W&W
GIVING THE VOICE OVER
Marie: Hi everyone, my name is Marie Westbrook.
HOW DID YOU GET YOUR START IN THE VOICE OVER INDUSTRY?
Marie: Well, I guess I can take it back to just after college. As I was scrolling through jobs online, I saw an open position for a fill-in traffic reporter at a local radio station. I ended up working there for a few months. Even after that experience, voiceover still wasn't quite on my radar yet.
WHAT MADE YOU GET STARTED IN THE VOICE OVER INDUSTRY?
Marie: Voice over came my way in the beginning. I had previously been an 8th-grade science teacher (waiting tables on the weekends to make extra money) but left that career after the first year. I decided I could keep waiting tables and pursue acting. I got my SAG card and then made a move to Seattle. There isn't a lot of film work there, so clearly that was for other rea- sons, but it was where I booked my first voice over gig. My on-camera agent sent me an audition for a Nintendo Nintendogs game trailer. I had no idea what I was doing and had to find a friend of a friend to record it for me. As I was driving over to hand-deliver the cd to my agent, I thought, I can't believe I even took the time to do this.
There's no way I'll book it. A couple of weeks later, just as I was packing up to move to LA, I got the call from my agent that I booked the job! I was com- pletely shocked!
PLEASE SHARE A MOMENT WHERE YOU FELT INSPIRED TO BE A PART OF THE VOICE OVER INDUSTRY.
Marie: I still had my eye on the on-camera side of things when I first moved to LA.
I considered the Nintendo book- ing in Seattle a fluke. After about a year with my LA agent, they sent me a voice over audition. I went to an in-person audition at Margarita Mix studios. I had fun but left without giving it a sec- ond thought. I didn't think there was any chance I'd book it.
Well, when I got the call from my agent, he seemed as taken aback as I was. He said, "remem- ber that voice over audition you did about a month ago?
Well, they want you to come in and read for it." I said, "you mean I booked it?" and he said, "yup, maybe you should con- sider getting a voice over agent.