Dave Courvoisier's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘VoiceOverXtra’

All year, it’s been mounting…the June 2nd deadline…the time when it ALL has to be done.

Am I over-booked?  Yeah.

Is it fun?  Heck yeah!

As a co-host and presenter at VOICE2010 this year, I’ve known for at least 8 months that I had much preparation to do.  Did I leverage that lead-time?  (ouch!)

Ya see…as a news person of lo, these many years, I’ve been perfectly trained to wait until THE DEADLINE to get stuff done.

So here it is, now, two weeks until the first full day of V2010, and I’ve still got gobs to do.  There’s my Social Media presentation with Terry Daniel…my co-hosting duties with Bobbin Beam (which includes composing introductions for half the speakers)…and then there’s  my commitment to SaVoa at this event: a booth, promotional materials, t-shirts to order, and troops to rally.

But wait, there’s more!  At noon on Friday, I’ll be leaving the conference to fly BACK to Vegas to be at my daughter’s High School graduation.  YEAH!  In the middle of everything, I have to get myself to the airport.  Don’t worry, I’ll be back again Saturday morning.  Quick turnaround!

Finally, I’m a contributory blogger for John Florian’s VoiceOverXtra site for the duration of the event.  Will I get sleep at all? Sleep? Who needs it?  I can’t wait to see everybody…and I’m so stoked about meeting Andy Boyns…flying all the way in from Istanbul, Turkey…not to mention my excitement at sharing a boffo presentation on the opportunities of Social Media for your Voice-Over business with Terry Daniel.

You’re coming, right?

CourVO

You’d have to be living in a voiceover-proof invisible dome not to hear about the goings-on with VoiceJockeys and atty Robert Sciglimpaglia.  I’ve been blogging about it myself relentlessly for the last three days, and this will be an addendum, then I promise to let it go until the “next big thing”.

Why?

The world continues to turn, the sun comes up in the East, and Muamar Q’adaffi is still the dictator of Libya.

Read this comment sent by Mike Elmore in response to yesterday’s blog:

“I know this is a heated issue. I personally think VO people spend WAYY too much time worrying about this. Yes it is a bee in the bonnet…but this market will more than likely always exist (as clients will always exist that either can’t afford our rates OR know they don’t have to pay them because there IS this market of VO people as well. Of course there is the argument that you get what you pay for. But if the client is satisfied and they paid 50.00 instead of 300.00…then I guess they got a good deal and fueled this new arm of the market even more.

I too find it almost shocking that VO people have so much friggin’ time on their hands. So much time to gossip and complain and judge and say LOOK AND ME, LOOK AT ME…lol …on these boards and things. Why not spend this time marketing? Anyway…I just think it’s something that is there/here….and why waste so much time talking about it? I personally feel like I have typed enough about it in the last 5 minutes to last me a lifetime. But to each his own. I must admit I do enjoy READING thru these things from time to time…but I certainly don’t have enough time to create them…so…guess I’m glad someone does~~”

Just another opinion, I know, but one that hilites a struggle I have every day.  Priorities.  VO has an extremely high level of attention in my life right now.  Personally, I love following the trends, working the Social Media, attending the forums, and contributing with my blog.  But at the end of the day, I have to audition, market, invoice, and seek coaching ,just as relentlessly.

I will support Rob Sciglimpaglia in every way.  I think his tack has merit.  In fact, I want to mention his new blog designed to expose online P2P sites like VoiceJockeys (and you know who you are).  It’s called TREAT VOICE OVER ACTORS FAIRLY.  Let Rob know of every unscrupulous site you think undercuts our industry with mercenary pricing and policies.

Also, be sure to visit John Florian’s VoiceOverXtra site for the latest installment of this stand-off.  HERE.

CourVO

VoiceJockeys‘ reply to Robert Sciglimpaglia‘s dissection of their contract language, showed up in the comment section to my blog post of last night.

You can go to the comment section to see it, but I’m reprinting it here in its entirety.  I appreciate the fact that they’re willing to talk about it.

You may also want to go to VoiceOverXtra to read Robert’s Original position on VoiceJockeys’ policies.

Here’s VoiceJockeys’ response:

The community has spoken and we are glad to take your feedback both negative and postive. We would like to address the issues one at a time and invite responses from all.

Our pricing – Yes the prices we charge consumers is low. So low, that it may not be worth it for some of you. We understand that and can appreciate it. We hope to brindge that gap by providing our voice over artists with an abbundance of work throughout the month.

Our agreement – we have taken the feedback of those who actually reached out to us directly (and not via a blog) and are taking the neccessary steps to change our agreement to proctect us as well as our talent pool. The new agreement will be rolled out before the end of the week.

As far as the inferrence of Jocks being listed without their permission – the is totally not true whatsoever. We maintain a datbase of IP addresses, Date Time stamps, tax forms, etc.

Again, we understand the concern from the Voice Over community and we are looking forward to working together to make intelligent changes that the industry talent calls for from time to time. Please understand that there IS a market out there of clients that can not afford the high rates charged by some voice over talent and for them is the reason that we exist.

No one is forced to join our site and we would hope that voice artists would welcome the extra work in their downtime.

As for Rob’s detailed analysis of our current agreement – we would like to thank him (actaully we can’t believe he has so much free time). Rob has opened our eyes and opened up dialogue throughtout the industry that will allow us to work closer with all of you and create an environment where we can work together on improving niche products like those offered on our site.

Thank You,

VoiceJockeys.com

Also, please take the time to read through the comments on VoiceOverXtra at the bottom of the article…lots of really good observations.

CourVO

Robert Sciglimpaglia is the only guy I know with a name harder to spell than mine.

He’s also a practicing attorney as well as a seasoned voice-actor.

His compelling argument against a (ahem) certain P2P site is the kind of stuff that belongs in a voice-over primer (if there was one).

You can find his article almost everywhere today, but I’ll recommend you go to John Florian’s VoiceOverXtra to read it.

BTW, he doesn’t name the service he dissects, but I will:  VOICEJOCKEYS.com

CourVO

If China gets to make EVERYTHING…maybe all that’s left for us to do is VoiceOver.

The global marketplace is glowing, and why not?  English is emerging as the language of commerce around the world.  To market a product with a wide audience, at some point, you’re gonna want to put a proper English-speaking voice along with the product/service.

Giving the Brits their due for a piece of the pie, that leaves North America as the source of an authentic English sound.

No one preaches this marketplace more than Bettye Zoller.  She’s been working this angle for years…maybe longer than anyone else.

In preparation for an upcoming Webinar on VoiceOverXtra.com, called “Foreign Job Sources for VO”, Bettye told me: “…for this webinar, I had to do serious research and even get help from foreign sources who gave me more input. It is the hardest research on a topic I’ve done for a long time and I hope as many people as possible will tune in…”

The Webinar is April 5th, the price is modest, and you get a download of the session when you’re done.

Click HERE for more details.

BTW, there’s a preview article of Bettye’s webinar on VoiceOverXtra, HERE.

CourVO

This collaboration MUST have a Gold Star.

Since I know both John Florian, and Dan Lenard as friends, I’m giving their upcoming teleseminar my top rating! (whatever that is).  I’m just saying…it’ll be well worth your while to listen in.

Dan (right) is the dean of designing, building and innovating affordable home studios….he explains it in simple language that makes sense, and his ideas are designed towards an inexpensive but high-quality solution for a home studio.

John Florian, who runs VoiceOverXtra.com has been putting together some fine teleseminars of late, and this one is well worth the modest price.  For beginners and advanced pros.  February 23rd & 24th.

I’d say more but you’ll find all you need to know HERE.

CourVO

Sometimes we get so wrapped-up in the auditioning, and the marketing…keeping up with technology and making cold calls that we forget voice acting MUST be run like a business.

Sure we need to brush up on talent skills, but do you have a business plan?  How do you track your financial progress?  What’s your next goal?

Bettye Zoller is an ace talent, and well-recognized voice coach, but lately she’s got an axe to grind about keeping a good business sense about your BUSINESS of voiceovers.

See “below-the-fold” for some answers to a few questions I posed to Bettye about that, but even more so…saunter on over to THIS site, and sign up for a live webinar featuring Bettye next Thursday, November 19th. 

The webinar is being expertly organized by John Florian’s VoiceOverXtra online resource.  If you know Bettye at all, you know she doesn’t mince her words…and always speaks from a wealth of experience in a very frank and engaging manner.  You will learn a lot!

HERE is a link to a FaceBook page with info too.

CourVO

Read the rest of this entry »

…only better.

VoiceOverXtra’s John Florian pushed me to summarize the give and take on Synthetic Voices exposed on this blog recently, and put it into article form.

The result is on John’s very popular site.  Click HERE.  Thanks, John, Peter Drew (who is quoted), and others who had input on this issue.

CourVO

John Florian…the force behind everybody’s favorite VO website – VoiceOverXtra – saw my mention on this blog of an upcoming Marc Cashman audiobook workshop on the East Coast, and wrote to remind me that VOXtra is sponsoring another great audiobook coach soon.

Alan Sklar is certainly one of the most highly-recognized and respected voice-ACTORS in the business of audiobooks.  Spending a session with him – I’d reckon – would be worth the tire tread getting there.

Here’s the info as provided to me by John:

Alan Sklar’s workshop – Mastering Audiobook Narrations – in NYC on Nov. 7.

Alan is a dynamic individual – former Shakespearan actor and businessman, who definitely makes a lasting impression on people … all for the better.

I’ve published an article revealing some of the traits that make him a great narrator – and also explain the workshop. Here’s the link:

http://www.voiceoverxtra.com/article.htm?id=ur2kmges

CourVO

BTW….Sklar is such a unique surname, that I couldn’t help but wonder if Alan was in any way related to the celebrated bass guitar player Leland Sklar.  Anyone?

Visit VoiceOverXtra HERE and see what John Florian’s cooked-up:  a fun idea of posting a short narrative and maybe a pic of how, where, and when you had to cut some audio “on the road”.

Maybe it was on vacation, business, or other…we’ve all had to prepare for the possibility of a persistent and/or valued client that just can’t wait for an audio file till we get home.  It can be a very good thing, actually, but everyone’s got a different “hack” for achieving quality sound outside the comfortable confines of your private studio.

‘Can’t wait to see all the entries!

CourVO