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The VO Boardroom: Private All-Access Pass
Why Your Commercial Audition Gets Passed Over, with Kelly Moscinski
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Presented by The VO Pro Community
Ever wonder what really happens after you hit "submit" on a commercial audition?
Join veteran Casting Director Kelly Moscinski for an honest look behind the curtain as she reveals how commercial auditions are reviewed, what catches a casting director's attention, and the common mistakes that quietly take actors out of the running.
You'll leave with a clearer understanding of the casting process and practical insights to help you audition with greater confidence and intention.
About Kelly Moscinski
Kelly Moscinski is the Owner and Head of Casting at The Voicecaster.
With almost 20 years of experience in VO, Kelly casts and directs all things voiceover.
Some recent casting projects include commercials for Hyundai, Dole, Popeyes, Verizon, Walmart+, Google, Amazon, and many more; plus, video games like Dungeons & Dragons and Ready or Not; and many more casting credits in every genre.
When Kelly is not busy at the studio, she can be found writing her book or working on her nonprofit “Blank Pages Initiative” empowering individuals through the arts.
Hey everyone, this is the commercial casting room. Why your audition gets passed over? I'm sure as a voice actor, you have probably wondered this a time or two. So today we're going to cover the casting process, what stands out in the auditions, and sometimes more importantly, why your audition gets passed over. First, I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Kelly Moshinsky, and I am the owner and head of casting at the Voicecaster. I am the founder of Blank Pages Initiative, a nonprofit that I started last year to build confidence through the arts. I am a mom of two little ones. I am also a certified organizational specialist, as well as a life coach and a recovering perfectionist, as so many of us are. So first of all, let's just walk through a little bit of the casting process step by step. I'm going to actually play some audio for you today. I want to, you know, really give you an idea of what we do on our side so you can see why you might get passed over. So casting process step one, creating the folders. So once everybody has submitted and we get anywhere from 200 submissions to 1,500 submissions, that is when we go through, we download everything, we create the yes, no, and maybe folders. We save all of the MP3s to the main folder. So anything that is labeled in correctly automatically goes to the no folder. I know it has to be done. And then we go through and we give every single audition three to five seconds. You have to catch our attention. Something has to draw us in within those three to five seconds, or we just don't listen any further. If for any reason instructions weren't followed, just in regards to slates, the number of takes, etc., we will move you to the no folder. So as long as you're following instructions, you will at least get three to five seconds of our ear. So we're going to do this with a script that we cast um in January of 2026. The final spots are out there now. This was for the San Diego Zoo. So you'll see on the side here we have script one and script two for the auditions. Um and then we had a couple of different specs on this one. We were casting men and women. What I'm going to do now is I'm going to play the first three to five seconds of the auditions. This is just a selection of the auditions. This is not every single one. I just randomly grabbed some and put them on a track for you to hear.
SPEAKER_09Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
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SPEAKER_12Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
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SPEAKER_05Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_07Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_06Now this puts room to roam right in the backyard. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_16Introducing the new Elephant Valley where you can roam among the Introducing the New Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_11Introducing the new Elephant Valley. What's happening at the San Diego Zoo? Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_17Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_18Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
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SPEAKER_17Ooh look, Jordan. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
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SPEAKER_13Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
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SPEAKER_08Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_18Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_17Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_13Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_12Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
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SPEAKER_07Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_14Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_13Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_14Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_18Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_16Mm-hmm. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_07Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Such power and such elegance. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_12Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_04Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_07Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. No way. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_16Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_17Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_10So there you go. A small sampling of what we have to listen to when we're doing the casting. So there are obviously, I'm sure, a lot of things that are standing out to you as things that don't work, things that you would probably push paws on and move on to the next audition as well. Things like not being loud enough. There are some auditions on there that are really, really quiet. And I'm not going to be adjusting my volume on my end just for three seconds. So usually those get skipped over. The choices that you make, we hear those choices right away. And we can tell if they work or not. We can tell if you're connected. So we will get more into that in just a couple minutes here. Let's move on to step two of the casting process. So step two, after everything has been moved into a yes, no, or maybe folder, that is when we pull out all the files that we've put into the yes folder. This time through, we are listening to the first three to five seconds of each take. So this is where I'm listening for range. I need to know that you have range. And I'm finding that more and more clients are looking to hear more range. So it used to be fine, subtle, subtle differences in your two or three takes. Absolutely okay. Now I'm finding that if you do that, hopefully you'll get a call back to be able to show more of your range. Otherwise, they're just booking the people who already did an audition with enough range. So if there is enough range and variety between the takes, then they go back into the yes folder. If not, then they're going to be moved to the maybe or the no folder. So we are going to now listen to the first three to five seconds of each take for the yes auditions. So these are some of the actual auditions that I had put into my yes folder on this same project.
SPEAKER_12Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_02Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_14Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_13Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_04Introducing the new Introducing the New Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_07Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_06Now this puts room to roam right in the backyard. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_05Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_03Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_07Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_11What's happening at the San Diego Zoo? Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_03Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_09Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_16Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_01Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_15Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_17Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_08Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley. Introducing the new Elephant Valley.
SPEAKER_10So with these, you can probably hear a lot of them are delivered the exact same way. So those first three to five seconds, there isn't much change, whether it's in the tone, the pacing, the emphasis, where the beats are being taken. And then some of them made very distinctly different takes. The biggest thing is, you know, finding that connection and making sure that every single take has a why. Why are you saying this? How are you connected to it? All right, step three in the casting process. So once we have cleared out the yes folder again and moved people one more time, we will go into the yes folder again and this time start listening all the way through the takes. We need to make sure there's nothing, you know, that gets too crazy part way through. Sometimes the beginnings might be different, but then they fall back into what they did on the other take so that they're not exactly distinctly different. So we will go through, we'll listen, and those talent will then be split into two folders, the yes folder and the next folder. So the next are the ones that would be submitted even before those in the backups maybe folder. So step four, once we've done all of that, we have everybody in a yes or next folder. So then we go into that yes folder again and make sure that the number of auditions that our client requested are at least there. So it depends on the client. We will submit anywhere from three auditions to 30 auditions. So with that, you know, we may have 40 in that folder. So we go through and we knock it down to whatever we need to. We may only have 10 in that folder and we need 15 to send to the client. So then that's when we go into the next folder and decide who else we want to send from there. Once everything is ready to go, then we prep it to send. Um, and we just shift people around as we need to. So next up, I want to play for you the audition that booked as well as the final spots so that you can hear this casting process from start to finish.
SPEAKER_03Introducing the new Elephant Valley, where you can roam among the largest land animals on earth and feel the wonder of their world. The elephants aren't the only ones who'll never forget. Introducing the new Elephant Valley, where you can roam among the largest land animals on earth, and feel the wonder of their world. The elephants aren't the only ones who will never forget. At the New Elephant Valley, you'll roam among the largest land animals on earth and feel the wonder of their world. At the New Elephant Valley, you'll roam among the largest land animals on earth and feel the wonder of their world. At the New Elephant Valley, you'll roam among the largest land animals on earth and feel the wonder of their world.
SPEAKER_10Good. So you heard him do two takes of script one and three takes of script two, and all of them were different. Some of them more different than others, but throughout those five takes, he showed a really nice range and variety here. Here's one of the final thoughts.
SPEAKER_03At the new Elephant Valley, the elephants aren't the only ones who will never forget. At the new Elephant Valley, the elephants aren't the only ones who will never forget.
SPEAKER_00This is huge.
SPEAKER_03Introducing the new Elephant Valley, where you can roam among the largest land animals on earth and feel the wonder of their world. The elephants aren't the only ones who will never forget. This is huge.
SPEAKER_10So final spots are always a little bit more polished, touch more announcery, but he still has the relatability and the connection that we need. So what stands out to casting? As we're listening to all of these things, I'm sure you have things in mind that stand out to you. And I have things that stand out to me. Some of those may overlap, sometimes they don't. So what are we listening for on the casting side? For me, one of the biggest things is having a strong intention, knowing why you're saying what you're saying. Is it to excite? Is it to inform? Is it to reassure? You know, make sure that you have a why, have that intention. The next one is having a clear audience. So not just the target audience at the spot, but also knowing who you're talking to. A lot of this is going to be these basic acting choices. And if you make those choices, every single read is going to be so much stronger. So we're always listening for the acting choices. We are listening for variety, especially with energy and pacing. You heard that in that audition that booked. It is one of those things where if you are trying to figure out what to do different for your second or third take, think about energy and think about pacing because most of the time that is what's being directed in the final session. Proximity and volume. We are listening for how close or how far away you are, not just with the microphone, but with who you're talking to. So are you having an intimate conversation? Are you talking to yourself? Are you talking to someone across the table in a loud restaurant? Make sure you're making choices. The next thing is authenticity. Always authenticity. When you see that word conversational, I want you to think relatable. So we are looking for the authenticity to your read. This typically also allows it to feel effortless. And I don't want it to sound like you're working. It has to have a sort of effortlessness to the read. It has to sound easy. Natural personality and point of view. I want you to know what you're talking about, and I want you to have a clear opinion on it. So that is something that comes through with the first sentence, with the first word. You don't have to work your way into it. You should know coming into this, how you feel about something and what your point of view is. Lead-ins. Lead-ins don't work for every single casting director, but they do work for me. I find that a lot of my clients love it. And I also find that it helps the actor get into the space that they need to be in for the choices that they're making. Now, you can cut the lead-ins, so you can use a lead-in for every take that you record. Cut them out. Make sure it's something that gets you there so that when you hit that first word of the script, you are exactly where you need to be. For me, if it's a short lead-in, I'm okay with that. You heard that on some of those tapes. Some of the people who made it into my yes folder initially had lead-in lines that they kept in. As long as it works for the script and it's not just you being different for the sake of being different, then it's okay for me. Improv and ad libs. Again, not every casting director's cup of tea, but I think it helps naturalize things. I think it adds to the authenticity. So, and the key thing with this is you are adding it to the script. You are not changing the script, you are not rewriting anything, you are adding to it to make it more comfortable, especially when you've got the first word of a script being introducing. Sometimes we need to find those things that can help naturalize. So let's talk about why you're all here listening to me right now. Why your audition gets passed over? Because it does. Sometimes your agent just doesn't send it on. Sometimes casting gets it, and we're not sending it on to the client for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it gets to the client and people on the creative team pass over you. So why is that? And when I say this, I want to be very clear that when you are passover, when you don't get the job, it is not because you're being rejected. So, some reasons why we pass on you. So generic. Spot and the audition that books do have differences. Typically, the acting choices, the connection, all of that is a lot stronger in the audition. There's more personality in the audition. When you book a commercial and go into the session, that's when they start telling you, oh, we need a little more energy. Let's smooth this out. Let's inflect up here. All of a sudden, the final spots tend to be more smooth and announcery at everything they said they didn't want them to be. So knowing that difference can really help. So your first take. So even if you give that final spot read, the commercial read that you know is ultimately going to be that spot, that take should be going second or third, not first, because we will pass over you hearing the first three to five seconds as that final spot sound. Not following directions, I can't stress this enough. And it seems so basic and so easy. But if you don't follow instructions, you don't even get three to five seconds. It's the easiest thing you can do. If you're not making acting choices, if it sounds like you are reading a script, not pulling it off the page, not doing anything with it, we're not going to pay attention. Sounds like just another person reading another script. If you're not connected. So you have to know what you're talking about. You have to know who you're talking to. You have to be connected to the feelings and the words of the copy. And we can hear from the very first word if there's connection or not. Go back and re-listen to some of those auditions now that we've talked about this. You will hear the ones who are just going through the motions or trying to achieve a specific sound. If you don't fit the specs, please don't read on things where you don't fit the specs. Yes, we do send wild cards here and there. Yes, we do like outside the box read sometimes. But if we're looking for somebody who is college age, 18 to 22, and you clearly sound 40 plus, do not audition. A lot of agents nowadays send everything they get to all of their talent. And talent have to decipher what to read on and what to pass on. Please don't get into the habit of auditioning things that you don't fit because that will make a bad impression, and casting will remember that. Sometimes real life sneaks in a little too much. Sometimes I can hear if somebody's exhausted. I can hear if the audition I'm listening to is the 10th one and they are just over it. Sometimes we can hear you've had a bad day, but you have to get through these auditions. So really trying to not let the stresses and things of the day creep into all of your auditions. Interpretation. Please have one. Sometimes it's a matter of the interpretation just isn't there. You haven't taken the time to understand the copy and share it with us. You're just reading it. So make sure you interpret what you're saying. And anything that feels forced, unnatural, or like you're trying too hard. If it doesn't feel effortless, we are not going to continue listening. If it sounds like you're trying really hard, that's not something that's going to stand out to us and make us want to continue listening. I will also add, it's not on my slide here, but I will also add tech the tech side. So making sure that you have edited your pickups. If you leave in your pickups, that's a problem. You actually heard that in one of the files today. Also, taking out all of your breath. It doesn't sound natural. And we start to wonder if you can get through an entire script in one read or if you have to frank and take piece it together. We don't want someone who has to be pieced together. We want somebody who can get through the whole script. And especially when we are going for something natural or conversational, leave your breaths in. People breathe, and that's okay. It's going to sound so much more natural. All right. Thank you so much for joining me today. And please be sure to check out voicaster.com, voicasterlab.com, our insiders community, which is filled with incredible members. And reach out if you have any questions at all.
