Newfoundland doctor finds flourishing sideline in voice-over work
Anatol Silotch records voice overs from home for companies like Samsung and FC Barcelona
A doctor from Newfoundland has found an unexpected side job doing voice-over work for the likes of Amazon, Corona and Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum.
Ever since I was a kid I just loved emulating people, animals, sounds and anything really.- Anatol Silotch
Anatol Silotch moved to St. John's from Moldova when he was three years old, and went on to study biochemistry at Memorial University before graduating from medical school.
Living in Miami and then Montreal and unable to find work, he finally listened to a friend's suggestion that he should try voice acting — given his talent at doing impressions and funny voices.
"Ever since I was a kid I just loved emulating people, animals, sounds and anything really — just copying things out there," he said.
Silotch then signed up for some online audition websites, bought a microphone and made a crude recording booth in his sister's apartment, using a cardboard washing machine box, before finally buying some acoustic foam on Kijiji to transform into a proper studio.
From cardboard box to major clients
At first he landed just a few small gigs, and pushed his sister's patience to the limit by constantly asking her to stop making noise while he was recording.
"My sister said 'Anatol, I love you but at some point you're going to have to call it quits,'" he said.
"I said 'No this is going to work.' and then the very next week that's when I landed my first big job with voices.com and it just flourished from there."
Since then Silotch has been hired to record voice overs for Samsung, Amazon, the FC Barcelona football club and Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum and has moved his studio to a room in his parents' basement in St. John's.
Most of what he records is in English but he said his ability in French and other languages has helped make him stand out from others in the industry.
He's even launched his own business called Doctor Says Voiceovers.
Medicine is still Silotch's priority — he's applying for work in the United States. But voice-over work will still be a money-making sideline, and something he does for fun.
He even gets to combine his two passions sometimes, using his ability to conjure different voices to help raise the spirits of patients who might be going through a hard time.
"There have been times where I'm interviewing a patient and I do whip out some of these voices," he said.
"If I can make them smile and laugh throughout their encounter I'm at least helping them in some way, making their visit more enjoyable."
Check out some more of Silotch's work below:
With files from CBC Radio's On The Go