Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ovais Malik. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Ovais, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
I was working for a couple doing marketing for their online business. While at work, I got a call from one of my agents telling me that the client wanted to use me as the voice of their brand for their big campaigns ( said client was Porsche) and that I needed to be in studio within an hour and a half. I called my boss and asked if it would be OK for me to leave for this job and she said she wouldn’t be back for another couple of hours. The owners never gave me a key to close up their office. Long story short, they didn’t let me go and I made the decision not to leave the business unattended and I missed out on a huge opportunity that would’ve opened so many other doors for me. The silver lining though was that it motivated me to leave that job and take on doing voice over full time. It was certainly a big risk, as I left a consistent paycheck over something that was up and down at the time. I’ve never looked back since and that singular move catapulted me into doing what I do today full time! I believe life is all about taking risks. Some involve having more to lose than others but without them, life wouldn’t be as fulfilling.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I’ve had a lifelong fascination with voice acting and really acting and performing in general. Growing up in a family with 4 brothers and sisters is tough when you’re the youngest. Literally everything came at a premium: attention, time, food, etc. The list goes on and on. I had to do something to get the attention of my siblings so I think my sense of humor, which I certainly got from my mom, was a thing of necessity for me. Without it, I disappeared in the background, becoming almost invisible. I come from a musical family as my mom and brother both sang and I had a cousin that was a musician and perusing acting at the time as well. All those influences combined with my love of video games and cartoons played a huge role in my early inspiration of doing something in the performance arts world. Growing up in a Pakistani household however made the challenge of being a creative much more daunting than one might imagine. I always had to push way harder to get to do things that were art-based. My parents are very traditional and going to school, getting a good education was always priority #1. That being said, I was very persistent and talked my way into being in a few talent shows in school, I started playing the drums and formed my own band at 17, a musical journey that still continues today, 23 years later! I’ve recorded in studio, toured all over with bands and have even been part of the world famous Warped Tour with some of the biggest names in the industry.
Voice acting holds a really special place in my heart. The cartoons I’d watch always had me so intrigued because I always wondered who the voices behind the characters were. I found myself writing scripts with my brother for horror home made films we’d (attempt) to make. I’d even play pretend Mario Bros with my cousins where I got to be Mario, voice and all! In school I would play pretend Street Fighter which would be mostly story-based with a bunch of dialogue until someone needed to get their butts whopped! I grew up parroting a bunch of friends of the family who had quirky and unique voices. There are a few who I still plan on using in some form in the future!
If people think it’s hard to get into this industry because of the lack of information today, you should’ve seen how it was when I got started! Granted, I’m not a dinosaur by any means but the industry has evolved so much in just the last 10 years alone, it’s unbelievable! I began taking some coaching for commercial voice over and then doing some for video games. I then began the never ending grind of putting yourself out there. Having a bit of a marketing background, I put myself out there and began cutting my teeth on just about anything that came my way. Many times it was for free, but once in a while, they’d be “nice” and throw me $50 bucks for a job and though that’s not much, I instantly realized something. Someone would actually pay me to do this!
I’m proud to say I’ve been doing multilingual voice over for 13 years now in 3 languages, English, Urdu and Hindi! My work spans from commercials and video games to movie trailers, narrating and ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement.) Some of my clients include Toyota, NCSOFT, Ad Council, MetLife and many more! I’ve been able to offer them high quality audio in multiple languages and even accents. I take pride in knowing that every single one of my clients is completely happy with the end result and they know that I go out of my way to ensure that. I’m most proud of just sticking with it and not giving up when it gets hard because it does get very hard. This is a cut-throat industry and they wont hesitate to replace you immediately if you’re not an absolute pro. A huge aspect of being successful in this industry is also just being easy to work with and leaving you ego at the door.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Creatives in general have such an uphill battle, whether they’re initially aware of it or not. Maybe we’re just gluttons for punishment! Whether you’re an actor, musician, artist, dancer, etc. The general public views you as “just another person trying to get famous”. How many times have we passed street performers only to ignore them as if they’re part of the building or structure they’re standing by? How often have you been at a bar and see a band performing to absolutely no one? Then that same band has music they created, wrote themselves after years of practice and training and people scoff at the idea of having to spend$10 dollars on a CD, yet we spent $5 dollars on a cup of coffee without batting an eye. We don’t take performers seriously until we see them on TV or hear them on the Radio. As someone who’s spent so much of his life being a creative himself, I can tell you that the success we may or may not have will never come close to the struggles we endure. I often use the iceberg comparison. You only see a small chunk on top but you miss the biggest part, which is under water. That’s where all the hours of grinding, years and years of training, putting yourself out there, getting rejected and working on your craft day in and day out happen.
The best thing people can do is embrace art in all forms. It could be by taking a moment to listen to that musician, or take a dollar, or whatever you have and put it into that performers container. Without art and all it’s creators, the world is a very bleak place! We don’t know what that’s like because we’ve been spoiled by so many talented and wonderful people that make the performing arts world go round and round. Everyone is different and understandably will have different likes and dislikes. At the end of the day, the world is a better place because of artists and performers of all kinds. We need to nurture and cultivate the creative ecosystem so that it’s good for everyone. Nobody wants to go to work for free!
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
There are so many wonderful things to being a voice actor, it’s really hard to pinpoint just one thing that makes it the most rewarding but if I have to choose one, I would say it’s talking to and meeting people that recognize your work and hearing their stories of what your work means to them. It’s not only extremely humbling, but also very heartfelt and makes you feel good. I know we’re not out here performing live saving surgery on people, but it’s pretty special to have someone approach you in public and tell you they’ve heard your voice in a game or commercial and that it helped them get through some hard times. As a close second, I’d say just being able to get up and have new opportunities to play pretend as an adult much like I did as a kid. I get to play characters that are so far from who I am as a person, I not only love the challenge but the joy in creating that character.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ovaismalik.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialovaismalik/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ovaismalikvoiceover/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ovaismalik/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOucT5Qt2uWdwN8DvXtksnQ
- Other: IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5415237/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1