Goral has had an outstanding career, leading the voice acting industry in not only his home country of Canada, but internationally as well. He has voiced commercials for car dealerships, stores, and restaurants. He has narrated several television programs for major stations like the Outdoor Channel, the Smithsonian Channel, and ESPN.
He is “the voice” you hear and listen to, and now you can put a face and a story behind it. We had a chance to sit down with Goral and hear how he began, get his advice, and find out what the story behind the storyteller really is.
Check out the complete interview here.
Where are you from? How did you get into voice acting?
MG: I am from the Toronto area. My career began in radio back in August of 1991. I worked at Energy 108 in Burlington, Ontario. I had a passion for being on the radio all throughout my childhood. I listened to radio, recorded DJ’s and commercials and even recorded my own fake radio shows from my boom box in my bedroom. I acted as a “manager” for some high school friends who were trying to make it big in the music biz in those days. So, I called a local radio station trying to get us some airplay. They took an interest because the station was into supporting local talent. In a short time, I formed a friendship with the DJ, and started helping him run his board for his nightly show. It was an unintended foot in the door in an industry that I was very interested in. I was 15 years old. Too young to drive so I would ride my bike to the radio station each night. It was an exciting time. As many of my peers were going to parties and meeting girls, I was spending my Friday and Saturday nights at the radio station. But, it was such a cool gig for a kid my age, so it wasn’t considered “dorky” by my peers when I didn’t go to as many parties and stuff like that. I had a cool excuse. And honestly, I wanted to be there. I was seizing an opportunity for a shot at a career in radio.
A few years went by and I was still working at the station each week. When I graduated high school, I applied at a number of local area colleges for TV, film and radio broadcasting. In the mid 90’s admissions for those college programs were limited, and you had to really show a desire for the industry. One college told me they had over 700 applicants for 30 spaces. The fact that I already had a few years of professional broadcast experience really helped my resume shine.
From there, I continued working weekends at the radio station. By this point, I had developed a relationship with the station’s management, and they had given me paid shifts, running the board for DJ’s and doing some production work for a local countdown show on the weekends. By the time I graduated college, a full-time position was waiting for me at that same radio station. I was working in the production department, producing commercials. It was all a very exciting time. I was loving what I was doing, and I was just 20 years old working in my chosen profession full-time. I felt so fortunate, but did work my tail off and put in a lot of personal time to get there. I did this job for many years, and developed a craft for radio production and started working more with my voice on commercials. I even gained some freelance clients through the station and invested in a computer and some editing software at my home and started assembling a small production studio in my bedroom at home.
Over time, I gained more clients and when my shift at my day job was over, my voiceover work a home was just beginning. I worked some long nights, but I was young and driven and could pull all-nighters on a regular basis. From there it took several years to build-up a steady clientele. I know I’m dating myself now, but I spent many years packing and mailing demo cassettes and demo cd’s to radio and TV stations all over the world. This was before the email days! My roommates would try to convince me to take a break and enjoy a steak on the patio or go out for drinks, but I would often pass on that and keep working to get myself to the next level. From sending out demos, I was able to gain clients in distant places like West Africa, New Zealand, the UK and Mexico. It was pretty fun to finally get some results from my years of hard work. As the years went by, my client base became larger, and before I knew it, I was working for myself, fully self-employed.
Can you tell us a bit about various projects you have worked on?
MG: I have done voiceover work for HBO, Showtime, Discovery, Weather Channel, Smithsonian Channel, HGTV, DIY Network, NBC and Cartoon Network, just to name a few. I’ve done long-form narration, as well as shorter commercial and TV promo work. I also do a lot of non-broadcast stuff that most people will not hear, as they are internal videos for corporate clients such as sales pitch videos, instructional learning and training applications.
What would you consider the highlight of your career?
MG: Probably the time where I heard a commercial I did nationally during an NFL game. It was an exciting moment, and the first time my voice aired across all of America. This was something I always dreamt of experiencing since high school. And I didn't even expect it. I was just watching a Sunday afternoon game when it suddenly came on.
What would you say the challenges to voice acting are?
MG: The biggest one is isolation. Most voice actors have home studios these days. They work from home, doing auditions and jobs that are not directed by someone else so, often, they are working all alone. This can really limit human contact throughout your day, other than emails or texts. I am fine with it, but among a lot of guys in my field, it’s a common complaint. There are industry conferences that we all attend during the year, and it’s always such a joy to be with other colleagues who understand our business. Unlike other fields where peers sometimes work side by side in an office setting year round, we only have a few chances to experience this throughout the year. We sometimes joke that it can be therapeutic; speaking with others who have the same experiences, struggles, funny stories and experiences. It’s always something I look forward to. Catching up with old friends over lunch or dinner during these conferences.
Why do you think your voice resonates so well with viewers?
MG: That’s a tough one. I often book jobs for different reasons. Sometimes it’s because I have a youthful sound, and other times it’s because they want something “conversational-sounding”. I seem to land different jobs for different reasons, so there is no “secret” to it all. My main objective is to follow the direction I get from producers who send me auditions, and try to find an angle on how to best communicate the message in the script. Sorry I can’t answer that more simply, but it’s not an overly simplified process. There can literally be dozens of different reasons why can actor does or doesn’t land a particular job. Sometimes they hate your voice, other times I may sound too young, or for some other reason, one of the other people who auditioned seemed like a better fit for the producer selecting the talent. There are countless variables involved in the process.
What advice would you give to those starting out?
MG: Be patient. Persistence is the name of the game. If you aren’t patient and taking the time to grow professionally, it can be a frustrating business. It is fiercely competitive, and in both LA and New York, there are hundreds of incredibly talented people competing for the same jobs. It can be intimidating at first. But it’s like any other skill. If you want to take it to a professional level, it requires work, training and dedication. It’s a lot of fun, but you still have to treat it like a business. There a lot that happens in between the jobs you get, like invoicing, dealing with contracts, agents and essentially building relationships with people. One has to successfully manage all these different aspects in order to achieve success in this field.
What are your plans for the future?
MG: You know, I’m not really sure. I honestly enjoy what I do, and don’t plan to stop at this point. I have many clients and they are all awesome. I have developed some really great relationships with people in this business over the years. I enjoy working with my clients, and nothing beats working with great people.
What is voice acting your passion and chosen profession?
MG: It just seemed like a natural progression from what I was doing when I worked full-time in radio. I enjoyed doing commercials and playing around in the production room. I always thought I wanted to be an on-air DJ. After I graduated from college, I had some opportunities to do on-air work, and much to my surprise, I didn’t really enjoy it like I thought I would. I also don’t think I was particularly good at it. Many of my colleagues were born naturals and still do it successfully today. It takes a certain talent to be an entertaining radio personality, and after just a few shifts doing on-air, I quickly realized I didn’t have any of those specific gifts, so I quickly learned it just wasn’t for me. Creating commercials in the production room was where I was most comfortable.