Stupid Cheap. That’s what my friend Pam calls it anyway and I have to admit I rather like that. I’m adding Pam’s blog to my blogroll today, and I’m doing so with considerable joy since I’ve been encouraging her to write a blog for some time now. Good for you Pam and I look forward to reading what you have to say. Oh, and the very best to you and your voiceover business. (That last comment applies to you even if your name isn’t Pam and even if you’ve been doing voiceovers for years.)
Scott Brick has posted an update on his audiobook narrator contest and has added information about upcoming audiobook workshops to his blog.
You might want to check out the article on VoiceOverXtra by Rosi and Brian Amador on being Bilingual Talent. My thanks to John Florian for the email with a link to this article.
My friend Mahmoud Taji has done an interview with Armin Hierstetter CEO and Founder of Europe’s First Voice Over Marketplace Bodalgo.com. Quite interesting reading, and at the bottom of the post you’ll find an audio link if you’d rather listen to the interview.
For many voice actors today, especially here in North America, much of our work comes through auditions. So winning more auditions means more work. During 2007 when I was studying with Nancy Wolfson, my ability to win auditions went up dramatically because of what I learned from her. Which is why I’m delighted to say that Nancy is going to hold a teleseminar about winning more voiceover auditions.
The Princess and the Frog is the new hand-drawn animated film coming from Disney. In this video we get to see actor Keith David working on his part, the villian in the film, Dr. Facillier.
My thanks to my friend Justin Barrett for posting the link to this video on the VO-BB.
My thanks to be nice, Ed Hunter emails with the link to this video. It’s an episode of the Kevin Pollak Chat Show, featuring an interview with Hank Azaria. Note, there is some “Not Safe For Work” language in here, but I think the interview is well worth your time.
Here’s what Ed wrote about why you might want to watch this long (over 2 hours) interview.
Of particular interest to voice actors comes about 50 min. or so into the show where Azaria tells how he was originally cast in The Simpson’s. It seems that someone else was already doing the voice of Moe, and there was apparently no complaint with this actor’s performance. However, the guy had a really bad attitude. “He was very rude to everyone,” said Azaria. He got annoyed at the amount of takes and blew a gasket … “threw a tirade.” Fox decided to let him go, and hired Hank. The line that stuck with me is when Azaria said, “If this guy was a nice guy, I wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”
Thank you for sending the link to the video, Ed.
(edited to fix link and typos)
My friend Zurek, founder of Voiceover Universe, blogs about his experiences at the Voices.com mixer in Los Angeles this week. Cool photos, Zurek. Wish I could have been there with you.
My friend Craig Crumpton features an interview he did with voice actor Jim Cummings on his blog.
You’ll find an extensive update on what’s been happening with Scott Brick’s Share the Experience audiobook contest on his blog.
Yesterday for lunch I had the great joy of spending some time with three really nice people. Diane Merritt, Ted Stewart and my oldest son Eric. Ted, Eric and I all live in the Charlotte area and Diane is a couple of hours a way in South Carolina. We’d been working on a voiceover get-together for some time and finally managed to pull it off.
Spending time with other voice actors is one of my favorite things, right after spending time with my family. In this case, I was able to combine the two, which was even better. We’re starting to make plans to do this again in about a month. If you are a voice actor in the Carolinas, leave a comment and I’ll be sure to give you some advance notice.
Tracy Pattin has done a three part podcast series with Peter Rofé on the VideoVoicebank Blog. Part one. Part two. Part three.
That’s the name used around the world for what we here in the USA calls “football.” (The rest of the world, of course, uses that term to refer to what we in the States call “soccer.”) My friend Ralph Hass emails to say that he searched my blog and discovered that I’ve used the term football only twice before. Today is the third time because you might just enjoy Ralph’s blog post Football FEVER!
Rodney Saulsberry is featured in this YouTube video and there’s a cameo appearance by my friend Diane Maggipinto at the 3:30 mark.
Life Magazine has a photo gallery of famous voice actors from Mel Blanc to Nancy Cartwright and back again. My thanks to Stephanie Ciccarelli for tweeting and blogging the link.
Pat Fraley is holding an ADR/Voice Match/Looping event on Saturday, September 26, 2009 in Los Angeles. Casting Director Barbara Harris will join Pat for the one day event that is sure to sell out very quickly. All the details are on Pat’s site.
My friend Janet Ault is one of the brightest marketing minds I’ve ever encountered. Take a few minutes to read her excellent article on marketing at VoiceOverXtra. Great stuff, Janet!
Yes, I meant to write the title that way. When you click through to this article about voice actor Jim Cummings in the Ventura County Star, you’ll see why. My thanks to my friend Nancy Wolfson for emailing me the link this morning.
Mandy Nelson is a wonderfully talented voiceover performer. Exhibit A is the video below.
Nice work, Mandy. (edited to add link to Mandy’s site)
Pat Fraley emails today with news about The Demo World Masters Event to be held Saturday, September 12, 2009 in Los Angeles. Click through the link for all the details. This is going to sell out fast, so if you like what you see, you might want to act quickly.
