Conversations with Robert Ehara

Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Ehara.

Hi Robert, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Hello! Well like many, I didn’t grow up in the LA area. I grew up in Northern California or NorCal, particularly in the heart of Silicon Valley. Growing up around many straight-A students and computers, you would think I would want to work in the industry of circuit boards and software, but I had dreamt of going into another Californian industry, the Film Industry.

The moment I made the decision to pursue a life in Film and Entertainment was from my mother. She had shown me a bunch of movies that she had loved when she was younger like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Ace Ventura to name a few. She even wanted me to watch a couple of rated R movies at the age of 8! But with any kid, I was entranced.

I would create my own scenes with toys and my eye would be the camera. I would literally put my head to the ground to get different shots of trains going by and give these toys and characters different voices and sounds. But at the age of 14, when DVDs came out, I would watch the featurettes and behind the scenes and as I watched them, I realized that there are people that actually make the films I love and they loved making it. After I saw that, I knew this is what I wanted to do.

Over the years, I started taking Film and Drama courses in high school, community college, and college and progressed into working in LA at many production companies. After a while of being the one to prep the films, shows and commercials that you see on screen, I realized I wanted to do more on-screen work, particularly voice-over work. At the age of 13 when puberty hit, my voice just dropped in pitch, and all of a sudden I had this very deep voice.

I remember all the kids at school would have a “deep voice off” to see who had the lowest voice and I would beat all of them just by talking normally. As time went on, people would compliment me on my deep voice. After I graduated from college, I worked at many different production companies and many producers would ask me to record my voice for a line of narration or a quick voice-over.

In fact, the very first paid job I had in the industry involved me meeting our Japanese clients for the first time and introducing myself to them. The clients would say in a very thick Japanese accent, “Oh, you have a very good voice” and I would respond “Thank you!” Once I sat back at my desk and worked a bit, I get a tap on my shoulder. I looked over and it was one of the clients.

He asked me to come with him and I proceeded to follow him into another room with the other clients, the director, and the owner of the production company I was working for.

One of the clients politely shoves a microphone in front of my face and asks me to say the brand name and the slogan in a very particular way. Unfortunately, I don’t think they used my recording since I didn’t have the training/experience for it or said the line in the way they had wanted, but after that moment and many others after, I started to realize that I had a chance to do something creatively, but always thought was impossible. I began to think back to when I was a kid that gave all those voices to his different toys.

In fact, I never realized voice acting was a thing until people kept telling me to do it. If producers and commercial clients working in the industry wanted to record my voice, then that gave me the confidence and validation I needed to give it a shot!

So after a year of voice-over work, I’ve booked a couple of gigs and even went as far as some producers and creators giving me alternate roles if I never quite got the role because they liked my voice so much!

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I wouldn’t say it was smooth. I think when I left home and moved to LA, it had been a rocky and scary start. I basically had to learn how this new city worked and try to break into the industry, as they say. I had first lived in Northridge for about 8 years? My god… It honestly feels like 4 years.

During those 8 years in the Valley, I had interned and worked at different production companies in Culver City and West Hollywood. So, I would have to get over the Great Wall of Traffic that is the Hollywood Hills and the 405 and 101 every day and back. That’s about 50 miles round trip which was about 3-4 hours in the car a day! Because of that, I’m glad I moved to Culver City and closer to these production companies!

But the cost of living recently is getting out of control with the rise in gas prices and rent and the pay of film production jobs feeling stagnant over the years. Even today, I feel the struggle of the hustle and getting by in this career. You really need to put 150% into what you do.

But I think the biggest obstacle was figuring out what I wanted to do in the Film Industry. I had tried different departments like Production, Grip & Electric, Camera, etc, but as of right now, I want to focus my time and energy on Voice-over work.

A big challenge was time and navigating the industry and the sub careers that come with it like producing and voice-over work, it takes quite a bit of experience and knowledge of how things work to get recognized for the work you do and get ahead. And the fact that I started this career detour late in the game made me feel like I was behind on so much!

It did take quite a bit of soul searching and figuring things out with myself, overcoming my fears and insecurities, and trying different things to get me here. I just wished I had started when I was younger but better late than never right? That’s why it’s been my goal to do at least one thing related to my career each day.

Even if it’s as simple as practicing to read aloud and submitting just one audition, if I’m not putting in the work each day, then my goal feels even further away from reach.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I do a wide variety of work ranging from on-camera and behind the camera work. I’m a Voice Actor, Cinematographer/Videographer, Gaffer, Production Coordinator, etc. Most people know me for Production Coordinating and Lighting work, and I think I’m proud that people recognize that. All my friends and colleagues recognize me as “The Video Guy” which is not bad.

I’ve shot weddings, proposals, short films, music videos, commercials, etc. What sets me apart from others is that I guess I’m communicative, resourceful, fair, and don’t really complain when working conditions are not the best. I can make something happen with very little at my disposal and utilize different investments in resources, equipment, and people.

I guess the mixture of both of those makes me easy to work with and over the years of experience and knowing how to talk to people, it has made it easy for me to work with others and I still get calls from different producers, production managers, clients, etc!

Right now, I’m trying to break into the Voice Over realm. As a voice actor, I audition whenever I can, no matter how big or small. For types of voice-overs, I specialize in narration and acting work. I’m known for my rich, deep voice and how it doesn’t quite fit with my physical appearance.

I mean who would have thought a small Asian guy would have such a deep voice? Looks aren’t everything, right? That is probably what sets me apart from others. I’m also known for impersonations and doing impressions of different people and characters from TV, sometimes I hit the mark on their voices which is fun!

Although in terms of a project I had to lend my voice to, I’d say the film “What Remains” is my proudest project. It was a feature-length machinima film and I played the supporting character, Eli, who is a father of 1 that is trying to survive the zombie apocalypse with his son.

It was my first serious, long-form role and the director worked with me in getting the best performance out and helped me immerse myself into the character. The role of Eli gave me so much range in dramatic acting that’ll help me in my career in voice-over.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
I guess we should start off the on-surface stuff first like the dislikes and get those out of the way. Obviously, we addressed the traffic and cost of living in the “struggles” section. To add to that, I’m not fond of how far things are. My current girlfriend thought she could get by without a car, but commuting through public transportation to and from the Valley would take at least 4 hours on a one-way trip and the risk of riding public transportation at night was intimidating. I had a production manager almost get mugged on the train at night and I’ve ridden LA’s public transportation at night and… well let’s just say travel when there is still light outside.

However, I think this city grows on you. You start to learn the hidden gems that are the people and places of this area. You learn the LA culture and it starts to feel more like home. Some favorites of mine are taco truck tacos and Carne Asada fries, the 626 and their famous night markets, recognizing a place or a landmark in a film or TV show that you had just visited. Also, it’s fun to run into the occasional celebrity every once in a while. One time I encountered Jack Black at an In-N-Out in Hollywood!

Unfortunately, there are some people I’ve met in this industry that have done me dirty and treated me poorly since I’ve moved here. Some of them were out of their control or they had their hands tied because of their boss or a certain situation, but sometimes they try to swindle you or take advantage of your kindness.

In the last couple of years, there are some crew members and acquaintances (To which I won’t name) that I thought were good, honest people, but then they did some shady stuff and were actually extremely difficult to work with, which is a shame because I’ve worked with them before! So I’m a little wary of people I work with and being “too nice” to me.

On the other hand, there are some people that are actually good people that have helped me and supported me through the bad and lonely times. Some have given me opportunities and taken me under their wing and propel my career. Some that didn’t abandon me and stuck around even when things got rough. Some that I had never imagined would be my friends to this day! As the years pass by, this city starts to feel like home and more like home than my hometown.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: Robertehara.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/robertehara
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCYL4aLPgPox6075Eec5sLQ

Image Credits
Yi Yu (Stephanie) [email protected] @(dblquesmark)