When the struggle is real.

Being honest about your conversion rate.

Sometimes, I struggle to book jobs.

It's not something I say lightly.
But it's a subject I want to be open about.

Now to clarify:

✅ I'm working consistently.
✅ Q1 of 2024 was STRONG.
✅ I've had many new clients.
✅ I've been nominated for ANOTHER award.

But I've had a run of great auditions through my wonderful agent Emily Dean - and I've hardly booked any of them.

This is the great catch 22 of acting life.

First, you rail at the lack of opportunities.
The battle is just to be seen in the first place.

Then, when you get seen, the anxiety kicks in.
If you're not booking, does that mean you're not good enough???

Now - I 𝘒𝘕𝘖𝘞 I'm good enough.

I've got the work and connections and the 22 award nominations to back that up.

But - voice acting is a SUPER competitive industry.

Have I done things to address the situation?

For sure!

I've started working on auditions with a handful of different coaches  to bounce ideas off.

This hasn't radically changed my approach to auditioning.

But it provides reassurance my instincts are still strong and a welcome sounding board.

It's also been further proof to me that my typical model of getting work is good for me:

I've not built my business on auditioning at scale, because the feeling of throwing stuff into a void with no feedback absolutely kills me.

As a result, I've focused heavily on direct marketing and inbound work, so that when someone DOES send me an opportunity, I'm likely one of a small handful under consideration.

So I can continue to work on my skillset.
I can give my all for every audition.
And I trust the process.

But I think it's a healthy thing to talk about.

Voice Acting tip of the week:

Drop it like it’s hot.

Last week, I spoke about the process of auditioning for my first ever video game role in Dark Souls 2, over a decade ago.

The character was a half man, half scorpion, so like any professional actor, I wanted to make sure I did my research and came in prepared.

But the most important thing about preparation?

Be ready to throw it away!

@chrisnaturallyrp

Replying to @Sog Man #scorpionman #darksoul #darksouls2 #fromsoftware #soulsborne #voiceactor

Behind The Scenes of the week:

Abubakar Salim is an actor who also runs his own game studio, Surgent Studios.

He channelled the grief of losing his father into making their first release, Tales of Kenzera: Zau, which has received a fantastic reception.

In this video, he discusses what spurred him to make the leap, the risks he took along the way (including pouring practically all his savings into the studio) and how he’s managed to build a fully remote team in this insightful interview.

Media Recommendations:

Every week, I share three podcasts, articles or interviews that I’d strongly recommend. This week…

1. The truth about Sora and AI video production

   Heralded ‘the Chat GPT for video’, this recent behind the scenes look at one of the videos used to showcase AI tool Sora revealed that the tool still required considerable human input to make a viable end product.

2. Is marketing in games dead?

   Michael Douse (publishing director of Larian, developers behind the huge gaming hit Baldurs Gate 3) composed this Twitter/X thread about the company’s approach to ‘marketing’ in the gaming space.

3. How Family Voices have changed over time

   Do our voices get higher in pitch over time - or do some of us just pitch lower to be taken more seriously when starting out? This was a fun conversation on the subject featuring the cats of Family Guy.

Favourite Writing of the week: FALLOUT

I’m embracing full nostalgia vibes while watching FallOut on Amazon prime - the live-action adaptation of the beloved video game franchise. So it only felt natural to pick a speech from my favourite title in the series, FallOut: New Vegas.

@chrisnaturallyrp

FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS - The Burned Man aka Joshua Graham #fallout #falloutnewvegas #theburnedman #joshuagraham #joshuagrahamspeech #joshuagra... See more

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Thanks again for reading, and until next week Honey and I wish you a wonderful week!