I was called in early Friday morning to voice more spots for the most recent Time-Warner Cable Buffalo Bills radio campaign.
Since we had some time, I thought it would be fun to record the session and show you how it went.
I appreciated the work but appreciated the camaraderie just as much!
How did I do?
Father and son voice actors Donald and Kiefer Sutherland
People ask me alot about how I succeed in my search engine optimization, why I seem to be alot of places on the web and “how do you do that?”
It involves pixie dust and eye of newt, to be sure 😉 but I think a better example would be a recent experience I had that describes it pretty well.
I subscribe to Google Alerts with a bunch of key words – I want to know what those words uncover on the web for me.
One of those terms is voice over talent (because I is one, ya know).
Reading a day’s post headlines in the Google Alerts, I was directed to the blog for the very popular advertising agency, Wieden+Kennedy New York who evidently have the Delta Airlines account. Following its merger with Northwest Airlines, Delta is now the nation’s (or world’s or galaxy’s) biggest airline.
Anyway, the agency has a blog (oooo, is that social media at work? hint) and they did a post about their recent TV spots for Delta. These spots feature the voice over genius of Donald Sutherland.
Damn those Sutherland boys (Donald and Kiefer), I just KNOW that every spot they were picked for, I was the client’s SECOND choice for voice talent. I just know it! You’d think those boys could say no once and a while! 😉
Anyway so I watch the spots and they are magnificent. They are well shot (in black and white no less), well edited, superbly written and the voiceover is as I said genius. You can see them at the end here. I say that not only as a marketing, advertising and voice over professional but also as a frequently flyer and not always on Delta.
So bringing this back to the lesson:
* With a free subscription to Google Alerts to find information that is customized for my likes
* I found a blog post to a major advertising agency’s blog (maybe they could be my client some day – why not?)
* Who produced some amazing TV spots that fill my creative mind with more ideas
* Which also included a wonderful voice over performance that I can also learn from
* And without even any of the parties knowing it (Delta Airlines, Wieden+Kennedy, Donald Sutherland and Kiefer Sutherland) I am telling you (and showing you) about their work which now makes it viral.
* If you share this story with even one more person it makes it more viral
And all of it is social.
Any questions?
National Voice Over Month chair, leader and flag bearer Dave Courvoisier put out the call for scripts and voice talent to help him produce a PSA (public service announcement) for NVOM.
As you might expect, Dave was deluged with people offering to help in his awareness efforts. That’s kinda been the way its been going from the event’s inception in late (I mean really late) August of this year.
So with the GLOBAL voice over help of:
Daniel Wallace, David Atwood, Mahmoud Taji, Bobbin Beam, David Houston, Jay Sawyer, Jim Barton, Ken Maxon, Liz de Nesnera, Linda Ristig, Morgan Barnhart, Lee Gordon, Dan Roberts, Trish Basanyi, Andy Boyns, Mike Coon, Doug Turkel, Melanie Haynes, Bob Souer, Dave Courvoisier, Justin S. Barrett, Rowell Gormon, Mike Roberts, Michael Schoen, Edo Peters, CC Petersen, Jodi Krangle and Ralph Hass…
Here is the first National Voice Over Month PSA, produced by Dave Courvoisier.
[audio:http://www.courvo.biz/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/NVOM_PSA.mp3]
Chris Greene and Tess Spangler take instruction from Toni Silveri at The Western New York Voice Actors Workshop
Performance ruts are the bane of any actor: stage, television or voice.
Yet left to our own devices (and ultimately ALL of us are) we can mindlessly fall into these ruts… a kind of “sameness” in performance that hurts a script, a vocal tic that we ourselves don’t notice, a subtle elocution mistake…or anyone one of a myriad of other problems that a producer might not be bothered by, a client wouldn’t even notice but is stuff that we as performers are responsible (if only to ourselves) for avoiding or fixing.
You might say – ‘well if the producer or the client doesn’t care, why should I?’
My short answer is: because it’s your job as a voice over performer.
My longer answer is: if that’s you’re attitude about your voice over performances, this post and probably this blog are not for you.
Smart performers know that in addition to guts checks and their own eyes/ears, they need omniscient observers. Call them coaches, trainers or whatevers, be it individually or in a group, this resource helps keep performers honest.
My life schedule does not always allow for regular voice acting classes but when it does, I have a wonderful place to go.
The Western New York Voice Actors Workshop is an amazing resource in our area, similar to the many architectural, geological, artistic, historical and human treasures with have in our area (aside from civic pride, there are facts and history on each of those areas to back up the “treasure” claim).
The Workshop exists because of one person but is successful because of many. For me, this is how my journey with the workshop began and how the art of voice acting is reinforced for me.
Toni Silveri, who has held her weekly Workshop for many, many years prior to my involvement, hosted a local workshop starring Pat Fraley some years ago. That was the first time I met her (as well as Pat) and it was also about the time she was starting her voice talent agency, All Coast Talent. At the end of the Fraley seminar, she asked if she could sign me to her agency and I did.
But I didn’t immediately join her classes. Not sure why (probably time constraints) but eventually I did that too. As Robert Frost once wrote “…and that has made all the difference.”
So what’s the difference and why does it benefit me? I’ll gladly tell you but to what effect I don’t know because learning is a deeply personal and individual activity. How this class impacts me might cause a different reaction for you (not better, not worse, just different). You have to find what works for you.
For me, I need the omniscient listener…that’s Toni. Whether I am not delivering on a performance or whether she has a new idea to insert or whether she has just one minor note to give me – it registers. In my head it usually clicks and allows me to both do as she’s asked of me and also make a mental note to hold onto that nugget for another time. Her ability to crystallize her direction for a performer is a gift. By it, Toni is sharing the tools she’s collected over her years of performing and taking stage acting and voice acting classes. As just one example, I find it a bit more credible taking character voice direction from a former Smurf. Yup.
Also of great value are the insights I get from the fellow students. There is an important point to make here – while Toni can bring everyone together, (barring some sort of crazy extreme circumstances – holding a class outside when its -40F, etc.) it’s the students that create the learning environment. They/we do it by our professionalism, our abilities, our willingness to learn, our willingness to support each other and (the big x factor) our personalities. Presently, it’s a joyous mix and Toni is the mixologist.
I sort of feel at the end of a class like it restores my faith in voice acting. It’s not that I’d lost the faith but rather to be around people who understand such a niche area (ever try and talk about voice acting at a cocktail party – blank stares followed by the ever famous “oh, look at the time!”), who have “been there” (are there) and can speak the (albeit somewhat self-fish, poofy and sometimes a bit odd) language that a voice actor needs to hear to get an evocative performance (whether its a :10 second commercial or an hours long audio book) is very helpful to me.
As always, your mileage may vary.
Ultimately, wherever your place in the world, I hope this post incites you to seek out training, to find the individual or group instruction that helps make you a better, stronger performer in your art. Today I have mine and I am grateful for everything it gives me.
Voice Talent Joe Cipriano
Editor’s Note: Having had the pleasure of meeting and briefly speaking with Joe Cipriano for the first time last week at VOICE 2010, I was very happy (and not at all surprised) to hear he has received this award in recognition of his voice over work and his efforts on behalf of the Don LaFontaine Voiceover Lab within the Actors Center at the SAG Foundation offices. Here’s the official announcement from PromaxBDA and Brief Magazine:
PromaxBDA and Brief Magazine are proud to present the 2nd Annual Don LaFontaine Legacy Award to Joe Cipriano. Created collectively by PromaxBDA and Anita LaFontaine to honor the name, memory and defining legacy of one of the world’s most famous voices, the Don LaFontaine Legacy Award recognizes a voice of impact as determined by a specialized industry committee. Through the criteria filter of character, longevity, talent, professionalism and the passion for giving back, this year’s recipient embodies much of Don’s defining legacy.
Joe Cipriano has worked on the air for the NBC, ABC, FOX and CBS Television and Radio networks, and has been the live announcer at high profile events including the Grammy Awards and the Primetime Emmy Awards. Cipriano has more than 20 years of voice talent experience.
He is the co-founder of the newly launched Don LaFontaine Voice-Over Lab at the SAG Foundation Actors Center. The Lab and all of its programs, dedicated to educating and inspiring young up and coming voice over talent, will be offered free to the public.
Don LaFontaine, whose immediately recognizable voice was featured on more than 5000 promos and trailers over a period of more than 30 years, passed away last year. Cipriano will accept the Award at the 2010 PromaxBDA Promotions and Marketing Awards scheduled for the final night of the three day PromaxBDA Conference.
The Don LaFontaine Legacy Award was introduced for the first time at the 2009 Promax Marketing & Promotion Awards celebration as part of the 54th annual PromaxBDA Conference. The PromaxBDA Awards competition is dedicated to celebrating excellence in marketing, design and creative content in the entertainment industry.
A couple of pings to my email box to pass along if you are so inclined:
Marice Tobias has announced her spring sessions for her “The Shift” voiceover training for commercials and narrations.
– St. Louis, MO – the weekend of May 15th
– Washington, D.C. – the weekend of May 22nd
– New York, NY – private sessions from May 24th – June 1st.
For information on Marice’s events, contact Stacey Stahl at 503-246-2239.
Pat Fraley is presenting “Making the “A” List: An Acting for Voice Over Event” featuring Pat, Ed Asner and Scott Brick on Saturday, May 22nd at World Famous Buzzy’s Recording in LA. To secure your spot call 818-400-3733.
I have been taught by both these individuals and while both have issued restraining orders against me because of my lack of performance skills (the way the both individually screamed “don’t ever back here” was kind eerie) , I’m sure you’ll fair much better. They are great teachers.
