Voice Artists

10 Voice Actors Who Shaped Your Childhood and You Didn’t Even Know It

November 28, 2011 by George Leave a Comment

Via Scoop.it – voiceover and voice acting
From an unlikely source comes this story: “10 Voice Actors Who Shaped Your Childhood and You Didn’t Even Know It.” Some of them are names easily recognized in the industry, including the legendary Daws Butler and Mel Blanc, but includes some that you may not truly may not know.

My personal favorite on the list is Bill Melendez the voice of both Snoopy and Woodstock, if only because over this Thanksgiving weekend, we watched “A Boy Named Charlie Brown” and “Snoopy Come Home.” By the way, if you have a need to hear a sad song, check out “Do You Remember Me (Lila’s Theme)” from “Snoopy Come Home.” Never fails to draw a tear for me.

Another one of special note here is Kevin Clash, the voice of Elmo. He recently was the subject of a film titled “Being Elmo,” and from all accounts is definitely something to check out. Even though Elmo’s voice tends to grate on us as adults, we cannot deny the impact that Clash has had on a generation of children through Elmo and Sesame Street. Are there any voice artists from your childhood that had an impact on you?
Via www.toponlinecolleges.com

Persistence of a Newborn

November 4, 2011 by George 14 Comments

“Oh, looka there.”

These were the words of a nurse at about 5:31 on Thursday, October 27. My wife Katherine had just delivered our daughter, Ella Aminah, 11 minutes before. She had just been taken to the warming table, and I had done what every parent has done for millenia, counted fingers and toes (for my family this is actually important; my daughter Naomi was born with 6 fingers on each hand), looked for anything that would show there was something we should be concerned with. No, Ella was perfect from the tips of her really long fingers, her very pointed toes, to the top of her squalling but otherwise healthy head.

“Oh, looka there.”

I was recording these moments in the room as they took her to the warming table, proud of my wife for enduring three days and two nights of induction, poking and prodding constant nurse visits in the middle of the night, the seemingly harmless but painful struggle to find a vein for her IV the first night we were there, the very necessary and helpful but painful epidural process. The doctor was doing what he needed to do for her post delivery. I was recording my daughter’s first breaths and movements outside the womb.

The nurse saw what none of us had seen immediately after delivery, what couldn’t be seen without special equipment and a bit of previous knowledge, and often can’t be known unless there is a terrible moment during pregnancy. She saw what is known as a “true knot” in Ella’s umbilical cord. You can see the knot in the picture just above her left hand. The website associated with the ubiquitous pregnancy book “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” has this to say about umbilical cord knots:

What it is: A cord knot is exactly what the term sounds like — a knot in the baby’s umbilical cord. Some knots form during pregnancy as the baby flips and turns in his or her amniotic sac; other knots form during delivery.

How common is it? Umbilical cord knots occur in about one in every hundred pregnancies, but only one in 2,000 deliveries will have a true tight knot that could present problems for the baby. (More common than knots are nuchal loops, the technical term for when the cord wraps around a baby’s neck. Nuchal loops — also known as nuchal cords — occur in as many as a quarter of all pregnancies but rarely pose risks to the baby).

Who is most at risk? Babies with long cords and those who are large-for-gestational age are at greater risk for developing true knots. Researchers also speculate that nutritional deficiencies that affect the structure and protective barrier of the cord, or other risk factors such as smoking or drug use, carrying multiples, or having hydramnios may make a woman more prone to having a pregnancy with a cord knot.

Katherine doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke, doesn’t use drugs, never has had a multiple pregnancy. When we asked the doctors and nurses that day what might have caused it, the repsonse was simple: “Swimming.” That is, Ella did a lot of moving around early in pregnancy and caused the loop that eventually became a knot. And she was big: at the 39 week mark when she was delivered, Ella clocked in at 8 pounds, 10 ounces.

Cutting to the chase, here’s what you can do:

What you can do: There is nothing you can do to prevent a knotted umbilical cord.

I’ll spare the descriptions of what can happen in the case of a tight true knot.

Katherine and I have talked about this only briefly, because the alternative was far too terrible. She had only seen it from the distance of the birthing bed to the warming table that day until I showed her the picture above, when she was finally ready to see it. She said “Wow. I do believe that should be one for the baby book – from day 1 a persistent, strong little soul.”

This always reminds me of how close to the razor’s edge every single birth of a child really is. It was not that long ago (1950) that 30 of every 1,000 births in this country ended in the worst way possible (currenly, just over 7 end this way in the US. That still only ranks us 34th in the world, well behind Japan, Spain, France, the U.K., and many others). Right now in Afghanistan, the birth mortality rate is an appalling 143 per 1,000. Maternal mortality in the US is 11 per 100,000 live births. Much smaller, but still sobering.

Our sleep deprived nights for the next few months are well underway. Ella is into the “reflex smile” stage, when she smiles without context, and many times when she is still asleep. Her brothers and sisters have all held her, felt her squirm when she gets hunger or is in the process of excercising that brand new digestive system. Wallace, our Rhodesian Ridgeback, is getting over the nervousness of having a new baby in the house, but still comes quickly to see what’s going on when she cries. And as I hold her, this my third daughter, I still am amazed at her persistent, strong little soul. Even when that soul decides it’s time to poop again when I JUST CHANGED THAT diaper.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the voice artists, Twitter followers, and great people and friends who sent Ella a wonderful stuffed animal and Amazon gift cards. They are:

Erica Risberg, Mike Wong, Derek Chappell, Liz De Nesnera, Fran McLellan, Lisa Rice, Natalie Cooper, Emma Gable, Dave Courvoisier, Hélène Janover , Karen Souer, Bob Souer, Tim Keenan, Anne Ganguzza, Xe Sands, Gini Martinez, Pamela Vanderway, Bob Ball, and Lauren McCullough. Thank you everyone for your unbelieveable kindness and thoughfulness.

She is our gift, our persistent soul, and we’re glad to have her.

More than just a voice – David Houston

May 31, 2011 by George Leave a Comment

Months ago when I was involved with the Random Acts of Culture Project, voice artist David Houston was kind enough to post about it. Today, I want to return the favor.

David is based out of Austin, TX, and is more than just a voice guy. He also is a fine musician in his own right, and you should absolutely check out his guitar instrumental “That Which Was Lost.” He talks about it very briefly in his post “New (Old) Music,” and then let’s the music speak for itself:

The talents and skills of the people I know always amaze me. Thanks for sharing this, David! You can follow him on Twitter at @DavidHoustonVO.

Chapter and Voice – Book Marketing via AudioTeaser

May 26, 2011 by George Leave a Comment

Chapter & Voice JoJo Jensen, voice artist, author and entrepreneur tells the tale:

“It would be really cool if you recorded the first chapter of my book,” my friend Tom said in his easy manner.

I looked at him like he had just invented the snickerdoodle. Brilliant!

Chapter & Voice didn’t start out as a business… it began as a favor. I wanted to help Tom spark interest for his military science fiction novel. It was (and still is) a ripping good yarn, but he was stuck in marketing and submission hell and didn’t know what else to do.

As an author myself, I knew how hard it was (and still is) to market and sell manuscripts. But… I also knew that as a professional voice talent, I could record and produce an audio sample that would give Tom the attention-grabbing marketing tool he needed to sell his kick-butt, action packed novel.

The recording for his book totally rocked. When I mentioned my little endeavor to other writers, they flipped out. They wanted me to record samples of their books too! So- I did. And, here we are.

Here’s what I know now. Audio, in all its forms, is gaining in popularity and Chapter & Voice is here to help writers use this medium to get published, get known and sell books.

And with that, Chapter & Voice was born. It was a great pleasure and privilege to be a part of kicking off this project, along with Heather Henderson, Stephen Bowlby, and Jamie Muffett.

To be clear, this is not full audiobook production. We will record about 1,250 words from whatever section of the book the author would like, and send back a clean, polished “AudioTeaser,” which can then be used to promote the book to buyers and publishers. I know from talking with JoJo a number of times about this that she is very excited for Chapter and Voice to see the light of day. She definitely has a vision for this, and really wants to open up this new path for marketing books in an exciting and effective new way.

So go check out Chapter and Voice on the site, find us on Facebook, and of course follow the Twitter account @chapterandvoice. It’s definitely fun to be on the leading edge of something like this!

Genius from Kat Keesling on handling “demo reel” payment

May 2, 2011 by George 3 Comments

Kat Keesling, super genius

Back in 2009, I had the pleasure to work with Diane Havens and Kat Keesling on the Hear the Bill Project. Their brainchild was to help ordinary people who would have a very difficult time wading through the complexities of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate versions by bringing together voice actors to volunteer their time and read them in their entirety. It was a perfect example of an empowered citizenry and the greatness of our industry: well over a hundred voice artists contributed, and the project received glowing remarks in the press.

Kat has continued to be one of the people in our community of artists I listen to and read, and this weekend she posted an outstanding article on her Pure Opinion blog that may be flying under the radar. Entitled “A better response to the ‘demo reel’ payment,” she lays out what I consider a brilliant way to respond to these requests, which often come from students and non-profits with little to spend on professional talent. She points out the baseline conflict everyone faces about doing this kind of work:

Anyone who knows me knows my generosity with my voice. I lend it out for causes freely when I believe in what I am doing. However, I am not living in my parent’s basement or off of a Trust Fund and have struggled with limitations I must work within to keep my time profitable.

It not only includes a sample response, but links to the use of Creative Commons Licensing, which allows the use of your work, but protects you in the event of misuse.

Rather than quote her extensively, I urge you to go and read the article in its entirety. I told Kat that she is “about 18,000,000 times smarter than me,” and that may be an understatement. Thank you, Kat, for taking the time to put this into the public, and I hope it will become a resource for everyone struggling with these questions.

The Faffcon Experience – Voiceover Camp for Grownups

March 1, 2011 by George 8 Comments

George Washington III and Mike Wong at Faffcon 2 — Me and Mike Wong

Think back to your summer camp days. You remember, don’t you? Sometimes a weekend, sometimes a week or more spent with kids you may not have seen before that moment, but can suddenly become your closest friends. I have an experience like that: when I was in high school, I attended YMCA Leaders School in Decorah, IA. Some of the kids I met in each of those three years are still friends that can call on each other to this day, almost 25 years later. And the reason why we can do that is shared experience: a moment in time when we let our guards down, and were able to share things about ourselves that we weren’t able to in our hometowns, with our high school friends.

On looking back on the Faffcon 2: Electric Boogaloo experience, I am reminded of those days at Leaders School. Because the Faffcon experience is built entirely around sharing: sharing the tips and tricks, the knowledge and experience that all of us have accumulated over the years with peers who are just as eager to share their own.

The morning I arrived, the main meeting room in the Westin Peachtree was buzzing as we got prepared to start. Seeing people like Doug Turkel, Mercedes Rose, and Dave Courvoisier (who arrived a bit later from Vegas) in person for the first time was amazing. Seeing friends I already had met like Peter O’Connell, Vance Elderkin, and Jamee Perkins was just as good.

Then the real value of Faffcon got going. I was unfamiliar with the “unconference” concept, but it is a great one: we decide what we are going to talk about in 1 hour blocks in small groups, with us being the leaders of each of the sessions, like Mike Wong talking about social media and the voice artist, Dan Friedman and Dan Lenard (sporting the greatest handlebar mustache in the biz) speaking on EQ, compression, and sound isolation/suppression, Bruce Miles on characterization. My only regret was not being able to see every one of them, knowing that even 10 sessions wouldn’t be enough.

Voiceover godfather and second nicest man in voiceover Bob Souer held the crowd in his session, telling us to “Invite the Avalanche.” You may agree or disagree with his message of take everything you can, even when you can’t. But there is no doubting his openness and sincerity.

I could go on and on about the sessions. But some of the greatest value of this unconference was in the hallway discussions and talks over snacks and meals. What we do as voice artists is often a solitary existence. We work in our booths and studios mostly alone, sometimes talking to others during sessions, but not really connecting. We see the successes of our peers in our Facebook and Twitter streams. But is was here at Faffcon when we could openly and safely discuss our failures. Our vulnerability, our sense of “what the hell am I doing even trying this.” These are the feelings that make us believe we are alone, that no one in the world is going through what I am, because they are all so successful. At Faffcon, you learn you are not alone.

I would be remiss if I didn’t speak directly to the women most responsible for making Faffcon happen: Pam Tierney (whom I got to thank personally for the honesty I so admire in her blog posts), Connie Terwilliger, and Faffcon founder Amy Snively. They were tireless in their labors to get this organized and running from across the country, raising money for a worthy charity Everybody Wins Atlanta, getting door prizes (I won a great one, a CEntrance MicPort Pro), taking care of us all.

Everyone left with at least one “golden nugget,” that piece of information you would never have come up with on your own, that the person you got it from may or may not even know they gave to you. Tanya Schoenwolf could barely contain herself when she found her nugget, and went on a domain buying spree. I can’t wait to see what she gets going. Doug Turkel gave me one I hope to capitalize on in the short run. And on and on.

I can hardly describe the feeling I had being among all these terrific people and great talents. I was walking around grinning from ear to ear for most of the time.

Faffcon 3 will be September 23-26, 2011 at the Hershey Resort in Hershey, PA (where I am one of the marketing on hold voices, I am proud to say). If you haven’t been to Faffcon, you must try. If you feel stuck for ideas, you must go. If you feel like no one has been through what you are going through, you must come. Faffcon may not be for everyone, but it feels like it. Just like going to camp.

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