Back in the day, it was an agent’s job to develop new talent. If the agent was really excited about a new talent, they would agree to take them on and develop them. The talent would be auditioning, going on generals, meeting new people, all while making their demo and booking jobs. The talent didn’t need to have a strong demo to get in the door. Sometimes a referral would do the trick, sometimes the talent would be scouted at the grocery store, i.e., “Excuse me, you have an amazing voice…here’s my card. Call me and we’ll get you started in an amazing career in voice over.”
Now, this is so irrelevant, it’s almost laughable. The days of an agent developing talent are long over. Agents are too strapped for time and resources.
The good news is that you can so easily develop yourself, you have no excuse to go after voice over if you really want it! Get great skills, make a kick-butt demo, keep honing your skills, go online and book some jobs, make a kick-ass branded website (no cheesy mic logos, for the love of all things holy), do audiobooks, phone messages, narrations, ANYTHING to get your foot in the door. Build your own client base, target regional agents, build up a nice home studio, and keep going in for brush-up coaching to make sure you are at the competitive level of the best in the world.
After spending one to three years developing yourself, creating a career with income, booking jobs, and establishing relationships, then target larger market agents. Ever since voice over went global (hello, internet), you are competing with the best talent in the world. Make sure you’ve become the best talent possible, and you will open doors for yourself through the power of Self-Development.