Balancing the Art and Business of
Voice Acting with Angely Baez
By Kayla Bowles, September 10, 2023
Hello SOVAS readers, and thank you for taking the time to visit my column, Diary of A Voiceover Intern. Here, I intend to engage my evolving learning experience as an intern at the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences (SOVAS) through a series of conversations with voiceover professionals. I will engage SOVAS ambassadors, previous winners of the Voice Arts® Award, casting directors, talent agents, and others in discussions about breaking into the voiceover industry and building a thriving career.
Today I invite you to meet Angely Baez, who is one of the international Ambassadors for SOVAS. Angely is a bilingual voice actor (Spanish and English), Radio Producer, Social Communicator, and co-creator of Locución Santo Domingo, the first international conference for voice professionals in the Dominican Republic. She is the first Dominican in history to be nominated for and win a Voice Arts® Award, and works globally and internationally with various notable brands. Please welcome her as my guest today.
Kayla: Hello Angely, and thank you so much for being here!
Angely: It’s my pleasure, Kayla. And congratulations on your new role here at SOVAS.
Kayla: Thank you for that. It’s been an incredible experience. To open, I’d like to ask: How did you first become involved in the voiceover industry and how were you first introduced to SOVAS?
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Angely: I started in the world of voiceover and radio about 18 years ago. I started in radio, which was my first great love, and my story with SOVAS goes back to April 2015. I have always been very curious. I really like to investigate, read, and learn about everything that is related to this beautiful career. More precisely, I always seek to grow, learn, and broaden my horizons. In that way, I found the “Society of Voice Arts and Sciences” and the Voice Arts® Awards. I remember that after reading up to the last paragraph of the entire website, I made the decision to send an email entitled: “Kind Regards from the Dominican Republic”, where, in addition to introducing myself, I dared to ask if they had ever considered opening an international category for voice actors who speak Spanish, and more, for those from countries that do not have events as prestigious and important as SOVAS.
Honestly, I didn’t expect an answer! In the end, it was a simple email from a female VO on a small island in the middle of the Caribbean. Great was my surprise when I saw in my inbox a response from the president and CEO of the SOVAS himself letting me know that they would open categories for Spanish-speaking voice talents that year and inviting me to subscribe to the SOVAS Newsletter to keep up to date. In 2017 I became the first Dominican in history to obtain a Voice Arts® Award nomination and in 2019, after three nominations, I became the first – and so far, only – Dominican to win a Voice Arts® Award.
Kayla: That’s incredible! I too first learned of SOVAS and the Voice Arts Awards while researching and reading about the industry, and am still as humbled and honored to be a part of this incredible organization as I was on my first day. Getting the opportunity to intern at SOVAS and explore the industry from a different perspective definitely helped my career goals evolve. Did you have any specific goals when first breaking into the industry? How have those goals changed since then?
Angely: When I started in this industry my big goal was to grow and experience different areas of my career, discover what I was good at, and strive to be better. I have always been a dreamer, so at that time I could only see the “romantic and passionate” side of the profession, but unquestionably, over the years, my focus and objective have changed. I have focused on knowing and shaping the “Company / Business” part of the career without neglecting the artistic side. I have dedicated myself to perfecting the areas that I am passionate about and giving back through teaching the new generations a bit of the knowledge, respect, discipline, and great passion that I have deposited in my career over the years.
Kayla: I love that! I am very fortunate to work in an industry where I have so much passion and emotion about the craft, but as you said, it’s so important to maintain a balance between the business and the creative sides of the industry. I’d like to circle back to your win at the Voice Arts® Awards for a moment. This may be a tad redundant, but how has your career changed and/or evolved as a result of this achievement?
Angely: The exposure, reach and relevance of the award have added a lot to my career. They have opened doors for me and have helped me strengthen my personal brand in the world of voice-overs.
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From the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences
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Kayla: Do you think you could describe the market/culture surrounding the voiceover industry in South, Central, and Latin America?
Angely: Based on my experience being part of various organizations of voice professionals, I can say that the Latin American markets have a lot in common, not only in their opportunities for improvement but also in the problems that afflict them, being one of the tops: The need to establish and respect fair and competitive rates that benefit us all. As well as the need to reinforce a change in mentality and begin to see ourselves as a global village of cooperation and healthy competition.
Kayla: What do you believe the North American/English-speaking voiceover industry can/should do to make jobs more accessible to global voice actors?
Angely: Create training spaces, events, and exhibitions that allow actors in the Latin community to learn about the industry and interact with their peers. Create spaces that allow talents to apply to projects remotely from their countries and why not, learn a little more about the enriching differences that each Latin talent has to offer. There are numerous countries that have extremely talented and professional voice talents, possessors of unique voices with diverse, rich, and incredible accents, waiting for the opportunity to make their countries proud with their work.
Kayla: That’s such a special idea. It’s so important that along with connection with global voice actors, individual communities create spaces where voice actors can develop their craft and learn from each other. What do you think is the most important thing for a voice actor just breaking into the industry to know?
Angely: Responsibility, punctuality, discipline, respect, and constant training are the keys to growing and staying in this industry. Hard work kills talent when talent doesn’t work hard.
Kayla: That’s such a great motto, “Hard work kills talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” I’m going to remember that. Angely, thank you so much for being here. Do you have any final thoughts before we wrap up?
Angely: Sometimes we try so hard to “be the best in the business” that we forget to cultivate ourselves and remember to be a good person. I think the best legacy we can leave behind is to become that friend, mentor, and role model that we might have wanted to have when we were starting out in our careers. Let’s not let mediocrity and fear keep us playing the small game of life. Knowledge is the only thing that multiplies the more it is given.
Kayla: Incredible. Thanks so much!
Kayla Bowles is assistant to Rudy Gaskins and Joan Baker, founders of the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences (SOVAS), creators of That’s Voiceover! Career Expo, and the Voice Arts Awards. She currently studies the art of voice acting with Joan Baker, and has studied with Real Voice L.A., The Acting Studio, and Broadway Evolved. Though new to the voiceover business, Kayla has already booked a local TV commercial, a role in an indie animated series (in development), and lent her voice to various passion projects. She is currently an undergrad at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY.
From the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences
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