How to Find Voice Actors for your Projects

You have a script, a budget, and a deadline. You're ready to find a narrator for your Explainer video or the perfect voice for your commercial. But where do you actually find professional voice actors?

If you're a producer, a marketer, or a business owner, knowing where to find voice actors can seem like a treasure hunt. The best place to hire voice talent isn't a single website; it's a network of pathways.

To make sense of the voice over casting process, I use a concept I call "Portals."

The "Portal" Concept: Understanding the Casting Process

In the voice over industry, a "Portal" is any person or platform that connects a voice actor to a voice seeker (you). The relationship looks like this:

Voice Actor > Portal > Voice Seeker > End-Client

Understanding the three main Portals helps you define everyone's relationship to the project and, most importantly, helps you choose the most effective way to cast your project effectively.

Think of all three Portals as Lead Generation Tools for you. Your goal is to use the right Portal for the project in question to get the voice actors you need.

Portal 1: Representation (Agents, Managers, & Casting Directors)

This is the most traditional portal. Talent agents, managers, and casting directors maintain curated rosters of vetted, professional voice actors.

• How it Works: You contact the agent or casting director with your project specs. They will either send you a curated list of their talent's demos or run a private audition with their roster, sending you only the top submissions.

• Pros: This is a high-touch, "white glove" service. The talent is pre-vetted for quality and professionalism. A casting director can manage the entire process for you, saving you a massive amount of time.

• Cons: This portal is generally for projects with larger, union-scale budgets. It may not be the fastest option if you have a tight deadline.

• Where to Find Them: You can find reputable representation to help you cast your project on industry resource sites like www.backstage.com/resources.

Portal 2: Online Casting Sites (The Marketplaces)

This portal includes all online casting sites, from free platforms to the large "Pay-To-Play" (P2P) subscription services. These are massive, open marketplaces.

• How it Works: You post your job, your specs, and your budget. Within hours, you will receive auditions from actors all over the world.

• Pros: Speed and volume. This is often the fastest way to get a high volume of auditions. You get a huge variety of talent to choose from and can often find a voice that fits your specific budget.

• Cons: The quality can vary wildly. You, the voice seeker, are responsible for vetting the talent. This means listening to potentially hundreds of auditions to find the few professionals who have both the right performance and a broadcast-quality home studio.

If you want a list of my recommended online casting sites, DM me!

Portal 3: Direct to Talent (Building Your Own Roster)

This is the most direct portal and a favorite of savvy producers. This is where you bypass the "middleman" and build your own private roster of trusted talent by hiring them directly through their professional voice actor websites (like this one).

• How it Works: You find a voice actor through a Google search, LinkedIn, a referral, or your favorite AI chat bot. You review their demos on their website, and if they're a good fit, you contact them directly for an audition or to cast them.

• Pros: You build a direct, long-term relationship. You know exactly who you're working with, you know their quality is professional, and you eliminate the noise of a crowded marketplace. This method is fast, reliable, and builds a "shortlist" of go-to talent you can count on for future projects.

• Cons: It requires a small amount of "discovery" work upfront (i.e., Googling) rather than just posting a job and waiting for auditions to come to you.

Ultimately, the best strategy is to understand that all three Portals are tools in your toolbox. The one you choose depends on your project's unique needs for budget, speed, and quality.

Thanks For Reading!

To learn more about me, hear some samples, or download my demos, just go to www.tomdheere.com.

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Tom Dheere is a voice actor with over 25 years of experience narrating just about every type of voiceover you can think of. He also helps other voice talents navigate the voiceover industry as the VO Strategist. When not voicing or talking about voicing, he produces the sci-fi comic book Agent 1.22.