Bettye Zoller’s presentation at VOICE 2007 was on audiobooks. Stephanie over at Vox Daily, has done a superb job of capturing the essentials of Bettye’s talk.
General
Fifteen and a half Great voice talent tips kidnapped from Portgordon
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.
Now this is a home studio!
As you might imagine, Don LaFontaine has a rather nice home studio. Nice enough that Mix Magazine has done a feature on the place. (My thanks to Nancy Wolfson for pointing me to this article.)
A great deal on some superb gear
My friend Brian Haymond is upgrading his studio hardware which means you have an opportunity to score some great gear for way less than you’ll pay retail. Details are on Brian’s blog, here.
Giving Voiceover the Once Over
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.)
James and Penny took us inside the mind
The Psychology of Voiceover was the presentation given by James Alburger and Penny Abshire at VOICE 2007. Stephanie has done an excellent job of summarizing their presentation over at Vox Daily.
Great ideas presented by Pat Fraley at VOICE 2007
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 like metaphors
And so does my friend Brian Haymond. He uses an interesting, and quite powerful metaphor in his blog post about Relationships. Take a few minutes to read. I think you’re be glad you did. You’ll be even more glad if you put his suggestions into practice.
Chris Wagner added much value to the VOICE 2007 discussions
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
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.
============================================================
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”
============================================================
Still more about VOICE 2007 at Kara Edward’s blog
You couldn’t miss Kara Edward’s smile as she lit up the conference room where we met in Las Vegas. Even in a crowd of over 200, her cheerful enthusiasm stood out unmistakably.
Kara has posted a wonderful summary of comments and reflections about VOICE 2007 on her blog. Go. Read. You’ll be glad you did.
Do you tell your clients you love them?
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!)
VOICE 2007 in the news
My thanks to Peter O’Connell for pointing out this article today about VOICE 2007 at Backstage.com. Very nice.
Connie’s time in and out of the spotlight at VOICE 2007
Connie Terwilliger is a very talented voiceover professional, with a heart as great as her talent. Stephanie, over at Vox Daily, has done her usual superb job of reviewing the information Connie presented during her time on the mike at VOICE 2007. Part one is here. Part two is here.
I very much appreciated what Connie had to say during her presentation, but what I most admired about Connie was her generous and gracious spirit out of the spotlight.
The specifics are not all that important, but I’m confident that if you’ve had the benefit of Connie’s advice, you’re better today that you were before.
By the way, search this site on Connie’s name and you’ll find an interview I did with her some time ago. There’s plenty of good material for you there, too.
Rodney Saulsberry and overcoming obstacles
Rodney Saulsberry had the unenviable task of being the first presenter at VOICE 2007. But, he pulled everything off brilliantly. Stephanie, over at Vox Daily, has recovered from the week in Las Vegas enough to post a fabulous and detailed report on Rodney’s presentation.
I especially appreciated Stephanie’s detailed report because I ended up missing the second half of his presentation. Why? Because I was actually putting into practice one of his techniques: overcoming obstacles! When my plane landed in Las Vegas I had enough work waiting for me in my email inbox to pay for the conference, my hotel room and most of my meals. But some of that had to be done and delivered right away. The obstacles to accomplishing this task were many, though none had to do with actually recording the pieces. Providentially, I was assigned a room way off in a quiet corner of the hotel and except for a plane flying overhead 2 or 3 times a night, I had no problems getting studio quality audio from my room.
No, the troubles began when I started to upload the audio. As soon as my FTP program would connect to the server and start transferring the audio, the Internet connection would drop. If I canceled the transfer, the Internet connect would re-establish. After several unsuccessful attempts, I called tech support for the hotel Internet service. The walked me through several steps, and we thought everything was back to normal; but as soon as I hung up the phone, the Internet connection dropped again. I called tech support back. They sent a technician to my room, this time. He too, was unable to fix things. But, he suggested that I try the business center in the hotel, as they were on a different Internet connection.
So, I packed up my laptop and mouse, and trooped up to the third floor of the other part of the hotel to try from the business center. No soap. It fact, it wasn’t even possible to connect my laptop to the Internet in the business center at all. I called tech support for the business center, but they didn’t have anything helpful to add.
So, I check with the front desk at the hotel (it’s now well past Midnight, Pacific time) and they suggest I try the FedEx Kinkos that about 2 miles from the hotel. I take a cab over there. The cabbie gives me his cell phone number as I’m getting out so I can call for a ride back and pulls away as I’m walking through the doors. I ask the clerk for directions to the laptop station and he says, “You’re welcome to try, but our Internet connection has been down since 4:00 PM this afternoon. Not just here, but everywhere in the company.” He’s right. No soap again. I try for several minutes. No soap. No connection. No uploads. It’s now about 1:45 AM Pacific, so I try calling the cabbie. I get a “this line is not in service” on the first attempt and a woman’s voice (voice mail, thankfully!) on the second.
Collecting my laptop and mouse, I begin the 2 mile walk back to the hotel. At 2:30 AM Pacific, I arrive, having walked through what turned out to be a really terrible neighborhood, but seeing only one other living soul, an older man trudging home carrying his lunch box. Needless to say, I’m praying the entire way and I’m ever so grateful to have made it back to the Palace Station safely.
At this point, I think maybe the Internet connection will work because the amount of traffic has to be somewhat lower this late at night. Nope. Same experience as noted above.
How does this tie in with Rodney’s presentation? Because in the middle, Frank Frederick was gracious enough to drive me back to the Kinkos where I finally was able to get online and deliver the audio. Late, but at least on the day it was needed. And truly, what a great guy Frank is. He’s one of the 3 folks putting this whole event on, and he takes the time to help me finish overcoming obstacles. I’m forever in his debt.
By the way, with thanks to Stephanie at Vox Daily for linking this in the first place, here is Rodney’s video that was part of his presentation during VOICE.
(edited to fix typos and to add video)
If you’d like to know more about what VOICE 2007 was like
Be sure to spend some time reading this thread at the VO-BB. It is, without a doubt, the longest and most viewed thread in the history of the board, filled with stories, photos and comments. Well worth your time.
You’ll also find photos and thoughts from Bobbin Beam, here and more from her here. Thanks for helping to document and preserve the experience for all of us, Bobbin. And what a lovely and delightful person you are.
Update: And a brief comment from a non-attendee, Doc Phillips, here. And don’t miss the poignant commentary from Kara Edwards on her blog. Kara is truly a beautiful soul, inside and out. And she added much to the VOICE 2007 experience.
One of the things I like best…
Is meeting young, talented people and, when possible, offering a bit of help. A very fine example of a talented young voiceover guy is Donovan Corneetz. Donovan lives near Raleigh, North Carolina so he’s not a long way from where I live in Charlotte. But, the only two times we’ve actually spent any time together has been out West. Two years ago we met for the first time at the 2005 edition of the Dan O’Day International Radio Creative and Production Summit, which is held in Los Angeles.
And Donovan was at VOICE 2007 as well, which was in Las Vegas. (Technically, we did actually say a brief “hi” while we were both in North Carolina, because he had to change planes in Charlotte on his way to Las Vegas and we ended up on the same flight there last Tuesday. But, you get the point.)
We enjoyed some wonderful conversations between the many sessions; but the most fun for me was getting to see Donovan in action. Here’s what happened. He knew from our conversations that I had brought my portable studio with me to VOICE 2007. So, when he received a call from one of his voiceover clients asking him to get a commercial recorded and delivered in less than 24 hours, he asked if he could record on my system. I was happy to help. We got his script through the web interface to his email, got levels set and began recording. In only a couple of minutes we had all the material recorded that we would need for the voice track for this spot. I then edited the pieces together and we had a nice clean take of everything straight through. That’s when the fun really started.
You see, Donovan not only had to record the voice track, he had to mix the spot with a donut jingle! Since all I had with me was my Sony Sound Forge set-up, which has only the most rudimentary of mixing functions built in, we had one big challenge. But, that wasn’t all. We also had to get the music bed! Donovan thought he’d saved a copy in his email, but he hadn’t. So, he called his wife and talked her through finding the file on his workstation at home and emailing it to him. We then made a few trial and error attempts to mix the voice track with the jingle, only to discover that the script had the length of the donut wrong. So Donovan had to re-record the voice track. (Eventually, to get things “just so” we combined portions of the 2 reads to get exactly the right length and delivery.) And then more trial and error attempts at mixing. Since I only had headphones with which to mix, it was a real “shot in the dark” as to the quality of the mixing, but eventually we arrived at something that sounded right to both of us.
Donovan then emailed the mixed file to the client and we hoped for the best.
The following day, he said he’d heard from a different client, who needed another voice track (this time without music, thankfully) and again it was a “right away” job. So we trooped back up to my room and did the email, record, edit and return email thing again. One side benefit to this project was Donovan’s discovery in his inbox of a note from the first client. They were very happy with the spot! Huzzah! And as it turned out, the day after, the second client was also very happy.
Mark my words, this young man is going places. Donovan Corneetz. You’ll want to remember his name.
The voiceover business’ high profile guy
As you probably know, Don LaFontaine is the most famous voiceover guy in the world and has been for some time. But, now, thanks to a Geico television commercial, his name is known to everyone, not just those of us in the voiceover business.
Here is an interesting article and interview with Mr. LaFontaine. (My thanks to Tom Ackerman for linking to this article on the VO-BB.)
For more about Voice 2007
Be sure to check out Stephanie’s posts at Vox Daily. She’s written a very nice summary of the first 2 days, as well as a story about the winner of one of the 3 iPod Shuffle players they’re giving away here in Las Vegas this week.
Insights gleaned from VOICE 2007, part 1
It’s been an amazing 2 days so far. We began on Tuesday evening with an opportunity to meet and greet one another. While I’m naturally a rather shy and introverted person, I actually really enjoyed these 3 hours. It was truly a joy to meeting, in person, so many of the friends I’ve made through the Internet, in particular through the VO-BB.com. And to make a number of new friends as well.
If you haven’t been involved in voiceover work for very long, you may not have realized this yet, but unlike most other kinds of performance work; voiceover is filled with tremendously nice, helpful people. So, it’s a sheer joy to meet and talk with so many nice human beings in one place. There are about 200 voiceover talents, ranging from “not even hardly started” to “working professionals,” gathered here in Las Vegas. And it has been one amazing time, with so much to learn it feels like I’m trying to drink from a fire hose. I think a lot of us feel this way. But, it’s still a wonderful feeling.
I’ll add further updates to this and one or two more posts about this conference in the next couple of days. But, please believe me, you are not going to want to miss this event next year. Discussions are under way about where to hold it, so there’s a good chance it won’t be in Las Vegas next time. But, where ever it is, you need to be there. I know I will.