You're listening to Voice Acting Mastery, episode number 224.

Welcome to the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with Crispin Freeman.

Voiceactingmastery.com is your place to learn both the skills and the mindset you need to become a professional voice actor, even if you're just getting started.

In each episode of this podcast, you'll discover valuable tips, tricks and insider information

to help you portray characters in animation, video games, and beyond.

And now here's your host, voice actor Crispin Freeman.

Hi there. My name is Crispin Freeman, and I'll be your guide through the world of voice acting.

If you'd like to know more about me, feel free to check out my personal website at www.crispinfreeman.com.

In the previous episode, I explained how valuable it can be to think like a producer if you want to increase your chances of booking work.

For this episode, I thought it would be useful to actually interview a producer, so my listeners could hear from a professional perspective, not only what types of challenges a producer routinely faces, but also what they're

looking for when they're auditioning actors. Therefore, allow me to introduce a very special guest,

the head of the Los Angeles-based recording studio, Bright Skull Entertainment, Michael

Syricks. Michael is a voice director, casting director, audio engineer, and studio designer.

I'm honestly not sure what he can't do. Michael and his team at Bright Skull focused primarily on

recording actors for video games. They've worked on titles like Bug Snacks, Just Cause 4, Infinity

Nicky, Tacoma, Lord of the Rings Rise to War,

Masquerada Songs and Shadows, and the current popular hit, Marvel Rivals.

I've worked with Michael on a number of projects, and it's always a pleasure to speak with him.

We begin this interview with Michael sharing with me how he got started

as a voice director. He was born in Woodstock, New York, and did theater when he was young,

but he was also interested in music, both performing it and recording it. Eventually, he found

his way to New York City, where he started working for a music label company,

...