Mark Estdale

{{Infobox musical artist | name = Mark Estdale | image = | alt = | caption = | image_size = | birth_name = | alias = | Born = | Died = | origin = Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England | instrument = Drums, mixing | genre = Electronic | occupation = CEO of Outsource Media Voice actor Vocal Director Casting Director Sound engineer | years_active = 1984-1988 (music) 1994-present (video games) | label = Native Records | associated_acts = Chain, The Box, In The Nursery | website = [http://www.omuk.com/ www.OMUK.com] }}

'''Mark Estdale''' is a British voice director, sound engineer, voice actor, and casting director. In the 1980s, he worked as a sound engineer for musicians such as The Box, UV PØP, and industrial band In the Nursery. He co-founded the electronic band Chains with Peter Hope, which in 1986 released a single on Native Records.<ref name="discogs"/> In the 1990s, Estdale began working on video games, and is well known in the industry for founding the voice production company Outsource Media in 1996.<ref name="gameculture"/> As casting and voice director he has worked on over five hundred video games since 1995, including titles such as ''TimeSplitters 2'', ''Book of Spells'', and ''Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures''.<ref name="imdb"/>

== Music career == Estdale first started a career in music in the late 1970s. In 1984 he engineered the album ''Muscle In'' by the new wave band The Box. He also engineered ''Murmur'' by Sheffield industrial band Hula. From 1985 to 1988 he worked as either co-producer or sound engineer for a multitude of albums, including another release by The Box, two more releases by Hula, two releases by UV PØP, an album by the Lo-Fi and experimental band Toxic Shock, an album by jazz pianist John Avery, and three releases by industrial band In the Nursery.<ref name="discogs"/>

In 1986, Estdale co-founded the electronic band Chain with Peter Hope. The band released their debut single, "Banging on the House / Chains", in February 1986 on Native Records. Estdale co-wrote and programmed both tracks, also providing drums and co-producing with Hope.<ref name="discogs"/>

==Video game career== In 1995, Estdale was hired as the voice recording engineer for the video game <ref name="gameculture"/> ''Touché: The Adventures of the Fifth Musketeer'' for ''US Gold''. After which he began working almost exclusively within the video games.<ref name="imdb"/> He worked as the recording engineer for ''GT Racers'' that same year, and in 1996 directed ''Happy Birthday Maisy'' and ''Gloriana''.<ref name="imdb"/>

===Outsource Media=== In 1996, Estdale founded Outsource Media, a specialist voice production and dialogue company in Sheffield.<ref name="gameculture"/> In 1998 Estdale began serving as a voice casting director, starting with ''OverBlood 2'', for which he was also a voice actor. That same year he was both casting and vocal director for ''Incoming'' and ''Extreme-G 2''.<ref name="imdb"/>

Estdale stated that the company was originally created as a lifestyle business to make sure he had time with his children, and because he found video game dialogue a creative challenge. After 2002, however, he focused on the company more intently, and it underwent significant growth.<ref name="mandadeals"/> The company currently provides video game dialogue services such as scriptwriting and adaption, casting, recording, and post production.<ref name="tiga"/><ref name="omukhome"/> The company's stated goal is bringing the dialogue quality of film and television to video games.<ref name="gameculture"/>

In 2004, Outsource Media was nominated for the Develop Industry Excellence Award for Services and Outsourcing, and their productions were nominated for 10 BAFTA Games Awards that year alone.<ref name="badchees"/>

Estdale opened an office in Los Angeles in 2005, after Hollywood studios such as DreamWorks Animation began approaching the company.<ref name="mandadeals"/><ref name="omukconfere"/> Outsource Media now has 3 recording studios in London.<ref name="tiga"/> In 2010, Estdale, who still serves as the company's Director and CEO, joined the company with TIGA, the trade association that represents the UK games industry.<ref name="tiga"/>

Through his company, Estdale has worked with game publishers and developers: Microsoft, Sony, Electronic Arts, Atari, Ubisoft, LucasArts, Activision, Konami, Namco, Telltale Games, Codemasters,<ref name="omukhome"/> Climax Entertainment, Revolution Software, Relentless, Blitz Games, Rebellion Developments, Frontier Developments, and Rare.<ref name="gameculture"/><ref name="omukconfere"/>

===Beliefs on video games=== Estdale is a fervent proponent of professional acting and script writing in the video game industry. He is recognised for revolutionising recording for interactive media.

{{cquote|The biggest need is educating those in control of development to understand what is needed to get results. Throwing money at voice doesn't help if the basics are wrong. The non-linearity of [a video game] means the audience may spend hours, days, even weeks with your character. The slightest [dialogue] blemish will be under a microscope. The tiniest flaw can shatter the audience's suspension of disbelief.<ref name="gameculture"/> }}

He is also a proponent for video games hiring professional actors that have experience with character improvisation on stage, film, or radio, as he has stated that voice-over artists are often inexperienced with acting.<ref name="gameculture"/><ref name="escapist"/> Estdale has espoused that another common industry problem is hiring voice actors late into the production, as they aren't given time to fully express their craftsmanship.<ref name="gameculture"/><ref name="guardian"/>

Estdale has also been developing software tools, known as Creative Dialogue Tools (CDT) to improve the dialogue recording and editing process for video games.<ref name="mandadeals"/> {{cquote|text=What the actor needs is something at the point of performance that they can react to. To provide that for non-linear media, you need to throw away all previous script models. What CDT does is enable the recording studio to actually emulate the game engine in the recording studio immersing the actor in the game at the point of creation.<ref name="guardian"/>}}

==Discography== *1986: ''Banging on the House/Chains'' by Chain (Native Records)

;Technical *1984: ''Muscle In'' by The Box - co-producer, engineer *1984: ''Murmur'' by Hula - engineer *1985: ''Live: Muscle Out'' by The Box - live mix *1985: "Anyone For Me" on ''Anyone For Me EP'' by UV PØP - mixer, co-producer *1985: ''Just Another Day'' by Toxic Shock - engineer *1985: ''Nighthawks'' by John Avery - engineer *1985: ''Walk on Stalks of Shattered Glass'' by Hula - engineer *1986: ''Serious'' by UV PØP - producer *1986: ''Twins'' by In the Nursery - engineer *1986: ''1000 Hours'' by Hula - live sound technician *1988: ''Threshold'' by Hula - engineer *1988: ''ITN'' by In the Nursery - sound engineer *1997: ''Praha 1 (live)'' by In the Nursery - sound engineer

==Video game credits== *1995: ''GT Racers'' - Voice Director *1995: ''Touché: The Adventures of the Fifth Musketeer'' - Sound Recording Engineer *1998: ''Need for Speed: Road Challenge'' - Voice & Casting Director *1998: ''Incoming'' - Voice Director *1998: ''Overblood 2'' - Voice & Casting Director *1999: ''X: Beyond the Frontier'' - Voice Director *1999: ''3-2-1 Smurf'' - Voice Director<ref name="spong"/><ref name="metacritic"/> *1999: ''Panzer Elite'' - Voice Director<ref name="spong"/><ref name="metacritic"/> *2000: ''Asterix: The Gallic War'' - Casting and Voice Director<ref name="metacritic"/> *2000: ''X-Tension'' - Casting and Voice Director *2001: ''Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos'' - Casting and Voice Director *2001: ''Fuzion Frenzy'' - Casting and Voice Director *2002: ''Diggles: The Myth of Fenris'' - Casting and Voice Director *2002: ''Drakan: The Ancients' Gates'' - Casting and Voice Director<ref name="metacritic"/> *2002: ''Stuart Little 2'' - Casting and Voice Director *2002: ''Conflict: Desert Storm'' - Casting and Voice Director *2002: ''TimeSplitters 2'' - Casting and Voice Director *2003: ''Outrun 2'' - Casting Director *2003: ''The Great Escape'' - Casting Director *2003: ''Formula One 2003'' - Casting Director *2003: ''Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon'' - Casting Director *2004: ''Destruction Derby Arenas'' - Casting and Voice Director *2004: ''Formula One 2004'' - Casting and Voice Director *2004: ''Miami Vice'' - Casting and Voice Director *2004: ''Second Sight'' - Casting and Voice Director *2004: ''Powerdrome'' - Casting and Voice Director *2004: ''D-Day'' - Casting and Voice Director *2004: ''Yager'' - Casting and Voice Director *2004: ''Conflict: Vietnam'' - Casting and Voice Director<ref name="badchees"/> *2005: ''Kameo: Elements of Power'' - Casting and Voice-Over Director *2005: ''Juiced'' - Casting and Voice-Over Director *2005: ''Spartan: Total Warrior'' - Casting and Voice Director *2005: ''WipEout Pure'' - Casting and Voice Director *2005: ''Perfect Dark Zero'' - Casting and Voice Director *2005: ''TimeSplitters: Future Perfect'' - Casting Director *2005: ''Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'' - Casting and Dialogue Director *2005: ''Sniper Elite'' - Voice Director *2005: ''Conflict: Global Storm'' - Casting and Voice Director *2006: ''Rogue Trooper'' - Casting and Voice Director *2006: ''Anno 1701'' - Casting and Voice Director *2006: ''Paraworld'' - Casting and Voice Director *2006: ''ProStroke Golf: World Tour 2007'' - Voice Director *2007: ''Formula One Championship Edition'' - Casting and Voice Director<ref name="metacritic"/> *2007: ''Clive Barker's Jericho'' - Casting and Voice Director<ref name="metacritic"/> *2007: ''Wipeout Pulse'' - Casting and Voice Director<ref name="metacritic"/> *2007: ''The Witcher'' - Casting and Voice Director *2008: ''Memento Mori'' - Casting and Voice Director *2008: ''Codename Panzers: Cold War'' - Casting and Voice Director *2008: ''Haze'' - Casting and Voice Director *2008: ''WorldShift'' - Casting and Voice Director *2008: ''Ankh 3: Battle of the God'' - Casting and Voice Director<ref name="metacritic"/> *2008: ''So Blonde'' - Casting and Voice Director *2009: ''Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures: 1, 2, 3, 4'' - Casting and Voice-over Director, Actor of "Gabberly" *2009: ''Trine'' - Casting and Voice Director *2009: ''Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5'' - Voice-Over Supervisor (UK) *2009: ''Divinity II: Ego Draconis'' - Casting Director *2009: ''Anno 1404'' - Casting and Voice Director, Actor *2009: ''Ceville'' - Casting and Voice Director, Actor *2009: ''Venetica'' - Casting and Voice Director, Actor *2009: ''The Book of Unwritten Tales'' - Casting & Voice Director (UK) *2010: ''Dead Nation'' - Voice Director *2010: ''TV Superstars'' - Voice Director *2010: ''Pro Evolution Soccer 2010'' - Voice Director *2011: ''Bunch of Heroes'' - Casting & Voice Director *2011: ''Driver: San Francisco'' - Casting & Voice Director *2011: ''SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs'' - Casting and Voice Director (UK) *2011: ''Geronimo Stilton and the Kingdom of Fantasy'' - Casting and Voice Director (UK) *2011: ''Risen 2: Dark Waters'' - Casting and Voice Director (UK) *2012: ''Trine 2'' - Casting and Voice Director (UK) *2012: ''Deponia'' - Casting and Voice Director *2012: ''Anno 2070'' - Casting and Voice Director *2012: ''RuneScape'' - Casting and Voice Director *2012: ''Wipeout 2048'' - Casting and Voice Director *2012: ''Wonderbook: Book of Spells'' - Casting and Voice Director *2012: ''Chaos on Deponia'' - Casting and Voice Director *2013: ''Wonderbook: Book of Potions'' - Casting & Voice Director *2013: ''Patrician III'' - Casting & Voice Director *2013: ''Spellforce: Demons of the Past'' - Casting & Voice Director *2013: ''The Wolf Among Us'' - Casting and Voice Director (UK) *2013: ''Wonderbook: Diggs Nightcrawler'' - Casting & Voice Director *2013: ''Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse'' - Casting Director *2013: ''Goodbye Deponia'' - Casting & Voice Director *2013: ''The Night of the Rabbit'' - Casting & Voice Director *2014: ''Transformers Universe'' - Casting Director *2014: ''Arena of Fate'' - Casting & Voice Director *2014: ''Game of Thrones (2014 video game)'' - Casting & Voice Director (UK) *2014: ''Randal's Monday'' - Casting & Voice Director *2015: ''The Book of Unwritten Tales 2'' - Casting & Voice Director (UK)

==See also== *Outsource Media

== References == {{Reflist| refs =

<ref name="discogs">{{cite news | title = Mark Estdale Discography | url = http://www.discogs.com/artist/Mark+Estdale | publisher = Discogs | accessdate = 21 December 2013 }}</ref>

<ref name="gameculture">{{cite news | title = GameCulture Goes Inside the Voice Actor's Studio | first = John | last = Keefer | url = http://utterbrilliance.com/gameculture-goes-inside-the-voice-actors-studio-game-culture-httpbit-lyanz9ia/ | publisher = Game Culture | date = 23 March 2010 | accessdate = 21 December 2013 }}</ref>  <ref name="imdb">{{cite news | title = Mark Estdale Filmography | url = https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1945286/filmoyear | publisher = IMDb | accessdate = 21 December 2013 }}</ref>

<ref name="mandadeals">{{cite news | title = Estdale heads to Hollywood | first = Elliot | last = Davis | url = http://www.growthbusiness.co.uk/the-entrepreneur/be-an-entrepreneur/22043/estdale-heads-to-hollywood.thtml | newspaper = | publisher = Menda Deals | date = 13 October 2005 | accessdate = 21 December 2013 }}</ref>

<ref name="tiga">{{cite news | title = Outsource Media Joins TIGA | url = http://omuk.com/outsource-media-joins-tiga/ | publisher = OMUK | date = 27 April 2010 | accessdate = 21 December 2013 }}</ref>

<ref name="omukhome">{{cite news | title = What we do | url = http://omuk.com/services/ | publisher = OMUK | accessdate = 21 December 2013 }}</ref>

<ref name="badchees">{{cite news | title = Outsource Media's Mark Estdale talks about bad cheese! | url = http://spong.com/press_release/7498/Outsource-Medias-Mark-Estdale-talks-about-bad-cheese | publisher = SPONG | date = 23 August 2004 | accessdate = 14 April 2018 }}</ref>

<ref name="omukconfere">{{cite news | title = Mark Estdale is speaking at the 2011 Develop Conference on "The Keys To Unlock Believable Performance | first = | url = http://omuk.com/mark-estdale-speaking-at-the-2011-develop-conference-the-keys-to-unlock-believable-performance/ | publisher = OMUK | date = 7 May 2011 | accessdate = 21 December 2013 }}</ref>

<ref name="escapist">{{cite news | title = Casting Director: Devs Need to Cast Voice Actors Sooner | first = Austin | last = MacKenzie | url = http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/99363-Casting-Director-Devs-Need-to-Cast-Voice-Actors-Sooner | newspaper = Escapist Magazine | date = 23 March 2010 | accessdate = 21 December 2013 }}</ref>

<ref name="guardian">{{cite news | title = Voicing concerns: the problem with video game acting | first = Keith | last = Stuart | url = https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2010/mar/16/games-controversy | work = The Guardian | date = 16 March 2010 | accessdate = 21 December 2013 }}</ref>

<ref name="spong">{{cite news | title = Mark Estdale | url = http://spong.com/people/11730/Mark-Estdale | publisher = SPONG | accessdate = 21 December 2013 }}</ref>

<ref name="metacritic">{{cite news | title = Mark Estdale | url = http://www.metacritic.com/person/mark-estdale | publisher = Metacritic | accessdate = 21 December 2013 }}</ref>

}}

==Further reading== *{{cite news | title = Mark Estdale Talks About Audio | first = | last = | url = https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:6yHRCGieMfkJ:www.omuk.com/press/Mark%2520Estdale%2520in%2520Develop%2520061009.pdf+mark+estdale+audio+media&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESi8YTLUtqql1vefCYK4axkkfBHV_ANlk_WNATwy8QDk-LrAE5x5jzFZX_1EGiwKvbHwPGgI-KjsCdBDx5OuMTGJO-diYXChxBTyaxvKkZF4I9Uofoww3gpjTwUVuTk8RVi82YbV&sig=AHIEtbSJW6XSut2Seued1zicIvQl0Wlq6w&pli=1 | date =October 2009 }} *{{cite news |title=''GameCulture'' Goes Inside the Voice Actor's Studio |url=http://www.gameculture.com/2010/03/23/gameculture-goes-inside-voice-actor039s-studio |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111014025638/http://www.gameculture.com/2010/03/23/gameculture-goes-inside-voice-actor039s-studio |archivedate=2011-10-14 }} March 2010.

==External links== *{{Official website|http://www.omuk.com/}} *{{IMDb name|1945286}} *[http://www.discogs.com/artist/Mark+Estdale Mark Estdale] on Discogs

{{DEFAULTSORT:Estdale, Mark}} Category:British male voice actors Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:British casting directors Category:British voice directors Category:British audio engineers

Mark Estdale

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