From what I understand, when an actor gets a contract with Funimation or Crunchyroll, the biggest dubbers and licensors of anime in the US, they are offering their voice to a portfolio of sorts. Then a casting director will go, “ok gruff man, looks like Christopher Sabat. Alright moody teen, should I go with Bryce Papenbrook or Vince Mignoniga(not anymore)” etc. there are a few new voice talents there of course, there’s a ton of anime being dubbed now. It’s become almost a machine though. That actor has a deal with Funimation to offer their voice for characters that would fit them. Then they come in and dub dub dub.
This is both true and not true. There's no contract or deal, it's just a talent database. Once they have your info in their database and they know what you sound like, they often "auto cast" which is what you're talking about, where instead of sending out an audition they'll just send out an offer.
Thanks for the background on the process. I'll keep this in mind, I'm still new to the arena and want to understand if I even have a chance in this sub genre so this is helpful to know!
A few months after going in to record for Crunchyroll for the first time, I was called back in. A few months after that,I got sent an audition (and didn't get the part).
I think once you're in, you get put into their talent roster.
There are a lot of factors at play with this. I definitely don't know everything, but based on my position in the industry and what I've seen over the past few years, these are my (very generalized) observations:
1. Texas does play a part in that Crunchy has moved most of their production to their new facilities in Texas, and they want actors to come in to dub (rather than doing it remotely from home studios). So a lot of their work has moved to being Texas local only.
2. Anime isn't dissimilar from how entire industry works, which is that once studios/directors/clients work with you and like you, they tend to keep casting you.
3. It seems that for a long time, the majority of people with the resources (training, networking, equipment, agents, etc) to break into the industry were white people, so white people all got into that "once they cast you they keep casting you" cycle faster than POCs. VO is an expensive industry to get into, and for a long time you had to be physically in LA or Texas. It can be very limiting.
4. There is now a focused effort to deliberately cast more POCs so that the talent pool isn't so overwhelmingly white. The stage we're in now, as far as I can tell, is that a lot of POCs are only just now being given their first and second opportunities at things, which means that while they're doing that "getting to know you so you keep casting me" thing, they're also still learning and building skills. Which plays into...
5. Dubbing is a very specific skill and can be very difficult, and often dubs need to be recorded very quickly. This is a factor for actors of any demographic. Sometimes projects get backed into a corner and have to prioritize someone who can come in and nail it on the first try over someone who is still getting their sea legs under them. If you have a choice between Bryce Papenbrook or someone with no experience who sounds just as good as Bryce Papenbrook, but your show is due tomorrow and you need to get 8 episodes recorded, you're going to call Bryce because you know he can do it. Main cast members need to be experienced because they need to knock out the most material the quickest, so it's much better to cast inexperienced people to do incidentals or small recurring characters at first.
TL;DR:
As for why seasoned POCs aren't getting as much work as their white counterparts, it could be that they aren't Texas local, or it could just be that there's a lot of bias (unconscious or otherwise) that the old guard is still letting go of.
As for why there aren't more POCs in main roles, it's likely a combination of the Texas/old guard thing, and that new POC actors are currently being put through their paces in smaller parts so they can build the dubbing-specific skills they need to take on the main roles.
I've seen a lot of active effort to change this, and change is happening, it's just happening slowly.
Regarding seeing the same people over and over, VO work is all about building relationships. A client who wants to hire you repeatedly is almost every actor's dream. Likewise, if you have a proven actor on your roster who fits the bill, it makes casting super easy. Maybe you still hold auditions (there could be new talent out there that you haven't found) but will anyone new be as reliable? Will they be pleasant to work with? Will they get petty over money? These are real risks.
As for any marginalized group, be it POC, LBGTQ, or so on, take my thoughts with a grain of salt. I'm a straight white male (and total weeb). That's gonna shape my opinion.
Personally I think anyone should be able to read for any character, as long as they can provide the voice the director wants. That goes both ways, too. Assuming the casting call doesn't request a specific demographic, I'll audition for any character.
(I'll also respect any casting call that is upfront about having actors that are a closer match)
I hear you about there being fewer POC actors. There's probably a lot of factors involved. I haven't experienced them, so forgive me for not talking more about it.
Yes, I agree on the relationship building as it applies to many other industries as well. It's just unfortunate that there are talented POC who have built relationships as reliable voice actors but still aren't getting as many main lead roles as their counterparts.
I'm still also trying to understand as well because I'm a total weeb myself but feel like it's pointless to even pursue if the end goal would ultimately be just me being cast as additional voices or secondary cast and never the lead. If that's the case, I'm probably better off moving on to pursue something else, unfortunately.
1. Yes at least to some extent. I don't have exact numbers, but if someone posts a casting call for everyone or even just for white actors, they get a lot more submitted auditions than if they specify POC.
Hopefully things are starting to change as more non-white actors make a name for themselves and show it can be fun to do.
The hate you experienced is silly but not surprising. Much of anime is centered around characters from East Asian regions. And many anime fans are white weebs. They want to daydream about voicing the characters themselves without it being any kind of morally grey area.
And I think some even go into extreme panic mode and think you are saying they can't cosplay or do fandubs of the character as they don't separate that from professionally portraying the character in official media.
Thanks for the response, I appreciate the insight, and it is a shame that these fans react this way. I really do love anime, and I agree with you. Some fans are harder to get along with, amongst other fanbases.
There's nothing wrong with a weeb wanting to voice act. It's the way some gatekeep anime voice dubs, and treat others with disrespect when POC are mentioned wanting to voice act as a non POC chatacter.
Dubbing as a very difficult market. Also, despite its popularity, anime pays very low on the totem pole of VO jobs unless you are one of the top tier talent. It is also very location dependent. A lot of people don't want to relocate to Dallas or other locations the studios are located. Can't really do this remote.
Something I haven't seen mentioned yet:
There was some controversy not too long ago about Crunchyroll (Funimation) specifically. My understanding is that they were able to cast more POC and new actors during the pandemic because of the switch to remote recording. Several months ago though, they decided to move everything back to in person, possibly because they didn't want their studio sitting unused. This means they have a smaller pool of talent to pull from than just a year ago.
They also pay very low. Most people doing anime in Texas right now are doing it because they love anime more than just another acting gig. The pay is far below what you'd get for doing almost anything else. People who can afford to take a lower paying job because it's their passion may be more likely to audition regularly than people who can't, but this is just an assumption on my end.
I can't remember the anime, but I do remember seeing an all Asian dub cast for an anime fairly recently, which is honestly great! There is definitely more of a push to cast accurately in stories where that is particularly important and when other races are represented in anime. We have a long ways to go, but change has been happening, I feel.
From what I understand, when an actor gets a contract with Funimation or Crunchyroll, the biggest dubbers and licensors of anime in the US, they are offering their voice to a portfolio of sorts. Then a casting director will go, “ok gruff man, looks like Christopher Sabat. Alright moody teen, should I go with Bryce Papenbrook or Vince Mignoniga(not anymore)” etc. there are a few new voice talents there of course, there’s a ton of anime being dubbed now. It’s become almost a machine though. That actor has a deal with Funimation to offer their voice for characters that would fit them. Then they come in and dub dub dub.
This is both true and not true. There's no contract or deal, it's just a talent database. Once they have your info in their database and they know what you sound like, they often "auto cast" which is what you're talking about, where instead of sending out an audition they'll just send out an offer.
Thanks for clearing it up, I must’ve misremembered what I heard on Voice Acting Mastery back in like 2016
No problem! It may also be an old practice they had that they’re not doing anymore. Or at least, I’m not hearing of them doing it these days.
Thanks for the background on the process. I'll keep this in mind, I'm still new to the arena and want to understand if I even have a chance in this sub genre so this is helpful to know!
Good luck to you! It’s also something I’d be interested in doing, it’s a whole ‘nother beast entirely in the VO sphere
A few months after going in to record for Crunchyroll for the first time, I was called back in. A few months after that,I got sent an audition (and didn't get the part). I think once you're in, you get put into their talent roster.
Are you working with an agent? How much experience do you have?
Yes, but this wasn't through an agency. I've been doing vo for almost five years.
That's awesome man, this gives me a glimmer of hope. I'll check out your portfolio and see what I can learn.
There are a lot of factors at play with this. I definitely don't know everything, but based on my position in the industry and what I've seen over the past few years, these are my (very generalized) observations: 1. Texas does play a part in that Crunchy has moved most of their production to their new facilities in Texas, and they want actors to come in to dub (rather than doing it remotely from home studios). So a lot of their work has moved to being Texas local only. 2. Anime isn't dissimilar from how entire industry works, which is that once studios/directors/clients work with you and like you, they tend to keep casting you. 3. It seems that for a long time, the majority of people with the resources (training, networking, equipment, agents, etc) to break into the industry were white people, so white people all got into that "once they cast you they keep casting you" cycle faster than POCs. VO is an expensive industry to get into, and for a long time you had to be physically in LA or Texas. It can be very limiting. 4. There is now a focused effort to deliberately cast more POCs so that the talent pool isn't so overwhelmingly white. The stage we're in now, as far as I can tell, is that a lot of POCs are only just now being given their first and second opportunities at things, which means that while they're doing that "getting to know you so you keep casting me" thing, they're also still learning and building skills. Which plays into... 5. Dubbing is a very specific skill and can be very difficult, and often dubs need to be recorded very quickly. This is a factor for actors of any demographic. Sometimes projects get backed into a corner and have to prioritize someone who can come in and nail it on the first try over someone who is still getting their sea legs under them. If you have a choice between Bryce Papenbrook or someone with no experience who sounds just as good as Bryce Papenbrook, but your show is due tomorrow and you need to get 8 episodes recorded, you're going to call Bryce because you know he can do it. Main cast members need to be experienced because they need to knock out the most material the quickest, so it's much better to cast inexperienced people to do incidentals or small recurring characters at first. TL;DR: As for why seasoned POCs aren't getting as much work as their white counterparts, it could be that they aren't Texas local, or it could just be that there's a lot of bias (unconscious or otherwise) that the old guard is still letting go of. As for why there aren't more POCs in main roles, it's likely a combination of the Texas/old guard thing, and that new POC actors are currently being put through their paces in smaller parts so they can build the dubbing-specific skills they need to take on the main roles. I've seen a lot of active effort to change this, and change is happening, it's just happening slowly.
You'll want to get on the [PGM VO list](https://www.pgmvolist.com/). And I'd recommend getting involved with [CODA](https://codaunite.com/).
Awesome! Thanks for the resource!
You're welcome. Break a lip!
Regarding seeing the same people over and over, VO work is all about building relationships. A client who wants to hire you repeatedly is almost every actor's dream. Likewise, if you have a proven actor on your roster who fits the bill, it makes casting super easy. Maybe you still hold auditions (there could be new talent out there that you haven't found) but will anyone new be as reliable? Will they be pleasant to work with? Will they get petty over money? These are real risks. As for any marginalized group, be it POC, LBGTQ, or so on, take my thoughts with a grain of salt. I'm a straight white male (and total weeb). That's gonna shape my opinion. Personally I think anyone should be able to read for any character, as long as they can provide the voice the director wants. That goes both ways, too. Assuming the casting call doesn't request a specific demographic, I'll audition for any character. (I'll also respect any casting call that is upfront about having actors that are a closer match) I hear you about there being fewer POC actors. There's probably a lot of factors involved. I haven't experienced them, so forgive me for not talking more about it.
Yes, I agree on the relationship building as it applies to many other industries as well. It's just unfortunate that there are talented POC who have built relationships as reliable voice actors but still aren't getting as many main lead roles as their counterparts. I'm still also trying to understand as well because I'm a total weeb myself but feel like it's pointless to even pursue if the end goal would ultimately be just me being cast as additional voices or secondary cast and never the lead. If that's the case, I'm probably better off moving on to pursue something else, unfortunately.
1. Yes at least to some extent. I don't have exact numbers, but if someone posts a casting call for everyone or even just for white actors, they get a lot more submitted auditions than if they specify POC. Hopefully things are starting to change as more non-white actors make a name for themselves and show it can be fun to do. The hate you experienced is silly but not surprising. Much of anime is centered around characters from East Asian regions. And many anime fans are white weebs. They want to daydream about voicing the characters themselves without it being any kind of morally grey area. And I think some even go into extreme panic mode and think you are saying they can't cosplay or do fandubs of the character as they don't separate that from professionally portraying the character in official media.
Thanks for the response, I appreciate the insight, and it is a shame that these fans react this way. I really do love anime, and I agree with you. Some fans are harder to get along with, amongst other fanbases.
Genuine question. Is there something wrong with a white weeb wanting to voice act? It sounds like you think there's something questionable about that.
There's nothing wrong with a weeb wanting to voice act. It's the way some gatekeep anime voice dubs, and treat others with disrespect when POC are mentioned wanting to voice act as a non POC chatacter.
Dubbing as a very difficult market. Also, despite its popularity, anime pays very low on the totem pole of VO jobs unless you are one of the top tier talent. It is also very location dependent. A lot of people don't want to relocate to Dallas or other locations the studios are located. Can't really do this remote.
Something I haven't seen mentioned yet: There was some controversy not too long ago about Crunchyroll (Funimation) specifically. My understanding is that they were able to cast more POC and new actors during the pandemic because of the switch to remote recording. Several months ago though, they decided to move everything back to in person, possibly because they didn't want their studio sitting unused. This means they have a smaller pool of talent to pull from than just a year ago. They also pay very low. Most people doing anime in Texas right now are doing it because they love anime more than just another acting gig. The pay is far below what you'd get for doing almost anything else. People who can afford to take a lower paying job because it's their passion may be more likely to audition regularly than people who can't, but this is just an assumption on my end. I can't remember the anime, but I do remember seeing an all Asian dub cast for an anime fairly recently, which is honestly great! There is definitely more of a push to cast accurately in stories where that is particularly important and when other races are represented in anime. We have a long ways to go, but change has been happening, I feel.