FAQ
ABOUT ME
|
|
Who are you?
I’m Christopher Ayres, a director/choreographer/fight director and voice actor
who lives in Houston Texas. I’m a voice actor for ADV Films and Funimation inc.
I have just started working with Funimation recently and am just starting my
third year with ADV Films.
What is christopherayres-va.com all about?
Well the website is a great way to communicate what’s going on both in terms of
my work in the anime industry and my work theatrically. I’m going to try to keep
it updated when I’ve got new shows, when I’m allowed to talk about them. I’ll
also be posting what conventions I’m going to be at, what theatrical shows I’ve
got coming up, and a lot of other fun things. It’s also a way for people to
contact me, and to find out a little bit more about me.
Are you related to Greg Ayres?
Yes I am, Greg is not only one of my favorite people in the world. He is also my
younger brother. It’s funny Greg got into theatre because of me (long story) and
I got into Anime because of him (another long story) So yes he is my brother,
and good friend and I’m a huge fan of his work. Let’s face it my brother ROCKS
Were you an anime fan prior to voice acting?
I was off and on. I remember Greg Bringing home Akira on Laser Disc, and
watching it with him and being floored with not only the animation but the story
as well. Then a friend of mine saw this weird show at a video store that he
thought I’d like called Project A-ko, and I it was a lot of fun. I was telling a
good friend of mine, Monica Rial (prior to her starting to work as a voice
actress) about it, and she said “Oh that’s anime, and it’s amazing” So she
suggested I look at Ranma ½. After that I got very busy with my theatre work and
it kind of slipped my mind, until my brother started recording for ADV. He woud
bring home discs of shows that he was in and I would watch them with him. I was
really impressed and started to really enjoy them.
Can I contact you via email or phone?
You can contact me via e-mail through this website. I will have two different
e-mail address’ one for fans and questions about the industry and one for
convention bookings and things like that. I will ask that if you have industry
questions or want to send me something as a fan that you not use the convention
e-mail address, as I have to keep those e-mails separate. I also ask that you be
patient. Depending on my recording schedule, my theatrical rehearsals and
teaching schedule, and attending conventions and the number of e-mails that I
get I might be a little slow at times in answering your e-mails, but I will try
to get to all of them. As for my phone number, I’m sorry but I don’t give that
out. I tend to use my phone primarily for business and work, and so I don’t
often give out the number.
How can I get your autograph?
That’s very easy, if you’ve got something you want me to sign like a picture of
fan art, or something like that just send it to me in with a self addressed
stamped envelope to
Christopher Ayres
C/O ADV FLIMS
5750 Bintliff, Suite 210
Houston Tx. 77036
Or you can always catch me at a convention and I’ll be more than happy to sign
things for you. That’s actually the easiest and most fun, because then we get a
chance to meet face to face, and if I’ve got time actually chat for a moment or
two.
Do you want to chat on AIM, Yahoo Messenger etc?
I wish I could say yes, but with my recording schedule, rehearsal schedule and
trying to get my e-mail done, I hardly ever use any of the messenger services. I
wish I could as I would be fun to chat with everyone, but usually when I’m not
working I’m sleeping. Ha ha ha
I’m a fan of your work, can I send you something, and where can I send it to?
You can either give them to me personally at a convention or send it do
Christopher Ayres
C/O ADV FLIMS
5750 Bintliff, Suite 210
Houston Tx. 77036
But I will ask a something of you. I’m sorry but because of some very bad
allergies to some foods, I can not accept any edible gifts. The thought and
kindness are appreciated, but because of some very bad allergic reactions that I
have to certain things, I just can not accept them.
THE ANIME INDUSTRY
 |
How long have you been acting and voice acting?
I’ve been acting professionally since I was six years old, which is when I did
my first commercial in Richmond Virginia (for Lollipop Soft Drinks) and I’ve not
stopped. I’ve worked regionally, nationally and have appeared both on Broadway
and Off-Broadway. I’ve been voice acting for right at three years now and have
been lucky and very pleased to land some of the wonderful roles that I’ve been
able to do.
Do you have any suggestion on becoming a voice actor?
Yes quite a few actually. The first thing I would suggest to you is to ACT. I
don’t care where it is (School, Church, Community Theatre, anywhere) I would
also suggest you take acting classes. You have to realize that 99% of the actors
working in the industry didn’t set out to be voice actors. All of us are actors,
many of us have done stage, commercials, film, television, but we were all lucky
enough to end up in this field. One of the reasons we landed here is because we
were all trained as actors first. Now on to some practical advice (These are not
just from me, but from others in the industry.)
1. You’re only gonna get one chance at an audition so be prepared – What that
means is that you’ve got to come ready to audition, they need to see that you’re
serious and professional about your work. Listen to what the director tells you
to do at the audition and then do it. It’s very annoying for ADR directors to
ask an person auditioning to speak in their normal voice and then have the actor
start reading the dialogue in a weird character voice that they think will be
great for anime. The first thing they’re going to want to hear in your audition
is YOUR SPEAKING VOICE. You should also know that if you don’t show up for your
audition you will probably never be allowed to re-audition for the studio. So be
early for your appointment.
2. One way you can prepare, and this is advice I give my acting students that I
work with is to be ready to cold read from the script. What cold reading means
is that you may have a few moments to look over what you are going to read and
then again you may not. One thing you can do to help you with this is to take a
book or a play or a magazine and read aloud 10 minutes a night every night. I’ll
stress read it aloud, so that you can hear your own voice. One mistake many
people make in a cold reading audition is to read in their head. While yes
you’ll have to do this while you’re waiting for your audition, you can be ready
by doing this at home. You have to get used to the way your own voice sounds
coming out of your mouth. You’ll be surprised at how difficult it is at times to
make what you hear in your head come out of your mouth the way you think it
should.
Can I send you my own voice recording tape in hopes that you could forward it to
an ADR Directors?
I will be more than happy to listen to your voice recording, and if possible,
and time permits give you feed back on my thoughts, but I am not able to take
your recordings to the ADR directors at the studio’s I work for. This may sound
harsh but you have to realize that when I go in to the studio I’m there to
record, and the ADR director and I have a limited amount of time to get
everything recorded that we need to, so we usually go right to work. Then as I
am leaving another voice actor is coming in to start their recording. So at the
end of the day, even if they have a voice tape from someone, even with a high
recommendation from a voice actor, the chances of an ADR director having the
time to listen to it are very slim.
Do I need an Agent to get into voice acting?
I don’t have one, and didn’t need one to get into voice acting. I live in Texas
which is a right to work state, so you don’t have to be a member of a union or
have an agent to get a job voice acting. I can’t speak for getting work in
California, New York or Canada. If you’re close to those area’s I’d recommend
asking one of the voice actors who live there what their suggestion is.
Is there a character that you’ve voiced that you just HATE?
I’ll go on the record as saying. I think that it’s dangerous for any actor to
HATE his/her character, you end up not doing the character justice because
you’re clouded by your own dislike for them. Have a played mean or evil
characters, yes I have, but you have to find something that you can like or
enjoy about them in order to do them justice.
Is there a character that you’ve voice that you LOVE?
I look at all of the roles I’ve done like a parent would their child. So I love
all of them have I had favorites yes, I’d be lying if I didn’t’ say that Kei
Kourno in Gantz was a favorite of mine. I lived with that character for a year
while we were recording. I grew a lot as a voice actor as a result of playing
that role. Is he the only character that I consider a favorite ? NO, there are
quite a few that I’m very fond of.
CONVENTIONS
 |
Do you attend anime conventions?
Yes I love conventions. It’s always a lot of fun to get to go and meet the fans
in other cities, or even my own city. I have a blast at every one that I go to,
and I have to say the fans really floor me. There is so much talent, and passion
and kindness that it would be very hard NOT to have a good time. So just let me
know when and where and I’ll be in the car to the airport.
Are you coming to a convention near me?
As my Brother says in His FAQ on gregayres.com , I would love to go to all of
the conventions, but you have to realize we can only come out to the conventions
that we are invited to. So if there are any industry people you want to see at
you convention contact the organizers of the convention at their web sites or
e-mails and let them know who you want to see. You can even send a link to my
con info page to them if you’d like.
Would you like to be a guest at our convention?
As I said before, Just ask me and I’m in the car. I’m always up for a
convention. Again you can contact me for conventions on my con info page. Right
now, my convention schedule is pretty open so the sooner you contact me the
easier it is for me to try and clear my schedule to attend.
MOCK COMBAT FOR COSPLAY
 Eric Dano & Boo Friedman |
What is MOCK COMBAT FOR COSPLAY?
MOCK COMBAT FOR COSPLAY came about recently at Sugoi-con (in KY) I’ve been
working for years as a fight director and teaching stage combat. When I started
going to conventions and seeing the cosplay scenes that were being done. I was
shocked at some of the combat I was seeing. I was seeing people do things that
were either dangerous or looked terrible or both. It was suggested to me that I
do a workshop at conventions where I teach basic stage combat techniques so that
people can use them in their cosplay scenes. If a convention asks me to do the
workshop I’m more than happy to oblige as it’s a lot of fun. It’s an on your
feet practical workshop where the attendees will actually be learning and doing
the techniques that I am teaching. It’s a lot of fun and everyone that’s take
the workshop has had a great time, and learned a lot. Right now I’m one of the
only people on the circuit doing a workshop like this and it’s already in demand
and has the interest of several conventions. If you’d like more information on
the workshop you can go to my Mock Combat for Cosplay info page.