1. Audiobook Joe

    Posted September 15, 2008 by Bob

    My friend Joe Rodriguez is blogging about his experiences of reading audiobooks for Audible.com. Day one is here. Day two is here. Good stuff, Joe. Thanks and please keep the reports coming.

    Category: General, People | Comments (2)

  2. Patience

    Posted by Bob

    I received a very nice email over the weekend from someone who has been reading this blog for a little while. Someone who wanted to offer a word of thanks. It was truly a blessing to read.

    The writer also mentioned being pretty early in the process of becoming a voice actor and commented that it was hard being patient, because of a strong desire to move forward quickly.

    That comment triggered something in my mind, so I wrote back with some comments about patience. I’m not identifying my correspondent in this case, because I didn’t ask permission to quote anything that was said to me. However, what’s below is my reply, plus a bit of editing and clarification, and thus needs only my own permission to post.

    Patience is indeed vitally important. I grew up on a farm in Minnesota. I think there’s a strong parallel between farming and voiceover work. You begin with preparation. You can’t just dash out into the fields in the spring and throw a bunch of seed around and expect to get a decent harvest. The soil has to be prepared, broken up and smoothed out. After that, you plant the seeds. And then you wait a while. Then you cultivate. Fertilize. Cultivate some more. And then there’s more waiting. The seeds don’t germinate, sprout, grow and yield a harvest in a day or even several days. It takes months of careful attention and cultivation and only then do you get to reap the harvest.

    I don’t know exactly where you are on your voiceover journey. You may be just starting to explore this whole field. You may be a working professional. Or somewhere in between. Whatever the case, I’m sure you have to deal with this matter of patience. I certainly do.

    If you’re new, you do because you want to see things get started. You want to start doing the work. What you don’t realize yet is that most of the time, even after you’re well established and working, you’re going to be preparing, marketing, looking for work. (Harlan Hogan said in his presentation at Dan O’Day’s Summit a couple of years ago that 98% of the time is spent looking for work and only 2% is actually spent in the studio doing it.)

    If you’re a working professional, at whatever level, you have to deal with it too. Maybe it’s wanting to break through to a new level of the business. Maybe it’s getting into a different field of work. Animation. Trailers. Audiobooks. Network promos. ADR. The list is nearly endless.

    In every case, there’s a whole lot of tilling, planting, and cultivating involved. None of it is fun. At least not in the traditional sense of the word. But, it’s all necessary to get you where you want to go. I don’t like it either. But, the harvest makes it worth the wait and the effort.

    There are two differences between farming and voiceover work, though. The first is that you can prepare, sow, cultivate and harvest at any time of year. You don’t have to wait for spring to plant or fall or harvest.

    The second is that, even at its hardest, voiceover work is a whole lot easier than working for a living.

    Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover | Comments (6)

  3. How are you going to learn if you don’t ask?

    Posted by Bob

    Tracy Pattin has issued an invitation on the Voicebank Blog. She’s recording a panel discussion with voice actor Bob Bergen, Producer/Director Joyce Castellanos and Demo Producer/Casting Director Bill Holmes. You now have a chance to ask these three top flight professionals your voiceover career questions. Just stop by the Voicebank blog and leave your questions in the comments section. But you need to do this today, September 15th.

    Category: Career Advice, General, People | Comments (0)

  4. Don LaFontaine feature by Backstage

    Posted by Bob

    While we’re featuring great voice talents, here’s another superb video on YouTube featuring Don.

    Category: General, People | Comments (2)

  5. Close-up on Ernie Anderson

    Posted September 14, 2008 by Bob

    My friend Charlie Glaize emails with a link to this delightful video spotlight on the late, great Ernie Anderson.

    Category: General, People | Comments (5)

  6. Marc Cashman now provides one-on-one coaching

    Posted September 13, 2008 by Bob

    Marc Cashman writes that he’s received a lot of requests since he appeared as one of the keynote speakers at VOICE 2008 to do one on one coaching. He’s now prepared two options, over the phone or via email. Details, including pricing and contact information, are all on Marc’s web site. Once you’re there, click on the link at the bottom for V-O Coaching.

    Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover, People | Comments (0)

  7. Tribute page to Don LaFontaine at Voiceover Universe

    Posted by Bob

    There is a wonderful tribute page to Don, including numerous videos, on the Voiceover Universe site. Thank you, Rick Party.

    Category: General, People | Comments (0)

  8. If it is to be …

    Posted September 12, 2008 by Bob

    … it is up to me. Those words are at the core of the excerpt published on Tom Asacker’s blog today from Phil Fragasso’s new book Marketing for Rainmakers.

    Here’s just one exceprt to whet your appetite for the whole thing.

    The great pianist Vladimir Horowitz once observed, “If I don’t practice for a day, I know it. If I don’t practice for two days, my wife knows it. If I don’t practice for three days, the world knows it.” As a rainmaker, you too have a special talent that sets you apart and that requires constant nurturing. If you allow that special talent to wither, it loses its differentiating power and you become another nameless face in the crowd.

    I don’t know about you, but I do not want to be just another face in the crowd. Read the whole thing on Tom’s blog.

    Category: Career Advice, General | Comments (0)

  9. The future by Alex Torrenegra

    Posted September 11, 2008 by Bob

    On the Voice123.com blog, Alex Torrenegra offers his thoughts on the voiceover industry as a whole and where it is headed headed in the future. I think Alex has hit the nail on the head several times in his comments. I’d love to hear what you think. Comments are open.

    By the way, Alex wrote his post in honor of the 5th anniversary of the founding of Voice123.com. My best wishes to Alex and all of the team there on this occasion.

    Category: General | Comments (12)

  10. Don’t miss this tribute to Don LaFontaine

    Posted September 10, 2008 by Bob

    On the front page of the Voiceover Universe site is a moving note from Don’s best friend Paul Pape and an audio file that you don’t want to miss.

    Category: General | Comments (0)

  11. Project T.E.R.R.A. teaser

    Posted September 9, 2008 by Bob

    The voice of my friend Kara Edwards is featured in this teaser video for Project T.E.R.R.A. 

    As time goes on and the project gets further along its release path, you’ll hear my voice eventually, joining Kara and a few other very talented people.

    Category: General | Comments (0)

  12. On MOJO HD premiering tonight

    Posted by Bob

    My friend Eddie Eagle is the narrator for a series that premiers on the MOJO HD tonight at 9:00 PM Eastern. It’s called Survival School. Good for you, Eddie.

    Category: General, People | Comments (0)

  13. CESD Announces Sam Glick as new Director for Promo/Trailer/Voice-Over Division

    Posted by Bob

    The following press release arrived in my email today. Congratulations Sam. And CESD.

    —————-Press Release—————-

    CESD Talent Agency’s Los Angeles office announced that Sam Glick, former co-owner of Davis-Glick Productions, will become the agency’s new director for their L.A. Promo/Trailer/Narration/Voice-Over division.

    Sam Glick, new director of promo, trailer, voiceover division at CESD

    As director, Glick will lead the division in pursuing opportunities on behalf of all CESD Los Angeles voice-over clients in promos for TV, motion picture advertising, and narrative work.

    CESD’s partner and head of the Los Angeles division, Paul Doherty stated, “We wanted a real pro for this position, and someone truly connected to those who can make things happen in the P/T/N business and at the same time, be an individual of high integrity and one hell of a salesman. Well, we found these attributes and more in Sam.”

    For 21 years, Glick was the co-owner of Davis-Glick, but decided to sell his interests and leave the producing world completely, so he could take on this new challenge.

    Upon joining CESD, Glick was quoted as saying, “The opportunity to represent the many talented voices of CESD and work with such a fine group of agents was too good to pass up. I get to call on many familiar faces from my production days — former clients, former competitors, and even my former company–who are now my buyers.

    Doherty continued, “Having Sam come to CESD is a true coup. This is the first time I’ve seen a producer of his stature and longevity come into the voice-over agent business. He brings to our company a deep, deep knowledge of our industry and producer and talent relationships that cannot be replicated.”

    The arrival of Sam Glick also dovetails with the launch of the CESD’s newly re-vamped agency website.

    CESD has thirty-four agents in its two offices. It continues its innovative industry dominance through the multitude of changes brought on by the digital millennium.

    CESD Talent Agency is one of the nation’s most prestigious performer representation organizations whose unique dimensions include offering performers complete representation for on-camera and voice-over commercials, print/fashion/runway, beauty, dance, hosting, animation and gaming, hosting, puppeteers, promos/trailers/narration, and radio imaging & TV affiliates marketing.

    # # #

    Source: Jonas PR

    This press release is also posted on the Voic Over Times website.

    Category: General, People | Comments (0)

  14. Looking at ISDN seriously

    Posted September 8, 2008 by Bob

    My friend and fellow voice actor Dave Courvoisier takes a long hard look at the ins and outs of ISDN on the Rain Recording web site. This is a very good, and well balanced article, well worth the several minutes of your time it will take to read … especially if you’re wrestling with whether or not to add ISDN to your home studio set-up.

    Category: General, Tools | Comments (2)

  15. SAG clarifies special bulletin and response card

    Posted by Bob

    On the SAG TALK blog, check out the information about the recent Special Bulletin and Response Card that was sent to members.

    Category: General | Comments (0)

  16. Recording voiceovers

    Posted by Bob

    With thanks to my friend Steve Anthony for the link on his blog, I ran across an old but still quite useful article looking at the subject of recording voiceovers from the perspective of studio engineers. In this day, when so many of us in voiceover work have to do the recording and editing ourselves, this article on the Mix Magazine website is worth a few minutes of your time to read.

    Category: General, Tools | Comments (0)

  17. Listen to the marketing lessons

    Posted by Bob

    Tom Asacker, one of my favorite thinkers about all things branding and marketing, was interviewed by a public radio station in Massachusetts recently. You can listen to the interview here. I highly recommend that you do.

    Category: Career Advice, General, People | Comments (4)

  18. More on Uncle Sam

    Posted September 7, 2008 by Bob

    I mentioned the other day that my friend Rowell Gormon had landed the part of Uncle Sam in an online animation. Now, Rowell, as you can see in this press release, has also generated a bit of additional publicity for his work. Good for you, Rowell. May there be many more.

    And in case you’d like to see the animation in question, check out Rowell’s blog.

    Category: General, People | Comments (2)

  19. Welcome to the blogosphere, Erik

    Posted September 6, 2008 by Bob

    My friend Erik Sheppard emails this morning with news that he’s added a blog to his voiceover site. Erik is a brilliantly talented voice actor, has a good head for business, and is clearly a gifted writer as well, based in his first few posts. I’m looking forward to reading what you have to say, Erik. Thanks for letting me know.

    Category: Blogging, General, People | Comments (2)

  20. Do What You Love

    Posted September 5, 2008 by Bob

    A cliche, yes; but not less true for being a cliche. I love telling stories. It doesn’t matter if the story is a highly technical training piece for medical lab specialists, an audiobook about an 18th century musician or a documentary about land use in Cleveland, Ohio. I love telling stories. It’s why I do voiceover work. It’s why this blog exists. It’s here to connect you and me with one another, whether you are someone with a story you need to have told and or you’re someone who also loves telling stories.

    Whether what I’ve just written makes sense to you or not, don’t miss Tom Asacker’s weekly excerpt from Phil Fragasso’s new book Marketing for Rainmakers for today. It’s a fabulous illustration of why it’s important to do what you love.

    Category: General | Comments (0)

  21. RIP Bill Melendez

    Posted by Bob

    Bill Melendez is most famous, at least at our house, for his work on the Peanuts animations. Head over to Cartoon Brew for a great tribute.

    Category: General, People | Comments (0)

  22. Bob Bergen workshops in several cities this fall

    Posted September 4, 2008 by Bob

    Bob Bergen will be holding workshops in several cities this fall. Dallas and Atlanta in October, Boulder in November, New York City (that one’s all ready sold out) and Sarasota in December. Details are available on Bob’s web site.

    My thanks to my friend Marian Massaro for posting the details on the VO-BB.

    Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover | Comments (3)

  23. Running with the Big Dogs

    Posted by Bob

    According to this press release, my friend and veteran voice actor, Bryan Cox has been hired to work with Sounddogs.com. Good for you, Bryan.

    Category: General, People | Comments (2)

  24. A new direction

    Posted September 3, 2008 by Bob

    My friend Kitzie Stern and I both study with voiceover coach Marice Tobias. As I’ve posted here several times (and as has Kitzie on her blog) it’s an amazing experience studying with Marice, but she only takes working professionals as students.

    Recently, Kitzie has decided to take her voiceover blog in a new direction. You can read about what she’s thinking, comment, and subscribe to her blog’s feed as you like at Kitzie’s Voice.

    Category: General, People | Comments (0)

  25. Rowell as Uncle Sam

    Posted by Bob

    My friend Rowell Gormon features some really excellent voice work that he’s done for a web animation on his blog. You don’t want to miss this.

    Category: General, People | Comments (0)

  26. Don LaFontaine working in the mid-90s

    Posted by Bob

    My friend Steve Stone emailed me a few minutes ago with a link to this video from the CNN site.

    You get to see Don working in multiple studios and then chatting for a few minutes in his famous limo. Excellent stuff.

    Category: General, People | Comments (5)

  27. Tributes to Don

    Posted September 2, 2008 by Bob

    As you might imagine, there are tributes to Don LaFontaine springing up all over the blogosphere. For example, I received an invitation today (as you probably did too) from Voice123.com to submit an audio clip in tribute to him. There’s a post on the Voice123.com blog with details if you’d like to participate, too. And Carmen Texeira emails that the site with the audio tributes is now live.

    Voices.com’s Vox Daily has a moving tribute post with dozens of comments.

    Dan O’Day has a unique and entertaining video on his blog that features Don, his wife and daughters and his best friend Paul Pape.

    Dave Courvoisier asks for a moment of silence on his blog.

    Brian Haymond posts about a recent email exchange with Don.

    Liz de Nesnera writes about the collision in her worlds on her blog, and of meeting both Don and his wife on separate occasions in the last year and a half.

    Dave Christi remembers his own long-distance encounter with Don.

    Kara Edwards includes a photo of her meeting Don at VOICE 2007 in Las Vegas as well as memories of that special moment in time.

    Juan offers a memory of a recording session with Don that he sat in on over at his Some Audio Guy blog.

    Joe Rodriguez pays tribute to Don and includes a YouTube video on his blog.

    Stewart Wilson-Turner offers condolences to Don’s family at VoiceBank’s VoiceRegistry blog.

    Russ Renshaw says good-bye on his VoiceOverture blog.

    Peter O’Connell also has some words of farewell and blessing on his blog.

    Updated to add, The VO-BB is officially in mourning. Voice123.com has also changed their logo to black.

    There’s more here at Mahalo.com.

    I’ve posted the link to the Voiceover Universe tribute page previously, but for the sake of completeness add it here, too.

    And VoiceOverXtra remembers Don.

    Further update: Don’t miss Michael Minetree’s moving tribute to Don on his blog. And Michael has created a special tribute section on his VO forum as well.

    Additional update: With thanks to Kristy Sproul and her Voice Chasers forum for the links, you’ll find an obituary on CNN.com, A story in the Washington Post, AFTRA President Roberta Reardon remembers Don LaFontaine on the AFTRA site and SAG’s Alan Rosenberg issued a statement published on the SAG site.

    Another update: My friend Joe Szymanski blogs about things he learned from Don.

    Updating again: Sandy Weaver Carman asks “How will you miss Don? on her blog. And Frank Murphy remembers a live radio broadcast featuring Don on KLOS.

    Another update: Peter O’Connell posted in the comments below, but I’m adding it here for the sake of completeness, you’ll find a heart-felt message on the LA Fishbowl from Media Bistro today.

    And another: This video is now featured on Voiceover Universe.


    Find more videos like this on voiceover universe presents…

    Also on the Voiceover Universe site is this tribute page to Don. Thank you, again, Rick Party for all you’ve done to bring the voiceover universe closer together.

    Adding today: The UK newspaper The Independent has a page of Don LaFontaine’s greatest hits. (Note, not all the movie trailer voices featured on this page are actually Don.)

    Yet another update: Voiceover Times has a wonderful write-up on Don that’s well worth a few minutes of your time.

    And another: The Los Angeles Times published an article remembering Don a couple of days ago. It included this video from the Associated Press.

    My thanks to John Florian and his VoiceOverXtra site for the link to the LA Times article.

    And another update: Matt Anthony’s blog post in tribute to Don was written over a week ago, but I only discovered it today.

    Don’t miss this one: Just today ran across the wonderful comments by Randy Thomas that are posted on the Voicebank Blog. And Melanie Haynes has some very nice comments on her blog, too.

    With thanks to my friends Dan Nachtrab and Joe Szymanski, there’s a wonderful feature audio piece about Don LaFontaine, and about voice acting in general, on Paul Butler’s blog.

    Category: General, People | Comments (8)

  28. Tom Kane tribute to Don

    Posted by Bob

    Tom Kane has given me permission to reprint this tribute to Don LaFontaine that he wrote yesterday. My thanks to my friend Don Miller for passing it along to me in the first place.

    ————————————-

    You may not have known him.

    But you knew him.

    Don LaFontaine passed away today.

    He was a father, a husband, and – last on the list, I assure you – a voiceover legend.

    20 years ago, I was voicing promos at NBC, trying to deal with the emotions of sitting in a chair that was still warm from Don LaFontaine and Townsend Coleman… and trying not to embarrass myself while “The Don” was waiting patiently for me to finish…

    …for me to do in five takes what he could have done in one.

    Then, after he sat down and completely blew me away, he invited me to go to lunch with him… in the fabled limo.

    I tried hard to hide the fact that I was walking away from my beat up “K-Car” toward his signature transpo… If he noticed, he didn’t comment.

    What he did say, was that he thought I might actually make a go of it as voiceover guy.

    And like a very small number of us so blessed, I did.

    Over the years, we became friends. And as only a tiny handful of us in the entire world can claim, we became competitors.

    But as Andy, Dave, Jonathon, Ashton, George, Beau, Al, Scott and the rest all know, while we may have shared the field with him, there was never any real competition.

    From the days when – as a Writer and Producer – he literally created the modern concept of the Movie Trailer – to when he single-handedly voiced over half the Trailers in the entire industry AND squeezed in Promos for half a dozen Networks, he was in every aspect, “The Don”… Our Patriarch.

    My Favorite Don story was when I was hired to do the trailers for “Tombstone”.

    As happened about ten times a day back then, the studios said “We need to use someone else… Don is on EVERYTHING!”

    So they had me do the entire campaign… Until the reviews started coming out… and they were not good.

    The cry went out from the boardroom, “Get Don LaFontaine!”

    Imagine that…

    A gazillion dollar movie… with huge stars… a big director… with an advertising budget bigger than it took to make “Star Wars”… But MAYBE, just maybe, if Don LaFontaine did the trailers… it might actually save the movie.

    Don did the trailers until Siskel and Ebert’s review panned it, then they went back to me to save a few bucks…

    Because if Don couldn’t save it, it didn’t matter who voiced the rest.

    We laughed about it over lunch a few weeks later. He shook his his head in wonder at how – in his own words – “I guess I’ve become some sort of talisman.”

    Don was exactly that, for all of us.

    A Talisman.

    Of what what we could dream of being someday…

    …and what we all knew – and know to this very minute – we will never equal.

    He was, quite simply, the best that will ever be.

    ‘Nita… girls…

    We cannot know the full hurt of your loss.
    But know that he touched our lives as well.
    And we will miss him greatly.

    -Tom Kane

    ————————–

    Thank you, Tom. Our prayers for Nita and the girls continue.

    Category: General, People | Comments (1)

  29. Memories of Don

    Posted by Bob

    I’m sure over the next few days, as news of the death of Don LaFontaine spreads far and wide, there will be many folks posting comments and memories of Don. He was truly larger than life, not just a great talent, but as I got to see first hand in my one direct encounter with him, a wonderfully generous and kind human being.

    My only in-person encounter with Don was at the first VOICE conference in Las Vegas in March of 2007. Don came and spoke to us one event and when his comments were finished, there were quite a few of us who lined up to ask him a question. Long before the everyone got to the microphone to ask their question, it came time to bring the evening’s activities to an end.

    But Don agreed to stay, shake hands with and get photographed with everyone who wanted to get a picture with him. In a snap, all 200 plus in attendance were lined up. It took a long time, but Don stayed and greeting and was photographed with everyone who took the time to stand in line. Even though it was the end of a very long day for him. Even though everyone would have understood if he’d begged off. From those who knew him best, and from those I’ve known personally who’ve worked with him, I’ve heard exactly the same things again and again; so I know the generous spirit he showed to all of us was no fluke.

    If you have a story about Don, comments are open. Share it here. I’d love to see it. I’m sure others would, too.

    Bob Souer and Don LaFontaine at VOICE 2007

    This is my one and only time meeting Don, at VOICE in Las Vegas, March 2007.

    Update: There is a message from Don’s best friend of 30 years, Paul Pape, at Voiceover Universe.

    Category: General, People | Comments (7)

  30. RIP – Don LaFontaine

    Posted September 1, 2008 by Bob

    I received this in an email forwarded to me this evening by Dan O’Day, quoting from the Entertainment Tonight web site.

    Voiceover Master DON LaFONTAINE died Monday afternoon at 2:10 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 68. Don’s agent, Vanessa Gilbert, tells Entertainment Tonight that he passed away following complications from Pneumothorax, the presence of air or gas in the pleural cavity, the result of a collapsed lung. The official cause of death has not yet been released. Over the past 25 years, LaFontaine cemented his position as the “King of Voice-overs.”

    Aside from being the preeminent voice in the movie trailer industry … Don has also been the voice of Entertainment Tonight and The Insider, CBS, NBC ABC, Fox and UPN, in addition to TNT, TBS and the Cartoon Network. By conservative estimates, he has voiced hundreds of thousands of television and radio spots, including commercials for Chevrolet, Pontiac, Ford, Budweiser, McDonalds, Coke, and many other corporate sponsors. He recently parodied himself on a series of national television commercials for Geico. 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 has the distinction of being perhaps the single busiest actor in the history of SAG. Don is survived by his wife Singer/Actress Nita Whitaker, and three children Christine, Skye and Elyse.

    Voiceover coach Marice Tobias emails with the same news. Please support Nita and the children with your prayers.

    (Edited to add link and attribution to story’s authorship)

    Category: General | Comments (9)

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