“All days are different”, tells us Augustine Longor in a Zoom chat with filo.news; the challenge and surprise that each day brings are the keys to a routine that cannot be confined to schedules: “There are days that I record from nine in the morning to ten at night, there are days that I stay until three in the afternoon… no day is the same”.
Agostina is an Argentinian professional announcer, voice actress and dubbing. He lives in two worlds -like Rory in ‘Gilmore Girls’-, one inside and the other outside the cabin: “In the morning I take care of the administrative part of answering emails, scheduling appointments, claiming payments, signing up for castings, working on my own I take care of all that. Then I go in to record until the end of the day”.
At the age of 38, he worked in the dubbing of series such as “Seinfeld”, “The Walking Dead”, “Black Mirror”, in films like “Don’t Look Up”, “I, Tonya” or “Shadowhunter”, in video games, soap operas, audiobooks and more. In this note we tell you his story and experience.
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Born in Olivos, Agostina remembers that her first approach to dubbing was in a field of voiceover studies. “That’s when I realized that dubbing was done in Argentina too,” she confessed. That moment was a before and after.
“It combined all the things that I liked, I had studied theater for many years, and what inhibited me a lot was the part of exposing myself to the public, and learning the texts, I have a terrible memory. Dubbing is a branch of acting, and what I realized is that I can act without having to learn any script at all, because you read it, and nobody sees my face because everyone is looking at the screen. So when I realize that with dubbing I can unite everything that I like, ”she expanded.
She had several “standard” jobs, as she calls her experience as a secretary, waitress, telemarketer, and babysitter, until she made the leap into her independent career at 24: “When they began to contact me for many recordings and I had to say that I couldn’t because they didn’t give me the hours with my real job, and that’s when I said ‘I have to change priorities’ because it’s about what I want. There I left the fixed schedule and launched myself into the freelance adventure”. From that moment on, she gave free rein to her vocal talent in voice-overs, dubbing, videos for companies, commercials, every opportunity is welcome: “I live by acting with my voice,” she assured.
Photo: courtesy of the press
Dubbing, as defined by the professional in a statement, is the process of recording and replacing voices from the original language with other identical or similar dialogues in another language. It is key for the expansion of the content and for those people who, for different reasons, cannot read subtitles. What is the job opportunity of this profession?
It is Mexico that leads dubbing production in Latin America with more than 65% of the market. In Argentina there are approximately 150 professionals, of which 100 are active. “The industry is growing a lot… There are many applicants who can train in dubbing without being broadcasters, although it is important that they know how to act. There are so many new platforms, podcasts, audiobooks, things that are being dubbed, there are so many new formats to dub that it’s very good for the industry. New voices are always needed, trained people, and with the post-pandemic the doors to the world are open for us,” Longo analyzed.
In fact, it was during the pandemic that he was able to set up his own cabin at home, a change in the way of working and the way of thinking about the profession: “At first I also started under the sheet, making like a structure with sticks, then going to studios every day, from Microcentro to Munro or Floresta, the subway or the bus were my office… later I created my very small space, which was mutating. The day yields a lot and you can put more recordings, ”she said enthusiastically.
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Within those four walls, his corner in the world, in front of the microphone he worked with different characters. In 99% of cases it must be handled with neutral Spanish, as it did with the self-description of “The one in charge”, the Argentine series starring William Francella.
“Luckily it is a profession in which you are always challenging yourself, vocally or acting… although there are characters with whom one is more oiled, there are usually some that take you out of your comfort zone. I don’t want to get bored, I try to be curious. Today I am quite selective with the projects, I try to make them things that move my brain, because since I don’t have a boss, nobody tells me you have to accept or not such a role, ”she commented.
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Photo: courtesy of the press
Agostina has an extensive resume to her credit. Among the most outstanding of her we can name her work in the voice of Amy and then Enid in “The Walking Dead”: “There was a lot of material leaking, some colleagues told me that they had to dub the series with the entire blured image and only the mouth looked good… for us that is a problem, you need to see the eyes, the hand, how it moves, it was a problem but I understand that the client wanted to take care of the material”, he recalled.
Another prominent character was Lacie in “Black Mirror” in the iconic episode ‘nosedive’, made by Bryce Dallas Howard: “It was great, I remember that for the casting I practiced the wedding speech… that chapter was great, and for something to be beautiful there is a great job behind mixing sounds, director, scriptwriters, I can do the best performance of my life but if later in the mix they don’t put the sound they have to put, it takes you out of the mood. Dubbing is teamwork, ”she recounted.
One of the characters that he carries in his heart is Elaine of “Seinfeld” interpreted by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Longo was in charge of the dubbing, since the original dubbing dates back to the 90’s: “In 3 months we did everything. And it’s crazy because Elaine starts at 30 and ends at 39, and there’s like an arc of expressing herself that changes. I remember that when they assigned me that character I was very happy because I love sitcoms, I love her, she has this thing of wanting to be feminine and on the other hand she doesn’t give a damn, ”he analyzed.
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Photo: courtesy of the press
A scene that has marked you? “I remember when Jerry invites her to a birthday party or something like that, and she tells him ‘I’ll go if I don’t have to talk to anyone,’ and like, sometimes you need that, it’s one of the lines I get the most out of. I identify -he said between laughs and continued-. The ‘get out’ in Spanish was like ‘get out’, and the issue there was to be able to do the push with her voice and not go so sharp. Something that happened to me as a spectator was that many things sound good in English, but you have to translate it because there’s no other way”.
“Modern Love”, “Atlanta”, “The Umbrella Academy”, “Pretty Little Liars”... The job list continues to grow year after year. In addition to those tanks, there were several characters that touched her heart: “I really liked Polly Pocket, I like to give a voice to a little doll that I know exists. I am also in a series, the spin off “Fuller House”, and there are many personal things at stake there, you are part of something that brings back childhood memories, you have it in a special place”.
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While giving thanks for all the path traveled and continuing to complete the agenda, Longo dreams of continuing to achieve goals with her voice and dubbing herself. Kate Winslet.
“Dreaming is free, right? -she said jokingly and closed- What I want is for the character to have an arc, that they change, that they mutate, for better or for worse. This year I started with audio description and it had not occurred to me. I think what I want to do is keep coming formats that make me stay awake and not on autopilot, I’m attentive to what will be the next thing that comes that I can’t imagine, what I want is to always keep learning.”
