The 1% (or whatever it is) in the VO Biz

With all the talk about the 1% vs the 99% these days with regards to Wall Street and Jobs and Taxes, something crossed my eyeballs this morning that shows that this spread exists in other areas as well.

Voiceover actors have been chatting about the jobs being lost to “celebrity” voices for years now…ever since the animated Alladin was released featuring Robin Williams as the Genie. There is no doubt that Robin Williams stole that movie, but it paved the way for more and more celebrity on-camera actors being cast in animated features and fewer and fewer opportunities for working class voice actors.

Written by SCOTT MESLOW – an Atlantic contributor and a film and television writer based in Washington, D.C., who has also written for Campus Progress andWealthBriefing – this article highlights how the “A-list” actors are nudging out the “ubiquitous but nearly anonymous, traditional voice actors.”

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/10/how-celebrities-took-over-cartoon-voice-acting/247481/

His main question is whether there […]

2018-02-06T06:48:19+00:00October 31st, 2011|Categories: Business, Musings|Tags: , , , |

In the Online World, Context is King…

It is hard to get any work done these days because you follow links which lead to more links and suddenly you have forgotten what you went online to do in the first place, but it is almost always an interesting distraction. Sometimes pure silliness, sometimes thought provoking, sometimes good for business. I’m always looking for interesting tidbits that will help the bottom line.

One of the mantras of video has been “Content is King.” With the emergence and tsunami of online video, it may be that the context will be driving the dollars.

Today, I was reading a post from MediaPost and it led me to an article called “Context is King: How Videos are Found and Consumed Online” packed with information from a November 2006 study by Bear Stearns Cable and Satellite analyst Spencer Wang called “Why Aggregation & Context and Not (Necessarily) Content are […]

Auditioning the “wrong” way

I followed a link from a voiceover talent (Lori Taylor) on one of the Facebook voiceover groups – there must be half a dozen – so how one keeps up with all that chatter is really beyond me – but this caught my eye.

This well-produced quirky web series is about what NOT to do in on-camera and in-person VO auditions and features two very talented actors who portray a couple of endearing, yet completely oblivious wannabe actors. The series follows their auditions as they show up for commercials and industrials and PSA’s. The scripts are brilliant. Here is the first episode.

[blip.tv http://blip.tv/play/AYLShnsC width=”550″ height=”339″]

2018-02-06T06:48:20+00:00October 23rd, 2011|Categories: Announcements, Auditioning, Business|

The Long Tail Keeps Getting Longer

The amount of work in media communications continues to grow. Most of it in the long tail where the dollars are not as high, so in order to build a business and stay in business, you need lots of business. The number of people wanting to jump into the business continues to expand as well. So in order to compete and grab the business, producers need to find those areas where they can produce good quality media at a reasonable price point.

Neil Perry, president of Poptent, formerly with McDonald’s in a number of key positions and a VP of marketing at Monster.com, just posted an article on MediaPost’s Online Video Insider that showcases an under-videofied (I just made that up to go with the word video-izing that he used) area for media communications producers. Video manuals.

People are […]

VO – Just Part of the Total Package

Any video production is a team effort and there are times when all of the elements work so well together, you need to show it off.

I did the VO for this spot produced by the Arthur Agency for New Life Weight Loss Center at Herrin Hospital in Ohio. I give it a thumbs up on creative and execution!

2018-02-06T06:48:20+00:00October 5th, 2011|Categories: Announcements, Recording|Tags: , , , , |

Faffterglow Three

Last weekend was another example of the power of Amy Snively’s (rhymes with lively) brainstorm. FaffCon 3 in Hershey PA (it was actually in Harrisburg, but the graphic possibilities were far better with Hershey) was a complete success.

One of the great things about FaffCon is that it is a gift that keeps on giving. It is coming up on a week now since FaffCon 3 and while I have been busy with “life,” my thoughts keep drifting to FaffCon and the information exchanged. I have been using little tidbits all week. And I haven’t even begun to go through my notes!

The welcoming dinner and FaffJam on Friday night was wonderful.  Voiceover folks are pretty darned talented in so many ways! And I have to say that the 14 oz. slab of prime rib was pretty terrific too. And after an afternoon of heavy rain, we were able to walk down and […]

2018-02-06T06:48:20+00:00October 2nd, 2011|Categories: Business, Marketing, Musings|Tags: , |
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