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| Silver Screen Comic Bryan Cox Lends Voice to Transformers |
Canadian comedian and voice-over actor Bryan Cox is celebrating two releases this summer:
the blockbuster hit movie, Transformers and his first audio book, RoadnStories of the Real
Highway Road Comics. Cox discusses his experience working on Transformers and how comics can
break into the voice-over business.
the blockbuster hit movie, Transformers and his first audio book, RoadnStories of the Real
Highway Road Comics. Cox discusses his experience working on Transformers and how comics can
break into the voice-over business.
How did you break into the voice-over business and
transition into stand up?
I'd been working in radio for over 20 years. When you
are an on air personality, you are always asked out to
emcee different events so each time, I started throwing
in some humor, and it got to the point that folks were
calling the radio station not to book an emcee, but use
me as a form of comedy entertainment.
One day I decided to go down to the biggest local
comedy club. I'd put together about 15 minutes of
stuff, but no one told me that drinking for courage,
before you get on stage was a bad idea. I did five
minutes and the only really good laugh I got was when
transition into stand up?
I'd been working in radio for over 20 years. When you
are an on air personality, you are always asked out to
emcee different events so each time, I started throwing
in some humor, and it got to the point that folks were
calling the radio station not to book an emcee, but use
me as a form of comedy entertainment.
One day I decided to go down to the biggest local
comedy club. I'd put together about 15 minutes of
stuff, but no one told me that drinking for courage,
before you get on stage was a bad idea. I did five
minutes and the only really good laugh I got was when
I tripped getting on the stage. So it was back to radio until one day a bunch of ladies asked
me out to emcee a ladies night. They had hired a comedian too. So I went out and opened for
this guy, who was also a comedy agent. He told me that I'd be good enough to open for other
guys. I took him up on his offer and every weekend opened for other comics. The radio station
I was with went bankrupt, so I thought what better time than to follow my dream and work as a
stand up. Now with over 18 years under my belt...I'm still here.
Each week I was asked to voice something for someone, who remembered me from the radio
days. This is kind of hard when you're on the road, but I would stop and go to a local radio
station, rent their studio for an hour or so and voice away. I was building up an actual client list
of voice-over work: furniture stores, stereo shops, restaurants and a lot of other places.
What kind of investment goes into launching a voice-over career in terms of education,
equipment and demos?
The education I received in radio along with my style of voice was more than enough to attract
several voice agents. You need them to get the bigger projects national commercials, voices in
cartoons and movies, even on-hold messages, but it's the local merchants that are your bread
and butter, at least in my case it is.
There is a local recording studio that I used for the longest time for everything, but the cost
was really cutting into my bottom line, so I decided to buy my own equipment. First, you need
a quiet room and a really good computer, one with a lot of memory. I went with Mac. Next is a
pre-amp that plugs into the computer. I use an M-Box because it came with recording software
called Pro-Tools. You need a great studio microphone. My choice was a Rode NT1-A. The cost
of all this was around the 5000 mark. The cost can range any where from say $500-$10,000 for
a good home studio.
There's even equipment that you can pack up and take on the road with you. A good resource
for you might be a local music store. To break into the business, the next thing you need is a
great voice demo. Read ads in magazines, narrate from the newspaper, and above all just be
creative. There are different demos you can do: general commercial, narration, hard sell, soft
sell, characters, on hold and so on.
You have to find what kind of read you're good at. I have a few of my demos available at
http://bryancox.voices.com. This is also a good site to join because they send you leads and
scripts from casting agents looking for voice-over artists.
How did the opportunity to do Transformers come about?
One day I got up and there on my computer was a script with a bunch of lines from a movie,
Transformers that was to be released in about a year. My agent told me to read all the lines in
the described character and again in a character of my choosing.
me out to emcee a ladies night. They had hired a comedian too. So I went out and opened for
this guy, who was also a comedy agent. He told me that I'd be good enough to open for other
guys. I took him up on his offer and every weekend opened for other comics. The radio station
I was with went bankrupt, so I thought what better time than to follow my dream and work as a
stand up. Now with over 18 years under my belt...I'm still here.
Each week I was asked to voice something for someone, who remembered me from the radio
days. This is kind of hard when you're on the road, but I would stop and go to a local radio
station, rent their studio for an hour or so and voice away. I was building up an actual client list
of voice-over work: furniture stores, stereo shops, restaurants and a lot of other places.
What kind of investment goes into launching a voice-over career in terms of education,
equipment and demos?
The education I received in radio along with my style of voice was more than enough to attract
several voice agents. You need them to get the bigger projects national commercials, voices in
cartoons and movies, even on-hold messages, but it's the local merchants that are your bread
and butter, at least in my case it is.
There is a local recording studio that I used for the longest time for everything, but the cost
was really cutting into my bottom line, so I decided to buy my own equipment. First, you need
a quiet room and a really good computer, one with a lot of memory. I went with Mac. Next is a
pre-amp that plugs into the computer. I use an M-Box because it came with recording software
called Pro-Tools. You need a great studio microphone. My choice was a Rode NT1-A. The cost
of all this was around the 5000 mark. The cost can range any where from say $500-$10,000 for
a good home studio.
There's even equipment that you can pack up and take on the road with you. A good resource
for you might be a local music store. To break into the business, the next thing you need is a
great voice demo. Read ads in magazines, narrate from the newspaper, and above all just be
creative. There are different demos you can do: general commercial, narration, hard sell, soft
sell, characters, on hold and so on.
You have to find what kind of read you're good at. I have a few of my demos available at
http://bryancox.voices.com. This is also a good site to join because they send you leads and
scripts from casting agents looking for voice-over artists.
How did the opportunity to do Transformers come about?
One day I got up and there on my computer was a script with a bunch of lines from a movie,
Transformers that was to be released in about a year. My agent told me to read all the lines in
the described character and again in a character of my choosing.
By Tasha A. Harris, Editor-in-Chief
STM CONTRIBUTORS Tasha A. Harris Beau Bowker Andrew David Bobo Lamb Cheryllynne Ofstedahl Joanna Briley Carolyn Castiglia Rick Younger Ryan P. Carey Jim Mendrinos Travis Fahs Amy Patrick Jemar Hammonds II Ralph Vincent Mike Petro Eve-Dionne Vince Cummings DeAnne Smith Michael Malone Ken Carlson Jerry Kahn |