Tuesday, October 30, 2007

New Free Audition Management System

Do you handle castings where you have to get large and cumbersome MP3 files via email?

Do you want to save time and look more professional?

Voice123 allows you to handle all your voice over castings in just one place, for FREE. Any talent you want can submit an audition for your project, even if they're not part of the Voice123 database. Simply send —to any voice over talent you know— a link and a verification code we provide, and they will be able to audition for you via Voice123.

Post a project now!

This is one of the many new features of the New Voice123.

Sincerely,

Voice123 - The Voice Marketplace
by Alex Torrenegra
Leader and Co-founder

PS. Please let us know what you think, by posting your comments below. Thank you!

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Your Stats

Hello all,

We have released a new feature that allows you see some interesting stats about your Voice123 usage and how they compare to all other Premium Subscribers of Voice123. The new feature is called My Private Stats. Among other things, it includes information on invitations, auditions and proposals submitted, and ratings. To see your stats, please visit:
http://voice123.com/web/talent/mystats.cgi
You can also access it from the "My Home" area of Voice123. Check it out now and learn where are you in the voice marketplace!

Note: A beta version of this feature was available for several weeks for testing purposes. We have now refined it and officially released it.

This feature was developed thanks to the input of users like you. Please let us know what you think of it by posting your comments below. Thank you!

Best regards,

Voice123 - The Voice Marketplace
by Alex Torrenegra
Leader and Co-founder

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

VoiceOverPedia.org - The Voice Industry Encyclopedia

Hello everyone!

You can be part of what could become the biggest innovation of the industry this year: VoiceOverPedia.org - The Voice Industry Encyclopedia (http://voiceoverpedia.org).

VoiceOverPedia is a web-based encyclopedia experiment for the voice over industry. It will be collaboratively written by its readers on a interactive type of website called a wiki that makes collaboration easy. Many people will be constantly improving VoiceOverPedia and all of the improvements will be recorded in article histories.

VoiceOverPedia is not Voice123’s idea. Voice123 is just sponsoring the ideas that many people have shared with us. Creators of on-line content were collectively awarded Time’s Person of the Year 2006. This prestigious award celebrates the accelerating success of collaboration and interaction of millions of users worldwide. Wikis were the first particular "Web 2.0" trend mentioned. Many agree that the time has come for a community-created encyclopedia for the voice industry, and we agree.

VoiceOverPedia is looking for volunteer contributors and administrators. VoiceOverPedia needs people that can write articles about the industry and also those that can teach others how to properly use VoiceOverPedia and wikis in general. The most active volunteers of VoiceOverPedia will be featured on the home page of VoiceOverPedia, with a link to their biography and bibliography. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, please send a message to info@voiceoverpedia.org to receive further instructions.

I, Alex Torrenegra, will personally direct the initial coordination of all volunteers. Why am I doing it? I am big fan of public participation in the creation and preservation of knowledge. The more we can compile and share, the better our industry will be.

Best regards,

Voice123 - The Voice Marketplace
by Alex Torrenegra
Leader and Co-founder

Friday, October 05, 2007

SaVoa's Accreditation Program for Voice Over Artists

On September 23rd, non-for-profit SaVoa launched a new accreditation program for voice over artists. SaVoa’s accreditation process is similar to that in other professions. It is based on peer review – voice talents assess voice talents. Three-member panels are selected at random from SaVoa’s membership of accredited voice talents. Using a predetermined accreditation criteria, each member of the peer review panel independently evaluates an applicant’s vocal and technical deliveries. Here is a cool factor: the evaluations are all blind studies; applicants are unidentified to the peer reviewers.

One of the founders of SaVoa is Erik Sheppard, widely known in the industry already for his contributions to the community. Erik says that the response to SaVoa has been amazing: Numerous voice actors have already submitted applications. Some have even been asked to consider reapplying after they attain more training, several more have successfully completed the accreditation process while the rest wait for their evaluations to be scheduled.

Granted, the ultimate goal of SaVoa is to create a quality assurance mechanism that will enhance the voice over profession and attract clients who value quality and professionalism. It is a concept that has been embraced and supported by many in the voice over community. SaVoa’s home page already showcases the support of industry veterans like Frank Frederick, Connie Terwilliger, and Philip Banks.

Voice123 has been contacted many, many times by people with similar ideas, but they never actually got to implement them. Kudos to SaVoa for having materialized this concept. SaVoa and the voice over community can count on Voice123's support and endorsement of the accreditation program, which benefits both voice talent and voice seekers.

To learn more about SaVoa and the accreditation process you can visit their site at SaVoa.org.


Voice123 - The Voice Marketplace
by Alex Torrenegra
Leader and Co-founder

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Learning the skills, no matter what your level (By Debbie Munro)

When I began my venture into the world of voice I was under the impression that I was a natural. When it came to theatre I was correct. Aced every audition I ever went to…so I just assumed that this would carry me through into anything, such as film/TV and Voice. Boy was I wrong.

When I began I managed to land a lead voice over role in an international Cartoon Series titled, “Benjamin Bluemchen” This was a great gig and lasted for a year. In the first 6 months I was getting tons of little roles and some bigger ones within the series and then suddenly nothing. They started bringing in people for other roles instead. I got extremely paranoid and insecure of course and questioned them all….What am I doing wrong? They would say, “Nothing, all is fine. We just want to bring in new talent” I bought that at first, but I knew better.

It wasn’t until I finally broke down and took my first film acting class with Tom Logan (director from LA), that I understood exactly what it was. Tom is an amazing acting coach from LA that teaches half time and directs for the rest; an honest look into the industry. When I was trained in Voice Over, I was trained as a broadcaster. Broadcasters tend to read everything in a sing song fashion and that’s exactly what I was doing; reading every character and every script in a sing song fashion. For my main character who was a roving news reporter, that worked very well, but for my others, not so good.

I decided to take more classes from others (specifically in film and improv) and that enhanced my skills and taught me what I needed to learn to break the habits (Unfortunately with this specific animation house, too little too late). I had made the impression that I read everything as a DJ type style and therefore, I wasn’t seen in auditions anymore. (It’s possible I was just too helpful, I’ve learned a lot about over stepping since then....or not directing, when you’re not the director. Learn from my mistakes).

I tell you this so that you’ll understand even the pros had to learn at some point and continue to do so to this day. They either had to enhance skills they already possessed or they had to discover new ones. Education is key! The more I train, the more skilled I become, the more I can charge. We understand that to pay a lawyer 250.00 per hour, it’s just a part of the process. They paid a lot of money to become a lawyer so you have no problem (well we have to) paying them their scale rate. The more you educate, the more you are worth. Of course experience is all a part of the training process but you need to take courses in order to gain the experience and in my opinion, you should never stop.

Once you’re at a level of professionalism, don’t let that stop you from continuously learning from others. There are always new techniques and new trends and as a professional talent, you must be up on them at all times. There is always someone else who will be prepared in that area if you’re not.

The catch 22 for most is that you can’t afford to take the courses. For many of you, I’m sure this is true, but can you afford NOT to? I couldn’t afford ANY of the courses I took either and they were all expensive. Some cost me over $2,000 to take, while others cost a few hundred. The bottom line is that you CAN’T AFFORD NOT TO! You have to compare it to becoming a surgeon or lawyer or tradesperson. There is education involved. The difference is that in recognized institutions, there are funding options. In this case there usually isn’t so it comes straight out of your pockets. There is always a business loan, and you are starting a business. DON”T LET ANYTHING STAND IN YOUR WAY!

I can’t help you gather the funds, but I can tell you that if you really want it bad enough, then you’ll find a way. You’ll make the sacrifices that you need to in order to follow your dreams. Regardless of what those dreams might be. Make your life count and follow what you love. You can do it but only if you want it as bad as I did. I hope this gives you incentive to move forward and not procrastinate what could be an amazing venture for you.


Until next time everyone... follow your passion and money will come...
To learn more about Debbie Munro's coaching services just follow this link: http://www.debsvoice.com/