I hope I’ve written something like this before about the voice over industries preeminent e-zine, Voice Over Xtra! but if not, here it is: you darn well better be a subscriber if you are in this industry.

Should you needed any more convincing, look no further than the post its editor and my friend John Florian put up yesterday. He got voice over talent Jennifer Vaughn to write a fascinating article that financially analyzes and compares her 2009 efforts auditioning and securing business on both Voices.com and Voice 123.

As the voice over industry’s two primary pay-to-play sites who together have changed the landscape on how clients and talent get new voice over business (the argument about whether for better or worse will be held over for another time) this is really a great comparison and a startlingly honest report by Vaughn.

Thanks Jennifer for that and thanks John for everything.

Tags: casting, commentary, voice actors, voice casting, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice, voiceover blog, voices.com // Comments Off on extra, extra, voice over xtra!

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

Bob Souer’s blog is usually better at keeping up with stuff like this than I am cause people send him their info and updates. But the stars aligned tonight so that I can advise you that the “cross over voice” aka my friend and fellow voice talent Anthony Mendez has changed the name and location of his blog.

Anthony Mendez’ Post-amp blog can be found by clicking the link here. I hope you’ll subscribe to it like I have.

Tags: blogs, commentary, social media, voice talent, voiceover // 2 Comments »

In addition to the discussion on this blog, I have found discussions on VO-BB and Voiceover Universe about the change from Walter Cronkite to Morgan Freeman as the announcer for The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.

I was and am not in favor of the change.

As I noted in one of the discussion threads, not a lot of exciting stuff happens in our industry so when something like this comes around, it’s a 7 on the Voiceover Richter Scale…and yeah it’s a little bit pathetic. “More doing and less talk about doing,” you might say and you’d be right.

But one email note on the Voiceover Universe discussion kind of disturbed me and it came from the site’s creator/owner, the fine voice talent Zurek.

His message about the debate there (where I ahem, “shared” my view) was brief: “I never thought one man’s success would (be) a topic for debate.”

That “one man” would be Morgan Freeman and the quote concerns me because of my active participation in this debate.

Let me again say as I thought I have specifically said many times – the focus of my comments are why it is valuable to keep Walter Cronkite’s voice associated with the network’s flagship news program. I really couldn’t care who got the job under the current circumstances which I felt/feel does not merit any change at all.

If CBS’ decision on the announcer is “cast-in-stone-final” and Morgan Freeman is their choice, OK. I have no other horse in this announcing race (which obviously wasn’t much of a race – a compliment by CBS News’ execs to Freeman’s recognized acting abilities). If anyone felt that my comments were a negative reflection on choice of Freeman – that was not my intent and I apologize if I was not clear enough on that point.

It’s whether there is a true need for change in this circumstance that I believe makes the opportunity for debate relevant to the voice over community (and probably very few other people 🙂 ). And if you have a blog post, no matter the topic, one better expect, nay, hope for a debate. It’s what makes a blog post a true blog post.

Tags: CBS News, voice casting, voice talent, voiceover // 2 Comments »

Buffalo Bills Wide Receiver Terrell Owens, January 4, 2010. Photo copyright James P. McCoy, Buffalo News, all rights reserved

I don’t talk sports that much here because it’s not the primary focus of the blog (unless I do voice over for a sports team or if it’s about the Olympics because of my logo fascination therein). Also, the sports I really like are golf and hockey (I play the former not the latter albeit very infrequently). As far as the Buffalo Bills are concerned, I am certainly a fair-weather fan.

I also don’t talk that much about Buffalo, NY here because unless you are from the area, you probably don’t care. But today for truly a brief moment, I hope you read this digression.

The picture above this post was taken by the Buffalo News‘ James P. McCoy and shows Buffalo Bills wide-receiver Terrell Owens on January 4, 2010 holding a newspaper picture of him taken on January 3, 2010 during the Bills-Colts football game in which Owens scored a touchdown. I couldn’t find the picture he’s holding on line but it is a tremendous photo of a truly excited football player scoring a touchdown while playing a meaningless game in a blizzard. In the photo Owens is celebrating his 41-yard reception, good for six points in the game which simultaneously moved him into third place on the NFL’s all-time receiving yardage list at 14,951.

At the beginning of this past season, the Buffalo Bills signed the infamous wide receiver Terrell Owens to the team. This was a player who was bigger than life for his on-field performance (very impressive) and his off-field chatter (very unimpressive). It seemed clear to me that the Owens signing was an opportunistic move by the Bills to sell tickets (which is their job) and the area would have to put up with the seemingly bombastic Owens for one year.

The Bills season is now thankfully over. I will not take you down the disastrous path that led to the team’s 6-10 finish (others will, ad nauseam, oy vey!) But I would like to note that Mr. Owens’ public persona was professional, courtesy and patient throughout the entire year here in Buffalo. At a time and place where he could have been easily excused for mouthing off and getting angry via on-field antics or through the media…he did not. He played well (not amazingly well as he has admitted) but he did his job with very little (if any) complaint.

Based on how I had seen him perform elsewhere, I thought when he came to the Bills, Terrell Owens would be a pain in the ass to deal with and to have to listen to via our local media. I pre-judged him harshly in the privacy of my own head. He proved me completely wrong and I would like to first publicly apologize for judging him and then thank him for being a part of our team.

If both sides see fit to stay together in 2010, based on his performance and behavior this season, I – for one – would be glad to have him on our team.

Tags: buffalo, silliness // Comments Off on a brief but public flogging

I’ll be brief.

Tonight, “The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric” changed the news program’s opening; the graphics were the same but the voice was different.

The network’s most celebrated anchor (even more than Edward R. Murrow) Walter Cronkite had introduced the network’s flagship broadcast since it began in September of 2006. It was a masterful piece of casting.

Tonight, CBS News President Sean McManus and Executive Producer Rick Kaplan used a new voice to introduce the program, actor Morgan Freeman.

Here is the audio for the new introduction.

Mr. Freeman did a passable job as an announcer and it’s said he’ll voice other CBS News programs as well, adding unity and flexibility to many CBS News broadcasts.

But Freeman is not Walter Cronkite whose voice upon that program bestowed a blessing and implied gravitas the likes of which cannot be measured by anything yet invented. No other network news program had or has anything like it. Suffice it to say Cronkite’s voice over on the program’s open was an invaluable asset.

McManus had indicated the program would lose Cronkite’s voice on the open in 2009 after the anchor man died but the Cronkite family allowed it to be used ever after, which (it was said at the time) made everyone happy at CBS News.

Evidently “everyone” lied.

The stupidest thing The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric ever did occurred tonight – it removed a pillar of broadcast journalism as the voice of the network’s primary news program and replaced it with someone else. It is not Freeman’s fault…no one could have replaced Cronkite’s perfect voice over.

No one should have.

Tags: announcers, CBS News, CBS Television Network, voice casting, voice talent, voiceover // 17 Comments »

BUFFALO, NEW YORK, January 4, 2010 – – The Pathmark Grocery chain, with 144 stores across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, produced a series of radio commercials featuring voice over talent Peter K. O’Connell. The radio spots feature weekly specials and unique savings for Pathmark Advantage Club Card members.

Listen to a sample of the spots here:
[audio:http://www.audioconnell.com/clientuploads/mp3/Media_Release_Audio_Samples/100102_POConnell_Pathmark_sample.mp3]

Pathmark is part of The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company’s family of supermarkets. The Company operates 435 stores in 8 states and the District of Columbia under the following trade names: A&P, Waldbaum’s, Pathmark, Best Cellars, The Food Emporium, Super Foodmart, Super Fresh and Food Basics.

A professional voice talent since 1982, some of Peter K. O’Connell’s professional voiceover credits include productions for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Shell Oil, Starz Cable Channel, New Jersey Alliance and New Jersey Tourism, J. Walter Thompson Advertising (JWT), 2K Games, Cleveland Browns, Tops Friendly Markets, Island Press Publishers, Harlequin Enterprises, First Choice Power, Bank of Tuscaloosa, Crosby Stills & Nash, Fashion Outlet Mall, Junior Chamber International, Peek N’ Peak Resort and Spa, Devaweb and The Advertising Club of Buffalo.

Peter is President of audio’connell Voice-Over Talent which provides English-speaking professional male and female voiceover services for national and international clients. The voice over needs of foreign language clients are served through another O’Connell-owned company, International Voice Talents. Mr. O’Connell also owns Voice Over Workshop, which provides professional voice over training to novice and experienced voice talent world-wide.

audio’connell Voice-Over Talent, International Voice Talents and Voice Over Workshop are all a part of O’Connell Communications, LLC.
-30-

NOTES TO EDITORS

Company Media Releases ON LINE:
http://www.audioconnell.com/media

Company Name Pronunciation:
au·dio·o’·con·nell (awe-de-oh-oh-kah-nel) or au·di-o’·con·nell (awe-de-oh-kah-nel)

Company Name Spelling:
Use lower case letters- audio’connell or audio’connell Voice Over Talent

Company Web:
http://www.audioconnell.com

Company Blog:
http://www.voxmarketising.com

O’Connell Voice-Over Resume:
See resume here

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Tags: media releases // Comments Off on MEDIA RELEASE – Pathmark Supermarkets’ Radio Spots Feature O’Connell