Roger King

Secrets of An Agent Man. I rep voice talent in Toronto, Montreal & New York. And host of US politics podcast, Clusterf**ked. Follow @cfthepodcast

[Roger King @voiceovercanada]

I've been a voice talent agent for 17 years. A client has never asked for an impression of a character from The Simpsons or Family Guy. You can leave it off the demo.

[Roger King @voiceovercanada]

I know a lot of people in the voice biz try to avoid spam by not publishing an email address on their website and instead having a contact form but I have to say in the rush of a busy day, I am just going to move on to the next option. No time for forms! :-)

[Roger King @voiceovercanada]

Still can't used to someone "retiring from broadcasting after 30 years" and when they started, I was a full fledged adult. 30 years in broadcasting used to be mean I was 5 years old when they started :-)

[Roger King @voiceovercanada]

I think this is a bad miscalculation from Disney. In addition to people not being able to tell what is actually a Disney creation vs these AI videos, people are going to be so tired of seeing these characters. Overexposure could lead to lack of interest in new Disney content.

[DiscussingFilm @DiscussingFilm]

Disney has signed a deal with OpenAI & invested $1 billion into the company

Sora will now be able to AI generate videos based on animated, masked & creature characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar & Star Wars

Curated selections of AI generated videos will be released on Disney+

[Roger King @voiceovercanada]

I never tire of the 8 emails back & forth about a quote before the client says "this is my maximum budget". Producers, it's okay to start the convo with "Here's my budget, can you work with it?" :-)

[Roger King @voiceovercanada]

This is the last straw with the Trumps! I just read that Melania used an AI voice and not a human voice talent for the audiobook version of her autobiography! :-)

[Roger King @voiceovercanada]

Someone sent us a voice demo and told us how they have done over 50 auditions on a pay to play site with no success. Pro tip: No one will be excited about representing a talent who is telling us they don't book any work!

[Roger King @voiceovercanada]

A talent on our voice roster had a *10-hour session* a week ago, just to record a couple of TV spots. Lots of cooks in the kitchen micromanaging every word of the scripts. We're a long way from A.I. taking over 😂

[Roger King @voiceovercanada]

A NDA to sign that says I/we owe them $1 million if any info is revealed about the project. I mean, I can keep a secret but that's a lot of pressure! :-) Over the top NDA language I think.

[Roger King @voiceovercanada]

I always find it strange when people email a talent agency and mention that a friend recommended they get in touch (sometimes they say the friend is with the agency) and don't mention the name of the "friend" :-)

[Roger King @voiceovercanada]

Love this line in the signature of a Producer/Casting Director. You mean I don't need to respond at 11:30 pm on Xmas Eve? "My working hours may not reflect yours. Please do not feel obligated to reply outside your normal work schedule."

[Roger King @voiceovercanada]

@wealthy_barber Updated Tigers references are most welcome! :-)

[Roger King @voiceovercanada]

@BenVerlander @ItsShoTime17 It's not the same situation when they signed Pudge. Tigers currently can field almost an entire starting line-up of young talent (and prospects about to make their debuts) & an entire young starting staff. They're about to turn the corner.

[Roger King @voiceovercanada]

My yearly...no monthly...reminder that if you want to do regular voice work, you must be responsive to emails or texts. Unless you're hiking in the mountains on a pre-planned trip, there is no going off the grid in this business. People will NOT accept it. Thank you.

[Roger King @voiceovercanada]

Did the U.S. broadcast industry all gather together and decide Ryan Seacrest should just host everything?

[Roger King @voiceovercanada]

AI is to be taken seriously in our voice business. That said, I can't get my head around the idea it's that serious a threat when agencies still insist on having 9 people in a session to direct a talent reading a radio tag :-)

[Roger King @voiceovercanada]

To be clear, when us voice agents tell a client that a talent is free, we are referring to schedule only 😎

[Roger King @voiceovercanada]

Time for my annual declaration that you no longer have to say Happy New Year every time you start an email to someone you haven't corresponded with yet in 2023. We're far enough into January that it's over now!

[Roger King @voiceovercanada]

I'd forgotten about this advice...but it is true!

[JimHanemaayer American Storyteller #USA #UKRAINE @JimVoice]

@voiceovercanada That is really good advice and I will adjust my demos accordingly. Thank you!

[Roger King @voiceovercanada]

A casting spec you don't see every day: "We want a confident man who gives a damn about grooming his groin."

[Roger King @voiceovercanada]

I saw someone on a voice over panel recently say that a certain type of voice was not wanted anymore. That's simply not true. Sure, there are always flavours of the month/year but if a type of voice was wanted once, it will be wanted again. Trust me.