From Kat: If you’ve ever talked to anyone in the voice over industry, chances are you’ve heard the name Andy Roth. Casting Director, Voice Director, and Producer are his official titles, but those in the industry know him better for his kindness, his talent, and his brilliance on all things VO. If you’ve auditioned for Andy, taken his class, or seen his work- it’s obvious he was meant to do this.

Like many of us starting out, however, Andy didn’t know VO was an industry you could make an entire career in. But he’s done that. And he’s done it all while bringing joy and innate humanness to his tremendous success. 

With the ever-expanding technology changing our world’s landscape, the voice over world has quickly asserted itself as the most innovative and adaptable industry to work in. Whether you’re an actor interested in exploring the world of VO or a producer/creator looking for a new medium to work in, Andy reminds us of how to chase our goals with our authentic self, putting relationships first, and what to do “when best laid plans go awry.” (sort of…)

I can’t help but give my deepest and purest admiration to who Andy is, the love he puts into his job, and the way he’s able to uplift those around him. He’s always and forever #goals.  And he’s got a hot take on dogs that can’t be argued with...

Business owner. Producer. Casting Director. Coach. Andy Roth, ladies and gents! Andy, we’re thrilled and honored you’re taking the time to chat with us. We’ll get into the business facts, would you introduce yourself to our readers with some “human facts”?

Thank you!!  It's awesome to be a part “The Obvious Path.” 

Hi all, I’m Andy Roth.  I’m a Casting Director, Voice Director and Producer.  I’m also an avid whisk(e)y collector, competent plumber and I think dogs are the best things ever.  

You started as an assistant to a voice over agent. Was VO always the industry you wanted to be in? What made voice over casting a better career choice for you?

Like most people starting out, I didn’t know enough about the voice over world to know that it was even a part of the business that someone could focus on.  They didn’t cover enough of it in school to really form an opinion about it, much less choose it as a career.  I had no idea that it was actually a whole self-contained and incredibly lucrative industry; or how expansive the VO landscape is and how quickly it is to adapt to this ever-evolving biz. I knew about cartoons of course and a little bit about commercials, but until you really jump in it’s hard to appreciate how deep the water is.  It’s a sea of animation, video games, commercials, e-learning, industrials, narrations, dubbing, live announcing, promos, audiobooks and more.  And it’s becoming more vast all the time.  Social media, the web, VR and Augmented Reality have expanded the VO world so much so quickly.  And with Hologram technology around the corner, it shows no sign of slowing down.  VO grows its roots into almost every new tech breakthrough.  SIRI is the perfect example … I mean, who saw that coming?  

But I actually think I fell in love with the VO people before I fell in love with the work.  The work is fun and often exciting, but it’s fleeting.  Most jobs come and go fairly quickly (from a casting standpoint).  The relationships that are born from it however tend to be much longer lasting.  VO people are the friendliest in the business.  Of course, I’m totally biased when I say that, but I don’t think you’ll find a lot of people that disagree with me.  There’s more comradery than competition.  Maybe it’s because opportunities for performers aren’t as limited by genetics or age.  Maybe because everything tends to happen faster and with less muss and fuss.  There are no costume changes, no makeup, no early morning or late night shoots and the pay is often great.  Maybe it just attracts a certain kind of person.  Whatever the reason, I love this about the VO business. … Plus, I’m a total geek and it gives me more electronic toys to play with ☺

… So, short story long I guess; no, it wasn’t always where I wanted to be.  Learning about it was a gift that I cherish though.

You have a reputation of being the kindest Casting Director in the business. What’s your tip for bringing your authentic human self into the audition room?

Thanks!  I’d love to think that’s true, but I don’t really know.  I think most of my colleagues would fit the “kindest CD” bill as much as, or more than me.  But I’m happy to take a compliment whenever it comes.  

I guess the best pointer that I have about bringing your authentic self is to cut yourself a break.  It’s not your job to “bring words to life,” it’s to bring your life to the words.  And your unique self lives in your instincts.  A script is an opportunity more than a requirement.  It’s a way of letting us know who you are as a person in a specific context.  That doesn’t come with studying yourself as you’re performing and gauging whether or not you’re adhering to every nuance and moment that you did somewhere else.  It comes with trusting that you did the work and that every organic change will be built on the foundation that you’ve already laid down.

Robert Burns wrote, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”  Sort of … he actually wrote “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men Gang aft agley” which makes pretty much no sense at all in 21st Century USA so I’m paraphrasing (sorry Bob) :-/ … Anyway, he’s still right.  But that’s not a bad thing.  Your audition will pretty much always go differently than you thought.  It’ll feel different than the one that was in your head, or that you worked on at home.  It may matter to you, but it won’t to us.  Whatever happens in the actual audition space will always be better than what you wish was happening (even if it doesn’t feel that way).  Accepting that things will almost always be different in the room, and that you can roll with it, is an artistically powerful place to be.  You don’t need to “keep it new,” you just need to let it be what it’s going to be.  Your brain is a lightning fast, improvisational adaptation machine and it will make instantaneous decisions to accommodate your new environment in the most appropriate way.  You may hear that echoing voice of regret whispering “that wasn’t what I wanted to do!  It was better the other way!”  But that’s okay.  First of all, that’s almost never true.  What you’re doing in front of us is the product of the moment that we’re sharing.  It’s a different moment with different needs.  Your brain will know what those needs are almost always and the direction you get from the casting director or director will take you the rest of the way.  Secondly, we don’t know what you did somewhere else so we’ll never know what you “did better before.”  And third, for all you know, we may not have even liked the original!   Remember, you’ve done the work.  Everything you do in the room will be built on that work.  It won’t always lead to a job, but it does let us know who you are and in this business it’s not who you know, it’s who knows you.

There’s never a guarantee that you’ll get the job.  But any audition that gets you more auditions is a good one.

VO was built for pandemics, which leaves even more actors wanting to get into the business. Do you have any advice to theatrical and tv/film actors looking to join the VO world?

Take a class.  Even if you think you don’t need it.  Classes come with connections, relationships, business insights, practice and a glimpse into the thinking of someone who could be offering you an opportunity.  

And you’ll need a decent home studio.  It doesn’t need to be super-expensive, but it does need to sound great.  Most jobs are recording from home these days so you’re not just auditioning your voice or your talent, you’re also auditioning your studio.

What’s the change in our business you hope to see coming out of this time of a racial reckoning and a global pandemic?

The change is already happening.  Creatives are already far more aware and sensitive to people’s individual-ness.  The creative comfort zone is growing by leaps and bounds, and that combined with a wealth of new outlets for content is giving rise to new voices and programming that would have had a harder time finding an audience a few years ago.  It seems like content is now focused on the world rather than the world having to focus on a limited amount of content.  Free is the new safe and acceptance is the new requirement.  I’d love to see this continue, and I think it will.

We’ve used the metaphor of a mountain to be analogous to our career accomplishments, dreams, and changes. We feel a lot of our reader’s “climb” is on pause. Has your mountain ever changed? Is it changing now? What’s keeping you moving?

I love the Mountain analogy for so many reasons.  Mountains are always changing, literally.  Weather, earthquakes, rockslides, erosion, gravity, tourism and even time are constantly altering the landscape.  Everything is always moving, and everything is always changing.  It’s not the mountain, but it’s the ability to climb from ledge to ledge and dodge the falling rocks that gets someone to the top, and every mountain climbed makes the next one easier.  

My mountain has definitely changed in the years that I’ve been in the business.  There are new avenues for VO that didn’t exist before and that comes with new pay rates, limitations, requirements, talent specs etc.  Technology has sped up delivery time and made auditions sound and look better.  The job is to adapt to the environment while still delivering what my client wants.  I love that about my job.  If it was always the same mountain, I think climbing it would get boring.

As far a climb being on pause; sure, the pandemic has changed a lot of things.  I hit a quiet period for a bit.  It’s not the first time though and it won’t be the last.  No climb is non-stop or straight up.  Mountains have camps along the way.  Sometimes the stops are our choice so we can recharge and heal.  Sometimes they’re dictated by nature or too many other climbers on the mountain at the time.  Stopping and being patient is an essential part of any climb.  Use the time to plan your route, maybe you’ll find a better one or meet someone who knows the mountain better and can help you.  Maybe you’ll just find out that you’re on the right path and the break just gave you a chance to reconfirm that your choices were right.  Or maybe you’ll find out that doing something else in the climbing business is a better fit for you, and you’ll return to base camp more informed about what you want to do next.

At least that’s how I see things and it’s gotten me this far.  If I run into a problem, I’ll email you an amendment!

RAPID FIRE:

Favorite Quaran-TV: The Expanse, Peaky Blinders, Love, America Gods

Quaran-reads: Anything by Malcolm Gladwell

Exercise routine (if you are into that): Mountain climbing! … just kidding

Favorite food: Mexican Lasagna (vegetarian version) with black beans instead of refried … seriously, it’s awesome!

Thing you have missed most since March: Being able to look at someone who isn’t wearing a mask, and not think that they’re a total selfish ass.

Favorite hobby outside the biz: Studying and collecting rare and craft spirits, mostly whiskies.

Gin or Whiskey?:  Love them both.  Rum isn’t bad either.

Quick advice to actors auditioning for you: Be yourself, say the words, make the adjustments your asked for as you understand them without fear.  And don’t sweat it.  There’s no punishment for a read that’s not exactly what I want, there’s only direction. 

Favorite part of the job: The in person human connection.  I miss that.

Religious, Spiritual, or Nah: Something created dogs.  I believe in that.

Social Media Feelings: Social media is a useful tool that can be deceptively fun.

Advice to your younger self: Keep doing what you’re doing.  Keep trusting yourself.  Take the most emotionally rewarding path as often as you can and the most financially beneficial path as often as you have to.  The two will meet eventually.

Anything you’d like to promote?:  The documentary that I produced with a bunch of amazing people including Joaquin Phoenix, Jorja Fox, Mikko Alanne, Case Suchan, “The Animal People” documentary on Netflix, Amazon & iTunes

Picture 2: Andy at the screening of The Animal People, of which he is a Producer.

Picture 4: Andy and his dogs, Taco and Tequila