Scott Pollak, Voice-over actor

• Job: Voice-over actor, Sharpsburg

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KARL W. RITZLER / Special

You may not know Scott Pollak, but you likely have heard him. As a voice-over actor, he has recorded commercials, announcements and e-learning lessons for many companies. One of his favorite parts of the job is his commute: ‘30 feet down the hall.’

• What I do: Scott Pollak reminds WABE-FM’s public radio audience that the station is supported by listeners like them. He also sells car wax on cable television and helps schoolchildren with their arithmetic.

As a voice-over actor, Pollak, 53, uses his warm and natural voice “for anything and everything.”

His is the voice that makes many of the standard announcements at Atlanta’s public radio station, that is heard on “bazillions of local and regional commercials” and that reads e-learning lessons for children.

“There’s a difference between a DJ voice and voice-overs,” Pollak said. “Clients want someone who sounds believable.”

From his home studio in Sharpsburg, Pollak records and edits his voice-overs, which also are used in business presentations, in messages that play when phone callers are put on hold, and even for trailers for small, independent movies.

He also is a disc jockey for a weekend radio show on 104.7 FM The Fish, has performed and recorded a CD of instrumental music, and acts in community theater productions in Newnan.

All of his recording activities come together at his computer. He receives scripts by e-mail, records the message and edits the computerized sounds before e-mailing back a clean audio file that’s ready to use.

But, he admitted, “I never go all the way through without stopping.”

He said he might flub a line, trip over the pronunciation of a word or decide that he wants to say something in a different way. With off-the-shelf software, he can mix and patch sound bites to produce a finely tuned performance.

The WABE spots “are straightforward. I can bang them out in one take — [or in] several, if there are pronunciation issues,” he said.

With more complex and lengthy scripts, Pollak said he reads them through first, looking for what to stress for meaning or emphasis and figuring out how to pronounce names or new words. Sometimes, he gives clients multiple versions from which to choose.

For e-learning lessons, he usually doesn’t rehearse the script. “I generally go straight through them. It can be hours of work,” he said.

• What got me interested in this: “I started in radio in college,” Pollak said.

He was a lay reader in his church in New Orleans, where he was told he had a good voice. So he decided to major in broadcasting.

He spent most of his career in radio and in video production in New Orleans, Birmingham and Atlanta until he started doing voice-overs as a side business from his home about five years ago.

As his business grew, he switched to voice-over acting full time about three years ago.

• Best part of my job: “Just like you have several favorite movies,” there are several things Pollak said he likes best.

“My commute is 30 feet down the hall,” he said. And he usually wears shorts, a T-shirt and no shoes to work.

He also enjoys the variety of clients and types of work he does. “I’m not doing just one type of commercial, and I’m not just doing commercials. There’s a wide variety of topics,” he said.

• Most challenging part: “Marketing yourself,” Pollak said. “This is an extremely competitive industry. Everyone with a voice and a microphone thinks they can do it.”

He said he’s up against thousands of other voice-over actors and has to compete against hundreds of them in auditions.

“There’s a lot of rejection in this business,” he said.

He also pointed out that the pay is sporadic.

“It’s nice to have a wife with a steady job” who is supportive, he said. Pollak’s wife, K.C., is a 3-D graphics animator with the Weather Channel.

• What people don’t know about my job: “The most important thing is that it’s not necessary to have a good voice; every voice is good. What you need most is good acting skill,” Pollak said. “Anybody can read, but not everybody can breathe life into words on paper.”

• What keeps me going: “This is a blast,” he said. “I get up every morning, and I can’t wait to see what’s in the in box.”

• Preparation needed for this job: “We tell newcomers to get involved in theater [and] take voice acting classes,” Pollak said.

You also need the technical skills to run a sound studio, even if it is a small one at home. With the advent of computers, the Internet and sound-editing software, the days of going to a sound studio with professional engineers are over, Pollak said.

And you need to be self-motivated and able to market yourself. “If you sit and wait for work to come to you, you’ll starve,” he said.

During slow times for recording, Pollak looks for new clients.

He has a bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of New Orleans, but he said that real-world experience is more important than a degree.

- By Karl W. Ritzler, for ajcjobs. Got an interesting job that you love? E-mail your story to jobseditor@ajc.com.

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