The staff at Voicebank sends its deepest condolences to Nita, their children and the rest of the LaFontaine family. He will be missed, especially by those of us who knew him.
More to be posted later.
Stewart Wilson-Turner
“You wouldn’t take a trip to Denver and not have a map” says Randy Thomas on building a lucrative voice-over career (part 2 of my Voice Registry interview with her tomorrow,Tuesday Sept. 9th). Randy is big on writing down your vision and creating dream boards to plot your success. And judging by her own voice over stardom, that’s probably great advice.
If you want to know more about the voice over industry after listening to part 1 and part 2 of my interview with Randy Thomas, you can check out her book, Voice For Hire, How to launch and maintain a lucrative voice-over career. For those of you in Los Angeles, her first book signing will be at Barnes & Noble at the Grove, Monday September 22, 7:30pm.
-Tracy Pattin
What a week it’s been. Just the other day I was interviewing Randy Thomas about her voice over career for the Voice Registry podcast August 27 and during our conversation she broke the news to us that she was flying to Denver to do announcing for the Democratic National Convention.
If you listened to the speeches yesterday leading up to Barack Obama’s big speech, there Randy was announcing all the speakers leading up to him.
So you never know where your voice will take you!
-Tracy Pattin
With Hillary Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention and her Presidential campaign, it does seem that women are making serious strides and leaving glass chards in their wake everywhere. But what about in the world of Voice Over?
In my podcast interview yesterday (August 27), promo VO star, Randy Thomas talks about that ceiling still existing but that women are making some headway. But the world of promo is still dominated by men. She’s one of the few who has cornered the female promo market, announcing for The Academy Awards, The Tonys, Entertainment Tonight, The Insider and even for the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
But Randy says there’s hope. There are lots of promo jobs on cable for women. Not quite the big leagues but at least the opportunities exist. And just like Hillary Clinton in politics, maybe Randy and others are paving the way for women to reach the pinnacle of the promo VO world!
Speaking of male promo voice actors, our thoughts and prayers go out to Don LaFontaine and his family.
Listen to part 2 of my interview with Randy next week when she talks about being successful in this particularly competitive arm of the voice-over industry and her upcoming new book.
So, what do you think about the VO glass ceiling? Would love to hear your thoughts.
-Tracy Pattin
Randy Thomas is one of the most recognized female voices in America. She has the distinguished honor as the first woman to announce the biggest and most prestigious award show in the world not once but a record breaking SEVEN times including her return in 2008 for the 80th Annual Academy Awards®. Randy can be heard daily on Entertainment Tonight and The Insider television shows from CBS-Paramount Television. She is also the co-author of a new book called, Voice For Hire: Launch and Maintain a Lucrative Career in Voice-Overs.
We found this unique opportunity and thought we would pass it along. You can choose Animation Ensemble work or character voice. Check it out at:
http://patfraley.com/Events/Stars908/stars.html
Best,
Erica Kelly
COO
voicebank.net
For those unaware, Don is in the hospital in critical condition with a blood clot lodged in his lungs.
Below is a letter from his wife Nita. Please read it and send your thoughts and prayers. - Stewart Wilson-Turner
“Dear friends and family,
I need you help and I’m reaching out to all of you. My wonderful husband is in critical condition at Cedar Sinai hospital; a blood clot is lodged in his lung and he is fighting for his life. This happened on Saturday after I’d taken him in for shortness of breath on Friday. He was doing very well and I left him talking and being funny on Friday evening. Without all the details, I got a call on Saturday morning as I was heading there to visit. There has been some lovely improvement yesterday but he is very sick right now. We need your concentrated prayers! Have your churches synagogues, temples send out prayers for Don’s healing and wellness. Light a candle, chant, whatever you do to send that loving energy and light to him, I would appreciate. And save a little for the girls and me. We have had small miracles already and if we all shout up to God collectively, I know how powerful that can be. He is fighting and we all are fighting with him. He is strong and is a warrior so I thank you in advance for your prayers, good wishes and kindness on behalf of my family.
With a hopeful heart,
Nita and family”
We all have one. A “first”. And for voice actors just beginning, you’ll have your first too. How did you get the job? What was it like? Looking forward to hearing from you. Please limit your comments to a paragraph (approx. 100 words). -Tracy Pattin
One of the best ways to learn about and understand the voice over industry is to to hear from the people in the trenches, auditioning and voicing projects. We want to hear from all of you! What are your insights, experiences and suggestions? So, we’re launching “Voicebank’s Weekly Voice Over Question.” series. Every week we’ll pose a question (or two) and you’ll have a chance to get your voice heard with your comments. We encourage you to click the No Comment/Comment link under the title of the question and answer away! If you have any interesting questions you’d like posted for people to chime in on, send them using the Comments link and we’ll consider putting them up.
We look forward to “hearing” from you! - The Voicebank Crew
Ahh the voice-over specs. Those little descriptions at the top of audition copy telling us what the client is looking for. But what if the specs are non-specific or overly specific? Do we jump through voice over hoops to try and second guess the client?
Here’s an example of some specs I got for an audition:
The client is unique in what they respond to, a nice warm smooth genuine read means nothing to them, they want out of the speaker box, with an odd phrasing or crackle in the voice, but not contrived. real. moving. a strange pause, an impediment, (okay maybe not an impediment) but something that feels real and wakes up the listener brain to something they think they may not have ever heard before.
So what do we do with this information? Cherry pick the specs, finding nuggets that connect with our voice print, type or sound?
There are so many opinions on what to do with specs from deep analysis to throwing them out and doing what you want. Teacher Bill Holmes (The Voice Over Doctor) is all about using the words in the script for clues, then substituting a real life situation for a more authentic read. He says little about the specs. Other teachers use specs as an important key to a winning audition.
It’s one thing to get, “Female 20’s-40’s (yes the range can be that wide) non-announcery” but what do you do with specs when they read like a mini-thesis?
Maybe it still comes down to one thing, as Don LaFontaine says, “It’s all about honesty.”
Voice talent! I’d love to hear your strategy.
-Tracy Pattin
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