This is a tough one. It depends completely on your work experience, union status, and other factors. First questions to ask yourself:
Do you have a compelling commercial, character/animation, promo and narration demo? If not, you’ll need at least one or two of these depending on the area of representation you’re seeking.
Are you union? Most of the big agencies will require that you’re a member of SAG-AFTRA before they’ll sign you onto their roster.
How much work experience do you have? This is one of the really difficult parts of voiceover. You can’t get work without having work experience. It’s quite the catch-22. Agencies won’t sign you (generally) unless you have a proven track record of performing well on the mic with a decent client base. But how do you get work without an agent? That’s where sites like Voices.com come into play. They’re great for getting audition practice and work under your belt without an agent.
Once you’re really ready, with a good demo and good work experience, you can start submitting to agencies. Each agency has its own submission policy. Many will take emailed attachements of your demo MP3 (though usually not unsolicited), others will only accept mailed hard copies of your demo CD with a cover letter and resume. I would highly recommend researching the agencies you’re interested in joining and reading up on their submission policies. If you send an unsolicited email to an agency you’re serious about when their policy states that they don’t accept unsolicited MP3’s, you may have blown it… forever! Like the great poet Eminem once said, “You only get one shot!” Be sure to make it count.
If you’re looking for a list of agencies to start reading up on and submitting to, I would recommend checking out the links on Voicebank. Good luck!
Posted in: I'm New To Voiceover