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Take your game to the next level

Career Advice, General, People

Now and then a door of opportunity opens. That door stays open for a while, then is closes again. This is one of those doors. Currently I’m studying with a remarkable lady named Marice Tobias. She emailed me this evening to remind me about a voiceover seminar she is holding in Kansas City the weekend of May 17 and 18, 2008 on Promo and Trailer work. I had so much hoped to be there, but cannot because of other work obligations already on the books from many months ago.

So, about that door. The seminar is being held at Don Miller’s studio. His contact information is on his site. If you are a working professional voiceover, ready to move to the next level, you might want to walk through this door.

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Something important for April

Blogging, General, People, Tools

(Update: I’m bumping this to the top of my blog again today, since it’s now the last day of April.)

During the 2007 edition of Dan O’Day’s International Radio Creative and Production Summit, I learned that Steve Stone and I have something in common beyond the fact that we both do voiceovers. And it’s that point in common that prompts today’s post. It’s a letter Steve has written and is distributing as far and wide as I can. And no, aside from our common work interests, this has nothing to do with voiceover. Here is Steve’s letter…

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April is here, and with that something very close to my heart. It’s Autism Awareness Month. Even more specific is World Autism Awareness Day on Wednesday April 2nd. Autism has become a silent epidemic. Did you know that one in every 150 children born today will be effected by Autism?

I’m truly blessed to have a wonderful wife (Leslie) and family. We have three young children, Jacob (9), Joey (5) and Julia (4). When our first child Jacob was born, my wife and I had no idea what was waiting for us. As Jacob got older, he wasn’t developing socially like other kids his age. He would throw tantrums that lasted for hours, he would obsess over the same toy, or word, he couldn’t look in our eyes, and what crushed me was that when showing him affection….it wasn’t reciprocal. There were many nights my wife would cry herself to sleep because of the stress, and the not knowing what was ailing him. Soon after at the age of 4, Jacob was found to have Aspeger’s Syndrome (AS).

WHAT IS ASPERGER’S?

Asperger’s syndrome is a developmental disorder that is part of the autism spectrum. Signs and symptoms of Asperger’s syndrome include:
* Engaging in one-sided, long-winded conversations, without noticing if the listener is listening or trying to change the subject
* Displaying unusual nonverbal communication, such as lack of eye contact, few facial expressions, or awkward body postures and gestures
* Showing an intense obsession with one or two specific, narrow subjects, such as baseball statistics, train schedules, weather or snakes
* Appearing not to understand, empathize with, or be sensitive to others’ feelings
* Having a hard time “reading” other people or understanding humor
* Speaking in a voice that is monotonous, rigid or unusually fast
* Moving clumsily, with poor coordination
* Having an odd posture or a rigid gait

It’s an everyday struggle, Jacob has been in therapy for more than four years. The constant battle with anxiety and his paralyzing rigidity is overwhelming at times for my wife and me. To make things twice as hard our middle child Joseph has been diagnosed with Asperger’s as well. Again make no mistake Autism is an epidemic. I’m not asking for your money, I’m asking for your help in raising awareness.

After all we are in the “media” business right?

HBO recently debuted a documentary called “Autism: The Musical“, which has received great reviews for it’s intimate look into the world of Autism.

There is also a feature film documentary that is making the rounds at film festivals, about a teenage boy with Asperger’s.

http://www.billythekiddocumentary.com/

The most comprehensive information can be found at

http://www.autismspeaks.org

Autism Spectrum Disorders can be overwhelming for parents and families, early intervention is key.

I’m happy to say that both Jacob and Joey are making great strides, and are learning to cope.

Thanks for your time.

Steve Stone
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Thank you, Steve. Cinda and I also have a son with autism. Brian is his name. He is our youngest son. He’s 10 and doing amazingly well. But, we too want to be sure you know about the importance of this month and this day. Thank you for reading.

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Added to the blogroll

General, People

I just added Todd Tolces‘ site to my blogroll. Todd called me yesterday afternoon and we had a delightful chat about voiceover work, the way things have changed in the last decade and how we sort of connected during the Dan O’Day Summit last year. I’m looking forward to seeing Todd again this year.

By the way, remember that if you sign up to attend the Summit for the first time this year, if you put my name in the comment field of the registration form on Dan’s site, I’ll get a commission. If you don’t want me to get that commission, don’t put my name in the comment field. Your price is exactly the same either way. Regardless, I hope you do go, and I look forward to meeting you there in Los Angeles this year.

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What is it like, studying with Bob Bergen?

General, People

My friend Greg Littlefield has taken some time to document his experience of studying with Bob in Boston a couple of weeks ago. I think you’ll enjoy the post on his blog. Here’s a key comment …

I know if I expect to get any further along the path I want to follow, I need to be able to take direction from others. In person is best (as opposed to back-and-forth emails…). I feel that this experience has heightened my ability to both take direction and direct myself.

Bob is also teaching at VOICE 2008 and holds weekend workshops all over the country.

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The International Radio Creative and Production Summit 2008

Career Advice, General, People

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.

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How to get started in voiceover

General, Getting started in Voiceover, People

So you’re thinking “people have been telling me for years that I have a great voice.” I’m sure you do. Really. I do believe you. But, what does that mean, really? Success in voiceover work depends very little on “having a nice voice.” My friend Kitzie Stern provides some insights, thoughts and links on her blog. It’s not a long piece and well worth a few minutes of your time.

Now might also be a good time to bring up my friend Philip Banks‘ 5 percent rule. Only five percent of the people who attempt to make a living at voiceover work will ever make any real money at it. Actually, it’s not so much a rule as an observation.

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Registration will be open soon for Summit 2008

Career Advice, General, People

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.

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Dancing With the Stars and Voiceover

Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover, People

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.

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A fun meet-up in Chicago

General, People

I had a trip this weekend to Chicago, a city where I lived for just about the entire decades of the 70s and 80s. My wife Cinda grew up there, so we have lots of reasons to visit between family and friends. The reason for the visit was bittersweet, as I’ve mentioned previously, with the passing of my wife’s grandmother. Nana was an amazing woman and her memorial service was truly a celebration of her life and the 96 years of influences she’s passed along to the many generations that follow her.

One of the sweet parts was getting together with some of my voiceover friends who live there. It was a small gathering this time, in part because several of our voiceover number were traveling to other places this weekend. But Lou Zucaro, Tom Test, my son Eric and I did enjoy our time under the buffalo head at Ted’s Montana Grill in Schaumburg.

From left to right, this is Tom, Lou, me and Eric. As you can see, Eric and I wore our VO-BB t-shirts.

Also joining us were my wife, our 2 younger sons and one of my long-time friends and former co-worker in radio, Beverly Brennan. We had a delightful time talking about voiceover, life and topics that wandered all over the landscape.

Our entire family is going to make another trip to Chicago in the middle of June this year. We’re hoping to gather a somewhat larger crowd next time and I’ll write about more about that as the days get closer.

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