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Hellooooo!
Welcome to The Off Air Voiceover Podcast with Michael Ashtiany and Jen Lawton-Hunt!
Join us for banter, personal opinions, and stories about being Voice Actors in this epic and ever evolving industry.
As Voice Actors and Voice Overs we often work alone, but we don’t want any one of us to feel lonely. We love having a chat with other Voice Over Artists at conferences and networking events and we wanted to replicate that energy in this podcast.
DON’T expect anything overly formal or to come out an expert, DO expect some friendly banter and honest, light hearted chat. You never know, you might pick up a tip or two along on the way and share a laugh as we take this journey together.
Join the community! Share, subscribe and come say hi over on Instagram @off_air_voiceover_podcast - we can’t wait to meet you!
You can find Michael at www.manchestervo.co.uk
Jens website is
Instagram @jenlawtonhunt
Instagram @manchester_vo
Episodes
Tuesday Jul 08, 2025
Tuesday Jul 08, 2025
Well Episode 8 was supposed to be the last one, but we had so much fun chatting to everyone and took so much away we figured we'd do one bonus episode to reflect on Season 3, what we learned and and what we take away for the future
Another big thankyou to all of you that were part of this great season, were super grateful and of course thanks to all our subscribers, listeners and supporters, it means the world to us ❤️
See you for Season 4....
Michael & Jen
Tuesday Jul 01, 2025
Tuesday Jul 01, 2025
In our final episode of season 3 *sniff* we are joined by animation casting legend, Kristin Paiva!
For anyone lucky enough to work with, or meet Kristin, you’ll know what a genuine and joyful person she is and she brought all that energy and more to the podcast.
In this episode she shares her journey from working as a casting and voice director for Disney to launching the incredible Paiva Institute and how she plans to support underrepresented voices and future directors in the industry.
We chat about the challenges of casting, commons mistakes Voice Actors make, and the magic that can be found. We also discuss the importance of originality in voice acting and how improv can help Voice Actors across all genres, amongst much, more more.
This is a hugely informative episode and hopefully will bring you a laugh or two too.
Thank you to Kristin for being so incredibly generous with your time and sharing of your experience, we are extremely grateful!
Our final Voiceover of the Week winner is the wonderful @katenieland for her hilarious portrayal of Winnie Winnington in the new Paw Patrol, excellent work Kate 👏🏻 go check it out.
Our final thanks goes to you for joining us this season. For every like, share, review and affirming comment you’ve sent our way we are hugely humbled and grateful, thank you and until we see you again, happy voicing.
Michael and Jen xx
Michael can be found at https://www.manchestervo.co.uk
Jen can be found at https://www.jenlawtonhunt.com
Kristin can be found at https://www.paiva.productions/
Kate can be found at https://www.katenieland.co.uk/
Tuesday Jun 24, 2025
Tuesday Jun 24, 2025
🚨Episode 7 has arrived!🚨
In this episode, the penultimate of season 3(!), we chat with the wonderful Donald Pirie, a seasoned voiceover artist, voice director and casting director, and delve further into the intricacies of casting in the gaming industry, particularly his experience working on AAA titles
He shares his processes for casting games and animations of all sizes at @bigmouthaudio, the importance of collaboration and being great to work with, And of course what makes an audition stand out - for all the right and the wrong reasons! 😬 We discuss the important role that voice actors play in building worlds and creating immersive experiences for players, and why strong acting skills and versatility may help you succeed.
Also, if you ever needed the motivation to post on social media, Donald shares a casting story that got us both determined to create more content!
Huge shoutout to the extremely talented and all round legend @rhiannonmouahall for her voice acting in Void Crew! Great work Rhiannon!
See you for the finalè next week....
Jen can be found at www.jenlawtonhunt.com
Michael can be found at www.manchestervo.co.uk
Donald can be found at https://www.donaldpirie.com
Rhiannon can be found at https://www.rhiannonmoushall.com/
Tuesday Jun 17, 2025
Tuesday Jun 17, 2025
Welcome to episode 6!Our longest episode at 90 mins, whats in here is packed full of useful takeaway information for Voice Actors of all levels
Rolf took the time to chat to us in a really candid way, nothing was off the table and we really enjoyed listening to his thoughts and opinions about the industry and what he feels Voice Actors need to know to make a success of their career in these evolving times.
It’s absolutely not one not to miss!Does he give his clear opinion on how to make the most out of the platform? Yes
Does he discuss things that could be better? Yes
Does he tell us about how and why AI is on there? Yes
Does he give some actual facts and stats about how AI is being used and what the future is looking like? YesWe hope you enjoy the information shared in this episode and thanks again to Rolf for being great with his time, information and just generally being a great person to chat to
Shoutout to our VO of the Week this week Susie Coleman for her epic trailer voice on new game Mortal Shell 2! Excellent work SusieSee you next week!
Jen can be found at www.jenlawtonhunt.com
Michael can be found at www.manchestervo.co.uk
You can visit Voice 123 by going to the their website www.voice123.com
Susie can be found at https://www.susiecoleman.org.uk/
Tuesday Jun 10, 2025
Tuesday Jun 10, 2025
Hello!
Welcome to Episode 5!
This week we were joined by the fab Rachel and Jonny from Mighty Giant, an animation and motion Design company from Manchester.
As many VO’s source work from companies like Mighty, we felt it would be great to chat to them about what their process is like on a project and how they factor voice into it
Through this they shared some really great insight about working with their VO's and Jonny and Rach discuss what they do with the enquiries they get, (they get alot!) and give their opinions on the question many of us wonder as to what happens when they get those marketing emails!
To top it all off we chat about the importance of building good relationships with people you work with, (a message consistent across this season) and of course, AI!
Big shout out to Phil Rowe as this Weeks Voiceover of the Week for his performance is the video game Out Of Sight. Excellent work Phil, thoroughly enjoyed your performance!
If contacting animation and motion design companies is part of your marketing strategy, this is definitely one to listen to!
Thanks again to Jonny and Rach for taking the time to chat with us and the insights shared, definitely learned a few things!See you next week 👌
Michael can be found at https://www.manchestervo.co.uk
Jen can be found at https://www.jenlawtonhunt.com
Mighty Giant can be found at https://www.mightygiant.co.uk
Phil Can be found at https://listen.philrowevoice.com/
Tuesday Jun 03, 2025
Tuesday Jun 03, 2025
Welcome to Season 3 Episode 4 - Increasing the Odds!
In this week’s episode we’re joined by the wonderful Emily Jardine! Emily is an experienced Voice Actor, Coach, Audio Producer and Casting Director, and trust us when we say you’ll want to have a notepad and pen ready for this one.
The voice over industry has evolved significantly over the past 15 years- in the time Emily has been in it. With the developments in home studios, amongst other things, voiceover has become far more accessible. It has also become far more competitive.
Emily shares a plethora of advice on ways to increase your chances of being cast and keep clients coming back for more.
We discuss the role confidence and a positive attitude has on a voice artist’s long-term success in the industry and how for real success we should bring a little of ourselves to each role.
Thank you to Emily for (always) being so generous with all you share. We hope you find this episode as useful as we did.
See you next week!
Michael can be found at https://www.manchestervo.co.uk
Jen is at https://www.jenlawtonhunt.com
Camile is at https://voicedbycamile.com/
Tuesday May 27, 2025
Tuesday May 27, 2025
Welcome to Episode 3 of our 3rd season and we're thrilled to be joined by Head of Production at Global Radio, Justin Sanders!
Sticking with our theme about casting, Justin chats to us about how to get noticed with your voiceover reels including a good little tip about narration!
We chat about the impact of AI and how its utilised in the industry already, aswell as collaboration in production, the evolving trends in audience engagement, and the necessity for voice actors to continuously improve their craft. Storytelling is a big theme hence the title name, talking about why that's so important now more than ever in your Voiceover skillset!
Shoutout also to Kelly Macbride as this weeks Voiceover of the Week for her performances in the kids book series, Koala Shine! Excellent work Kelly 👌We hope you find this episode as enjoyable and insightful as we did!
See you next week!
Michael can be found at https://www.manchestervo.co.uk
Jen is at https://www.jenlawtonhunt.com
Kelly is at https://www.kellymacbride.com
Tuesday May 20, 2025
Tuesday May 20, 2025
Welcome to episode 2 featuring the fabulous Kathryn Vinclaire!
Not only is Kathryn a highly talented, multi award winning voiceover, but she’s also heavily involved in casting, specifically for indie games, setting up her own roster and networking event!
We discuss the challenges and opportunities in indie game casting, the importance of fair compensation for voice actors, and the need for better connections between voice actors and indie developers.
Kathryn shares her vision for her casting service, auditioning, and the impact of AI on the voice acting industry. We chat all about the significance of quality voice acting in games and the excitement of bringing characters to life!
So whether you want to be booked more in Games, or you're a dev looking to connect with more talented actors, this episode will answer those questions!
Also huge shout out to Pierre Maubouché for this weeks voiceover performance of the week, excellent work Pierre!
You can find more of Kathryns work on her website https://www.voiceovervinclaire.com/
Michael is at www.manchestervo.co.uk
Jen is at www.jenlawtonhunt.com
Tuesday May 13, 2025
Tuesday May 13, 2025
Season 3 has arrived!
In this season we're focusing all about casting, whether that's for Video Games, Commercials or Corporate Videos, we're asking the questions to the people that book us about what they look for when hiring voiceovers, and we're grateful that we're joined by people well experienced in those jobs to help answer those same questions
For our first episode of the new season, we chat about things we've learnt to increase your visibility, content ideas to get more eyes on your work, and just general chit-chat about other things that have been happening in the industry
We hope you enjoy what's to come!Let us know if you’ll be listening!Cheers,Mikey & Jen
Be sure to check out Michael at https://www.manchestervo.co.uk and Jen at https://www.jenlawtonhunt.com
Friday Dec 27, 2024
Friday Dec 27, 2024
Helloooo!
Welcome to this one off, unplanned, no idea where we were going with it, Christmas Episode!
We decided to just hit record and we covered the year in general, ideas for the next year, future plans fo the Podcast, and Michael finally gets something off his chest....
Thanks to everyone who has been part of the podcast so far, be it guests or followers who share and interact with us, it means the world to us and have loved the journey
Hope you all had an excellent Christmas and we'll see you in the New Year...
Michael & Jen
Michael can be found at https://www.manchestervo.co.uk
Jen can be found at https://www.jenlawtonhunt.com