It’s Time to Hear the Voices of ewanme

The post production company ewanme has never been interested in doing what everyone else is. The founder, Ewan Macleod, started the fully remote business long before anyone in the industry really believed that it was possible, or even advisable. Today, and in the quest to offer an a truly end-to-end post solution for clients, ewanme is expanding its capabilities once more with Voices of ewanme - a boutique voiceover arm of the company, under the direction of Alexandra Mullin, radio producer, and Mary Stronach, assistant producer. 

“We noticed that more and more clients were talking to us about voices telling us that they’re struggling to find the right one for their projects,” says Mary. It then made perfect sense to offer clients that final missing piece of the puzzle using both Mary and Alexandra’s extensive experience in the voiceover industry. “It seemed like the perfect next step as it sits so naturally under the umbrella of our offering, plus we’re both really passionate about matching clients with the right voices,” Mary and Alexandra add. Officially, Voices of ewanme launched in December of last year and the team is working with a hand-picked selection of 40 versatile voices.

How did Alexandra and Mary create the current roster? It was a long process of reviewing endless voice reels and tirelessly scouting existing and new voices until they came across the ones that stopped them in their tracks. Additionally, they both noticed that more and more clients, influenced by consumer demographics, were moving away from ‘perfection’ in the kind of voices they wanted to work with. Instead, “clients are looking for relatability, an everyday kind of voice,” Mary explains. That’s not to say that RP (received pronunciation) is going anywhere, especially judging by the popularity of media like ‘The Crown’ and ‘Saltburn’ though it’s no longer the standard or ‘neutral’ voice that everyone opts for. “A lot of the modern brands want to sound relatable and they’re realising that they don’t always want a voice that’s been changed by training, they want to hear the natural quirks. At Voices of ewanme, we can offer both sides,” she adds. Alexandra points to brands that are operating in spaces that are still seen as somewhat taboo, like sexual wellness, who definitely want natural sounding voices to cut through any potential awkwardness. 

On their roster is Sarah, an award-winning, full-time British voiceover artist who specialises in commercial and corporate voiceover thanks to her “friendly, relatable voice.” She’s worked with the likes of Tesco, DHL, and Bosch, alongside character work for audiobooks. Jo is a multi-award winning voice actor who has worked with the likes of Pepsi, Nike, BBC, Audible, Atlantic records, and more. Amina’s earnest and grounded voice means she can build characters for commercials, ADR, gaming, audiobooks and animation for clients like Penguin Random House, Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, and Larian Studios.

In deliberately keeping the roster small, Alexandra and Mary are laser-focused on only selecting voices that deliver true versatility. A huge reason for this is a focus on the quality of the service they can offer to the voices and, in turn, to their clients. “We look for unique voices with the right training and there needs to be something distinctive about the voice: a personal and signature sound,” says Alexandra. Voices of ewanme sees the versatility of its talent as the real advantage as it means that the team can invest in their development and foster long-standing and trustful relationships between voices and clients. 

Alexandra, who has personal experience of working as a voiceover artist, knows how tough the industry can be and how much the right support is worth to artists, especially the ones just starting out. That’s why Voices of ewanme is really focusing on giving each of its carefully selected voices time, support, and scope to develop. 

“We want our voices to get as much work as possible,” states Alexandra. “That’s why Mary and I spend a lot of time providing them with guidance on how to boost their social media presence, for example, and how to market themselves.” In the saturated industry of voices, standing out above the crowd is not an easy task, but Alexandra and Mary are on hand to help cut through the noise. “Every two weeks we send our voices a document with viral video and content ideas that they can use as inspiration for their social media channels. “Even though our voices aren’t exclusive with us, we want to help them as much as we can,” they confirm. “We don’t want to leave their development and growth just up to them. We encourage a two-way dialogue and we’re always on hand to advise and review their ideas, what they’ve created, which we then post or repost to boost reach,” Alexandra adds. “It’s a collaboration.”

Voices of ewanme also works with RichCraft, a highly respected voiceover coaching company. RichCraft’s MD, Tanya Rich, selects a few of her best graduates to make the ‘RichList’ when she feels that they’re ready for the professional world. “Once on the RichList, those voices are guaranteed a spot on our roster because we trust her expertise implicitly,” Mary explains. The spots on the RichList are highly coveted and difficult to come by so Alexandra and Mary know that each name that appears on it is perfectly trained, talented, and ready to deliver their best. 

There’s an art to matching the right voice with the right client and brief. It starts with a deep understanding of the brief and is complemented by a lot of additional research. “We like to do a deep dive on the client, on who the director is and see what kind of work they’ve done in the past to get really familiar with their style. Then we can start to match them with the most suitable voice.” While Alexandra and Mary are confident that they can find a match for every brief, they especially cherish the briefs that pose a creative challenge or are looking for a very specific voice. “Animation is always very exciting, finding a voice for a character. I like any brief that’s really detailed, basically,” Mary says. Alexandra likes “anything funny, a bit controversial, and I also love a full radio imaging brief!”

Getting the right match is also about collaboration which, in a post covid landscape, isn’t always as organic as it can be. While the convenience afforded by video calls is undeniable, so are the benefits of a simple catch up over coffee. For Alexandra, establishing personal connections with existing and prospective clients is a key focus; she says: “I want to really get to know the people we work with or might work with to be able to relate to them as best as we can.”

This is part of the company’s larger outlook that’s all about creating personal connections, building trust, and investing in quality across all touchpoints. Alexandra concludes: “Mary and I are starting something from the ground up - we want to do it properly.”