Casting tips for foreign voice talent

When casting talent in a language that is not your native language, most producers and directors lose their bearings.  First, a foreign language can cloud the judgement, making us rely on sound - or rely on what the talent says about himself or herself - rather than relying upon the other skills we possess, that would usually be trusted such as our analysis of diction, performance, and overall effect.  When listening to a language we do not speak, is much easier to miscast a talent than in our own language.  Easier to choose someone who has an accent in that language, for example.  How would you know?  And there are so many talents who declare that they have a “neutral” accent - wildly inaccurately. So often our company receives demos for consideration of talents used by other companies, and when we pass them on to our Quality Assurace studio in the native country, they study the talent demo and say, “The pronunciation is sloppy, and the performance wooden.  This talent would never be accepted as a good narrator in this country.”   This most often happens with talents who live outside their native countries.  Often, these talents would not survive as voice talents inside their own countries where there is competition, and their prices are low to get work in the new country.  What makes these talents attractive to producers and directors is that these talents speak the language of the country where they live - this makes the producer/director feel at ease, unfortunately without reason.  The first way to assure that you have selected a true professional is if the voice talent makes a full time living with their voice inside their native country.  That is a sure-fire way to know a true professional.  Then, ask if they do national commercials - and, if yes, how many per year?  Talents who do national commercials have what is called a neutral accent, the most prized.  Then, assure that these talents are professional VOICE talents, not stage or camera talents.  98% of all fine voice talents are not camera talents.  They concentrate solely on their voice.  If the talent you choose meets these benchmarks, you have a fine, professional talent whose work will enhance your corporate image and increase your sales.

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