Casting foreign talent

Q:  This experience has been quite frustrating.  We recorded a video in Spanish and Chinese, and we almost had to re-record because the client says there was an accent.  We thought the talent was neutral. Is there a secret to casting accents?

Sorry about your problem.  It is an old hold that so many fall into.  The frustrating thing about accents is — who has the accent - your talent or your client?  Meaning, perhaps your talent was fine, but your client’s reviewer had an accent and wants his/her own accent in the project, perhaps without being aware?  Or, perhaps your talent swore to you that their accent is neutral, but is not.  Companies that deal in foreign talents on a daily basis, like @International Services, receive hundreds of voice talent demos all claiming to be neutral, when some of them have ferocious accents, and almost none are “neutral”.   Most talent agencies will upload any demos that sound professional to their ears, neutral or not, or will believe what  talents say of their own skills.  Perhaps the easiest way to assure an accent is to work with a company that guarantees accent, like @IS.  And the only way to guarantee accent is to use talent located inside the native country, in the major metropolitan area - a talent who is a regular with directors and producers of commercials and television for that country.   A popular talent who works for many many directors in country - especially for national advertising - will be a neutral talent.  Each country has its share of character actors, or stage actors who record voices part time but whose real strength is their face and body not their voice.  You should really start to worry about talents who live out-of-country.  For an accent guarantee, @IS offers hundreds of talents with guaranteed neutral accents in their Director Center on their website http://www.internationalservies.com/is .  The Director Center can also be placed on your own website, with your branding.

No comments yet.

Leave a comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.