If you want an English accent, I've got a friend (same last name as mine but no relation) who does "amateur" readings (i.e. he believes in free speech). His voice has authority and strength. He lives 90 minutes away but I'd be happy to ask him if he would record a sample that I could send you.

If interested, email me off-list . You might want to send along a sample of the text as well.

Hi Matthew... And Thanks Spot.

"Travis" (That's me) - can be found at this address:
www.Announcing.biz

If your project is challenging or different, you will find that a good number of experienced voice talent will be very interestered in woking on it. The important thing is to be upfront and clear about your situation. Most of us are not in this field for the money, however we do have to be careful 'cause if we do too much for free or deferred, or cheap, we loose the ability to do this as our life's work.

If you had the budget, the "standard", and perhaps the best, way to accomplish this would be to go through one of the voice casting companies in Los Angeles or New York. You pay them a fee, they contact the voice talent agencies and audition probably 60 people, sending you recordings five-or-ten individuals they felt best matched your descriptions. The cost for this service alone is probably what you have in mind for your entire production.

The "next best" way is to audition talent yourself. There are several ways to accomplish this. You can contact talent agencies yourself, provide some sample copy, and either have them audition in person, or send you and audition via .mp3/Internet. However, once you contact an agent, the talent is obligated to charge up-front at normal rates. You can ask people you know (you've done that here) or you can post the audition/job on the Internet.

There are at least three good places to post audition requests on the Internet. Craigslist, Voice123.com and Interactivevoices.com . I've known some producers who have gone through these services with mixed results - the biggest problem being receiving over 300 auditions, mostly by talent which is not right for the job.

Another way to produce a project like this is through a SAG "experimental" project contract. You can sometimes get very experienced people, even celebrities to participate, if your project is interesting enough. The deal is that the talent receives a greater share should the project succeed in exchange for deferred pay. There are a lot of rules that need to be followed for such a project, however.

Or, you might contact a local community theatre organization. There are an awful lot of very talented people in almost every community.

Good luck on this one.

-Travis

Thanks very much for the info! I'll email folk privately.
Travis! That's great advice all the way around! I appreciate your taking time to walk me/us (all the readers out here) though a good set of ideas to find the right voice talent. Great stuff!

Mjroddy,

My wife is a theatre professor at a small, liberal arts college in GA. Her students would love to have a shot at this, I expect.

Cheers,

Zendo