Chapter 10 - Voice acting

It has been a long time since I felt this way. Having a clear idea of what I want to recreate, and being unable to write it down coherently.

At the end, all the hard work I've been putting lately has been a hopeless endevaour. Movie scripts were completely different animals that comics and books, and unfortunately I had to realize that simple fact the hard way.

"Sam, we are about to start. Are you ready?" Conor, asked me in a serious tone.

"Yes... And don't worry, even if I have a say in the selection I wouldn't ignore the experts advice" I smiled at him.

We were in one of the studio buildings, the place designated to be where the lead voice actors of the first movie based on my books was going to happen.

I couldn't remember every song from the princesses movies I based my work. So all I could do was to ensure that the songs I did introduce were big moments in the movie, and that were sung as good as it can get.

"Ok... And remember to be professional about it, I don't want to hear about another girl being lured by you" He said with some malice before sitting next to me.

I could only sigh at that. I knew that he was grumpy about me dating his lovable niece. Although at the end it was a good thing, because before that event he just complained all the time about how I went with another studio to make the popular 'pokemon' a 'cartoon'.

"Ok, the first one... Elizabeth Denn" One guy said, and just a moment later a woman got in.

She was attractive. Wavy blonde hair, high cheek bones and brown eyes. With her tall stature and her formal style of clothes, she had an aura of elegance.

The thing that really picked my interest about her was how natural she acted. She walked with confidence to the center of the room and then adjusted the microphone to a confortable height for her. It was all as if she's in the comfort of her own room.

Immediately after she looked in our direction, the guys around me started to ask her some basic questions, like where she lives or about her previous work. It was just small talk before the real test starts.

"Ok, can you sing that piece in front of you a capella?" The director asked after a while.

All the participants heard the song arrangement before, so it wasn't an unexpected request. I guess that the woman thought the same, if her confident look was any indication.

"I know you. I walked with you once upon a dream~..." She sang in clear and happy tone.

She was undeniable good. I could already picture her voice as 'Belle', and although that movie wasn't the one getting made now, it was still in the plans for the future.

The more she sang, the more I was certain of the match I found. Hopefully I can convince the head of the studio of my decision, which will be hard considering there wasn't even one finished arrangement from 'The beauty and the beast'.

When she finished with the song, she was asked to do some practical voice acting stuff. And that was it. Someone said to her the typical 'we'll call you back', and taking the cue she walked out after saying her goodbyes politely.

"Mister Doyle" I said to Conor, "She's perfect for the lead role in another princess movie... Is there a way to sign her in advance?"

"You know how it works Sam. This movie has to be successful first before there's talks of doing another movie.

Although if you want you could talk to her after we finish here. I'll have someone tell her about it" He finally said once he realized how serious I was being.

After hearing her out, it would be really difficult to imagine someone else playing 'Belle'. So I just nodded at him in thanks, and then I focused in the next woman who was about to sing.

The audition process soon became boring. The same kind of questions and specially the same song being sang every single time was a torturous experience. And even worse was that no voice was of my liking.

"Hello, I'm Tori Michaels" Said the last woman left from the audition group. A woman with a 'nice girl' persona written all over her.

It all depends on her I thought. After all the auditions, I couldn't just say that no one was good enough for the role. The director was already not a fan of my participation in the selection, and it was at the top of my priorities to avoid any unnecessary conflicts here.

"You're the last one so we'll make it short. You just need to sing 'once upon a dream' and read the lines from the papers in front of you" The director said in a tired tone.

"Okay! ... I know you~..." She sang with a sweet tone.

It only took for her to sing the first note and I was already sold. She was by far the closest thing I've heard to have a similar vibe to the original, just like the first girl did for the other character. Unfortunately, it seems that I was the only one with that opinion.

Not many people were paying any attention to her performance. I can only imagine that they had their personal favorites already, besides the fact they were all tired after the long audition process.

"That's enough, we'll call you back when we make a decision" The director said once Tori finished with her lines.

With her out, it was finally over. We had to discuss further about the ones we liked, but before that we'll have some time to eat something or relax for a bit.

Conor and I were supposed to eat something close by with some other people from the television department. A meeting I was waiting for, so I could talk about a new show I wanted to make.

Now, thanks to my sudden request we were going to meet with Elizabeth instead. With the objective of somehow convince her of participating in an audition that may not even happen in the first place. Yeah, I'll need a really compelling argument to convince her of doing so.

We just passed a couple of rooms and we arrived where Elizabeth was waiting. There she was along with another woman of similar looks, but dressed in a more casual way.

The both of them were sitting in a couch, talking among themselves happily, laughing every now and then. They only stopped when they noticed our presence.

"Hello ladies, my name is Conor Doyle and I'm in charge of the television's storyboard department of our company.

The young man at my side is Samuel, the author of the princesses collection, and one of the people in charge of the selection of the voice actors" My 'partner' did the graceful introductions, while I just smiled and waved awkwardly.

At first, none of them gave me any attention, I guess they just thought I was a simple kid instead of the mysterious young writer who no one knew of. But once they heard that, their eyes were immediately locked on me.

"You're 'Samuel Oak'!" The woman besides Elizabeth said with excitement.

"Well, that's his pen name. As you can see he's still a minor, so keeping his identity a secret is in his best interests" Conor explained plainly.

"Yeah. I go to school like every kid, and I really wouldn't appreciate the extra attention when I got so much work at my hands as it is" I added after him.

I already had enough attention with how close I was with some the prettiest girls in school. I couldn't imagine how chaotic everything would be if they knew who I was.

"So young and so talented! And mature!... What do you think of older wo..."

"Erin! Stop it! You're embarrassing me"

Elizabeth interrupted her companion quickly, and then looked at me with an apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry, my sister is just a big fan of yours. In fact the reason she accompanied me here, was for the chance of meeting you"

"Haha, don't worry. I took it as a compliment" I replied with an innocent smile.

How could I say that I do love mature women? It wouldn't make any sense for the eleven year old me. Besides, this Erin girl was clearly not serious about it.

"Damn. I could use some advice from you later" Conor said to me in a low tone. Clearly impressed with how the two women smiled brightly at my previous words.

After that exchange, and some questions about my books from Erin, we all sat down with the intention of discussing my proposal.

"So you're saying that my voice is perfect for a role of a movie that's not in works as of now, and may not ever be produced in the first place" Elizabeth said with clear doubt in her voice.

"No, he's saying that you're perfect for playing 'Belle'! She's my favorite princess. Can't you be happy about it?" Erin teased her.

"Exactly. I know that it's not what you want to hear after you just made an audition for another character, but I truly believe that you'll be perfect for that role" I said with conviction. That was all I had, I could only appeal to her emotions.

"I know, I should be happy with your words. It wasn't as I was sure I would get the role I just auditioned for... I guess that after being told to stay here and wait, I somehow expected that I had the role already" She admitted shyly.

"Yeah, that's true!... And we even had to reschedule the meeting with our friends!" Erin said a little exalted. "Look, I'm your one of your biggest fans Sam. And I'm thrilled to meet you, and you have been an inspiration for me, and I love all of your works, and... " She stopped herself, and coughed awkwardly.

"Doesn't matter" Elizabeth suddenly interrupted her before she could continue, "Erin, they don't need to know about our work"

"But, the meeting was about the new animation company. Our passion project" Erin sulked.

I wanted to interrupt them, but it was hard to find the righ timing with their quick interactions. But now I just didn't care, I couldn't let slide what they just said.

"Wait, can you tell me more about this company you want to create?" I asked quickly, with what I hoped was an inquisitive tone of voice.