VO Scam folo

Members of the VO community were quick to add their experiences with the fraudulent client mentioned in the “VO Scammer” blog article from a couple of days ago.

Sherril Stewart of Voicesforall.com even dug a little deeper, and had the following info on the guy.  I suggest you spread it far and wide so he can no longer take advantage of unsuspecting voice talent:

___________________________
Here is some info I copied & pasted from his site:

In Addition to my Music Carrear , I have also been on the air on WVOF 88.5 fm with my award winning radio show Radio Romance and The Jim Saxon Show. Ive had many guests from local and state politicians , radio personalities , comedians and actors , poets and writers and public activicits and artists from the local area bands to staple musicians in the industry such as Bobby Rydell , Fabian and Frankie Avalon , Paul Nelson just to name a few ! I also have graced the studios of WEZN ( Star 99.9 ) , WEBE 108 , and WICC.

And ….I own my own mobile Disc Jockey and production studio Saxon Producitions ( SaxonProductions.org.)

Well I hope you have learned a little about me and feel free to drop me a line if you’d like to learn more or have me be a part in your musical palate !

Live , Laugh and Love,

James A Norkawich

Contact Info –

[email protected] / [email protected]
FaceBook
MySpace.com/JamesNorkawich

_____________________________

Also, this tidbit from Carol Richards on yet ANOTHER VO parasite: “…I have just filed a report at ripoffreport.com against Mario Lafleur, H H Management,Quebec. I hope that some of his business contacts see it! Do not accept any voice work from this man, he won’t pay you….”

BTW, that site — Ripoffreport.com appears to be a handy online place to report stuff like this, but Steven Lowell of V123 adds: “.. also report them to P2P sites. Most likely, we have info on them anyway, or records of them. Because we do that kinda thing for talent….”

CourVO



Online Impersonations Are Now Illegal in California

This is a slippery-slope and a grey legal area…but California would, of course, be the first to pass something like this. This article well worth a read!

Robert Downey Needs More Money

Robert Downey Jr.

….otherwise, why would he agree to be the voice for Nissan?

No, I get it…these big companies need a REAL actor to give their multi-million-dollar campaigns distinction… not someone who’s worked at the craft of voiceover for years.  Yes, I’m unabashedly jealous.

However, in the spot they don’t SAY it’s Robert Downey Jr (just like Lowe’s doesn’t give Gene Hackman credit, or Hyundai doesn’t identify Jeff Bridges)..so, do Nissan and Lowe’s and Hyundai get a benefit from hiring a “NAME” to voice their spots?

How many viewwers are REALLY good at identifying the voices on commercials?

Most viewers:
a) aren’t watching
b) aren’t listening
c)  perhaps mildly recognize the voice as “some celebrity”
d) knock themselves out trying to identify the voice for the whole commercial, and miss the point of the spot.

Either way, what’s with these advertising firms going for Hollywood actors’ voices?  A REAL voice-actor like Doug Turkel or Thom Wilkins or Deb Grattan, or sheesh…any one of hundreds of qualified voices could do a better job for (probably) less than what Robert Downey Jr. is getting, and EVERYONE would be happier!…except Robert.

That’s my highly-biased opinion.  That’s my sour grapes.

What’s yours?

CourVO

[author's note in P.S.:  this blog is generating interesting comments...please see below.]