Influential Woman · Entertainment

Portia Scott

Director of Voiceover Division/Talent Agent, COAST TO COAST TALENT GROUP INC

Los Angeles, CA

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Bachelor's degree in Theater from Cal State Long Beach Degree Master's degree in Theater from NYU Degree Meisner Technique training with Bill Esper Degree Method Technique training with Tony Greco

Her Story

About Portia

I really was building a career as an actor and had fallen into casting just by mutual relationships. I was waiting for a show to start when a mutual friend said they needed someone to fill in at an agency temporarily until they hired someone new. I agreed, thinking I'd get paid cash and could read the trades without subscription. That was on a Monday in March of 1998, and by Friday, they offered me the job. I had actually had two other opportunities to work at a talent agency before, even when I was just an actor working at Universal, but I passed them up. So I felt that this was the third time it had come around, and that I should walk through the door. Now I'm Director of Voiceover at Coast to Coast, where I've been for 17 years. My specialty is on the voiceover side and animation. I have a bachelor's from Cal State Long Beach in theater and a master's from NYU, also in theater. I've done post-educational courses with the Meisner Technique with Bill Esper and worked with Tony Greco in the Method Technique, which really helped to shape me most as an actor and most as an agent. Even when I teach currently, I really do teach from a method perspective, which I think really stands well with what we do in voiceover. I've also created, with a partner, a voiceover curriculum for universities called Method on the Mic, because universities don't have voiceover programs in their colleges. I was going to graduating class showcases for many years and discovered these kids were not ready for the world of voiceover after spending all this money on education. So I put together a curriculum with my partner Malik Berger, and we've created individual courses for colleges that we're actively trying to get into the collegiate circle. We've been working with Pace University Los Angeles as of this year, and we're trying to build more so that when kids graduate, they have a full education in the arts and can pursue voiceover as an option instead of graduating and having to spend more money and go into more debt.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Portia

01What do you attribute your success to?

Just day in, day out, grinding, hard work for 28 years. It's really that simple - day in, day out, grinding, hard work. I think having some acting background has helped what I do, just in terms of working with actors and being able to submit whether it's 1 or 5 people on a job that are absolutely right for the job. So kind of having that internal instinct as a trained actor has helped me as an agent, for sure.

02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

I think the best advice I've received from mentors who spoke to me in my earlier career is really to stay true to yourself. I got that notice and support and influence early on in my career, and I think it's just allowed a really good platform for me to stand on. That kind of advice really got taught to me early on, even as an actor - you really just stand in your own truth, and the rest will follow.

03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

I would say trust your instincts and believe in yourself. I've never stopped training. Even when you book this big show, you book the movie, you book the campaign, you must continue to train, because the platform is constantly shifting. Just when you think you've got it all figured out, and you've got the vibe, and you've got the voice print that fits what's happening now, it changes. And you have to be malleable to be able to shift with the times, and you will only get that through current and consistent training.

04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

I'd say really the challenges have presented themselves more recently than overall. The strike we had two years ago was really damaging to the theatrical space and the animation space, features and television. That's changed a lot of what we do. And of course, AI is definitely a part of our current day-in, day-out challenge, and that affects all areas of voiceover - animation, games, commercials, really all areas. We're really in our most challenging days since the beginning of my career. Even though we've weathered several strikes, none have had the effect that they do now, and of course we're in post-COVID. COVID, really, for voiceover, wasn't an issue - we were the only area of entertainment that could work, so that was actually a very good time, the silver lining in the voiceover space. But I would say we're at our most challenging times now, especially with what's going on with the studios, the absorption of big companies coming in, taking over other companies. There's content being made, but a lot of time, as of now, in some places, they don't know where it's going to distribute. Warner Brothers is in free fall, Paramount maybe, maybe not. So that is definitely affecting us in the voiceover animation space.

05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

Honesty, trust, and a sense of ownership are most important to me. It really goes back to standing in your own truth, believing in yourself, and trusting your own instincts.

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