Sad Voice Over Story - Hoping for a Happy Ending

Had to share this video with my voice over friends.....



Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a follow up with this guy gainfully employed and staying straight!

Voice over people have such heart. I feel like someone who is in a position to will reach out to help.

Happy New Year!

I don't make New Year's resolutions per se.... just resolve to do my best daily and keep plugging away! In review, 2010, was a good voice over year for me - busier than ever with many new clients and continuing work for my wonderful regular and returning clients!

I've also heard from a lot of prospective voice over talent who visit my web site and contact me to 1) Find out how to break into the voice over business and/or 2) Want me to be their agent.

As to the first, I always direct everyone to visit my "How To" pages on my web site which contain some basic information for beginning voice over. Many of the things posted there are also found in my blog posts with additional information posted here as the spirit moves me.

As to the second, I am not an agent. I think that the fact that I discuss agents and the business has caused Google to pick up my site and I show up when someone goes looking for voice over agents.

I realize that I am not along in receiving these requests. I'm happy to provide whatever information I can on my web site and in my blog. I'm not always available for extended phone conversations concerning getting started in the business as I spend a lot of time in the booth recording, so I encourage people interested in more information to email me rather than call. Recently, a fellow voice over professional, Paul Strikwerda, created an interesting video geared toward those interested in becoming professional voice over talent. Enjoy....

Afraid to Leave the Studio?

It’s every voice over performer’s dream to be so busy, you can’t leave the studio, right? Well, yes and no, I suppose. We all want to keep busy with those great high paying gigs! Some jobs fit that category, but of course, many don’t. Still, work is work and it’s a blessing to have it.

During political season, things happened fast! I’ve personally experienced losing several jobs simply because I went out to lunch or to run errands. Although I thought I had the bases covered and everyone would call my cell phone if I wasn’t there to personally answer the studio line, it didn’t always work out like that – for whatever reason. Sometimes, I was just minutes away and could have raced back to turn on the ISDN. Other times, I was booked in another studio here in town. But, hey, some jobs just aren’t meant to be…. I’ve always been of the “don’t miss a job” school of thought, though, and have jumped through hoops to be able to make everything fit into the schedule!

Another situation that arises is for those of us who are On Camera actors, as well. I’ve been so focused on voice over for the past several years, especially since establishing my own studio, and have been keeping busy enough, that I find I do a little mental cringe when an on camera audition comes up. Although I’d love to do more film work, the thought of driving out of town – as is often the case – and missing a day or more in the studio for the audition, let alone if I get the job……causes me concern. Also, on camera auditions and work take so much more preparation. You have to learn lines, rehearse, decide on your wardrobe, what to do with your hair, etc. Am I saying that voice over performers are lazy? Of course not! I’d never say that….. but…. not having to memorize the lines and not having to worry about wardrobe do make things quicker and easier, for sure! That being said, I really would enjoy being on set and acting in a television show or film again, sooner rather than later.

I know there are quite a few voice over performers who have started taking their laptops and mics on the road. I just haven’t hit the road often enough to really dig in and see how it would work for me. Of course, usually, when I’m out for a week, it’s a vacation, and I’ve actually been deliberately leaving work behind to just enjoy and regroup. For day trips for work or auditions, I’ve just tried to keep the pda handy and respond to email requests as best I can.

I’m just not certain that recording on the road could possibly have the same quality as working from my studio. Are people really doing long form narration or e-learning projects on the road? Are they just auditioning, or are they doing commercials, promos, etc.? I know some of the big promo guys, like Joe Cipriano, do take gear on the road and record via Source Connect for national promos!

I guess a laptop and wifi should be on my list. I think I could take my Rode NT 1000 on the road easy enough…..maybe even the Sennheiser 416…..Something to seriously start thinking about. Of course, hard to do much recording while you’re driving 4 hrs each way on the way to and from an audition. But, for a longer stay…..might be worth a try!

Too Much Of A Good Thing?

Just thinking today that even though this wonderful world of cyberspace and instant connection and comment via discussion groups is great for information gathering and sharing, it can get to be too controlling at times. I had avoided getting involved in all the usual hoopla for a long time. Maybe avoided is not the right term. Just didn’t have or take the time to follow discussions, post comments, or yes, even write in my blog.

Now that I’ve become more connected in a variety of venues, I’ve found that they can turn into nearly “virtual” obsessions which can keep one running back and forth to the computer or otherwise checking online for new posts, comments, etc. Who is being clever, cantankerous, or questioning? What’s everyone talking about?

Nice to check in now and then, but good to be too busy to get caught up in it too much.

Play To Your Strengths

There’s been a reoccurring theme that’s been playing through my head lately. Actually, it seems that it has been cropping up everywhere I turn from a narration I recently recorded, to a tele-seminar I attended, to other bits and pieces from all types of media. So, it’s finally gotten my attention. It has to do with playing to your strengths - focusing on the things you do really well or just who your are at this point in your life –what could be described in more folksy terms as “dancin’ with the one who brung ya”. In other words, identifying and then nurturing and capitalizing on the particular things that make you unique. In acting and voice over, we often try to be all things to all people – a daunting task and one that is difficult, if not impossible to achieve. A task that will only bring us frustration and often a sense of failure, because we’re just not going to be the right type, style, or size for every job. One size does not fit all. One style does not fit all. One voice type is not all there is….

In the old days, if you didn’t have the deep resonate perfectly articulated voice, you weren’t in the running for the majority of announcer jobs. Now, it’s shifted to the antithesis of that description. There are lots of requests for young and hip. If you’re neither, there’s really no point in wasting your time trying…..That isn’t to say that you actually HAVE to be young and hip. What I mean is if you don’t DO a credible young and hip, leave those auditions to someone else, and focus on who you are, naturally.

Do I mean that an actor or voice talent shouldn’t stretch themselves to go beyond their comfort zone…No. I think we need to try things to see where we can go, but as far as marketing ourselves, our demos, our “brands”……we’ve got to do some serious, objective soul searching to see where we feel the most comfortable. Because, if we feel best doing certain types of roles both on camera and off, then those are probably the ones we’re best suited for and we should do everything we can to hone those so that we’re the best we can be in that type of role, genre, etc.

Some of us might put off going down this road because we think we’ll wait until we can fit another mold better. For example, an actor not getting updated pictures until he/she loses weight, gets a new hair color, hairdo, or transplant(!), but what might we be missing out on by not promoting ourselves as we are at that time? What we are might be perfect for a role we haven’t imagined. We put off working on a new voice over demo thinking we’ll wait until we can make ourselves sound like someone else….. When who we are and what we sound like is perfect for someone casting and producing the perfect job for us.

Contrary to some who claim performers are insecure, as actors and voice over talent, we have to have a lot of self confidence to put ourselves out there. Second guessing ourselves sometimes goes with the territory but when taken to the extreme, can lead to inertia. We need to be OUR best for us and know where WE feel most comfortable and put ourselves out there with confidence and grace knowing that we are unique and perfect for that perfect role.

Keeping it Interesting

Work is fun. Work is work. Work pays the bills! Really, I enjoy all the voice over work that I'm privileged to do everyday. Along with just being grateful for jobs coming my way, the joy of voice over work often comes from the variety of projects that come my way. It is fun and interesting, and I usually learn something from each and every project. Although I have always done all kinds of voice over work, sometimes, the jobs that come in are heavy in one genre, such as e-learning......for awhile, and then things switch and it maybe something else: corporate narrations, IVR or phone messaging, commercials, promo, imaging, etc.

The past month or so has been especially interesting and varied with all kinds of new and unexpected projects. I recorded a large batch of medical center commercials both for television and radio which were recorded in another studio here in Houston - Audio Bob. This used to be how all my jobs were recorded - driving into town, working in a studio, with an engineer and a producer/director in attendance. It was really fun to work with "real people" again like I used to! The fact that it was such a nice large project was gravy.....

Work that has come directly to me often finds me via my web site. I just never know who will be calling or emailing me with what kind of project. In addition to a slew of large e-learning, commercial, and IVR projects here in my studio, I've had several wonderful and new narration opportunities. I narrated a very well done documentary style production for the American Museum of Natural History in NY, a moving airplane accident case study for AOPA, and several different voices of the women's suffrage movement for a PBS special all via phone patch.

Political commercials are definitely on the upswing, too, as you may have noticed, and I've voiced several in the past week - usually at the last minute - via ISDN. In fact, I missed one, just because I was invited out to lunch!! Note to self, don’t leave the studio during an election year. J

Throw in a variety of smaller market commercials for all kinds of clients, a few radio imaging projects, some regular repeat work for IVR and phone messaging clients and the interest level grows. The variety of clients, producers, and projects open to voice over talent now that we can work from our own studios via the internet is amazing compared to how we used to work... Of course, it all requires more background/non voice over work from us as well. Marketing, bookkeeping, producing, editing, and just generally keeping track of a business all take a lot of time and attention. But that can all be interesting, too. Marketing, alone, is a topic worthy of a great deal of time and attention, and something to be talked about in more detail in another article.

Until we meet again, “Be well and prosper!”

American Museum of Natural History Video Narration

I was very pleased to view the final production of the video that I narrated for the American Museum of Natural History recently: The Polar Intro for the Race to the End of the Earth. It was such a pleasure to work with the producers, and I'm very proud to be a part of this wonderful project.

I do love to record narrations, and I'm particularly interested in doing more documentary narration. Of course, I always enjoy corporate narrations and recording commercials, e-learning, on hold/IVR and more!