How to Become a Voice Actor in the Philippines? / Paano ba Maging Voice Actor sa Pilipinas?

 

Hello KapitVAHay! Welcome sa Voice Actors at Home PH.

Ako nga pala si Dave Soltura, and our goal at VAH PH is to help 1,000 Filipinos earn full-time voice acting incomes. Sana isa ka sa mga yon. 🙂

The most common question we get is,

“How do I become a voice actor or, paano ba maging voice actor” as a Filipino?

Magandang tanong ‘yan, but that’s too far ahead. Action steps na yan.

To take consistent action, you first need to have the right mindset.

“Paano maging voice actor” is already question #3. The “How.”

Bago natin sagutin yan, you first need to answer:

#1. Why do you want to become a voice actor, and
#2 What type of voice acting do you want to specialize in?

Yung sagot sa  #3 “How” largely depends on your answer sa #1 and #2, so I highly recommend you answer them first.

Let’s answer #1.

1. Why do you want to become a voice actor?

There are 2 usual reasons kung bakit may mga gustong maging voice actor:

1. Profit (Pera), and 
2. Passion (Puso)

Maraming gusto maging voice actor because they truly enjoy the craft. Pangarap nila ‘to.

I first got into voice acting kasi I thought getting into anime would be really fun and exciting.

Passion was my main driving force as a starry-eyed teenager.

I spent 2 years doing voice acting as a hobby with fandubs and comic dubs, 

And spent more than a decade roleplaying with my brother using just our voices.

Naguusap lang kami na kunwari ako si Ash Ketchum, tapos siya si Pikachu and we would talk in those voices for hours, almost every night.

Hindi ko inexpect na yung bonding namin ng kuya ko, would lead to my profession.

I first got paid for voice acting in 2012, but I’ve practically been voice acting all my life.

Pero as I got into my 20’s, nagkaroon ng shift sa financial situation ng family namin, and I needed to step up.

I needed a stable source of income.

That’s when I changed my main driving force from passion to profit.

Definitely meron pa ring passion, pero kung may nakita akong project na creatively fulfilling pero not as profitable, medyo pagiisipan ko muna.

So now as a married man and breadwinner, profit ang priority ko.

Yung ibang voice actor naman, okay na sila sa projects na may pambayad lang sila ng rent at kuryente, but they are creatively fulfilled.

These are the artists. Creatives. Yung mga buhay na buhay yung inner child nila.. and their passion is contagious.

Now as you grow as a voice actor, you can find projects na very creatively fulfilling, pero out of this world din yung bayad. 

You can have both passion and profit.

These are my favorite kinds of projects.

Heads up lang na you won’t usually get these kinds of projects at the beginning of your career, and you have to earn them.

Before you get there, I suggest prioritizing one first.

And by prioritize, I don’t mean it has to be 100% profit, 0% passion.

Sabihin natin you prioritize passion, it could be more like 70% passion, 30% profit.

As the saying goes, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”

Kung puro profit iniisip mo, it could lead to burnout. 

But there’s also the saying, “All play and no work makes Jack a mere toy.”

Kung sobrang nageenjoy ka sa voice acting, pero pagdating ng Meralco wala tayong pambayad, paano na?

When voice acting was my hobby, my ratio was 100 for passion, 0 for profit.

When it became a business, my ratio became 100 for profit, 0 for passion.

I found that if it paid well, I enjoyed it kasi it aligned with my purpose.

Profit is not the end goal, ah. Your profit serves a purpose.

For me, that’s providing for my loved ones and serving my community better.

So, you have two possible action steps for this first lesson.

1. You can choose to decide a ratio your ratio of passion and profit. 

Kung 60-40 man yan, 75-25, 90-10, go with that ratio.

Just make sure to choose a priority and stick to it.

Suggestion ko? 

Go all in, with 100 for profit, but learn to be passionate about those “work” projects.

Fall in love with the process.

This is Voice Actors at Home PH, where our goal is to help voice actors go full-time diba?

So target the projects that make good money, learn to enjoy it kahit hindi yun yung favorite genre mo. 

Baka akala mo hindi mo siya maeenjoy, but that’s only because you haven’t explored it yet.

Dati akala ko anime and cartoons lang gusto ko, pero nagulat ako na ang saya rin pala ng commercials.

Paano ba magapply bilang voice actor?

Now before we close this first lesson, let’s address a common misconception sa voice acting–that it is a job or form of full-time employment.

Marami kasing nagtatanong ng, “Paano po ba pwedeng magapply bilang voice actor?”

That’s a good question! Tanong ko rin yan nung nagsisimula pa lang ako.

But the truth is, ang voice actors ay considered self-employed or freelance.

Yes, may times na you can work with an agency full-time for a company, pero the vast majority of voice actors are self-employed.

We find our own projects, negotiate terms, and manage our own schedules.

Pag voice actor ka, you are essentially running your own small business with all the flexibility and challenges that come with that. You need to be self-motivated, disciplined, and willing to learn.

So kung ano man ang why mo, if it’s “Passion” or “Profit”, or a combination of both, you have the freedom to pursue the projects that fuel your passion, and you can also negotiate your terms for profit.

Hopefully this helps inform your decision sa #1. Why do I want to be a voice actor?

2. What type of voice acting do you want to specialize in?

Just as maraming iba’t-ibang uri ng doktor. Doktor sa mata, tenga, puso, at utak.

Marami ring iba’t-ibang uri ng voice actor. 

But let’s start with the three major types, or genres of voice acting:

Character, Commercial, and Narration

Character

If you are providing the voice of the character, whether sa animation, sa live action films, or even a radio drama, then chances are, character work yan.

This tends to be the first type of voice acting that comes to mind when people say “voice acting”.

Hindi ka lang boses nung character.

You become the character, from head to toe.

Kasama ang Mind, Body, Voice, and Heart.

Ito yung acting na more showing, than telling.

Commercial

Sa commercials and advertising, ang role ng voice acting is to influence behavior, and usually para mapabili yung listeners ng product or service.

Narration

Sa narration naman, you are a storyteller conveying a story to the audience.

Sometimes you do it as an impersonal omniscient voice, and sometimes you narrate as a character.

Audiobooks are typically narration kung kunwari self-help genre. But other genres, especially fiction, usually require character voices, as well.

 

There are more specific categories of voice acting, tulad ng Koreanovelas, explainer videos, eLearning, and many many more.

But in general, pag naging-wellrounded ka sa three genres na ‘to, you’ll have a better chance at specializing even further.

 Pero, why actually specialize?

Kung ang sagot mo sa #1 ay, Passion, then masmadali. 

Just identify what genre of voice acting inspired you.

Kung mahilig ka sa video games, radio, IVR, or audiobooks, then you already have your answer.

Learn more about the genre of voice acting that you like and focus on that. 

Kung ang sagot mo sa #1 ay Profit, then I recommend that you specialize.

Kung may problema ka sa puso, pagpapatingin ka ba sa Cardio, o sa Opto?

Sa Cardio, diba?

Many successful voice actors focus on a specific subgenre of voice acting, or niche at karamihan sa income nila ay doon nanggagaling.

Imagine that you’re publishing an audiobook about how to cure cancer, and meron kang 5 talents na pagpipilian:

Voice Actor, Voice Actor, Voice Actor, 4th…  AudioBook Narrator…5th Medical Audio book Narrator. 

Who are you more likely to pick?

It’s likely going to be a contest between the Audiobook Narrator, and the Medical Audiobook Narrator.

Si Audiobook Narrator, lamang na dun sa Generalist voice actors kasi meron siyang special skills na hindi pa natututunan or hindi kaya nung generalists.

If the project is an audiobook, alam na ni Audiobook Narrator yung workflows so masmabilis siyang gumawa, less likely siyang magkakamali…

Yung previous projects niya as audiobook narrator is evidence na bebenta yung audiobook, tama yung format ng recordings niya, and I’m sure there are other benefits.

 Now si Medical Audiobook Narrator, may edge din siya versus yung general Audiobook Narrator, such as knowing how to pronounce medical jargon.

 Imagine if habang nagrerecord ka ng audio book, every 2 sentences, may makikita kang medical jargon like Eosinophilic esophagitis.

 If you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re going to spend all your time researching how they’re pronounced, or doing revisions.

 So a Medical Audiobook Narrator could be 2-3x faster than a typical audiobook narrator for that kind of work, kaya siya yung pinaka-likely na mapipili.

 But Dave, won’t I be limiting myself and miss out on other genres if I specialize?

 Naisip ko rin yun, but that hasn’t been my experience.

 In spite of specializing, I continue to get all kinds of projects.

 Because many clients will assume that to become a specialist, you first had to become a generalist.

 If you’re a head and neck surgeon, you would still know how to treat an injured leg to a degree, and you can definitely treat a fever.

 And that is why specializing is a valid strategy if profit is your priority.