Dave Courvoisier's Blog

Archive for the ‘Subscription Services’ Category

What I know about finding VO jobs on Twitter would fit on Trish Basanyi’s hat brim.

The woman was an early adopter of Social Media, and continues to lead the pack among her VO peers.

Now, she’s got a boffo idea that she’s parlayed into something of substance….well,virtual substance anyway.

Visit VOICETWEET.COM now and sign-up.  The site is intuitive, simple, accessible, and …well….purple!

Check it out, and be sure to let Trish know if you find something wonky with the site.  She claims it’s just a little side business, but I think it’s got legs!

Thanks, Trish!

CourVO

Anybody know who first coined that term: “PIEHOLE”? (usually associated with the phrase “Shut your PieHole!”)

Regardless….in this case, PieHole is asking you to open yours….uh, your piehole, that is.

OK, wait-a-minute. PIEHOLE is the name of a company based in Ireland, that among other things, seeks to match voice talent with clients. 

Here’s the unique link, though: PieHole makes the connection through copywriters…not that uncommon in Europe, I understand.

It’s an idea that’s working.  Here’s the operative quote:  “…we stalk and harass advertising agencies to hire our voiceovers…”

PieHole is a fixture in the European ad market…expanding now into the UK and Canada, and – yes – they are seeking North American talent.

I was so intrigued, that I asked the founders – Priscilla Groves and James Kennedy – to offer a few quick answers to some pointed questions.

The result is below.  Click on the pic above to go to their site.

CourVO

Read the rest of this entry »

Maybe you got this e-mail today too. 

Graffitti Studio.

Stuff like this passes out to an email list from time to time.  I hadn’t heard of these guys before, but from the looks of things, I’d say it’s somewhere in the Russian Sphere of Influence…the flag on their website is Bulgarian.

Below is the e-mail verbatim.  Like Bodalgo in Germany, Voice Artistes in India, and others… foreign studios – if their efficacy can be validated – should not be ignored out of hand.  North American English is the voice of choice for many narration and voice projects, and these sites can return some steady work.

Be warned: the international market will not typically pay at the same scale as unions in the US…or even at the same rate that you’re used to quoting for local or national jobs.

CourVO

__________________________

Dear Sir/Madame

My name is Nick Ivanov and I represent Graffitti Studio- the largest European multilingual voice over, dubbing and subtitling company.

Founded in 1994, Graffitti Studio http://www.graffittistudio.com is a professional voice over and dubbing studio, based in Sofia, Bulgaria. Working with major TV programs and film companies like Warner Bros, News Corp and Turner, advertising leaders like BBDO and Omnicom, Graffitti Studio localizes broadcasted and non-broadcasted multimedia content, providing professional voice over, dubbing, subtitling and transcription services in 40 languages.

The customers:

Broadcasted: Turner, News Corp, HBO, Wild TV
Non-broadcasted: Microsoft, Nokia, Shell, Volvo, MSD, Phillips, Danone, Deutsche Telecom, HP, Adobe, Burger King, Nokia, Gillette, BMW, Sony, European Commission

What makes Graffitti Studio special?

Graffitti Studio provides a complete media localization solution- from transcription and translation of scripts to personal project management and 24/7 availability for contact, a unique audio production facility, professional native speaking voice over and dubbing talents, large voice bank of 1000+ auditioned voice actors, quality control on each production stage, professional voice over and dubbing recording and production equipment with ISDN connections for live session monitoring, ability to localize large volumes of multimedia content in 40 languages and with very short turnarounds, and a very experienced team of professionals who are able to face complicated tasks with no compromise on deadlines.

For more information on our services, please visit www.graffittistudio.com

If you don’t want to recieve more e-mails from Graffitti Studio, please click HERE

Thank you for your attention and I hope you find our services helpful for Your business.

Kind regards,

Nick Ivanov

www.graffittistudio.com

‘A reminder to go back to Taj’s blog where he poses questions about what would be the perfect P2P site. (Taji’s Frankenstein Monster)

I referenced that BLOG a couple of days ago, and the responses have been many and thoughtful.  Be sure to read through the commentss (and not just because I decided to run off at the keyboard).

Be especially sure to click on the link for Paul Strikwerda’s thoughts.
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Sunday is the deadline for early-bird pricing on VOICE2010.  Savings of $100.  Not too shabby.  Click HERE for details.  Click HERE to go to the VOICE2010 website.

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Bettye Zoller has a birthday this weekend.

Now might be a nice time to call or write her and wish her many more.  ‘Course that might be kinda hard, ‘cause as usual…she’s probably working.  The gal has more energy than most people half her age…

It’s hard to ignore the common-sense approach Bettye has to the business of Voice-Overs.  She’s got the experience, the chutzpah, and the tempered reasoning to be a sought-after coach as well as an active talent.  Her frequent posts on the Yahoo VO Forum are pure gold.

Click HERE to see info on her next class in Houston (she lives in nearby Dallas) instructing on the business of the VO business…i.e. making money.

Have a great weekend!

CourVO

In the wee hours of the morning — when I typically do my voice work –  it’s not unusual lately to start out my session by having a brief exchange with Mahmoud Taji…our VO friend living in Cairo, Egypt.  He’s just beginning his work day, and SKYPE is an easy way to make texting contact.

The message he left for me by email this time, though, hints at his latest ambitious project:  brainstorming the perfect Pay-to-Play site.

He calls it Taji’s Frankenstein Monster, and is openly soliciting your input.  I offered mine, even though it was through the haze of a 4am hour.

Click HERE to see the blog article his proposition.  This could be a very edifying exercise if a lot of people chime in…not that it hasn’t been done before, but  maybe we’ll get it right this time.

CourVO

Xobni is this great Outlook plug-in that analyzes your e-mal in ways that helps you glean the most information from that never-ending torrent you find there each day.

Here’s the catch:  I hate Outlook (and that’s coming from me, Dave, an unabashed Microsoft fan).  Here’s why: Outlook is an incredibly feature-rich program that practically bogs your computer down in excess code.

But I use it when I have to, and since Xobni integrates SO well, I end up using Outlook JUST FOR Xobni.

Case in point:  I began examining WHEN Voices.com and V123 leads came across with e-mail notices, and found an interesting trend.  (Yes, Xobni tells you that kind of information)

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Here’s Xobni’s graph of time-of-day Voices.com e-mail notices.

Tell me if I’m wrong, but it looks like a pretty good spike at 3am PST (6am EST).

The rest of the day is essentially a plateau with maybe a mini-spike at 11am PST (2pm EST).

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Now here’s Xobni’s graph of time-of-day V123 e-mail notices.

I’d say that’s a peak at roughly 10amPST (1pmEST).

The rest of THEIR day is all over the place.

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What’s my sample?  Since October 10th I got a total of 2,863 e-mails on my CourVO@CourVO.com e-mail account.  As you can see, Voices.com and V123 constitute my 2nd and 3rd most prolific incoming mail source.  I say all this to underscore that this is NOT a small sample.

I haven’t quite figured out why Xobni ranks V123 2nd with 64 incoming per day, and Voices.com 3rd with even more emails per day.  I may be reading that wrong, but I stand by my claim that this is a large sample, and a trend that should not be ignored IF you choose to wait by your computer for the hottest leads.

IF you’re doing that…then your leash from the computer is a short one regardless.  If you want to maximize the greatest possible hit-time to check out Voices.com and V123 leads, then, well…there’s your data.

The argument for and against pay-to-play sites rises to the level of Mac v. PC flame wars.

Then the secondary debate about V123 v. Voices.com rises to the level of mules v. elephants.

That’s another conversation.  I just thought this was a novel set of data no one had published before.

CourVO

Months ago I threw my allegiance behind the VO Subscriber service that actually listens to its talent…that has a human side…that seems to want to keep me happy, and works to preserve the relationship I have with them.  Yep.  Voices.com.

I’ve never seen a harder-working couple than the Ciccarelli’s (3 C’s, 1 R, 2 L’s).  Stephanie is most prolific in the Social Networks and blogs.  She does a wonderful of job of maintaining a helpful, supportive image of VOICES across most of the major social media sites, not to mention their blog, Vox Daily.

If you haven’t arleady. join their “Voice Acting Hub” on Facebook, and sign-up to get e-mail notices.  That’s how I got the tip to THIS great blog article: 

5 Mistakes Voice Talent Make and How To Avoid Them

CourVO

See below the fold to read the announcement that  EveryDemo and MyNextDemo are merging into one service.

I’m neither endorsing nor criticizing either…this is just info.  Theirs might be a service that could interest you.

CourVO

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Erik Sheppard and his associates have launched the Voice Talent Production site.  Click HERE. 

A lot of work has gone into the back-end of this enterprise, and I find myself extremely honored to be the company of the other talent here.

Please take a moment to look around, and pass the word on to those who matter (ahem: clients) that this is the place to look first!

CourVO

Oh….BTW, two prominent VA talents are in Vegas this week, and if I’m lucky, I’ll be able to run into both of them:  Chris Flockton, a NYC-based British voice, and Ron Knight of Knight Mediacom.  ‘LOVE the way Vegas attracts all the right people!

Birds of a feather…

Two of the most prolific international VO personalities got together the other day, and the bonafide result for you and me is a very enriching interview of Bodalgo’s founder Armin Hierstetter.

Mahmoud Taji, of The Voiceemporium, provided the interview and the link below, AND the following generous offer:

Armin is offering my readers 1 month free Premium membership for anyone who cites me (Mahmoud Taji) or Taji's Voice Emporium as a referral.

Taji has also included a podcast of the interview for those interested, and says if you already have a free account at Bodalgo, and would like to take advanatage of this offer, just tell Taji, and he’ll contact Armin directly to see what can be done.

HERE is the link to the article/interview.

Taji’s information: 
www.voiceemporium.com
www.mahmoudtaji.com
twitter: mahmoudtaji

CourVO