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will you help Mary get her EMMY?

Sometimes I forget that people actually read this blog.

Saturday night, my agent Erik Sheppard from Voice Talent Productions called me (I was hoping it was for a gig but was pleased to hear from him none the less) about Mary McKitrick’s EMMY-less EMMY win. He read my blog post and it really bugged Erik (as a voice talent and as Mary’s agent too) that she got stiffed on receiving the award with the “Wild View” Regional EMMY win for best audio. Mary, as you’ll recall, was the narrator on that series (a pretty major part of the audio team in my opinion and evidently Erik’s too).

And Dave Courvoisier’s opinion too because Sunday Courvo called me with all sorts of ideas about getting Mary her award and would I help etc. Meanwhile, poor Mary is fairly unaware that all this is brewing save for the supportive calls she’s been getting from her fellow talents and representatives on her win sans award.

So in a democratic society, we did what all people do when they feel wronged – Erik, Dave and I (mostly Dave cause he knows how to push the social media buttons best) started a Facebook page. The purpose of the “Statue for Mary” page is to centrally organize enough on-line support to gain the attention of the National Association of Television Arts and Sciences to change the structure of their awards program to include voice actors as awards recipients in some manner…and get Mary her EMMY.

The Facebook page is here. Please “LIKE”, share and comment on it if you are supportive of its objectives which are stated on the Facebook page as follows:

Mary McKitrick, an experienced and talented voice over artist, was recently engaged to serve as narrator in the beautifully produced wild life series “Wild View” (www.wildviewseries.org).

With Mary as one part of a truly talented team of media pros on this series, “Wild View” has received many deserving honors, including the regional Emmy Award for “Best Audio”.

Unfortunately, the Emmy Awards do not recognize the narrator (in this case, Mary) as part of the audio team in spite of a narrator’s significant contribution to project’s like “Wild View” and many series and documentary programs like it.

So the attention getting goals of this page, completely created without Mary McKitrick’s participation, is twofold:

1. Secure for Mary McKitrick her well-deserved EMMY Award as narrator on the “Wild View” EMMY Award winning audio production team

2. Encourage the National Association of Television Arts and Sciences to review and update its award criteria to include either categories for or the inclusion of narrators as EMMY Award recipients in its regional and national awards

Actors get EMMY’s. Voice Actors (narrators) evidently get bupkis. That just seems wrong.

If you agree that these two goals are worth supporting

1. Please add your “LIKE” to this page

2. Please share this information with others who you think would support this page’s goals and ask them to come “LIKE” it too

3. Please also write about this page, it’s goals and your supportive thoughts about this project on your blog, twitter page or any other social media channel you feel worthwhile (links are a good thing)

voice over talent mary mckitrick wins an emmy

I think she is the first person I know in real life to win an Emmy.

Female voice over talent Mary McKitrick is an Emmy Award winner.

The 2011 Emmy was awarded May 15th for Best Audio in the nature series “Wild View – Journey to a Wondrous World”. Mary was the series narrator.

Now she may tell you that she did not win the Emmy because they don’t give Emmy’s for voiceover. She is, to put in daintily, full of crap. A narrator is a vital part of every documentary that…has a narrator. Without Mary’s performance, I believe, there may not have been a Best Audio Emmy!

I am giddy like a school girl for my friend and her Emmy and I hope you’ll take a moment to watch the show and then share your good wishes with Mary.

heaven help us – more social networking

About 100 years ago, I joined a free online service called Referral Key.

Conceptually, it’s a networking group where you can refer your buddies when you have business opportunities for them. You can even pay them a referral fee (although you don’t have to).

I had forgotten about what I had for lunch yesterday even before I was done eating so this web site was LONG off my radar.

Then somebody got the bug and found me (a voice talent, naturally, we’re all social media parasites). Then another invite and another. All my friends, all people I’m glad to connect with on yet another social media platform.

But for what purpose?

If I think one of my friends is right for a voice over job, I’m going to recommend them (as I have in the past) with no strings attached. I don’t expect any referrals from them and I’m OK with that. They are my friends – that’s enough for me.

What I need to do is step outside the VO click and meet some folks on this site who are fresh referral meat.

And when exactly will I have time for that?

planning a career track into voiceover

So I’m passing by Facebook Monday night and I saw a post from my friend, voice talent Lisa Biggs, who wrote – “anybody wanna join me in 22min for a skype interview about how to be a successful voice-over artist?? it’s a project for a high school student : )”

So I sent her a message and later that evening we had a nice conversation with a student named Kaviyan who is using the recording of interview featuring Lisa, me and fellow voice talent Dan Lenard as a school project about how to get into voice over- a career track he’d like to follow.

Here’s a link to this fun interview.

beau weaver made me laugh

Voice Talent Beau Weaver

So my friend Caryn Clark, a professional female voice talent, told a great story on her blog via Facebook the other day.

Caryn does not have a lot of live announce experience (ala radio et all) so she has always shied away from live announcing.

Actually it seemed more like a fear.

Well lo and behold somebody picked her for a live announce with a male partner and she went for it…she did the live announce gig with about three hours prep time and it went smashingly.

While sharing this personal triumph, Beau Weaver (also a voice talent) shared a story in the comments section about a live announce that made me laugh out loud in support. Beau wrote:

“When I voiced the Critics Choice Awards on live national television, they were re-writing a tease-out-to-commercial with a sharpie on my script WHILE I was reading it…….so three hours is a luxury!”

If you’ve ever done a live announce you know how funny that is because of how true it is!

liz and trish saunter up to the bar…or something

Voiceover Xtra! has a fun article about folks who “network” featuring my voice over friends Liz “you don’t have to say my last name right as long as the spelling is close enough for me to cash the check” de Nesnera and Trish “you thought my last name was hard to pronounce – let me introduce you to my friend Liz” Basanyi.

It’s a fun read. written by voice talent Kelley Buttrick.