Community: More Living With A Voice Actor - 'Do's & Dont's'

In 2010, we presented four blogs written by Dianne Russell; partner to successful Voice123 talent, Adam Behr, from South Africa. It was an insightful and fun look into the lives of a very successful voice talent, and the partner who is there to support his career. Today we present part V: The do’s and dont’s when living with a voice actor:

It is now 2011 and I have been living with my voice actor for about a year and a half. During this time, we have moved twice (including a move to Africa), and I feel like I have a much better understanding of what it means to be a supportive partner to a voice actor, who works from a home studio. Here are some of the thing I have learned in the last year:

• Do not go on a trip to Africa and let your voice actor use one of your suitcases for his equipment. You never know if you will leave Africa again, and if you leave all your precious shoes at home so he can fill your bag with equipment, you will certainly be sorry. Put your foot down and spring for the extra baggage allowance; do not sacrifice your shoes.

• Do not attempt to help your voice actor set up his home studio unless he/she asks. Having no comprehension of the mechanics of sound reverberation, it is silly for you to offer advice on how the studio should be configured from an aesthetic point of view. Stand back, watch the transformation of blankets, dresser drawers and pillows be transformed into something hideous, and say nothing. In the end it will sound great and pay for the food on your table.

• Do make sure you find out when your voice actor will be recording in advance so that you know when it is acceptable for you to open/close doors. Otherwise, once the recording has started, you could find yourself either trapped inside or outside for hours, unable to exit/enter for fear of disrupting the recording.

• Do give your honest opinion when your voice actor plays his/her recordings for you. I used to daydream a bit when listening and say that it all sounded great, but then I realized that it is not helpful to stroke a person's ego if it really does not sound good – better to give constructive criticism than have your partner lose out on a job.

• Do not sit in the room while your partner is recording. It means that you have to stop everything you are doing again and again (including breathing), and any slight noise on your part will result in an eye-roll and the need to re-record, which means you have to sit perfectly still and silent again.

• Do try to listen for your partner's voice on local radio and TV. It is fun when I unexpectedly hear my partner selling whiskey or Italian food on the radio while driving to work, and he always appreciates the recognition.

• Do not touch your voice actor's computer or sound equipment. Moving one of the dozens of cords or USB’s could result in a catastrophe of seismic proportions. Forget about dusting the equipment or trying to straighten it up – just leave it be and accept the fact that this one room in your house will always look chaotic.

• Do invest in a good pair of earplugs. Self-explanatory, I think.

Finally, be thankful that you are lucky enough to live with a talented, creative person whose job allows him/her to work from home, have flexible hours, and, most importantly, provide hours of entertainment. Living with a voice actor has its ups and downs, but at the end of the day, it's a pretty sweet gig.

- by Dianne Russell

Voice123 thanks for Dianne Russell and Adam Behr for this transparent, intimate look into life with a voice actor. If you have a ‘Do-it-yourself’ story you would like to share with Voice123, we would love to share what the Voice123 Community is doing!

Steven Lowell
Community Development Guru
Voice123 Facebook
Voice123 Youtube Channel
Twitter: @voice123

The Most Important Ingredient For Success

The end of 2010 leads many to reflect on New Year’s resolutions. Yet, there is an ingredient for success that must exist before any New Year's Resolution gets off the ground. This ingredient is important because a career in voice overs, or any form of entertainment, is a career where one seeks approval from complete strangers for artwork created, in order to be paid to fund more creating. It is a career where one wakes up everyday to start a new job search. It feels impossible without the most important ingredient for success...Love

Love serves every person as a foundation; a cornerstone engraved with a purpose. Love serves as a free pass for when the entire world seems to say “STOP!’, but you say, ‘GO!’. Love serves as confidence and a safety net to make choices when others think you have gone crazy. Love makes you right when all signs, all people, and all opinions, tell you that you are wrong. Love gives an artist the ability to romanticize the times they are considered, ‘Struggling’. Love just makes living life, and sharing, much easier.

In that respect, Love is the ultimate wisdom, for without it we will never be sure why we are building a career in a business considered to be ‘unreal’ by those whom have never dared try it. This is the one career that demands a person love him/herself, support group, and belief in his/her own talent, before they can even get started as a business. Love is most important, simply because if one does not love what they do, feel loved, or have no love in life, they may never know how good it feels to share what makes them special with the rest of the world. Love is the ultimate force against negativity, and that voice that says, ‘It's ok if you make a fool of yourself....I still love ya’.’ Love also helps people take responsibility for what they do.

For me, Love was a voice that said, “Hey it is fine that you want to quit your Wall St. job at AIG, and work as a manager at a website with staff in Latin America despite the fact you do not speak Spanish. We can buy Rosetta Stone. No big deal.” Love is also that voice that leads one to make smart decisions, and smile at challenges. Love drives people to express; when there is doubt one is being too 'mushy'. I had doubts of writing this, but my wife expressed, ‘You should not be shy especially because you sleep well at night knowing the company you work for loves the people they serve everyday. Be thankful.’ Love, for all its magic, brings us back down to earth, humble, and understanding.

Love will carry Voice123 into 2011 and beyond because it is a creation based on loving intentions for helping a loved one find voice over work. When Love is well-placed, it is impossible to deny.

What ‘Love’ inspires you to carry on into 2011, and for years to come?

Happy New Year from Voice123, and may 2011 be exciting and prosperous!

Steven Lowell
Community Development Guru
Voice123 Facebook
Voice123 Youtube Channel
Twitter: @voice123

Community: Living With a Voice Actor – Internet Blues

The blog below is part IV of a series of blogs written by Dianne Russell, partner to Voice123 voice talent, Adam Behr; a successful voice talent with Voice123. The series gives insight into what it means to be ‘living with a voice actor’, based out of South Africa:

"When I first started writing these posts about my voice actor, I really didn't understand a lot about the voice business – it simply provided me an endless and ever-changing stream of personal entertainment. However, in 2010 I have come to understand and appreciate the complexities of running a voice acting business from home, especially when trying to set up in a developing foreign country like South Africa, where Internet is an unreliable and frustrating luxury.

I now realize how North Americans take their fast, reliable, inexpensive Internet service for granted. South Africa is lagging far behind in the internet world; although somewhat faster internet has been available since the spring, it is expensive, limited, totally unreliable and apt to cause trouble at the worst possible times – a nightmare for internet-dependent voice professionals. It also comes “shaped”, a term I had never heard before. Shaped internet is internet that prioritizes certain functions during high traffic times. Email and YouTube are not priorities, nor are large voice files. During high traffic, the Internet slows to a crawl, and all one can do is wait...and wait...and wait. A voice actor in South Africa is doomed to the ebb and flow of connectivity, which requires immense patience when the connection is cut mid recording. I have spent hours of my time arguing with our internet provider, struggling to understand the foreign accents of the customer service reps and desperate to get my voice actor reconnected before a Voice 123 audition expires and he subsequently blows a gasket in frustration.

It has also been interesting to see how people in an internet-deprived country like South Africa try to grasp exactly what it means to be a modern-day voice actor. Although they seem to get the idea that it involves acting with one's voice (and therefore does not involve a camera), there is often confusion about the mechanics of how it actually works. For people who live without Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, the idea that someone can work from home by recording voices and sending sound files from Africa to North America through a phone line (Internet here is still ADSL) is a genuine puzzle. The concept of ISDN is mind-blowing to some, and the confused facial expressions make me think of what it must have been like when the telephone started coming into mainstream use.

At this time of year, we tend to think of our blessings and express gratitude for all that we have. I truly hope that voice actors in North America, who live with the joy of affordable, reliable, lightening-fast internet, comprehend how fortunate they really are!"

Voice123 thanks Dianne Russell and Adam Behr for the honest look into their lives, working in the voice over business. We hope you have enjoyed it!

What do you think?

Steven Lowell
Community Development Manager
Voice123 Facebook
Voice123 Youtube Channel
Twitter: @voice123

Trend: Skype And The Voice Over Industry

Two days ago, Skype experienced world-wide outages, and for the next 24 hours, it was easy to witness just how important Skype is to the voice over industry, as people scrambled to find ways to communicate with peers, or just took it an excuse to take an early Holiday. Back in 2004, when online casting began to explode, the major concern was that auditions were being sent into a 'black hole' and no one knew who was who, and only had forums to communicate; a somewhat two-dimensional way of communicating.

Since 2007, and especially in the last three years, Skype calls have enabled voice over coaches, voice talent, and voice over clients to record work, create voice over demos, 'phone patch' (maybe Skype-patch?), and hold voice coaching workshops. Perhaps the greatest advantages to Skype continue to be:

• Face to face reassurance that you are working with a 'human', which helps build trust
  
• Increasing sound and picture quality
• Low or no cost (On average Skype customers spend just $8 USD a month)

Skype has also allowed Voice123 staff to communicate; not just within staff, but also with members of the voice over community. There is just something special about being able to say, 'Look! The guy writing emails is a real person!'. Perhaps, this blog is inspired by a story today on Good Morning America, of a US Marine in Afghanistan, who was able to watch his daughter's birth via Skype, I will be using Skype to stay in touch with my large family during a Holiday party, and all of the voice talent I had the chance to meet face to face this year while working at Voice123 (Skype call with Chris Kendall and Loren Gursky). Simply putting a face and voice to the email is enough to remind us what makes people in the voice industry so special.

What do you use Skype for your voice over needs?

Happy Holidays! Here is a gift for you: Skype Smiles & Skype Flags

Steven Lowell
Community Development Manager
Voice123 Facebook
Voice123 Youtube Channel
Twitter: @voice123

Community: Unique Success Story

We want to share a success story today reported to us by Voice123 voice talent, Vanessa Lee, taken directly from email with her permission. Thank you Vanessa!

"I recently went to Space City studios in Kensington, London, as I had been chosen to voice a Mudd face pack commercial which is currently on TV. As I left the building I received a phone call from another producer at Space City, who asked me to voice an AxaPPP radio commercial, so I turned around and went back and made that recording, too. It was a complete coincidence that my audition had been ranked "finalist" by two separate producers in the same company, on the same morning, and both jobs came from the Voice123 website. Thanks Voice 123! That was the best paid morning’s work ever."

Here is her voice in action!



If you have a success story you would like to share from a voice over gig, simply drop us an email with your permission to post it! We will gladly share it with the voice community!


Thank you!

Steven Lowell
Community Development Manager
Voice123 Facebook
Voice123 Youtube Channel
Twitter: @voice123

Community: Building Community Any Which Way You Can

Meetups!
Voice123 is holding a Meetup this Friday, December 10th, in NYC! You can see that many voice talent are planning to come out! We hope you can too!

We are looking to discuss building home studios that day! Please take a look!

Did you know about other Meetups for Voice Talent?

• Bettye Zoller Meetup Group
• Gabrielle Nistico Meetup group

Organize a Voice123 Meetup!

Skype Calls!
Skype is turning into an important networking, business, and support tool in various ways every single day! Voice talent already use it as a ‘phone patch’ for voice over work, and it is also a way to talk face to face with other voice talent, supporting each other, and building a voice over community!

On Friday, December 17th, I will get to do my first Skype call with voice talent, just to talk about working in voice overs. Thank you to Loren Gursky and Chris Kendall for inviting! You can read more about it on their Facebook group!

Please check us out, too, on Twitter and Facebook for updates, blogs, and great info!

Steven Lowell
Community Development Manager
Voice123 Facebook
Voice123 Youtube Channel
Twitter: @voice123

Trend: Working Around An Obstacle

Over the summer, Voice123 did a survey asking about the various ways that voice talent get work.

You can see that forum post here!

Each month voice talent are surveyed on Voice123, and the most common statistic is that 6% to 10% of Voice123 voice talent can make a full-time living off of Voice123 alone. There is no voodoo behind it. There is a common thread among all of them:

• They have repeat clients
• They know how to market themselves online
• They are talented
• They have a brand to them that requires no explanation
• They think creatively as a voice talent, and as a business

What is meant by ‘creative business thinking’?
As many know, or find out, Voice123 uses a software that aims to fairly distribute auditions among ALL paying subscribers. SmartCast can be viewed many ways, but the end result is that it is still a software with rules, and when these rules are learned, it is only at that point that a person can create his/her own; sounds very ‘Matrixee’.

Do the people working full-time do anything unfair?
No, but they know that believing the way to ‘win more jobs’ is to ‘constantly audition with blind online rigor’ is a mistake. You can only go out for that which fits you, and will not waste anyone's time.

“But what if I am in high demand”?
To get to the point, some voice talent realize that maybe SmartCast does limit them, and they would rather only use Voice123. They realize this because they get work on Voice123; not because they got work somewhere else.

Working Around an Obstacle
Many...but not all...purchase more than one profile, and when one seems to be getting limited, they jump to the next for a while. We never thought of it, but someone did, and it worked for him/her, so they told their friends...and they told their friends...and so on...and so on....This is a great reason to study how people succeed, and not study how others failed. You will always find both, but only one way teaches you how to get work.

Is this ‘cheating’?
It is hard to call something, ‘cheating’, when someone has taught another a way to work a system, by creating their own rule. The web allows for one to create a ‘persona’, but the industry always had stage names, no? A creation always takes on a life of its own. We have heard stories of amazing voice talent creating a false persona, and booking more work from the profile where their approach to work is more of an ‘act’, and they are shocked to find they are rarely hired from the profile where they sell themselves by stating how they have great experience, but more so where they simply can do the job.

Isn’t this a business about 'getting paid by pretending to be someone else anyway'?
To conclude...if you find you can get lots of work, and feel our system limits you, go for a second profile. Clients are reaching the same voice talent, and you are not shelling out a fortune to 'pay for privilege.'

It happens, so we want you to know about it. What do you think?

Steven Lowell
Community Development Manager
Voice123 Facebook
Voice123 Youtube Channel
Twitter: @voice123

Image by Pease on Earth

Does Art Imitate Life Or Shape It?

Anyone who has to travel this week, watched an episode of Star Trek, knows about the usage of iris scanners replacing fingerprints in the NYPD, or simply dares to think differently, will appreciate this blog.

A creative talent or group of creatives, can be one of the most innovative thinkers on the planet, maybe just for having the ability to ‘plant a seed’ for a business to figure out later on.

Three things come to mind; the ideas were seeds planted by artists, and manifested into reality years later...for good and bad:


Airport Body Scanners - “Total Recall”



Cell Phones/BlueTooth - “Start Trek”
















Iris Scanners (replacing fingerprint records) - “Minority Report”



Given the recent advancements in the video game industry, I am poised to see if 'being inside the actual game' will in fact one day become a reality:



Sounds crazy? Well, so did the concept of voice over talent being able to work with you directly on voice over projects. Seven years later, Voice123 still runs very strong because of the creative, professional voice talent, and business clients who post amazing work, preferring to deal with no intermediaries. It gives light to the famous quote:

What is now proved was once only imagined.
- William Blake

Do you have any favorites of your own?

Steven Lowell
Community Development Manager
Voice123 Facebook
Voice123 Youtube Channel
Twitter: @voice123
Voice123 Meetups!

images: StarFleet.com

Community: 'Tis The Season To Meetup

Typically, this time of year involves a change of pace. For some, the days are shorter. For many voice talent, the work slows down a bit because of the holiday season.

This need not be a wasted time of year! Through all innovations in technology, still nothing beats face to face encounters, and reassuring handshakes with good neighbors, bloggers, forum contributors, website developers, voice talent and voice coaches whom you read and write to all year!


Here are some great ideas!

The 2010 New York Voiceover Mixer!

• “The 3rd annual mixer will take place on December 4th, 2010 at Tonic Bar in Times Square. Past mixers have seen the attendance of approximately 300 guests including voiceover talent, coaches, talent agents and other industry professionals.”

Voice123 Meetups!

• Feel free to start your Voice123 Meetup, and strengthen the bonds of the voice over community, world-wide! Voice123 Meetups are free and organized by community members like you!

Your voice...Seeking guest bloggers or interviews!

• Have you ever wanted to contribute to this blog? If so, please check out this forum post.
• You can always reach out to me directly through help@voice123.com
  

Thank you!

Steven Lowell
Community Development Manager
Voice123 Facebook
Voice123 Youtube Channel
Twitter: @voice123
Voice123 Meetups!

Your Chance To Replace The Term 'Remote Voice Talent'!

Back on October 22, 2010, announced a contest:

“What Would You Call Yourself?”

We received 30 replies, and now it is time for you, the Voice123 Community, to vote for your favorite! You can do so on this survey below, or Voice123 Facebook, or Twitter! Leave your name and be entered into a drawing to win 6-months free on Voice123!

Click here to vote for your favorite below!

• InWeb Voice Talent
• WWW V/O Talent On Demand (Waiting World-Wide)
• "Voice Talent".
• on call talent
• Cybervoice
• freelance voice
• Domestic Voice Artist
• Independent Voice-Over Artist
• Independent Voice Over Specialist
• Home Voice Flair
• freelance voice actor
• echoes from everywhere
• "Global Village Talent"
• Distance Voicer Talent
• Globally Accesible Voice Artist "GAVA"
• Independent Voice Talent
• Voices from the Cloud
• Voice Solutions Specialist
• Voice Talent
• "stay-at-home" voice-over artist (you know, like "stay-at-home" mom - although we all do go out and work in the world, too, right?
• Home based voice talent
• iTalent
• Voice talent on air
• Independent Voice Artist
• inter-linked voice talent
• Domesticated Voice Talent or Voice Talent Solopreneur
• Global Voice Artist or Global Voice Talent
• Voice teleworker
• Fat guy in his underwear voice talent
• Independent Voice Actors

Don't Forget to Check Back!
The winners will be announced next week, along with the winner of the Voice123 Youtube Video ‘Show Some Like’ Contest, currently in action, and announced on the October 18th blog!

Thank you for being a part of the Voice123 Community!

Steven Lowell
Community Development Manager
Voice123 Facebook
Voice123 Youtube Channel
Twitter: @voice123
Voice123 Meetups!

Premium Subscriptions With Social Responsibility!

Voice123.com has teamed up with Rally Earth to make sure your purchase of a Voice123 Premium Subscription offers more than just voice over services. It now offers social responsibility!

Rally Earth is a refreshing new company that is working to help make a big difference in the world we live in. If you purchase a Voice123 Premium Subscription through the Voice123 Rally Earth sponsor page, you will be part of a whole new way of giving to needy causes, without ever paying an extra dime, and pursuing voice over work!

How? When you purchase a Voice123 subscription, or extend it through the sponsor page:

• Rally Earth donates the dollars you spend to important causes and charities.
• You can vote on the causes and charities that you want to help.
• The top 10 charities split the funds at the end of each quarter.
• You can even suggest a charity close to your heart, but not on the list.
• There's also a “Sponsor” section for business owners to receive special recognition and bonus services while supporting the Rally Earth Action (REACT) Fund.

Using Rally Earth makes it grow, which gives more to the causes that are important to you! Make it a habit to go to rallyearth.com every time you shop, or upgrade your Premium Subscription!

If you have any questions on the Rally Earth website itself, please use this link to find out more.

What do you think? Let us know!

Steven Lowell
Community Development Manager
Voice123 Facebook
Voice123 Youtube Channel
Twitter: @voice123
Voice123 Meetups!

Community: Shake Off Halloween Hangover

Contests for you! Showing some love!
If you missed it, Voice123 has a few contests taking place!

Voting is Spooky and Youtube Contests

‘What would you call yourself?’ Contest

These are great opportunities for you to have some fun, while getting some extra time on the site! We encourage all voice over talent to take advantage! Results coming soon!

Voice123 Meetup News!
Bill Brewer recently held a Voice123 Meetup, and had this news to share!

• We had our second Oklahoma City Voice Over meetup group and voice 123 meetup group this evening. A great evening with some very talented members . I rated it 5 stars. We now have 29 members.

Organize your own and speak face-to-face with other voice talent!

• If you are a voice over coach, and would like to do a Meetup on a specific topic, such as, ‘Building a studio’, let us know! We would love to share and promote the Meetup with the community, and get you more attendees!

In case you missed it...
Voice123 held its monthly Voice123 Webinar on using Voice123 to book work.

Please take a look! (it starts at 1:30)

It may be longer than you expected, but it is a fair trade off for months of trial and error!

Steven Lowell
Community Development Manager
Voice123 Facebook
Voice123 Youtube Channel
Twitter: @voice123
Voice123 Meetups!

Story Of Voice123 Talent Doing Oscar Perfomances

A year ago, we caught wind of a voice over job booked on Voice123 that we had been waiting to write about for over a year! If you have ever booked a voice over job with a non-disclosure agreement that left you dying to tell someone about it, but could not, you may get some insight out of this into the far-reaching chain of business decisions that have to be respected when working with high profile companies!

The Movie That Almost Become An Oscar-Nominee:
“The Dolphin: Story of a Dreamer” (released on DVD last week)

Where it all started:
A job posted on Voice123.com by the director of an animation film out of Lima, Peru.

How We First Found Out: Talent Talking To Me
I had received a phone call from one of the voice talent in the film telling me about the job he had completed.

What happened next? The full story...
Having very little to go on, we started doing some research. Fortunately, one day a person came on live chat to tell us more about it!

See below actual transcript between one of our Voice123 staff:

• "Leo, I have great news for Voice 123. Our company, DOLPHIN -FILMS, based in Lima Peru, made an animation movie called "The Dolphin - Story of a Dreamer".
• It started as a very small project until 20th Century Fox set their eyes on it, initially in Latin America. We dubbed all voices in Spanish and Portuguese (Brasil) with our own talents.
• Later, 20th Century Fox asked us to dub the voices to neutral US English, so that´s when we used Voice123!
• Our English version of the film; all voices came from Voice123, thanks to your excellent service! Now, 20th Century Fox has bought ALL RIGHTS for North America that will be released in the USA and Canada beginning of next year, initially in BLU-RAY!
• To put the cherry on top, "The Dolphin" is one of the 20 Animation movies that will be competing for the Oscar Awards for Best Animated Film 2009...ALL voices (but the singer) were contacted and contracts signed thanks to Voice123.
• This is the trailer!"

How It Was Recorded...
Voice123 was used to cast the voices for this job, but of course, there had to be a final recording! Voice123 talent were flown to Lima, Peru where they recorded with the film’s director. This is not unheard of because even though Voice123 is a powerful casting tool, some directors prefer having everyone together, and the streamlined casting process saves money to allow for directors to afford such costs.

Why We Never Said Anything About It
Are we crazy? No, not at all. What happened was that 20th Century Fox became a teeny-tiny bit preoccupied with the release of a film called ‘Avatar.’ The director of the film asked us to keep this under wraps until they were ready to promote it.

Congratulations to the Voice123 talent involved in this production!
We would like to congratulate Robbie Daymond, Melissa LaFore, and Michael Ferrrei; not only for achieving something so wonderful! It is an honor to have you using Voice123!

Please share comments below!

If you have a story of your own about a job booking on Voice123, let us know!

Steven Lowell
Community Development Manager
Voice123 Facebook
Voice123 Youtube Channel
Twitter: @voice123
Voice123 Meetups!

image: DeviantArt

We Are All Artists by Dr.Felicia Ruff

I graduated from Wagner College in 1995 with a B.A. in Theatre/Speech. Earlier this month, I had a chance to go to my class reunion. I did not expect to leave heavily inspired to share this speech with every voice talent, who forgot that they are artists. The opening speech by department chair, Dr.Felicia Ruff, will resonate in the hearts of all those out there who believe in being a ‘voice over artist’, first.

If you stepped behind a mic today, and maybe felt for one second, that you were not a voice over artist, I invite you to read below:

“...A night like tonight allows you all to reminisce but also connects our artist community across generations. The beautiful thing is that success takes our alums in all sorts of impressive directions: to law school, to graduate school studying theatre as well as history, global justice, education; we have alums who are serving their country as members of the Air Force, TeachAmerica and AmeriCorps; some alums serve as local missionaries and others have founded AIDS relief missions in Africa. And all our alums are amazing spouses, partners, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, and friends—and that matters and should be noted.

I hope you will allow me to digress for a moment. I just decided that I had to say what I am about to and that you all should hear it--because this is a room full of artists and people who have devoted their lives to the arts. I am not talking about ‘how you pay your bills’. I don’t care if you are living at home raising a family, playing the piano in your living room and taking your daughter to ballet lessons.

You are all artists.

And in our society, where corporate bankers can pillage our bank accounts and then be bailed out, where shows like “Jersey Shore” rob actors and writers of legitimate work, where drug addled heiresses become celebrities because they do not wear panties, the true artist—People like you who have devoted your life to singing, dancing, acting, composing, choreographing, playing music, painting, photography, writing poetry, lyrics, histories, biographies, reviews, scripts, or teaching music, art, voice, dance and theatre to another generation of artists--you are robbed of your value. And in a room full of artists, I thought it was important to remind you that you are the most important people in the world, engaged in the most important work in the world. Because it is art that connects us, art that inspires us, art that changes the world.

Who do you think inspires social change? Politicians and lawyers? No, it is the artist.

What teaches us more about our common humanity, than artistry.

Where would the civil rights movement be without Billie Holiday singing ‘Strange Fruit’, or Arlo Guthrie’s ‘This Land is Your Land’, or Paul Robeson performing ‘Othello’.

Who inspired the peace movement, more than musicians like the Weavers or the Beat Poets or even Broadway shows like ‘Hair.’? Artists. Today, it is that socially dangerous Lady Gaga, who stands up to bigotry as she becomes an ordained minister in order to perform civil services at her concerts and stands up for gay men and lesbians, who want to serve and die for their country. It is the artist who changes the way we see the world—we see things differently after Picasso.

I was thinking maybe we could give doctors and nurses their due and say they are more important than we are, but then I thought of all those studies that prove that composers and conductors live longer than those in other professions. And don’t they tell parents to play Mozart to newborns to make them smarter? Mozart wasn’t a pharmacist or geneticist—he was a musician. Ancient Greek theatres were built not only in the precincts of Gods but in what we would call spas—where the soul, not just the body, could be cleansed.

It is through art that we can transcend national boundaries, and overcome language and cultural barriers. Balanchine’s choreography is not just in Russia and America, but Korea, Norway, South Africa, Japan. I hope you will forgive my evangelizing on an evening that is meant to be celebratory. But it is so easy for us to feel marginalized and negated, when artistic success becomes a commodity through ratings, ticket sales, and the duration of a run, artists are reduced to salesmen. You/we are so much more.

And I just thought that while this is a celebration of our artist community, it is much more because we need to value ourselves and our work. And you need to remember the value that you bring to your home, your community, and this world when you bring art into it.

Now I will return to my formal responsibilities, introducing my colleagues, past and present.”


What do you think? Comment below!

Steven Lowell
Community Development Manager
Voice123 Facebook
Voice123 Youtube Channel
Twitter: @voice123
Voice123 Meetups!

image by: DLC Artists Market

Trend: What Would You Call Yourself?

This week, I had a chance to listen to Arianna Huffington of the famed Huffington Post at a NYC Symposium in New York City, held by Citrix.

One thing she stated struck a chord, as a guy working from home often:

• “I don’t like the term ‘Remote Employee’. There needs to be a name for it that displays more pride and strength.”

Voice talent working from home often go by the name, ‘Remote Voice Talent’. Now, we know you are not robots, and you know it, too! Technology is not the problem. If you figured out how to use it, you deserve a better name!


BOOOO! Robots!
Tell us on Facebook and Twitter exactly what the voice talent booking jobs from home, and making a living at it, should be branded!

Click here to take survey, to try and win 6-months!

You cannot change how people think (cough* ‘pay2play cough*), but when people understand why they all think the way they do, they can all change together!


Meetup of Community Managers

This week, I had the chance to go to a Community Manager Meetup at the actual Meetup HQ!

You can read about it here!

Building community is essential for all businesses, large and small!
Start a Meetup for voice talent in your area.

Share information that will help you grow your voice over career. It does wonders for the creative energy you need each time you get behind a mic!

Rock your mic!

Steven Lowell
Community Development Manager
Voice123 Facebook
Voice123 Youtube Channel
Twitter: @voice123
Voice123 Meetups!

image by: Thinking Ape Blues

Wellness: Mo’ Caffeine Mo’ Problems

This blog is being written to address one tiny thing voice talent may do, before auditioning, that may seal their fate when they step behind the mic. Important to remember: Caffeine is a ‘drug’. It can be found in soda, coffee, pain relief medicine, energy drinks etc. If part of your audition routine is to make sure you have any of these before you get behind a mic, you may be harming your ability to effectively audition.

Now, no one need write and explain their morning habits or how they work. I refer to those times when one thinks the way to ‘wake up’ for an audition, or give it more excitement, is to pour on the caffeine.

Please take a look at this article.

What leaps off the page, related to auditions?

• “Even when moderate amounts of caffeine are withdrawn for 18 to 24 hours, one may feel symptoms such as headache, fatigue, irritability, depression , and poor concentration. The symptoms peak within 24 to 48 hours and progressively decrease over the course of a week. To minimize withdrawal symptoms, experts recommend reducing caffeine intake gradually.”

Losing it?
When you are speaking behind a mic, you must have control of your:

• Diction
• Concentration
• Thoughts and thinking clearly, in order to connect with a script and convey a point.
  

Irritability and depression lead to negative thoughts that will vibe through your reading, which is the ultimate trigger for...not succeeding. It also affects the ability of a person to be confident in his/her creative decisions when reading copy.

The Crash Test Dummy
I am not one to make statements without having ‘street cred’. I remember an audition specifically in 1998, when I had to go to a studio, but I felt tired. I stopped at a cafe, first. I definitely woke up, but...I also remember sitting in the waiting room was just a nightmare, and I could barely talk behind the mic. If we ever meet at a Voice123 Meetup, I will tell you more about it. That was indeed the last time I ever drank coffee before an audition. I have also worked some late nights in customer service, purely on Red Bull. Alas...my wings were clipped at some point, and I crashed, leading to some interesting posts on our Twitter and Facebook pages. In closing, caffeine is not a solution; just an additional problem.

If you have any audition stories you would like to share, please let me know!

Thank you!

Steven Lowell
Community Development Manager
Voice123 Facebook
Voice123 Youtube Channel
Twitter: @voice123
Voice123 Meetups!

Trend: Disadvantages And Advantages Of Major Market Voice Talent

Voice123 talent, used to working in major markets, such as Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, London etc., have advantages and disadvantages that successful voice talent from smaller markets may not. The difficulty surrounding working online is keeping up with rapidly changing trends and clients, which will always involve listening to varying opinions, and research..

You may be experienced, and well-recognized in a traditional market, but then you audition online, and find out it is a new market to be explored all over again, and the one-sixth of the world's population using the Internet, who never heard of you, may need some re-introducing. Keep in mind, that with all I say here, there will always be exceptions. This is the case with creative environments; no absolutes.

Disadvantages: (some bad news)

1. Voice talent working online from a major market face a higher cost of living. Take this example:

• If you make $40,000 in New York City as a voice talent, those living in Cleveland, Ohio, may only need $19,353 to have the same cost of living expenses (food, rent, apartment, home).
• Housing is 87% cheaper in Cleveland, Ohio.
• If you make $40,000 in Los Angeles, CA., you would need only $26,842 to live in Fresno, California.
  
• Housing is 67% cheaper in Fresno.
• Check your city and state.

2. Booking voice jobs online is more successful through repeat work, and building relationships with clients through proper online etiquette. It is very difficult to find 'that one big job' to cover all expenses for a month, and when you see such a job, you will go up against a more experienced group of talent similar to you (you can check this on your profile), from a global market. You may want more than one way to get work, if your cost of living is high.

3. Websites are ‘do it yourself’. If you are used to traditional methods of casting, this will take getting used to, in the beginning. It may seem cold and insensitive at first, until one sees how to do business, and separates that from being creative behind the mic.

Advantages: Good news!

1. Competition: Sound production houses in major markets have explained to me that they view the ‘do it yourself’ voice talent, as competition because they supply both voice talent, and sound engineering. It is good to have competition because it means something is working well enough to compete against. Hiring and paying you, saves the client money and time, which makes you more attractive as a business option. This is great because sound production houses do post jobs and hire from the website. If you are local to these studios, you will like my next point.

2. Home-field Advantage: Major market voice talent have Voice123, but also the local traditional casting environment with intermediaries. SmartCast, in this case, can work in their favor because they can wait for bigger jobs with other opportunities keeping them busy. Also, the majority of SmartCast jobs posted with geographical requirements, usually come out of New York, and Los Angeles; a good sign they are starting to see Voice123 as the best choice for finding voice talent.

A voice talent from Los Angeles, who does a great deal of union looping work for films, recently explained to me that this work has enabled him to pay for a home set up. Although he is not a sound engineer, he states he has the ability to audition 'when the phone stops ringing', and if he needs help recording something professional, he knows of many studios he can rent out when in a bind. This does require raising his price a bit, but he leaves his efforts out of online communications, and just promises results. His ability to deliver has led him to getting work offline and online consistently, while building a network of industry contacts.

He also acknowledges to me that this did NOT take place over night, and that working online involved meeting a new group of people he had never heard of before, but the marketing costs were incredibly cheaper, if it cost anything at all; saving him thousands of dollars.

3. Observation: Major market voice talent appear to have a thicker skin from understanding what it means to audition, face-to-face, everyday, in an industry with people who unfortunately at times feel obligated to tear someone else down. They may have had the chance to make dealing with rejection, and those who reject, into a reflex habit. Creativity comes from the heart, and it is not easy to handle. The ultimate challenge of working online is understanding that you are working globally, and on a world stage, you will see opportunities you had never thought of the day before you set up a profile.

Yet, still, one thing has never changed: Quality voice talent are always in demand.

Steven Lowell
Community Development Manager
Voice123 Facebook
Voice123 Youtube Channel
Twitter: @voice123
Voice123 Meetups!

Community News: Making It More About ‘You’

If you follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Voice123 forums, or Linkedin, you may have noticed that over the past few months, there were posts appearing promoting voice talent and voice coaches on Voice123. We would like to mention today how to get involved in these efforts, which are all about promoting the voice community of Voice123!

Getting Involved!

Youtube!

Have you done a voice over gig through Voice123, and wish to upload it onto Voice123’s Youtube channel? Please send it to me at steven@voice123.com with a short description, and your Voice123 profile! If it is on youtube already, let us know about it! We will share it through Facebook and Twitter posts for the world to see!

Featured Talent
Occasionally, Voice123 will post projects looking for specific criteria. We then take the shared inbox, and begin to post it through social media. Here is an example!

Voice123 Meetups!
Voice123 has a Meetup page where you can organize meetups to talk with Voice123 talent in your area! To date, there have been over 100 Voice123 meetups scheduled, and shows how the voice over community on Voice123 has gone global! It is great when Voice123 Coaches get involved, too!

Coming up on October 10th, voice coach Ben Bledsoe is holding a meetup in Los Angeles, CA! We also love attending them in New York City! (hint hint)

Coach Workshops
Voice123 has a Coach Partner Program, where voice coaches can refer students for 30-day trials to Voice123, and much more! We also share news about their upcoming workshops, and events! For example, this workshop coming up in Los Angeles, CA!

Spend a day in a professional Hollywood recording studio with voice coach, Michael D. Cohen and learn about the business of animation:

• You will work on mic several times throughout the day.
• Come away with a copy of your work.
• There will be a lunch and lecture with a Los Angeles voice-over agent.
• DATE: Saturday, October 16th 10:00am - 6:00 pm
• FEE: Special rate of $95 for Voice123 members.
• If you are interested, please read more here or email him at info@michaeldcohen.com.

If you have any thoughts, questions, or ideas, please write us to help@voice123.com!

Steven Lowell
Community Development Manager
Voice123 Facebook
Voice123 Youtube Channel
Twitter: @voice123
Voice123 Meetups!