Voice Over Talents Rowell Gorman, Debra Stamp & Peter K. O'Connell

The nice thing about travel (yes there are a few nice things) is heading in to warmer climates during the winter. Raleigh, NC isn’t Bermuda but it’s a very nice spot and it was my destination yesterday and today.

As always, I try and summon the voice over troops in the area, this time breakfasting with Rowell Gorman (the Imaginator) and Debra Stamp (who lived and worked in Buffalo for a long time and now lives in Raleigh).

Rowell is an in-demand character voice actor as well as announcer and Deb is a very well respected narration and commercial voice across the country. Both do terrific on-camera work as well.

It was an all too short visit but terrific to hear about the great work they are both doing including Rowell’s work on the North Carolina lottery as Mr. Monopoly and his voice work for the well known area drug chain Kerr Drug.

My thanks to both of them for spending part of their morning with me.

Tags: voice actors, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover meet-ups by peter o'connell voiceover
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Some of the Voice Over Talents on the roster of Voice Talent Productions

If you count the smiles handshakes, hugs and flashbulbs from this weekend’s New York City Voice Over Mixer – there is no way to call it anything except a great success. One of my agents, Erik Sheppard from Voice Talent Productions, put this together for the 2nd time and it was a lot of fun. Knowing how these things work, specific thanks should go to Lindsay Reiss and September Day Leach for what I am sure was a lion’s share of the work.

And best wishes to Erik and Lindsay on their impending nuptials…engaged before the event, Lindsay was actually surprised by Erik at the mixer with the actual ring.

You know a party is going to be good when you close a club in the city and have to cap the guest list. I think we were at about 250 people for the event. It was packed.

Some of the members of the VO-BB.com - photo courtesy of VoiceChasers.com

There were two great joys attending this event (which I almost didn’t go to as daughter started a 24 hour bug on the way with the family to drop Da off at the airport…she’s perfectly fine now): seeing all my VO-BB friends many of which I know in real life but some of whom I had only known for years virtually; and then getting to meet so many familiar and new voice talents from around the country and around the world.

New York’s weather was not even in the vicinity of perfect as it poured rained with alternating snow most of the early evening (it was yucky). But that didn’t stop these voice talents from getting to their appointed destination. And as always with any good trip, there fun stories along the way.

The VO-BB gang, lead by the talented and generous D.B. Cooper, decided late Friday on line that we would have a pre-mixer get together at a place called Boca Chica on 1st Street in the village, near the mixer at 5:00 p.m. AT 4:50 p.m. while I am in a cab to the event, D.B. calls me to tell me the restaurant doesn’t open until 5:30 p.m. I figure, it’s NYC so there WILL be a bar nearby and I’ll make my way over to the restaurant at 5:30. D.b. also asked me to advise anyone at the restaurant of the same issue.

Voice Talent Lee Gordon (I swear it's him)

Well I got to my destination and standing outside -in the rain- in front of a bar right next to Boca Chica is my friend Lee Gordon, whom I promptly ordered out of the rain and into the bar he stood in front of, which was dry, warm and deserted. We had a very nice visit and were quickly joined by a fellow VO-BB Tony Impieri.

Voice Talent Tony Impieri

At 5:30, my good friend Doug Turkel pinged me to say that he, Bob Souer, Dave Courvoisier and Anthony Mendez had smashed the door down at Boca Chica to get seated and indeed when Lee, Tony and I made our way next door, the staff had to unlock the door for us. From that point on, I think the noise level in New York City hit a record high cause nobody shut up…we’re voice talkers for goodness sake, what could you expect.

Voice Talents Melissa Exelberth, Anthony Mendez and Peter K. O'Connell

This will sound a bit like a Mouseketeers roll-call but at the restaurant in addition to us seven guys were also D.b. Cooper (with her talented husband Dewitt Hardy) Mary McKitrick, Moe Egan, Liz deNesnera, Melissa Exelberth, Elaine Singer, Mandy Nelson, Pam Tierney (all lovely and talented), as well as John Florian from Voice Over Xtra. Likely getting the award for furthest traveled (England and Scotland no less) were Elisa Canas and Philip Banks (a terrific table mate – great insight). Truth be told, I think many folks on the VO-BB registered once Philip announced he was coming over because we all hold him in high esteem and has been a virtual friend for so long.

Voice Talents Lee Gordon and Mandy Nelson

Voice Talent Moe Egan snaps some pics

So then it was off to the party which was in FULL swing when we all got there, met at the door with a guest list and everything. It feels like I met a million people and I know I am inadvertently and inexcusably forgetting some folks but here’s who I remember (and please add your name in the comments if I forgot you while you simultaneously accept my apologies: Linda Ristig, Diane Dimond, Terry Daniel, Michael Schoen, new dad Dave DeAndrea, “Uncle” Roy Yokelson, Michael Valentin, James Clamp (thank you for your kind words), Diane Havens, Tricia Basanyi, Ron Levine, C.C. Petersen, Bob Bergen, THE Patrick O’Connor, Tom Dheere, Mark Stewart, the great Bobbi Owens, my long time pal Stephanie Ciccarelli, Randye Kaye, and the very kind and talented Melanie Ehrlich.

Voice Talents Bob Souer and Pam Tierney try to figure out which camera to look at (that was a pleasant challenge for everyone all night long)

The O'Boys with Courvo- THE Patrick O'Connor, Dave Courvoisier and Peter K. O'Connell

Voice Talents Pam Tierney and Peter K. O'Connell

Voice Talents Peter K. O'Connell & Philip Banks - it was about 2:00 a.m. UK time for Philip when we took this picture but he was standing tall (which compared to me is relatively easy)

Voice talents Dave Courvoisier, Peter K. O'Connell and Elaine Singer

Voice Talents Peter K. O'Connell and the great Bobbi Owens

I thought I could summon the stamina of my youth but by 11:00 p.m. I was back at my sister-in-law’s apartment in my bed to catch some sleep before the car service arrived early Sunday. A terrific trip with new and old friends whose kindness and professionalism I cherish greatly. Thanks everyone.

P.S. The best looking man in voiceover, Dave Courvoisier, proved his talents expand beyond his voice talent abilities with an animoto slide show featuring a montage of many other pictures from the New York City Voice Over Mixer. Great job Dave, thanks.

P.P.S. I’ve now come across what I believe is the definitive compilation of pictures from the New York City Voice Over Mixer running over 8 minutes so it’s possible if you aren’t in one of these pictures…you were too busy taking pictures of other people to pose for one of your own.

Tags: commentary, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover meet-ups by peter o'connell voiceover
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New York Voiceover Mixer 2009

My sincere congratulations to Eric Sheppard at Voice Talent Productions for putting together the upcoming 2nd Annual New York City Voiceover Mixer that will take place on December 5, 2009. Special congrats to Lindsay Reiss, Eric’s associate at the company (and his fiancée) for her work in selling out the event.

There are 205 people on the list and they had to stop there….three weeks away and its sold out! I am assuming all the guests are related to the world of voiceover either as active performers, producers, agents or wannabes in any of those categories. Of those 205, I am long time friends (personally or on-line) with the following attendees: September Day, Liz de Nesnera, John Florian of Voice Over X-tra, Philip Banks, DB Cooper, Lee Gordon, Melissa Exelberth, Tom Dheere, Moe Egan, Bob Souer, Pam Tierney, Dave Courvoisier, Mandy Nelson, Patrick O’Connor, Elaine Singer, Doug Turkel and Mary McKitrick.

Then there are those whose reputations I wouldn’t sully by branding them a friend of mine as ours is more of a social media kinship but I am still very much looking forward to meeting: certainly our hosts Eric and Lindsay, Bob Bergen, Ron Levine, Diane Havens, Michael Schoen, Terry Daniel, Bobbi Owens, James Lorenz, Julie-Ann Dean, Chip Joel and Linda Ristig.

As for everybody else, I don’t think I know them know but I very much hope to know all of them by the end of the event which I predict will last long over the 10:00 p.m. closing date on the invite. I hope if you are there and you see me before I see you, you’ll all say hi.

Tags: announcers, social media, social networking, voice actors, voice over podcast, voiceover, voiceover meet-ups by peter o'connell voiceover
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These are quickies:

* My Tierney, Nachtrab and Lachey post marked my 500th post. I can’t get those hours back and neither can you . Thanks for reading.

* The VO-BB is a must read for voice over talent information and most importantly for me…wonderful friendships. It’s celebrating (as of November 10th) its 5th Anniversary! There is NO other resource as respected like it on the web. DB Cooper founded it, runs it and deserves all the kudos in the world for it (are you listening VOICE 2010 awards committee, I am speaking to YOU!!!)

* I’ve said before that Dave Courvoisier is the best looking man in voice over (and he sounds great as well) but as usual he’s also ahead of the curve by sharing his significant and impressive on-camera techniques with those of us using web cams (or who soon will be, anyway). CourVO’s suggestion to me on improving my on-air look was two paper bags (the second was in case the first one ripped).

* From the man who is powering Voice Talent Productions towards a force to be reckoned with on the agency stage, Erik Sheppard is organizing his 2nd Annual Voice Over Mixer on Saturday, December 5, 2009 from 6:00 – 10:00 p.m. at White Rabbit, 145 E. Houston St., in New York City. It’s free to get in but you need to send an email to lindz@voicetalentproductions.com to save your space. If’n your wantin’ to see the guest list and raffle prizes updated, pop over here. Yes, I am going to try and make it.

* Thank you God somebody in the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences got it right by including legendary NBC-TV announcer Don Pardo into their next Hall of Fame on January 20, 2010.

* While in Des Moines, IA, I got the chance to meet Jay Weiss of the Radio Garage and he couldn’t have been nicer or more helpful. There was an ISDN project that popped up then fizzled out until next week and I stopped by Jay’s studio to see if he could help out. At the time, I thought the project was going to take place ASAP; Murphy’s Voice Over Law states that as soon as you have ISDN backup on the road, the job won’t immediately happen. Jay was a total class act and a fine voice talent in his own right; thanks Jay, I hope we get to work together soon.

* John Florian’s Voice Over Xtra is promoting a “Business of Voice Over” Webinar on November 19th.

Thanks again.

[Read more →]

Tags: commentary, voice actors, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice, voiceover meet-ups by peter o'connell voiceover
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FRONT ROW: Jill Perry, Pam Tierney, Kara Edwards MIDDLE ROW: Peter K. O'Connell, Caryn Clark, Melissa Exelberth BACK ROW: Bob Souer, Rowell Gorman, Alexander Vishniakoff, Debra Webb, Beth Whistler, Robert John Hughes CUT OFF ONLY DUE TO PHOTOGRAPHER ERROR: Mike Stoudt

So I packed a bag on Friday and flew down to Atlanta for the Marice Tobias workshop on Commercial and Narration voice over at the very nice Captive Sound Studios. My friend Bob Souer has been singing her praises for a long time; Kara Edwards and I were talking about maybe attending about 6 weeks ago and since I could see some family while I was there, I decided to pull the trigger.

Kara Edwards, Bob Souer and Melissa Exelberth

It was completely different than ANY other voice over workshop I have ever been to and I have been to many.

I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and learned much. And while I participated in the workshop, I am at a bit of a loss as to how to effectively summarize it because I think unless you’ve been through it, it’s very difficult to understand it. So my first piece of advice would be to take a workshop with Marice.

Rowell Gorman

A lot of internal performer analysis (as it relates to vocal performance) for each student went on during her seminar. I think we all came away with a specific understanding of how effective personal analysis greatly affects the performance a voice talent gives. That kind of analysis helps performers to get out of their own way. The performance improvement was immediately evident and we (each workshop participant) all witnessed it and experienced it time and time again.

Now, you’ve likely just read that and had no understanding of what it meant. Well, some things must be personally experienced, not just read about. I’m not being coy or mean but instead honest.

Kara Edwards, Caryn Clark, Melissa Exelberth, Robert John Hughes

Each voice over talent (as does everyone) learns in different ways and her seminar needs to be personally experienced, not read about. I would recommend you look at Marice’s schedule and if it’s possible for you, take the seminar.

And if you are especially lucky, you’ll get into a class with as many incredibly talented voice over performers as I did. This might be a record because we had 6 of us – about ½ the class – who’ve been long time friends from the VO-BB. There was an immediate and invaluable comfort level learning, working and performing among friends.

Jill Perry and Pam Tierney

When I signed up for Marice’s workshop, I knew Bob was going and I knew there was a chance my friends Kara Edwards and Caryn Clark were coming (they did attend) but what I didn’t know for sure until I saw the list just before I came that the great character voice actor Rowell Gorman would be there, my pal Melissa Exelberth from New York would be there as well as the lovely and talent Pam Tierney from the toddlin’ town of Chicago. What a gift to have my friends there!

Mike Stoudt, Debra Webb and Beth Whistler

The voice talents whom I had never met previous to the workshop really capped off the experience for me and I am so grateful to have been included among them for a few days: Robert John Hughes, Alexander Vishniakoff, Beth Whistler (thank you for driving to the airport!), Debra Webb (who, I found out in setting up this link shares the same agent as me), Jill Perry and Mike Stoudt (who also shares mine and Debra’s agent).

Two VO folks who couldn’t make the seminar but who kindly came out to join our group at various times throughout the weekend were Smith Harrison and Craig Crumpton.

Not to put too strong a point on it, but there were certain voice over suspects who shall remain nameless (Karen Commins (complete with brand new web site), Lance Blair, September Day Leach) who call Atlanta home but had something (anything better) to do than visit with Team Tobias Atlanta after hours at our various pubs, taverns and dives (sometimes known as the mini-bar)! Hurmph!

And finally, my most special thanks to my family in Atlanta who were so kind to let me stay with (or near) them. They had fresh hay in the stable for me to sleep on and let me borrow the mule’s blanket to avoid frostbite.

I hope you get to enjoy a training experience at least once in your career a unique as the one I just enjoyed.

If you’ve trained with Marice, I would love to hear your general impression of the experience. And if you have already with any professional voice over teacher, tell us about it here.

PS. Here is a shot of the WHOLE group, (including and ESPECIALLY Mike Stoudt) courtesy of Bob Souer’s camera:

FRONT ROW: Jill Perry, Pam Tierney, Kara Edwards MIDDLE ROW: Peter K. O'Connell, Caryn Clark, Melissa Exelberth BACK ROW: Mike Stoudt, Bob Souer, Rowell Gorman, Alexander Vishniakoff, Debra Webb, Beth Whistler, Robert John Hughes

Tags: announcers, audio production, audio'connell voice over talent, commentary, community, voice over workshop, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice, voiceover meet-ups by peter o'connell voiceover
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i-posts are short updates written on my i-phone using my wordpress blog app.

Things like this always happen. October 24 when I’ll be in Atlanta at a Marice Tobias workshop (which I am very much looking forward to) there will be a networking mixer in Toronto hosted by Voices.com.

But just because I’ll be unable to attend doesn’t mean you should miss out.

Below is the link to the facebook invite I received. If you’ve never been to Toronto, it’s a great excuse to check out a great city.

http://m.facebook.com/event.php?eid=163317597160

Tags: i-post, social networking, voice actors, voiceover, voiceover meet-ups, voices.com by peter o'connell voiceover
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