The Actors Volume

The Actors Volume
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Video Games
  • Bimonthly

Ready to make your mark in the Performance Capture industry? Welcome to The Actors Volume—your resource for Finding Your Path and Honing Your Craft. Join industry professionals Jeff Berg and Matthew Brezina as they have candid conversations with their friends, colleagues, and mentors so you can get to know those who make this industry special and learn the standards they set for success. Whether you’re an actor or a creative, each episode is crafted to inspire, educate, and empower you to achieve your goals in Performance Capture.

  1. Oct 20

    Shelby Young - VO & PCAP Actor | Playing Pretend, Honoring The Character, & Doing The Work

    Shelby Young has built a career across on-camera acting, voiceover, and performance capture, bringing an incredible range of characters to life along the way. In this episode of The Actors Volume, Shelby gets into how she actually built that range. We talk about finding your own voice, making bold character choices, using imagination as part of the work, and why curiosity and play still matter no matter how long you’ve been doing this. But we also get into the part of an acting career people don’t always see. Rejection. Burnout. Staying sharp when you’re not working. Taking care of yourself when you are. And figuring out how to build a career you can actually sustain. For actors, there’s a lot here about developing your craft and staying open to where it can take you. For gamers, it’s a chance to meet the actor behind the characters and see how those performances are actually built. Our full conversation with Shelby Young is now live. Captured at @rougestudios Subscribe for more conversations with the actors, directors, and creatives behind performance capture. Subscribe to our ⁠Patreon⁠ Watch on ⁠YouTube⁠ Follow us: ⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠ TikTok⁠ ⁠Threads⁠ ⁠Bluesky⁠ ⁠Facebook⁠ ⁠LinkedIn⁠ See you in The Volume. 0:00 Intro 2:10 Welcome Shelby Young 3:50 Shelby's pcap and mocap credits 5:07 Starting out as a child actor 9:30 Dead Rising 3 and the move into voice acting 11:46 Dry spells and staying in the game 13:11 Pcap vs. the VO booth 16:08 What questions to ask in a session 18:09 Connecting with characters through play 20:41 Breaking down voices and impressions 23:40 How to learn impressions 25:18 Building a VO demo reel 26:33 TikTok and social media 29:26 Showing people what's behind the curtain 31:38 Balancing VO work and content 32:55 Misconceptions about VO and pcap 36:59 Using your imagination on set 38:40 Is voice acting real acting? 40:03 Shelby's audition routine 42:07 Franken takes 42:38 What previs is 44:52 Why productions use previs 49:45 Accents and dialect coaches 53:06 Handling burnout 55:29 Vocal health 58:29 Stepping away from on-camera work 1:01:19 Reps, relationships, and networking 1:06:47 The home studio question 1:09:19 A basic home recording setup 1:12:17 Knowing when an audition is done 1:14:40 Building a character with limited info 1:19:24 Ad-libs and changing line order 1:21:13 What a slate is 1:22:25 How much to prepare 1:23:40 Playing Princess Leia and Batgirl 1:28:02 Big franchises and fan bases 1:31:07 When to ask for another take 1:35:05 Longevity and AI 1:37:13 Advice to young Shelby 1:38:13 Final thoughts 1:39:41 Where to find Shelby #TheActorsVolume #ShelbyYoung #GodOfWarRagnarok #StarWarsJediSurvivor #WolfensteinYoungblood #DeadRising3

    Shelby Young - VO & PCAP Actor | Playing Pretend, Honoring The Character, & Doing The Work

  2. Sep 29

    Tom Keegan - PCAP & VO Director | Trust Your Actors & Direct Great Performance

    Tom Keegan has directed performances across some of the biggest games in the video gameindustry, including Battlefield 1, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. In this episode of The Actors Volume, Tom takes us inside the work behind those performances. We talk about what performance capture really asks of an actor, why movement matters just as much as voice, how directors create the conditions for great work, and what it takes to make a character feel real inside a highly technical process. Tom also shares what he has learned from decades of working with actors, how technology has changed the craft, and why connection is still at the center of all of it. If you love games and have ever wondered how these performances actually come together, this conversation pulls back the curtain. Watch the full episode now. Subscribe for more conversations with the actors, directors, and creatives behind performance capture. See you in The Volume. Subscribe to our Patreon Watch on YouTube Follow us: Instagram TikTokThreads Bluesky Facebook LinkedIn #TheActorsVolume #TomKeegan #PerformanceCapture #StarWarsJediSurvivor #Battlefield1#IndianaJonesAndTheGreatCircle

    Tom Keegan - PCAP & VO Director | Trust Your Actors & Direct Great Performance

  3. Aug 11

    Nick Apostolides | Trust Your Instincts, Find Your Flame, & Take The Leap

    Nick Apostolides didn't plan on becoming an actor. He grew up building with Legos and Lincoln Logs, learned carpentry from his dad, and by 24 had a comfortable job as a concierge at a four star hotel in Boston. But guests kept asking him the same thing, forty or fifty times over: are you an actor? He lives by a saying, if three strangers tell you something, that's the universe nudging you. So he took the nudge. From no budget student films in Boston, where nobody could afford a stunt coordinator so he learned to do it himself, to playing Leon Kennedy across Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 4, Infinite Darkness, and now Requiem, plus Togusa in The Ghost in the Shell, Nick has built a career on trusting his gut and leading with gratitude. In this episode, we talk about the audition he lived and breathed for two weeks, how to find the truth in an empty volume, and the night he passed out in the VO booth and Capcom liked the take so much they put it in the game. Nick also shares what he calls finding your flame, and why he showed up with Oreos. Please enjoy. Read Nick's companion article Watch the full episode on YouTube Subscribe to our Patreon Follow us: Instagram Threads Bluesky Facebook LinkedIn

    Nick Apostolides | Trust Your Instincts, Find Your Flame, & Take The Leap

  4. Jul 7

    Cissy Jones | Finding Your Path & Finding Your Voice

    Cissy Jones’ episode is now live on The Actors Volume.From Silicon Valley, to building a career in voiceover and performance capture, to becoming a leading voice in protecting actors’ rights in the age of AI, this conversation covers a lot.We talk about the career pivot, the dry stretches, the pressure of tying your worth to the next booking, and the personal work it takes to keep showing up without losing yourself in the process.Cissy also gets into what this career really asks of an actor.Authenticity. Consistency. Community. Real relationships. And knowing how to adapt the work as the industry continues to change.Watch the full episode on YouTube.Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.And if this work matters to you, subscribe, follow, and share it with another creative who cares about the future of our industry.Captured at @rougestudiosSee you in The Volume.

    Cissy Jones | Finding Your Path & Finding Your Voice

  5. Jun 23

    Jay Walker | Face The Impossible Until It's Possible & Don't Lose The Love

    Jay Walker's episode is now live on The Actors Volume. From speech and debate in Minnesota. To stepping away from the path he thought he was supposed to follow. To early momentum, long dry spells, and learning how to keep moving. To leading a major franchise as the player character in Battlefield. This conversation gets into the part of the career people do not talk about enough. How to keep believing. How to stay ready. How to protect your love for the work when the work gets quiet. Watch + Listen now. Read Jay's companion article⁠⁠ Watch on YouTube⁠⁠ Join our Patreon & Subscribe to The Actors Volume Newsletter⁠ Follow us: ⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠Threads⁠⁠ Facebook ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠ ⁠Bluesky Shot at Rouge Studios.

    Jay Walker | Face The Impossible Until It's Possible & Don't Lose The Love

  6. Jun 9

    Gideon Emery | Building A Craft Across Countries & Being A Good Human

    Gideon Emery joins us for the Season 2 premiere of The Actors Volume. Born in England and raised largely in Johannesburg, Gideon spent years building a life in the work before moving to LA. He trained in theater, worked professionally in South Africa for a decade, and eventually found his way into voiceover, video games, and performance capture. This conversation is about the long game. We talk about growing up between cultures, choosing drama school, building a career before changing markets, and what it means to keep adapting without losing the foundation of your craft. Gideon shares why performance capture felt like theater when he first stepped into it, why he sees it as one of the most challenging forms of performance, and how acceptance sits at the center of his work. We also get into voiceover, character, BD-1, the infamous nose whistle, and the strange, specific alchemy of bringing emotional life to something that technically only beeps. No shortcuts in this one. Just craft, patience, and the slow work of finding where you belong. Please enjoy. Now streaming on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts. Captured at Rouge Studios. Read Gideon’s companion articleWatch on YouTubeJoin our Patreon & Subscribe to The Actors Volume Newsletter Follow us:Instagram ThreadsFacebookLinkedIn Bluesky

    Gideon Emery | Building A Craft Across Countries & Being A Good Human

  7. 07/29/2025

    Zach Mendez | Risk, Gratitude, & Finding Your Fun

    Somewhere between teaching math in Miami and doing student films off Craigslist, this week’s guest, Zach Mendez, realized he wasn’t going back to a traditional career. He just wasn’t built for it. What followed wasn’t a clear plan, filled with stand-up gigs, improv classes, sketch comedy, philosophy books, long stretches of doubt, and a few lucky breaks. Now he’s working in AAA games, bringing real humanity into roles that live inside the most fantastical worlds. In this episode, Zach talks about the shift that changed everything: Not trying to win. Not trying to impress. Just showing up, telling the truth, and having fun. This one’s for anyone who’s realizing that there’s no “right” way to build a career. Zach’s episode is out now. Spotify. Apple Podcasts. YouTube. . . . #TheActorsVolume #FindYourPath #HoneYourCraft #PerformanceCapture #TrustTheProcess #VoiceActor #MotionCapture #PerformanceCaptureCrew #HonorTheCraft #ActorsOfInstagram #ActingPodcast #FindYourPathHoneYourCraft __ Read Zach’s companion article Watch his Episode on YouTube Subscribe to the 3 Marker Monday Newsletter Follow us: Instagram  Threads Facebook LinkedIn

    Zach Mendez | Risk, Gratitude, & Finding Your Fun

  8. 07/15/2025

    Matthew Brezina | Pursuing Passion & Embracing Challenges

    Matthew Brezina didn’t take a traditional path into performance capture. He studied politics. Fell into acting. Picked up martial arts. Shot indie films with friends. And somewhere along the way, realized he wanted to build a career that brought all of it together. Today, he’s a producer and AD on some of the most technically demanding PCAP shoots in the industry, and a co-founder of The Actors Volume. In this episode, Matthew reflects on what it means to grow in the middle of the work. We talk about early pivots, tough calls, leadership on set, and how community keeps you grounded when the pressure kicks in. It’s about learning on your feet, staying open, and building something that actually fits who you are. Please enjoy. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and watch on YouTube. __ Read Matthew’s companion article Watch his Episode on YouTube Subscribe to the 3 Marker Monday Newsletter Follow us: Instagram  Threads Facebook LinkedIn

    Matthew Brezina | Pursuing Passion & Embracing Challenges
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out of 5
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About

Ready to make your mark in the Performance Capture industry? Welcome to The Actors Volume—your resource for Finding Your Path and Honing Your Craft. Join industry professionals Jeff Berg and Matthew Brezina as they have candid conversations with their friends, colleagues, and mentors so you can get to know those who make this industry special and learn the standards they set for success. Whether you’re an actor or a creative, each episode is crafted to inspire, educate, and empower you to achieve your goals in Performance Capture.

Information

  • Creator
    The Actors Volume
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © The Actors Volume
  • Show Website
    The Actors Volume