Voice123 Spotlight: "More Living With a Voice Actor"

In April 2010, Voice123 featured Dianne Russell's article, "On Living with a Voice Actor", an inside look into life with Adam Behr; one of the most highly successful voice over talents on Voice123!

"There is an element required for voice acting: Flexible Time.

I had a regular 9-5 job until four months ago, when Adam and I left Canada for South Africa. I now have an incredible amount of free time. Normally, I am not one who enjoys lounging about the house thinking life is a day spa; without work I feel bored and scattered. However, because my partner is a voice actor, I am not stuck at home alone. Instead, Adam is home with me, working away in the little recording studio he created in the second bedroom. He works whenever he pleases, choosing jobs that fit not only his ability and interest, but also our schedule. He is usually up in the morning checking email by about 8 AM, after which we often head out for a long power walk on Cape Town’s spectacular seawall, eat lunch, do some grocery shopping and head back home by mid-afternoon.


His work really kicks in at night when online sites like Voice123 start pumping out voice over jobs for the day (we’re on Africa time). By 7 PM he is in full swing, creating amazing characters in colourful accents, while I make dinner, pour us some great South African red and catch up on my blog. The evenings are busy for my voice actor, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be together. His studio is equipped with a single bed, so I often read while he’s recording. He asks me for opinions on various tracks, and we spend hours laughing at his crazy voice characters, listening to audio books and commercial copy. The nights usually end around 2 AM.

Another benefit to his flexibility is that Adam is free to live wherever he chooses. All of his gear is portable and much of his voice over work is Internet driven; aside from losing a day or two in travel time, he can live a completely nomadic lifestyle. For me, a woman with an English as a Second Language teaching certificate (I am a travel nut), this 'location independent lifestyle' is one I fully embrace. My home is wherever Adam and his voice equipment are, and that could be anywhere! Amazingly, due to having agents in major cities all over the world, local studio work (wherever ‘local’ happens to be) becomes an important part of his day. Since arriving in Cape Town, he has landed radio spots as the voice of two national restaurants chains, and the World Cup 2010 frenzy is bringing heaps of football-related work.


Finally, because Adam has such an amazing range, he is offered work from all corners of the globe. He is able to pick and choose what he wants to do, when he wants to do it. One minute it is a Hollywood movie trailer, the next it’s a European video game, and the next it is a corporate project for the UN. This is where Voice123 has the edge over other sites due to the variety of applications and the variety of the types of voices needed. Exercising this much control over one’s workload is not a luxury that most people are given. Voice overs and voice acting are allowing Adam to create exactly the kind of life he wants. In turn, this allows me to live the life I want, since currently we both want the same kind of life: flexible.

Living with my voice actor in South Africa is truly living the DREAM."

Voice123 thanks Dianne Russell and Adam Behr (seen here in this interview) for sharing their story with us. To increase focus on you, the community of Voice123, please share your voice over stories with us here!

Steven Lowell
Community Manager
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