“I end up listening to a lot of student demos and Richard’s definitely stand out from the rest.”
—Crispin Freeman (Howl’s Moving Castle, Steven Universe)
“Richard has now produced three demos for me, and I have been incredibly pleased with both the process and the finished product each time. He is a gifted director, and is clearly invested in getting the best possible performance out of his clients.”
—Erica Lindbeck (Barbie, Avengers Assemble)
“Thinking about getting a demo done has been one of the most intimidating parts of moving my career forward, but Richard made the process so fun and easy!”
—Erica Mendez (Aggrestsuko, Stitch & Ai)
“They said, ‘We could hear how immersed in the scenes you were. We could see the whole scene based solely on your voice, and our brains filled in the rest.’ That was our work! So grateful we collaborated.”
—Jason E. Kelley (Seal Team, Death Loop) getting his first feature animation role, based on his demo
So, why a Voice Over demo?
In voiceover, your demo is your calling card. It tells people who you are, what you do, and how well you do it. Without one, it’s tough to get work in the big markets, and it’s a vital tool to get agents interested in you. So how do we put one together at Absolute VO? Read on! And make sure you listen to some example demos at the bottom of the page!
THE ABSOLUTE DEMO PROCESS!
When I make a demo with someone I need to find out who you are and what you’re great at. And as studio time can be expensive, the more we prep for the recording of your demo, the cheaper it will be for you and the better and more unique your demo! As a result, there’s a THREE-STEP method I use when I work with you:
STEP 1: After you’ve contacted me and we’ve spoken at some length about your needs, we’ll meet and I’ll have pulled or written a stack of copy for you to read for me at my home studio or remotely via Zoom, Skype, etc. We’ll go through each one and also do some improv with characters and voices you already have in your brain (you will also want to make a list of your characters, accents, and imitations). This process goes for as long as it takes (usually about an hour and a half). For commercial demos, I don’t ask for characters – we just go over a wide range of different kinds of commercials. But in either case…I then go and create brand NEW COPY BASED ON YOU AND YOUR SKILLS!
STEP 2: The second time we meet, we refine the things that worked the in last meeting and work over any new things. I’ll make further changes and edits to this material to get it down to the very best nuggets to be recorded.
STEP 3: Recording day! We’ll meet at a professional recording facility, meet with the engineer and get comfortable (this can also be done through SourceConnect, IPDTL, etc.). We’ll spend one hour maximum in the booth (the least amount of time they will charge), recording all the things we’ve worked on in the two times we met before, plus anything else that happens to spontaneously come up in the process. It’s all about what works best for you!
THEN: I will then sit with the engineer and go over my notes from the session, and within a week or two, the engineer will give me draft #1 of your demo, with music, production, and so on! I’ll give the engineer more notes, which will then turn into draft #2, sometimes draft #3 or even #4. But once I’m happy with it, I email it off to you for your approval. If you like it, you’ll get a hi-res version for your files. If not, then I go back to the engineer with your notes*, and we present a new final version for you.
By Appointment Only — PREP IS REMOTELY ONLY RIGHT NOW
PRICING: $2350 — flat fee for two days of prepping with you, writing your copy, booth directing on the day of recording, post-production direction, and delivering the final product to you.
Contact Us to set up an appointment!
*notes given to me by clients about their demos for the final edit will always be given consideration, but will be acted upon at my discretion. At the end of the day my name is on this, too, and if I feel the feedback would make for a worse demo I reserve the right to not make that fix. After all, one of the things you’re paying me for is my expertise.
CURRENT DEMO FEEDBACK
Have your old demo or a brand new one and you need to get some specific feedback on whether or not it works for you? I’ll give it a spin and give you key comments that could make a difference! (All comments are clearly just my opinion, but hey, it’s an educated one from decades of having them, producing them and listening to them!)
“What I really appreciate about Richard as a demo producer is that he isn’t just product-focused… he is process-focused. He really takes the time to get to know you, assess your skills, and help you present the best possible version of yourself. What’s more, Richard really has a handle on industry trends and is a wonderful collaborator for talent who are serious about their careers.”
—Lauren Mayfield
“Richard Tatum provides one of the best experiences an actor can ask for when looking to record a Voice Over Demo. His process is crafted in the actors’ best interest from the outset. He strives to find what is unique about YOUR sound and provides both feedback and copy writing that really make your individual voice shine. Richard really knows how to direct his actors and it shows all the way through each of your sessions. This makes your recordings stronger, and perhaps most importantly, lets you have more fun! To say I have been fully satisfied with Richard and Absolute VoiceOver, would be a massive understatement.”
—Colin Nelson
SOME EXAMPLES OF ABSOLUTE DEMOS
Here are but a few demos Absolute Voiceover has produced over the years!
Click and enjoy!
ANIMATION/INTERACTIVE (WOMEN)
Jennifer Roberts (interactive)
Morgan Bailey Keaton (animation)
ANIMATION/INTERACTIVE (MEN):
COMMERCIAL (WOMEN):
COMMERCIAL (MEN):
TIPS ON HOW NOT TO GET A DEMO MADE (IMHO)
Making a great demo (because who wants a mediocre one?) requires a special kind of focus. You want to put the very best of your best work into 1 to 1 1/2 minutes of audio, in a way that really shows off your sound and your range in a given category (Animation, Commercial, Promos, etc.), while remaining entertaining.
But if you feel you’re ready to make a demo, how do you get started? Well, I believe there’s a right way and … let’s call it a less-useful way.
Less-useful way #1: Some demo producers will simply hand you some copy the moment you meet, and after maybe an hour or two of working with you will say “Let’s record”! I can say from experience that what tends to come out of these situations are demos that do not accurately reflect what you do BEST.
Less-useful way #2: Some folks teach a class, and hand you the collection of your in-class takes and call that a demo. This doesn’t work so well, IMHO, because you should be taking a class to work on things you are NOT strong on. You might get better at those skills in that class, but then you have to ask: is it what you’re BEST at? Because that’s what you do want in your demo, and recordings from a class most likely won’t be it! You always want your very best work on your demo! (But hold on to that recording as a learning tool!)