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Adam’s mighty fine soapbox

Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover, People

Adam Creighton is an actor who lives in Austin, TX. We’ve not yet met in person, though I’m hoping to see him when I travel to Austin in a couple of months. Along with lots of other things, Adam blogs about acting and voice acting in a place he calls Ramblings. I visit Adam’s Ramblings often, because he so frequently has things to say that I need or want to hear.

His post called Networking for actors is a perfect example.

Adam writes about how much time and effort he used to put into networking, and then says…

But then I stopped doing it.

Why?

Because I honestly didn’t like how good I was at networking. I got into situations and saw people doing the networking thing, and they weren’t sincere. They were looking at opportunities for themselves, and didn’t give a damn about the people they were meeting. They were superficial. They were exploiters. They were users.

I so didn’t want to be them.

So, Adam did what most of us do. He over corrected. More recently, though he’s started networking again…but with a difference…

Here’s how it works for me.

I meet someone, and we talk. I find out what they do, what they’d like to do, and what makes their day worthwhile. And I talk about what I do, what I’d like to do, and what makes my day worthwhile. And we figure out if we’ve got stuff we want to do together that makes our days worthwhile together.

That’s right, kids, we have a conversation.

And then, independent of whether we can do something together, I try to keep that person in mind when opportunities come up for them, even if there’s no benefit to me.

I encourage you to read the entire post, but leave you with this final quote…

The net-net is I think networking — really effective networking — shouldn’t be exploitative “what can you do for me” usury. It should be relationship building. It should be mutually beneficial. And when it’s not mutually beneficial, it should be beneficial for the other person.

If everyone had that mentality, what kind of cool world would this be?

Very, Adam. Very.

Don’t just do it, think about it

General, People

I always enjoy reading the blog posts of Kara Edwards, who is a mighty talented young lady who also happens to live here in the Charlotte, NC area. Recently, Kara has written about taking time to think about what we’re doing.

I really needed this encouragement, because it’s very easy for me to just do something without being really thoughtful about what and why I’m doing what I’m doing. Take a few minutes and read Kara’s post. I think you’ll be glad you did.

Summit 2007 registration is open

Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover, People, Tools

The final details about registration information are now available for this year’s Dan O’Day “International Radio Creative and Production Summit.”

I’ve attended this event every year since 1997. Some times it’s more focused on writing and production, which other years more on voiceover. This is one of the latter. Pat Fraley and Don LaFontaine are both confirmed to be there.

This is an event intended for more than just voiceover folks. There will be a lot of radio station people there (creative services directors, production managers, writers) and it’s always a very international event. Folks from Asia, Europe, Australia and Latin America are almost always in attendance. Registration is limited to 100.

Details are available here at Dan’s site. The lowest price for registration is available through the end of May. I’ve already registered. If you’re going, it would be a good idea to register sooner, rather than later.

Fifteen and a half Great voice talent tips kidnapped from Portgordon

Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover

Philip Banks has backed up the bus and unloaded another batch of gems from his fertile brain over at the VO-BB.com. You’ll find the thread he started here. Meanwhile, for your elucidation…

1 – Sit still you’re not an 8 year old! Decide now – Voice over or fidget!
2 – Conducting your read will only help if the copy writer was inspired by Henry Mancini and this version is not for radio but is the full orchestral version.
3 – Close mic is not a technique, the engineer put a pop shield in front of it to encourage you to keep your distance – Take the hint.
4 – When traveling to an audition advise the bus driver and your journey will be free.
5 – There’s money to be made from that movie trailer voice as Don la Fontaine has a vacancy for a pool boy.
6 – If it says 30 seconds at the top of the script and you take longer than 30 seconds to read it, remind the agency creative that although the weather is great in LA a sundial is not the best way to time a piece of copy.
7 – Mouth noise can be avoided by not saying anything.
8 – Most successful Voice Actors have both essential elements, a voice and acting ability. A good “pre” replaces neither.
9 – ISDN is a thing of the past, so is making a living. If you need the second then the first is probably a good idea.
10 – The best voice over agent in the world is easy to spot as he commutes to work on a Unicorn.
11- Most copy interpretation is about “mood” and repeat business results from you staying in a good one.
12 – In a session, the director’s jokes are always funny and your anecdotes are for too long.
13 – When someone asks your price for a job ensure he wants “your price” and is not hoping you are able to guess how much he is prepared to pay.
14 – If you think as a Voice talent that you’ve arrived, then bear in mind that to have arrived you must have reached the end of the road.
15 – Before every low budget session eat a bar of chocolate, drink a cup of coffee and smoke a cigarette.
15 ½ – To make $250,000 Per Anum as a Voi.

Giving Voiceover the Once Over

Career Advice, General, People

Radio station KCRW has a regular program called The Business, hosted by Claude Brodesser-Akner.

Their program from March 26, 2007 includes an extended interview with Jerry Ryba, Voiceover agent at CESD. You’ll need to listen through some other material first, but there is so much solid information about voiceover work, especially the big leagues. (My thanks to Nancy Wolfson for alerting me to this interview.)

Great ideas presented by Pat Fraley at VOICE 2007

General

I’m starting to fall behind in my efforts to alert you to the excellent material that Stephanie and her team at Vox Daily have compiled on VOICE 2007. One of the most highly anticipated and well received segments was the Tricks Smuggled Out of Hollywood by Pat Fraley. Since it’s Pat, you know it’s good. You won’t go wrong studying with Pat Fraley. (Nor with Pat’s friend, and my current teacher, Nancy Wolfson. You want to study group classes with Pat and privately with Nancy. Your head will explode, but until then you’re going to get so good you’ll hardly be able to stand it, anyway.)

I think it’s no coincidence

Career Advice

Exactly one week ago today, I arrived home from VOICE 2007. My head was spinning with information, impressions, emotions and thoughts. If you were there, you know exactly what I’m saying. If you weren’t, but you’ve attended some other sort of highly emotional, fully packed seminar, convention or even family reunion, you have a very good idea of what I’m saying, too.

In any case, one of the thoughts uppermost in my mind was that all of this fabulous information and experience would end up being a gigantic waste if I didn’t find some way to begin putting into practice what I learned. Thus, I think it was no coincidence at all that Roy H. Williams would chose to send this message as his Monday Morning Memo the following day. Here’s one of his opening observations…

We often receive instruction and agree, “I see what you’re saying,” but seldom do we actually do the thing we learned.

It’s the doing that’s the part that keeps the flame burning long after the experience has begun to fade.

Chris Wagner added much value to the VOICE 2007 discussions

Career Advice, General, People

Chris Wagner offered some superb ideas on how to more effectively use the Internet, and specifically our web sites, to market our voiceover services during his VOICE 2007 presentation. Laurynda, over at Vox Daily, has done an excellent job summarizing that presentation.

You’ll notice in the comments to that thread that I do have a couple of small nits to pick with some of Chris’s material; but the vast majority of it is so good that I recommend you read and heed what he has to say.

Actor’s Tool-Kit #8

Career Advice, General

THE STAR’S CREED

by Bob Fraser

“I’m an assistant storyteller. It’s like being a waiter or a gas-station attendant, but I’m waiting on six million people a week – if I’m lucky.” ~ Harrison Ford
This is one of my favorite quotes because it contains three of the most important elements you must understand in order to become a successful actor.

First, Mr. Ford tells you what the job is. Storyteller. Then he tells you how he thinks about his audience. He wisely considers them customers. Finally, he reveals the secret to becoming a big star – have a lot of customers.

In other words, if you want to be a successful actor, you must build your customer base. You must attract an audience.

This is just a fact of life in our business. Entertaining the audience is what you will get paid for. Whether you ply your trade anonymously behind a microphone, appear in Broadway musicals, act in commercials, sing for your supper, do your thing in sitcoms or soaps, make independent films, or interpret Shakespeare in the park – your primary focus (as a business person) should be the audience – the paying customers.

Understanding the “butts in seats” part of your acting career is crucial to your eventual success.

ATTRACTING THE CUSTOMER

Too many actors lose sight of this fact when they get caught up in the “inside” stuff. “Who’s my agent? How do I get the casting director to notice me? What do you think of my headshots? Maybe I should get my nose fixed. How can I get into the union? Should I go to New York or Hollywood?”

Believe me, our customers don’t care about any of that. Not one customer in a thousand can name Harrison Ford’s agent. It’s unlikely that you know who it is and you’re in the business. I doubt that any casting director has ever asked to see Harrison Ford’s headshot or resume in the last twenty years. And try this experiment; ask 100 civilians what union Harrison Ford is in. Be prepared for some blank looks.

Every successful actor I’ve ever met (or know about through reading biographies) has accomplished that success by one method. They’ve attracted an audience. Their focus is on the audience – the customers. They’ve worked hard at building their customer base. The other stuff is grunt work. Sure, it’s an important part of taking care of business – but none of those things will make you more successful.

It’s like a plumber spending a lot of time picking out his wardrobe. “Look, I don’t care about your outfit. Just fix my toilet.”

Is it easy to build a customer base? Even a plumber knows the answer to that. If it were easy, everyone would be successful. Is the method a deep dark secret? Not really. All you must do is concentrate your efforts on your audience skills.

Believe me, if your only goal is to entertain an audience, your success in the business is assured – when you treat them like customers and run your business as if your income depended on it, because (not to put to fine a point on it) it does.

Agents, casting directors, managers, other actors, & network vice-presidents of talent are not your customers. They are co-contractors. They are only helpful to you if you already know how to “fix the toilet.”

IT IS NOT REALLY LUCK

Many will argue that success in the entertainment business is a matter of ‘luck.’ It is. But look closely, Harrison Ford’s definition of ‘luck’ is doing your job for the audience and hoping they like it well enough to pay the admission.

If your definition is that anyone can get to the top by getting lucky – like it’s some sort of lottery – well, if you believe that, I know about some beach front property in Bagdad, you can buy cheap.

Some will even say that what counts is who you know. Again, that’s almost true. The reality is this: What really counts is who knows you. The more people who know you and want to see you perform – the larger your success will be.

Then there are those actors who believe that there’s a short cut. Get the right agent or manager. Find the “magic” monolog. Make friends with casting directors. Go to the right parties. Network until you find someone who will help you ‘make it.’

DO YOUR RESEARCH

I urge you to read the biographies of successful actors. You will not find a single instance of these sorts of tactics leading to the promised land of stardom.
If you still believe that actors are being discovered at the drugstore or the gas station – well, that Bagdad beach is beckoning … and I can get you a rock-bottom price.

It all boils down to this: any business person who does not consider the customer the most important element in the enterprise, is doomed to failure.
Becoming a successful performer is a matter of performing in front of an audience as much as you possibly can – serving your customers until you are doing what Harrison Ford is doing – “waiting on 6 million customers a week.”

It’s all about the audience. Customers make careers – not door keepers.

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PERMISSION TO REPRINT: You may reprint articles from Actor’s Tool-Kit, on your website or electronic newsletter. However, in order to comply with my copyright, you must also include the following paragraph with your reprint:

“Reprinted from ACTOR’S TOOL KIT, the email course just for subscribers of Show Biz How-To — The Free Actor’s Monthly. Get your own free subscription by going to: showbizhowto.com. Copyright © 2006 Bob Fraser Productions All Rights Reserved”

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Do you tell your clients you love them?

Career Advice, General, People

At VOICE 2007, Frank Frederick’s presentation on Love Notes was one of many highlights for me. Not only because Frank has become a dear friend over the last year; but also because what he had to say struck a powerful chord of resonance in my own heart.

Stephanie, over at Vox Daily, has done her usual superb job of surveying the material presented. And if you want to dig deeper, Frank has published an audiobook on Love Notes, as well. (I’ll add a link to purchase Frank’s audiobook once I find one!)