1. FOR ALL THE VIEWERS READING, PLEASE KINDLY INTRODUCE YOURSELF.
Hi! My name is Matt Fogarty. I’m a full-time voice actor and narrator based on Vancouver Island, Canada. I’m also a husband and father to two amazing girls!
2. PLEASE TALK ABOUT HOW YOU GOT STARTED IN THE VOICE OVER INDUSTRY.
I got into voiceover through my career in radio. I was the creative services director for a group of stations for 14 years and started writing and voicing commercials, promos, and imaging for them. One of the morning show hosts there at the time heard some of my work on-air and encouraged me to get into voiceover. I juggled both (radio and voiceover) for many years, slowly but steadily building my business one client at a time. Eventually I had too much voiceover work to be able to do both and decided to leave radio and go all-in as a voice actor. That was in 2020.
3. WHAT MADE YOU GET STARTED IN THE VOICE OVER INDUSTRY?
I have always loved the creative collaboration that goes into a project. Researching, writing, voicing and producing a great piece is such a rewarding experience. Telling a story for a brand, a radio station, a television series – whatever it is, regardless of the medium, the art of storytelling is fascinating to me. I think that’s what drew me to a creative career. Getting to connect with people. Telling a great story. Making people feel something. That’s what it’s all about for me. There’s a powerful feeling of pride that comes from seeing a finished piece that took little pieces of brilliance from everyone involved.
4. PLEASE SHARE A MOMENT WHERE YOU FELT YOU WANTED TO BE INSPIRED TO BE A PART OF THE VOICE OVER INDUSTRY.
I think like a lot of people who ended up working in broadcasting my first inspiration was listening to the jocks on my local radio stations and playing along in my room as a kid. I dubbed songs off the radio onto cassette (throwback!) all the time. Played them back and tried to do the talking breaks. Back selling songs, etc. That was the Eagles with Hotel California, you know? It was fun. Later, I think I became more interested in television and film. Watching old movies. Studying them. I took a lot of film classes in University. Classic cinema. The films of Marlon Brando. The Philosophy Of Film. Several others. I developed a strong appreciation for all aspects of film, storytelling, acting, writing and production.
5. PLEASE TALK ABOUT THE CHALLENGES YOU FACE IN THIS INDUSTRY AND HOW YOU OVERCOME THE CHALLENGES.
Like any job, in any industry, there are challenges. As voice actors, we are pretty much working by ourselves a lot of the time, so it can get a bit lonely sometimes. Real talk. It’s also easy to work too much. You can end up feeling burned out some days. It’s important to take breaks. Go for walks. Go to the gym. Whatever it may be. Stepping away from a project and coming back later can sometimes be the best thing. When you come back you’ll have fresh ears and hear your reads differently. Time management can also be a challenge. Working ON the business is hard when you’re consumed working IN the business. Meaning things like administrative tasks or marketing can sometimes take a back seat when you’re busy actually performing and recording (but that’s a good problem to have!)
6. JAPAN IS KNOWN FOR SO MANY GREAT ICONIC VOICE OVER PEOPLE, SUCH AS CHARACTERS FROM ANIME OR MOVIES AND DUBBED TV SHOWS. WHO IS SOMEONE INSPIRATIONAL THAT YOU ADMIRE IN THIS INDUSTRY?
There are so many voice actors I admire. Dave Pettitt is one. He’s done work on Dragon Ball, among other things. He’s the guy who encouraged me to get into voiceover. Also, the first two imaging voices I worked when I was in radio were Matt Rawlings and Joe Cipriano – they were both such great examples early in my career and still to this day. I got a chance to meet Joe at VO Atlanta and it was a really cool moment for me. To now be represented by the same talent agency as both of them (Atlas Talent) is surreal. Other talent I have a ton of respect for include Marie Westbrook, Emma O’Neill, Angus Macleod. And I have to mention my daughter Everley who is almost 10 and doing some amazing voiceover work! Proud Dad! There’s really too many to list. So many inspiring talent who have impacted me in some way over the years.
7. IS THERE ANY PROJECT OR PEOPLE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO WORK WITH OR COLLABORATE WITH?
I’ve been very fortunate in that I’ve had a chance to work with many of the brands I like to use in my personal life…but there’s a few that are still on my bucket list…including Apple and Starbucks. I’m a baseball fan so would love to do more work with Major League Baseball. Call me!
8. PLEASE TALK ABOUT WHAT TYPE OF WORK YOU ARE CURRENTLY FOCUSED ON.
The majority of my daily work is commercial and radio imaging, but I also do promo, sports promo, and various forms of narration including corporate, broadcast and e-learning.
9. PLEASE TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU LIKE ABOUT HOLLYWOOD ENTERTAINMENT.
I love the overall vibe. I love the stories that come out of Hollywood. I like the scene, the stories, the characters. It’s all good!
I think range, script interpretation, and being directable are the top 3 things that can help to make a good voice actor. Honorable mention to patience and work ethic! Having the range to perform a variety of emotions, the ability to analyze and UNDERSTAND the copy, and then being directable in the session. You want to be really easy to work with and help to make the director’s job a breeze.
11. WHAT MAKES A GOOD VOICE ACTOR?
I think range, script interpretation, and being directable are the top 3 things that can help to make a good voice actor. Honorable mention to patience and work ethic! Having the range to perform a variety of emotions, the ability to analyze and UNDERSTAND the copy, and then being directable in the session. You want to be really easy to work with and help to make the director’s job a breeze.
12. NOW IN TODAY'S SOCIETY, EVERYTHING IS DONE BY REMOTE WORK. DO YOU ENJOY THIS PROCESS, OR DO YOU PREFER TO SHOW UP AT THE STUDIO?
I love working remotely because it gives me so many more opportunities to work with clients around the globe. That’s the biggest advantage of remote work, diversity. But, there’s something special that can happen in an in-person studio session. So, if a client wants me in studio, I’m always game! Plus, they usually have sushi, so that’s also nice. Haha.
13. WHAT TYPE OF SPECIALTY IN VOICE OVER WORK DO YOU LIKE TO FOCUS ON, OR DO YOU HAVE SEVERAL TYPES?
Commercial and radio imaging are what I do the most of on a daily basis, but I do all kinds of stuff from promo to narration to e-learning.
14. WHAT'S A TYPICAL DAY IN THE LIFE OF A VOICE OVER ACTOR?
Well, I can tell you about my typical day. I’m usually up by 5:00 am, at the gym by 5:30 am, then home and in my recording studio by 6:15 am. This schedule aligns nicely with my workflow and allows me to respond to requests from East Coast clients promptly during their working hours (I’m pacific time). If I have a session, then I’m prepping for that, and will be in session for a few hours. If I don’t have a session, I’m working on auditions or catching up on admin work and marketing. Usually drinking coffee as well. I take a break for lunch, might go for a walk or bike ride, then back in the booth until around 2 when I pick my kids up from school! When the kids get home, I’m pretty much just making snacks for the rest of the day. Where my fellow parents at? You know what it’s like. Of course, I’m always close to my booth, and continue to voice stuff as it comes in for the rest of the day…and night. Ha.
15. WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND FOR ANYONE THAT IS INTERESTED IN VOICE OVER WORK?
Do the work. Do your research, first. You’ll be so much further ahead if you have a base level of understanding of the industry and also where you think you fit in, or what areas you’d like to work in. There are so many great voiceover resource sites out there too. And LISTEN. Watch the commercials, don’t skip them. What a gold mine. It shows you what booked! Listen to demos on talent agency sites. See where you might fit in or fill a gap for them on their roster. After the initial research, find reputable coaches and work with them to hone your skills. Also, don’t do a demo before you’re ready. Your coaches will help with that. Genres are very different, so it really helps to know where you’d like to work first so you can start setting goals geared to working in that area.
16. IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT MAKES A GOOD VOICE OVER ACTOR?
Answered above
17. YOU ARE CURRENTLY ACTIVE AS A VOICE OVER. WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR 2025? WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM YOU FOR 2025?
My plans are pretty simple: to keep working hard, booking work, training and improving my craft, and making sure I’m at my most competitive on every audition I submit to be the best possible partner for my agents and clients – all while maintain a reasonable work-life balance, keeping fitness and fun sprinkled into each day!
18. CAN YOU SHARE ANY EXCITING PROJECTS THAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON NOW?
I’ll share a recent project that was released recently. It was a piece for the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto called Carry The Fire. That was booked through my Toronto agency TaDa! Voiceworks. It is an incredibly emotionally connected piece. The session was in a word…intense. Every person on the team brought their A game. It’s about a husband and wife who find out she has cancer and the resulting journey to stay strong in the face of what seems like overwhelming adversity. It’s a powerful story, though of course tragic. The results I think speak for themselves. It’s on my website, and I’d encourage you to check it out.
19. IF SOMEONE WANTS TO HIRE YOU FOR ANY VOICE OVER WORK, CAN YOU PLEASE LIST YOUR WEBSITE AND HOW PEOPLE CAN REACH YOU?
You can listen to my demos, see some of my favorite work and get in touch at www.mattfogartyvo.com Also, feel free to connect on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram: @mattfogsvo
20. ANY LAST MESSAGE YOU'D LIKE TO SAY TO ALL THE READERS ?
Thanks for reading! Thanks for supporting Human Voice Actors! Remember that consistency and hard work will yield results in anything you do – whether it’s fitness, relationships, and yes – voiceover. Please feel free to reach out, and connect and be kind to one another.
