Presenting at 2018 IAWTV Awards
News
AME Radio with Jason Dowd
Neil Haley Show
Entscoop Spotlight
*You have and continue to have a very successful career as a top voice over artist. When did you realize that this is what you wanted to do and do you remember your first professional voice over job?
When I was in school, my teacher gave me an assignment to interview a professional of my choice. I chose a radio announcer. When I went to the radio studio, I was wowed by all the technology, the quiet of the booth, and how quick and professional the space was and the people were! I vividly remember being shown that the angle of the microphone can take out the “P” pops. That was a jaw drop for me – Wow! Little things make such a difference!
My first paid job behind the mic was for a Disney World attraction called The Great Movie Ride. I played a gangster that hijacked a tram, and took the 60 or so guests through movie scenes, only to get blown up 8 minutes later. It was the same show over and over again, and like the Karate Kid movie “wax on, wax off,” I practiced different ways of using the mic, using different character choices, and little adjustments — that sometimes worked, and sometimes didn’t work.
*Many people do not know how the auditioning process works for voice over work. Is it similar to acting auditions? How do you audition for voice over work?
There are some similarities to acting auditions. Some actor friends of mine do at-home auditions. Remote auditions are pretty common for voice over for a while. These vo auditions sometimes come in at any time and are usually due quickly. I’ve had auditions come in at 3am, and even on a Saturday afternoon, and they are due ASAP.
I’ve been hired off of my voice over demo reel a few times, and there are some repeat clients who know my voice who just book me when they need me.
*When you are doing voice over work do you go into a studio all the time or can you do the work in a home studio? How does that work?
A majority of my voice over auditions are done in my home studio. or with my portable mic rig. A friend of mine was out of town and happened to be in a restaurant when a callback audition came to her, due ASAP. She asked the restaurant to turn off the music in the restroom so she could record (and yes, she booked it!).
There are occasions where, like on camera acting auditions, I go into a voice over casting studio and record a few takes. The engineer or casting director offers feedback, or I give another take that might be different than the first. In most cases, remote studio or at a casting studio, my auditions are an audio file that gets uploaded. When an audition comes in, I get an email from my agent with the copy of the text I need to speak, along with a description of what they are looking the read to sound like. I can give a few takes depending on the length of the script of type of audition it is.
*You have worked extensively for some of the biggest brands on the market today. What are some of the commercials in which we have heard your voice? Do you have a favorite brand that you work for?
I’ve been heard on Intel, Quaker State, McDonalds, and a Stand Up To Cancer campaign for Comcast. I really like a Ford Focus spot – the car’s technology was really neat, and the read shows that with a sense of wonder and coolness that fit the visuals.
*One of the areas in which you work often is in television series promos. Everyone has heard your voice at one time or another working on such promos but many people do not stop to think about whose voice is telling us to tune into our favorite series next week. Can you tell us a little bit about that sort of job and what show you work with?
Promos are like a commercial for tv shows; the voice tells a story in a minute or half a minute,and shows you what you can expect to get out of the tv show, and ideally get you excited about it. The great promo voices support the story of the promo itself. My focus in promo has led to numerous spots for KCRW, Los Angeles’ NPR station, and Dateline NBC. I’ve booked campaigns before and been replaced at the last minute, so it’s an ongoing excitement for me to see where this heads.
*You are one of the voice over artists who are leading the charge in the area of descriptive narration. Most people have no idea what this is but it is so important to blind people and people with impaired eyesight. Can you explain how descriptive narration works?
Descriptive narration is a unique form of narration. It describes the visuals of a tv show or movie for the blind of visually impaired. You can think of it like an audiobook.
It is usually a special audio track that goes along with a tv show or movie. If you go to the movies, you can get a special wireless headset to listen. Streaming services have a special audio channel that you turn on, similar to turning on closed captioning or dubbed voices. You can listen to a whole movie, with all the original audio elements.
One of the important parts of descriptive narration is to stay in the story, but not be in the story. It’s definitely indicating what’s happening; but to do it within the genre, but not distract the viewer from the story or the characters.
Descriptive narration for me is all cold reading. They give me a 20-25 page script for an hour episodic tv show, or a 100+ page script for a feature. For features, I also read credits.
I’m excited to see the growth of shows and movies that have descriptive narration – the FCC recently required more content for networks and added a few cable stations. I’m working to encourage studios and networks to expand this service, particularly to make it easy to access this for people driving who want to catch up on shows during their commute. It’s obviously unsafe to play a video in the car – so there’s a safety aspect to it too. Plus the more demand for audio description, the more titles become available for the core blind / visually impaired audience. It seems like a special app, like podcasting for movies or films, is just a few downloads away, and I’m excited to see how that aspect of this work grows. It’s a win win win for all.
*What are some of the huge films that you have done the descriptive narration for?
Some current movies are Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Skyscraper. I enjoyed Spiderman: Homecoming. Get Out. Baby Driver, Atomic Blonde, and Spectre. For the last few years, I also provide descriptive audio narration for the network series on FOX’s Lethal Weapon, and CBS’ NCIS and Criminal Minds.
*You have achieved a level of success in Hollywood that only a handful of voice over talent have reached. What advice would you give to up and coming talent who want to pursue this area of the entertainment field?
There are a lot of elements that have combined at the right time and the right place for me, so in many ways I am lucky! But there are so many things that talents themselves have control over, so when the right opportunities come, they are ready. What areas can a talent control? I think it can boil down to a few things, particularly having grit, having a growth mindset, and having a mentor.
How many times does someone get back up and go to it, even when they don’t necessarily feel like it? Do they honor their commitment, or is there something else that might be more important to their focus? It’s important to follow that focus, even if it’s outside of their comfort zones. I’ve played with different ways of exploring this.
A growth mindset helps build skills. If someone think that they were born with innate talent, then they may think they are perfect as they are, and there’s no need to practice or work out or grow the skills. And with that kind of fixed mindset, anything can be seen as a threat instead of a challenge to figure out how to overcome. A growth mindset sees “failure” as something to learn from. I’m really fascinated by these two perspectives. Carol Dweck has a book called “Mindset” that goes into a lot of these details.
A mentor saves you from learning a lot of lessons that other people have already learned and can share. They can confirm or debunk assumptions. They are inspiring, and can challenge someone to do more than ever thought possible, simply from their sharing of experiences, asking good questions, or exploring the perspectives they share. I’m lucky to have a few great teams that contribute to many aspects of my career and my life; and I love exploring how much I have yet to learn.
8/21/2018
DisneyBlu’s DizRadio Disney On Demand
Meet Roy Samuelson, the man whose voice you probably hear more than anyone else in your life
by Mangala Dilip
Roy Samuelson is a huge celebrity, and you may not very well recognize his face. But, there is no way you don’t recognize his voice. This voice-over actor has compelled us to buy amazing products, held our attention while watching movies and TV shows and now keeps us alert while driving and engaging in other mundane activities.
From ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ to ‘Baby Driver’ his voice-over credits speak for his talents. Samuelson tells Meaww some of the tricks of his trade and gives us a glimpse into the incredible journey of a voice-over artist.
You have one of the most recognizable voices in America. What do you look for in a project before taking it on? How do you make it uniquely yours?
I am lucky to have projects in different aspects of voice over — regardless of the voice over project, my focus is on telling a story, mainly through narration or promos. I mostly love using my voice to blend into a movie or series with descriptive narration. With all the different kinds of projects out there, it can feel like a juggle as to what to focus on! I find that when there’s easy movement with little resistance for a project, that’s the best focus for me. I like to find the least friction, and it’s amazing how that changes from one kind of work to another. Lately, I’ve found one particular kind of narration to be my most passionate with the least resistance.
To make the project mine, I’ve found that blending into the story is usually the best choice. I can be a shy person, so I’m not actively seeking the spotlight! But this idea of blending in is more about allowing the spotlight to be on the story, and whatever I can do to make sure that spotlight stays on the story. So, ironically, for me to own the projects I work on, I give it away, right back to serve the story.
From ads to video games to TV shows, you have provided your voice for them all. How is working on each of these different?
To best answer your question, I’ll first start with sharing a common thread in voice-over work: acting. If I’m voicing a gangster hijacking a vehicle, playing a Turtle with karate skills and a fondness for pizza, playing a dad just trying to sneak in a nap, simply “playing myself” as I tell a story about a TV show that you’d be interested in watching, or describe what’s happening in a story, each of these are characters, with motivations, intentions, and reasons for sharing what they are talking about. So based on answers to those questions on motivation, character, and intentions, I adjust the performance to best answer these questions. I find that practice and imagination are the two magic ingredients.
What has been your favorite project so far and why?
On one project the job started with me being handed over a hundred pages of narration, paragraph after paragraph, with audio, visual, and timecode cues. Most cues had to fit within a certain amount of time. We finished in under 4 hours. I found myself getting in the flow of each element working together, and there is an excitement and a sense of life that comes from doing something ice cold like that!
Are there any common mishaps in your line of work that people don’t expect? How do you deal with/overcome them?
One common mishap that is easy to slip into is the assumptions, based on false expectations. One aspect of assuming: it’s easy to think “OH YAY I BOOKED IT THIS IS GONNA LAST FOREVER!” or “Darn, I didn’t book that job I was so right for so, therefore, my career is over.” These are both false perspectives, based on all-or-nothing thinking. It’s easy to slip into this because each job can be unique, and uncharged, and unfamiliar, that its newness makes it seem solid, real, and permanent. I still have yet to find a perfect and detailed guidebook where each step you follow leads you to “career success” – that manual doesn’t exist! I find that by reminding myself of the bigger picture, the long-term perspective has been incredibly helpful in weathering the ups and downs of a career.
Another false assumption is coming into a job with a sense of fixed talent (thinking I know exactly what the job requires), instead of openness to growth. Even with repeat jobs, there are unexpected happenings, unusual surprises, both good and bad!, and changes out of the blue. Being flexible and having a “go with it” attitude helps tremendously for everyone involved, including the voice inside your head.
Bottom line: if I catch myself assuming something, that’s a good time to either speak up and ask about it, or step back and re-evaluate what I’m looking at in a different way. I think this kinda works in real life too.
I understand that Descriptive Narration is your current focus. How is it different from everything else you have done? What is your goal for voice-over work, specifically in this genre?
Descriptive Narration is a special audio track that goes on top of a movie or TV show. In it, I describe the action that sighted people see on screen for audiences who are blind or visually impaired. I treasure the times I’m lucky enough to be brought in to do this work! This job is a combination of a lot of my other experiences in voiceover, all rolled into one! It is cold reading, narration, and staying in the flow, along with a lot of timing and technical adjustments. Descriptive narration jobs usually give me the script a few minutes before we start rolling.
Aside from knowing the genre (by watching a trailer of a feature, or knowing a sense of the flavor of a tv show), I dive in, mostly not knowing what’s going to happen, and make guesses as to what’s about to happen, and adjust to things that are happening. It’s easy to fall through the cracks with a blubbering word mispronunciation; and when that happens, it can be hard to get back up into the flow. I’ve practiced failing in many ways during my voice over experiences. Each failure has given me new (and hopefully better!) ways to respond to similar circumstances in the future! My goal is to continue to grow my skills and double the current opportunities for TV shows and features, by expanding the exposure of this kind of narration to newer audiences, like commuters.
This specific form of a voice-over, as I understand, was initially used to help visually impaired fans, but it is now being commercialized. What are your thoughts on that? How appreciative are you of the fact that people can now listen to the description of TV shows like they would an audiobook?
I think this expansion to greater audiences is really exciting! You are right with the similarity to podcasts and audiobooks — both of which are growing in popularity (I live in Los Angeles, so I assume it’s because people are commuting for sometimes a dozen hours a week!). Some audiobooks link up to digital reading devices, where the audiobook picks right up where you stopped reading. I imagine TV shows and features can also benefit from this audio description service — for drivers. It’s obviously unsafe to drive and watch — but to make it easy to drive and hear, right where you left off? How great is that! And with all the original produced audio included! It sounds like such a great opportunity for everyone who uses this service. And it already now exists on many streaming services! It’s just kinda buried. I’d love to see a “drive” feature for these streaming services. And the best part is the more people demand it, the more opportunities for the blind and visually impaired to have even more selection of media! Again, everyone wins.
Have you ever wanted to try/have tried voice-over work in other languages? If you haven’t, what language would you like to debut with?
I voiced on a TV pilot that had its own language. I loved exploring how to enunciate the words and phrases, then how to say it in a way that sounded real, and not like I was reciting. (My brother lives in Japan; the first time I visited him, I was enthralled with the language and experience of navigating in a world where I couldn’t read, speak, or understand most symbols. I felt like a 4-year-old discovering reading, and in the best way possible! The new language learning felt like that.) It exercised some unique learning synapses!
Have you had moments where people do not recognize you in person but are able to place you as soon as you speak? Could you tell us your funniest fan encounter?
I remember one time I was going through a particularly bleak time in my life and career. I had recorded several hundred promo spots from home, and my only exposure to it was sending that audio file out — into what felt like the ether. I was questioning a lot of my efforts, wondering if anything was happening and if it was time for me to give up and throw in the towel. I had an audition at a new studio, and came in, wrote down my name, and sat down. The director came out and called my name, asking if I had seen the copy. When I answered, she lit up: “I hear you in my car every day!” At that point in my life, I felt like I was hiding under a log, in a distant forest, but yet, without knowing it, I had been a part of her commute. When I find myself questioning the seemingly useless efforts, I like to remember this story — not that “I was heard” — but that sometimes, I may not know where things may lead.
A funny fan encounter was when a friend of mine and I randomly stopped at a restaurant in the middle of central California one weeknight. A patron seated at a table next to us came up to both of us — within minutes, she named a movie he starred in and pointed out that I sounded “like that guy in that commercial” – and sure enough she was right for both of us. I hope she’s in casting now because she sure has the memory recall and the ears!
What are some of your most exciting upcoming projects?
In addition to some upcoming commercial work, this fall I’m coming back to some series I narrate. It’s a great team, and even though I only come in a few times a week for a few hours, there’s a genuine joy to see the smiling faces and collaborate together. I deeply appreciate that collaboration: most of my work is in isolation in a booth, where I read a script and send an audio file and get feedback in an email. Having the person to person interaction brings a life and an immediacy to the work. I love all voice-over, and I’m excited my representation brings me varied opportunities, so that I don’t need to be pigeon-holed into only one kind of voice over.
What are some of the items on your career bucket list?
In addition to doubling the series and features for Descriptive Narration, I’m looking to get to the point where I not only work as often as possible but also still have time for rest and some ease. I do love the hustle of my work, either in a studio booth on a job, or auditioning, or better getting to know people in different aspects of the business (that alone always expands my perspective out of my own isolated experiences!). But I’ve not had the feeling of being bored in a while, or a day or so where I had no commitments or obligations. So if I’m doing all the work I love, and still having moments of quiet, that sounds like a welcomed novelty, just for a few days. Hmmm. Maybe I can sneak in a nap right now…