Today we’d like to introduce you to Allen Chan
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My name is Allen Chan. I’m a Cantonese-American, SAG-Eligible, voice actor based out of California. Growing up as an only child to two full-time working Chinese-Vietnamese immigrant parents, I discovered video games, cartoons, and anime as forms of escapism. This planted seeds that would eventually bloom into my love for entertainment and writing. In 2015, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Entrepreneurship, but more importantly it was at college where I had my first acting class and discovered my love for performance. Originally, I intended to do on-camera work, but due to limited opportunities I transitioned to voice over. Since 2021, I’ve been focused solely on voice acting.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I would personally describe voice acting as a fraught and rocky road. I’ve encountered many obstacles along the way, but the biggest issue I’ve encountered is my lack of proximity to the heart of the industry in Los Angeles. As a result, my opportunities to record in person are limited. I started voice acting in 2020 during the height of the pandemic. During this time period, every voice actor in the industry was recording remotely. Now, post-pandemic, studios in Los Angeles typically prioritize local talent over remote talent. There are studios that allow talent to record remotely, but it’s becoming few and far between. With my current circumstances, it would be impractical to travel to Los Angeles for every available work opportunity; nor is it practical to permanently relocate.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in voice work for video games, animation, and ADR/dubbing. Today, you can hear my voice in the AAA video game “Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty” as the voice of Cao Cao, the anime “Kingdom” as the voice of Li Bai, live action movies and shows like “Shadow Detective”, “Bad City”, “Spiritwalker”, “Hansan: Rising Dragon”, and “Ip Man: The Awakening”, as well as indie video games, visual novels, mobile games, and much more.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Unfortunately with the growth of artificial intelligence, I don’t have an optimistic outlook on my industry. Voice actors are slowly losing opportunities to artificial intelligence. More and more corporations seek to cut costs by replacing real people with A.I generated assets. This affects all types of voice over opportunities from commercials, animation, and video games which makes up a majority of my career. In the video game industry, SAG-AFTRA is currently on an interactive strike, fighting for protection from exploitative A.I technology. It’s hard for me to feel optimistic when I know for a fact that major video game publishers only care about the bottom line and pleasing their investors.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.whoisallenchan.com/
- Twitter: https://x.com/WhoIsAllenChan
