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Coach Mining

August 31, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Minewurx2
 Virtually all advice on becoming a better voice actor includes the admonition to "get good coaching".  That includes newbs and pros.

Michael Minetree posts a careful examination of the trials of finding a valid, worthy voice coach…and whether some of the "coaches" out there aren't just taking dollars on false promises.

Michael's treatise on "WHAT IS VOICE OVER TRAINING?  PROFITING FROM HOPEFUL TALENT?"is exhaustive.  Michael has his own take on this sometimes controversial subject, and he dissects his feelings honestly. 

One excerpt:
"There is nothing I can tell you in a day, a week or a month, let
alone a newsletter, CD, manual, tele-class, boot-camp, seminar,
workshop or phone call that is going to open up the world of voice over
to you and make it possible for you to go out and get hired.

The reason for that is this – voice over is a craft, a skill, a
learned method, a practiced art form, a perfected skill that cannot be
packaged in any of the above. You cannot buy it in a box or have it
trickled into your brain via osmosis, and nothing has infuriated me any
more over the years than the litany of profiteers out lurking in the
shadows of the internet who are ready at a moments notice, for a buck,
to tell you that you can."

Read the entire article HERE.

CourVO

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Torrenegra redux

August 31, 2008 By Leave a Comment

After my blogging about Joe J Thomas' online conversation with V123's "Julian" on Live Help (Latest on V123
Torrenegra), I got a clarification comment from V123's QA (Quality Assurance) Mgr, Steven Lowell.  You can read it at the bottom of that post.

I wrote Steve back and thanked him for shedding some light on the hearsay, and today, heard back from him again.

I hope he won't mind that I post that response here for you to see:
—————–
"It is true that Alex is not as 'visible' or available as he once was, but
he is still very much involved.
 

Alex began working on another project with Torrenegra, and back in
February, he made Juan Salcedo GM, and began using me for not only QA
Management, but also assisting in marketing and translating needs, ideas
received, and ideas on future product development to both Juan and Alex.
 

To give you an idea of how much he is still involved, it was actually Alex
who showed me your website, and the chat posted there. I still dont know why
Julian used that wording, but I do know live chats can leave one under pressure
to answer questions quickly, and I dont believe in canned answers as customer
service. I assume that confusion is somewhat my fault, as I promote team
atmosphere in Voice123, and sometimes we forget each others titles.
 

Keep in touch if you have any questions! I would be happy to answer them as
best as I can."
————————-
I think maybe Steven had a typo when he wrote: "…Alex began working on another project with Torrenegra…"  otherwise, the sentence makes no sense. But that's just an aside.

I appreciate Steven having that sort of commitment to QA.  You should slip on over to V123 sometime if you're a subscriber.  Click on the line of small thumbnail pics they have at the bottom of the page, and it brings you to a page that introduces "our team".

It's easier to accept what sometimes may appear to be a corporate mentality when you can see the faces behind the facade of V123.

CourVO

Filed Under: Subscription Services Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Doin’ it Right!

August 31, 2008 By Leave a Comment

   When I grow up, I want to be just like Pat Fraley….no — Deirdre Cooper… OK, I kid, but put these two free spirits together on the same project, and you'll get the proverbial choruses of angels.


…. and then there's their collaborations on voice projects!

What I'm referring to is about the slickest website in terms of capturing the true spirit of personality branding I've ever seen.

DB Cooper completed her own site some weeks ago, and now she has finished Pat's as well, with the contributions of her hubby –  a highly-accomplished artist in his own right.

John Florian's VoiceOverXtra features a fine article explaining the process they went through to arrive at this fine website.

Click HERE to see the article on VO Xtra.

CourVO

Filed Under: Web/Tech Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Finding great copy

August 30, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Man with piles of paper
Oh, there's plenty of copy out there. 

Bad copy.  75-secs worth in a 60-sec spot.

Bad spelling, bad grammar, no grammar.

Stuff with lousy concepts, banal sentences…even worse: lots of numbers being repeated over and over.

We all want good stuff on our demo.

Just listen.  Yeah…listen.  It's out there. 

TV and radio.  Uh-huh there's actually some good stuff here 'n' there. Those ad agencies get paid millions by billion-dollar companies to come up with new stuff all the time. Pay attention to the spot-sets…not the programs. 

But the best stuff?  It's gonna come from you. It may take a while to develop this skill, so start now.  Read magazines, newspapers, fliers, direct-mailers, even the Reader's Digest.  If you don't find good copy, you'll find good IDEAS for copy.

Write it down, word process it to death.  Move the words around.  Cut 'n' paste.  Highlight.  Be colloquial…use vernacular…

Until your sense of it all finds maturity, just do this:

Listen to the best spot during Prime Time, and transcribe it…write it down, or type it into your laptop (use your TiVO, dummy!).

OK, now you've got the :30 or :60 in front of you.  You can't use this spot, 'cause somebody already HAS.

So change the product, but keep the sell.  Make it softer, harder, schmaltzier, funnier, or tongue-in-cheek just by adding a stutter or an ad-lib, or few extra words, or fewer words. 

Save the flavor, change the content.  There are a million ways to take the essence of good copy and make it slightly different enough to make it YOURS.

Do it today. 

CourVO

Filed Under: Advice Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Latest on Torrenegra

August 29, 2008 By Leave a Comment

The question came up recently on the Yahoo VO message forum whether Alex Torrenegra of V123 was out.

This interesting response came this morning from Joe J Thomas:
———————–
Joe J posts:
"Here's the reply I got from Julian at Voice123 service via Live Help:


You are now chatting with 'Julian'

Your Issue ID for this chat is LTK15209910615X

Julian: Hello! I will be your chat representative today! How may I

help you?

Joe: Good morning Julian – I'd heard a rumor this morning that Alex

was no longer with V123! Now, I can't stand bad information, so I

thought I'd ask you directly about this. I'd like to correct the

person in question if it's bad info…

Julian: Hi Joe…

Julian: actually Alex is still with us…

Julian: but not working directly…

Julian: I mean..

Julian: he is now working on other projects…

Julian: and does not have the time to be on Voice123 full time…

Julian: so…

Julian: he is still involved…

Julian: but he is not leading the team directly

Joe: Ok, I think I get it… a little truth, a little mis-informed!

Is it ok if I post your response?

Julian: he is now the Site Director only…

Julian: and our Manager..

Julian: is Juan Salcedo

Joe: Ah, yes – I know Juan.

Julian: yes… that is fine…

Joe: Cool – thanks so much for the info – appreciate it!

Julian: you are welcome!

Julian: one last thing..

Julian: To rate our service and end this chat

Please click on the word CLOSE at the right of this window. Thank

you! :-)

Joe: I sure will – thanks again…"

Being a journalist, I'd love to get an official corroboration of this, but unless Joe's hoisting a hoax, 'looks like there may be changes at our favorite VO subscription service.

CourVO

UPDATE 6:1Opm PST, 8/29/08 
PLEASE READ COMMENT FROM STEVEN LOWELL OF V123 BELOW.  CLICK ON "comments".

Filed Under: Subscription Services

Immersion

August 28, 2008 By Leave a Comment

The response to my blog the other day about resources for Newbie voice-actors was strong.

But in the backwash, I came to realize nothing I mentioned, and none of the resources I suggested make clear what I consider to be one of the bedrock principles for succeeding in ANY start-up endeavour:

                                      IMMERSION

…and with PASSION.

Dive in, get yourself dirty, make yourself tired, read everything on the subject, talk to everyone involved, ask lots of questions, sleep-eat-breathe-dream your passion, browse, blog, believe, go to seminars, visit forums, call people, make must-do lists, take risks, push the envelope, listen to others, and do something every day.

'No other way to succeed in my mind, but I'm kind of an all-or-nothing guy.

CourVO

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Filed Under: Op/Ed Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Fellow Travelers

August 28, 2008 By Leave a Comment

   Barbara Winter is a wonderful mentor, supporter, and entrepreneurial innovator.  I'm lucky, too, to call her my friend.

  For some unknown reason, she's taken a shine to my blog, and keeps mentioning it in her newsletters, and other materials she publishes.  So much so, that she's finding inspiration to perhaps begin her own blog.  She should, 'cause she's such a good writer, and has great tips for everyone, especially those running their own voice acting business.Fellowtravelers

  She just put the finishing touches on a new WEBSITE.  'Well worth the visit because no one else I've run across has the absolutely unencumbered view of "working for self" that Barbara espouses.  If you have a chance to attend one of her seminars, don't hesitate!

 Just recently, Barbara has mentioned me along with very prestigious company in a list of "FELLOW TRAVELERS" on the road of entrepreneurship.  Thanks Barbara, you honor me by including me in a set of such accomplished people!

CourVO

Filed Under: Social/Professional Networking Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Um, Forums

August 28, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Love 'em, hate 'em… niche forums serve a great purpose to all sorts of different people for many reasons. 
Minewurx

Veteran studio whiz/coach/voice-actor/training expert Michale Minetree reminds me that he's launched a VO forum that is just dying for YOUR input.

Click HERE for the link.

Other forums:  The Voice-Over Bulletin Board VO-BB (my perennial fave)

And Julie William's Voice-Over.com forum.

CourVO

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Filed Under: Jus' So You Know Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Where to Find Some Cash (man)

August 28, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Marccashman
Marc Cashman was one of the more prolific contributors to the recent VOICE 2008 event.  The guy was everywhere!

It's really no different than his presence in the world of VO, esp. in LA.  Producer, writer, director, casting agent, voice artist, and voice coach, Cashman brings a world of experience to the table.

Read below the fold to see his response to requests for more access to the information he churns out of his studio.

CourVO

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Jus' So You Know Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Newbie Resources

August 27, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Termite-1
The old adage of voice actors working in their pajamas and making sacks of money must be propagating on the internet…lately, it seems new prospects have been comin’ out of the woodwork!

And word gets around.  You know…”…call that Dave Courvoisier guy…I think he’s doing something with that…”

Now, far be it from me to discourage anyone’s dreams. Somewhere along the line in the last few years I also picked up the flag for voice acting, and many people helped me, so I’m happy to mentor too.

However, I have found no quick way to answer the question of what it’ll take to get into voice-overs.  Meaning the answer itself is getting fairly involved AND time-consuming.

My latest tack is to just ask for the neophyte’s e-mail address and bury them in resources so deep it takes weeks to get through it all.  Then, if they come back, I’ve got at least a qualified candidate to talk to.

Hence, the following list is my preferred set of links to voice-over nirvana for n00bs.

Got more?  Puh-leeze, let me know, so I can add it to the list.

Voice talent Bob Souer publishes everybody’s favorite VO blog:
http://www.bobsouer.com/blog
You’ll also find an occasional flash of brilliance-wanna-be on my daily blog: “Voice-Acting in Vegas”
http://CourVO.biz
Peter O’Connell’s “THE VOICEOVER ENTRANCE EXAM” is a particularly useful tool.  If you follow no other links on this page, be sure to follow that one.

Also, I’ve published a blog about getting started in
VO, which is here:

And, another close friend of mine (Bobbin Beam) who also blogs, wrote
her own version of advice for starters which is excellent:

8/28/08 update:  John Florian of VoiceOverXtra sends THIS link to his site esp. for beginners:
http://www.voiceoverxtra.com/newcomers.htm

Also, there’s a thread on this very topic RIGHT NOW on the VO-BB which is one of the resources noted above.  But the specific link to the newbie thread is here:

http://www.vo-bb.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6908&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Read ‘em and weep folks!  Heck, I’m not even finding the time these days to read VoiceOverUniverse alone!

[ADDED 1-9-09 FROM DAVID HOUSTON:  EXCELLENT ARTICLE:  http://davidhoustonvoice.com/blog1/2006/08/getting_started_my_take.html]

[ADDED 11-27-09 FROM WAYNE JUNE: Another top-notch resource in this area: http://www.waynejune.com/where_to_start.html]

[ADDED 4-15-10 FROM MARY MCKITRICK:  Extensive article with many GREAT suggestions:  http://www.marymckitrick.com/blog/?p=393]

[ADDED 8-6-11 FROM J. CHRISTOPHER DUNN:  Wonderful suggestions for thinking ahead: http://jcdunnvox.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/who-wants-to-be-a-voice-talent/

[ADDED 8-9-11 FROM VOX GODDESS]  Frank and honest feedback about what NOT to ask when you’re a Newbie:  http://voxgoddess.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/vo-faqs/

[ADDED 2-15-12 FROM KYLE McCARLEY]  Seven Reasons You Shouldn’t Be a Voice Actor http://kylemccarley.com/seven-reasons-you-shouldnt-be-a-voice-over-actor

CourVO
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