Claire Dodin
Director, Producer, Voice Actor
Founder, Director of Operations, and Executive Producer of the recording studio, VOFFLA Inc.
When reading any self help book or digging for advice on how to advance one’s career we always hear the same sort of advice: “Find the path to make your dreams happen for you. Focus on the solutions. Don’t focus on the obstacles.” A person that embodies that advice is the focus of this Member Spotlight, Claire Dodin, Chief of The Creators Society Voice Actors Branch.
Growing up in France, Claire fell in love with musical theatre, so much so that she wanted to be a part of that world; the only problem was that there wasn’t much musical theatre in France. When most of us might have moved our focus to some other avenue, Claire moved to London to pursue her passion. Then, when wanting to study screen acting, she of course, set off for the screen-acting capital of the world, Los Angeles. And that is where she remains, as she puts it, “I fell in love with the town, the positivity that everyone seems to have and the weather, of course.” Claire Dodin’s fearless drive to follow her dreams has led her, not only across the globe, but to heights in animation performance and production that we should all aspire to and learn from.
Being a person that only speaks one language, I am always fascinated and impressed by one who is bilingual, let alone can act in multiple languages like Claire does. When asked how she is able to perform across language barriers so well, she keeps focused on what matters in a performance. “Acting is acting regardless of the language, it’s about feelings and being, these are the same no matter the words; but the more fluent you are, the easier it gets to be truthful and real.” She adds, “At the beginning I was so worried about being understood, that I couldn’t really be the character; it’s when I let go of my insecurities about the language that my acting improved.” Her advice to anyone wanting to perform in a new language is to “forget everything you’ve learned and what people told you to do, and just be the character. Also, don’t try to be what you can’t be, ie: if you can’t do the American accent, it’s ok, don’t even try, just be the character with an accent.”
This “Can-Do” attitude is very apparent when Claire recounts the story of her first professional voice acting job, “My very first voice actress paying job was an animated feature film, so I could argue that I’ve always been in animation. To get that job, I picked up the phone and called a large number of people at Disney, until I found the person responsible for casting. He asked me to send him a tape (yes, it was a while back, lol), so I did. I recorded myself singing acapella (to) a Disney song on a tape recorder and I sent the tape to Paris (I lived in a smaller town far away from Paris). A few weeks later I received in the post: backtrack music, sheet music and French lyrics to learn, and an appointment to go to a major studio in Paris. Off I went on the train to Paris, with my best friend. I arrived at the studio and I got to sing a Disney song by a Disney princess, to the unreleased footage that was playing on a giant screen in front of me. It was one of the best, most inspiring moments of my life. I’m pretty sure I cried once I was out the door. Then I went back home, got paid, and discovered a few months later that it was not me they used in the final version of the movie…Ah, well. I’m still trying to be a Disney princess, I guess, Hah, Hah Hah.”
After about a decade of acting in the studio, Claire wanted to have a more active role in the projects that she was a part of. She recounts that “...in order to gain more control over the projects that I do, directing and producing became obvious choices.” However, with more creative control and responsibility comes new obstacles.
Claire tells us, “The challenge when I’m working on my own project is to be objective enough with my work and know when what I am doing is good, or when I need to let someone else more suitable do it. In particular, if I’m directing and acting in something, if the budget allows, I like to have someone else direct me in my scenes. It’s good to have someone else’s ears and ideas. But sometimes I just jump in when I feel it needs a different voice and I don’t have the budget for an extra actress. I’ve been doing this long enough that I can self-direct and most importantly, I know what I can do well and what I can’t do. Knowing our strengths and weaknesses is very useful, and for that we must be open to criticisms (not always easy for actors as we are very sensitive beings…), so it’s important to surround ourselves with people whose judgement we trust and who will be brutally honest when needed.”
Claire’s sound judgement has led her to be the Founder, Director of Operations, and Executive Producer of the recording studio, VOFFLA Inc. (from the French, Voix Off LA) Here is what Claire has to say about the latest VOFFLA project: “I want everyone to know about the film that I am producing with MK Origin Studio that is directed by Tai-Yu Liao called Cemacemas.
“It’s the story of a little Taiwanese indigenous girl, Samilikan, who goes on a magical quest to save her tribe. This story needs to be told; it will enrich the lives of everyone it touches as it talks about living in harmony with nature and all beings. We are currently still in development, but we have an award-nominated script, incredible music and visuals. I believe in this film like I’ve never believed in any project before. There is a little Samilikan in everyone of us that just needs to be awakened.”
Having the attention of such an accomplished professional in the animation world, I had to ask Claire what the best parts of the animation process are for her, and what part of a project she still gets the most excited about? She said “...The best part is the creative side. I love that nothing is impossible with animation. You see the best in people when they work on something that truly tickles their creative selves. There is immense joy in animation, and working with joy is something extremely important to me. We spend so much time working, that it must bring joy.”
Claire is truly an impressive person. From her bravery in moving around the world in pursuit of her dreams, to her impressive ambition and acumen as a creative executive, Claire Dodin is a person that everyone in the animation world, regardless of our varied disciplines, should admire and aspire to be.
I will leave you with a great reminder for all of us. The advice Claire has for any young person about to embark on a career in animation. She says, “Don’t overthink it and go for it. Only people who tried, got there.” Well, Claire Dodin, thank you for inspiring us as a person who “got there.”
