Postcard from Turkey

Nothing pleases me more about social media than connecting with other VO professionals from all over…and I mean ALL over.

A FaceBook message the other day led to an even longer e-mail exchange, and the chance to connect with a voice actor from Turkey. Yep…Istanbul, Turkey.

andy His name is Andy Boyns, and he’s a Brit who’s managed to develop a fairly decent clientele, and (in his words): :…I’ve had to do it all myself – no workshops, courses, advice…”

I asked Andy if I could have permission to share his e-mail response with others in my blog, so we might all see how our colleagues around the world are being as enterprising as we should be, and how (Like Taji’s Voice Emporium site), we are all finding the support we need in our “booth isolation” to share and support each other in this grand online community.

Andy’s page on Voices.com is HERE…and if he realizes his dream to make it to VOICE2010, maybe we’ll all get a chance to meet him personally.

Read below to see Andy’s story in his letter to me.

CourVO

I live north of Istanbul in a town called SileIt’s good to be in the countryside amongst the trees and, especially at this time of year, close to the sea. as my “day job” is teaching English to Turkish students preparing to enter a private university there. It’s about an hour’s drive into Istanbul, a hectic city by all accounts.

I started to find VO work in 2005 after finding my agent. I’ve also developed several good contacts with small studios who also sometimes give me jobs. This spring I set up a “home studio” (RodeNT1000 & MBox Mini with ProTools) and started to use the resources and groups online. This has really improved my self perception as a VO artist, and although I haven’t yet started to get a ton of job offers from outside Turkey I have the quiet confidence that it’ll work out.
Originally from London, England, I’ve actually been here since 2000 (nearly 9years!) and am married to Aysegül, who is Turkish, with a 3 year oldson, William. My wife is currently taking a VO course, so I’m excited at the possibilities that will offer her.

At the same time I also signed up with Voices.com (and wrote their “We say it for you” slogan), and hope to get accepted by SaVoa in the next few days (or should I tell you that as you might be reviewing my demo!) I have to say that starting to do VO work abroad has has significant pros and cons. The downside has been (until I got online) the fact that I’ve had to do it all myself – no workshops, courses, advice. In fact I was recording VO for 4 years before I got any feedback from another native speaker of English!

The advantages though have been incredible.

I’ve had to do it all myself: I’ve had to believe in my ability, and to be very self critical, always wanting to do better. I know I’ve still a way to go, but knowing that is better than believing one’s arrived. Actually what I admired about your comment on Edge Studios was precisely the fact that even with your great experience you still respect that. As a foreign VO I have very little local competition… even without experience I got some great jobs… not one audition! Actually my biggest problem is the British thing as American accents seem to be more popular.

I’ve experienced a wide variety of VO… mostly company videos, but also audiobook, TV & radio adverts, even voicing a character in a TV drama (lip-synch in Turkish… ouch! So, I’ve had a good entrance. Of course I wish the work-load were greater, but I have a feeling that will improve as I’ve recently understood much better the importance of self promotion here and abroad. Exciting.

I’m really hoping that my wife, William, and I will be able to come to Voice2010.

Working on some sponsorship ideas for that.

kindest regards,

andy boyns