Video games, voice overs and writing

MoCap suit and headcam

It is apparently spring but London weather is just laughing at us all. I have comforted myself with a leather jacket. And two summer holidays to sunnier lands.

But for those of you who aren't daunted by the rainiest April/May in a century, let's talk London acting. It's been a good year for work so far. Since January I've done three video games (two with motion capture, one just voice) and regularly get voice overs through my excellent agent, Hobson's. I auditioned for another game last week (top secret for now) and I've got a TV movie casting tomorrow. ALL of this with my natural American accent - there is indeed work for us Yanks here! In fact I've written an article about just that called Adventures in Lycra in the May issue of The American magazine.

On the screenwriting front I wrote a 10 minute short film called Gelert for It's My Shout Script Call 2012. Out of 150 scripts submitted, six will be professionally produced and aired on BBC Wales. This year they allowed entries from non-Welsh writers too and although my script didn't make the final six it was shortlisted.

I'm in the midst of rewriting my entry for the 50 Kisses Competition for London Screenwriter's Festival 2012. The rules: write a two page screenplay set on Valentine's Night and contain at least one kiss. It's been a fun challenge to fit a complete story into two pages.

Right. Enough about me. I've promised you tips. Here's one:

If you are a North American in London and interested in voice work, get yourself a VO reel and send it out to agents NOW. There is a surprising amount of work to be had but only if you get your voice heard. I let YEARS go by before I got my sh*t together, made a reel and actually got it in front of people. I highly recommend JP at The Showreel. I got the Agent Pack from him and have been hugely pleased. Partly because of that reel, voiceovers have been my main source of income in 2012.