Meet Ian Russell | British Actor and Voice Actor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ian Russell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ian, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
They say that necessity is the mother of invention and that rings true for me. I had worked in the banking/wealth management industry in the UK for almost 30 years but the financial crisis had led to many roles being cut. Late in 2013 I raised my hand and ‘volunteered as tribute’ for the latest round of layoffs which led to my family and I moving to the USA in 2014. I had no job but my wife had given me a Christmas gift of a Voiceover Workshop in 2012 and I had taken some workshops over the next year or so and I decided that I would try to make my way in the Voiceover industry. My thought process was to give myself a year to make progress and I set goals to hit. If I couldn’t make it work, I’d go find something else
I did the same for the second and third years of trading.
Now I’m in my 10th year the thought process is still the same. Set goals and plans to achieve them

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As a native British Actor, living in the USA, I have been fortunate to have a desirable niche service. The artistic world has increasingly sought both diversity and authenticity in casting in recent years and this together with my location means that I can provide an authentic British performance to clients here in the USA with the additional advantage that I am in the same (or a similar time zone), which makes scheduling easier and more flexible and that I work within the same tax system making payment and paperwork more familiar. Clients really do want their problem (in my case casting an Authentic British Actor) to be made as simple and smooth as possible. I am very proud of the work that my clients and I collaborate on. Most of the time we are creating something that will be ‘consumed’ by the general public (A videogame, A commercial, A corporate message, An animated film or series, etc) It is often critical to the end client that this is viewed favorably; in order to attract players to a game or create, or maintain, a positive brand image. Some of these collaborations have been critically acclaimed and I am proud they have been recognised. I have been nominated for Voice Actor awards over 20 times in the last 5 years and have won 5 times in categories such as videogames, animation, Audio description (museums and cultural sites), and in 2020 the UK Male Voice of the Year (One Voice). What is very humbling but also satisfying is that this is not my family and friends telling me how wonderful I am (They are biased after all) They are judged (anonymously) by specialists in these fields, esteemed peers, content creators, and casting directors. Voiceover can be very solitary so having this kind of confirmation from your fellow professionals really helps to confirm that you are on the right track.
That is not to say that it is easy. It’s a very crowded field. I’ve been told that I was picked from over 1000 submissions in the past and ad agencies often routinely seek over 800 submissions for each project they cast! In order to build a small business in voiceover it can mean making sacrifices and working long hours. Connecting with clients in other parts of the world can mean recording at odd times of the day. Even finding those clients can be a real challenge. I’ve learned to be creative in my marketing ideas and to look in new ways (to me) for potential clients.
I think some of the key things that have helped are some of the simpler things
– Be easy to work with
– Say Please, Thank You, Hello and Goodbye
– Under Promise and Over Deliver

At the end of the day, I want to collaborate with clients. Work with them to make an amazing end project. Help them look great to their clients. My business has so many testimonials that reference fast delivery, easy workflow, and above-and-beyond delivery. I’m proud of that too and I guess that’s what I would want the world to know.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I live in Upstate South Carolina. It’s an area of outstanding natural beauty. Anyone visiting really should take advantage of that. Hiking the trails, floating down the river, or driving the back roads. We have some wonderful small towns with interesting little cafes and restaurants. Take some time to get away from the obvious choices and investigate and support the small local businesses in these places.
We also have some great local vineyards, breweries, and even a working Tea Plantation (Table Rock Tea Company). Many of these are great places to get something to eat, drink, and enjoy the scenery.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
This is such a hard question to answer. Picking one person seems so unfair. There have been so many people involved in my personal growth in the industry. In no particular order, The Atlanta based Agent Jeffrey Umberger, Now Florida Based Producer and coach Stanley Fisher and Training organisations The Voiceover Network and The Showreel. All have been significant in my career growth but perhaps it should all come back to the one person who started it all and who has been a constant source of support and encouragement both through the tough early days and the success that has followed. That would be my wife Sandra. She bought the Christmas gift that set me on this road. Encouraged me and supported me to start a business offering this service and is now employed by me – her title is ‘Creative Consultant’. Never has it been more true that the support of your partner in life has created the life we now live.

Website: www.british-voiceovers.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebritishvoice/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianrussellthebritishvoice/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thebritishvoic2

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/IanRussellVoiceActor

Other: IMDb – https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8358149/?ref_=pro_nm_visitcons

Image Credits
These are all personal images except the Get Your Game On phote (credit – The Voiceover Network)