My friend Tom Dheere is featured as the voice of David the Frog in this cartoon pilot. Part one.
Upstate Four 1 from Krause Brothers on Vimeo.
Part two.
Upstate Four 2 from Krause Brothers on Vimeo.
Superb work, Tom. Well done.
People
Studying with Bob Bergen
Ed Liu has written a superb and detailed article about studying with Bob Bergen that’s now available on the Toon Zone site. Thank you, Ed for the terrific article and to Bob for posting the notice about it on Voiceover Universe.
A tale from the road
My friend Mandy Nelson tells a fascinating story on VoiceOverXtra about her successful efforts to pack for a trip for a long trip and get everything including her recording gear into a single bag. If you ever need to record while traveling you’ll find a lot of valuable ideas in Mandy’s article.
Elfed on the Voiceover Universe
OK, this was just too good not to share. From my friend Zurek, the heart and soul behind the Voiceover Universe comes this bit of holiday madness.
Send your own ElfYourself eCards
Pat Fraley offers a greeting from Saint Nick
Or something like that. Check out the special page at Pat Fraley’s site for this message from Saint Jack Nick!
R.I.P. – Majel Barrett Roddenberry
Majel was seen on camera in both the original Star Trek series and in The Next Generation, but for us voice actors she will also be forever remembered as the voice of the Enterprise computer.
My thanks to my friend Dave Houston for posting the link to the article on the VO-BB.
Another peek behind the curtain
My friend and mentor Philip Banks uses YouTube to give us a glimpse into his world.
Rodney Saulsberry’s new album
Rodney has posted a YouTube video with a bit of a preview of his new music recording.
The album is called Better Than Before.
A newsman interviews
Dave Courvoisier is not only a very talented voice actor, he’s also a television news anchor in Las Vegas, NV. On his voiceover blog he has an extensive interview with voice actor, coach and soon-to-be operator of an on-line casting service … Michael Minetree.
(Update: My thanks to my friend Brian Haymond for posting the link to this article.)
Peace and the home studio
My friend Anthony Mendez blogs about his voiceover journey and especially some of the changes he’s had to make now that he has his studio at home. Good stuff, Anthony. Thanks for taking us along on your journey.
The home of a voice actor
My friend and mentor Philip Banks has posted something on YouTube that, if you can get past the cheesy music, provides a view of the home of his voiceover career.
Having been to Portgordon, Scotland to visit Mr. Banks, it was personally delightful to see this video; but I don’t know if anyone else is going to enjoy it or not.
Spotlight on Caryn Clark
You’ll find a very nice review of my friend Caryn Clark’s site and branding as well as an interview with her at the Minewurx Echos blog. In the interview portion in particular, there’s a gold mine of valuable insights about identifying, honing and implementing the core elements of her branding. Really good stuff and well worth a few minutes of your time.
Studying with Marice in Portland, day 2
It was another incandescent day of study with Marice Tobias on Sunday. We worked today on promo copy, which is always something of a challenge for me. I’m not sure why I find commercial, narration and trailer to somehow sit comfortably, but promo always pushes me to a new and often at least somewhat uncomfortable place. Of course, part of the point of taking a weekend of study like this is to push into uncomfortable territory because there’s so much of value to learn there.
I neglected to mention that this weekend was organized under the watchful eye of Stacey Stahl, owner of In Both Ears, whom I’m grateful to have as one of my agents. Stacey is as sharp and bright a lady as I’ve ever had opportunity to encounter and everything she organizes just works. I think the world of her and I am truly grateful to be on the roster of her agency.
As I mentioned yesterday, we’ve been at Sonic Media Studios in Portland. They’re in a lovely building in Northwest Portland.
This is the entrance to Sonic Media Studios in Portland was we walk in to the building after lunch on Sunday, Mark Barbolak is looking back at me while Aaron Thomas, John McCalmont and Diane Maggipinto walk in the door.
After our day of study and play wrapped up, Marice took at shot of the whole class standing in front of the laughing Buddha that is in the lobby of Sonic Media Studios.
I find it amazingly energizing and uplifting to hang out with such talented people for a weekend. I’m very grateful for the opportunity to connect and learn from each one.
And in this case, we weren’t done because 3 Portland area voice actors joined me for dinner Sunday evening.
Sam A. Mowry, me, Todd Tolces and Linda Bard as we wrapped up our dinner together on Sunday evening.
Studying with Marice in Portland
I’m in Portland, Oregon this weekend for another workshop with Marice Tobias. Like each of the previous weekends I’ve done with Marice, it’s an amazing experience. Each one has given me new insights, helping me raise my voiceover work to another level.
We’re working this time at Sonic Media Studios, a very nice facility in Portland.
One of my new friends is John McCalmont, a guy with a ton of talent.
Studying with tremendously talented people like John, Doug Medlock and Diane Maggipinto is part of what makes these weekends with Marice so remarkable. Everyone is there to encourage one another and everyone brings their A game. Speaking of Diane, she had a interesting idea about how we should stand for our photo.
It has been so nice to see Diane and meet her husband Brian this weekend. Seeing old friends and making new ones is very near the top of the reasons I enjoying making trips like this. I’ll post more tomorrow, after our second day of play is finished.
(edited to fix typos and add link)
Jeff is seriously cool
My friend Jeff McNeal has posted a truly wonderful video on Voiceover Universe.
Find more videos like this on voiceover universe presents…
Great stuff, Jeff.
One day workshops with Marc Cashman announced
Marc Cashman emails with details about a number of one-day voiceover workshops he’s planning for 2009.
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In response to overwhelming demand, and in an on-going effort to “raise the bar” in V-O instruction, I’m scheduling a series of exciting, but rigorous one-day workshops in specialty areas of voice-over.
In the past, in addition to my practical, foundation-building course structure, I’ve brought in top voice talent as guest directors to give students challenging exercises that will prepare them for the real world of voice work. But starting in 2009, I’ll be inviting the top directors and producers in the U.S. in various fields of voiceover to participate in my workshops. These people will share their insight and expertise, and students who sign up for these workshops will be performing in front of decision-makers—people who are in a position to actually cast and hire talent.
My special guests will be owners/producers/directors of award-winning production companies in various specialty areas: videogames, audiobooks, animation production and commercials. I’ll also be inviting other top experts to share their advice, tips and techniques in areas outside of performance—areas like the business of voiceover: promotion, packaging and publicity, as well as the technical areas of home studio installation and recording.
Some of these workshops will be limited to advanced students and part-time and full-time professional voice talent (and only ten per event). Other workshops will be open to Beginning and Intermediate students. All workshops will provide breakfast, lunch and snacks, and run from 10AM to 6PM.
-Videogame Workshop – Jan. 17th, 2009
-V-O Demo Prep Workshop – Jan. 24th, 2009
-Audiobook Workshop – date to be announced
-The Business of V-O Workshop – date to be announced
-Home V-O Recording Workshop – date to be announced
-V-O Narration Workshop – date to be announced
-The Art of Dialogue Workshop: Timing, Comedy, Drama, Characters – date to be announced
-The Art of Retail Workshop: Proven Approaches to Effective Delivery – date to be announced
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If you had a chance to see Marc at VOICE 2008 you all ready know he’s both very insightful and very funny. And while I have not studied with Marc personally, several of my friends have and they all sing his praises. You’ll find Marc’s contact information on his website.
A monkey’s uncle?
My friend Rowell Gormon has a couple of charming videos featured in his latest blog post. Enjoy!
Scott Brick’s A Christmas Carol on CD
Scott Brick’s audiobook version of Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol” is now available from his on-line store on CD. If you’d rather download it as an MP3 file, you can do that too.
All that stuff
My friend Kristine Oller is amazingly gifted at organization. (Need proof? Check out this article in her newsletter archives.) While you’re looking through her newsletter archives, don’t miss this superb article about all the stuff in your life and how to become a steward of your stuff rather than your stuff owning you. You’ll also find valuable suggestions for organizging your career and work on Kristine’s blog.
VoiceOverXtra expands
I received an email today from my friend John Florian, the driving force behind the excellent site VoiceOverXtra.com, a great resource for all things related to the voiceover industry. He’s just announced that he’s named Paula Lin, an international voice talent, write and educator as senior editor of the site. Congratulations to Paula and everyone involved in that fine operation.