With the demand for animated programs and voice actors higher than ever, we spoke to Peter New to learn more about his career and the art of voice acting.

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Tell us a little bit about you and what projects you have on the go right now.

I’m doing voices on Littlest Pet Shop, among other shows, and I’ve recently finished shooting a fun turn in Electra Woman and Dyna Girl for Legendary Pictures.

What was the moment when you knew you wanted to be a performer?

I was maybe 5. I had a menagerie of animal characters I played. I used to put on shows curated by Ruff Ruff the Talking Dog.

Who were some of your greatest influences early on?

Terry Gilliam. Samuel Beckett. The Frantics. I just realized that Samuel Beckett and the Frantics sounds like a terrible band.

You’ve enjoyed a variety of roles on stage, on television, and on film. What creative rewards do you get from each of these three platforms and do you prefer one over the others?

Each individual job has its own challenges and rewards. I don’t really see the forms as being altogether different. Each has its joys and limitations. Indeed sometimes the limitations themselves are the source of the joy.

When you look at your career, what have been the most memorable moments for you?

I have to say chatting idly with Terry Gilliam while on the set of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus about one of my all-time favourite shots from any movie – the epic pullback from The Adventures of Baron Munchausen when Baron Munchausen is surrounded by the Turks army. To have this casual moment with someone whose work I’ve long respected was the kind of perfect moment that can sometimes happen in film.

As someone who has been inside the Vancouver film industry for a long time, how do you think it could be improved?

I think the main improvements – and this is nitpicking to an extent – would have to be at the political level. There are rules around distribution and citizenship which I read as grossly skewed. I have eked out a fine career despite this, however, so I’m not sure how wise it is to bite that feeding hand any harder.

You are getting a lot of recognition right now for your voice acting on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Littlest Pet Shop. What does it mean to you at this point in your career to have a large fanbase that you’ve gained specifically through voice acting?

It’s incredibly humbling. That anyone at all would call themselves a fan of me or my work is deeply touching. Let alone a group of people. It’s incredible, regardless of whether it’s from voice work or whatever.

How does your creative approach change when you are preparing for a voice role vs. a live action role?

It doesn’t really. I mean you have to memorize a live role, so that’s a change, but every scene is a conflict featuring a character who wants something. Deciphering that and then rendering it is the job of the actor, regardless of the format.

What advice would you give to an actor who wants to specialize in voice acting?

Start by acting. Voice is not the operative word. Acting is. Get on stages, join improv troupes. Use the audience to learn how to make fast, bold, successful choices.

You won a Leo Award for your writing on Point Blank. What are the three most important elements that every screenwriter needs for a successful screenplay?

I disagree with this question. Each screenwriter needs to serve the story being told. Each story requires different things, has variable needs. Writing is a process of discovery, like any art. Understand that everything will be wrong before it feels right. But I disagree with the approach that there are specific creative fundamentals. I think that’s a recipe for pat stories and dull screenplays.

What books have been influential in your creative journey so far?

True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor by David Mamet.

A Practical Handbook for the Actor by Melissa Bruder, Lee Michael Cohn, Madeleine Olnek, Nathaniel Pollack, Robert Previto & Scott Zigler.

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan & Ann Druyan.

Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss.

Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum.

Where can we find out more about you and keep up with your projects?

My website PeterNew.net or follow me on Twitter @ActorPeterNew

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Our thanks to Peter New for speaking with us!

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Recommended Reading

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A Practical Handbook for the Actor
Melissa Bruder

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True and False
David Mamet

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The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
Carl Sagan & Ann Druyan

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The post The Biz Interview: Peter New appeared first on Biz Books.

Can you walk us through your creative process for the production from the early stages all the way to the theatrical release?

It was definitely an evolving creative process, but the key was to make something that wasn’t talking heads, that was something that people who don’t normally watch documentaries would want to watch so we weren’t ‘preaching to the choir’. I had worked on Planet Earth, which is a great series, but I knew I wanted to avoid that style and let the images speak more for themselves. I was particularly interested in the traditional recreations given that Flaherty, the grandfather of documentary had got his start on the same islands as a geologist and explorer 100 years earlier. His footage from the islands was destroyed, and he ended up making Nanook of the North somewhere else.

People are still hunting eiders for food throughout the year, but there weren’t really many people left in town that knew how to make traditional eider skin clothing and we wanted to try and capture that part of their oral history while we still could! I also wanted to tell the story of the eider, show them diving under the sea ice, where this all started, and use the story of the eider to connect the past and present.

For the modern sequences, I had always had a camera before we every planned to make a film, so people were very comfortable and I just wanted to try and capture things as they happen in a way that wasn’t impeded by a big film crew. Let the scenes create themselves, adapt when circumstances change and focus on capturing the genuine moments. And try and capture the connection between different types of Inuit ingenuity – be it interacting with the environment, building a qamotiq (sled) monster garage style, or making a hip-hop video!

Simeonie, the lead character was talking his son Daniel winter hunting for the first time, and so that provided the core of the modern storyline, and takes us back out of life in town and onto the sea ice.

Of course many other creative processes began with editing, music and the rest of post-production!

What was the most important discovery that you made about the Inuit people during the making of the film?

Learning about how hydroelectric dams can influence sea ice ecosystems was pretty important! More generally is is about learning another way of knowing and experiencing the world. I had received my PhD, but as they often reminded me, I was still kindergarten in Inuit knowledge. Using a harpoon, understanding sea ice, fixing a skidoo, and a more holistic way of thinking about the environment. I think I’m maybe grade 5 now someone told me! Still a long ways to go, but not bad for a white guy.

What advice would you give to aspiring documentary filmmakers?

If you believe in the project enough to make it happen, it’s worth making. Meeting other filmmakers has been great. Of course no one making documentary is in it for the money, just really great passionate people and anyone can do it!

Are there any books or specific authors that have been influential to you during your journey as a filmmaker?

Quite a while ago, I hadn’t been reading much fiction, but after seeing the movie Contact, I ready the amazing book by Carl Sagan on a recommendation from a friend. It was the only piece of fiction he wrote, a scientist writing science fiction. Then I read a bunch of his stuff. He was a major inspiration for me philosphically as well as for finding simple ways to communicate complex ideas.

Are there any upcoming projects that you’re working on that you’d like to mention?

We have some other film projects in the works too. I’m particularly interested in producing an animated short about our hydrological cycle and energy solutions that can work with the seasons instead of against them. We created a charitable society to use proceeds from the film to try and address the issues. We are accomplishing this, for example, through providing meaningful employment to Inuit communities using their traditional skills to monitor sea ice ecosystems and understand the problem better. You can find out more about the activities of the society and how you can get involved at arcticeider.com

People of a Feather opens in select theatres on March 2nd, 2012. Please visit peopleofafeather.com for more information on the film and screening locations.

The post The Biz Interview: Joel Heath – Director of “People of a Feather” appeared first on Biz Books.