A woman of many talents, one of Joan Baker's chief skills is bringing people together for a good cause to mingle, learn, become empowered and celebrate their gifts.

I got word about an upcoming event in New York City that I thought would be of interest to you and am passing along some details. If you decide to go, let me know by commenting on the blog!

Secrets of Voice-Over Success

Joan Baker's book, Secrets of Voice-Over Success, first published in 2005, features essays written by a number of professional voice over artists, including a contribution from the late Don LaFontaine, illustrating how they got to where they are in their careers with the purpose of inspiring others and sharing personal, meaningful experiences.

Joan's father suffered from Alzheimer's. When the disease robbed him of his voice and his life, Joan was compelled to gather a collection of stories from her colleagues to share how the human voice can triumph, donating 100% of the book's royalties to the Alzheimer's Association in his memory.

Secrets of Voice-Over Success Gala Event

On Wednesday July 29th, 2009 at 7 p.m. in New York City, Joan Baker will be co-hosting a special event with announcer Alan Kalter (Late Show with David Letterman) promoting the re-release of her book "Secrets of Voice-Over Success", demonstrating how one can create a career in voice-over acting, through the journeys of those who have already succeeded.

Other special guests on hand include Jim Dale, award-winning narrator of the Harry Potter audiobook series, Richard Thomas (voice of Mercedes Benz), Joe Cipriano (voice of Deal or No Deal), Valerie Smaldone (voice of Broadway on Broadway), and Rodd Houston, the voice of Verizon Wireless and the NFL.

The discussion includes:

๏ Basic steps to breaking in
๏ How to cultivate your talent
๏ Creating a demo reel
๏ How to work with agents
๏ Auditioning technique
๏ Self promotion and networking

You can attend this exciting event for the mere cost of $49.95, a bargain in my books considering the networking opportunities and access to some of the most experienced and in-demand voices in the industry.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit:

Secrets of Voice-Over Success Event Information / Tickets

Alternatively, you can call Push Creative (Joan Baker's and Rudy Gaskins' company) and order your tickets over the phone by dialing 212-269-0700.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Last weekend, I had the privilege to attend the 14th annual Audies, sponsored by the Audio Publishers Association, at the fabulous New-York Historical Society situated at 170 Central Park West, and believe me, the voices were just as sensational and decadent as the surroundings they were placed in.

For the remainder of this week, I'll be sharing more about our trip and highlighting special moments and intriguing topics that took shape at the Audies and at BookExpo America.

Curious to learn which audiobooks won awards? Read on!

The Audies

There were so many interesting people at the Audies, many of whom included some of the top narrators in the world.

The gala was exquisite and provided a good many opportunities to network, but the main event was especially lovely, celebrating the achievements of people who had been narrowed down by a hundred judges from a record 1000 entries to a mere 100 selections.

Seated beside us were actors and narrators Cynthia Darlow and her husband Richard Ferrone. Ferrone had won an Audie in 2008 as the Best Voice in Mystery / Suspense for the audiobook, "Dead Street".

Directly behind us, as we learned later that night upon receipt of his award, was author and narrator, David Sedaris. In front of us were the crew from Macmillan Audio. Indeed, the room was packed with all kinds of people, from audiobook publishers to narrators to family and friends.

Without further ado, the winners of the 2009 Audies:

Audiobook of the Year was won by Neil Gaiman, writer and narrator of "The Graveyard Book"; HarperChildren's Audio.

Distinguished Achievement in Production was won by Live & Listen Audio for "Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady" by L.A. Meyer, narrated by Katherine Kellgren.

Solo Narration - Male was won by narrator John Lee for his work on "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas; Blackstone Audio.

Solo Narration - Female was won by narrator Katherine Kellgren for her work on "Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady", a novel by L.A. Meyer; Listen and Live Audio.

Narration by the Author was won by David Sedaris for "When You Are Engulfed in Flames"; Hachette Audio.

Multi-Voiced Performance was won by "Mudbound" by Hillary Jordan, read by Kate Forbes, Joey Collins, Peter Jay Fernandez, Ezra Knight, Brenda Pressley, and Tom Stechschulte; Recorded Books.

Special Achievement Awards were won by Michael Snodgrass and Eileen Hutton of Brilliance Audio.

Judges Award - Politics was won by "Hot, Flat, and Crowded" by Thomas Friedman, read by Oliver Wyman; Macmillan Audio.

Humor was won by "The Learners" by Chip Kidd, read by actor Bronson Pinchot; Blackstone Audio.

Spanish Language was won by "Por in Dia Mas/For One More Day" by Mitch Albom; read by Jose Manuel Vieira; FonoLibro, Inc.

Teens was won by "Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady" by L.A. Meyer, read by Katherine Kellgren; Listen & Live Audio.

Children's Titles Ages 8 to 12 was won by "The Graveyard Book", written and narrated by Neil Gaiman; HarperChildren's Audio.

Children's Titles Ages up to 8 was won by "James Herriot's Treasury for Children"; James Herriot, read by Jim Dale; Macmillan Audio.

Original Work was won by "Louis Vuitton Soundwalk: Beijing" by Stephan Crasneanscki, narrated by Gong Li; Louis Vuitton.

Audio Drama was won by "The Odyssey" by Homer, narrated by Tim McInnerny, Amanda Redman and a full cast; BBC Audiobooks America.

Audiobook Adaptation was won by "English Majors: A Comedy Collection For The Highly Literate" written/read by Garrison Keillor and cast, with special guests Billy Collins, Roy Blount Jr., Robert Bly, Donald Hall, Allen Ginsberg, and Calvin Trillin; HighBridge.

Package Design was won by "Founding Fathers", written by Arthur M. Schlesinger, read by Ira Claffey and Richard Rohan with package design by Margo Goody; Macmillan Audio.

Classic was won by "Great Expectations", written by Charles Dickens, read by British narrator Simon Vance; Tantor Audio.

Romance was won by "The Dark Highlander", written by Karen Marie Moning, narrated by Phil Gigante; Brilliance Audio.

Thriller / Suspense was won by "Child 44", written by Tom Rob Smith, read by narrator Dennis Boutsikaris; Hachette Audio.

Science Fiction / Fantasy was won by "Calculating God", a book by Robert J. Sawyer, read by Jonathan Davis; Audible, Inc.

Mystery was won by "Voice of The Violin", authored by Andrea Camilleri, read by narrator Grover Gardner; Blackstone Audio.

Short Stories / Collections was won by "Armageddon in Retrospect" by Kurt Vonnegut; intro read by Mark Vonnegut; read by Rip Torn; Penguin Audio.

Literary Fiction was won by "Elmer Gantry", a novel by Sinclair Lewis, read by narrator Anthony Heald; Blackstone Audio.

Inspirational / Faith-based Fiction was won by "Prague Counterpoint", written by Bodie and Brock Thoene; read by Sean Barrett; FamilyAudioLibrary.com.

Fiction Audie was a tie! This award was won by "The Duma Key", written by Stephen King, read by John Slatter; Simon and Schuster Audio. This award was also won by "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, read by Paul Boehmer, Susan Duerden, Rosalyn Landor, John Lee, and Juliet Mills; Books on Tape.

Personal Development was won by "You Staying Young" by Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz, read by Johnny Heller, Recorded Books.

Inspirational / Faith-based Non-Fiction was won by "The Word of Promise: Next Generation New Testament" read by Sean Astin and cast; Thomas Nelson Inc.

Business / Educational was won by "The Little Red Book of Selling" written and narrated by Jeffrey Gitomer; Simon & Schuster Audio.

History was won by "Gandhi and Churchill" by Arthur Herman, narrated by John Curless; Recorded Books.

Biography / Memoir was won by "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow, narrated by Erik Singer; Hyperion Audiobooks.

Non-Fiction was won by "Hot, Flat, and Crowded", by Thomas Friedman, narrated by Oliver Wyman; Macmillan Audio.

The competition this year was incredibly stiff, as was acknowledged by the Audio Publishers Association, and I'd like to congratulate all of the nominees on their achievements in pursuit of excellence.

Are you a fan of any books, authors or publishers listed here?

Leave a comment to congratulate your friends and colleagues!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Randy Thomas and Peter Rofe, co-authors of "Voice For Hire", are having a book signing and workshop hosted by the Washington, DC-Baltimore AFTRA/SAG Conservatory on Saturday, June 13th 2009.

Learn some interesting things, be directed by top talent and get your own complimentary autographed copy of Voice For Hire.

Opportunity to Train With Randy Thomas and Peter Rofé

Randy Thomas and Peter Rofé will discuss voice over technique, microphone technique, terminology, script breakdown, and marketing strategies. Each student will be worked with individually to explore the rhythms and pacing of commercial copy, resulting in a real, intuitive "read".

Specifically, learn how to get to the next level as you explore:

♣ Marketing savvy, and how the secrets of branding can help set you apart and attract big paychecks.
♣ New ways to land big-time gigs.
♣ Strategies to grow your voiceover work to a sustainable income
(and give up your day job).
♣ The art of attracting agents in this increasingly competitive business.
♣ The current state of the voiceover industry, where it's headed . . . and more.

Discover how to:

♣ Enhance your copy interpretation skills.
♣ Understand the secret to booking more auditions.
♣ Learn how to be seen as a top-notch talent with a bankable range of reads.
♣ Build a bigger client base with the home studio of your dreams.

To attend this event, you must be a member of AFTRA and/or SAG in good standing and must register and pay for this seminar in advance. The cost is just $50.00 (prepaid), and your registration fee includes the seminar and an autographed copy of their new book, Voice for Hire: Launch and Maintain a Lucrative Career in Voiceovers.

Details:

Topic: "How to Become Successful in the Voiceover Industry"
Who: Randy Thomas and Peter Rofé
When: Saturday June 13, 2009 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. (one night only)
Where: St. John's Episcopal Church, 6701 Wisconsin Avenue, Chevy Chase, Maryland

To make your reservation and receive your PayPal payment instructions, please contact Carolyn Bell at Carolyn@carolynbell.com or (703) 914-2769. 

Have you read Voice For Hire?

Comment if you have found Randy and Peter's book to be of use or inspiration to you!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

In direct defiance of global economic woes, London's business community gathered for an evening of celebration at the London Convention Centre in style, marking a stark contrast to what you hear, read and see in the media.

What a night!

Hear about our experience and also learn more about the announcer of this event, Craig Rockford.

Business Achievement Awards

Last night, David and I attended the London Chamber of Commerce's annual Business Achievement Awards dinner and gala, emceed by Dan MacLellan, the lead news anchor from A News, which was attended by many dignitaries including her worship, London Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best, among others.

Aside from there being well over 1000 people and plenty of interesting conversation, there was an abundance of voice over and live announce, which fittingly, is my focus.

Use of Voice Over and Live Announce at London's BAA

Every time an award category was introduced (there were 7), a video played outlining the award and acknowledging each of the finalists, narrated by the husband and wife team of Craig Rockford and Amy Zammit. Craig also performed live announcements throughout the program and has been announcing this awards show for roughly a decade.

How do I know this? I strode over to the announcer's table between the end of dinner (absolutely delicious!) and just prior to the recommencement of the show, and managed to get Craig's attention, who was seated behind a luminous green lamp going over the script.

Given that time was running short, I introduced myself quickly and to my surprise, he said "Stephanie from Voices.com? I just got an email from you!" Talk about a small world!

At this point, I still didn't know his name and toward the end of the night did find out, realizing this morning that Craig Rockford has a profile on Voices.com. Amy Zammit has a profile, too.

Here's a shot of the awards gala:

Earlier, I mentioned that Craig has been voicing this award show a decade, and that made me wonder how many of you have regular gigs announcing for award ceremonies.

Do you serve as a live announcer at galas and award nights?

Leave a comment and share which shows you announce or have announced for.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Who are the Voicey award winners this year?

Find out now!

Welcome to the 3rd Annual Voicey Awards

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the 3rd Annual Voicey Awards, I'm your host, Stephanie Ciccarelli.

It is a privilege and my great pleasure to pay tribute to those whose work has been recognized this year. Voice overs are spoken word recordings performed by voice actors, perhaps better known to the world as unseen narrators, breathing life into every medium imaginable.

Thank you for joining me in experiencing this momentous event where we can come together in celebration.

Before I announce our finalists, I would like to acknowledge our judges, without whom this wouldn't be possible.

A very special thank you to Randy Thomas, the first woman to announce the Academy Awards, the voice of Entertainment Tonight and The Insider, and co-author of "Voice For Hire"; thank you to Paul Russell, a New York City casting director and the author of "Acting: Make It Your Business"; gratitude is also bestowed upon Billy Serow from Abrams Artists Agency in New York; thank you to Melissa Disney, the singing voice of Snow White and female movie trailer voice over pioneer. I'd also like to thank Kathleen Herles, the original voice of Dora the Explorer, British voiceover coach and talent Gary Terzza, Mitch Joel, president of Twist Image and author of the Six Pixels of Separation blog and podcast; and last but certainly not least, much appreciation is expressed to voice actress and industry blogger Bobbin Beam.

BEST NEW VOICE

Without further ado, the finalists in the category of Best New Voice are:

Michelle Ann Dunphy
James Clamp
Veronica March
Janice Downes
Matt Josdal

And the winner is Michelle Ann Dunphy! Congratulations Michelle!

BEST CHILD VOICE

The finalists in the category of Best Child Voice this year include:

Travis Mustang
Grace Taylor

And the winner of the Best Child Voice Award is Grace Taylor. Congratulations to you Grace! Keep up the good work!

BEST TEEN VOICE

This year, Sophie Neveu is in a category all to herself. It is my pleasure to announce that Sophie Neveu be awarded Best Teen Voice this year. Congratulations Sophie.

BEST PERSONAL BRANDING

Seldom are voice artists seen, except that is, when promoting their services. Living proof that it's not only the voice that stands out, the finalists in the category of Best Personal Branding include:

Nickie Jurado
Julie Williams
Doug Turkel
Vicki Amorose
James Clamp

And the winner is Julie Williams! Congratulations to you Julie.

BEST FOREIGN VOICE

As this truly is a global celebration, I'd like to take a moment now to recognize our finalists for Best Foreign Voice, who are:

Roald Woods
Wuzhi Lu
Julie-Ann Dean
Janpa Serino
Claire Dodin

And the winner is Wuzhi Lu! Congratulations Wuzhi for your outstanding work in Mandarin Chinese voice over.

BEST VOICE TEAM

Voice over is often a lonely profession, but there come times where two artists or more collaborate to create unique performances. The finalists in the category of Best Voice Team are:

The Voice teams of:

Robert Jadah and Diane Havens
Ken Theriot and Lisa Theriot

And the winning Voice Team for 2009 is Robert Jadah and Diane Havens!

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

It is perhaps my greatest privilege to announce the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Voicey award. This category is very special to me, and this year, there were many wonderful people nominated, including:

Don Morrow
Richard Horvitz
Bill Kates
Rita Pardue
Arroe Collins

It is my great privilege to share that this year's Lifetime Achievement award belongs to the legendary Don Morrow.

Don, I can confidently say this on behalf of the entire voice over community:

Thank you for over 50 years of service, for inspiring the world to believe in the magic of motion pictures, for blazing a trail alongside the late Don LaFontaine, and for opening up a world of possibilities for your colleagues and those to follow.

As we draw nearer to the end, two categories remain: Best Female Voice and Best Male Voice.

BEST FEMALE VOICE

The finalists in the category of Best Female Voice are:

Wendy Brown
Teri Clark Linden
Amy Taylor
Vanessa Hart
Heather Halley

And the winner of the Best Female Voice award is Amy Taylor! Congratulations Amy!

BEST MALE VOICE

To bring the program to a close, the finalists for Best Male Voice are:

Dave DeAndrea
Michael Richard Dobson
James Herron
Eric Gusky
Bill Painter

The winner of the Best Male Voice for 2009 is Dave DeAndrea!

Congratulations to Dave and to all of the Voicey award winners this year.

Thank you to all those who nominated voice talent and congratulations to all of the Voicey finalists. Thank you to our judges and also to the team at Voices.com for their help, support, and sponsorship.

Most sincerely,

Stephanie Ciccarelli

In the near future, many of the voice over industry's brightest minds will gather for an event that is sure to knock your socks off.

Voices.com is pleased to announce that the Voice Coaches Expo, "Technology + You = Opportunity" will take place on Saturday May 2nd in Schenectady, NY at the GE Theater, featuring presenters and experts within the field of voice over and beyond, to name just one, Rodney Saulsberry!

Find out more about this event now.

Technology + You = Opportunity

I'm thrilled to share that David Bourgeois and his team at Voice Coaches have invited Voices.com to speak for the third year running at their annual expo. David Ciccarelli and I, as co-founders of Voices.com, will be presenting on how voice talent can get the absolute most from Voices.com and Internet marketing.

As stated earlier, Rodney Saulsberry, will also return to speak. As Voice Coaches puts it, "For Voice Actors, this is an opportunity to hear from a professional with royalty status in our field." Who'd want to miss that? Rodney will share his experiences, offer his unique brand of motivation, and answer your questions.

We're thrilled to share the stage with fellow presenters including:

๏ Rodney Saulsberry, voice artist, instructor and author of books "You Can Bank on Your Voice" and "Step Up to the Mic"
๏ Mark Magdich from Sweetwater Sound, who will be presenting on how to build a home recording studio, elaborating on software, hardware (and maybe even some insider info on new products!)
๏ Dan Dinsmore, president and creative director of Overit Media, who will discuss the changing face of visual communication and the opportunities it provides for today's voice actors
๏ Dan Bostick, Artistic Director for Full Cast Audio, who regularly produces, casts, and directs audio books with a "full cast" of characters. Dan will talk about the world of audio book voice acting and share information ranging from how voice actors are selected to the skills needed to bring characters to life.

VIP Mixer

The night before (Friday May 1, 2009), there will be a VIP Mixer where participants can join a number of the speakers, experts, and panelists. This social is one of the highlights of the event because you can mingle, have some delicious food and enjoy the company of those around you.

Voice Coaches President David Bourgeois will give the welcome address and Voice Coaches Marketing Expert Jay Silverman will set the stage for the expo prior to the first guest presentation of the day.

The Expert Panel this year includes:

๏ Rodney Saulsberry: One of the most successful professional Voice Actors in our field
๏ Evan Farmer: Host of TV's "While You Were Out," numerous film, television and voice roles
๏ Billy Serow: Top industry agent from Abrams Artists Agency in NYC
๏ Dave Goldberg: Voice over producer and trainer - Disney, Nickelodeon, HBO
๏ Stephanie Ciccarelli: Co-founder of Voices.com
๏ David Bourgeois: Voice Coaches President, Professional Producer
๏ Jenny Marcotte: Studio Manager for Voice Coaches and White Lake Music & Post, Jenny is regularly involved in hiring and casting Voice Actors

Additional special guests will be announced and on hand throughout the event.

Want to learn more?

Visit http://www.voicecoaches.com/marketing for more information about the event and learn more about the individual presenters and presentations.

Should you want to speak with someone about the expo, you can contact Kristen or Jenny at Voice Coaches for additional information or to enroll by dialing 1-866-887-2834 Extension 100.

Alternatively, if you want to attend and prefer communicating electronically, send an email to scheduling@voicecoaches.com with the subject line "Reserve My Space." Kristen or Jenny will return a call to you at your convenience to finalize your registration.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

We're pleased to announce that Voices.com has partnered with VoodooVox to bring even more opportunities to the voice over marketplace.

While any Voices.com member may be contacted for these jobs, an invitation has been extended to Voices.com paid members to be included in a special program and presented as preferred vendors.

The Voice of In-Call Media

VoodooVox In-Call Media has hundreds of voice over jobs that they need filled each and every month for in-call advertising. They have chosen to partner with Voices.com to meet their needs.

What Opportunities Will Be Posted by VoodooVox Advertisers?

These jobs will be advertisements for In-Call Media, essentially audio advertising that is dynamically inserted into the call experience. Examples include voice over recordings for automated movie ticket lines, radio station contest lines, no-cost conference call services, and so on.

How Will This Work?

Our teams have worked together to seamlessly integrate our technologies. Advertisers at VoodooVox will select Voices.com talent to record their ads. If you are selected for one of these opportunities it will appear as a private job offer in your Voices.com account.

While the technology allows for everyone at Voices.com to be considered, VoodooVox has a special program that we are inviting paid members at Voices.com to apply for. If you are chosen, you'll be part of a certified list of professionals as selected and recommended by VoodooVox that will be presented to their customers via a special search filter within VoodooVox's advertising platform.

You can learn more through our VoodooVox portal at Voices.com linked here:

VoodooVox Training Center at Voices.com

How To Apply?

If you are a paid member of Voices.com, check your email for a special invitation email sent from me today.

Best wishes,

Stephanie Ciccarelli
Co-founder of Voices.com

P.S. The date to submit by is March 18, 2009 to be considered for this opportunity.

The Voicey finalists have now been announced!

Find out who they are now.

Best Female Voice Finalists

Wendy Brown
Teri Clark Linden
Amy Taylor
Vanessa Hart
Heather Halley

Best Male Voice Finalists

Dave DeAndrea
Michael Richard Dobson
James Herron
Eric Gusky
Bill Painter

Best New Voice Finalists

Michelle Ann Dunphy
James Clamp
Veronica March
Janice Downes
Matt Josdal

Best Foreign Voice Finalists

Roald Woods
Wuzhi Lu
Julie-Ann Dean
Janpa Serino
Claire Dodin

Best Child Voice Finalists

Grace Taylor
Travis Mustang

Best Teen Voice Finalist

Sophie Neveu

Best Voice Team Finalists

Robert Jadah and Diane Havens
Ken Theriot and Lisa Theriot

Best Personal Branding Finalists

Nickie Jurado
Julie Williams
Doug Turkel
Vicki Amorose
James Clamp

Lifetime Achievement Finalists

Don Morrow
Richard Horvitz
Bill Kates
Rita Pardue
Arroe Collins

Congratulations!

I want to congratulate all of our finalists as well as thank everyone who nominated someone or was nominated this year.

I'd also like to take the opportunity to thank our judges for their participation, including Paul Russell, Randy Thomas, Billy Serow, Gary Terzza, Melissa Disney, Bobbin Beam, Kathleen Herles and Mitch Joel.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Apple has just announced the release of their newest version of the iPod Shuffle.

What makes this unique and why may it matter to you?

The iPod Shuffle is nearly half the size of its predecessor, holds 1,000 songs, and most notably, is programmed to announce song titles, artists names and playlists.

Where Will the iPod Go Next?

Now in its 3rd generation, the iPod Shuffle has evolved to include voiceover, able to speak 14 languages including English, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish.

The iPod Shuffle press release, published today (March 11, 2009) quoted an Apple official proposing the following in a pitch to sell the product:

"Imagine your music player talking to you, telling you your song titles, artists and playlist names," said Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of iPod and iPhone™ Product Marketing. "The amazingly small new iPod shuffle takes a revolutionary approach to how you listen to your music by talking to you, also making it the first iPod shuffle with playlists."

Pretty neat, isn't it?

That's a lot of VO

Why add voiceover?

Apple must have done their research and deduced that this was a feature people wanted or would find useful, presumably making it easy for the iPod Shuffle owner to decide whether or not they wanted to employ the voiceover option.

What's not clear, however, is who the voice talent were that recorded the voiceovers or the gender(s) of the voice over artist(s) in each language.

I'm certain whoever did this work must have signed a non-disclosure agreement as that is the way these things generally go with companies the likes of Apple, regardless, it would be interesting to find out who the voice talent are that participated in this massive project.

Any Comments?

What do you think? Could you shed more light on this for us?

If so, leave a comment!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Did you enter your child for the Best Child Voice category in the 3rd Annual Voicey Awards?

We have some exciting news to share regarding the judge!

Kathleen Herles, the original voice of Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer, will be judging the category with her own brand of spunk and expertise.

Best Child Voice Award

The Best Child Voice Award was added to the Voiceys in 2008, Brandi Munro as winner, judged by Sunday Muse.

This year, I'm pleased to announce that the original voice of Dora the Explorer, Kathleen Herles, will be judging the category, a voice well known to all, most particularly to the parents of and those nominated for Best Child Voice.

Kathleen is excited to be part of the Voiceys this year and is also featured in an interview on VOX Daily this week.

To read the interview, click here:

Voices.com Interview with Voice Actress Kathleen Herles

Best wishes,

Stephanie

For the next several days, I'll be writing about what went on at PodCamp Toronto over the weekend.

David, Erica and I attended on behalf of Voices.com and split up, taking in as much as possible from the five track unconference over the course of two days.

This first article is meant to introduce you to the concept of PodCamp, its significance and what it is meant to achieve.

PodCamp

The first PodCamp was held on September 8-10, 2006 in Boston, Massachusetts, founded by Chris Brogan and Christopher Penn. The idea was to have a free, "unconference" where like minded people with a love for podcasting and New Media could engage, share and learn, mentoring freely and spreading awareness for podcasting in general.

Typically, PodCamps attract the technically inclined and are held in a geeked-out environment filled with people carrying microphones and mobile recording devices. Participants are provided with access to wireless Internet (an absolute must!) and plenty of places to carry on private chats outside of presentations already in progress.

At any given time, the majority of people in attendance could be posting messages on Twitter, surfing the net, adding friends they've just met to Facebook, blogging about the event or using an instant messenger to communicate with other attendees and document what's going on.

"The Law of Two Feet" is an interesting component of unconferences. The entire purpose of attending an unconference is to learn and get what you want out of the experience, so if you aren't learning anything new in one room you can just pick up and go to another room. To illustrate, it isn't an entirely odd thing to see people get up and leave a session in favour of joining another session, or alternatively, starting their own animated discussions elsewhere on the spur of the moment.

Usually, you meet the most interesting people when you are in the halls and can talk amongst yourselves on a more casual level, however, note that the presentations are pretty casual too.

PodCamps are meant to send you home with a head full of information, a wider network of friends and a greater understanding of where the technology is going as well as how you can leverage that knowledge to attain even greater success.

What differentiates an unconference from a conference?

A number of things, such as:

๏ Usually you don't pay to attend an unconference
๏ You aren't expected to attend everything on the schedule
๏ The schedule may be subject to change if impromptu additions are made
๏ The Law of Two Feet may apply at any time
๏ There's a more grassroots feel to the event, perhaps even an "underground" feel
๏ Unconferences are generally held on a smaller scale
๏ People can sign up to do a presentation and are not necessarily formally invited to speak
๏ Speakers are not compensated financially (from what I know)
๏ You can jump into conversations and presentations with your thoughts
๏ In the case of PodCamp, all sessions are recorded, and in the case of PodCamp Toronto, sessions are streamed for audiences online
๏ Unconferences are extremely casual and may yield a more intimate experience for attendees

What's Coming Up?

PodCamps, though centered around podcasting, have evolved to include sessions about blogging, social media, search engines and interacting with traditional media. Over the next week or so, you'll get an insider's look at PodCamp Toronto '09 via the VOX Daily blog.

Before I sign-off, I'd like to thank everyone who helped to make PodCamp Toronto 2009 such a fabulous success, especially the organizing team, including Jay Moonah, Eden Spodek, Connie Crosby, Dave Fleet, Rob Lee, Sean McGaughey and Tommy Vallier.

A big thank you goes out to the wonderful PodCamp volunteers, one of which included our friend, Brad Buset. Nice work!

Stay tuned for articles covering numerous sessions that will help you and your business.

Bye for now!

Stephanie Ciccarelli
Voices.com
Proud Sponsor of PodCamp Toronto 2009

Are you into podcasting?

Do you live in or around Toronto, ON Canada?

Make plans to show up at PodCamp Toronto on February 21 and 22, 2009 at the Rogers Communications Centre at Ryerson University.

PodCamp Toronto 2009

Podcamp Toronto is a FREE "unconference" for all those interested in all things podcasting, blogging and new media. Amateurs, pros, newbies and veterans are all welcome.

We attended the first PodCamp in TO. and are excited to come back as PodCamp Toronto sponsors, looking forward to meeting new friends and visiting with familiar names and faces.

Maybe we'll see you there!

Comment if you're able to come to PodCamp Toronto. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for you.

If you haven't signed up yet, you can signup to attend PodCamp Toronto 2009 here.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

The economic downturn has changed the priorities and makeup of many companies, including some in the broadcast media industry, causing thousands of people to lose their jobs, many of which are now turning to voice over as a career alternative.

I was curious to see who among those already doing voice over part-time are now finding themselves full-time due to the loss of their positions...

From what I've heard, read and been told, it sounds like there is going to be a wave of people hoping to make voice acting their primary source of income.

Hear from many people affected by this and add your voice to the mix. Anonymous comments in good taste will be approved on this article.

Layoffs Running Rampant

This inspiration to write this article came to me after reading about a broadcaster, Keith Ashton, who had worked for Clear Channel Communications, serving the broadcast radio industry for 58 of his 79 years. The layoff came to him as a major shock and I could only imagine what it must have felt like for someone who has dedicated that much of their life to a job to suddenly find a box of their belongings on their desk when coming in to work.

Clear Channel, for those who don't know, laid off 1,850 people last month across the US. Keith Ashton was just one of those people.

I've also heard that there were layoffs at Metro Networks/Westwood One, cutting hundreds of people before Clear Channel did, and cuts at CBS radio, Cumulus, Emmis, NPR, Entercom, SBS, Sirius/XM and most recently Bloomberg who cut 100 jobs, apparently a first ever for Bloomberg.

Anonymity

For this article, I gave people the opportunity to be anonymous sources due to the sensitivity of what's going on and agreements that they have had to sign for confidentiality.

One source reports that a bunch of their friends and former co-workers were laid-off in San Diego, CA. Supposedly, San Diego was one of the hardest hit markets.

I had the opportunity to correspond with a number of people who were once part-time in VO but have since needed to pursue voice over work full-time.

Here are some of their stories:

"Microsoft laid off 1400 people in one day about 2 weeks ago. I'd been an employee for 10 years. It's amazing how fast that can disappear in the blink of an eye. I am pursuing VO full time (until or if I find another day job), but health benefits are crazy expensive and I'm just not getting enough work right now. But we'll see how things go."

~~

"Ah, what a time it has become! I know the first step I'm going to take in this adventure will be to finally seek representation instead of freelancing. Freelancing has not made enough money to do anything, much less pay the bills. And freebies run amok. Fortunately, I'm skilled in a couple of other areas of work and being the multi-tasking character that I am, I am now working 4 part-time jobs. This doesn't include voiceovers. Since I have to work nights, however, theater work is on-hold at this time. It's depressing. I hope others are getting the work they seek."

~~

Is voice over the answer for people who have been let go, particularly if they have transferable skills as presenters, hosts or on-air talent?

A veteran voice over talent shared the following with me:

"People looking to make a career change and have VO passion, it's great that they make the effort. BUT it's a long term climb - very low initial returns; people seeking immediate payout (starting) will be disappointed."

Interview With Laid Off Part-Time Voice Artist, Now Full-Time in VO

Earlier this morning, I interviewed a part-time voice over artist who has now found themselves in a similar position to one of my other sources above, losing their job in a different industry and now pursuing voice over full-time until they can find another day job.

VOX: Were you one of the people laid off or are you preparing in case you're next?

VO ARTIST: There is a lot of business-ese around what my company calls it, but, yes, I was let go on Tuesday.

VOX: Where did you work? If you don't want to say where, what industry and role did you play at the company?

VO ARTIST: I was a Project Analyst at an investment firm and dealt solely with configuring 3rd party health care systems.

VOX: What are the reasons (aside from finance) for the layoffs? Is this about cutting positions that are no longer needed or is it about something else?

VO ARTIST: The reasons given to us for the layoff was "Economic Downturn" and the "fragile state" of the economy. Our positions weren't eliminated though. I worked at the company campus in New Hampshire and all of our jobs are moving to New Mexico. Not to get too much into the boring details, but the tax breaks for the company ended here and the cost of living in the North East is a lot higher than the Mid-West. Plus, the company was offered more tax breaks to create new jobs at the new campus in New Mexico.

VOX: What is going through your mind right now as you mull over this decision? How difficult do you anticipate it will be to go from part-time to full-time in VO? What kind of changes would you / will you need to make?

VO ARTIST: The layoffs were anticipated, but definitely unexpected this soon, so I was able mentally to get into the proper frame of mind before they occurred. Always being more artistic, but ending up in a procedural analytical role for an investment firm, I was never too happy and now being given the chance to purpose a more creative career is a cathartic experience. The biggest change for me will just be that I will have more time to audition and to learn and better my craft. Well, that is until the savings runs out.

VOX: Given that this could become a full-time job for you as a career voice over artist, do you feel that further instruction or research is necessary to make that leap successfully? This doesn't have to be just what you intend to do but what you believe others in similar situations may or should be considering to make voice over work for them.

VO ARTIST: Since this is a career that I sought to be a full-time thing for me since as long as I can remember, I come to realize that learning, growing and instruction are a never-ending thing. Even before the layoff I was always trying to learn more, but it does kind of feel good to know that I won't be studying in between work and other daily tasks. I'll actually have the time to enjoy the learning process and take it all in.

VOX: Have you heard talk of becoming a voice over pro from other people facing this reality? Are they wearing rose colored glasses or are they aware of what the business really entails? Also, what makes VO attractive to people being laid off, or is any job, regardless of what it is, attractive at present and VO is simply one avenue that could generate an income?

VO ARTIST: I have not personally heard too much about the recently laid-off (I call them laidee's) now trying a full-time career in VO, but I can definitely see the draw. I'm sure most people see it as a career with seemingly little risk. You buy some gear and can try it out of your own home. They think that it's just talking and they don't understand all the work that needs to go into it. For the top people the pay is good, but for most they will need of streams of income and I don't think most people are willing to make multiple commitments. Most will try and then after 6 months or so, when they are not seeing that immediate return on their investment, will move on and try and get another job. I've only been in the business for a little over a year now and know how extraordinarily tough that it already is. With an influx of people merely trying it out, I worried about the over-saturation of the market and just making it more difficult for those like myself how are still in the process of establishing a name and a brand. Or even giving the newcomers a bad reputation with all the unprofessional voices of the "laidee's"

Any Comments?

Anonymous comments will be accepted on this post for those who wish to share their thoughts in a non-threatening environment. Keep comments family friendly and they will be approved.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Valerie Loiseleux

Have you been wondering who the judges will be for the 3rd Annual Voicey Awards?

Wait no longer!

I am going to reveal six of the nine to you today.

Judges for the 3rd Annual Voicey Awards

This year, I'm pleased to announce that we'll be joined by a number of exceptionally talented individuals.

Here's a little bit about each confirmed judge and their award category, in no particular order:

๏ 7-time Academy Award announcer, voice of Entertainment Tonight and The Insider, and co-author of Voice For Hire, Randy Thomas, will be judging the award category for Best Male Voice.

๏ New York City casting director and author of Acting: Make It Your Business, Paul Russell, will be judging the award category for Best Female Voice.

๏ Abrams Artists Agency NYC Super Agent Billy Serow has stepped up to judge the category of Best New Voice.

๏ Singing voice of Snow White and female movie trailer voice over trailblazer, Melissa Disney, will be judging for this year's Best Teen Voice award.

๏ British voice over coach and talent Gary Terzza is judging the Best Foreign Voice category and is the first-ever Voicey judge from across the pond.

๏ Mitch Joel, president of Canadian marketing agency Twist Image, will be judging Best Personal Branding.

As the days go on, more information will be shared about the Voiceys and other judges as they are confirmed.

If you've entered yourself or nominated a voice actor so far, thank you for being part of this exciting event!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Here comes trouble!

Pat Fraley and Brad Garrett will be co-presenting awards at the Annies this year, hosted by Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob.

Pat shares his thoughts here in this special edition of VOX Daily.

One of Many Great Reasons To Go to the Annies This Year

Submitted by Pat Fraley

My pal Brad Garrett and I have been tapped to co-present at the Annie Awards in the categories:

Best Voice Acting in an Animated TV Series and Best Acting in an Animated Film.

They are not scripting us. Am I worried? How easy is my job? I just stand next to Brad and laugh.

Brad and I were working together doing cartoon shows 25 years ago. We did about a years worth of "Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n Wrestling."

Over the years were worked together on cartoons, to commercials... even sketches live on late night network TV.

I think we work so well together is that I don't compete with him. He is genuinely the greatest comedic man I've ever worked with.

Karl Malden, in reference to his many collaborations with Marlon Brando, once said, "You can't compete with genius, but it's nice to come up it."

Best,

Pat Fraley

~~

If you are interested in attending the Annie Awards, here are the details:

Date: Friday January 30, 2009
Location: UCLA's Royce Hall
340 Royce Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90095

Champagne Reception: 6 p.m.
Award Ceremony: 8 p.m.

Post-award party following the ceremony, black tie optional, hosted by Tom Kenny

General Admission: $25

Discount VIP tickets are available to members of the ASIFA-Hollywood, The Animation Guild, Visual Effects Society, and Women in Animation for $150.

Non-member VIP ticket: $250

To order tickets and for further information, go to annieawards.org

Cheers,

Stephanie

P.S. Interesting Fact: The Annie Awards were founded by legendary voice over actress, June Foray.

Voice actor Melissa Disney is featured in a commercial that could make it all the way to the Super Bowl, but she needs your help.

Starring in "The Chase", Melissa and her cast mates are finalists in Doritos' contest to select their official Super Bowl XLIII commercial.

Vote now before January 25th, 2009 to help clinch 1st place and some major air time for one of voice over's leading ladies (and, one might say, Dorito lover), Melissa Disney.

Meow!

Voice over talent and actress, Melissa Disney, also known for her work as the singing voice of Snow White and for her movie trailer voice over work for the film Gone in Sixty Seconds, is part of a team that has created an advertisement for Doritos, making into the TOP 5 in their Super Bowl competition.

To show your support, the voice over community is encouraged to view the commercial and vote for "The Chase".

http://www.VoteForTheCat.com

Disney relates that you can vote once per day and be entered into a drawing to win tickets to Super Bowl XLIII.

Sounds good, doesn't it?

Voting ends on January 25th, 2009.

Remember... vote for the cat!

Take care,

Stephanie

Great news...

Nominations for the Voicey Awards are now open!

The Voiceys are the only awards that honor voice actors exclusively for their work in the voice over industry.

Now in its 3rd year, the Voicey Awards are ready to accept nominations from voice actors around the world, and if you've been waiting all year for this, the time is now!

To learn more about the awards and also about how you can get involved, go to the:

Official Voicey Awards Website

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Do you have questions about AFTRA's new agreement with Audible.com?

Learn more about this agreement by reading this article.

If you still have questions or are unsure of something, be sure to leave a comment and I'll ask AFTRA during my interview with them to get you the answers you're seeking.

What's Going On?

AFTRA has just announced (January 14, 2009) their new agreement with audible.com, one of the Internet's largest online distributors of audiobooks. This initial agreement is effective through June 30, 2010.

The agreement, which is the first agreement between AFTRA and Audible.com was reviewed and unanimously approved in November by AFTRA's Administrative Committee.

What's Meant to Be Achieved By This?

AFTRA and Audible's agreement establishes minimum rates and employer contributions to the AFTRA Health & Retirement Plans for AFTRA members working on audiobooks produced by Audible.com.

How Will This Affect AFTRA Talent?

If you're an AFTRA member working on an audiobook produced by Audible.com, you will be provided with even more opportunities to earn solid wages and accrue union health care and pension benefits.

"This agreement with Audible.com will provide AFTRA members with even more opportunities to earn solid wages and accrue union health care and pension benefits," said Richard Ferrone, AFTRA New York member and Chair of the AFTRA National Audiobooks Caucus.

What Will This Agreement Do For Audible?

CEO and founder of Audible, Donald Katz, relates, "Quality work by talented performers is key to the literate listening experience audible.com was founded to advance... This new association will allow Audible's listeners around the world to hear the voices of AFTRA's tremendous pool of gifted actors and audiobook narrators."

AFTRA's Recent Negotiations Track Record

In the past year, AFTRA members have successfully negotiated a number of important contracts, including the Sound Recordings Code, Network TV Code, Primetime Exhibit A of the Network Code, Non-Broadcast/Industrial Code, CBS/ABC Network Staff News and the AFTRA Interactive Media Agreement.

Questions? Comment and I'll ask AFTRA for you.

Please keep the questions to this agreement in particular if you want an answer in the near term.

If you have other questions unrelated to this agreement about AFTRA, you can email me personally at stephanie@voices.com and I'll file them away for a future series of interviews with AFTRA.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Anna Bryukhanova

While the holiday season is still upon us, I thought it would be a good idea to introduce a new column on VOX Daily that I hope will do more to encourage generosity the whole year round as well as recognize people for their work.

This new column will also do much to promote the use of voice overs and help to increase sales of products that include voice acting.

Want to know more?

It All Started With A Gift

This Christmas, while opening some presents, two of our children received audiobooks, one of which happened to be narrated by someone I know. I always check for credits on cartoons, movies, audiobooks and the like to find out who recorded the voice over, and this time I was pleasantly surprised to see Don Wescott's name listed as the reader for Curious George!

After some consideration and discussion, I arrived at the decision that a new column should be added to the VOX Daily blog, called "Reviews", where reviews of any voice over product may be filed.

Why Add Reviews?

My intention through this weekly column is to provide the voice over community with a good place to hear about what their peers are up to, a vehicle to promote great products that use voice over, and also a way to recognize voice over professionals and the companies they worked with.

There are many products that I'll be reviewing here on VOX Daily that are waiting in the wings, including a review of the Curious George read-along audiobook I mentioned earlier featuring Don Wescott.

This is just a small way that I can help to shine more light on the good work that is being done and I'd like nothing more than to share the stage with as many people and their work as possible.

How Will This Work?

That said, if your voice is being used in a commercial product such as a talking toy, an audiobook, animated film, or documentary the invitation is open to you, should you choose, to send a package to me including the product to be showcased on the blog in a future review that will include a link to where the product may be purchased as well as a link to the voice artist's website.

The products, once reviewed, will be donated on your behalf by Voices.com to a deserving charity that could put the gift to good use or to a public library.

Just to be clear, I am not relying solely upon people to send in items.

I will be reviewing products that are in my possession, borrowed items from libraries, and may also review items belonging to others, all of which must indicate the name(s) of the voice artist(s) who recorded the voice overs.

Raising Awareness and Giving Credit Where it is Due

Knowing who recorded the voice overs is key as one of the main objectives, aside from raising awareness for voice acting and products that use voice over, is also to shine the spotlight on voice artists and their performances.

Donated items sent in for review, while not expected but certainly appreciated, will be quite helpful when it comes to fulfilling my objective of giving the voice artist responsible public recognition.

If You'd Like To Donate An Item For Review, Mail To:

Attention Stephanie Ciccarelli
VOX Daily Reviews
C/O Voices.com
130-100 Collip Circle
London, Ontario Canada
N6G 4X8

Thank you!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Mr_Vector

Have you been recording any audiobooks this year?

Julie Williams is working on a roundup of who's been recording what in the next edition of her voice over ezine, The VoiceOver Insider.

If you want to be included in the article, read on.

Have You Recorded Any Audiobooks This Year?

Email julie@voice-overs.com and include:

1. The name(s) of the audiobook(s) you recorded in 2008
2. A color photo of yourself and/or book cover artwork

The VoiceOver Insider

The VoiceOver Insider is a free monthly publication that covers human interest stories, features contributing authors and interviews pertaining to voice over. If you aren't on Julie's mailing list already, I recommend that you signup for your free subscription.

Each month you'll receive an email from Julie Williams with a link where you can download the latest edition of the popular ezine.

While we're on the subject, if you subscribe to the VoiceOver Insider already, leave a comment!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

The news in voice over just keeps getting better and better!

We're pleased to announce that Voices.com was nominated in the category of Business of the Year, the highest honour in the city for businesses as awarded by the London Chamber of Commerce.

The House That Voices Built

With a customer-oriented team, proven customer results, state-of-the-art technology and marketing acumen, Voices.com continues to lead the industry in the evolution of digital audio to meet the challenges of the next generation of convergence and interactivity. Voices.com's team is made up of a diversity of backgrounds from the financial industry to computer science, sound engineering and vocal education, Voices.com's team of professionals offers the best in first class service and technology.

What's it Like to Work at Voices.com?

๏ Positive well-lit work environment at the UWO Research Park
๏ Well maintained grounds ideal for walks and time spent outside on breaks
๏ Ergonomic office equipment (chairs, keyboards, lamps, etc.)
๏ Flexibility for additional sick days and medical appointments

Salary and Compensation

๏ Competitive salaries
๏ Bonuses awarded based upon team performance
๏ If required to put more work in for special circumstances, staff is compensated with either additional payment, appreciative gifts (gift certificates, gift baskets, etc.), or time off
๏ No employee has ever quit

Community Participation

๏ Active participation in TechAlliance Events by all staff members
๏ Involvement at InterNetwork events
๏ Team building at Research Park BBQs and "Clean up the Park" days in spring and summer

Business Achievements

Within the past four years, Voices.com has won several awards regarding customer relationship management and innovation.


The 1to1 Impact Awards spotlight leading companies that have implemented effective and innovative customer strategies that have led to clear and quantifiable business results. Voices.com won a silver medal in the Full-Suite CRM award category at the 7th Annual 1to1 Impact Awards presented by 1to1 Media, a magazine published by Peppers and Rogers. (2008)

As the most trusted marketplace for voice actors, Voices.com has won a CRM Elite Award in recognition of their stellar success and rock-solid ROI using CRM (Customer Relationship Management) processes and technology. (2007)

Co-founders David and Stephanie Ciccarelli were nominated for the Young Entrepreneur Award, established by the Business Development Bank of Canada as an award presented to entrepreneurs who have distinguished themselves for their business sense. (2006)

Voices.com, selected by the Canadian Venture Forum as one of sixty of the nations brightest and best, carefully screened quality investment opportunities presented their case for investment at the forum. (2006)

Voices was selected as a New Voices winner at DigiFest, an award recognizing Interactive Voices as an industry leader who provides digital media products and innovations that contribute to Canada's economic and cultural future. (2005)

Thank You!

We'd like to say thank you to everyone who has been appreciative of our team, shown support, to those who have helped us grow and also to those who continuously inspire us to reach higher, overcome challenges, achieve excellence and elevate integrity as the cornerstone of our business.

Best wishes,

Stephanie, David, Carol, Laurynda, Erica, Lin and Wesley

Erik Sheppard hosted a bash attended by 200 people from the voice over community on Friday December 5th at the Butterfield 8, a memorable networking event that engaged New Yorkers as well as industry professionals from all over the US and Canada.

Enjoy a taste of the event by viewing pictures from Erik's Flickr photostream and by reading this article.

New York's Voice Over Scene Came Out To Play

Erik Sheppard of Voice Talent Productions and his business partner, September Day Leach, know how to bring people together and lift their spirits.

At first, the duo were expecting about 50 people to arrive, but as the RSVP list keep growing, it became clear that this gathering of a few friends would turn out to be more than just a meet up... it was a roaring success!

Throughout the mixing and mingling, there were a variety of prizes raffled off to gracious winners, proving yet again that the Butterfield 8 was packed to the rafters with some of the most affable, well dressed and sonorous people one would be likely to find braving the cold on a chilly evening in Midtown Manhattan.

The Who's Who

Notable guests comprised of talented voice over artists such as San Francisco's gem Elaine Clark, founder of Voice One and author of "There's Money Where Your Mouth Is", the charming Chicago-based Harlan Hogan, author of "VO : Tales and Techniques of a Voice-Over Actor" and inventor of the Harlan Hogan Porta-Booth, LA's pride Bob Bergen, current voice of Warner Bros. Porky Pig, insightful New Yorker Peter Rofé, talent, owner of PDR Voice Coaching and co-author of "Voice For Hire", and the smiling G. Keith Alexander of the Voice Over Academy.

Voice over's business community also came out to shine including Adam Goodman, president of Voice Hunter, Eric Simendinger, also of Voice Hunter, David Goldberg, founder of Edge Studio and Noelle Romano of Edge Studio, David Ciccarelli, co-founder and CEO of Voices.com accompanied by yours truly, and Voice-Over Xtra's John Florian.

There were many voice actors there who we were happy to meet and reconnect with including Liz de Nesnera, Trish Basanyi, Michael Schoen, Wuhzi Lu, and D. Michael Berkowitz to name just a handful. These events are all about the people and you've got to get out to them!

A Great Weekend

When we received our invitation to come to New York, we knew immediately that it would be a fabulous opportunity and that the event was something we were pleased to be part of.

Instead of staying for only 4 hours, we decided to make a weekend of it and were instantly at home in NYC, a feeling that I believe New York affords to all who visit and reside there.

David and I had a lovely breakfast with Elaine Clark and Harlan Hogan on the Sunday and also took a spin around with Harlan for the afternoon to tour some of the city's great parks and attractions, a delight to experience in this season of holiday cheer and in the best of company.

Did You Attend the 2008 New York Voice Over Mixer?

Share your favorite moments and memories here!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

P.S. If you have photos from the event, I'd love to see them :)

Photo Credits

1. Photo stream courtesy of Erik Sheppard.
2. Photo of Kim White, David Ciccarelli, Harlan Hogan, Elaine Clark and Stephanie Ciccarelli courtesy of Kim White.

The All-New Voices.com is here!

Thank you to all of our members, valued customers, our team and those who have made this major development and epic release a great success.

This, as you can tell, is a short posting letting you know that yes indeed, we've got the new site online and its live!

Go take a spin around your account. Here are three things you'll want to do.

1. Update your photo, headshot or logo

2. Edit your profile and complete the new fields including the "Detailed Service Description" and "Payment Terms".

3. Select tags for your demo. All you'll need to do is pick a few from the list.

That's it!

Let us know what you think by taking the Redesign Survey or by commenting here on the blog.

Cheers,

Stephanie, David, Carol, Laurynda, Erica, Lin and Wesley

Are you voting today?

If you live in the United States of America, today is the biggest, most monumental election day in generations.

Americans have a choice between electing Illinois Senator Barack Obama (Democrat) or Arizona Senator John McCain (Republican) for the office of the President of the United States.

Whoever is elected today and holds power in Washington, DC, will determine the kind of history is written for the next four years, perhaps the next eight, not just in the US but the world at large.

It's all about democracy!

Wherever you are or whoever you voted for, I want to hear that you did!

Read this article and then leave a comment to let me know that you voted in your country's election, whether in the US, Canada or abroad.

Voice

Usually at VOX Daily we talk about having a voice as a means to communicate a message through a voice over recording, but let us pause to remember that sometimes having a voice isn't just about recording voice overs, it's about exercising your duty to vote and make your voice heard through the casting of a ballot.

For those of you who wonder "Am I being heard?" today is your chance to be heard, perhaps to make history.

Voting

Voting for a candidate or political party is one way to get your message across.

It is one of the oldest, most effective ways of communicating your beliefs and expressing your desire to help shape the world you live in. Through the democratic process, each vote counts and cannot be ignored.

Democracy = Voice of the People

The first democracies were formed in ancient times by wise forefathers who cared deeply about their societies and civilizations.

The Greeks in the city-state of Athens had a system, in fact the oldest democratic process on record, established in 510 BC.

Decisions were made locally regarding local matters by the people through their government.

Once this form of government took off, it eventually spread to other nations across the Mediterranean but was nearly destroyed by the Roman Empire in 100 BC. However, practices of democracy continued in Athens and in due time, democracy became a way of life for many nations in the Middle Ages, including the Italian cities of Siena, Florence, Genoa, Pisa, and Venice.

Modern Day Democracy

Democracy is freedom. Democracy is a gift. It is a means for you to make a difference, to have a say and to be recognized as a citizen of your country who has rights.

People suffer, fight, and die for democracy.

Millions of people around the world take up the cause of democracy and pursue it with every ounce of strength that they have to make the world a better place.

Democracy, though cherished, is sometimes taken for granted until it is threatened or taken away.

We are privileged to live in a time and place where democracy, not dictatorship or tyranny, rules over the land.

Be sure that your voice is heard.

Use Your Voice

Take responsibility and vote.

If you are of age and you don't vote, you simply do not have a voice, period, however, if you do vote, you've done your country proud and performed your patriotic duty.

Do You Vote?

Simply let me know that you vote or have voted. I'd love to see a list of passionate, concerned people here on this blog. You need not say who you voted for, but do say you vote!

Update 11:33 p.m. November 4: Congratulations to the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama!

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/zentilia

New York, New York!

On Friday December 5th, 2008 voice over talent will be descending on New York City and partying it up at a networking event in Manhattan presented by Erik Sheppard of Voice Talent Productions.

Admission is free with your RSVP.

If you can make it, you should be there, because David and I would really love to meet you!

Find out more about this event here at VOX Daily.

New York Voice Over Mixer 2008

The 2008 New York Voice Over Mixer is being held on December 5th in Manhattan.

You're invited to spend the evening networking with some of the worlds most respected voice over industry professionals.

The event will be from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at Butterfield 8 located at 5 East 38th Street New York, NY 10016 (between 5th Ave and Madison Ave). Food and cocktails will be available for purchase throughout the evening.

This is an excellent opportunity for coaches, agents, actors and other voice professionals to share information about their services and to learn about others in a casual and friendly environment.

Just taking a peek now, I'm happy to say that Bob Bergen, Peter Rofé and Elaine Clark have already sent in their RSVPs.

There will also be a number of prizes raffled off including a few from Voices.com... a Platinum membership, to name just one!

Take note: Be sure to bring plenty of business cards and be ready for a fun filled evening.

To learn more about the event, what's being raffled off and who is coming, check out this link here at Voice Talent Productions.

To RSVP, email Erik@VoiceTalentProductions.com and also comment here on this blog post for your friends to see at VOX Daily.

Looking forward to seeing you in The Big Apple!

Cheers,

Stephanie and David Ciccarelli

There Can Only Be One!

For those of you who are fans of the Richard and Judy Show in the UK, some great news!

On Friday October 24th at 8 p.m. on 'Watch' (Sky Channel 109 and Virgin channel 124), Richard and Judy will have a feature showcasing a number of people who can imitate the voice of Gollum, a character in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings (movies directed by Peter Jackson) whose voice has been made famous by the actor Andy Serkis.

In the presence of Andy Serkis, a number of contestants will get their inner Gollum on to be broadcast on the telly nationwide.

Our very own Matt Cowlrick, an Australian voice over artist, is one of the contenders.

Coming off a win in another competition sponsored by Three Mobile in Australia, wherein he also impersonated Gollum, Cowlrick's impression of Gollum won him and a friend $10000 worth of travel, which helped Cowlrick to get over to the UK.

Will lightning strike twice?

VOX: Congratulations on qualifying for this contest Matt! Can you tell me a bit about the contest and how you came to be entered?

MATT COWLRICK: I answered a lead on a casting website, where I had to give my experience and why I'd be up for the challenge. Then they called me, I did a little phone audition and was chosen as one of the three participants for the show being recorded tomorrow.

VOX: You're doing an impression of Gollum, a character from the Lord of the Rings that was voiced by Andy Serkis, an amazing voice actor who will be present for this contest to boot. What are you feeling right now? Are "butterflies" an accurate assessment?

MATT COWLRICK: I'm little bit nervous, actually! Mainly because I don't usually like to do impressions of characters in front of the voice actors who created them. It's not necessarily because of nerves, but I feel more like I'm doing a bad impression of the actor, and not the character! However, I think this time will be ok, seeing as the impression is the focus of the challenge.

VOX: You've got to fly nearly half-way across the globe to do this. What kind of preparations do you need to make for the contest? Anything special to get all "Gollumy"?

MATT COWLRICK: I was already here in London, so it was just good timing to be in the neighbourhood. In terms of preparation? Oh, I suppose the usual; eat some raw fish, spend the night obsessing over a bit of jewellery, develop an evil second personality... standard method acting.

VOX: That's handy that you were in the neighbourhood :) What time will this air? You'll be on the "Richard and Judy Show", right? Is it a variety show in the UK?

MATT COWLRICK: I actually have to check when it will be airing, whether it is tomorrow night or later in the week. Seeing as I just arrived here in the UK, I haven't had the chance to watch the show yet. However, from what I have found out about the show, it seems that it is Richard and Judy's new program on digital TV. It's a variety show, apparently like the UK Oprah.

Here's a blurb on the show...

"After seven successful years at Channel Four, Richard and Judy are now hosting a topical prime-time chat show on the brand new digital channel, Watch. From 7 October 2008, Richard and Judy's New Position can be seen weeknights from 8pm."

VOX: What is the prize for the person who wins?

MATT COWLRICK: Alas, no prizes that I know of. Perhaps the chance to take over as Gollum in Lord of the Rings 4? Though I can think of more than one reason why that won't happen...

VOX: How can we show our support for you?

MATT COWLRICK: Tune in if you've got the channel 'Watch' in the UK! It is on Sky channel 109 and Virgin TV 124. I will also find out if there is any way to watch online.

A special thanks to Matt for sharing this exciting information with us. Just to let you know, we'll be doing a follow up to Matt's story here on VOX Daily with more details from the show :)

Break a leg, Matt. We're all rooting for you!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Jeff Gelder will be producing a Holiday Magic CD for Children's Hospitals for the 6th year running and is looking for inspired voice over artists to submit recordings with holiday flair for inclusion on the Holiday Magic 2008 CD.

These CDs are given out to children in December and bring great joy to little ones and their families who because of health reasons cannot come home for the holidays.

With a deadline of November 7th, you've got to get moving if you want to be part of this! Keep reading for more details.

Holiday Magic 2008 Call For Entries

The finest and most generous voice actors and singers are cordially invited to participate in this annual project organized by Jeff Gelder, San Diego voice talent and President of GelderHead Productions.

GelderHead Productions is now accepting submissions for the sixth edition CD of
Holiday Magic 2008, A Gift for Children of all Ages.

Just think of how some festive recordings will brighten the holidays of children and their siblings at Children's Hospitals... you could be part of this wonderful project

What's Required?

๏ Please submit a song, story, riddle or rhyme, anything that welcomes Holiday time.
๏ Make it less than four minutes, and please send it on CD.
๏ Character voices are encouraged.
๏ All entries must be complete and fully recorded for use.

The top 15-20 will be selected based on creativity, generosity and theme and will receive artist exposure, be included on the CD with acknowledgements, be mailed a copy of the CD and receive the:

~ GelderHead Award of Excellence for Creativity and Generosity ~

Past Holiday Magic Projects

Holiday Magic 2007 was a huge success with great talent and 1500 copies going to five Children's Hospitals in San Diego, Orange County, Milwaukee, Miami, and Albuquerque for the children spending their holidays in the hospital, and their siblings.

Deadline for submissions is Friday November 7th, 2008

QUESTIONS: Send e-mail to: Jeff@GelderHead.com (preferred) or call 619-795-1740

SUBMIT TO: GelderHead Productions, P.O. Box 3386, San Diego, CA 92163-3386

Jeff thanks you in advance for your generous contributions! And if you were on one of the last five CDs he hopes you'll consider sending something again this year.

For updated information visit:

www.holidaymagiccd.com

Best wishes,

Stephanie

There's a new search engine in town.

Want to learn more?

Search in the Header

Searching takes center stage. Anyone can search for voice talent by keyword using the search box at the top of every page on the entire site.

Search on the Home Page

Going with the greater emphasis of the search engine, we've added the search box to the home page with the gender and language pull down options. For those looking for voice talent who speak a language other than English, finding those pros from around the globe is never more than a click away.

Advanced Search

There are some new fields which will help clients get to the results their looking for. Members of SAG, AFTRA, ACTRA and Equity will be happy to know that we're placing a union affiliation field on the advanced search page. We hope this encourages even more union activity.

Voice talent who perform a variety of characters typically identified by age will be pleased to learn that we're also adding the "Voice Age" field. Considering that voice-overs for cartoons, animation, videogames and character-driven ads are on the rise, this was a no-brainer.

Search Results

We're most proud of the new search results page. It's cleaner and more interactive. How so? Well, clients have new options that I think they'll find extremely useful.

Invitation List

Another innovation is the Invitation List, a list of selected voice talent the client wants to request quotes from by inviting them to a private job posting.

Every time a box is checked beside the voice talent's listing in the results, their name will be added to the Invitation List. Once they've created a list they are pleased with, the client simply clicks "Request a Quote" and they'll be presented with a job posting form where they'll enter their project requirements and attach the script.

When you're invited to a private job, you'll receive a different type of email notification, plus we'll make this obvious on the audition form when you go to reply.

Refine Search Criteria

Once a search is performed, visitors often want to tweak or refine their search query in an effort to get better results. We've accommodated for these actions by providing the same search fields along the left-hand sidebar.

Filter by Category

Clients can even target specific genres of voice-over simply by selecting the appropriate category, again from the sidebar. A good example of this would be if the client is looking for a "funny" voice talent, and then realizes they want to listen to only "television" demos. In this example, the client wouldn't be seeing the funny cartoon demos or the funny videogame voices; just the funny television demos as they wanted.

One thing I do know is that this is something you'll have to try to really grasp just how cool this new feature is!

Directory

The directory is located on the home page, on the side of the advanced search page as well as a dedicated section that will replace the Featured Talent Directory.

At first glance, you'll notice that television commercials and tv station imaging have been merged into the Television category and the radio commercials and radio station imaging categories have been merged into a single Radio category.

Overall, the directory looks the same with some minor modifications to the icons and labeling of categories.

Directory Results

The directory results have been completely overhauled to operate more like the search results.

As you can see, we faced quite the challenge.

Clients wanted more information about the voice talent listed in the directory. Plus, they wanted to search within the directory. In addition, we wanted to provide more interactive tools, such as viewing location, feedback, voice description as well as provide an option for the client to request a quote from you specifically -- all within the directory.

Here's a screenshot of the Cartoon category with the invitation list and two voice talents selected from this page of results.

Questions? Comments?

Like what you see? Or perhaps you have a question about how something works in more detail. Let's talk. Add your question or comment below.

Best wishes,

Stephanie, David and The Voices.com Team

THE VOICES.COM STORE

Coming up this fall, you'll be able to sell products in the Voices.com Store as well as in your own store located within your Profile, an innovation that we're pleased to offer to you that will make it easier than ever before to be hired based upon work you've already done.

From our market research, we're confident that the Voices.com Store will leapfrog any other web service for voice over professionals when it comes to promoting your services and giving you the power to control pricing, your own ad copy and product descriptions as well as product samples.

PRODUCTS

What Are Products?

A product is any kind of voice over that you count among your services, for example, :60 radio commercials, or voice mail greetings, movie trailer voice overs, and so on.

These products are presented individually to the buyers as ready-to-order and are purchasable immediately online at your Voices.com store, facilitated by SurePay, the voice over industry's trusted escrow service.

Here's what a single search result could look like for your product listing:

What's more is that you can sell products that are related to voice over, let's say copy writing or music production, but why stop there?

You could even sell audiobooks that you've narrated and produced or prefabricated products that are available for download.

Just as you have particular demos that you feature for the directory, you also will be featuring product samples of your voice that are representations of what the final product is for the buyer.

What I mean is that if you are selling a :30 radio commercial with dry voice, you would upload a sample that demonstrates your abilities without any production (music, sound effects, vocal effects, etc.). If you were to include music but say that the product price only includes dry voice, that would be misleading and confuse your prospective customer.

It's better to build trust and give them exactly what you say you're selling in the sample than to overdo it just to be flashy.

CREATING YOUR OWN PRODUCTS

You'll want to consider the following when creating your products:

๏ Product Title:
A 1-line field for the title or name of the product

๏ Product Tags:
Comma separated keywords (adjectives) used to describe the product.

๏ Product Language:
The language that the recording will be done in.

๏ Product Category:
Radio, television, business and so on.

๏ Product Demo:
A sample MP3 file used to help demonstrate what will be delivered for the product price.

๏ Product Description:
A large text area used to describe the product, service description, deliverables and other technical or detail information.

๏ Product Price:
USD price of the product sold.

WHERE WILL YOU SELL THESE PRODUCTS?

Voices.com Store

Clients who come to Voices.com will have an exciting new way to buy voice over recordings, specifically purchasing voice over products organized by category type, in the Voices.com Store.

At a glance, your prospective customers will see product titles, their descriptions, and prices as well as seller feedback ratings (based upon past transactions completed at Voices.com) with the ability to add products to their cart for purchase.

Products will be automatically placed in the store upon creation.

Your Personal Store

This is where it gets fun!

Your profile will have four (4) unique sections:

๏ Profile
๏ Demos
๏ Store
๏ Feedback

In your Store, clients can see which products you offer and can add these items their cart. Note that the same products that you have listed in the Voices.com Store will also appear in your personal store located at your Profile.

While viewing your products, clients have the option to email you about a product, or save your profile to their favorites, making it easy for the client to return to your store to complete the purchase at a later date.

PRODUCT PAGES IN YOUR STORE

Each product will have it's own unique URL. Likely something like this :

http://www.voices.com/store/products/1234566

Page Details

Product pages will be where the client user can view:

๏ The full product title
๏ The full product description
๏ More information about you including your services as pulled from your profile (payment terms, about us etc.)
๏ Complete feedback history

THE SHOPPING CART

Cart

One very important aspect of this whole process is the cart. Clients can fill their carts with products that they want to purchase.

They also have the:

- Ability to see products currently in cart
- Ability to add/remove products from cart
- Ability to increase the quantity (number of hours purchased of a certain voice talent)
- Instant price adjustments to reflect changes in cart

HOW CLIENTS CHECKOUT

Here are the steps a client goes through when purchasing something from the store:

1. Sign In or Sign Up
2. Work Order
Clients attach a script and provide artistic direction and outline any technical requirements.
3. Payment
Client make a full deposit in the already familiar SurePay Escrow service.
4. Verify
In the final step, the clients verify their details and click "Place Order" to place their deposit and send you the work order.

ACTION PLAN

You can get an early advantage by thinking of the types of products you may want to sell in your Store.

Here are some ideas:

๏ Radio Commercials, products sold by market size (National, Regional, Local) and length (:60, :30, :15)
๏ TV Commercials, products sold by market size (National, Regional, Local) and length (:60, :30, :15)
๏ Telephone Package (Auto Attendant, IVR, On-hold, voicemail), sell by word count for packages / offer products without music and products with music; more expansive products for larger projects such as extensive phone trees, global entities, conglomerates
๏ Copy writing services, by word count / per page (word count / font stated)
๏ Short narration (5 minutes or less) for business
๏ Long form narration (based upon number of words); could offer products that go up in price incrementally to reflect longer scripts.
๏ Podcast Promos
๏ Website Intros

COMING SOON!

These are just some of the ways you can promote you voice and make your services known using Voices.com. Testing the new version of the Voices.com website will occur in late October (the exact launch date is TBA), so prepare now for success by thinking of ideas and creating products to include in your very own store and in the Voices.com Store.

Any Comments?

Best wishes,

Stephanie and The Voices.com Team

Continuing our "First Look" theme, let's take a look and the new Profiles.

Profiles Now Have Four (4) Unique Sections:

๏ The main Profile page
๏ Demos
๏ Store
๏ Feedback

Since many of you have such impressive resumes and also a growing portfolio of demos, separating the two only makes sense and gives you more room to shine.

Learn more about the new Profiles now!

PROFILE

Welcome to what will be your new profile!

Your Contact information is still prominently displayed at the top of the page with an option to "Send Email".

Below the contact info, you'll be able to display one demo that we'll call "My Primary Demo". This ensures that clients can listen to samples from any page on your profile and always link to more demos if they'd like to hear more.

The Profile page displays most text information including your voice description, languages, accents, ages and a new area called special skills.

Special Skills is the ideal spot to add in copywriting, editing, mixing, mastering, music production, video production, multi-media design or anything else that you can do that is complimentary to your core voice-over skill set.

Credentials are important in any professionals career and often sway the hiring decision in your favor. In the education area, you can add in voice-over training, classes and workshops you've taken as well as university degrees or college diplomas. With so many associations out there, we found it more accommodating to give you the opportunity to notate the unions affiliations, associations or guilds that you're part of. We strongly believe that a detailed credentials area will present a solid impression of your professionalism and ability to get the job done.

Detailed Service Description differs from other areas of your profile as this is the best place to describe what kind of work you can do and how you perform your services.

Payment Terms clarifies (in advance) how you expect to get paid. This eliminates the back-and-forth that typically asks "how do I pay you?" or "when do you need to get paid". Do you accept credit cards, PayPal or check? Do you issue invoices that are due 30 days later (Net 30)? Outline all that here and give the client the answers their looking for.

Next Steps is our way of prompting the clients to provide you with their project details by clicking the large "Request a Quote" button.

SIDEBAR

The sidebar on the profile will be consistent across your profile pages. The sidebar also has new features.

The Rating provides clients with an instant snapshot of your trustworthiness. The date joined and your location will also give visitors the confidence that you've been in business for a while.

Page Tools are useful features designed to help the client interact with you and your profile page.

Should the client find themselves on any of the other pages within your profile, the "Voice Talent's Other Demos" links will quickly navigate them back to your demos where they can listen to your voice samples.

DEMOS

You'll now have a dedicated page just for your voice-over demos!

Below each demo, you can add Tags (learn more about how add tags to your demos here) and now a brief description of the demo. The description is optional, but may prove useful to those who want to expand on the content or context of the demo recording. Also new is the "Learn More >>" link that if clicked upon will link to the Demo Details page (see below).

Before moving on, you'll notice the Studio area has been moved to this page, too. This keeps all the audio recordings and production items on the same page and separates any technical information from your main profile view.

DEMO DETAILS PAGE

Each demo you upload will have it's own unique URL.

Why do this?

Because many of you use Voices.com for file delivery and a replacement for an FTP server. So, if you've got a file to deliver, upload it to Voices.com and then share the link of this page with your client. They can preview the audio using the flash player or download the source file by right-clicking the hyperlink.

These pages will also come in handy for clients who are scoping your work out and want to send the link to their colleagues prior to contacting you for work.

STORE

Your Store is where clients can buy your products. We've taken the familiar shopping cart model and adapted it for the marketplace at Voices.com.

Coming up this fall, you'll be able to sell products in the Voices.com Store as well as in your own store located within your profile, an innovation that we're pleased to offer to you that will make it easier than ever before to be hired based upon work you've already done.

In your Store, clients can see which products you offer and can add these items their cart. Note that the same products that you have listed in the Voices.com Store will also appear in your personal store located at your Profile.

While viewing your products, clients have the option to email you about a product or save your profile to their favorites, making it easy for the client to return to your store to complete the purchase at a later date.

PRODUCT DETAILS PAGE

Product pages will be where the client user can view:

๏ The full product title
๏ The full product description
๏ More information about you including your services as pulled from your profile (payment terms, about us etc.)
๏ Complete feedback history

FEEDBACK

To complement the other areas of your profile, the Feedback page displays Ratings & Reviews that you've received from completed transactions at Voices.com as well as comments left by clients who paid you by other means in the References section.

The client list is a great spot to jot down all those companies, organizations and groups that you've worked for.

What Do You Think?

The newly designed profile with its four distinguished areas is definitely an improvement.

Focus groups, industry experts and fellow Voices.com members have all contributed into making these developments a reality.

Thank you :)

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Best wishes,

Stephanie and The Voices.com Team

Fall '08 Release

Every quarter, we make updates to the Voices.com website, and this time, it's a big one.

Over the summer (and really, over the past 18 months) we've been working on ways to make your experiences using Voices.com faster, easier and better, in fact, we're shooting for "fantastic"!

During the next 10 days or so we'll be giving you a first-look at the all-new Voices.com and how you can use it to your fullest advantage.

This is a very exciting moment for us as we draw nearer to the launch...

What's New?

There'll be plenty to explore including a new search engine, new directory layout, a new Top 100 list called "Most Listens", a dedicated Community area and a reengineered SurePay service that is easier than ever.

Plus, we'll be showing you the Store and how to create products that you can sell in the store.

Buckle up...

To start, we're unveiling the completely redesigned Voices.com home page.

Let's run through this page from top to bottom.

First, each page of the website will have a thin top banner announcing the all-new Voices.com.

You'll also have links to check out what's new, and another link to "Send feedback".

We want you to let us know what you like, what could still be better, or in the unlikely situation you find something that needs fixing, please let us know asap.

Logo and Navigation

The logo is now sporting a (R) as Voices.com is now an officially registered trademark in the United States and Canada. Just as you'd expect, the logo will always link you to the home page.

Below the logo, we've simplified the navigation to plain text links which from our testing and feedback are much more clear and communicate the main areas of the website. These four links (Find Voices, Find Jobs, Community and My Account) will be consistent site-wide, whether you're logged in or logged out, and even if you're reading the blog, listening to a podcast or checking out your position in the Top 100.

Utilities

On the far right hand side you'll find some utilities such as the Advanced Search, Contact Us, Help and Login/Logout links. This search bar makes it easy for clients to search the entire database of professional voice over talents from any page on the website.

Splash

The home page's splash is now more bold and directs clients to create their job posting in one simple step. We're confident this will increase the number of job postings and audition opportunities for you.

Search

Moving down the page, you'll notice we've placed an enhanced search tool with three fields; keyword, gender and language. These three fields are by far the most used and make it easy for new visitors to get to the demos that best match their needs.

Next, you'll find the "Movers & Shakers" section. First, demos are featured right on the home page. This means clients can hear your demos immediately. If they like what they hear, they can simply click-through to your profile by clicking on your name. We've also decided to add avatars to add more personality to the website. Headshots, logos or industry iconography is perfectly suitable.

We've got some important updates to this area so read carefully.

There are 4 Top 10 lists on the home page that the visitor can toggle between. They are:

๏ New Voices
๏ Most Listens
๏ Recently Hired
๏ Top Favorites.

Let's go into each of these individually.

New Voices

This list is based upon your renewal date. If you renew monthly, you'll appear once every 30 days.

Most Listens

The Most Listens list features voice talent who have been most listened to this month. The site will count the number of times each of your demos have been played and tally them up resulting in a final number of listens. While the home page list will reset at the beginning of every month, a Top 100 Most Listens page has options to view Most Listens This Week, This Month and All-Time.

Recently Hired

As an act of congratulations, we'd like to honor those voice talent who've landed a job at Voices.com by showcasing them on the Recently Hired list. If you've completed a job that paid using the SurePay escrow service, you'll see your name on the Recently Hired list.

Top Favorites

Clients will soon be able to add you to Favorites directly from your profile, the search results and each audition that you submit. In an effort to more equitably share the home page real estate, we'll be showing the Top Favorites for this month on the home page. Again, if you're in the Top 10 currently, you'll still maintain your top positing in the Top Favorites All-Time.

Directory

In the Directory, we've simplified the categories and updated a few icons. Television Commercials and Television Promos and Station Identification have been merged into a single Television category. Similarly, Radio Commercials and Radio Imaging have been merged into a single Radio category. We've renamed some of the other categories, but the content remains the same.

About Us

For those who are new to Voices.com, we've placed a brief About Us paragraph. Notably, there's a "What Our Customers Say" section where each week, we'll select a success story from the Buzz blog. So, get your success stories in now so you'll be considered.

Footer

Finally, we've reached the bottom of the page. Here's where you'll find helpful links to other key areas of the website. We've also decided to proudly display the Better Business Bureau logo and Verisign Secure Server seal.

Special Thanks

A special thank you goes out to all those who helped David and the development team with the redesign.

What Do You Think?

Add your comments, questions or concerns about the new home page here. As always, we look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

Stephanie and the Voices.com Team

Itching to get your fingers on Randy Thomas and Peter Rofé's new book, Voice For Hire?

Meet them on their book tour and get your own autographed copy!

Available in stores September 30, 2008 on Back Stage Books, a division of Watson-Guptill and VNU Publications, Voice For Hire : Launch and Maintain a Lucrative Career in Voice-Overs is going to be a hit, prefaced with a foreword by Don LaFontaine.

Voice For Hire

I am highly anticipating reading Randy Thomas and Peter Rofé's book as I'm sure many of you are, too. A couple of copies have been earmarked for VOX Daily, and later this month, we'll be reviewing Voice For Hire and doing a giveaway here on the blog.

Meet Randy Thomas and Peter Rofé on Their Book Tour

Randy and Peter are going to host a number of book signings at bookstores and events across the United States and they hope to meet you. Here is a listing of the venues you can catch them at to get a signed copy of Voice For Hire.

Monday, September 22, 7:30pm
Barnes & Noble
The Grove
189 Grove Drive, Los Angeles, CA

Saturday, October 11, 5pm and 8pm
Borders
Gulf Coast Town Center
9903 Gulf Coast Main Street, Fort Myers, FL

Thursday, October 23, 5pm
Drama Bookshop
250 W 40th Street, New York NY

Saturday, November 15
ActorFest
NYC

About Randy Thomas

Randy Thomas, the voice of radio and television stations across the country, is the first woman to announce the Academy Awards, the Miss America Pageant, the Tony Awards, and the Screen Actors Guild Awards. She has announced the Oscars seven times and is the first person ever to announce The Oscars, The Tonys, and The Emmys all in the same year. Thomas is currently the voice of CBS Television Distribution’s Entertainment Tonight and The Insider.

About Peter Rofé

Peter Rofé is New York’s most sought after voice-over coach and producer, as well as a national voice over talent with endless commercial, promo, narration and video game credits. Rofé owns PDR Voice Over Coaching, a full service recording studio located in New York City where he coaches veteran and newcomer talent and produces the industry's most prolific demo reels. Peter has also taught voice over courses at The Barrow Group and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

If you're able to, support Randy and Peter by coming out to their book signings!

Any comments?

Best wishes,

Stephanie

In this time of sorrow, I want to express my deepest, heartfelt sympathies to the family of one man who meant the world to the voice over community.

Don LaFontaine, husband, father, grandfather, and hero passed away September 1, 2008 in the afternoon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 68.

Farewell, Friend

Don LaFontaine was the kind of person who always had the right words for everything, and today, I will do my best to honor him by summoning words that will be of fitting tribute to such a kind, dedicated human being who has breathed his last, leaving behind him a legacy of love, hope, and grace.

Journeying Home

A few short weeks ago, I received an email from Don (August 11, 2008) related to his health and how although he was struggling that he was getting better day by day, an email that was reassuring, humorous and well, simply Don.

After receiving his email, I wrote back and asked if I could interview him for VOX Daily, hoping that if possible he might type his answers and send them back to me electronically, however when he replied on August 18th a little while later, he suggested that although his voice wasn't as strong as before, "shaky from time to time" as he put it, that he would be happy to speak with me and to arrange it with his agent, Vanessa Gilbert.

This was an honor I dreamt not of. To even think about speaking to Don LaFontaine, that he would make time in his schedule from his sick bed to speak with me, was a gift.

I contacted Vanessa and we decided to play the interview by ear around Don's health and his schedule (he had still been recording for some clients since his illness), but little did we know, or anyone else for that matter, that we'd be losing him so soon.

Don was admitted to the hospital less than a week after he granted my interview request. Although I didn't get to hear his voice or receive answers to the questions, I know that he read them and was eager to share his answers with me, and with you.

Last year I had the opportunity to meet Don. It was a thrilling moment during a momentous occasion. He had a twinkle in his eye and I think for the first time got to be in a room full of hundreds of people, fellow practitioners of his art, who loved and revered him more than words could say.

It was then that pen pals became friends and the measure of the man so beautifully displayed, in his convictions, humility and strength that came from a life well lived, a life of love, passion and devotion.

A Celebration Of Life

Don's life began in Duluth, Minnesota, born on August 26th, 1940. Once he graduated from high school, he joined the army and was stationed at Fort Meyer, Virginia working as a recording engineer for the United States Army Band and Chorus.

After his discharge from the army, Don entered the world of advertising, working at an agency that produced theatrical trailers (one of the only ones outside of Hollywood studios) where he was employed as a copy writer, coining such immortal phrases as "In a world", and "A one-man army", "No where to run, no where to hide and no way out" and many more.

In 1965, a voice talent who was supposed to record failed to show up for his session and it fell upon Don who had a nice voice to take his place, the first of thousands of movie trailers that he would record over his lifetime.

The phrases that he wrote in his agency days changed his calling from the writer who told you about the movies to become the voice who made you want to go to the movies.

He spent a number of years as a head of production for Kaleidoscope Films, Ltd; one of the premiere trailer production houses. In 1976, he started his own production company, Don LaFontaine Associates. His first assignment as an independent was "The Godfather, Part II."

In 1978 he was asked to join Paramount Pictures, heading up the trailer department. Over the next three years, he became literally the "Voice" of Paramount. In 1980 he was named Vice President, but he missed being involved in active production.

For 30 years, Don had been a fixture of modern-day entertainment, advertising, and has also been the voice of NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox and UPN, in addition to TNT, TBS and the Cartoon Network recording hundreds of thousands of television and radio spots, including commercials for Chevrolet, Pontiac, Ford, Budweiser, McDonalds, Coke, and many other corporate sponsors.

At last count, he has worked on nearly 5000 films, including appearances as the in-show announcer for the Screen Actors Guild and Academy Awards. Based on contracts signed, he held the distinction of being perhaps the single busiest actor in the history of SAG.

Following The Leader

Achievements were no stranger to Don, but as he would discover, through those accolades he would be recognized as "the king of voice-overs", and to his deep awe and gratitude, beloved by voice talent of every race, color and creed.

His ability to unite people and speak words that moved them was unprecedented. His voice was so familiar yet so majestic, he had you in the palm of his hand, although he was seldom aware of it.

Over the last month, Don has given of himself, as he freely gave of himself, and his support has meant more to those beneficiaries than he could ever know. Don LaFontaine's name stands proudly behind a slate of actors called Unite For Strength who want to bring unity to SAG and AFTRA through merger, a cause dear to his heart and to all hearts in this industry. Where these things that meant so much to him are concerned encourage us to let his strength be our strength, and his hope our hope.

May The Lord Bless You And Keep You

If you knew Don, you know that his generosity and exceptional ability to communicate was second only to the size of his heart.

I would like to invite you now to share your thoughts, to grieve or to say a prayer for Don, his wife Nita Whitaker, and his daughters, Christine, Skye, and Elyse that they may be comforted in this time of heartache, a sorrow with depths that only God knows.

In unity and prayer,

Stephanie

If you've been following the news, US presidential candidate John McCain's commercial voice over talent "Joan", whose identity is deemed a corporate secret, has been a topic of discussion and I've no doubt in my mind that she had to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement).

Have you ever had to sign a non-disclosure agreement for a voice over job that you've recorded?

Leave a comment!

Incognito VO

There are many people in our industry who need to agree to non-disclosure agreements for their work and perhaps you're one of them.

I can appreciate why the McCain campaign is keeping Joan's identity under wraps and am aware of many, many NDA jobs that have come to voice talent registered at Voices.com, usually through direct contacts from their profiles.

A certain sweet satisfaction must come from the fact that you're voice is considered top secret and valued so much that they don't want their competition finding out. On the other hand, it must also be frustrating because you are just about to burst and want to let people know "That's Me!"

While I'm not asking you to reveal who you've signed agreements for, I do want to know if you have ever had to sign an NDA for voice over work.

How common are these jobs would you say?

Does any of your voice over work require NDAs?

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Rob Belknap

The face of the Screen Actors Guild may start to look a little bit different this year.

For tens of thousands of people in the acting and voice acting professions, particularly those who are members of SAG and or AFTRA, this change could make all the difference in the world.

Find out more in my special interview with Edoardo Ballerini, a candidate for the SAG Board of Directors and member of Unite For Strength, a group seeking the merger of SAG and AFTRA.

VOX: Thank you for being here on VOX Daily, Edoardo. For those of us who are unfamiliar with Unite For Strength, could you please tell us a little bit about what it is, who is involved and what your mission is?

EDOARDO BALLERINI: Thank you, Stephanie! Unite for Strength is a group of 31 performers running for the Board of the Screen Actors Guild. We are television stars, journeymen, stunt performers, background players, and voice artists. In short, we represent the full breadth of membership. Our mission is to merge SAG and AFTRA so performers are united at the bargaining table once and for all.

VOX: You're personally running for a position on the SAG Board of Directors. What made you want to run?

EDOARDO: Once I started studying the issues facing actors, and the direction our current leadership has taken us in, I felt an obligation. And, not to be too modest, but I think I'd be good at it. My experiences as an actor, having been everything from a day player to a lead, on television and in film, having done commercials and VO, animation and video games, have given me an understanding of what faces nearly every segment of the acting population.

VOX: If elected, what will you bring to the Board of Directors? Do you have any particular goals in mind?

EDOARDO: Unite for Strength has the primary goal of merging SAG and AFTRA. We believe it is in everybody's best interest, and that all other issues pale in comparison right now. Our employers have been merging nearly every year and we should be, too. On a personal note, I would like to bring civility and common sense to the Board. I would also like to spearhead outreach programs to younger members to get them involved.

VOX: One of your running mates happens to be a fan favorite around here, voice actor Bob Bergen. What's it like in the Unite For Strength camp? Are you the only voice actors represented among the candidates?

EDOARDO: Bob is wonderful! A true gentleman, and a sharp mind. Our slate is remarkably cohesive and supportive of each other. Running for office isn't easy, but the group is dedicated both to the cause of merger and to each other. And many of us do voice work. Let's not overlook Marcia Wallace, the voice of Mrs. Krabappel on The Simpsons!

VOX: Edoardo, there's a lengthy list of names listed on the Unite For Strength site that show support, including notable performers such as Sally Field, Alec Baldwin, Tom Hanks and our industry's very own, Don LaFontaine. What's it like to have some of the biggest name in show business supporting the cause? Why are they behind you and your colleagues?

EDOARDO: I am heartened not only that we have "big names" behind us, but who those names are. Tom, Sally, Alec and Don are not only stars, but they are respected and respectful individuals. Their support is rooted in remembering just how important a union is to the non-stars, the people who need residuals to live, and a stable Pension & Health plan for their families. It's important to understand that both sides on this election want the same thing - the best deals for performers. What we differ in is how to achieve these deals. Our supporters believe merging SAG and AFTRA will make that happen far faster than warring between the two unions ever could.

VOX: What can people do to get involved? Do you have to be a member of SAG to be part of this or help out?

EDOARDO: You do have to be a Hollywood SAG member to vote, of course, but there are many ways to get involved. I would like to see younger actors, even those not yet a part of SAG or AFTRA, to take an interest in their future unions, or better still... union. What we do now will affect them more than anybody else. Our website - www.uniteforstrength.com - has a lot of information about us, and our group on Facebook is becoming a great networking vehicle for actors. We're even planning a "live" networking event (imagine that!) for our Facebook group in early September. We're over 500 strong and growing!

VOX: You mentioned that voting has already been open for almost a week. When does voting end and how do people vote?

EDOARDO: Ballots were mailed on the 19th, and I just got mine today. (I confess it was thrilling to vote for myself and all my fellow candidates.) Every Hollywood SAG member in good standing will receive a ballot by mail. They are not due back until the 19th of September, but it's always best to vote right away. Otherwise these things tend to get lost or forgotten. As they say in Chicago, "Vote early, vote often."

VOX: What would it mean for the members of SAG should candidates from Unite For Strength win positions on the board? Is there a certain number of seats available or are all the seats on the board of directors open for new directors?

EDOARDO: There are 55 members of the Board, but only 33 open seats this year. It's a bit like the U.S. Senate or House in that not all seats are up each election. However, a quick glance at the numbers shows that if we get all of our 31 candidates in we would be a majority voice and therefore able to present our agenda of merger without delay. I believe we would instantly be stronger and SAG members would be better protected and represented.

VOX: How would a Unite For Strength Board of Directors affect voice actors? Do you have any specific aims to achieve for voice over performers?

EDOARDO: Voice actors may be the most vulnerable performers when it comes to having two unions, and have been for some time. Merger is essential to us in voice work. Because VO work is so deeply split between SAG and AFTRA, two things happen. First, a performer ends up contributing to two separate Pension & Health plans. And second, a producer can shop between the two unions for a less actor-friendly contract. I know of several VO actors who end up qualifying for neither health plan, but would have easily qualified under a merged union. I also know several VO actors who are working more and earning less. That's not right.

VOX: One of Unite For Strength's main objectives is to unite SAG with AFTRA, an idea that has been bandied around for decades, even brought to the fore by past SAG president, Melissa Gilbert, just to be shot down.

EDOARDO: It was hardly "shot down!" It missed by a few hundred votes, despite an aggressive campaign against it! It actually achieved majority support in SAG at 58.8%, just shy of the 60% needed according to the by-laws. Moreover, an independent study was conducted shortly thereafter that revealed that 78% of members supported merger! So why didn't it pass? Simple. Poor turnout. I think we're starting to see the importance of taking an active interest in our unions! We would not be in this mess today if we had merged in 2003. There would still be issues, of course, but we wouldn't be negotiating with our employers with one hand tied behind our backs.

VOX: I see, although defeated, it was actually quite close and there was a significant amount of support for the motion to merge. That's interesting. I have a few more questions for you, if you don't mind.

a) What needs to happen to make a successful merger?

EDOARDO: There is a long history of successful mergers in this country, the most famous being the AFL and the CIO. I won't pretend that you can just snap your fingers and voila! you're merged. There is a great deal of planning and consideration necessary. But what needs to happen is this: people need to understand how necessary it is for their futures. And it is.

VOX: Why wouldn't people want the two unions to merge?

EDOARDO: The general fears are these: one, that the Pension plans would be at risk, and two, that the union would be too diversified to properly serve actors, that is, that the new union would suddenly comprise a whole lot of "non-actors" like broadcasters. To the first point, people should know that all pension plans are Federally protected, down to the last penny. There is no risk of losing a single cent. To the second point, we are already such a diverse group! We are theatrical actors, extras, stunt players, animation voices, industrial performers, commercial actors, promo voices, stand-ins, and so on. The Screen Actors Guild was once comprised of film actors only. That day has long passed. As a final thought, consider this: any union's ultimate weapon is the threat of a strike. You never want it to come to that, but it's always a union's right if approved by its membership. Today, if we were to strike, the producers lose out on scripted shows, but they can fall back on reality programming, game shows, talk shows, sports, the news, the list goes on and on. Imagine if in this strike scenario, all of that were to come to a halt at once! Now that's real incentive for the producers to make a good deal! Honestly, I haven't heard a compelling argument against merger.

VOX: What has prevented merger thus far? Is it only to do with a small percentage of people in power who don't want merger?

As I said, there is majority support - in both unions - for merger, but it fell agonizingly short. My sense is that people were afraid of the unknown. But the tide has turned. It's no secret now what's happening. We're fighting with each other, and we're undercutting each other. We've had a look over the proverbial cliff. And it's a long fall coming unless we unite for strength.

---------------------

Edoardo Ballerini is a candidate for the SAG Board of Directors with the Unite For Strength slate.

Beyond a well established on-camera career, Edoardo has also worked extensively behind the mic, voicing for Infiniti, Toyota, Sony PSP Talkman, Tyco, BMW, and on the upcoming animated series "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" for Warner Bros. He also recently completed an audiobook of Machiavelli's "The Prince."
--------------------

Any Comments?

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Stephanie

Are you an avid, passionate user of Voices.com?

We're looking for power users of Voices.com to evaluate and provide constructive criticism on the new design that will be revealed this fall.

Interested?

If you want to have the first glance at the new Voices.com redesign, add a comment to this article to join the focus group!

What are the Goals of the Redesign for Voices.com?

๏ Improved Usability
๏ Increased Server Speed and Page Load Time
๏ Greater Community Involvement

This should take you no more than 10 to 15 minutes to explore as part of the focus group.

The focus group will finish up by August 17th followed by a couple more rounds of iteration and previewing before launching.

If you're interested, add a comment!

Best wishes,

Stephanie, David and the Voices.com Team

©iStockphoto.com/Shawn Hine

Earlier on July 29, 2008 (today) there was an earthquake in SoCal (Southern California) that shook several communities and inspired voice actor Bob Bergen to produce a brief report in character detailing happenings to do with the quake.

The Associated Press reported that the 11:42 a.m. quake was initially estimated at 5.8 by the U.S. Geological Survey but was revised downward to 5.4.

To hear a special report from the Looney Tunes on the SoCal earthquake, read on.

How Did Porky Pig, Marvin the Martian and Tweety Bird Respond to the Quake?

To listen to the report recorded by Bob Bergen (voice of Porky Pig among others), click on the link below:

Looney Tunes News - Earthquake Coverage.

Were you affected by the SoCal earthquake?

Add a comment and let us know that you're OK.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Photo via FoxNews.com

We're pleased to present you with the results of our Voices.com Q2 Client Experience Report for 2008.

By providing quarterly documentation to our community members, we are able to share how Voices.com has progressed and reveal detailed reports consisting of significant information regarding the experiences of clients (buyers of voice over services) who use the service to hire voice talent at Voices.com.

Highlights

• Voices.com now serves 92,736 people.
• The number of job postings at Voices.com has increased by 130% from this time last year.
• The number of voice talent hired at Voices.com has increased by 548% from this time last year.

Trends

Clients increasingly depend upon polished voice-over demos, custom auditions and quick turn around to complete their projects in a timely manner.

New conferences, educational resources and marketing opportunities are paving the way for motivated voice talent to use this time wisely and leap-frog their slower to adapt colleagues.

Voice Over Demo is Still King

The voice-over demo continues to be the single most important factor in obtaining work. Other factors include the need for an authentic accent or regional dialect, response time on the job posting, proposed turn around time on completing the work, or the client has worked with a voice talent on previous projects and opted to work with them again.

Want to Learn More?

For case studies and more download the Voices.com Client Experience Report now!

Best wishes,

David, Laurynda and the Voices.com Team

Who won the duels?

Find out today.

๏ Charlton Griffin performing Crime and Punishment VS George Guidall (WINNER!) performing Crime and Punishment

๏ Grover Gardner (WINNER!) performing The Adventures of Tom Sawyer VS Garrick Hagon performing The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

๏ Nadia May performing Middlemarch VS Kate Reading (WINNER!) performing Middlemarch

๏ Jim Dale (WINNER!) performing Peter Pan VS Tim Curry performing Peter Pan

๏ Christopher Hurt (WINNER!) performing Fahrenheit 451 VS Ray Bradbury performing Fahrenheit 451

๏ John Lee performing The Call of the Wild VS Frank Muller (WINNER!) performing The Call of the Wild

๏ Juliet Stevenson (WINNER!) performing Persuasion VS Anna Massey performing Persuasion

๏ George Guidall performing Ethan Frome VS Scott Brick (WINNER!) performing Ethan Frome

๏ Davina Porter (WINNER!) performing Anna Karenina VS Nadia May performing Anna Karenina

๏ Jim Norton performing Dubliners VS Frederick Davidson (WINNER!) performing Dubliners

To find out the nitty gritty, you can check the final polls featuring the duel results for each duel at Audible.

A special thanks to Audible.com for this fun contest and also a hearty congratulations to some familiar names here on this list.

You might recognize Jim Dale (narrator of the Harry Potter series of audio books in the US from the Guinness Records post), Davina Porter (she was mentioned on this blog before for her work in Innocent Traitor), Scott Brick (who teaches and blogs as well as performs), and the late Frank Muller who has been given another tribute through this timely contest.

Do you have a favorite audiobook narrator?

Leave a comment!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Voices.com is pleased to provide promotional sponsorship for the Second Annual Midwest Voice Conference in Chicago, IL on Saturday, August 9, 2008 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

If you use your voice to earn a living, make your way to this very informative, enlightening and practical conference in Chicago!

On August 9, The 2008 Midwest Voice Conference will be a one-day workshop discussing the effects of common disorders, such as obesity, reflux disease, neurological diseases, and allergies on the voice.

Hear World Renowned Faculty Explain:

๏ How the Voice Works
๏ Diagnosis of Voice Disorders
๏ Tools to Protect Your Voice
๏ Common Medical Conditions Affecting the Voice
- Reflux Disease/ GERD
- Allergies & Sinus Disease
- Stroke, Parkinson's Disease, ALS & Spasmodic Dysphonia
- Obesity
๏ Hands-on Workshops and Demonstrations

Speakers include:

๏ H. Steven Sims, MD
๏ Stephanie Joe, MD
๏ Carlos Galvani, MD
๏ Jay Goldstein, MD
๏ Karen Wicklund, DM, MHS, CF-SLP
๏ Arlene Barr, MD
๏ Lyndia Johnson
๏ Randy Buescher

As a voice actor, this conference will give you a different perspective on how to use and take care of your instrument (your instrument being your voice, of course!).

People who would also benefit from the conference are actors, singers, radio hosts, teachers and anyone who uses their voice to make a living.

The fee to attend is $35.

Conference Date, Time and Location:

Saturday August 9, 2008
8am - 4pm

UIC College of Medicine
Research Building
@ Moss Auditorium
909 S. Wolcott St.
Chicago, IL 60612

To register or for more information contact Colleen at ckenost@uic.edu

Will you be in attendance?

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Hello Nurse!

The long awaited day finally came on Friday July 11, 2008 for millions of Apple fans worldwide with the introduction of the iPhone in markets outside of the US.

Did you get one? Share your story by adding a comment!

It's A Beautiful Day

Friday was a day like any other unless you are one of the people who courageously left your home to get an Apple iPhone.

Well, you could say that's somewhat of an understatement to put it frankly. More than just iPhone fanatics were affected.

The iPhone was everywhere, on television, radio ads, in the newspapers, magazines, podcasts, live streaming shows (thank you Leo Laporte for your 24 hour coverage of iPhone madness!), Twitter tweets, social networking site statuses, and on the lips of people in shopping centers from New Zealand to Canada.

It all started years ago with the hope that Apple would one day make a cellular phone. You could feel the anticipation as Steve Jobs (CEO and founder of Apple with Steve Wozniak) repeated "It's a phone, an iPod and a browser" during Macworld 2007 in San Francisco, heralding the future arrival of the iPhone, releasing it on the market on June 29th of last year.

With a grin from ear to ear, I'm pleased to share that we have one!

It was worth the wait and using it is as easy as using my MacBook Pro. The experience is beyond what I ever expected and the 3G is really something else. Imagine having Internet wherever you are whenever you want... It's amazing!

I was updating my Facebook status on Saturday from a party and sent my first message using the web browser.

We've also become fans of some of the applications, Jirbo is fun if you've found that one.

Aside from the web functionality and accessibility, another neat aspect about the iPhone is that you can record your voice using it, at least for personal purposes.

Another feature I love is how you can turn the iPhone on its side to make the web browser enlarge the screen. Also, the actual phone feature is great and easy to use. Taking pictures is fun and the pictures come out very clearly.

It's an astounding piece of technology that will change lives, undoubtedly, for the better.

What are your impressions of the iPhone? Add a comment!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Oil and Water

Public skirmishes between SAG and AFTRA have got the unions in the headlines quite a bit in the past few months.

To sum up, AFTRA went on to talk up the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on their own after suspending their joint bargaining agreement with the Screen Actors Guild, and came out with some kind of solution.

AFTRA's parent union, SAG, is now embroiled in talks following their expired contract (July 1, 2008) with the AMPTP, bargaining for more money and residual pay. The AMPTP has made their final offer (July 2, 2008) and SAG requested more time to study it. No further meetings are scheduled at this point.

There's a lot going on between SAG and AFTRA

AFTRA has an election coming up this fall and SAG is currently running a campaign of their own to the chagrin of AFTRA. For two unions that represent a significant portion of the same people and overlap in a variety of ways, it would be nice if they could get along for the sake of their members, or as some have suggested, merge and unite under one banner.

Where does this leave those in the middle? Is there a middle?

As SAG and AFTRA continue to spar, take a moment to read this article written by a former union member with Financial Core status, Lani Minella, and her take on this often intentionally neglected yet very real dues paying non-member union designation.

Financial Core VS Union : The Real Deal

By Lani Minella

Okay everyone, I'm sure I can tick off a lot of people by opening up this Pandora's Box, but I really want to clarify a few things which I'm happy to expound upon later if asked.

Financial core = a dues paying "non-member" who's allowed to do union and non union work.

The only thing they can't do is vote on union issues and IMHO (in my humble opinion), the union doesn't ever consider it's members' votes anyway.

Yes you can join as Fi-Core even though many union peeps may try to tell you otherwise. It is not true that you have to join as union first and then go fi-core!

Where some agents stand

There has not been a talent agency union franchise agreement in place for over a year and a half. The agents got ticked at the union trying to tell them how to run their offices and denying the agents the ability to earn extra money by either teaching or co-producing projects and as a result, agents have nothing against you being Fi-Core and there's no stigma involved.

No clients will ever know you are FiCore

That is something the union wants to keep a secret because once it gets out how many people are Core, the union would have No Clout at all. When a client Station 12s the list of talent that will be used on a union project, they submit the talents' social security numbers and the union responds with either the words "Okay, Must Join, or Taft Hartley" beside each actor's name. Charlton Heston who once was the president of SAG was Core and there are tons of well-known actors who have gone that route.

Most talents do not know that a client has to pay 60% extra on top of the actual union wage to the payroll company to cover state and federal taxes, the Health and Retirement 14.3% and the 10% agency fee.

These are the union rates for interactive VOs as of 1/1/08:

Up to 3 voices or 4 hour day = $759
Additional voice = $253 per voice
6-10 voices or 6 hour day = $1,518

Here's a rate not many people know exists: 1 voice/1 hour = $379.50

If you do a cartoon (that's direct to DVD) you only get the half day rate for the entire full first day. If you work beyond the first day, rates return to the above. Not sure if this is different for cartoons that are aired.

As FiCore, if you work a union gig, your 14.3 % is still paid and goes toward your possibly qualifying to buy your own health coverage. You have to earn a minimum of $15 K a year as a single actor to be able to purchase union health coverage. It's not free.

If you're union and considering going FiCore

If you are already union and considering going FiCore, all you have to do is fax or mail your union office a letter stating that effective immediately you are going Financial Core Status and you wish your dues to be adjusted accordingly. You won't save more than about 90 cents on dues, but after they get your letter, someone will inevitably call you to try and talk you out of your decision.

They will tell you how it could cost you over $1000 to reinstate yourself to full union status (why would you ever need to?) and they will try and tell you how you are hurting the union's ability to best serve you. That's BS. As I said, no one will ever know you are FiCore except the union and you. I was full union status for SAG and AFTRA for over 15 years and I went FiCore about 2 years ago. Never a problem.

You have to mail them back your precious membership card (Big deal--go to Kinkos, make a color copy and frame it if it's so dear to you.)

No one will ever ask to see your card.

If you go to a union job, you are considered union.

Agents can talk freely about FiCore now without thinking a Mobster from the union will slit their throat.

Here are a few issues I have about the union.

It's supposed to be a national union that we belong to. But instead of facilitating us being hired outside our locale, the union makes a client prove they've done an earnest local search for talent and couldn't find anyone with your qualifications before they are "allowed to bring you into their locale." Technically with everything being electronic nowadays, this seldom presents an issue, but when it comes to travel fees, it can cost the client more than your performance to pay for your travel anytime you go outside the 30 mile radius from the nearest union office... figured on $139/per hour and 39 cents a gallon for gas. Boy they sure don't pay well for gas. Anyway, your mileage is figured out using something like MapQuest from your door to the studio's door.

Being that our union offices in San Diego closed years ago, LA is considered our office. But if we try and get the travel fees we are entitled to as union members, LA clients will either find a local talent or say, "If you want the job... all it pays is scale... take it or leave it."

Yes the union will fight for you if you tell them to, but you will soon be blackballed in the industry if you do.

So even though we belong to a national union, it's rather discriminatory as far as making jobs universally user-friendly to actors in different cities.

Same thing goes if you have a problem getting an agent or a problem with the agent you have. The union will follow up on a complaint if you file one, but they will admit that if you stir up things, you'll soon be on the undesirable list.

I respect anyone who doggedly stays totally union, but I merely wanted to point out some facts which few people know to allow everyone to make up their minds based on truth rather than rumor.

NO one will blackball you if you are FiCore. On the contrary, agents love it when they can send you out on every kind of job. And no clients talk to each other comparing notes about how much they paid a certain actor for different jobs.

I've had people think FiCore means we don't pay dues, but we pay 99.99% of the same dues as every other union member. We don't save $5 anymore either for belonging to both unions. Membership dues are also increased every time you earn more with each union job.

Here's the last thing many people don't know about collecting unemployment from a union job. Just like our normal unemployment works by being cumulative... once you reach a certain quarter, every union job you work for will allow you to go collect unemployment the day after you record for that client.

Yes you can even do that as a FiCore member as long as the job was a union job. They say the LA unemployment office has a special side door for the big stars to collect after they finish their multi-million dollar movies.

What's bad about this is how this client you worked for, who may have several full time employees at their business that they pay unemployment insurance for... maybe hit with a rate increase for their unemployment if they start getting a lot of claims by actors who may have only worked for them in a studio for an hour.

And here's the final question which few people can find an answer to;

Of all the Health and Retirement contributions we've put into the kitty over the years-----what can we expect to reap (dollar-wise) when WE retire?

If anyone knows that answer, please share.

Lastly, people have considered legal action against the union because it seems unethical to be a dues paying NON member. How can you pay dues to NOT belong to something?

But no one has followed up with that idea because the union is it's own CLUB and can have its own rules.

Best to all,

Lani

~~

Any comments?

This article was republished here with the purpose of facilitating a conversation.

We are welcoming opinions from all perspectives on this issue.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/TIM MCCAIG

For those of you who are familiar with Marvel's Hulking protagonist Bruce Banner or are looking forward to seeing "The Incredible Hulk", I've got a treat for you!

I had the opportunity to speak with J.D. Hall yesterday afternoon just days before the cinematic premiere of The Incredible Hulk, due out Friday June 13, 2008.

Join me in this interview with J.D. Hall, veteran member of SAG and voice of the groaning, growling, grunting Hulk!

Interview with J.D. Hall, Voice of The Incredible Hulk

VOX: Congratulations on landing the role to voice The Hulk!  It must be exciting to be the vocal force behind one of Marvel's most explosive heroes.  How did you get the gig?

J.D. HALL: I went and auditioned for Ed Norton and some sound editors. They were looking for someone to do the growls, grunts and groans. They saw a lot of people and hired 2 at first to provide a voice for the Hulk and we worked, just the two of us, for 2 sessions. After that, they hired 2 other guys to also do some voice over for the Hulk. We all did our recording sessions individually but were present to hear each other.

VOX: What was your reaction when you first learned that you would be the voice of The Hulk for the movie?

J.D. HALL: I've been doing voice over for a long time. I was happy to get the job and of course, as an actor am always glad to work. It was a really big challenge to do the work, though! We had to create all kinds of sounds for the crew to work with. By the final cut, the editors digitally processed our raw material.

VOX: Grunting, growling and groaning is pretty hard on the vocal folds.  What kind of precautions did you take for your voice during the sessions and how did you take care of your voice in between sessions to keep it in optimum health?

J.D. HALL: I drank a lot tea and tried to protect my voice as much as I could. It's difficult to make those sounds even when you're supporting with your diaphragm. We had tea, throat lozenges and throat sprays, too. At the end of the day, none of those really prevented the sore throats.

VOX: If you don't mind me asking, what kind of tea and remedies were at the studio?

J.D. HALL: I drank Lipton tea with honey and lemon, there was chamomile tea, some of the guys used Ricola throat lozenges, Fisherman's Friend; I had some Halls Mentho-Lyptus. Of course, there was lots of water to drink that helped to keep our throats lubricated.

I grew up on tea and honey when studying in LA. I also use tabasco sauce to help clear mucus. The main thing though is to have good technique. When you're doing vocals and speaking that stuff usually works, but when you're growling, groaning and making unearthly sounds, you have to give it your all and then you've got to let it heal for three to four days.

VOX: Which studio did you record at and how long did it take to do the voice overs?

J.D. HALL: The sessions were in late March through early April 2008 at a Los Angeles recording studio called Wildfire. There were four sessions in total for voice over for The Hulk and I was personally involved in three of those four sessions.

VOX: What was the most challenging aspect of the performance?

J.D. HALL: It was very strenuous on my voice. I've done monsters before but this character was the most intense. I'd work 1 to 2 hours at a time. Always, it was the individual actor working, never as a whole group. I've done voice over for Pirates of the Caribbean, Cutthroat Island ADR (afterward we jokingly called it "Sore Throat Island"). Whenever you're doing ADR for movies that have wars, concerts, sports, and so on, you have a group of 12, 14 or 15 people there with you who are also doing the work so you don't have to push your voice as hard. In this movie (The Incredible Hulk) we were recording in pairs, and when there are just two of you, you can't hold anything back. The challenge as an actor is that you want to give your client what they are looking for without injurying yourself and do your best to deliver on what you were hired for. There's a fine balance.

VOX: You've done voice over for many exciting venues. Can you tell me a little bit about those?

J.D. HALL: I've been credited for voice over work in Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Supremacy and am also the narrator for The Scorpion King. I've voiced and narrated two very important national treasures, The Civil Rights Museum in Memphis and The Hall of Presidents at Disney World Orlando. Also, I have recorded narration for Undercover Brother.

VOX: How did you get into acting? I believe you met your wife Euguenia at a class, right?

J.D. HALL: I'm originally from Baltimore, MD. Yes, I met my then future wife Eugenia Wright at LA City College while studying theater. Before studying theater, I was working in the desert for the space program. I was stationed in the Mohave Desert and was hired to track satellites. That got old, and since I was already out in California, I decided to quit my job and move to LA to study theater. I met Eugenia about 6-7 months later while studying theater at the school.

VOX: Were there any techniques that you used to help you deliver your lines (growls, groans, etc.)?

J.D. HALL: Knowing your limits and not pushing. You don't want to do permanent damage to your voice. As I said before, you want to please the client without causing injury to your voice which is a hard compromise to make because you need your voice for other roles that may come up shortly after the job you're presently recording. You have to be wise and know your limits. Most importantly, know when to speak up if you're uncomfortable. Ask the director to tell you what you want and have them say it early on in your experimentation. If they can catch you a couple of seconds in to a growl and it's not the right sound, they can cut you off early and help you to save your energy for the sound they are looking for. Be aware of your voice, limitations and be in communication with people you are working with. I have the experience of having done it before and had worked with those editors before during past voice over jobs so it was comfortable for me as a voice actor.

VOX: You mentioned earlier that Ed Norton was there. Did he help cast or attend any of the sessions?

J.D. HALL: I auditioned for Ed Norton. Ed ran the first session as the director was away at the time. He gave me some direction. Since you only see bits and pieces of the film as a voice actor, you need someone in the sessions who knows what's going on to piece it all together for you and make you feel the story. Ed helped out with a lot. After that, the director took over for the remaining sessions.

VOX: Creating a number of distinctive grunts and a variety of vocal utterances for a character that has limited use of language must have been quite the work out and mental exercise.  Can you tell me about the process you went through to develop the persona and voice for The Hulk?

J.D. HALL: The bigger growls and more combative sounds were the ones I was hired to do. Others had more intimate things. The arc of emotions the Hulk goes through gave us each the opportunity to present one aspect of his personality. We didn't have to match each other.

VOX: Judging by what you've just said, I'm assuming your voice got the biggest workout!

J.D. HALL: The casting for Hulk's voice was emotion-specific. Each actor represented a different part of his personality. The growls for the Hulk were created by using my imagination. We all had our voices processed so you wouldn't be able to necessarily identify my voice as my voice. At the end, everyone was happy and satisfied with how things went. I brought my skills to the table and did my best to make the Hulk sound fierce, frightening, and dangerous. I heard that the team had experimented with the sound of lions roaring, but I don't know if they mixed anything in with our voices.

VOX: Is your voice featured in the videogame?

J.D. HALL: No, not that I know of, and I haven't been paid for any work if it has. My voice will be featured in the Dark Void game which hasn't been released yet. I've also done voice over work in The Bourne Conspiracy recording for enemy soldier voices. I'm given credit for that work, however, I didn't get any credit for my work in The Incredible Hulk or The Scorpion King, a movie I provided the opening narration for.

VOX: Will you be at opening night?

J.D. HALL: No, I won't was not invited. For some reason vo artists are stuck out of the way and kept anonymous.

VOX: One of my friends, Bob Bergen (a voice for Porky Pig and Tweety), told me a similar story about how the voice actors from the movie Space Jam also were not invited to the premiere, even though they played prominent roles in the film with their voices. They had to watch the film down the street from where the real party was.

J.D. HALL: That's pretty rare, usually you (voice actors) don't get to go to anything on opening night. Sometimes if you have a nice director, they'll invite you and a group of family and friends to attend a pre-screening before the premiere. Unless you are Eddie Murphy or Mike Myers in Shrek, you don't get to go to the premiere.

VOX: For someone who plays such an integral role in the success and action of the film, I'm shocked to hear that not only are you not credited but that you, along with your colleagues, were not invited to come. Why do you think that is?

J.D. HALL: I think they like to keep the process secret. There are many stories over the years of people who have created voices behind the scenes who are not acknowledged. The lady who sang for Snow White in the original Disney animated film wasn't allowed to say that she did, for instance. There are lots of stories like that. You get used to it and there are some things you can take credit for. Not many people know this, but if there aren't enough on-camera credited people in the film and the list looks too short, they flesh out the credits by adding the voice actors - if the cast list is long enough, they don't credit the voice actors. If you're looping, there's no credit at all.

Will you be seeing The Incredible Hulk? Be Sure to Listen For J.D.'s voice!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Are you going to any conferences this year?

We're right smack dab in the middle of conference season (NAB just wrapped up in Las Vegas) and there are a couple of conferences coming up in the voice over industry.

While there are conferences out there, it's up to you to decide whether or not they are worth every penny.

Worth Every Penny?

Yesterday, I received a timely email asking what my thoughts were about conference fees for attending events held within our industry.

Measuring Value

The price of conference tickets should be equal to the perceived value of what you are going to receive.

From a business point of view, investing several hundred dollars, even for a day, to be in the same room as industry leaders and people you wouldn't be able to meet with otherwise, network, and learn first-hand from experts renowned in their specialty fields is worth the price of admission.

Attending a conference should also recharge your batteries and inspire you for a long period of time once you've gone home. That alone could be priceless for someone who needs a little pick me up.

These aren't guidelines for just conferences centered around voice acting but any conference in general.

Justifying Costs

As an aside, it costs money to put a conference on, and part of the fee you pay to attend goes toward costs associated with the venue, food, speakers and any materials that are being provided to you.

It isn't uncommon for a conference to cost $500 or more to attend. Generally conferences that cost several hundred dollars also provide food and drink throughout the day.

Conferences Coming Up

There are a couple of voice acting conferences coming up this year, including one in less than two weeks time in Schenectady, NY called the "Voice Coaches Advanced Marketing Expo and Conference", a one-day event jam packed with a variety of speakers specific to advanced marketing for voice actors on and off the Internet.

Last year, David and I spoke at Voice Coaches and can relay that the crew at VoiceCoaches.com puts on a dynamite expo that is catered (always a plus!) and really hits on critical material for professionals. We can't wait to return this year.

A Perfect Mix of Business and Networking

The one-day event was substantial yet manageable and those traveling from out of town didn't have to spend a lot of money on hotels.

Attendees are given a great experience and receive top advice from a variety of experts with plenty of time for Q&A and mingling. The presenters and panelists are treated very well which in turn inspires their performances and really gives the people what they came for.

Staying Ahead of the Curve

I can't speak highly enough of the people at Voice Coaches and think you would enjoy yourself and learn some things you might not have known before.

For instance, this year David and I are lecturing on How to Get the Most out of Voices.com and Internet Marketing which is always an exciting topic and in a constant state of flux.

Other speakers include Rodney Saulsberry, Billy Serow, Evan Farmer, David Bourgeois and more.

Pick Brains, Digest Information, Have Fun!

While the main purpose of going to a conference is to learn it is also important to realize that it's also about face time. There is nothing like being in a room with other people who share a common vision, are passionate about what they do and seek excellence.

Want More Info?

To learn more about the Voice Coaches Advanced Marketing Expo and Conference to be held on May 3rd, 2008 in Schenectady, NY, click here or call 1-866-887-2834 ext. 100.

Hope to see you in Schenectady!

Have You Been to Any Conferences?

Share your experiences as comments!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

P.S. If you know you are coming to Voice Coaches, please leave a comment below so that we can meet up!

©iStockphoto.com/Dmitriy Shironosov

Want to Meet Voices.com?

As the founders of Voices.com, David and I are slated to speak at the Voice Coaches Advanced Marketing Expo and Conference in Schenectady, NY on May 3rd, 2008.

Come meet us in New York!

Voice Coaches Advanced Marketing Expo

For the second consecutive year, Voices.com has been invited to speak at the Voice Coaches Advanced Marketing Expo and Conference to take place on Saturday May 3rd, 2008 in Schenectady, NY at the GE Theater. Our topic is getting the absolute most from Voices.com and marketing on the Internet.

We have a longstanding relationship with Voice Coaches and are thrilled to return this spring.

What's Going On?

This is a one-day event for voice actors that brings together a unique blend of industry professionals with a variety of specialized knowledge and experience, giving attendees a rare opportunity to learn from and interact with top professionals and experts. There will also be live media coverage of the event.

Scheduled Speakers for This Year’s Conference Include:

• Rodney Saulsberry, voice over artist and author of books “You Can Bank on Your Voice” and “Step Up to the Mic”
• Billy Serow, top voice over agent, head of commercial VO casting at Abrams Agency in New York and voice acting faculty at Yale University
• Evan Farmer, Host of TLC’s hit show “While you Were Out”, voice for MTV’s “Daria” series, “Celebrity Death Match” and numerous others
• David and Stephanie Ciccarelli, founders of Voices.com, an industry leading web-based voice over marketplace
• Mark Magdich, home recording expert and sales engineer with top equipment retailer Sweetwater
• Evan Skolnick, gaming voice over producer, producer and writer of games including Guitar Hero, Spider Man 3, Shrek 2 and numerous others
• Jay Silverman, voice actor, announcer and public communications expert who currently teaches marketing at The Sages College, The University of Albany, and Voice Coaches team member
• David Bourgeois, Voice Coaches president and professional producer
• Dan Dinsmore, CEO of Overit Media, a design firm with clients including The Chicago Bulls, Trump Vodka, and the Denver Nuggets

Open Enrollment

In previous years, the conference had been exclusively limited to clients of Voice Coaches, but this year, David Bourgeois and his team are excited to announce that the Advanced Marketing Expo and Conference has open registration and welcomes voice actors from all over the country offering registration over the phone toll-free to reserve tickets for this industry event.

What Can You Expect?

Registration for the event includes admission to all lectures and the expert panel, continental breakfast, snacks and beverages throughout the day, access to all Info-Vend booths, networking lunch, inclusion on the Pro Voice Compilation CD, 1 year “I can Voice” Web Extension (Voice Coaches clients only), 4 CD set of the entire event and Voice Coaches Advanced Marketing Expo Book with information from all event presenters.

How to Register

To learn more or register for the Voice Coaches Advanced Marketing Expo and Conference in Schenectady, NY on May 3rd 2008, call 1-866-887-2834 ext. 100 or visit www.voicecoaches.com/marketing .

About Voice Coaches

Voice Coaches, based in Schenectady, NY provides one on one voice over training, demo development, and marketing support to clients across the United States and Canada. The company offers a very complete training solution to aspiring voice actors, including voice evaluation, private training, commercial and narrative demo development, legally licensed copy, CD demo replication, web demo development, self marketing training, personal mini web site, long term support and automatic placement on the web’s number one marketplace for Voice Actors, Voices.com. Voice Coaches is dedicated to unparalleled ethics in training and is a member of the BBB, The Voice and Speech Trainers Association, and The American Society for Training and Development.

Hope to see you there! If you're coming leave a comment on the blog so that we can meet up.

Best wishes,

Stephanie and David Ciccarelli

After an announcement late last week, it appears that the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) wants to suspend joint bargaining with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).

This may be the case for the current governing body of AFTRA but I heard straight from some heavy hitters that the move to suspend joint negotiations is not a decision representative of the entire body of membership, including individuals from the AFTRA Leadership Team who wish to see change, reconcile the differences between the two unions and hope for a merger.

Read this enlightening missive that debunks several myths and misinformation about what is going on behind the scenes from the perspective of working actor and current AFTRA National Board member, Los Angeles local member and LA's fourth vice president, Jason George.

Read this to help you research before making your decision at the vote.

Letter from Jason George

Hey Folks,
 
A bunch of you are asking me what's going on with SAG and AFTRA as well as wondering who you should vote for in the AFTRA re-run election.  I'll start with the re-run election because it's a faster answer. 
 

VOTE FOR THE AFTRA LEADERSHIP TEAM

I'm one of their candidates and I'm asking you to vote for me again.  I'm also asking you to go to www.aftraleadershipteam.org, click on candidates, and print it out as a voter guide. They're people I trust and they represent every category of working actor from Series regulars to Guest Stars to Singers and Dancers to Stunts to Voice Overs and Sound recordings and Broadcasters to Background.

Do NOT vote for AFTRA Artists:

They are the people who in SAG go by the name Membership First and have torn our sister union apart and ruined our relationship with Agents.  They are also directly responsible for the current division between AFTRA and SAG and are the peope with their foot on the gas trying to drive our union over a cliff called strike.  I'm not afraid of a strike -- never have been -- but I believe it is a last resort when negotiating fails not a presumption you make before you even go to the bargaining table.

Why a Re-run Election?

Also know that the Re-run election is happening because of some technicalities that the Dept. of Labor found, mostly dealing with a snafu in the original election's timing of when some members received their ballot and when ballots were due.  They also wanted to firm up the means by which AFTRA LA guarantees representation to categories like singers and stunt performers.
 
It's important to note that the Dept of Labor found no merit in the allegations brought by the members of AFTRA Artists/Membership First.  In fact, no member's dues money is being used in this re-run.  The tab is being picked up as a make-good for the aforementioned timing technicality.
 
~~

Now to the suspension of joint negotiations between SAG and AFTRA

And it's important to note that word SUSPENSION because AFTRA wants to work with the institution of SAG but the current leadership in Hollywood has made it impossible.

Here's the condensed list of grievances:
 

THEY TRIED TO RIG THE VOTE

All of the Proportionality and Block voting stuff in the past year was all an attempt to give the Hollywood division of SAG (ie Membership First) control of the votes on the Joint Negotiating Committee.  To what end?  To Strike when they want regardless what the rest of the members believe is most prudent.  As I said, I've never been afraid of a strike but you have to give me the facts, show me the logic and let me have my vote.  To rig the vote or doctor the information is completely usurping democracy.

THEY RAIDED AFTRA SHOWS

The #1 sin amongst all unions -- especially sister unions with shared jurisdiction -- is the raiding of shows to steal the contract. They tried to raid THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL -- a daytime soap that has always been pure AFTRA jurisdiction -- and bring it under a SAG contract.  This was latest in a year long campaign of SAG attacking AFTRA shows and attacking AFTRA as an institution.  Yes, there is a difference of opinion in how to organize cable shows but AFTRA has always said that we should jointly negotiate cable as well.  In other words, get in a room, debate the merits of the different cable organizing philosophies and vote.  DEMOCRACY.

I feel confident that people will respond to the fact that SAG's method chases 50% of it's cable shows to Canada while AFTRA's method keeps 85% of it's cable shows in the US. But cable is shared jurisdiction, daytime broadcast television is not.  There has never been a conversation about Daytime dramas so the raiding of THE BOLD & THE BEAUTIFUL was way over the line by anybody's standards.  The AFL-CIO has already gotten involved and made calls admonishing SAG and charges will be almost definitely be filed.  Some of the SAG folks said "what if the soap drops the decertification and stays AFTRA?".  Doesn't matter.  If I'm doing business with you and while we're shaking hands you try to shoot me in the head, the fact that you missed and apologized won't stop me from suspending our business relationship. The bottom line is: How can you negotiate with a partner you fundamentally can't trust?

THEY PUT MEMBERS' LIVELIHOODS AT RISK

I believe the members on THE BOLD & THE BEAUTIFUL were used for political purposes by Membership First without ever being fully informed of the possible ramifications.  If they decertifed the show to go under a SAG contract it would take one to three years.  During that time they would not be AFTRA or SAG, they would be on there own, at the mercy of the Studios & Networks with no union protections.  Moreover, if SAG managed to become their union, SAG would have to renogotiate the contract minimums for the show from scratch.  They couldn't use the AFTRA contract as a starting point.  So they would have to use considerable leverage -- perhaps even a strike -- just to get back to the same minimums they had under AFTRA.  Given the current state of Daytime Dramas, it's very possible they could get a worse deal.  The fact that Membership First would put these folks at risk for political gain is unconscionable.  The only thing worse would be is Membership First put these people in a dangerous position without knowing all the danger it put them in.

This isn't a game, it's people lives and livelihoods.  Of course, this is all an attempt to get actors into one union, something I agree with wholeheartedly.  But there's a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it.  The right way is called MERGER.

Getting a Good Contract in a Responsible Manner

All that said, I believe we will get a strong contract for the members.  AFTRA's negotiating committee has folks on it like James Cromwell (Oscar winner), Tess Harper (Oscar nominee), Stephen Collins (7th Heaven), Morgan Fairchild, and myself just to name a few.  We will get a good contract and we will get it in a responsible manner.
 
I also believe the Suspension of AFTRA and SAG's Joint Negotitation Agreement is only temporary.  I believe that membership will finally realize that in the last twenty seven years of peace between our unions and between the unions and agents, only the last four or five have been ridiculously vitrolic. 
 
What changed and destroyed the peace?

Membership First/Aftra Artists came into power.
 
VOTE AFTRA ARTISTS/MEMBERSHIP FIRST OUT OF OFFICE AND THE ATMOSPHERE WILL CHANGE
 
 
If anybody has any further questions about the re-run election or about the AFTRA-SAG controversies, please leave a comment and I'll try to answer any questions you have.

Hope it helps.

Thank you for reading,
 
Jason George
 

Do you watch the ABC show "Lost"?

I hadn't started watching the series until earlier this February, and last night, we completed our LOST marathon ending with last episode of season three.

Today when I read that the LOST videogame entitled "LOST Via Domus" was released a few days ago on the XBox 360, Playstation 3, and the PC, I thought it very timely to write about the series and also get your take on the game and the voices used in it.

For those of you who haven't gotten "lost" yet, it is one of the most intriguing and involving series that I have seen for quite a long time and perhaps one of the only reasons aside from The Tudors to keep watching TV.

After wrapping up a one month marathon of catching up from the beginning all the way through to the end of the third season, I was excited to hear that there is a videogame two years in the making out now from UBISOFT called LOST: Via Domus (Translated from the Latin which means "The Way Home") that lets you in on the LOST experience, introducing a new character, Elliott.

Elliott

Elliott is a photojournalist who is a survivor on Oceanic Flight 815. The gamer assumes the role of Elliott and is given opportunities to use his photography skills to get further into the game.

One complication is that Elliott is suffering from amnesia and needs the help of other characters, John Locke in particular, to help him rediscover his past.

Just like the characters on the show, Elliott has a past which is revealed through playable flashbacks. In on of the Dev Diaries, the crew from UbiSoft confides that fans should be watching very carefully in the flashbacks to see other characters that they'll recognize from the show.

Writing and Visual Elements

Kevin Shortt was the lead writer for the game and found a good partner in Dawn Kelly, a writer from LOST seasons one and two.

The entire team took this project very seriously. The art director went to Hawaii to take pictures from the island, jungle and set to make sure that the scenery and landscapes were portrayed as accurately as possible.

The purpose of the game is to capture the meaning and experience of the show.

Not Your Average Videogame

How does LOST Via Domus differ from other games UBISOFT has worked on?

The pressure to make the game right and right for the fans sets this game apart was the largest challenge and differentiator. If the fans are not happy with the game, then the crew will feel as though they didn't do their job right.

The show is very complicated and has many layers, mysteries, and themes that needed to be incorporated into the videogame.

Not only is the show a masterpiece it has a worldwide following and fans with great expectations.

Gameplay

Gameplay involves mostly traveling through jungle where Elliott encounters familiar landmarks from the show, i.e. Black Rock, the Swan Hatch, and also some items in those places that were never in the show. Other activities include solving puzzles, mini games, dialogue choices and getting in on the action.

Elliott also encounters dangers including the infamous black smoke, polar bears, and more.

The objective was to give the gamer the full experience of the jungle just as it was in the show.

Navigational tools used to get around the island include a compass, the player's intuition, and markings on the ground.

The player needs to create the actions to survive throughout the game and there is about ten hours of gameplay to be had.

LOST Via Domus Voice Cast

From what I've read so far, one of the only drawbacks is that some of the voices are not of the original actors from the TV series.

I was in touch with the good people at UBISOFT and they confirmed some members of the voice cast for me.

"For the English version, Ben, Desmond, Claire, Mikhail, Sun and Tom provided their characters' voices. For the other versions, almost all actors provided their characters' voices."

For more detail, Yunjin Kim portrays the role of Sun Hwa-Kwon, Michael Emerson portrays the leader of The Others, Ben Linus, Emilie De Ravin plays Claire Littleton, Andrew Divoff portrays Mikhail Bakunin (one of The Others), and Henry Ian Cusick, who portrays the character Desmond Hume, the fellow who tends to say "brother" a lot.

Are you a fan of LOST?

What do you think of the Via Domus videogame and how do you feel about the voice acting and voice cast?

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Did you watch the Oscars on Sunday night?

I did but I must confess that it wasn't to see the dresses, red carpet shenanigans or the winners... I watched to hear the announcers.

Read more about announcing at the Oscars featuring the voice of Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, and seven-time Academy Awards announcer, Randy Thomas!

The 80th Annual Academy Awards took place on Sunday night.

By now, that is old news, but what you may not have known is that the announcers on the Oscars were Randy Thomas and Tom Kane, both veterans of announcing at Hollywood's biggest night.

You may recall that last year's Oscar announcers were Gina Tuttle and voice over legend, Don LaFontaine.

Randy Thomas was kind to answer some questions for me about announcing for the Oscars including how she got her start on the program. Randy has announced at the Oscars seven times now and she says of the experience that it is always a thrill and an honor, stating "This job never gets old nor do I take it for granted. It is amazing."

When asked how she first landed the gig of announcing at the Oscars, Randy shared, "I was on the radio as a morning DJ on 94.7 The Wave in Los Angeles when they decided to audition women to be the first ever for the 65th Academy Awards in 1993. That is the year I left radio and became a full time voice-over artist."

Now, that's what I call making history!

Rehearsals for the Oscars take place four days in advance of the show so that there are no surprises and plenty of time to perfect the names of nominees.

Announcing at the Oscars is an honor extended by invitation, and for Randy, the 80th Annual Academy Awards was her 7th showing in 15 years, seven opportunities that she is very grateful for.

Coming up, Randy Thomas will be announcing at the Tony Awards for her eighth year in a row on June 15th at Radio City Music Hall in NYC.

Did you watch the Oscars this year? Any comments?

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Looking for a voice over coach?

We have recently developed a network that connects voice acting instructors with students seeking voice over training.

Check out more information here at VOX Daily!

Voice Coaches Network Vision

Building relationships and facilitating connections is one of our specialties at Voices.com.

After years of nurturing and developing relationships with the top voice over instructors in North America and abroad, we thought it was time to standardize and publicly announce the amazing opportunities available to voice over trainers, calling this new initiative the "Voices.com Voice Coaches Network".

Over the past four years, we have collaborated with voice over coaches in many ways, all of which are symbiotic and directly benefit the voice over industry at large.

You've likely seen this in action first hand as a reader of VOX Daily, Ask the Voice Cat, Master VO or as a listener to the podcasts Voice Over Experts and VOX Talk.

We're pleased to offer an interactive directory of teachers who provide voice over training across the US, Canada and Great Britain... and beyond!

Want to know a bit more about the actual voice coaches network?

As part of the Voices.com Voice Coaches Network, instructors are given free publicity and the opportunity to educate on a pro bono basis via the Voice Over Experts podcast.

Voice trainers can also have their articles and upcoming workshops posted on the VOX Daily blog as well as special mentions on Voice Over Times, the online news source for the voice over industry.

An Overview of Benefits Free for Coaches Include:

- Promotion through the Voice Over Experts Podcast
- Your own Voice Coaches Profile
- Press Release Writing and Distribution
- Have your articles published on the VOX Daily Blog
- Coverage on Voice Over Times
- Join the Affiliate Program
- Receive exclusive opportunities through Voices.com (book reviews, participate in Voices.com sponsored events, and more)

Public Service

The Voice Coaches Network is a public service provided by Voices.com to help promote the importance of voice acting education and evangelize the art of voice acting while teaching people how to navigate the new world of voice overs online. Through these extraordinary efforts, Voices.com propels the future of voice acting, proactively engaging the community and shaping the industry for years to come.

Labor of Love

The Voice Coaches Network is a labor of love, both on the part of the instructors and our company.

Giving back to the community is very important. Everyone involved in this project realizes the impact they are having and are proud to be part of this outstanding initiative in educational excellence.

Want to join the Voices.com Voice Coaches Network?

By partnering with Voices.com, you'll enjoy unparalleled publicity through blogs, podcasts, press releases and feature articles, all the goal of helping you attract students as well as support you by giving you access to tools and resources.

Simply Click here to Complete the Form

Do you know a voice over coach who should be part of the Voices.com Voice Coaches Network? Invite them to join by sending them to this article here on VOX Daily.

If you are a voice over coach, thank you for your interest and I look forward to working with you.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Every so often I write about updates to the Voices.com membership service on VOX Daily.

Today, I'd like to share some information about new features and benefits for Voices.com members, as well as new pricing effective after March 31st, 2008.

To learn more about how this change may affect you, read this article.

First, let me say thank you for taking a moment to read this important article.

It took a lot of thought and the information is of special significance to all voice talent members of the Voices.com web service.

Secondly, everyone will continue to enjoy the full suite of services that we offer, and there are no large technical changes to how Voices.com operates.

OK, moving forward!

There are many new features and benefits that we're pleased to announce to you today as part of our Spring '08 Release, and I'd like to get into those with you now. Let's start with the new features and benefits.

NEW FEATURES

Google Search Engine Optimization

After months of strategic search engine optimization techniques, Voices.com has received Google's blessing with the coveted Site Links, a list of short cuts right from Google's search results. You'll see these links by Googling "Voices.com".

Search Engine

Recently, we've positioned the search box at the top of each and every page on Voices.com ( over 50,000 pages ) to give clients a single starting point when they are looking to find a professional voice talent.

The search engine has been rebuilt to include better caching, a technique to remember popular searches and recent searches that helps deliver results faster.

Search Engine Results

The search engine results pages have been completely redesign for simplicity. From client feedback and usage statistics, we've found that clients want to conduct a search, listen to the demo and move ahead with the voice talent of choice.

Your name links to your personal Voice.com website, and the large Flash player makes it easy for clients to start playing your demo immediately. A large "Request a Quote" encourages clients to take the next step in hiring you for the job.

Responses

In the client's view, the responses page has been redesigned after reviewing, analyzing and implementing recommendations from a survey.

Similar to the search results, clients want to focus on your demo, then your quote for the job. To allow clients to move quickly through the auditions and ensure that each and every audition is heard ( the average job receive 100 auditions ), we've decided to hide the proposal from view, then show it when the "Read Proposal" link is clicked.

In the two weeks since making these changes, we've witnessed a 400% increase in the number of SurePay transactions at Voices.com.

Bottom line is that the improvements we've made, and continue to make, are generating more job opportunities for you.

ENHANCED FEATURES

Featured Talent Directory Listings

Premium members will receive unlimited category listings in the Featured Talent Directory, and Preferred members now have 5 listings.

Storage for Audio, Videos, Graphics and Documents

Storage has also been increased to 100MB for Premium members and 50MB for Preferred members.

NEW BENEFITS

Premium members will now receive expedited support tickets. This means that any queries submitted by Premium members to Voices.com will be automatically escalated and answered first before all other support inquiries.

PAYMENT SUBSCRIPTIONS

There are changes in pricing effective after March 31st, 2008 for all newly purchased membership subscriptions. Please read this carefully as it may affect you.

Current Paid Subscribers

If you have automatic payments set-up, including payments for an active subscription originally made by credit card over the phone, you'll continue with the old pricing until your subscription is cancelled.

To break it down, someone who has a subscription at the current rate, so long as they don't cancel it, continues to receive service at that price going down the road so long as they keep renewing it.

If you have made a one-time payment, you can extend your membership by one year at the current rate. To do so, simply call us toll-free at this number (1-888-359-3472) or send sales@voices.com an email and we'll send you an invoice.

Here's an example. If you are a Premium member at present, you could continue to receive all of those features and benefits for $199 regardless of the price change -- so long as you maintain your automatic subscription. This process is known as "Grandfathering".

So, unless you have a credit card that expires thus canceling your subscription on you, it wouldn't happen any other way unless you decide to cancel it with the understanding that your account would be purchased at the new price in the future.

ALL NEW SUBSCRIPTIONS AFTER MARCH 31st, 2008

Before we change the membership subscription fees, we want to give you the opportunity to secure your membership at the present rates for your desired membership subscription level.

Subscribe before March 31, 2008 to secure your membership at the present rate and maintain that membership rate until your subscription is canceled or your credit card expires.

VOICES.COM COACHES NETWORK

As part of the Voices.com Coaches Network that will be rolling out in the next few weeks, we're introducing group pricing. Keep your eyes on this one.

AGENCY PACKAGES

Also, if you have an agent, ask them to contact us about special pricing for their agency. We've developed a package for agencies as well.

SPECIAL OFFER TO FREEZE YOUR RATES

All of these changes will be effective after March 31st, 2008.

We look forward to serving you!

Best wishes,

Stephanie, David, Carol, Laurynda, Erica and Lin

The voice over industry honors its own on February 21, 2008 -- be sure to catch the ceremony on the VOX Talk Podcast.

The Voiceys is the event of the year celebrating the achievements of the voice over industry and the voice actors who step up to the microphone every day.

Judged by a panel of industry experts and personalities, the Voiceys recognize professional voice actors and provide a venue for those behind the scenes to shine for all the world to see.

Join us all on February 21st, 2008 for the 2nd Annual Voicey Awards.

Listen here: http://podcasts.voices.com/voxtalk/

It's almost time to reveal the winners of the 2008 Voicey Awards!

Within the space of a year, the Voiceys have gone from five categories to nine, and three judges to ten. The nominations also increased exponentially in 2008 totaling 517 individual nominations for voice actors.

Suffice to say, that's a lot of growth in a short period of time, but in all reality, hasn't the voice over industry grown in leaps and bounds in a relatively brief number of years, too?

The 2008 Voicey finalists were absolutely dynamite, giving more than a few judges several sleepless nights.

That's an incredible compliment paid to all who will be honored this year and a testament to the continued and passionate pursuit of excellence in voice acting.

Judges for the 2nd Annual Voicey Awards

To remind us all, the judges participating this year in the 2nd Annual Voicey awards are Sunday Muse (Best Child Voice), Cynthia Songé (Best Teen Voice), Joan Baker (Best New Voice), Julie Williams (Best Personal Branding), James R. Alburger and Penny Abshire (Best Voice Team), Bettye Zoller (Lifetime Achievement), Elena Valenzuela (Best Foreign Voice), Marc Cashman (Best Female Voice) and Connie Terwilliger (Best Male Voice).

Through the support, involvement and guidance of industry experts, winning a Voicey Award has become a coveted, sought after accolade for voice actors.

We couldn't do this without the industry judges and are heartily grateful for their desire to help us recognize voice actors for their contributions to voice acting and the elevation of the craft.

Thank you!

Thank you to all who nominated people this year for the Voiceys and for the believing in their talent.

Will you be joining us for the Voiceys podcast this year?

Leave a comment!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

P.S. In the future the Voicey Awards will be a live event, but for now, please do enjoy the podcasts. Listen here: http://podcasts.voices.com/voxtalk/.

©iStockphoto.com/PeskyMonkey

The 2nd Annual Voicey Awards finalists have just been announced!

This year promises to be very exciting. With the addition of several new categories, the Voicey Awards has expanded from five award categories to nine that are poised to honor voice actors of all ages, nationalities and voice types.

Find out who the finalists are in this post at VOX Daily.

The Finalists for the 2008 Voicey Awards are:

Best Child Voice

Brandi Munro (acclaimed)

Best Teen Voice

Jesse Springer
Michelle Dunphy

Best New Voice

Jason Clark
Jeffrey Kafer
Jenna Holinsworth
David Houston
Georgette Perna

Best Male Voice

Bob Barnes
David Kaye
James Herron
Bob Souer
J.J. Wilson

Best Female Voice

Summer Crockett Moore
Moe Egan
Debbie Munro
Jacqueline Samuda
Gale Van Cott

Best Voice Team

Maggie’s Voice and Thom Wilkins
Terry Daniel and Trish Basanyi
Forrest Rainier and Diane Havens
Adam Fox and Kara Edwards
Dana Detrick and Paul Clark

Best Personal Branding

Allen Farmer
http://allenfarmer.voices.com
http://www.allenfarmer.com

Kara Edwards
http://karaedwards.voices.com
http://www.karaedwardsvo.com

Jessica Levesque
http://jessicalevesque.voices.com
http://jessicalevesque.com

DC Goode
http://dcgoode.voices.com
http://www.dcgoode.com

David J. Lawrence
http://davidjlawrence.voices.com
http://www.voiceontap.com

Best Foreign Voice

Lili Wexu
Giovanni Noto
Marc Chase
Adam Behr
Sylvain Tribouillard
Daniela Maria Krueger
Andy Turvey
Claire Dodin
Juan Carlos Hernandez
Liz de Nesnera
Jane Nolan
Barto Mora
Adela Bolet
Sanjo Ogunseye
Rachel Salaman

Life Time Achievement

Bob Bergen
Pat Fraley
Bryan Cox
Rita Pardue
David K. Jones

To discover who the winners are, be sure to subscribe to the VOX Talk podcast which can be found here or in the Apple iTunes Podcast Directory:

http://podcasts.voices.com/voxtalk/

The Voicey Awards is presented via podcast at present, and in the future, it will be held as a live event.

Thank you for your support and we look forward to producing the 2nd Annual Voicey Awards show via podcast on February 21, 2008.

Sincerely,

Stephanie and the Voices.com Team

©iStockphoto.com/geopaul

These past few months have been extremely busy and we're proud to announce the launch of Voices.com's Winter '08 Release, a comprehensive list of service updates and feature additions that have just gone live.

I'm very excited to let you in on what we've been up to!

Here is a list of some of the recent updates that have taken place within the last quarter.

Home Page

• Internet audio category in the Featured Talent Directory
• Political Demos category in the Featured Talent Directory

• Dynamically updating "Recently Hired" list of those voice talent who have been hired and paid using SurePay escrow

• Direct links to blogs, podcasts and news in the "What's New" section

Search Engine

• Highlighting of keywords in search results
• Search results display category icons to the demos
• Expanded keyword search capabilities
• Internet audio category added to the search engine

Profiles
• Add This social bookmarking widgets using AJAX technology
• "Send Money" option for fast payment of voice over jobs

Podcasts
• Voices.com's newest podcast “Voice Casting” is now at your service. Learn how to find a voice actor, what to look for in a voice, how to work with voice actors, and most importantly, how to brand your company using the power of the human voice.

Blogs
• "Voice Agents" is the future home of what promises to be the central hub for voice talent agents to publish articles about their industry, projects, best practices and promote their services through words using the power and reach of the Internet.

What I'd like to draw your attention to is a fabulous opportunity to be featured in the new Internet voice over category.

If you haven't updated your Featured Voice Talent categories recently, you'll want to login and make sure that you get on this hot list. The demand for Internet voice overs is growing significantly.

If the spirit moves you, update your demos now.

To read the complete list, click through to Winter '08 Release article The Biz blog.

So, what do you think?

Do you like what you've read about? Is there anything that you'd like to see us include for future releases?

Add your thoughts below by leaving a comment.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

If you live in Toronto and have a child or teenager with a knack for voice over, you've likely heard of children's voice acting coach, Sunday Muse.

Sunday Muse will be teaching this weekend at Clare Burt Recording Studio in Toronto, ON Canada.

Sunday Muse is a leading animation voice actor who has provided her voice on such hit shows as Care Bears (Cheer Bear), Rolie Polie Olie and Jo Jo's Circus, is now offering her immensely popular kids voice-over workshop.

Geared towards children who are either looking to move forward in the animation / voice over industry or just looking for a unique educational experience, "Sunday Muse Cartoon Voices for Kids," shows kids how to 'be' the cartoon voice that they see on TV.

In a safe environment, kids explore cartoons through rap music, imitation and a series of mock auditions using scripts from popular animated scripts like Rolie Polie, Care Bears, Super Why, and Arthur. Using her one of a kind technique "Actively on the Spot," kids learn how to animate their bodies and voice by connecting to the emotions and actions of the character they are playing.

Sunday provides them with the skills in demand by casting directors of national cartoons and children's shows and her students end up on national television!

*Workshop includes take home CD.

Details for Toronto Classes:

KIDS: Sunday January 20th, 2008 (11 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.)
Ages: 8 - 12 years

TEENS: Sunday January 27th, 2008 (11 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.)
Ages: 13 - 19 years

Location: Clare Burt Recording Studio
211 Yonge St. (3rd floor)
Toronto, Ontario

Cost: $195+GST.

To sign up, please call (416) 536-6071 or email sundaymuse@hotmail.com (**subject heading should indicate the date of the workshop you are interested in).

Best,

Stephanie

A little jet lag never hurt anyone!

Voices.com CEO David Ciccarelli was the recipient of an award at the 7th Annual 1to1 Impact Awards in Phoenix, Arizona.

I have some news to share!

On Monday, January 14th, Voices.com CEO David Ciccarelli was an honored guest at the Frost & Sullivan : 7th Annual 1to1 Impact Awards, receiving a Silver medal on behalf of Voices.com as recognized winners in the Full-Suite CRM category, sharing the spotlight with Westpac Banking Corp (Gold medal) and ESET Software (Bronze medal).

The winners were honored at a special awards session and panel discussion at Frost & Sullivan’s 9th Annual Sales and Marketing West Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.

As reported on Voice Over Times, there will be a write up with all of the winners in the January / February issue of 1to1.

I expect David will write about his experience on his blog later this week.

The team at Voices.com would like to thank all of our customers for helping us to achieve this honor.

Thank you!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Finally, some closure!

Peter O'Connell published a podcast over the weekend revealing the winners of the Unofficial NBC News Announcer contest he was running at audioconnell.com.

Find out who won here.

I'm pleased to help announce the winners of the audioconnell Unofficial NBC Nightly News Announcing contest.

With 60 entrants and over 154 votes, the results are as follows:

1st Place: David Houston
2nd Place: Bruce Miles
3rd Place: Connie Terwilliger

To listen to their demo submissions, click here and play the Voxmarketising Podcast at audioconnell.com.

Congratulations to David Houston, Bruce Miles and Connie Terwilliger... as Peter said, although this contest may not change anything at NBC, you've truly made an impact and your talents known through this unique contest.

Cheers,

Stephanie

P.S. One short note to end off. On the voxmarketising podcast, Peter shares the stage with a female announcer each episode. The first episode featured the British voice talents of Sarah Parnell and the episode I've directed you to listen to features the VO-BB's DB Cooper!

After yesterday's post, I got an email from a concerned member of the union who would like to share his point of view.

Don Leslie emailed me today sharing his thoughts and feelings about how the strike has been covered on VOX Daily, specifically in the article published yesterday about Hulu.com.

I agreed to publish his thoughts here for you to read.

First, I'd like to make a clarification that Hulu.com does not employ voice actors (in case it was misinterpreted as such), nor was I suggesting that voice actors should go to the site to seek employment voicing ads from sponsors of the programming. The people I asserted who are making the money (players who are now benefiting) are the aggregators of the content (Hulu) through advertisers as noted such as Chevrolet, Cisco and Saturn (ads I've seen in programs so far on Hulu.com).

Second, in no way am I or Voices.com trying to alienate any members of any union or suggest how they should act or not act during the WGA strike.

Whew... a lot to say!

Thirdly, while based in Canada, it is true that my understanding of the breadth of the strike and strike history in the US is limited to recent events. I also apologize for not mentioning AFTRA while mentioning the support that SAG is offering to the WGA.

OK, one more thing: I think it is very important that you read what Don has to say.

His account also gives me an opportunity to share a side of the story with you that has not yet been heard. This is one of the key ingredients missing in this ongoing coverage. Don was one of the first to approach this topic and enlighten me as to how devastating this could become for voice actors as someone who is in support of the strike.

Now I'd like to share Don Leslie's comments as were submitted to me earlier today:

Hi,

I read your VOX today and I'm a little concerned. I realize you have not been the staunchest supporters of unions, but I am. You actively promoted Voices.com members to pursue work at "Hulu". The only conclusion to be drawn is that you are encouraging scabbing. You also did not include AFTRA's unyielding support for the WGA strike in addition to SAG's. This statement is incorrect and misleading:

"While some previously thought that there wouldn't be any money in webisodic content, it is now apparent that there is money to made in advertising during the viewing of said content, however, the players who are benefiting have changed."

It has been clear long before the strike that programming content on the web has been and will continue to be incredibly lucrative.

The "other side" certainly knows this to be true and they say it openly at news conferences and share holders meetings; I have seen several of them including Sumner Redstone of Viacom discuss the enormous potentials of web content. And even more obviously, there wouldn't be a strike if the giant six media conglomerates were unaware of the web's potential. Yet they constantly claim that their investments in web programming are still experimental... but will not permit union jurisdiction in this area to any of the performing unions.

This is the same tactic they used against the unions in the area of cable programming not so very long ago.

I realize you are in Canada and that may explain, in part, why you are not that knowledgeable about labor union history and politics here in America. This is an extremely difficult time for all Americans given the state of our economy and the strong possibility that a recession is just around the corner. Or perhaps already here. And it's especially arduous for the American performing community. Los Angeles, arguably still the capital of the entertainment industry, is being devastated by this strike. And the commercial sector has been crippled throughout the country.

So I would greatly appreciate it if you could treat the strike as something more than a nuisance that has taken away our favorite tv show. This is absolutely critical to all of our futures. Many of us already have, and thousands more of us will lose our jobs, our health insurance, and our homes.

Regards,

Don Leslie

~~

Do you have anything to add?

Best wishes,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/tillsonburg

If you've been missing your favorite shows, some of the networks have figured out a way to keep your appetite whetted and consumer loyalty by making full-length sitcom episodes from previous seasons available online at Hulu.com for your viewing pleasure.

Presently in Beta (testing phase), the Hulu site is poised to be network television's answer to YouTube as well as a viable means of keeping fans of shows currently affected by the Writers Guild of America strike happy and served at their convenience online with content on demand... free of charge.

What's your television viewing schedule been like since November 5th, 2007?

If that date sounds vaguely familiar, it is the day that the Writers Guild of America first went on strike stopping production in its tracks as actors in support of the writers refused to cross picket lines and pop culture as we knew it began to rely solely upon news programs, reality TV and reruns.

With the strike going strong for slightly more than two months, people have had to find alternative sources for their entertainment, many opting to play more videogames to the delight of videogame retailers and still more people who are getting their fix via the Internet by visiting sites such as YouTube and are downloading audiobooks from Audible among other online sources.

Although a couple of production companies have signed deals with the WGA (Writers Guild of America) like David Letterman's Worldwide Pants, and most recently, Tom Cruise's United Artists' interim agreement with the WGA to bring back feature film writers, other shows (the majority) are still on the outs and will not likely return for the season unless a similar deal is struck or the strike comes to an end.

One of the most recent casualties of the WGA strike is the Screen Actors Guild's boycotting of the Golden Globe Awards. According to a statement from SAG, none of their members are going to be acceptors or presenters at the traditionally star-studded event broadcast on national television.

Along the same vein, one might suspect that the Oscars will also be boycotted... that is, unless the strike ends (SAG is in full support of the WGA strike) or a "special arrangement" is made.

Hmm...

What does that mean for Hollywood and the entertainment industry where viewers are concerned?

In recent days Hulu.com has found a place in my life in lieu of television.

What is Hulu?

Essentially, Hulu.com is a website where you can watch premium content from networks such as NBC for free with very few commercial interruptions.

Just last night, we devoured an episode of NBC's "The Office" from a previous season that was sponsored by automotive company Chevrolet. There were about six very short ads promoting the company's vehicles that were unassuming and almost seamlessly incorporated into the episode.

While some previously thought that there wouldn't be any money in webisodic content, it is now apparent that there is money to made in advertising during the viewing of said content, however, the players who are benefiting have changed.

If you're itching for some Dunder Mifflin action, even from past seasons, you can get it at Hulu, Steve Carell and all, courtesy of major sponsors the likes of Chevrolet.

Something I noticed about the Chevy ads, and perhaps this is specific only to these particular ads, is that there was no voice over included. Visual marketing with a soft, lyric-free music bed made for easy transitioning between the programming and the advertisements.

How do you get in on this hot website?

Apply to sign-up for the Hulu beta testing program here.

What do you think about the Writers Guild of America strike?

I'd love to hear your thoughts now that it's two months in.

Cheers,

Stephanie

I have some great news to share!

The King of Voice Overs, Don LaFontaine, is getting ready to jump back into his work and is rearing to go!

Yesterday, I received a very nice email from Don thanking me for posting his story on VOX Daily last month.

Don writes:

"I have read the responses and I am moved beyond description by the kind and thoughtful comments. Please pass along my deepest gratitude to all who took the time to respond. I am still recovering, and hopefully will have a real handle on the problem tomorrow or early next week. This inactivity is making me nuts!"

Don

~~

If you know Don or have any idea of just how much work he does on a regular basis, you can certainly imagine how frustrating this hiatus from his voice over work has been.

I want to thank all of you who sent in your thoughts and well wishes for Don and am confident that those comments are helping him to get better. Many of you also prayed and are praying still for Don and I thank you for that on behalf of Don and his family.

One of the best families to be part of in fact is the voice acting family. Although this small industry is growing at a rapid pace, the purpose and spirit of those who join remains the same. We are all very blessed and privileged to be part of it and experience this era together.

Take care of yourselves and each other,

Stephanie

Image © Don LaFontaine

It's time to nominate, voice actors!

The 2nd Annual Voicey Awards are now open for nominations. Learn more now.

The time has come to nominate deserving voice actors for the 2nd Annual Voicey Awards!

There are more categories than there were before which means more opportunities to be honored.

The categories are as follows:

Best Male Voice
Best Female Voice
Best New Voice
Best Child Voice ~ New!
Best Teen Voice ~ New!
Best Voice Team ~ New!
Best Foreign Voice ~ New!
Best Personal Branding
Lifetime Achievement

To learn more about the Voicey Awards, rules for entering, read profiles about industry judges, listen to past winners, and nominate voice actors for this year, go to VoiceyAwards.com.

All nominations will take place online this year in effort to go completely green (no faxed in entries)!

Nominations close on February 3rd, 2008 and the awards show will air on the VOX Talk podcast on February 21st, 2008.

Best,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/ericsphotography

Earlier in December of 2007, voice over coaches Julie Williams and Marc Cashman designed a contest that called for new year's resolutions from the voice over community with a unique twist - they had to be resolutions directly related to a person's voice over business.

The winning submission has just be announced!

Want to meet the winner?

As mentioned a few short weeks ago, the Voice Over New Year's Resolution contest opened to all voice actors in the online community, giving people the opportunity to submit their resolutions for the new year in exchange for the chance to win some great prizes from Marc Cashman, Julie Williams and Voices.com including an hour of telecoaching each from Marc and Julie as well as a one-year Premium membership to Voices.com among other prizes.

There were more than three dozen wonderfully creative entries submitted to the Voice-Overs.com Forum, but only one could win.

The winning submission was entered by September Day Leach. Check it out!

~~

Dear Judges of the Voice Over New Year's Resolution Contest,

Greetings!

My name is Maybelle and I am a professional Fairy Godmother. I am writing to you on behalf of one of my charges, September Day Leach.

I understand that your contest has some fabulous prizes in store for the winner and according to this wish I just received, my September sure could use them. You see, she is moving from Atlanta, Georgia all the way across the country to Los Angeles next year, all by herself. She is leaving behind all of her friends and family just to chase her star and she's called on me for some help. Now, I've already taken care of transportation (she was out of pumpkins, but managed to dig up some bok choi which I was able to mold into a Honda) and she's been a very good girl by avoiding going to the Mall with her seed money from a few choice gigs I was able to get her. But I still think she needs a little something more and having all of this great coaching and exposure timed with her move could really help launch her career.

September assures me, should her wish come true, that:

* she will never, ever, ever plug her microphone directly into her soundcard again
* she will stand up for every recording
* for 2008, all extra money will go to marketing and equipment
* she will stay in touch with her real and internet voice over family while she's on the West Coast
* she will stay focused on her dreams every day
* she will only stalk Brad Pitt once every two weeks

If you could help, I would be most grateful and would be happy to throw in a few incentives as well. How about making those holiday calories not count? All green lights for one week? We'll talk.

Sincerely,

Maybelle Merriweather, Fairy Godmother

~~

Congratulations to September!

Now, as was mentioned on the Voice-Overs.com Forum, there was some difficulty narrowing down the list, and as a result, an honorable mention for Mary Morgan and her new year's resolutions are in order.

Mary Morgan submitted the following:

For 2008 I will do the following:

Never give up my dream
Entertain audiences
Wow producers, directors, and all listeners alike

Yield to every audition that comes my way
Enjoy what I do
Always thank God for my gifts and talents
Remember to practice vocal techniques
Strive for excellence

Respect my strengths and weaknesses
Embrace every experience
Stop putting myself down
Overcome obstacles
Learn from mistakes
Use what I know
Take criticism
Increase my knowledge
Organize my materials
Network with other voice talent
Stay focused on my career

Fix problem areas
Offer advice to new talent
Read and read some more

Market myself like crazy
Yank out negative thoughts in my head

Volunteer my time
Obtain the latest news in the industry
Inspire people
Continue learning my craft
Explore new horizons
Observe workshops
Value my efforts
Educate myself nonstop
Recognize my faults

Create opportunities for myself
Always keep training
Reach for the stars
Earn my place as a professional voiceover artist
Evolve as an artist
Rejoice in my success so far

Mary Morgan

~~

Marc Cashman asked that I share a special note with you, and I'm happy to do so. Here's Marc's message to all who entered the contest:

An open letter to all contestants:

I'd like to say to everyone who entered this contest that your submissions were very well thought out, extremely creative and quite inspiring. I want to encourage those of you who plan on taking more voice acting classes.

The best actors never stop learning.

I want to suggest that you don't make a V-O demo until you're really ready, and to get help from a pro to make it competitive. I admire you for focusing on your goals and working every day to realize them. And I want remind you that you can email me any questions about the business through Voices.com or call me any time.

I wish you all much success for a great '08!

Marc Cashman
Cashman Commercials/L.A.

~~

If you subscribe to Julie's VoiceOver Insider, you received this news from her early this morning. Julie is on her way to Hawaii to teach a voice over workshop (lucky people!) and wishes to thank everyone for their participation.

If you're curious to learn more about what your peers who entered the contest are hoping to achieve in 2008, visit the forum and take a look.

Some of you may have already seen my new year's resolutions as posted at the CBC on the Spark blog, but I don't think I've heard from some of our readers here at VOX Daily yet about theirs.

If you started off 2008 with some resolutions, be they voice over related or not, you are welcome to leave a comment and share your resolutions with me here on the blog.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Wondered where the voice over industry is sitting at present?

Read this 12 page review by the Chief Executive Officer of Voices.com, David Ciccarelli.

State of the Voice Over Industry

Introduction

At the beginning of each new year, Voices.com presents a comprehensive overview of industry statistics that directly affect voice actors, including updates on broadcast television, radio, podcasting, video games, audiobooks, and other mediums and applications. Current trends are reported on and are diligently sourced for accuracy.

How to use this information

When reading this document, bear in mind that the need for voice over is directly related to the current status of each medium or application. For instance, you’ll note that because MP3 player, satellite radio, and cellular phone sales are up, the demand for voice acting in podcasts, radio advertisements, audiobooks and more will naturally increase as a result of the success of the respective technologies. The key players in the industry are outlined below for your convenience to identify the unique roles that are played within voice over as a profession.

Happy New Year!

Stephanie

At the end of 2007, we've had some time to reflect on what some of the most significant stories and happenings of this year were for the voice over industry through the eyes of Voices.com.

If you're new to voice acting or to the site, read up on some of the stories that changed, brightened and elevated the state of voice acting in the year 2007 so that you can enter 2008 with a sense of where we've come from and discover insights on the direction the industry is headed.

Well, onto the list!

What happened over the course of 2007 in the world of freelance professional voice acting?

10. Voice Coaches Advanced Marketing Expo

David Bourgeois and the staff at Voice Coaches in Schenectady, NY held their first voice over conference featuring guest lecturers, celebrity actor and voice artist, Evan Farmer, and New York super agent Billy Serow from Abrams Artists Agency. A meet and greet the night before was followed by a full day of learning from some of the industry's best concluding with a panel of experts participating in a Q&A session.

9. The Simpsons Sound Alike Challenge

Voice over artists sent in their best Simpsons character voice impressions with finalists in award categories honoring the best Homer Simpson, Marge Simpson, Lisa Simpson, Bart Simpson, and Krusty the Clown impressions as well as a ceremonial tribute podcast featuring dozens of fabulous Simpsons character voice impressions including Mayor Quimby, Chief Wiggum, Barney, Moe, Apu, Mister Burns, Ned Flanders, Milhouse, Ralph Wiggum, and many more. Judged by the public, winners were announced live via The Simpsons Tribute Podcast on VOX Talk.

8. 60 Second Pitch Contest

Entrepreneurs in the field of voice over shone as they pitched their voice acting businesses and distilled their company, offering and what set them apart from other voice actors. Out of the 60 Second Pitch finalists, three pitches stood out in particular given their originality, creativity, and persuasiveness. Winners for 2007 included Jason McCoy, Vicki Amorose, and Troy Lund.

7. The Voicey Awards

The first ever annual Voicey Awards Show aired just prior to the Oscars in February via the VOX Talk podcast feed available through Apple iTunes. Nominees in categories including Best Male Voice, Best Female Voice, Best New Voice, Best Personal Branding and Lifetime Achievement received recognition for their work and dedication to the voice over industry over the past year. Revered industry judges for the 1st Annual Voicey Awards were Nancy Wolfson, Rodney Saulsberry and Marc Graue.

6. Voices.com wins CRM Market Elite Award

CRM Magazine awarded Voices.com with the prestigious CRM Market Award. Chosen from dozens of worthy companies for its excellence in customer relationship management and customer service, the team at Voices.com rose above the competition and enjoyed coverage from CNN.com as well as other news outlets.

5. VOX Talk Podcast

The VOX Talk Podcast, started in the bitter cold month of January 2007, is now the longest-running variety podcast for voice actors and those who are in the pursuit of a voice over career. VOX Talk celebrates the successes of voice actors and gives people an opportunity to participate as correspondents. The core team includes Stephanie and David Ciccarelli, Adam Fox, Julie Williams, voice imaging artist Matt Williams (no relation), with honorable mentions to Colin Campbell, Elie Hirschman, Betty in Boca, Darbi Worley, Kristi Stewart, Bob Green, Bob Souer, Bettye Zoller, David Boyll, Pat Fraley, and Jesse Springer for his interview series with Joe Cipriano.

4. VOICE 2007 in Las Vegas, NV

Celebrity voice actors, personalities, instructors and voice actors descended on the Vegas sands in the first-ever Voice Over International Creative Experience hosted by Frank Frederick, James R. Alburger and Penny Abshire. Extensive news and editorial coverage of the event was provided by Voices.com, featuring comprehensive reviews and summaries of all lectures as well as events attended including coverage of Bob Bergen's One Man Show, an evening with Don LaFontaine and a tribute for the late Lenny Weinrib graced by the presence of daughter and voice actress, Linda Weinrib. A team of AFTRA representatives from Los Angeles were also in attendance.

3. The Transformers Movie

Children of the Eighties Unite! CGI (computer generated imagery) Transformers came to the silver screen larger than life walking side by side with human actors in the summer blockbuster, The Transformers Movie, directed by Michael Bay. Fans were greeted by some familiar voices of the original cast including Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime among others drawing more awareness to the art of voice acting. Canadian comedian and voice actor Bryan Cox made his voice over cinematic debut in the film.

2. Voice Over Times Online Industry News Magazine

December 2007 saw the launch of Voice Over Times, an online news website providing feature stories about celebrity voice actors and working voice over professionals, product reviews, tutorials and opinion articles. The leader in online voice acting news and press release distribution, Voice Over Times is the driving force propelling the public relations of the voice over industry. Covering voice acting in all aspects, this website helps people to find the news and stories that they need to hear about now and connects them with media contacts who can make their stories happen.

1. Voice Over Experts Podcast

In June of 2007, the art of voice acting took a new educational turn in the form of a weekly podcast produced by the team at Voices.com, showcasing lectures recorded by various voice over coaches and industry experts in North America and the United Kingdom. The podcast makes voice over education accessible to all on the Voice Over Experts website and through the Apple iTunes podcast directory, available for free subscription. Perfect for new and seasoned voice actors, each episode invites talent to discover and experience growth by learning about new concepts, or for the established set, a different spin on acquired knowledge to keep in top form.

Any comments?

Looking forward to hearing from you and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2008 to you all!

Best wishes,

Stephanie, David, Carol, Laurynda, Erica and Lin

Photo: greenplasticdave on Flickr.com

My good friend audio'connell (Peter O'Connell) is never one to fall by the wayside.

The creative super brain behind voxmarketising has gone on a mission to save American ears. What's he up to? Read on to find out.

You might have heard about the choice that the NBC brass made with regard to replacing the long standing voice over recording voiced by Howard Reig for the Nightly News.

I happened to hear the voice over for the first time myself just yesterday on a YouTube video which I've included here for anyone who has yet to hear it featuring the voice of Michael Douglas.

At any rate, while thousands of miffed people are racking their brains on what to do about the voice over, Peter K. O'Connell has come up with a possible solution.

Peter, who was rather disappointed with the new voice over for NBC's Nightly News (but loves Michael Douglas' work otherwise), is holding a contest, albeit an unofficial one, to find the next voice of NBC's supper hour news program.

Do you have what it takes to be the announcer for NBC?

Jeffrey Kafer has given the new NBC announcer auditions some PR on his blog with a link to the fake NBC auditions received thus far.

Jeff writes:

"Voice actor Peter O’Connell is most unhappy with Michael Douglas’s announcing of the NBC Nightly News. So he’s put the call out for other voice talent to “audition” for the part. Nevermind the fact that NBC isn’t looking for a replacement, this is a fun exercise that a good number of us have participated in."

Here's a link to listen the NBC announcer auditions thus far submitted. They're quite impressive!

Why not throw your hat in the ring?

Stephanie

Have you heard of Second Life or SL?

If you haven't yet, this interview is one that you're going to love.

Voicedude Reinoir shows you the ropes of voice acting in Second Life in this Voices.com exclusive!

Voicedude Reinoir (known in the voice acting biz as Ari Ross) and I had a chat about his "Second Life" web presence and how SL is treating him so far.

Stephanie: How did you discover Second Life and what inspired you to open up a voice over shop there?

Ari Ross: I had auditioned for and then booked a job voicing a three-part piece for American Express called "Open for Business" (which highlights successes with small business). One of the 3 videos I did can be seen here: http://www.openforum.com/thread.jspa?threadID=300000870

I then was hired to do multiple voices for the Second Life CSI:NY game. I voice one of the main characters -- detective Jared Washington - as well as several ancillary characters. I am happy to say that I have been used in four "episodes" (games) so far.

After doing the first CSI: NY gig I was given a link by the client with which I could download the program and go inworld to see/hear the work…. Since then I have been an SL resident!

Stephanie: Wow! What has the community reaction at Second Life been like to Vox Humana? How long has Vox Humana been open? Do you have a stage name there?

Ari Ross: Well, I'll start with the last question and let you know that I am known in SL as "Voicedude Reinoir." Yup.. there is that extra "i" in Renoir there -- we get to choose our first name but must select from a list of mostly odd and/or fun last names… I guess Reinoir caught my eye -- to tell you the truth, I really thought I would only be inworld for like 15 minutes (to just see the voice work and leave) … little did I know that I'd be becoming a resident, buying land and a house and setting up shop!

I have only had "Vox Humana" open for a couple weeks now and actually had only completed putting up all the voice demos like 48 hours ago (as of this interview)! (One can set up an object to be clicked on and play a sound.)

Suffice it to say, there have only been a handful of residents who have been by the shop but reactions have been basically positive. In fact my shop was brought to the attention of one of the main people at Linden Lab (the company which runs Second Life) and he praised it highly and put it in his daily blog. I also have had a couple people who found it in a search and liked it as well. It's really just the beginning at this point -- ask me again in 2 or 3 months and I'll have a better report to give you.

Stephanie: I gather that Second Life has it's own brand of currency. Can you tell me a little bit about working with Linden dollars? How easy is it for you to trade that hard-earned Second Life cash into US dollars?

Ari Ross: Linden dollars are actual currency and can be exchanged for USD (Approx. 260 Lindens to one USD as of this writing) but to be honest, I haven't tried exchanging back to dollars yet. I do know that there is a "Lindex" which is the Linden currency exchange where people buy and sell Lindens in the way that folks buy and sell foreign (Real Life) currencies!

I am myself familiar with using USD to get my virtual hands on some L$ for use in SL:-)

One uses PayPal to buy L$ which can be used to by land, furniture, plants/landscaping, clothes (yes, clothes!), pay residents to build you something, etc.

Stephanie: Are you able to deliver your audio through SL as well, or do you basically use Vox Humana as the first point of contact and then do business as usual off the SL site?

Ari Ross: I intend to use it more as a point of first contact than anything else. Indeed, I have done some good work already for Second Life (via the AMEX and CSI: NY jobs) but those jobs were obtained in the real world for SL.

Aside from having fun meeting new people from all over the world and enjoying the amazing artwork in … and that IS Second Life (almost everything you see in SL is created by the residents -- except for the sky, sun, stars, water and ground).

I will attempt to potentially add to my RL (Real Life) client base possibly making first points of contact inworld and then doing the usual drill for the actual voice job -- emails, phone calls, FTP or ISDN, recording, auditioning etc.

As for delivery of audio, you can only upload 10 second clips and only in WAV format; 44,100 16 bit (no MP3s for some reason). You can choose how you want them to convert it - A bit rate of either: 32, 64, 96 or 128 kbps. There are also sometimes long delays, glitches, etc. Alas, it is still a growing technology.

You could if you had to upload an audition or job by doing so in 10 second bits, but that would of course be kinda silly when the usual options are at hand (email, FTP, ISDN etc).

Stephanie: At the time of this interview, I know of very few people who use Second Life and fewer still who market their voice talent on it. How effective is Second Life as a vehicle to promote your voice?

Ari Ross: As I say, it is all very, very new to me so only time will tell…

Stephanie: Did you design your Second Life storefront? I've seen a picture of it, and I must say it looks pretty spiffy!

Ari Ross: That is one cool thing about SL - a frustrated (or not so frustrated) designer can do artistic stuff he or she may not get around to doing in RL; I got the basic building as a shell and designed the voice demo rooms and storefront myself.

Stephanie: How did you acquire the land your store is on? I heard that you have to buy virtual real estate.

Ari Ross: While checking out the CSI:NY "sim" (region/area) I met a resident who showed me around his house in "Krung Thep: Thai Island Paradise." I fell in love with the surrounding area and purchased some land in the neighborhood!

Land is purchased in lot sizes starting at 512 m² [square meters] and in increments of 512 m² such as 1024, 2048, etc). Some people by whole regions and indeed, even a whole "sim" (I am one of dozens of residents with a plot of land on my home sim of "Krung Thep")

Land is not expensive in real world terms if you just get a couple thousand m², but there usually is a monthly "tier" which can add up depending on your lot size. If you buy a whole region ("sim" -- 16 acre -- 65,536 m²) however, it can get quite expensive indeed - I just saw a number of ads for full 16 acre sims going for between $300 and $6500 US dollars(!) Then there are the monthly tier fees on top of that.

The more expensive ones are generally in I think higher traffic areas of "the Grid" (the world) with therefore better business opportunities.

Stephanie: How do you interact with prospective customers on Second Life? Is there a way for you to advertise or talk to customers while on the website?

Ari Ross: There are billboards you can rent to advertise a shop, etc.

As for communicating, there is both IM-ing and more recently, voice chat. I would not be in SL if it wasn't for voice chat as hey, that's what I do! Also because I rather have a free flow of communication rather than waiting for all that typing -- especially if I want to do business.

I have "notecards" (one can read, keep or discard a notecard which is a dropdown text tablet with information on it) in every one of my signs around the shop which lead one to a special website I now have set up for SL promotion (no RL names, numbers, addresses, etc.) www.Slvoiceovers.com

People can also IM me via my profile; which are sent to me as emails when I am not inworld.

Stephanie: Would you say that you're the first voice actor pioneer to stake a claim in Second Life?

Ari Ross: No, there are others so I am not alone. There is one girl who even created a full recording studio with a booth, microphone, etc (!)

Stephanie: If you had any advice to share with other voice actors about how to use the site, what would you say?

Ari Ross: I'd say that if you were so inclined to at least check it out and see what it is, download the program (from secondlife.com) and fly around (yes, we can fly inworld!) and see what's there.

A strong word of advice… SL can be addictive (really) and so the watchword here is indeed discipline. There many, many lands to travel to (BTW you teleport from anywhere on the grid to anywhere else in seconds) and in, people to meet, things to buy and create and so forth so it goes without saying that it can be very easily VERY time consuming.

With strong personal guidelines set? …. It can open up whole new worlds!

I honestly don't know if it will or would end up being a viable promotion tool for my V/O work… but it's kinda cool trying it out and seein' where it might lead…

Ari Ross
www.isdnvoices.com
In SL: Voicedude Reinoir
www.Slvoiceovers.com

~~

Have you had a Second Life experience? Leave a comment!

Photo © Voicedude Reinoir

Heard the scoop yet?

Voices.com has launched a news website for the voice acting community. It gives you your own platform to spread the word about your latest news.

An industry trade magazine for voice acting? It's about time, baby!

Yes, the cat is out of the bag!

Working busy as beavers over the past week, Voice Over Times is now ready for you to pop over and enjoy.

While VOX Daily gives you updates on a daily basis regarding one topic per day, Voice Over Times is updated multiple times throughout the day with the latest and most timely news coverage in the voice over world.

We've always been fans of getting the stories of voice actors out to the public and now with the recent launch of the site, our team will be able to do that for you at a faster rate and with more links pointing directly to you and your website.

What happens at Voice Over Times?

Voice Over Times is an online news website providing feature stories, product reviews, tutorials and opinion articles.

The leader in online voice acting news and press release distribution, Voice Over Times is the driving force propelling the public relations of the voice over industry. Covering voice over in all aspects, this website will help you find the news and stories that you need to hear about now and connect you with media contacts who make your story happen.

Here’s how you can use Voice Over Times

For Journalists, Bloggers and Members of the Press:

Gloss over the website to learn of news as it happens in the voice over community. You’ll discover hidden gems as well as high profile voice acting stories to cover in your publication. Subscribe via email for immediate alerts.

For Voice Actors, Managers, and Agents:

Keep up to date by subscribing to the Voice Over Times website via email and add your story to the mix. The website is updated multiple times throughout the day, so make Voice Over Times your first stop when getting the word out about your latest news.

Simply send us an email with your news tip, press release or article.

For Fans and the Public:

Consume the most diverse source of voice acting news, including topics such as breaking news, celebrity voice actors, opinion pieces, product reviews, and tutorials. Subscribe via email and be sure to leave comments on stories that move you.

Voice Over Times is the easiest way to distribute your news and get it out to the people and places that matter.

Submitting your story won’t break the bank, in fact, it’s free. Get headline news coverage from an industry powerhouse and see the results.

We want to share your voice with the world and it will be heard when you work with us.

For Advertisers

There are opportunities for advertisers on the Voice Over Times website.

Learn more about how to advertise on Voice Over Times now or email Lin Parkin at info@voiceovertimes.com to express your interest.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

P.S. There is also a blog roll at Voice Over Times. If you write a blog that covers voice over and voice acting, let Lin know (include your blog URL) and she'll add you to the list.

Who would have thought that the cute, cuddly personalities dreamed up by Walt Disney and the folks at Warner Bros. would one day be summoned to a court of law in Naples, Italy?

All it takes is one entrepreneurial Chinese gentleman who dabbles in counterfeiting with a penchant for cartoon characters to order these household names overseas to bear witness in a case that I had to Google for myself to see if it was true!

VoiceOverTimes.com reported today that a court in Naples, Italy has called Mickey Mouse, Tweety Bird, Donald Duck and his girlfriend Daisy in a summons.

They were called as part of a trial of a Chinese man accused of counterfeiting products created by Disney and Warner Bros.

The court summons cites ‘Titty, Paperino, Paperina, Topolino’ - the Italian names for the characters - as damaged parties in the trial.

Instead of naming only the companies and their legal representatives, clerks also wrote in the witness list the names of the cartoons that decorated the toys and gadgets the man had allegedly reproduced.

‘Unfortunately they cannot show up, as they are residents of Disneyland,’ said Fiorenza Sorotto, vice president of Disney Company Italia.

‘It certainly pleased us that the characters were considered real, because that’s what we try to do.’

The Naples court will have to rewrite the summons, although this will probably delay the trial, said Disney lawyer Cristina Ravelli.

‘Let’s hope the characters will not be prosecuted for failing to appear,’ she said.

~~

Now, how's that one for the books?

Bob Bergen, someone who voices Porky Pig and Tweety Bird for Warner Bros., sent me a humorous MP3 of his take of what might happen if Tweety actually got to testify at the stand.

Want to hear it?

Tune in to VOX Talk episode 51, coming out this week! To get the show as soon as it airs, subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or at the VOX Talk podcast website.

Looking forward to hearing about what you think of all this!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Image © Warner Bros.

Don LaFontaine, the king of the movie trailers, recently sent a message out to his friends with some updates concerning his health.

I was chatting with Don moments ago (it's past midnight here on the east coast) and since writing this email, he has been steadily improving and hopes to be back to work by the end of the week or the beginning of the next.

In order to provide you with the true story and an accurate account of what happened before the news gets into the hands of the media, Don and I agreed to share his letter with you here on VOX Daily first.

Message from Don:

In the interest of full disclosure, I thought I'd let you know why I have been "off the grid" for a while. To my colleagues in the business, and the public at large, it could serve as a cautionary tale, and save them from some discomfort in the future.

Last Wednesday, November 18th, I went to Cedars Sinai Hospital for a minor surgery, an outpatient procedure, which meant that I was to be discharged from the hospital after a couple of hours in recovery.

It didn't quite work out that way.

When I was wheeled down to the recovery area, my wife immediately noticed that my face was swollen. Very quickly thereafter, I blew up like the Stay Puft marshmallow man.

What had happened was this-- (and here the causes differ, depending on if you're talking to my surgeon or to me)--

My version: During the procedure, my left lung was nicked.

My surgeon's version; After the procedure, while in recovery, I must have coughed, and coughed hard enough to blow a small hole in my lung.

Whichever is true, the end result was the same--Pneumothorax, the presence of air or gas in the pleural cavity, the result of a collapsed lung. The natural by-product of Pneumothorax is a nasty little condition known as Subcutaneous Emphysema, which describes the result of the air from the collapsed lung, having nowhere to go but under the skin, blowing the victim up like a balloon. My face and chest grew to alarming proportions. My eyes were swollen shut. I felt like I was strangling (I wasn't. I was being fed oxygen, and my air to blood ratio was very high.)

For about an hour, I was the center of attention, as a chest tube was inserted through my upper ribs to release some of the pressure. In addition, about a half dozen small catheters were stuck under my skin to help drain off the air. Any thought of my going home that day was quickly abandoned. After I stabilized, I was taken to a room in the hospital ward.

At Cedars, as it is at most hospitals, patients on the ward are attended to by one nurse and one assistant, both of whom are also assigned to five or more other patients. The end result of this is service is usually slow. Getting a pain pill or something to help you sleep can take up to an hour. Because of this, my family doctor suggested that we hire a private "sitter" to stay with me--just in case. As it turns out, it was a good call, because about 7 PM that night, I re-expanded--this time worse than before. Because of the anesthesia, my mouth was dry, and now it went positively Saharan. It felt like my throat was filled with sharp little rocks, and nothing would relieve it. It took about three hours to re- stabilize me, and I wound up back in post-op ICU.

That's were I spent Thursday, the 29th, and Friday, the 30th. I was scheduled to be released the following morning, Saturday. I was packed, dressed and literally two minutes from stepping out of my room when I felt myself blowing up again. This third Pneumothorax doomed me to an extension of my stay at Cedars. I was moved from the ICU back to the ward, where I spent the next three days.

During the night of the 30th, my chest tube came out, but it didn't seem to alarm any of my team of four doctors and one nurse/practitioner who visited me each morning. I told them that I thought there was something left over from the chest tube, but I was assured that it wasn't the case--even though nobody had bothered to look under the dressing to make sure.

The miscommunications multiplied.

A nurse told me that I was scheduled for an additional surgical procedure for the morning of Monday, the 3rd, and had written orders that would have withheld any food after midnight on Sunday. Fortunately, my beautiful wife, who holds a nursing degree, was checking up on everything every step of the way, and she kept everybody on the same page as much as possible.

I was finally allowed to go home on Tuesday, the 4th. As a result of the Subcutaneous Emphysema, pockets of air still remain around my vocal cords, and I sound pretty much like a demented Munchkin. I am told that this condition can take weeks to clear up, so I won't be doing any recording for the immediate future.

I will, however, make a complete recovery, and that's the good news.

Last night Nita changed the dressing over my chest tube incision, and sure enough, there was a little blue box attached to my skin. This required an additional trip to the surgeon's office today to have it removed.

All of this is not to garner sympathy for poor little me, but to illustrate the potential problems that can be encountered in situations like this. I don't know if anything could have been done to prevent the Pneumothorax, but a good deal of the other problems could have been avoided with proper communication-- between doctor and patient, doctor and nursing staff and nursing staff and patient.

If anything speaks for the practice of getting a second opinion and making sure you discuss everything with your doctor, this does.

Also, I wanted to get this complete and accurate account of what has transpired on the record before the rumor mill has me gasping my life away in an iron lung somewhere. Aside from being limited for the near future to singing "Follow the Yellow Brick Road", I am planning on being a general annoyance until 2030 or so, when I will retire to the poolside of the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Vegas.

I am assuming that many of you will feel the need to respond to this letter, but resist the temptation if you can. My mailbox is already backed up horribly after a week of inattention.

In other news, my appearance on FrankTV can be found on youtube, and my interview with Dave Navarro on ManiaTV can be found at:

Don LaFontaine How Did You Get Into this Episode
Don LaFontaine Leave a Voicemail Episode

Also, Nita's "LifeStories" CD is selling through her website, NitaWhitaker.com at a special holiday price. Makes a great gift.

Finally--from my family to yours, we wish you the happiest of Holiday Seasons. God bless, and have a wonderful New Year.

Don

~~

If you would like to wish Don well please leave him a comment here on VOX Daily

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Image © Don LaFontaine

Curious to know which audio books made Audibles Best Audiobooks of 2007 list?

Check the titles out here!

As Audible said last week, it's been an amazing year for long-awaited novels from big-name authors, however, did those big names make the best on the audio book list as well as in print?

Here's a link to the top audio books from Audible for 2007.

The categories are as follows:

Best of 2007: Bios and Memoirs
Best of 2007: Business
Best of 2007: Classics
Best of 2007: Fiction
Best of 2007: History
Best of 2007: Kids and Young Adults
Best of 2007: Mysteries and Thrillers
Best of 2007: Nonfiction
Best of 2007: Religion and Spirituality
Best of 2007: Romance
Best of 2007: Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Best of 2007: Self-Development
Chris Picks His Favorites
Corey Picks His Favorites
Diana Picks Her Favorites
Steve Picks His Favorites

Check them out and let me know if you've listened to any of them or if you have different ideas of what should be on the lists!

Cheers,

Stephanie

Have you started on your New Year's Resolutions yet?

A few minutes of sitting down to distill your goals for the coming year in your voice over business could mean hundreds of dollars in prizes for you!

Want to know more?

Voiceover New Year's Resolutions Contest

2008 not only brings with it the hopes and excitement of a new year, it also announces the dawning of a new chapter in the voice over coaching careers of both Marc Cashman and Julie Williams.

Marc Cashman of Cashman Commercials (Cashman Cache of Voice-Acting Techniques) and Julie Williams of Voice-Overs.com are both offering telecoaching services to voice talent starting in January of 2008.

To celebrate this leap into unchartered territory, Marc and Julie have invited the crew at Voices.com to team up with them and sponsor a contest that would award the best set of voice over New Year's resolutions.

What's up for grabs?

Both Marc and Julie have donated 1 (one) hour of telecoaching and Voices.com has donated a 1-year Premium membership as well as a couple of ebooks including the Ultimate Business Plan for Voice Actors, the Internet Marketing Plan for Voice Actors and public relations services to spread the word about your win. Julie has also included a copy of her Proven Voice-Over Techniques CD.

When you tally all of the prizes, you're looking at the potential of winning one serious prize pack for jotting down and submitting your New Year's Resolutions for your voice over business and voice acting career.

How do you enter the contest?

Simply go to the voice acting forum at Voice-Overs.com and add your resolutions to the list by December 24th, 2007. Winners will be announced via VOX Daily, VOX Talk, and the VoiceOver Insider.

What to do?

Submit a short paragraph telling the judges about your New Year's Resolutions for your voiceover career. Entries should be 100-200 words. They should be detailed. Creativity is encouraged. Must be a member in good standing of the forum at www.voice-overs.com. (Any VO industry pro is welcome, free to join)
Deadline: Dec 24th. Winner announced on January 1, 2008 on the VOX Daily blog, in the January issue of The VoiceOver Insider, and on the forum at Voice-Overs.Com.

OK, so what are you waiting for?

Go make those resolutions and submit them on the Voice-Overs.com forum to qualify.

Best,

Stephanie

One of the best in the business of voice over education has decided to kick it up a notch!

Marc Cashman of The Cashman Cache of Voice-Acting Techniques and pundit on Ask the Voice Cat is now teaching private voice lessons via telephone and through email coaching.

After years of teaching V-O classes in L.A., and after many requests, Marc Cashman is launching his One-on-One Voice Coaching!

I hail this as a great opportunity for all voice actors regardless of their level experience. I've known Marc for years now and am beyond ecstatic that you now have the opportunity to learn so much from him without having to attend his classes in person.

If you're someone who lives in an area where there isn't a voice over coach to be found or anyone in neighboring cities, Marc has a couple of services available to you now that only require a basic home studio set-up and a desire to study with an award-winning L.A. producer, director and voice actor.

Here are the two services as described by Marc Cashman:

1) Telephone Coaching

This would be a one-hour session where I would direct you over the phone. I’d send you three scripts in advance, schedule a time (I’d call you wherever you are) and would “put you through your paces,” so to speak. In this scenario, you’d be getting immediate feedback, performing a number of takes of each script until you’ve “nailed” it. My in-class students can attest to the fact that my feedback and direction is very focused, specific and constructive. It would be nice if you could record everything—the session and my feedback (if you have a decent phone-patch connection—ISDN not necessary). But the critical thing you’d need is a decent phone connection, so that I could clearly hear your articulation. You can also use a headset or a portable/cell phone.

The cost: $100/hr.

2) Email Coaching

This would be for those of you who would like my feedback and constructive direction when you have the time. I would email you scripts for you to record when you can. I’d get back to you in a timely manner (usually with 24-48 hours) with very specific comments on your performance. If you hit a “home run,” I’ll tell you so. If you need to re-do it, I’ll tell you why and what you need to do in subsequent takes; you’d have up to three attempts for each script. This scenario is great for those of you who have deadlines and last-minute demands from their clients. It would take as long as it takes—depending on our schedules, holidays, illness, vacations, emergencies, whatever.

The cost: $300 for 5 scripts, $500 for ten scripts.

Marc Cashman’s One-on-One Voice Coaching will give you the tools you need to:

• Analyze any script in minutes
• Direct yourself effectively
• Determine appropriate delivery in any copy
• Perform consistently on each and every "take" and much, much more.

As mentioned earlier on in this article, the One-on-One private coaching services are for anyone with a home studio set-up. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out.

If you’re interested in either of these services, call Marc at (661) 222-9300 or email him at cashcomm@earthlink.net.

Best,

Stephanie

We said it was coming!

Check out the new political voice overs page on Voices.com.

As was mentioned in the VoiceOver Insider this December, the political voice over demos web page at Voices.com is now available to peruse!

There three categories, including Republican voice overs, Democratic voice overs, and generic political voice over demos.

If you're looking to hire voice actors for your political campaign or are a staffer who has been set to the task of finding a voice talent, there are twenty distinct voiceover talent to choose from.

Visit the Elections page to hear a diverse samples of political voice over demos.

To learn more about any of the professionals listed, simply click on their names to review resume information and listen to addition voice samples.

If you like what you hear, there is an option to hire them directly on their websites.

Thank you to those who participated!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Michael McDonald

The name's Bond.

James Bond.

It is my great pleasure and honor to announce to the voice acting community that one of your own has been cast as the voice of the British super agent James Bond for an upcoming Bond video game to be released toward the end of 2008.

The character may look like Daniel Craig but his pipes belong to David Houston!

Yes, you heard it first here at VOX Daily.

David Houston, voice actor, blogger and member of Voices.com, is the new voice of James Bond!

Man, is it ever time to go get a gaming console ;)

Activision recently revealed that there are two James Bond videogame titles currently under development.

Source MI6 Gaming Central says:

It is believed this 'casting' announcement relates to the first game in development by Treyarch, and will be a blend of elements from Casino Royale and the upcoming Bond 22, which is expected to ship alongside in November 2008.

David has had quite the time keeping this cat in the bag but the news got out somehow so he can sit back and enjoy the perks that come with being the voice of Bond.

Mr. Houston, hats off to you!

Raise your proverbial glass in a toast to David Houston by leaving a comment :)

Best,

Stephanie

Are your auditions up to snuff?

Marc Cashman holds nothing back as he tells it like it is in his newest Voice Over Experts episode "Auditioning In Your Home Studio".

Learn how to avoid mediocrity, senseless rejection and prevent being perceived as an idiot by listening to this how-to podcast, hot off the RSS.

As I was mentioning earlier, this podcast by Marc Cashman is a must listen to and even if you think you don't need the pointers, is a hilarious piece to consume.

Some of you may know Marc as the Voice Cat on the blog Ask the Voice Cat. This podcast has a written component on his blog.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and I'm positive that Marc would too!

Looking forward to your comments,

Stephanie

While awards season is a wee bit off, the nomination season has just begun!

Learn more about a new category announced this year for the British Animation Awards.

It all started with a comment on the blog and away we went!

British Animation Awards 2008

Gulsen Yanik, British Animation Awards producer, contacted me with news about the British Animation Awards new category for Best Character Voice Performance in an animated film.

The category was created along with New Media: Best Animation and New Media: Best Commissioned Animation, focusing on internet and downloadable animation.

The Sound Company, sponsor of the category, helped promote the new category as well as sponsor it.

What's Going On?

The nomination deadline of November 30th, 2007. The organization is headquartered in London, UK.

Each category has three finalists, so that means three fortunate nominees will get to shine in the voice performance category when the judging commences.

Maybe you could be one of them!

Details for Nominations

British-made animated films produced in 2006 or 2007 are eligible. Each production entered requires a separate entry form and VHS(Pal) preview tape or DVD.

Best Character Voice Performance

Awarded to the best vocal performance in an animated film. Entry Fee: £45 plus VAT, unless you have entered for two or more other categories then Entry is FREE.

All categories are judged by Juries, which are made up very carefully from people within and associated with the industry.

Opportunities to Vote

There are three programmes made for the Public Choice Tour, which are made up of the best entries sent to the British Animation Awards. These programmes go to 28 cities in the UK and audiences are able to vote for their favourites. You can get tickets to these via the cinemas themselves. I let Gulsen know that a number of you are in Great Britain and may be interested in attending the showings.

Hungry For More?

Visit the BritishAnimationAwards website to learn more, download the entry form (you'll find it in the News section) and read about fantastic BAA prizes which are made specially for the BAA by animators and artists worldwide.

Let us know if you enter!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

So far, you've really only heard unbiased reporting or relative support for the writers strike.

What I am privileged to share with you today, however, is a bird of a different feather, and potentially writing that may have severe consequences for the writer, and if not heeded, members of several unions in the United States, and by default, unions sympathetic to the cause in nations abroad.

One man, a member of SAG and AFTRA has taken a stand against the strike, and the following revelation, uncensored, is how he feels.

This is a dangerous email for me to send out.

Why?

Because I happen to know a thing or two about how to make money on the Internet, and I'm concerned that if I speak my mind and voice an unpopular position, I will suffer at the hands of my fellow performers.

Ironically, I'm writing this from my hotel room in Las Vegas, having just spoken at BlogWorld on the need for podcasters to hone their craft and find their natural voices - to be more professional at what they do.

But...

I've made my living as a talk show host and talking head for years, taking positions that, to me, make eminent sense, yet to others seem counterintuitive. And I've also figured out ways to make several millions of dollars on the Internet over the last 15 years or so, affording me a unique perspective on what works, what doesn't and why (thanks, Howard Fine!) - along with what will work in the future.

So, here goes.

I'm saddened and angered that the WGA has gone on strike.

I think the WGA strike, and the approach to these contract negotiations, have been the wrong way to fight the wrong battle.

I think they've squandered any goodwill they had in this negotiation by picking the wrong area over which to have a fight. And the danger goes far deeper than that, as my other unions echo WGA's chants.

Let me explain.

No one, I repeat, no one, is making real money on the Internet with webisodic content right now.

I'm always amazed that anyone is willing to pay me, other actors, writers and other performers to be in webisodics - and I'm on a fair number of well-known and well-respected webisodic series myself. Please watch Goodnight Burbank and Infected on Revision3. Save the ones artificially monetized as a blatant corporate sales tool (I'm happily in Pepsi/Mountain Dew's Cyberpunx, taking SAG-level pay), none is making any money.

None.

Few are spending money - actors are working for free, green screen rooms are begged, borrowed or stolen, cameras and cinematographers are being cajoled into supporting their fellow performer, but very few dollars are being spent. Most of the breakdowns we see for these shows are copy, credit and meals.

The rare payments to performers in this space are welcome and cherished.

You know I'm right. You've seen Actor's Access, Now Casting and LA Casting.

It's all a big experiment, with relatively few real production dollars at risk and none coming back in return. People are dabbling. And spending very little producing to receive absolutely nothing in income.

Zip. Nada.

The income side is just as abysmal.

If you're producing content for the Internet, for YouTube and that ilk, if you're aggressive, you can count on a few dollars in subscription fees (I own ShowTaxi.com, so I see the numbers) and even less in advertising dollars.

We're talking pennies here. And not per play.

So the Internet's Emperor currently has no clothes (or food or shelter, for that matter).

And if we're honest with ourselves, we must ask:

Why fight for money that doesn't exist? And (this is where you'll have to trust that I know what I'm talking about) - WON'T exist for several contract cycles.

My problem is, I've suffered through this righteous indignation on the part of my unions before. And I didn't speak up.

I regret that.

See, a few years ago, AFTRA pulled a similar stunt, negotiating what they thought was a very progressive victory: a triple session fee for a performer if a performer's commercial appeared on the Internet.

Great, you say?

We AFTRA performers all make more money, you say?

No. Not even close.

It resulted in the ad agencies that produced the spots simply refusing to authorize Internet play of those spots, and forced radio stations to drastically change their online automation playback, and to blank out those spots with AFTRA performances in their live streams with public domain classical music.

So AFTRA performers never got paid that hard fought triple session fee, and AFTRA unnecessarily burdened every commercial radio station in America.

The current landscape in Internet production of video, audio, Flash, YouTube videos and the like, is still, and will remain so for the next several years, a speculative one, and one with no foreseeable income.

Why?

Here's why.

While the public loves to consume online content, no one has successfully gotten them to pay for it.

No model has emerged, including subscription and advertising, that generates even the most meager incomes on the most runaway popular videos.

And when does emerge, like iTunes, it gets called not a godsend, and what consumers want and are willing to pay for.

No.

It gets labeled "the ruin of the music industry" by NBC/Universal's leadership in their zeal to maintain outmoded budgets.

Slap.

This is the important fact:

The most outrageously successful videos on the biggest outlet online, YouTube, generate 7-figure plays, and low 2 and 3 figure *monthly* incomes, with short-attention-span shelf life of a few months at best, as users find the next darling to virally spread. And no one is madly clicking on the ads on YouTube pages or anywhere else.

How many times have you left a video playback page on YouTube by clicking on an ad?

I find myself shaking my head in rueful concern over next summer's actor's contract negotiations when I see my SAG leader, Alan Rosenberg, sending me an email stating that "their fight (WGA's) is our fight."

Let me be very clear.

I loved him as the alcoholic lawyer on The Guardian a few years back on CBS, but here, today, Rosenberg is dead wrong, and he is endangering our chances to negotiate proper and real increases in our pay rates and health benefits.

He is doing so in favor of chasing after the Internet market.

There is no Internet market to fight over yet. There is no market in the foreseeable future on the Internet.

Certainly, he and others are distracted by the fact that some websites like YouTube and Facebook have moronic, emotion-filled capital valuations the likes of which haven't been seen since the dot-com bust, but none are making money, and none have the near- or mid-term potential to make the kind of money that merits those valuations. Thankfully they're not individual public companies, and today's Henry Blodgetts can't hype them to death on the markets.

Unfortunately, what those websites do have is the ability to take viewers away from network and cable TV, and what have been very, very lucrative network audience and ad dollars, but darn the luck... they don't replace the lost network ad money with online ad money. And no one running these websites are telling the truth on that - it would harm their negotiations to be bought by the likes of Microsoft, Google or Yahoo.

No, it's just the same old romantic dot-com hype the mainstream press has been known for since they started covering the Internet, cluelessly, in the 90's. And in the end, the Internet's really just another delivery mechanism, another wire, with a more painful-to-watch output point (gather the family around the computer monitor?), not an incredible new market place.

Not yet.

And to make matters even worse, the mainstream media, in their zeal to cover sites like Napster, BitTorrent and Kazaa with such glowing admiration, has trained a whole generation of users to steal, or at the very least, expect everything to be free.

That means that if a market does emerge, we have some really damaging speed bumps in getting the public to pay and advertisers to pay.

That, so far, has been the reality for the folks on the other side of the negotiating table.

Certainly for some producers and writers, they might make money with very little outlay by making a great piece online, creating a demand for that creative work via viral success, then selling the series as DVDs or by creating series that air on traditional channels.

That's self production. That's creating your own content, so go negotiate with yourself.

Most of the people producing webisodes now are doing so, hoping they'll hit a home run... and a network will notice. That's not revolutionary at all. It's what indie artists have been doing for years on the music side of things.

So the WGA, our acting and performance membership, outspoken activist celebrities and our Guild and Federation leadership are, to me, out walking the picket lines, encouraging us to do the same, posturing themselves and our futures over a vast empty wasteland that currently is being experimented with - to no predictable success.

I believe that we are far too early in the infancy of this delivery mechanism to be defiantly sticking our chins out, demanding money that doesn't exist, when DVD sales and on-demand cable plays are clearly
demonstrable and are far more lucrative to producers and distributors, and from which we should be able to extract a more reasonable percentage.

My advice?

Go back to the table, demand to rework the DVD and VOD formulas and keep an eye on the Net over the next few years, looking for real income, but don't throw down the precious gauntlet over it.

I believe that if the WGA gets what they want, they'll find that they fought over hardly anything, and squandered an opportunity to do something useful for their membership.

And before the conspiracy theories start, I am no shill for the producers.

I believe that you train people how to treat you and how well to remunerate you - and that we, as performers, are usually woefully underpaid.

We deserve as much money as we are willing to demand and that the other side is willing to pay.

But in saying all this, I fear that some of you will shun me as that smart ass capitalist Ayn Randian objectivist Ruth's Chris steak-eating barbarian who doesn't grasp the fundamentals of what it's like to be a struggling artist. And there, you would be correct, right up to the "doesn't grasp..." part of that sentence. I struggle every day as an actor, a writer, a filmmaker, a voice talent and more. But those of you know know me, know that I often find a way to success, especially on the Internet.

Not, however, as a webisodic producer. There's no money in it.

Yet.

So there we are. What do I do?

Do I keep silent, knowing that if I speak my mind, from what I consider to be a very informed position of first hand knowledge, I could be ostracized by my fellow performers?

Or do I clearly and succinctly speak up, hoping someone, somewhere in the WGA leadership receives this message as a forward, even a "can you believe how stupid this guy is?" forward, and changes their tactics to deal with the real and pressing issues they have?

I've made up my mind. Here goes:

I support the troops, but I don't support the war.

I support my fellow writers' quest for better pay and better benefits, but I do not support the WGA strike over Internet production.

I think it is a mistake to get wrapped around the axle on demanding monies for Internet usage.

And, I believe that not only should the WGA take this demand off the table, I believe that if SAG and AFTRA pick up this fight next summer, they will be doing all of their members, including me, a grave disservice.

The producers will balk, knowing there really, really, really is no money to be shared, and will not be willing to capitulate. And then we'll strike, and we will all waste more time on the picket lines, labeling our employers incorrectly as being "unfair".

There.

I urge you to pass this on to others in our community.

Thanks.

David Lawrence

~~

After I was given permission to publish the above, David also shared the following with me:

Addendum

As an addendum, I received over 2,000 responses back from people to whom I sent this, many of whom had received it from my list members. Given the average active response rate from other media, I would estimate that a little over 200,000 people have seen it (1 out of 100 taking the time to write seems fair).

A little over 60 percent thanked me for voicing the very things they'd been thinking, and the rest took various shades of name-calling to simple "you have no idea what you're talking about".

One thing that came up over and over was that those that disagreed often assumed that I would take the contract offer as is. I would never sign an agreement that precluded any performer or writer from receiving residuals for any form of distribution including new media. I am not against the union. I wish we had leadership that didn't get lost in the tactics at the expense of clever and beneficial strategy, but that's for another time.

And finally, the money I've made on the Internet does not obviate my statement that the networks aren't making, or can't make, money on the net - in fact, it proves they can. Just not right now.

~~

Do you have anything to add? What do you think?

Best regards,

Stephanie

CORRECTION: Earlier, I had mentioned that David was a member of the WGA. David is not a member of their guild at present.

UPDATE: David will answer your questions here on VOX Daily through comments. If you have a question, would appreciate a clarification or otherwise, please leave a comment and David will answer you here on VOX Daily.

©iStockphoto.com/Mark Gabrenya

What does Remembrance Day mean to you?

Discover a couple of stories that will warm your heart and remind of you what Remembrance Day is all about.

I also look forward to hearing your stories, so let the sharing begin!

Commemoration

The immortal poem "In Flanders Fields" by a Canadian, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, a doctor and teacher, who served in both the South African War and the First World War, echo through the years and even today as we are blessed with another November 11th to commemorate those who fought for the freedom we now enjoy.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch, be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields

The Boys from Barrie

Earlier this week, CBC Ontario Morning host Wei Chen had a wonderful guest on her program, Clint Lovell, head of the History Department at Eastview Secondary School in Barrie, ON whose class had worked on a special project wherein each student profiled one soldier from Barrie who was killed in the Second World War, numbering 60 soldiers in total.

"The Boys from Barrie" project is a collection of those profiles and is hosted on the Veterans Affairs Canada website. The picture accompanying this article is of the local cenotaph in Barrie, Ontario Canada as depicted on the VAC website.

We have so much to be grateful for and we honour those who answered the call, and continue to answer the call, to ensure precious freedom for all.

I have a few uncles that fought in the Great War and World War II, and have been told stories about two of them who never returned. How very poignant those stories are to hear. There is a family historian on my father's side who has cataloged one such story, including telegrams from my late Great Uncle John (also called Jack), a telegraphist, with scanned newspaper clippings about the fateful day he was stationed on the HMCS Valleyfield when the ship was torpedoed by a German u-boat off the coast of Newfoundland in the Atlantic Ocean on May 6th, 1944.

While those wars are now memories filtered through the hourglass of time, there are still wars raging in the Middle East, Africa, and turmoil in other countries. The words "Never Again" ought to apply to everyone but it is painfully clear that there is still work to be done in the hearts of those who oppress and seek nothing else but the obliteration of people and hold not dear the sanctity of human life at all stages.

AFN : Giving Hope to Soldiers in Iraq

Something I'd like to draw attention to is the very active efforts being made by a group of broadcasters I have recently become acquainted with through voice talent Charlie Glaize.

Combat Correspondent, Chris Eder, part of the AFN team (American Forces Network), blogged this past week about the generosity of several voice actors who donated their time and talent to provide the radio station with free liners, sweepers, and bumpers to help nourish the spirits of the troops stationed in Iraq with friendly voices from home via Freedom Radio. It truly means the world to them.

What does Remembrance Day mean to you?

Looking forward to reading your comments,

Stephanie

Do you listen to VOX Talk?

If so, you'll be pleased to hear that Adam Fox, the host of the Tech Talk segment, has just started his own blog at Defiant Digital Productions!

Check out Adam's Tech Talk segments and leave comments about what you've heard on the Defiant Digital Productions Blogcast.

I'm happy to help spread the word about Adam Fox's new blogcast at Defiant Digital Productions.

Adam is posting his Tech Talk segments for you to listen to, comment on and share with your friends. There is an option to subscribe as well, so make sure you do that to keep in the loop.

As mentioned in previous episodes, Adam looks forward to receiving your MP3 feedback (called podmail on the show) and would love to include you in his Tech Talk segments.

Why Participate?

1. It's fun
2. You'll get some publicity
3. You become part of the show
4. You get to know Adam better
5. We'll also link to you from the VOX Talk podcast website

Bonus reason: Did I say that it's fun?

Head on over to Adam's blog and take part in the conversation.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

P.S. If you have recently started a blog, let me know by leaving a comment here on VOX Daily.

Who doesn't like a hearty laugh now and then?

Marc Cashman, also known as the voice over expert behind the popular blog Ask the Voice Cat, is compiling a book of all things funny related to voice acting and experiences had throughout a voice over career.

Do you have something to add to the book?

Your Opportunity To Be Immortalized in a VO Book!

Our good friend Marc Cashman, a voice talent and voice over coach, is compiling a book of funny directions, copywriting mistakes, ridiculous audition requests, silly anecdotes, jokes, cartoons, session outtakes, and so on for the V-O business.

On behalf of Marc, I'd like to post a request here to you, the awesome readers of VOX Daily, to send in your hilarious material for his forthcoming book.

Marc relates that he is certain many of you have suffered encounters with eye-rolling, stupid, unintentionally funny stuff in this wacky industry...

Here are a couple examples and a message from Marc:

“We are auditioning for a muse. This muse must apeal to children 6-8 ys. Old. Please do note make this muse sound like rocky or bullwinkel from the old cartoons.”

or...

"Looking for either a woman or a man, preferably with an English accident!"

Not particularly laugh-out-loud material, but you understand what I'm getting at. Anything you might have or remember that you'd like to contribute would be great.

So, here's the list:

- Script directions: could be confusing, unintelligible, oxymoronic (or just moronic), whatever.
- Embarrassing spelling or punctuation errors in scripts.
- Funny or embarrassing anecdotes about auditions, sessions, directions, etc., from either your own experience or others you know (names will be withheld upon request). I've heard many, many stories of client comments during V-O sessions that would fill one book alone.
- Funny jokes, cartoons or photos that are V-O related.
- Any hilarious outtakes you might have (Subject to review)

Plus, if you find anything that you find funny in a category I haven't mentioned, send it on--I will acknowledge all contributors. And, if you feel like it, you can submit silly things like this over the next year, if you feel inclined--I'd love to have it.

Thanks in advance for your participation and I hope this finds you well.

Sincerely,

Marc Cashman

~~

Hey! I know you've got stories to tell. I hear at least one a day that would be a perfect nugget in Marc's book.

You can email your stories to Marc at cashcomm@earthlink.net

I'm really looking forward to reading the book once it has been published and hope to see your names credited in there as sources :)

Best wishes,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Peter Finnie

Will there be an Oscars show in 2008?

When the people who write drop their pens and go on strike, an entire industry shuts down.

How long do you think this will go on for and will it affect you?

A few days ago, I head an interview on CBC Radio One with the head of a prominent writers' association here in Canada discussing the possibility of a strike in the US...

The reason?

Writers are struggling with the same issue that SAG, AFTRA, and ACTRA are concerned about - the use of content on the Internet and being compensated for the additional exposure their work is receiving through online channels. In fact, ACTRA went on strike this year over the same issue in addition to a demand for increased pay.

Well, from this morning's news report, it appears that the discussions at the bargaining table went nowhere fast and the action to strike is imminent.

Their contract expired Wednesday at midnight and American writers for television and film are seriously considering a strike to start as early as Friday of this week ( Friday November 2, 2007 ).

If this goes on much longer, we could be looking at no new programming on TV come February 2008 and the movies will be soon to follow. Could that mean that there may not be an Oscar night next year celebrating Hollywood's finest? I'm merely speculating, but if there is no end in sight, it could be a reality.

This will affect everyone from the writers to the on-camera talent. That's a lot of people as anyone who has ever been involved with production for television and film can attest.

Something else to consider is that SAG may be up to strike in 2008 as well. What if these two strikes were to coincide?

Share your thoughts and opinions as a comment below.

Best,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/En Tien Ou

Live in and around New Hartford and want to get into voice acting?

Try out this introductory class "Getting Paid to Talk" on November 5th, 2007 taught by our friends at VoiceCoaches.com.

Remember reading about the team from Voice Coaches?

I just caught wind of a voice acting course being taught by John from Voice Coaches via the Community News for Oneida County on UticaOD.com. “Getting Paid to Talk” is an adult education class taught by the voice acting professionals from Voice Coaches, an industry leader in voice acting training.

The class lasts two and a half hours, a non-credit course, during which students will learn what it takes to become a professional voice actor including the basics of getting started, all the way through working in the studio, recording a demo, and landing jobs.

Class attendees will have an opportunity to record a mock commercial under the direction of a producer. The class is taught by instructor John Gallogly, Senior Creative Director for Voice Coaches.

Want to know more? Details Please!:

What: Introduction to Voice Acting Class "Getting Paid to Talk"
Instructor: VoiceCoaches.com Senior Creative Director, John Gallogly
When: Monday November 5, 2007 at 6:30 p.m.
Where: BOCES Consortium of Continuing Education on Middle Settlement Road, New Hartford
Contact: For information or to register, call 315-793-8696

If you get to the lecture, be sure to let us know what you thought by leaving a comment here on the blog!

Best,

Stephanie

Image © VoiceCoaches.com

There's no place like home for the holidays, however, what happens if you aren't at home for Kwanzaa, Hanukkah or Christmas but are in the hospital instead?

Find out how you can make this holiday season a bit brighter for sick children by donating your voice for a noble cause.

Holiday Magic CD Talent Needed

Voice actor Jeff Gelder of GelderHead Productions is looking for voice talent to participate with him on a project called "Holiday Magic 2007… a gift for children of all ages," a CD featuring music and a holiday tale that will be distributed to sick children at Children's Hospital San Diego and their siblings.

Last year, Jeff produced the first Holiday Magic CD and distributed 1500 CDs to four hospitals, and Jeff tells me that there are more hospitals requesting the CD. The first edition of the CD was produced in 2003. Among the talent involved is Connie Terwilliger, Voice Over Expert and professional voiceover talent.

Jeff hopes to exceed that number this year and plans to "play Santa" in December at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego.

Financial Donations Accepted to Cover Production Costs

"For every $2.00 donation a child will receive a CD of their own. This is a labor of love that is received with much joy by children who are unfortunately spending the holiday season in the hospital and their siblings, who often crave attention due to so much being given to the ailing member of their family," Jeff said. He confides "We appreciate all donations! The more donations the more children that will be receiving a CD."

How To Donate

Donations are requested throughout the year. Checks of any denomination should be made out to GelderHead Productions (with Children's Hospital CD Fund on the memo line) and sent to P.O. Box 3386, San Diego, CA 92163-3386, or donate via Paypal at http://www.HolidayMagicCD.com and click on "Make a Donation."

How To Volunteer Your Voice Acting Services

For those who would like to get involved in the project, contact Jeff at jeff (at) gelderhead.com

Best,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Gina Luck

Have you seen the footage of the devastating forest fires in southern California?

As thousands are being evacuated, among them are voice actors, maybe even someone you know or work with.

Monitor the status of voice talent affected by the fires at the Voice-Overs.com Forum and learn more here about how you can help at VOX Daily.

Breaking News

Moments ago, I received an email from Julie Williams about the fires in southern California and how they are affecting voice talent.

She asks that prayers are said for the following voice talent. Here's a message from Julie:

Bobbin Beam, who recently built her custom-made home studio, has been evacuated from her home. I'm told that Greg Allen has been evacuated as well.

Kelli Casey is also dealing with the smoke issue, but is OK.

Frank Frederick reports that Jim Sutton has also been evacuated.

I spoke to Connie Terwilliger, who tells me she believes James Alburger has probably also been evacuated from his home ( confirmed by Penny Abshire - James is to return today to his home ).

Connie says she is safe for now... but, of course, all the smoke in the vocal cords is not good either! There is so much smoke that it can actually be seen from space!

If you know of another talent affected by these fires, please post their name on the thread at the Voice-Overs.com forum in the Chit Chat section.

~~

How You Can Help

Once everything has settled down a bit, Julie would like to pull all voice talent together to raise funds to help fellow voice talent get back on their feet and rebuild studios. She indicates that support from voice over marketplaces, organizations, and individual talent will be very helpful.

If you would like to help them get back on their feet, please contact Julie at julie (at) voice-overs.com so our community can begin planning how we can offer our love, support, and concrete assistance to those affected.

Once an action plan has been determined, Julie will post it in the V-ZINE (coming out soon), and coordinate endeavors at http://www.voice-overs.com/forum.

You are invited to show your support by leaving a comment here on VOX Daily.

Thank you for caring about fellow voice talent!

Julie Williams and Stephanie Ciccarelli

P.S. If you have a blog, please post about this and direct people to Julie's forum so that efforts can be made to help out. They would like to centralize the aid and are considering opening a bank account for relief purposes.

©iStockphoto.com/Alex Pitt

Hey, what's all the buzz about?

Jerry Seinfeld, American comedian and television star, hits the silver screen as an animated bee, buzzing into a theatre near you on November 2nd, 2007.

Zigging and zagging toward November, I picked up a magazine with an article about Jerry Seinfeld's first animated film Bee Movie, a feature he shares voice acting credits with Hollywood voice talents Matthew Broderick, Chris Rock, Renee Zellweger, Barry Levinson, Kathy Bates, and Patrick Warburton.

Bee Movie Story

In a honeycomb (or nutshell, if you prefer), Barry B. Benson (Seinfeld), a curious young bee, leaves the comfort of his hive and ventures forth to see what the big wide world has to offer a buzzing young chap in black and yellow pinstripes.

One aspect of Barry's journey is developing a friendship with a human, a florist in fact, named Vanessa (Zellweger).

The plot thickens...

Discovering friendship is one thing, but finding out that people can buy honey off the shelf is quite another! Barry intends to get his just desserts by suing humankind for the theft and exploitation of honey, in his view, the fruit of his and his fellow bees labor.

Three years in the making, Bee Movie should prove humorous as well as a wonderful debut for Jerry Seinfeld as a celebrity voice actor headlining his first animated feature.

On a side note, the movie also raises awareness with regard to the recent plight of bees. There has been a dramatically noticeable shortage of bees, the root of which hasn't yet been confirmed. The film seeks to educate everyone on just why bees are important highlighting what they do for the environment and contribute to the ecosystem.

Here are some interesting facts as compiled by the journalist Paul Baswick, contributer to What's Up Kids, Canada's Family Magazine:

Bee Movie Briefs and Facts about Bees

* Jerry Seinfeld was stung on the nose by a bee at a beehive while conducting his research for the movie in Long Island
* There are about 1,300 different shots in Bee Movie
* Bees can't see the color red, but they can see ultraviolet light
* Honey bees have six legs, five eyes, and four wings
* Most of Canada's honey is produced in Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba
* Bees don't have ears but they can detect sound by sensing vibrations through their legs

Will you be going out to see Bee Movie this Fall?

Best,

Stephanie

Have you run out and bought the new limited edition of Disney's The Jungle Book Platinum DVD?

It's the fortieth anniversary of the celebrated release, but what you may not know is that it has a Canadian connection...

Watch the movie, but as soon as you're through, pop in the bonus DVD DisneyPedia : Junglemania and listen to the voice overs recorded by Canada's Brandon Hunt.

Welland, Ontario Canada based voice talent Brandon Hunt recorded voiceovers for “DisneyPedia : Junglemania”, the bonus disc that comes with the platinum DVD edition of Disney’s cherished animated film, The Jungle Book. The 14-minute piece teaches children all about jungle animals using examples from the film.

You may recall that we covered this story last week in VOX Talk Episode 44.

How I found out about this story is a story in itself!

As you may know, the team at Voices.com is on Facebook and many of our friends on there are voice actors.

One of my friends happened to update his status a few minutes before I had logged in and the first headline I saw was to the effect of "My voice is on a Disney DVD"...

I just had to know more, so I jumped over to Brandon Hunt's profile and asked him for more details. Something that wasn't mentioned in the news report was how astonished Brandon's young son was by his father's wealth of knowledge concerning animals! Ah, the magic of a good script and an even better voice over ;)

I found an exclusive snippet of the "King Louie" segment on Truveo.com.

Have any of you surprised your kids with a wealth of knowledge upon listening to some of your work?

Perhaps you've picked up some neat facts from having narrated an educational, historical or technical piece.

Add your voice to the conversation by leaving a comment.

Cheers,

Stephanie

Image © Disney

Although not much more will be official until October 17th, 2007, TheTimesOnline.co.uk reports that the BBC has threatened to release over a fifth of their workforce where news reporting is concerned, possibly affecting 600 people just prior to Christmastime.

The National Union of Journalists came forward today with the news that potentially more than 1/5 of the BBCs news journalists are at risk of losing their jobs, with the flagship One O'Clock News under threat in swingeing cuts scheduled to be unveiled next week.

TimesOnline.co.uk published a story detailing that Jeremy Dear, the general secretary, said he believed that "600 to 700 jobs are at risk", out of a total of 3,000, a level that if formally proposed will almost certainly lead to strikes at the corporation in the run-up to Christmas.

Other union sources said they had heard "credible reports" that "the One O'Clock News will go", with the bulletin replaced by a half-hour feed taken from the BBC News 24 channel.

A decision by Mark Thompson to make cuts at BBC News, including the elimination of the separate One O'Clock News programme, is likely to generate political concern.

Further rumors are circulating that after this round of cuts is made, another several thousand may follow. Job losses, as noted, are expected to be in the realm of 2,600 across the board, but this number will not be confirmed until October 17th.

Union leaders also gave warning this morning of a possible 72-hour strike, amid widespread speculation that 2,600 jobs could go at the BBC, mostly in the next two years.

Do you live in the UK or work for the BBC as a journalist? How will these potential changes affect you?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Peter Finnie

Looking to glitz it up Hollywood style at a VIP birthday party in Burbank this month for one of the greatest voice actresses of all time?

Join ASIFA-Hollywood as they throw what promises to be the mother of all birthday parties for June Foray on October 19th in Burbank, California.

While visiting Bob Souer's blog, referencing a post at CartoonBrew.com, I found a neat story that might just get you in with the who's who of cartoon voice acting.

The Los Angeles chapter of ASIFA (Association Internationale du Film D'Animation), ASIFA-Hollywood, is celebrating June Foray's 90th birthday (nearly one month after her actual birth date of September 18th), and the invitation is extended to ASIFA-Hollywood members and their guests only, so you'll need to be part of their organization or a friend of a member to attend.

Solution? Join ASIFA-Hollywood now or arrange to be the date of an ASIFA-Hollywood member!

Here are the details:

Date and Time: Friday, October 19, 2007, 7-10 p.m.
Location: Pickwick Gardens
Terrace Room
1001 Riverside Drive
Burbank, CA 91506

Specifics:

7 p.m. Cocktail Reception (no host bar)
8:30 p.m. Cake Cutting
Admission $25

Tickets will be sold at the door, however you must RSVP by emailing juneforay (@) asifa-hollywood.org, in order to attend.

The deadline to RSVP is Friday, October 12, 2007. In lieu of presents, June has requested that you make a donation to the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive.

If any of you go to the party, snap some pics, will you! We'd love to see them.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

P.S. October 5th, 2007 happens to be the deadline for Annie Award entries to be received. Materials are due a couple of weeks following that. For more info, check out the ASIFA-Hollywood calendar. The ceremony for The Annies will take place on February 8, 2008.

Image sourced from CartoonBrew.com

What does the Transformers movie and Road Stories of the Real Highway Comics have in common?

Why, Canadian voice actor Bryan Cox, of course!

Read more about Bry's recent writeup in Stage Time Magazine.

Bryan Cox sent me a quick note this morning to say that he'd been featured in an article on StageTimeMag.com, touted as the magazine that stands up for comedy, highlighting his role in Michael Bay's Transformers as well as his popular audiobook release on iTunes, Road Stories of the Real Highway Comics.

Want to know more?

Read the article here.

Congrats on some more press, Bryan!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

P.S. Have you been making headlines lately? Send your news to stephanie@voices.com

Ever heard of SaVoa?

A first for the voice over industry, SaVoa aims to accredit all professional voice over artists, regardless of location, to preserve their art while recognizing people who produce broadcast-quality audio.

I'd like to present the concept of accreditation in the voice over industry to you here at VOX Daily.

Just yesterday, I received an email from Thom Wilkins, a member of the board of directors for SaVoa, the Society of Accredited Voice Over Artists.

SaVoa is a not-for-profit organization that provides juried peer evaluations and accredits qualified voice over artists with a recognized, professional status based upon technical and artistic criteria, primarily, an individual’s ability to produce broadcast-quality audio recordings for public consumption.

You may have noticed that this is a first for the voice over industry and we're happy to take a leading role and help the SaVoa team spread the word.

The goals of SaVoa are to enhance the voice over profession, encourage education, and support public awareness of the generosity, spirit and professionalism of voice over artists.

Just to clarify, SaVoa is not a union. Here's their disclaimer on the topic:

SaVoa does not and cannot provide the services offered by AFTRA, SAG, ACTRA, EQUITY or any other union. It is not intended to replace or compete with these fine organizations. Similarly, these unions do not provide the specific support and services offered by SaVoa to voice over artists.

There is a special podcast announcing the breaking news on VOX Talk and a press release in addition to this article published here at VOX Daily in efforts to promote SaVoa and educate you on the offerings that an organization such as The Society of Accredited Voice Over Artists can provide.

Listen to the SaVoa Podcast on VOX Talk

We're eager to hear your feedback on this new service. Please leave a comment with your thoughts.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Have you been waiting for the special Simpsons Tribute Episode of VOX Talk?

Hear some awesome demos and find out who won The Simpsons Sound Alike Challenge on the newly released podcast, fresh off the RSS!

Curious to hear some of the best Simpsons sound alike demos around?

Listen in to The Simpsons Tribute Podcast, a special episode of VOX Talk.

Support your colleagues and leave a comment on the podcast article!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Image sourced from LaughingSquid.com

Did you know that you only have two more days to vote for your favorite Simpsons Sound Alikes?

Voting closes on Tuesday September 11th, so vote now to have your say.

Stephanie

CNN, "The Most Trusted Name in News", has just ended their 27-year partnership with news source Reuters, an International news gathering body, one of the most renowned out there.

What will CNN do now?

Find out more here at VOX Daily.

Well, anything is possible!

Get this:

CNN cuts loose Reuters after 27 years

By Joshua Chaffin/FT

Published: August 30 2007 23:16 | Last updated: August 30 2007 23:16

CNN is dropping Reuters as one of its main sources of news and video and will instead invest millions of dollars to bolster its own news gathering operations. The move will end a 27-year relationship between the companies that stretches back to CNN’s founding.

~~

That's really just the headline, so if you want to read more, click through the link above on the story title.

In essence, CNN is wanting to create more of its own content that it can use through new media applications and on websites, a huge step forward to becoming more independent as well as assume more control over the news and stories they present to their audience.

CNN is now employing Guerilla Marketing strategies, something that grassroots and independent media outlets have been doing for years, most prominently, bloggers and podcasters. This should be an exciting and innovative chapter in their company history.

As spectators watching from our box in the peanut gallery, CNN's latest corporate decision to cut one of the most trusted news sources out of their fold is interesting to say the least.

What do you think of this new reality? What kind of news and content do you anticipate to spring forth from CNN in the future?

Add your reply and get this conversation going!

Best,

Stephanie

Want to be the voice of a Marvel character in their upcoming animated film release on DVD? Here's your chance!

MLG Productions 1, Inc., in association with Marvel Enterprises and Lions Gate Home Entertainment, presents:

The Ultimate Voice Talent Search

The Ultimate Avengers are coming to life in a brand new animated movie, but they need your help. From coast to coast, talented actors and actresses are assembling to voice Earth's mightiest heroes, and according to the folks at Marvel, you can join them!

Marvel wants to know:

Have you perfected your spicy Black Widow Russian accent? Do you think you sound like Nick Fury, or Thor, or Captain America?

If you've ever wanted to hear your voice come out of a Marvel Superhero's body or if you are looking for a chance to break into the world of voice acting, Marvel suggests that this is your chance to do so, stating that you could be part of one of our animated movies or appear in bonus material on a DVD.

How do you get started?

Pick out a character from the list at Marvel, download a script, and then read the full instructions at the bottom of the page.

If any of you land a role, come back and comment here on this article so that we can congratulate you.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Image © Marvel.com

Have you voted for your favorite Springfield impressions?

After reviewing an influx of Simpsons sound alike impressions, the team at Voices.com has narrowed the contestants down to 15 voice actors representing five of the most beloved Simpsons characters in history, including Homer Simpson, Marge Simpson, Bart Simpson, Lisa Simpson and Krusty the Clown.

Prizes of $100 gift certificates to Amazon.com will be awarded in the following categories:

Best Homer Simpson Impression
Best Marge Simpson Impression
Best Bart Simpson Impression
Best Lisa Simpson Impression
Best Krusty the Clown Impression

Finalists for Best Homer Simpson Impression:

David Medford
Brad Venable
Philip Weber

Finalists for Best Marge Simpson Impression:

Amy Taylor
Paul Seidel
Rachel Robinson

Finalists for Best Bart Simpson Impression:

Gelfling
Kristi Stewart
Marcia Bennett

Finalists for Best Lisa Simpson Impression:

Angela Wolcott
Kara Edwards
Lila Atherley

Finalists for Best Krusty the Clown Impression:

Brian Whitaker
Greg Littlefield
Rick Gangi

These fine voice actors have made it to the finals where their peers and The Simpsons cartoon fans everywhere will decide who takes home the honors with total prizes valued at over $500.

Voting started on Monday August 27th and ends on Tuesday September 11th, 2007.

The winners as chosen by the public will be announced via the VOX Talk Podcast on September 13th, 2007 in a special Simpsons Tribute Episode. Select impressions sent in of other characters from the show, both individual characters and combination demos, will also be featured on the Simpsons Tribute Podcast.

Be sure to subscribe to VOX Talk to receive the show as soon as it is published!

What are you waiting for? Go listen and vote for your fave voice impressions now!

Best,

Stephanie and the Voices.com Team

Voice Talent Jason McCoy’s elevator speech garnered him the grand prize at Voices.com’s 2007 60 Second Pitch Contest this summer.

Learn more about Jason McCoy and his voice over journey here at VOX Daily.

Nothing in business makes Jason McCoy happier than performing a variety of voice overs. For example, Jason loves reading and voicing everything from audiobooks, to commercials, to IVR scripts; he loves them all, especially since they come with the added bonus of being able to work from the comfort of his own home, yet, allow him to be heard everywhere.

Recently, that passion was publicly rewarded and acknowledged when voice talent Jason McCoy was awarded first place in the Voices.com 60 Second Pitch Contest, wowing the judges with a clear focus, conversational appeal and creative compilation of educational and business prowess.

Jason McCoy credits an interest in radio from a young age as the source of his fascination with voice over. From age 12, he pretended to be on the radio and would even use a computer microphone to record liners he had heard on a local radio station. Jason recalls spending hours upon hours playing music on the computer and editing in his voiced liners to hear how it sounded.

By the age of 17, Jason interned at a radio station to get experience and instantly fell head over heels for the production room, playing around with soundfx, writing liners, and on one fateful day, played them for the Program Director (PD). Within a year, he was made full time Production Director and became responsible for the 7pm-midnight air shift. Two years later, he was promoted to Program Director.

Although his role as Program Director lead him further up the ladder at the station, the creative production work and freedom that he enjoyed earlier eluded him, particularly the opportunity to do voice overs. Not to be discouraged, Jason began building a home studio and sent out demos to what seemed to be every radio station in America.

Jason noted, “I received a lot of rejection, but I was blessed to land 2 or 3 radio station contracts that year, one of which was WXTM-FM in Cleveland. I thought instead of working for one local radio station, I want to be able to work from home for many stations. So after 6+ total years with that station, I left radio and started McCoy Productions to do voice over and production.”

What started as just radio station imaging turned into a cornucopia of opportunity including voice over work such as telephone IVR, trailers, commercials, audiobooks, narration and many more.

Jason McCoy, when asked about what drives him, relates, “Hearing other talent inspires me. When I listen to the radio, I listen more for commercials to get new ideas. I love hearing the TV network voice overs. It's extremely inspiring to hear a great voice and think how can I improve to get closer to that talents level. I often think if I had that same sentence written out would I have delivered it the same way, and if not, which one sounded better? So really it’s the ability to always improve that inspires me. I believe success comes to anyone who is constantly attempting to improve.”

Jason McCoy’s first place win in the Voices.com 60 Second Pitch Contest distinguishes him as a businessman, communicator, and persuasive marketer with more than just a great voice, objectives that are attainable through hard work, perseverance, and professionalism as well as a humble heart.

To listen to his winning pitch and the 60 Second Pitch Award Show, visit:

http://podcasts.voices.com/voxtalk/

About Jason McCoy

Based in Salisbury, Maryland, Jason McCoy of McCoy Productions provides dry and fully produced professional voice over and audio production for radio / TV station imaging, commercials, theatrical trailers, narration, voice on hold, audiobooks, and presentations. McCoy Productions offers immediate turnaround, affordable rates and offers the highest quality of voice over and production. His partial client list includes organizations such as Unwired Nation, Nextit, St. Joseph Health Care System, KZLE-FM, KCDZ-FM, HouseMusic101.com, KBACE, and Gateway Church.

This week brings us part two of three in an interview series with Joe Cipriano.

Listen to Jesse Springer's interviews with this VO great on the VOX Talk Podcast and discover some "behind the scenes" tales about how this project took flight here on the VOX Daily Voice Actor blog.

In an age where social media has brought people together online, Jesse Springer, a native of Seattle pursuing a voice acting career in Los Angeles, has found unique ways to hone his craft as a voice actor and promote his talents while becoming acquainted with the Who’s Who of the voice over industry, conducting interviews through audio and video with legends in the field.

Concurrent with his voice acting career, Jesse is also working on a four-year degree in film production at Biola University. Although his summer holidays may be drawing to a close, Jesse Springer is never far from a microphone, or a high profile interview subject.

Joe Cipriano, known to many as the promo voice on FOX among other stations as well as the announcer for the Emmy and Grammy Award Shows, was the honored guest in Jesse’s most recent interview series currently being podcast on VOX Talk, the #1 Voice Acting Podcast. Joe Cipriano is also a member of the infamous Primetime Voices crew, alongside colleagues Don LaFontaine, George DelHoyo, Dave Fennoy, and Townsend Coleman to name a handful as well as being the sharply dressed spokesperson for Apple’s GarageBand podcast and audio recording software.

The interview had been in the works for a couple of months, originally planned as a video segment for the documentary Jesse is shooting about the greats of voice over, including the likes of Ben Patrick Johnson, a voice artist whom Jesse had interviewed in April 2007.

Jesse’s calling to share his newfound knowledge and connection to Joe Cipriano with his peers motivated him to get the process going with an audio interview as a precursor to the video interview.

When asked how the interview got off the ground, Jesse related, “I emailed him (Joe) an MP3 with some questions asking if he would send his responses when he had time to record them. He was in Italy at the time, but had said he'd love to get the answers to me when he returned to LA. He MP3'd those to me a couple of days later, I filled in the gaps and smoothed my end of the dialog over, and that was that!”

In between the Ben Patrick Johnson and Joe Cipriano interviews this summer, Jesse was auditioning daily for voice over jobs, marketing his voice talents and meeting with agents, all the while still attending school and making the grade. His chosen program of study develops integral qualities that merrily correlate with Jesse’s production and voice over work, including networking, interacting with people in the media and maintaining composure, regardless of the situation or who he meets.

Jesse Springer, when asked about working with Joe Cipriano on the interview series, confided, “Joe's an amazing individual. Besides being a very accomplished voice talent who knows the industry well, he is very community oriented. As a 19-year-old voice actor, I look up to people who offer advice and direction for my voiceover career, and Joe is a fine example of just that.”

The three part interview series on VOX Talk is accessible both through the iTunes Podcast Directory by subscription and on the VOX Talk website at Voices.com.

To learn more about Jesse Springer and listen to his voice samples visit:

http://www.jcspringer.com
http://jessespringer.voices.com

To listen to the VOX Talk Podcast, go to:

http://podcasts.voices.com/voxtalk

About Jesse Springer

Jesse Springer, a 19-year old voice actor and native of Seattle, is a rising star in the voice over industry. When Jesse isn’t hitting the books at Biola University in the film department, he uses his voice to make a living and carve a niche for himself as one of the foremost voice actors in his age demographic. In his spare time, Jesse contributes to the VOX Talk Podcast at Voices.com, conducts interviews with voiceover artists and works on his highly anticipated documentary featuring great voiceover artists of the current age. Jesse currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

Can you do an impression of one or several of the characters from The Simpsons?

Now is the time to let your character voice acting talent shine!

Enter the Voices.com Simpsons Sound Alike Challenge and may the best Springfieldite win!

Dan Castellaneta has provided the voice for Homer Simpson and a host of other characters on "The Simpsons", including Krusty the Clown, Grampa Simpson, Barney Gumble, Mayor Quimby, and Groundskeeper Willie.

In fact, Dan has the honor of being the voice of over 100 Simpsons characters over the years. In the early days of the program, the cast was given first dibs on auditioning for roles that were added to the show. If you've ever heard Dan, you know that he's full of voices and the number, while staggering, is not a terrible shock :)

While Dan's voice may be one of the official voices for specific Simpsons characters, we'd love to hear your impressions of Simpsons characters to feature on the VOX Talk podcast!

If you can do a bang on Homer, a killer Bart, Lisa, Marge, Krusty the Clown, or any other Simpsons character, we want to hear it!

Prizes of $100 gift certificates to Amazon.com will be awarded in the following categories:

Best Homer Simpson Impression
Best Marge Simpson Impression
Best Bart Simpson Impression
Best Lisa Simpson Impression
Best Krusty the Clown Impression

The winners will be chosen by YOU!

To celebrate, the winning MP3 Simpsons impressions will be aired on the VOX Talk podcast in a special Simpsons Tribute.

So to recap, here are the contest details:

- Record your best Simpsons character voice impression (between 30 and 60 seconds in length)
- If you're entering for more than one character in the prize categories, please send each character voice as an individual MP3 file
- Anyone can enter this contest whether or not they are registered with Voices.com
- Send the MP3 to stephanie@voices.com
- Contest deadline is Friday August 24th, 2007 at 11:59 PM EST

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Stephanie

Is your contract up for renewal?

Chuck Kaiton just had has renewed his contract, continuing in full stride as the official play-by-play voice of the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes.

Yesterday, McClatchey Broadcastings’ WRBZ-AM, Sports Radio 850 The Buzz and WDNC-AM 620 The Bull, announced the renewal of their agreement with the play-by-play voice of the Carolina Hurricanes, Chuck Kaiton.

“For the past six years, I have enjoyed my association with 850 The Buzz and now 620 The Bull as a means of trying to bring added interest to the triangle in the great game of hockey!" commented Chuck Kaiton.

Chuck Kaiton will be heard each weekday on game days at 6:10pm on The Chris Clark Show and weekday mornings, following games, with Adam Gold at 8:45am. Chuck Kaiton will also provide his sports commentary expertise at other various times on both WRBZ and WDNC.

Chuck Kaiton has been the franchise’s only play-by-play radio voice since the team joined the NHL in 1979, then known as the Hartford Whalers, also referred to on some sites as the New England Whalers (thanks Ralph).

An announcer with an illustrious past, The Hockey Hall of Fame named Chuck Kaiton as the 2004 winner of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award, an award given annually to National Hockey League broadcasters who make outstanding contributions to their profession during their careers. Chuck Kaiton became the 26th NHL broadcaster to be recognized in this way since the Hockey Hall of Fame began acknowledging broadcasters in 1984.

In addition to his work with the team, Chuck Kaiton has served as the president of the NHL Broadcasters Association for the past 21 years (1986-2007). A graduate of the University of Michigan, Kaiton began his broadcasting career in 1969 announcing Wolverine sports. In 1975, he went on to cover the University of Wisconsin sports teams and was named Wisconsin’s sportscaster of the year in 1979.

“Chuck Kaiton is without a doubt the best voice in the NHL, rich with history and knowledge. We’ve had a long relationship with Chuck and I’m pleased it will continue,” commented Brian Maloney, WRBZ/WDNC General Manager.

Here's the YouTube Video of Chuck Kaiton announcing Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Are you a "franchise" voice too like Chuck Kaiton is?

Add a comment here on this article and let us know which team you provide a voice for.

Cheers,

Stephanie

P.S. Check out this cool NHL Pronunciation Guide at USAToday.com.

Image of Chuck Kaiton © LegendsOfHockey.net

Had a cup of Joe yet today?

Jesse Springer, a VOX Talk correspondent, recently interviewed Joe Cipriano, famed promo voice, Apple spokesperson for podcasting with GarageBand, and one of the PrimeTimeVoices.com crew.

Tune in to VOX Talk to listen to part 1 of 3 in an interview series produced by Jesse Springer with the one and only Joe Cipriano!

Familiar with Joe Cipriano?

Joe is heard on television sets in households everywhere with his recognizable style doing primetime voice over promos for Fox, NBC, and CBS among other stations. He's that voice that promotes shows before they come on the air like The Simpsons for instance.

He's also the live announcer for the Grammys and the Emmys.

Jesse Springer, a professional voice talent based in California and member of Voices.com, has created a three-part interview series to air on the VOX Talk podcast with Joe Cipriano - a podcast series not to miss!

I just published the first interview segment on VOX Talk this morning.

To check it out, go to the Voices.com Podcast Center and click on the VOX Talk "podcover" (that's a jargon term for image or CD cover).

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Best,

Stephanie

P.S. If you can't get enough of Joe, also check out Donna Papacosta's interview with Joe Cipriano from December of last year.

Have you seen the Simpsons Movie yet?

Find out more about the movie and also discover a cool website where you can make your very own Simpsons avatar.

Want to know what mine looks like? Check it out!

The Simpsons Movie, as we covered last year, is now out on the big screen featuring the voice over talents of people we've let into our homes for over a decade, including the voice of the eternal 10 year old boy, Nancy Cartwright, also known as the Simpsons character, Bart Simpson.

Other cast mates include Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Pamela Hayden, and Tress MacNeille. Guest starring in the movie are Erin Brockovich, Minnie Driver, and Albert Brooks.

While the movie is sure to please, the companion website is just as much of a crowd pleaser. You can make your very own Simpsons avatar, take a tour of Springfield and play interactive games as well.

One of my favorite parts of the site was that your character gets to go along for the ride with Homer to different destinations of your choice in Springfield.

In each location, you get to meet characters that are commonly found in that place. I went to Moe's Tavern where the usual crowd was hanging out and to the Kwik-E-Mart.

If you click on a character, they are prompted to say a signature line from the show. The use of voice over on the website is just phenomenal.

If you'd like to have a Simpsons experience and create your own avatar, go to SimpsonsMovie.com and register for a free account.

Best,

Stephanie

Images © SimpsonsMovie.com

What does 007 do after retiring?

Pierce Brosnan, known in North Ameri