hardest profession to get intoI Didn't think about it at the time
because I've been doing for so long.
I ain't even been I hadn't really thoughtabout it
you have to bring something unique anddifferent to the table.
You have to network.
You have to put yourself out there.
I just had a client today that was justtelling me that and talking to him from a
(12:30):
person who's outside of the States, who isdoing animation in other European
countries.
And I literally just had this wholeconversation with him as to, do we got to
negotiate?
That's also affected at actors, you know,especially non -union actors.
(12:52):
If you're gonna do animation, which isprobably 2 % happening, I'm not gonna say
it's 90 % because that's where all thesex, most of the animation is all sac.
Most of the animation, 98, 99 % of it isall done in Los Angeles.
The other half is done in New York.
That's just the way, the nature of how thebusiness runs.
(13:13):
Unless you're doing stuff that's onYouTube.
then you can be anywhere around thecountry.
My perception is, and maybe you cancorrect me here, that that's not as true
as it used to be.
And I'll use examples of Atlanta foranimation, Toronto for video game work,
(13:35):
right?
It used to, it feels like, and maybe thisis where I'm wrong, Everett.
It feels like, man, you know, even fiveyears ago, before the pandemic, you had to
be in LA.
Still true?
They've changed it within the lastprobably three, I would say within the
last month, all the animation has comeback to Los Angeles.
(13:57):
I would say 98%.
So a lot of actors are getting LA only, LAtalent only.
Now there's an exception to the rule.
I would say you live in maybe SanFrancisco, San Diego, you can get there
fast, Vegas.
You can get there fast all those otherstates You have to develop a relationship
(14:22):
with your agent.
I would if you're gonna have a betterrelationship with your Casting person even
better if you knew the producers of theshow Those are the tickets those are the
people who won't get you in if you havethose kind of relationships you can
negotiate and do it anywhere
So for somebody who is not in LA, is iteven possible to use your example to
(14:47):
develop a relationship directly with thosepeople, the producers, the casting
directors, right?
The folks you just named.
Is that even something that people in EastJabip, Kansas can do?
If you can, I mean, you have to thinkoutside of the box.
(15:08):
So when I'm naming these producers,there's always, we're all connected in
some way, in some form.
So this is what I would do.
Let's say, for example, you're ananimation artist and you work on a show.
I know that I want to voice that show andI want to have the connection with that
(15:31):
producer.
I would connect myself with that artist,send my stuff to the artist, develop, at
least you develop that relationship withthe artist.
The artist who draws for that show live inthe same city as that producer and might
say, hey, why don't you send your demoreel to me and let me see if I can send it
(15:52):
to my producer.
That's one way of doing it.
I think the key there is you've got todevelop the relationship first.
You cannot come out of the box going, hi,I'm a voice actor, would you send my stuff
to your producer?
That's not the way anything works.
Yeah.
I mean, you know, I'm always, that's why Imove so fast.
(16:13):
I'm literally developing relationships.
I have people who come to me and say, I'mon X, I'm on LinkedIn, and I'm contacting
people who teach.
And I'm just saying, hey, I'm Everettblah, blah, blah, this and that.
I just want you to come teach for mystudents, because there's something that
you have.
(16:34):
I've done my research They're like, mygod.
I'm so honored that you even asked.
I'm like, yeah You know, so it's all aboutthat, you know figuring it out and what I
call it is a system I've always said thissince I was probably eight or nine years
old.
The world is made up of a system I don'tcare what any field that we're in whether
(16:59):
or not you work in a medical field youyou're working
and political office or whatever.
It's all a system.
And if you know how to get into asystem...
You learn to navigate.
That's how I did.
That's how I did my career.
I figured out the system.
It ain't hard Working for example workingat a talent agency.
(17:21):
They all do the same thing All the talentagencies all do the same thing you got to
know the players Who the big people?
And if the big people are gonna like youthey all give out copy they all negotiate
your salaries They all they all tell youwhere you need to be
Not one does something different from theother.
(17:44):
You asked me you asked me I Stopped soonce you figure that out You know, that's
how I learned how to move fast one of myagents one of my agents It's so funny cuz
he called me last week and he said everyou never say goodbye at a party That's
why I just leave I pop in I get to knowEverybody I see their faces.
(18:06):
I connect with everybody just to remainrelevant and then someone almost stopped
me Talk to me
Let me know whatever the situation is.
Get back to me.
Yeah.
a hoover shaker, but the only thing isthat I just absorb everything like a
sponge.
And that's where I think, especially thosefolks interested in animation are, you
(18:31):
know, it's, it is more challenging outsideof Los Angeles, even markets like Atlanta,
Toronto, et cetera.
And it is like every other genre, it'sbuilt on relationships, but those
relationships are not built as easily.
We'll call it digitally.
Right?
Like you might reach out to e -learningproducers online, things like that.
(18:55):
It's not as easily done in animation.
No, it's not.
I mean, like I said, you have to gothrough what I also think of as too, you
have to go through back doors and you haveto go through the side doors.
Cause going through the front doors istotally in this day and age.
And this is when they, and let me repeatmyself, think about it because Toronto has
(19:17):
a lot of animation.
New York has animation.
New York has preschool animation.
New York doesn't have the bigger stuff.
They might be working on getting thebigger stuff, but from my understanding,
it's Disney Junior and Nick Jr.
All of those preschool shows are all basedout of New York.
(19:41):
And Toronto, I believe, is also in that.
time span where they're doing little smallshows.
Vancouver, which I'm looking into, mightbe doing maybe a little bit more bigger
shows.
But also too, you should also talk to yourvoice talent with people who book the
(20:01):
animation type stuff as well, becausethat's where you're going to get a feel
for,
I mean, people are reaching out to me.
I'm doing some side stuff for actors tooand getting them connected.
And that's pretty much a part of mybusiness too and a part of who I am is
connecting people to other people as welltoo.
(20:23):
So if you're nice to me, I'll connect you.
Right, exactly.
feel like most people, and obviouslyyourself included, but most people, the
vast majority, want to be helpful.
They don't want to be sold.
They don't want to be manipulated, butthey do want to be helpful.
(20:46):
So if you're genuine and honest andauthentic and real and try to bring some
value to the relationship,
Absolutely.
will typically bend over backwards to dowhat they can for another human being.
also, too, talent.
When an agent, and I know my mind isracing, when an agent is looking for new,
(21:10):
I don't want to say customers, clients,you got to bring talent.
You got to come with credits.
You have to come with recommendation.
And I could hear it.
I can hear it in my head.
You gotta be ready.
Because when it happens, it's gonna happenthis quick.
(21:34):
And you're not gonna be able to, as I lovelooking at actors' faces, and they go,
here they go.
I say something to them, process, process,process.
And I'm saying it to them, and they'relooking at me because they can't say
anything.
Stop processing.
This is about money.
This is what I really wanted to come talkto you about.
(21:55):
This is about money and this is aboutratings That's what?
The business is like agents ain't gonnatell you Producers not gonna tell you I've
been in it long enough that I can go aheadand I can share this with you and tell you
I'm not talking about your personal stuff.
(22:15):
I'm talking about when you when youlooking especially to get into animation
It's about at the end of the day The toppeople at the networks are gonna go is
this show making me money And the agentsthey ain't gonna tell you but I'm gonna
(22:38):
tell you they're like how much money youbreaking me I'm making you money how much
money you making me money and if you ain'tmaking an agent money I don't know what to
tell you I Didn't sit that in about 36seconds
He is a straight shooter, if nothing else.
That's what this is a world about.
So and everybody should know that going in
(23:01):
Let's get a little more straight talkgoing if we could.
I have heard from some folks in theanimation side, and of course we had a
kind of a seismic shift in the last fewyears with regards to ethnically
appropriate actors playing roles, right?
(23:24):
Used to be guys like me would get cast,didn't matter what the role.
Great example, the classic example is HankAzaria as Hapu on The Simpsons, right?
And then we had a movement a few years agoand there has been a huge push in the
industry, which is fantastic, todiversify, to get appropriate roles to
appropriate actors.
(23:46):
Are we in a place now where guys like mecan get hired anymore?
Probably right now, not right now, no,probably.
That's my sense.
And I don't think that's a problem.
I think it's a market correction to whatwas happening before.
Agree?
I think that people weren't aware untilstuff happened in the world.
(24:12):
And so I get that all the time fromactors.
I don't know.
And my thing for them would be it's atiming.
It's all about timing.
You're going to have to sit and wait.
I have been...
And I can say this honestly, I wasprobably one of two African Americans in
(24:36):
casting.
I remember going to the Silvers.
I brought my parents.
And Dave Fennoy said something that wasvery interesting to my parents.
And of course, my mom, she's an advocatein the community for everything that she
(24:58):
touches.
And we asked how many people of color arecoaches?
This was back in probably 20...
16 2017.
Dave Fennoy said probably you can countthem in one hand.
Which would be him Joan Everett Sorry if Imissed anybody else cuz those are the only
(25:23):
three I can think of back then
Has that changed significantly?
It's changed a lot I could think ofprobably two or three more off the top of
my head So yes, it has changed.
It's it's it's growing slightly You know,they're not even not enough You know, God
(25:45):
bless of Michael Scott is killing it forvideo games Killing it.
I don't even see him anymore kill it.
I see him at the conferences wave.
You're doing well you breathing
(26:10):
But not enough.
he's like, hey, you know, this is what Iwant to do boom cuz and he said it to me
in a conversation Yeah, I don't see a lotof us at all.
What's happening.
I'm like, but then you need to take thetorch and do it You know
have the challenges lifted for people ofcolor or is it just this sort of social
(26:34):
movement that may end up being temporary?
Right?
I don't get that sense, but it's aquestion worth asking.
Who knows?
Hollywood shifts, you know, listen,Hollywood is funny.
Now you talking about, one of my friendssay, no, you a Californian.
You've been out here in California long inlife.
(26:54):
No, I'm a New Yorker.
Let's get, I'm half California and I'mhalf New York.
California is funny.
And all the Californians who's gonna lookat this, they're gonna go ahead, they're
gonna talk about me.
And I'm like, bring it.
because I don't know every, with this, itchanges.
It's like when you change your socks everyday, that's how people are having here in
(27:16):
California to me.
I can't give you a straight answer becauseI don't know, because it's like quiet as
kept.
Now I'll give you another tip.
All the video game producers only gonnacast actors in LA.
What?
(27:36):
Now I'm hearing this tip from a fewpeople, few sources.
So I got a little few spies that I stay incontact with.
I'm like, what do you mean the video gamesis being cast and only in LA?
You've got to be kidding me.
Video games is done all around the world.
Well, they don't have the same microphonesand they're not sure about the studios if
(27:57):
they're built correctly.
And this is why I'm like, for real?
So we're going to go do that now too?
That's what I'm saying.
I can't get a straight answer.
I'm fishy like mmm.
I'm not sure but my spies will say yeahEverett as quiet as this cat they doing
video games out of California as well Andthat's why I said I can't give you a
(28:17):
straight answer because California itflips back and forth and no one won't have
a clear answer We're just lucky as peopleof color are lucky enough that now We're
hoping that it'll stay the path.
Eventually, it's gonna
Open back up to you know, everybodybecause you're seeing a shift even in
(28:39):
television On prime time shows you'reseeing more people of color So i'm like
and you know, i'm like, okay, we'll see wecould just hope And pray the women are
killing it black women are killing it Mysisters are killing it.
I mean they're all of all over the placeYou just see them even on tv and there
(28:59):
there are a lot more opportunities forblack women I would say for and then for
males
You know and all genres across the boardSo we'll see
long overdue.
Let's switch gears for a minute.
We've had a lot of upheaval in thevoiceover business at large over the last,
(29:21):
let's call it two years.
We had SAG after strike, we had a writer'sguild strike, we've had the introduction
and hysteria around generative AI.
I think...
Maybe of those for animation, myimpression is that the biggest disruptor
(29:42):
of all so far has been the SAG afterstrike of last summer.
Are we back from that?
Is animation back?
Where is the animation?
What's the state of animation right now?
75 % down 75 and down I got that from asource 75 % because of there's lots of
(30:05):
changes going on with Disney They justsealed the deal with paramount
And there's one more I can't even thinkof.
It'll hit me.
And Warner Brothers.
I think there's some stuff happening atWarner Brothers.
And it's an election year.
(30:25):
And I was told early in my career, anytimethere's a presidential election year,
things are going to be a little wonky.
So my thing is, until after what happensin November,
Maybe into January things will start buteverybody is keeping they're keeping
(30:47):
they're not they're keeping their moneytight across the board So shows are gonna
be down a video games probably gonna bedown as well I think there might be a
strike coming from video games.
I can't confirm that as of yet There mightbe sort of they might but who knows like I
said, everything is so uncertainty one wayIt's this one way is that
(31:12):
Kind of a one -two punch of the strikelast year, the election year this year,
and now we're looking at a quarter of thebusiness being done in animation than we
normally are.
Wow.
Man.
this stuff lifted, because it's aboutthose budgets and we're going back to
money again, as soon as the networks feelcomfortable to talk to the showrunners,
(31:36):
then they'll go ahead and they'll donate,they'll get those monies for those
budgets.
As I said, it's all about money.
And then they can go ahead and make itlook at the Nelson ratings.
Now I'm a junkie.
I'm a Nelson's junkie.
That's one of the things that people don'tknow about me is people laugh at me like I
post stuff and I watch how many hits thatI get.
(31:57):
Because that to me reminds me of ratingsto see how relevant you are.
It's the exact same thing because I comefrom the land of television.
It's the exact same thing in your personallives when you're on social media.
Those numbers could tell you whether ornot you're, as people say, unpopular.
which I am, but popularity doesn't putcash in my pocket.
(32:21):
But it's just about me being relevant andpresent in the moment.
Let's.
wrap up with a little bit of talk aboutactual animation performance, because I
want people to understand one of thelessons that you made clear to me.
And that is there is a huge difference,and this is especially applicable to newer
(32:44):
folks.
There is a massive difference between avoice and a character.
Would you talk about that for a moment?
So a voice is when you're, well, first ofall, we're gonna call it voice acting.
It's all about your acting.
So when people are putting on characters,there's a sense of they're imitating
(33:10):
people who they know.
They're not bringing themselves to it.
So when you're voice acting, you're beingcreative.
and you're adding a point of view to it.
You're bringing maybe, what's it called?
(33:33):
What's it called?
I'm not being unique, but it's like, youknow, when a stutter to a character to
make it funny.
A character is just, you know, peoplecreate these characters that it's just,
it's not them.
It's put on.
It just doesn't, you could tell that it'sput on.
(33:54):
And I use different peoples and techniquesfor when people are voicing, voice acting,
I should say, a character than rather thanbeing that.
You gotta be that character is what I'msaying.
But there has to be a part of you in thatcharacter that I hear it.
(34:16):
Like some people, they'll look at apicture.
I can tell when they voice the picture.
That's no...
That's not even leaving it up to theimagination.
You just basically imitated that pictureto what you saw.
And then I say to them, what happens ifthat drawing wasn't there?
Give me a different spin and give me adifferent take on it.
Because this here has so much that youshould be able to be creative enough to
(34:42):
come up with different toolboxes ofcharacters that
will make you separate you from the crowd.
One of the things that I learned from youis it might be an animated character, but
it's still a character and it still has tohave backstory and subtext and motivations
(35:06):
and needs and everything else.
Even though it might be two dimensional.
Right.
So, dude, I'm glad we got the chance to tocatch up today.
I'm sorry.
I will miss you in Dallas altogether thisyear.
Maybe you'll be in New York when UncleRoy's rolls around.
Maybe.
(35:26):
You know?
will be there.
I will let you know.
Yes.
I will be coming to Uncle Roy's becauseother than that, I will be on his list
until the day he closes his eyes.
So I will be back East for at least threemonths starting in September.
I will be there.
I will be at MAVO.
(35:46):
I'm doing some other workshops back Eastthat I'm working on.
You check my social.
with social media listings.
we're, tell people where to find you, youknow, out in the social TV guide, as it
were.
You both are.
(36:07):
You can reach me at eo at voice actingdirector all one word .com
And of course the website isvoiceactingdirector .com and on socials.
Social media, I'm on LinkedIn.
I'm on Twitter.
I'm on Instagram.
(36:27):
I am on Facebook.
I don't like to add too many people on myFacebook page because there's a block on
Facebook once you get to, I believe, 5K.
So I don't do, I don't add everybody onFacebook.
So unless I know you, then I add you.
And I do delete people as well.
(36:48):
If I haven't heard from you in a year, youdo get deleted.
Yeah.
I just, literally just last week, I didwhat I call, I Thanos my Facebook friends.
I cut it in half, right?
And it certainly wasn't the snap on myfinger.
I wish it were.
It took three hours.
but yeah.
if there's no value, if there's norelationship there, then I tend to prove
(37:10):
them.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm at the stage in my life where I amdoing that.
I'll say that.
Because people have to bring, I'm at adifferent phase and a different stage.
You have to have some, there has to besome sort of value for me.
And I'm around.
(37:32):
People know where to find me, email me,I'll get back to you.
I do return phone calls and hear peoplelike panic.
I'm not, you know, I'm not a politician.
I'm not a president.
I do eat sleep and go to the bathroom likeeverybody else.
I'm a little bit, just a little bit moreraw, a little bit more real.
And I'm sarcastic.
(37:52):
That's just part of who I am.
I'm sorry America.
We will not take things so seriously.
It's not, we're in voice, we're invoiceover land.
We're not surgeons watching Grey's Anatomyor Chicago Med, which is one of my shows.
It's not that serious.
(38:13):
I get it, it's our livelihood, but we needto let go and have some laughs.
I just came back from Nashville and had anawesome time being in Nashville.
The food was fantastic.
So if you're looking to get diabetes, I'mpromoting Nashville.
(38:34):
You know.
Oliver, the voice acting director himself,the great EO, it was great to spend time
with you today.
And we got to, we got out of the habit ofcatching up by phone every now and again,
and we need to get back into that.
So this would be a great entree back intothat for you and me.
Thank you for spending time with us today,man.
I really appreciate it.
(38:55):
No, thank you.
Lots of ratings, big ratings for you.
Alright.
I'm lo -
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