My friend Kara Edwards has drawn on her love of her pets and her work to write a very thought-provoking and important blog post about rates for voiceover work. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read the entire post. It’s well worth a few minutes of your time.
Career Advice
The International Radio Creative and Production Summit 2008
Every year since 1997, I have attended and benefited tremendously from the International Radio Creative and Production Summit presented by Dan O’Day. This means that I’ve been at all of them except the very first one, which I didn’t know about until after it was done so I couldn’t go to that one. This year’s Summit runs August 8 and 9, 2008. It’s at the LAX Hilton once again.
For us in voiceover work, there is always a ton of valuable information. Some years more than others. This is one of the more years. We’re going to hear from Pat Fraley. If you don’t know Pat’s name, you’ve heard his voice thousands of times.
We’re going to get a chance to work with Nancy Wolfson, one of the very top voiceover coaches. I’ve studied with Nancy personally and I think you’ll love her blend of brutal honesty and uplifting encouragement. And the legendary Dick Orkin (co-founder with Dan of the Summit) will be there.
If you do any commercial copy writing, there will be opportunities to learn some new ideas and techniques, practical stuff you will be able to put to use, literally, immediately.
If you’re involved in radio imaging, there’s going to be a top-flight panel of imaging voice and production people.
Registration is strictly limited to 100 people. And this year, for the first time, Dan has initiated an affiliate program for folks who have previously attended the Summit at least twice. The one exception is that those who attended last year’s Summit can also take part. (If you were at last year’s Summit or you’ve been to the Summit at least twice and you’d like to take part, email Dan and ask for details. His email address is on his web site, if you don’t all ready have it.) What this means is that if you decide to attend the Summit for the first time and you would like for me to get a commission on your registration, put my name as the person who referred you, in the comment field at the bottom of the on-line registration form.
Or, if you fax or mail your registration, just write my name as your reference on your form.
But, please, if you’d rather I DIDN’T get the commission, then DON’T put my name in the comment box. Your price for the Summit will be exactly the same regardless of whether you put me down as referring you or not.
And yes, that limitation of 100 attendees is real. The Summit is taking place the same weekend as VOICE 2008. I’m planning to attend both. That is, I’m going to attend all of the Summit and as much of VOICE as I can. What ever you decide to do that weekend, I hope I get to see you in Los Angeles the second weekend of August 2008.
VOICE 2008 featured in Back Stage
VOICE 2008 is taking place this August. Registration is open and time is running out to get the best price. Many of us are going to be in Los Angeles for the event. If you’d like to read more, there’s oodles of information on the VOICE 2008 site, of course. But, Back Stage has just published an article spotlighting the event. It’s well worth a few minutes of your time.
Casting Notes
My friend Andi Arndt emails with news of a new site you might want to check out. It’s called Casting Notes and is still in beta. A quick look around suggests it’s weighted to the on-camera and stage sides of the acting equations. No big surprise there, because there are so many more actors in those categories. But, there’s room for voice actors to feel at home, too.
Registration will be open soon for Summit 2008
The 8th and 9th of August 2008 are the dates for this year’s International Radio Creative and Production Summit. In addition to the names you’ll see on the linked web page, according to an email I received this morning from Dan, folks involved in radio imaging are certainly going to want to attend this year. KellyKellyKelly, Terry Phillips and Jamie Watson are all going to be presenting station imaging during the Summit weekend. There’s a link on the page where you can sign up to be notified via email as soon as registration is open.
And just as a reminder, for voiceover folks Pat Fraley, Dick Orkin and Nancy Wolfson are all going to be doing presentations at Summit 2008.
Dancing With the Stars and Voiceover
My friend Karen Commins, an Atlanta based voiceover talent, has written up 12 lessons for voice actors that she’s drawn from the television show Dancing With The Stars. Really good stuff, Karen. Thank you for the thoughtful blog post. And also my thanks to my friend James Lorenz for his blog post link to Karen, which led me there today.
Audiobook weekend with Pat Fraley
If you are interesting in jumping into audiobooks with both feet, the very best thing you can do is sign up for one of Pat Fraley’s Audiobook Master Events. The next one is Saturday and Sunday, the 3rd and 4th of May 2008 in Los Angeles. Space is limited to 12 participants. The cost is $1400 Cash, Check or Credit Card. Payment schedules arranged upon request. It’s taking place at …
World Famous Buzzy’s Recording
6900 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
To Enroll, email patfraleyteaches@aol.com or call (818) 400-3733.
A bit less than 2 years ago, I flew out to Los Angeles and took one of these Audiobook Master Events. As with the upcoming event, I received an audiobook demo some days after the event. I took that demo, followed through on only some of what I learned about marketing myself during Pat’s class, and starting less than 3 months later have been working consistently doing audiobooks for several different publishers.
Yes, you’re going to learn much more than just how to effectively read audiobooks. You’re going to get solid, practical ideas about how to market yourself. There’s much more detail on Pat’s Audiobook Master Event site.
Technorati Tags: audiobook, Pat Fraley
Teleseminar on Wednesday
Nancy Wolfson and Anna Vocino are doing another of their excellent teleseminars on Wednesday of this week, the 9th of April 2008. The teleseminar will start at 9:00 PM Eastern/6:00 PM Pacific. They’ve emailed this weekend to say that this will be their last teleseminar until the Fall.
Here are a few of the topics Nancy and Anna will cover this time…
* CONNECT THE DOTS –Another unique Braintracks coursework chapter – the 1st of three to address the AUTOPSY OF A RADIO SCRIPT
* What’s your through line? Sandbag the dots so the audience can connect them.
* Headphones or No Headphones? When wearing ’em will kill your audition, when you HAVE to have them on, and how to split the difference.
* Behind The Agent Curtain–Should I tell one agent when I book a job through another agent?
* Actor to Actor–Why it pays to include your agent.
Go to www.breakintovoiceover.com to sign up.
Marketing advice
One of the people I most admire in the voiceover world, especially in regard to marketing his voiceover business, is Peter O’Connell. I point you today to a post on his blog from a couple of days ago that relates to marketing and Search Engine Optimization. Really good stuff, Peter. Thank you for keeping our noses on the grindstone.
Pat has a new free lesson for you
Pat Fraley emails this morning with news about a new free voiceover lesson that he’s posted.
[audio:http://patfraley.com/FreeLessons/ShamlessTrks.mp3]He writes…
It’s about 6-7 minutes long. It’s covers some “Shameless Tricks” for voice over for performance and slating. I’m almost embarrassed. Almost.
Thank you, Pat. Good stuff.
A no-holds-barred look at VOICE 2008
Todd Schick, a professional voice talent and coach, has taken the time to review every announced speaker at VOICE 2008. VOICE 2008 is in Los Angeles in August 8 through 11. Very interesting stuff here. I don’t agree with every word Todd has written; but he clearly has a sharp eye for detail and an excellent ear. Lots of good stuff to chew on here, Todd. Thank you for taking the time to review, write and post this information.
While you’re there, check out all of the other helpful and valuable material you’ll find on Todd’s site. There’s a ton of good stuff.
(Update. My thanks to Connie Terwilliger for linking to Todd’s VOICE 2008 review page on the VO-BB.)
Getting things done
Mary McKitrick is both talented as a voiceover artist and as a writer. If you need some suggestions to help you get moving in your voiceover career, she’s written a brilliant post on her blog that’s loaded with solid and valuable information.
Passionate workers
Seth Godin has brilliantly captured the essence of my life as a voiceover talent. Some days can be very long. For example, no voiceover project I’ve done has ever taken as much time as the work I’ve been doing while recording of the entire Bible. (We’re almost done. We have a few more corrections and we’re finished.) The amount of time a voiceover project takes or the times of day I have to do work are almost meaningless because doing things right, delivering a great performance, is such delight it hardly seems like work.
The same applies to this blog. I love finding articles like this. I love passing along thoughts and ideas that I hope are helpful to you in your work, whether you do voiceovers or your hire voice talent. This isn’t work, it’s part of the fabric, the passion, of my life.
My thanks to my friend Kitzie Stern for posting the link to Seth’s article. (Kitzie it was such a delight seeing you at Marice’s workshop in Seattle!)
Industry Resources
Stephanie has posted a gold mine of links and valuable information on VoxDaily.
I think this one is worth bookmarking on its own.
A seminar with Harlan Hogan and Elaine Clark in Portland
The weekend of April 12th and 13th, Harlan Hogan and Elaine Clark will present a 2-day seminar in Portland, Oregon. Registration details and a link to send in your deposit are on this page of Harlan Hogan’s site.
On Saturday, April 12th, Elaine is going to talk about Acting in the White Space.
Reading the words is only 25% of the voice actor’s job—
The other 75% is what you do in the ‘white space’ around those words…!
Sunday, April 13th, Harlan will speak about The Long Haul, building a voiceover career that lasts.
Winning an audition is great—
a winning career even better—!
My thanks to Stacey Stahl, owner of In Both Ears for reminding me about this upcoming event.
(Update: edited to fix typo.)
A seminar with Pat Fraley on April 5, 2008
Pat Fraley just emailed me the following…
——————————————–
Recently, I’ve been focusing on teaching critical voice over skills, which are not often available. That’s why I’m presenting the Master Comedy Performance Event, Saturday, April 5, in LA, with Candi Milo.
85% of all Animation and Radio Dialogue Spots are Comedy driven. All other voice over genres of advertising and entertainment call upon Comedic Skills to some degree or another. It is a critical skill, and there are many valuable truisms to Comedic Voice Over Performance, which can be effectively taught.
I’ll be teaching with the greatest and most successful performer in animation ever: Candi Milo.
Here’s a link to more information and a Free Lesson from Candi.
http://www.patfraley.com/CandiMilo/CandiMilo.html
To reserve a place in the event, just e-mail me at: patfraleyteaches@aol.com
Regards, Pat Fraley
————————————————-
I’m sure this will be another great learning opportunity.
I had such a nice chat with Tracy Pattin the other day
Tracy blogs at Voicebank.net’s VoiceRegistry Blog. I’ve linked to several of her posts because she’s had many excellent things to say, interviews, and insights. A few days ago we exchanged several emails and then visited together on the phone for a podcast. Just a bit of the interview is posted for you to read now, and tomorrow the podcast will be live.
Thank you for the delightful visit, Tracy. I look forward to our next connection.
The Soccer Mom Myth
My friends Michele Miller and Holly Buchanan have co-written a new book that’s just been released, called The Soccer Mom Myth. Michele and Holly are two of the brightest and most insightful ladies I know. Whether you are a man or a woman, you’ll find a lot of valuable information in The Soccer Mom Myth.
(Yes, I this post doesn’t exactly have anything to do with voiceover work. But, think about it for a few minutes. Maybe less.)
Update: I neglected to thank Roy H. Williams and his Monday Morning Memo for March 10, 2008 for alerting me to the release of Michele and Holly’s book. Thank you, Roy. Painful or pleasant, I always look forward to reading your pieces each Monday.
Plant the seeds
When it comes to your voiceover career, of for that matter any freelance career, we’re all farmers. Growing up, I lived in the farm country of Central Minnesota. Every spring, along with lots of other things, we always planted the seeds. If we didn’t plant the seeds in the spring, we would have had no business looking for crops to harvest in the autumn. Which seeds you sow, and in what fields you sow them, is up to you.
Tracy Pattin’s blog post about an opportunity that didn’t result exactly the way she hoped, but which was still a seed planted, was the germ that lead to this post.
You see, when we plant the seeds, some of them bear fruit very quickly. Others take a while and some incubate for just about forever. You don’t know which is which, in fact you can’t tell. So, you can’t worry about what the outcome will be from a specific seed that you’re planting. Just like Tracy took the risk to ask for that interview, the immediate outcome isn’t the focus, taking the risk. It’s planting the seed. And just like the farmer, if you plant the seeds, you will get a harvest. Some years will be bumper crops. Some years will be pretty meager. But, ever year you’ll have a harvest. And of course, for us in the voiceover business, we don’t have to wait until Spring to plant or Autumn to harvest. We can plant and harvest any time of year. Not to mention, voiceover work is much easier than working for a living.
VOICE 2008 update
More and more information is coming from the VOICE 2008 conference. Here is some information about the General Session presenters.
Friday Morning Keynote Speaker is Susan Berkley.
Susan Berkley is a top voice-over artist whose voice has sold millions of dollars worth of products and services on TV and radio commercials. She is the telephone voice of many Fortune 100 companies. Susan is CEO of Berkley Productions, Inc., a company that provides voice mastery training for aspiring voice artists, and well as performance coaching for business and sales professionals. She is the author of Speak to Influence – How to Unlock the Hidden Power of Your Voice. Visit www.greatvoice.com to learn more about this dynamic lady! Susan is a master marketer and a darn good voice coach!!
Keynote Speaker on Monday Morning is Pat Fraley.
Winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Voicey Awards in 2008, Patrick Fraley has created voices for more than 4,000 characters, placing him among the top ten performers of all time to be cast in animation. Pat teaches 700+ students a year in events, workshops, and seminars on various aspects of voiceover. His unique character voice curriculum is the only one accredited at the university level. He has taught voice for 35 years, is a member of the Voice and Speech Trainers of American and holds a Master’s of Fine Arts degree in Professional Acting from Cornell University.
Pat Fraley is the “Voiceover King” of working outside the box! During his special guest appearance at VOICE 2008, he will reveal his “Secret Dialect System” created for voiceover. You’ll be amazed at how Pat’s dialect secrets will change the way you work with your characters! All that and even more. . . Pat is one of the nicest people we know!
Learn more at www.patfraleyteaches.com
Keynote Speaker on Sunday is Marc Cashman.
Marc Cashman is one of the few voice-acting instructors in the U.S. who is on “both sides of the glass” as a Clio-winning Radio and TV commercial copywriter, producer, and casting director, and as a working voice actor. As a voice actor, he has been heard locally, regionally, nationally and internationally on radio, TV, film, documentaries, radio plays, video games and audio books. Marc has voiced thousands of commercials, dubbed foreign films, narrated dozens of audio books, and created the voices of many CD-Rom, online and video game characters. Oh, and did we mention. . . he’s a really funny guy! Find out why at www.cashmancommercials.com.
VOICE 2008 will be August 8th through the 11th, 2008 in Los Angeles. I hope I see you there.