edge studio Blog The Great Slate Debate

As an advertising agency producer, I have listened to thousands of voice over auditions for all kinds of voice over projects. The projects I worked on were varied and I had the pleasure of casting all sorts of voice actors - everyone from "straight forward announcer" to "polka dancers" to "talking squirrel."I've listened to thousands of auditions that ran the gamut from guy/gal next door to straight-up quirky character. I learned quite a lot about voice over from listening to those auditions and I find that my background in casting has been helpful in my own voice acting career.One of the things I learned was the importance of the slate. As a producer, the slate was often the reason I would or would not listen to that actor's entire audition.To understand the great slate debate, it's helpful to understand what a slate is: a slate is an actor simply saying his/her name at the beginning of the audition.It's the way the producer or casting director is able to identify who they're listening to. It's the first thing that anyone hears when listening to an actor's audition, so you should consider it your first opportunity to make a good impression on the client.If you are wondering whether to slate or not to slate, the answer is: Yes! It's the professional industry standard to slate your name at the beginning of your commercial audition. Commercial producers and casting directors expect to hear your slate. read more