doing SOMETHING is better than feeling helpless – radio edition
It was interesting to be at a Starbucks yesterday, doing some work on my computer, when word came out about the horrendous fire at Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris (Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris).
People talking about it were very shaken. Like, amazingly so. Various people noted how tragic it was…then the spire fell. That shook folks. Was it a terrorist attack (seems not, as of this writing) or accident (at this time, it seems so).
It went beyond Catholicism for these folks – who in fact, in my overhearing, didn’t even bring that up – it was about the art and the history…that was more the impact on their spirit than religion. Perfectly valid perspectives on such a religious AND historic place, especially if you practice a different faith or don’t believe in any religion.
Suffice it to say, listening to conversations and reading social media, many people were sucker punched by this terrible incident and felt pretty helpless.
I felt the same way…then I realized there WAS something I could do. It wasn’t much but it WAS something.
I have, for some time now, volunteered my voice work for a few Catholic radio stations. Most Catholic radio stations are 501(c)(3) non-profits and most are run completely by volunteers. When I lived in Buffalo, I donated voice work to The Station of The Cross Catholic Radio Network. When I moved to Raleigh, I began helping with production and programming at Catholic 540-AM • Divine Mercy Radio.
Late Monday afternoon, as this was all unfolding in Paris, I was in the parking lot of my son’s school waiting to pick him up. There, I was struck with an idea. What if Catholic 540-AM put together just a brief prayer for Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, it’s parishioners, staff and friends. No big production, just something simple we could play on air for the next few days so listeners could, if they wanted, offer up their private prayers too while they listened.
This type of community remembrance is something radio (no matter the format) has always done exceptionally well.
OK…but then I had to figure out what we’d do.
Well, Notre Dame is French for Our Lady, referencing Mary, the Mother of God, someone incredibly important to Catholics. So the prayer needed to be the Hail Mary. Then I decided we’d need to do that prayer in French for it to be both respectful and impactful. So I called a Frenchman.
Bilingual female voiceover talent Liz de Nesnera
Well, actually a French Lady…and while she is French through heritage, she hails from New Jorseey. But she’s awesome and Liz de Nesnera did not hesitate when I asked her to voice the Hail Mary in French. She carries the whole piece and it worked out so nicely because of HER. She even offered to share her prayer with all the EWTN affiliates for them to create their own prayer.
LISTEN TO THE PRAYER CATHÉDRALE NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS (Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris)
PLAY HERE
It’s very simple. Heartfelt. Not fancy. But not nothing. And that’s something.
It is my recollection that an initial conversation I had with Lynne Heyman going back to at least 2007 (maybe 2006) was the discussion that was the foundation of my 12 year voiceover talent – voiceover agency relationship with 
Laura, like her predecessor, was/is very talent centered, doing all she can for the talent but also holding the talent accountable. I’ve enjoyed a few conversations with Laura about how the business has changed in the past 5 years and it was great to get an agent’s in-depth perspective. Heyman handles print and on-camera – even more than VO – but listening to how the changes to the VO landscape impacted the agency side of the business was sobering. Of course, they have weathered it masterfully- and I am glad to be on the same team.
CORAL GABLES, FL, April 10, 2019 – – Vindow, an artificial intelligence (AI)-first sourcing platform that brings intelligence to complex procurement processes, recently rolled out an updated marketing program for the company, including a new explainer video. The Vindow animated explainer video was narrated by award-winning male voiceover talent Peter K. O’Connell.
Because of a voiceover car trip from Ventura Beach, California to Los Angeles, I joined the voiceover talent agency roster of 
As of this writing, Big Mouth Talent is actually my newest agent. And it maybe one of my favorite agent stories because getting a new agent wasn’t even on my mind.
I emailed VO Agent Kelly Wilkening there sometime later about the advice I was given by CRC and she asked for some of my voiceover demos. About a week later, we were working together and it’s been pretty terrific.
