creative professionals Archives

AI Synthesized Voices in Voice Over: This Moment

business, creative professionals, instructional design, post-production, production, small business, video design, VO tech, voiceover

A Groundbreaking Moment

As a professional voice actor, I’m witnessing remarkable advancements in artificial intelligence (AI). It’s making a profound impact on the voice acting community. AI voice cloning, or synthesizing, technology has raised critical questions, concerns, and opportunities as well, within the profession.

It’s crucial for voice actors, video producers, casting directors, talent agents, and other industry professionals to be smart and fair to each other during the rapidly changing landscape.

In this blog, I’ll explore the impact of AI on voice acting overall, touching on narration, advertising, and eLearning. Keep in mind these are only a few of the impacted aspects of voiceover recording. Additionally, I’ll share the transformative concept of ‘fAIr Voices’ by the NAVA VO association as part of the way forward.

A Changing Landscape

AI revolutionizes voice acting as we knew it. AI is creating voice clones and synthesized voices that mimic human speech. This technology streamlines VO production, reduces VO costs, and offers flexibility in VO content creation. There are concerns regarding ethical and legal implications, such as unauthorized voice recordings and future job displacement.

We’ve already seen this with high profile cases. Earlier this year longtime voice actors Steve Blum, Kara Edwards, and Stephanie Sheh used Twitter to ask fans to let actors know when their voices are being used on AI voice apps. “I know AI technology is exciting, but if you see my voice or any of the characters that I voice offered on any of those sites, please know that I have not given my permission, and never will,” wrote Blum. Canadian voice actor Bev Standing sued TikTok for unauthorized use of her voice in its text-to-speech feature and the case was eventually settled. This highlights the need to protect voice actors’ recordings. Unauthorized websites copying and selling voices without permission are faced with strong opposition.

On the plus side, the AI voice “revolution” is charting new paths for voice recordings. Celebrities and non-celebrities can consider cloning or making a synthetic voice of themselves. This means at least our voice recordings might live beyond our human selves, and with our permission. And, it could give voice actors the opportunity to have that ‘clone of themselves’ they always wanted. Why? Book more jobs, with your voice clone working 24/7. If it’s in the voice actors control, and of a certain approvable level of quality, fair prices…. These are possibilities.

Narration

Narration is essential for storytelling. AI voices expand narrative possibilities. AI-driven text-to-speech (TTS) systems generate lifelike voices, providing an alternative for certain projects. While TTS technology offers convenience and speed, it currently lacks the depth, emotion, and human connection that a skilled voice actor brings to the table. However, skilled voice actors possess unique qualities and expertise. They bring depth, emotion, and human connection that current TTS technology lacks. So, their unique qualities and expertise ensure authentic and engaging performances.

Advertising

For decades, voice actors have played a vital role in delivering impactful commercial messages. While AI voice clones offer cost-effective solutions for some ads, do they or will they capture the nuances and emotional range of human voices? Voice actors, because they are humans, connect with audiences, conveying brand personality and authenticity effectively, if they and the team behind them are good.

ELearning

The eLearning industry works a lot with voice actors. Much of the work is collaborative, although not all. But in this collaboration, voice acting contributes to instructional content development. AI-powered voice synthesis again offers fast and effective voiceover recordings. Flexibility to make changes is high. Still, the synthesized or clone voice has limitations that do not match human capacity (yet).

‘fAIr Voices’

Ethical and legal concerns surrounding AI voice cloning require attention. ‘fAIr Voices’ is a coalition launched by NAVA, National Association of Voice Actors. They ask companies who work with voice actors to pledge the fair use of those voice recordings.

There is concern in the voiceover industry as synthetic voice creation websites have become more prevalent, allowing anyone to create a very realistic sounding version of any actor’s voice from shorter and shorter sound files. “Our voices are our livelihood,” says Vice President of NAVA, Carin Gilfry, “and if we don’t have control over how those voices are used, we can’t make a living.”

The #fAIrVoices campaign calls for:

The ability for the performer/artist to actively consent to use of their voice being synthesized or cloned.
Explicit limits on use of the results and proceeds of an AI/Synthetic voice.
Ability to opt out, or term limits for AI/Synthetic voice use and Machine Training.
Appropriate payment for use.
Clearly denoted exclusivity.
Safe storage and tracking of the performer’s voice, likeness, performance, and all products created from them.
Clear and explicit terms of service regarding the training, use, and/or distribution of AI and synthetic voices on any website voice actors use or are members of.

Undeniable Impact:

Voice actors bring the human flaws, authenticity, emotion, and engagement to their voice recordings. Creative professionals and their companies can help prioritize a smooth transition to the future, hand in hand with voice actors. I suggest everyone offer transparency, respect, and maintain accountability with potential or actual AI utilization. Engage in discussions, collaborate with stakeholders, and consider ‘fAIr Voices’ concepts to bridge us to the future of voice acting.

By blending technology capabilities with human artistry, industry professionals deliver outstanding voice performances that captivate audiences. Let’s forge ahead, shaping a harmonious and innovative industry that embraces AI’s possibilities while preserving real human expression.

Storytelling – Three, Two, One

business, creative professionals, small business, VO tech, voiceover

Storytelling is a vital…

You probably already knew that storytelling is vital in your creative projects, for sure.

I still voice a lot of scripts that don’t do storytelling. I assume that’s because clients don’t believe it’s worth the effort? You tell me.

A vital piece of your creative content.

With a riveting story, you can lead your audience anywhere, and they’ll follow.

Here are some simple ways to see your content with stories:

Character Appeal

Get your audience on your characters’ side–whether it be a fictional person or a real life customer–and make sure their goals are clear and bold. They need to be appealing enough for audiences to root for them to achieve their goals.

Obstacle Tension

The obstacles in your characters’ paths inform the stakes and tension of the story. The quality of the challenges will dictate how much audiences are engaged in your characters because they get to show how resourceful and layered they are.

Bold Conclusion

Start strong, and end even stronger to leave a lasting impression. Even if the ending’s a foregone conclusion you can still make it affecting, moving, and even surprising with a captivating finale.

Let me know if you have any comments, as I’m always happy to hear from you.

Pro Voiceover: ROI in eLearning Courses

business, creative professionals, instructional design, small business, VO tech, voiceover

What Is ROI?

ROI is an acronym for ‘return on investment’. For example, hiring instructional designers is investing money into a business endeavor, an e-learning course. Calculating ROI helps everyone understand the value your course creates. Within e-Learning courses, are you asking about ROI for hiring a professional voice actor?

Let’s put this in the hands of the experts – the Instructional Designer. You are ready to develop your virtual reality, game-based, micro-learning or video-based eLearning course. You’re drafting design elements, and pondering…

Will you hire professional voice talent (VO)?

Using a pro voice actor has positive effects for your learners within an excellent instructional design. VOs work as hired actors, narrators, and characters of varying ages in mock scenarios.

But what’s your ROI with hiring a pro VO? Are these challenging questions popping up:

The budget is set… So leave out the VO and save on that budget line item?
Some colleagues pull aside an in-house person to save funds.
Others say it adds time to hire a professional VO.

What’s your ROI if you do or don’t hire a VO? Are there hidden costs? Apply top-level considerations to your unique project.

Pros and Cons of In-house Recordings

Is your project a short course with limited audience, limited use, and the audio recording quality is not an issue? Then it probably makes sense to keep it in-house. Whoever does the in-house recordings will do their best with the experience, time and focus they can offer.

On the flip side, there are a few typical issues that can cost more time or produce sub-standard audio quality:

Usually non-pros require more recording time, and fixing errors time, compared to pros. The average unskilled person needs about 4-5 hours of work to create 1 finished hour of audio. A pro can get it done in 2-3 hours.
Will they edit for you, or is that your chore? More demands on your time?
Using in-house doesn’t mean ‘free’. Their regular work is being delayed. Whose budget does that hit?
Audio can be distorted with office background noise, or from non-professional equipment, or both. Will you receive clean undistorted audio?
Vocal expression may not fit the course. For example, monotonous tone, or inability to engage the text vocally, or not sounding authentic or conversational. Will the spoken word recording be vibrant and appropriate?

Audio should enhance the instructional experience. The spoken word recordings should enhance the script you’ve developed. Audio should never detract from the course nor distract the participant. Still, a non-pro may be your only option. For some projects, if you can live with these results, then stick with in-house audio.

Professional Voice Talent Recordings

Is your course for a larger audience, with broader use, and high audio quality a requirement? You probably already know it’s time to consider using professional voice talent. A course like this is representing the brand of the company it’s created for.

Here are typical benefits of hiring a pro voice talent:

Spoken Word Experience
A professional voice talent offers many years of experience with all different types of e-learning projects. She understands what you expect.

Audio Expertise
Professional voice talent have pro studio equipment and deliver high-quality audio recordings of your script. She stays up with trends in her industry, from varying styles of vocal performance, to the latest technologies for recording. If you need audio edits after the initial recordings, your VO talent should provide new audio that seamlessly blends into the project.

Trained Actor
Pro VOs are experts delivering a performance in front of a microphone (as compared to on stage or in front of a camera), and speaking to the intended audience when recording, to generate and maintain audience interest. Additionally, gaming and scenario-based courses often incorporate re-enactments or dramatizations that require acting skills.

Professional Commitment
Pro VOs are a business people that will aim to quickly turn around your projects and readily accommodate your deadlines.

Your Brand
Consider the impact that a professional production will have on your brand identity. It’s a business investment signaling to participants of the course that you value quality. Professional audio can convey a brand’s message in mere seconds.

What’s the ROI?

The most common ROI formula is net return divided by the total cost.

The simplest way to think about the ROI formula is to add up the value of benefits (return) and dividing it by the cost.

If you say something has a good or bad ROI, then explain how you measure it. Each ROI case will be specific to the course you’re creating.

In conclusion, the choice of VO for e-learning projects is one of many crucial elements within the design process. The ROI will depend your budget, your experience with either in-house or pro VOs, and what the overall experience should be for your course participants.

Let me know if you think I’ve missed anything, as I’m always happy to hear from you.

Reigniting Old-Fashioned Thank You’s

business, celebrate, creative professionals, small business, voiceover

Optimism in a Tradition

I re-started a company tradition in November 2019: Hand writing thank you notes to first time clients. People don’t do that much anymore, with our keyboards and computer devices. Saying a formal ‘thank you‘ to new clients after delivering excellent voiceover continues a new relationship graciously. Anyone else write real thank you notes in today’s world besides me? Tell me. Relatively, I think I’m safe to say I am in a small group doing this. Based on the fun replies, my clients notice.

This tradition exists for several reasons. One, it’s good for business, sealing new relationships memorably. Two, it’s fun to write with my hand using a real pen on real paper. (I used to have a thing for calligraphy too. There really is a visual artist within me.) Three, it’s a positive celebration of collaboration (and celebrating achievements is also a company goal). This tradition gives me great joy.

How’d this all start?

Early in my voiceover plus on-camera career, there was a lot more person to person meeting up. Thank you cards were extra effort, but, were appropriate and recommended. Some years into my career, my focus became solely voiceover. Everyone evolved as business morphed radically with the internet expansion. In person meetings fell away, with email and on-line activity replacing them.

Even if it’s an extra effort, I like writing cards and saying thank you. The personal touch of new meetings via Zoom isn’t the same either. Physically putting pen to paper, and for a moment, switching from digital devices to physical implements is tangible goodness. So in November 2019, I decided to bring back my old tradition.

Printing branded cards, I was set and haven’t looked back. My hands always write them. I don’t care if it’s cursive or some mix in between. Fetish or not, I like the touch of a smoothly rolling ballpoint pen on real card stock paper and it’s matte surface. I fondly consider the collaboration as I write, noting something specific that was special. It is physical creation in the end, another creative expression.

Do I go to the post office every time?

Fortunately or unfortunately, no. I take a simple photo of the card on a good background, cleaning up lighting and composition with a photo editor. Next I send it digitally in email, through the internet to my newest business collaborator. The idea of going to the Post Office when the pandemic started was a safety issue, being what we knew then. It’s either closed or crowded, now that it’s safe, so – still a hassle.

Regardless, I want immediate gratification for my client. The US Postal service speed of delivery has been hammered in the last couple years, which makes digital delivery expedience and avoiding crowds at the local postal office preferred. *Thank you Internet of things... who do I send that card to?

Overall Positive Impact

Sending thank you notes is sharing optimism. It sets the stage well, showing appreciation for being selected in a competitive market. Each time my very special, unique, thank you card, I consider this.

Sending the note as quickly after voiceover audio has been approved has more impact. Send it as soon as possible. In a way, it’s like sealing up my VO with a professional, congenial, unique, memorable bow.

I have a stack containing every single thank you card that I write. It’s a kind of a visual metric for my effort. It’s hard to take a photograph and help you see what that looks like. There are over 100 cards. Below is my best attempt at a pic.

The big picture?

It’s creating optimism in new relationships. Looking forward and back at the same time. Looking at what was done, how it felt and how it went. I feel a sense of accomplishment and appreciation with every card I write, and it grows with the stack. And that, my friends, feels great. I think my clients feel it too.

Doesn’t Improvising Mean Using No Script?

creative professionals, improvisation, instructional design, voiceover

Isn’t voiceover acting and improvisation a conflict?

That would seem true. Pure improvisation does mean creating out of nothing with your imagination, with the only limitations being the ones you put on yourself. And voiceover actors get scripts to read into a microphone. Let’s explore the ways voice actors can use improvisation and find out if the conflicts can be worked through.

Starting with definitions…

The definition of improvisation from the Oxford American Writers thesaurus: extemporization, ad-libbing, spontaneity, lack of premeditation, compose, perform, or produce something such as music or a speech without preparation. We can argue about the meaning of “without preparation” but let’s agree to the concept of little forethought or almost zero preparation prior to the improvisation.

The definition of voiceover acting: an actor who provides and/or records voice to represent a character in animation, film, or television entertainment; or who provides/records voice within a project for non-entertainment purposes. In either case, the voice is not accompanied by the speaker’s image.

Can a voiceover actor use a script and improvise?

Here lies the apparent conflict that seems true with our basic understanding of the definitions above. To help illustrate that there is a middle ground, here’s a graph I developed for my 101 class showing how there is an overlap between these worlds.

In simple terms, the voiceover actor can improvise by doing two things: fully embracing the script and improvising details that aren’t provided within the script but fit with it.

Embracing scripts while improvising details?

Every script tells a story. A voiceover actor can use improvisation to imagine details that:

create her world for telling that story with those specific words
resound more authentically for her as an actor portraying a role
support the words and the story wanted by the producer

A few other ways to improvise while using a script are simpler, well-known techniques or tricks.

Two ways to find a natural way to initiate the script opening:

Use a running start. This means to start talking the words you imagine would be said prior to the opening of the script, using them to launch into the script.
Ask a question that the first lines of the script answer.

Within a script, allow natural sounds that assist with natural flow/rhythm/pacing and which may possibly be edited out later:

Non-verbal sounds like ‘ah’, ‘uh-huh’ or sighs
Verbal ad-libs like ‘ha’, ‘so’ or anything else intuitive that fits

The ways in which a voiceover actor can improvise throughout a script can vary as much as actors are different.

Improvising for voiceover scripts doesn’t mean rewriting them.

The major point is there doesn’t need to be a conflict between improvising and the use of a script. The improvisation should support the script, filling in details that support the story and message. In a way, the improvisation is part of the acting technique, incorporated and embedded within the attitude, tone, volume and pacing of the spoken words.

Improvising supports acting technique and creating a ‘world’ that is generated from the words in the script.

The point for the voiceover actor is she wants to deliver the words as if she’s thought of them. Depending on the voiceover script, it may or may not provide that perspective. Voiceover scripts often leave lots of space for the actor to fill in details and “live within the ink”.

What sort of situation would create her to speak these words if that perspective isn’t provided? Regardless of the variability between actors, the practice of improvising details can assist her to explore and then determine the most authentic ‘world’ with the script.

Make a Fortune in your Pajamas?

business, celebrate, creative professionals, small business, voiceover

The State of Voiceover Fortunes in Pajamas: 2021

So many people were jealous of remote workers – working from home – in PJs no less!! That’s the silly concept anyway. Maybe that’s true for some people. For me, I do like to get dressed for my day. Comfy clothes – that’s a story for another blog!

Pajamas aside… Can you make a fortune as a voice actor?

Back in 2017, there was public information about the global voiceover market, touting it to be $4.4 billion USD with $800 million of that in North America. This was based on 2015 data and includes the full scope of money put into voiceover spending, not all of which lands in the voice actor’s bank due to production companies, managers, talent agents, etc.

What’s some real workforce data about being a voice actor?

Voice actors independently choose their path and, even if we know our own statistics, how do we compare to a larger swath of voice actors? We already know that the big money is in animated TV and film and that some of us may get there. We also know that corporate videos, advertising, audiobooks and eLearning are where most of the work is, overall.

Voice actors do chatter about not having data, in social media groups and amongst ourselves at conferences. But it’s all anecdotal. And as we turn the corner into the 2020s, technology is growing up and disrupting some of the human work of voiceover. So probably there have been lots of changes since 2015 data. Personally I can buy current voiceover market data as it was presented in 2017, but I would have to pay at least $3000 for research data access. Not gonna happen.

A group of voice actors conducted a survey to get real, present-day overall statistics of the voiceover acting workforce.

It’s a beginning, and it’s exciting. The data was gathered Jan-Feb 2021 regarding activity in 2020. Mid-2021, their first free, public report about “the state of voiceover” was released. I want to give a roaring shout-out to the folks at Voice Actors of NYC and their associates who showed excellent initiative and created this framework as an extraordinary view into our individually stitched-together world.

Being the first assessment of its nature that I’m aware of, I think they started with the correct fundamental approach and topics about the voice actor profession. Additionally, the data collected seems good. Here’s what they said about the data collection process: “The most encouraging trend we saw in the data collection process was that the results stayed roughly the same after we reached 250 responses. From the 250th response to the 1244th response, the data was nearly unchanged. This tells us we have a fairly representative sample of voice actors.”

I’ve highlighted these key results here: Annual Income, Expertise Level, Genre of work, Union impact, Covid19 impact, Locations, Auditions, Talent Agent impact.

Gross Income of All in 2020

The majority of respondents, 48%, earn $8K or less, with less than 2% earning over $350K. (K=thousand)

37% earn between $8-40K
10.3% earn between $40-75K
9% earn between $75-150K
5.6% earn over $150K with 1.9% earning over $350K

graph of overall income in voiceover — Overall Income, courtesy Voiceover Survey

Gross 2020 Income by Experience Level

You have to be a professional level to earn at least living wage, overall.

$8K or less per year: 94% Beginner, 72% Intermediate, 20% Pro
$75K+ per year: 0 Beginners, 0.8% Intermediate, 27.4% Pro

Experience Level & Union Status

The majority of respondents are non-union.

52% Pro. Of these, 49% non-union
32% Intermediate. Of these, 81% non-union
16% Beginner. Of these, 89% non-union

Type of genres voiced most often

Commercials
Narration
E-Learning
Explainers

Union Work

75% full union earned $75K or less
15% tried to convert work to union, more than half of these found it challenging and confusing

Covid19 Impact

41% of voice actors had increased income in 2020 vs 2019, regardless of Union status. By experience level, Intermediate and Pro also saw the majority of income growth.
74% already had a home studio.

Voice actor locations

Los Angeles area (17%)
New York City area (30%)
53% live outside either area

How many auditions typically submitted per day?

70% do zero to four auditions
Only 3% do 15+

Note: By experience level, Pros generally do more auditions on a daily basis.

Overall daily:

Percent Income from Talent Agents

41% respondents receive 0% income from Agents
18% receive 1-10%
7% receive 100%

Note: 64% have Talent Agency representation; of these, 56% have more than one agent. A majority of Pros have agents, whereas only a quarter of Beginners have agents.

So, can you make a fortune in your pajamas by being a voice actor?

Pajamas? Easy. Fortune? Define that. Can you earn “a very large sum of money”? Can you be rich? According to this survey, less than 2% earned $350K+ in 2020. The majority earned $8-40K. The median household income in the USA for 2020 was $67.5K (statista).

Of course, you can make a fortune – somebody is! But can you make a fortune too? The odds are: no!

According to TheRichest and CelebrityNetWorth websites, the top 10 voice actors, who are uber-talented Hollywood level actors from top TV animated shows, have a net worth between $6 million going up to $500 million. Only if you’re in the top percent, maybe top 0.001%, can you earn a ‘fortune’.

A better question: Can you earn a decent living as a voice actor?

Yes. And, not so many people are even doing this. The majority of respondents in this 2020 data earned from $8K-40K, which is less than the median household income for the USA in 2020.

What is a decent living? That depends where you live, if you are also sharing a life with others, have dependents…. Again, define that and then look at the data. Yes, working from home is lovely and has it’s perks and drawbacks.

I think the most important thing is to look at the priorities of life, and how you want to live it. Can you run your own business by putting in the time and energy to develop your skills while you do what you can to build a clientele?

Feel free to contact me with specific questions or thoughts. I look forward to it.

You can find all the data from the survey here: https://www.voiceoversurvey.com/. Many thanks for the graphical images courtesy of this survey.

3 Iconic Animation Female Voice Actors

animation, celebrity, creative professionals, icon, voiceover

Think back to your childhood. What animated character captured your imagination so strongly that it’s seared into your memory?

For me, there are three. And although very different, they are iconic, classic characters and voice actors that are lauded for their work.

Have you heard of June Foray? Mae Questel? Adriana Caselotti?

June, Mae and Adriana (wouldn’t it be funny if her name was April?) were from different paths and times, and each came to fame in animation voiceover. In my childhood, each of these ladies held a special place in my heart for the animated character they played. Only as I pursued my own voiceover career did I learn… that June is the voice actor behind Rocky and many other beloved characters… that Mae is the voice of Olive Oyl and Betty Boop… and that is Adriana the voice of Disney’s Snow White. As a child, I was simply enchanted and captured by their voices and the beloved characters they played. I now dare to veer into fan-girl territory as I share juicy details about these three actresses, their firsts and their careers.

Adriana Caselotti

An official Disney Legend, she is the speaking and singing voice of Snow White, Disney’s main character in the worlds first feature-length animated film. Adriana was the voice Walt Disney knew was meant to be Snow White’s voice as well, when he heard her among the 150 or so auditioning for the role. I felt enchanted when I heard that song “I’m Wishing” as a little girl, and saw the way that Snow engaged animals.

Adriana’s father, mother and sister were performers. Her father was also a singing teacher in Hollywood, and Disney’s casting called him to ask for potential singer-actors for the Snow White role. Adriana jumped on the second line in the house to suggest herself! She auditioned for and received the role. Adriana was already a singer and performer when she took the Snow White role. And with it, she achieved many firsts: first Disney princess, first English heroine in an animated feature, first ‘named’ female voice actress, a voice on the first feature film soundtrack.

The irony? Being on contract with Disney created a single-lane career for Adriana. It is alleged that while under contract, she was limited to only do what Disney allowed. The Snow White film came out in 1937 and Adriana wasn’t even credited with the role at that time. Disney didn’t credit voice actors, pretending its animated characters were real. In fact, she was paid a small day rate for her work, and much later unsuccessfully sued Disney and RCA for a share of the soundtrack-record profits. This was back in the “studio era” of Hollywood when studios made all the big decisions. At the same time, she seemed enamored of the role, embracing the joy it brought to so many, re-sharing it over and over again in many ways.

Mae Questel

An impersonator, vaudevillian, actress and voice actress – Mae Questel made Betty Boop a media sensation and created the voice of Olive Oyl in more than 450 Popeye cartoons. Extremely famous for her performance as Betty Boop and sensations made while voicing her, Mae captured me with her vocals as Olive Oyl, Popeye the sailor’s girlfriend. I was captivated with Olive Oyl’s silly, unique, fragile, flippant, and sometimes defiant character.

Mae Questel was all personality and entertainer, even though she was discouraged from that career by her parents. Nevertheless, Mae began in vaudeville, became a star with her voice acting, and played occasional small roles in films and television later in her career. Her first big break was as an impressionist, doing all the famous stars of the time.

Max Fleisher found Mae through her comedic imitations. He hired her to be Betty Boop and then Olive Oyl. Mae collaborated with Max to create Olive’s voice: all crackly, squeaky and wobbly sounding, based on some characteristics of a 1930s actress. Olive Oyl was created originally in the newspaper comic strip Thimble Theatre by cartoonist Elize Segar. Popeye the Sailor became a long-running series of animated short films by the Fleisher brothers.

This is Mae’s first: First and longest-lasting voice actress star in animation history. She continued voicing Olive until the 1980s.

June Foray

With her dexterous, pliable voice, June Foray worked in radio and then animation for film and TV her whole life. She captured my heart with her vocal portrayal of Rocky the flying squirrel in the “Rocky and Bullwinkle Show” produced by Jay Ward Productions. Since childhood, I have always loved squirrels, including Rocky. Rocky is a smart, flying squirrel that defeats evil with his best friend, a moose.

June Foray, at 12 years old, was on radio in a local drama broadcast. By 15 she was working in radio. Later she wrote and starred in her own radio series for kids, ‘Lady Make Believe’, which got the attention of animation producers. Her first prominent role was as Lucifer the Cat in Disney’s Cinderella in 1950. At Disney, she established one of her signature roles, Witch Hazel, in the 1952 short Trick or Treat. Chuck Jones of Warner Brothers (Looney Tunes, Merry Melodies) was impressed by June’s Witch Hazel characterization and invited her to work at Warner Brothers cartoons. There she played Granny, owner of Tweety Bird and Sylvester the cat, and Witch Hazel reprised with Mr. Jones directing.

Cute side story: Jay Ward Productions top brass Jay Ward and Bill Scott met with June at a lunch meeting while they drank martinis and pitched June on a new show idea. Apparently, June wasn’t sure about the show nor the martinis. But she gave in – on both! And that’s how Rocky found his voice. As well, during the Rocky and Friends program, there was the ‘Fractured Fairy Tales’ for which June portrayed many characters. In fact, June would go on to become the entire female cast for every Ward cartoon show from then on.

June actively wanted the world of animation to be celebrated. She came up with the idea of the Annie Awards through the ASIFA-Hollywood (the International Animated Film Society). In 1995 ASIFA-Hollywood created the June Foray award and she was the first recipient. It’s awarded to “individuals who have made a significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation”. In 1996 and 1997 June won an Annie. In 2012, at 94, she got an Emmy, the oldest performer to be nominated and to win.

Celebrating Client Gems of Wisdom

business, celebrate, creative professionals, production, small business, voiceover

10 Years!

I’m celebrating my tenth year working from home as a female-owned small business. I have wonderful clients whom I’ve learned a lot from. They hold a variety of positions, from producers at digital production companies to ad agency creative directors to eLearning instructional designers. I have a wonderful time collaborating on their projects and keeping in touch over the months and years. These long-term business relationships bring insights and gems of knowledge. This blog post celebrates the gems of wisdom that I’ve learned from my dearest clients.

Ask for Auditions

All clients on most continents can ask for a free audition prior to finalizing which voice actor is hired. Listen to your shortlist of voice actors with a few lines of your script. Like me, most voice actors appreciate the audition opportunity – it’s my way to show you how I fit your brand! Fun fact: Before the internet, auditions were actually paid for, and managed via talent agents.

Let’s Share All Details

There are simple but important details associated with hiring voiceover services to ensure everything runs smoothly. Ask for a brief overview when either considering me or having selected me from an audition. Things like audio specs, usage, copyright, timing and invoicing are important. I have a checklist so we can review and finalize all expectations and parameters in writing with full transparency. Most importantly, no surprises!

Pay How You Want to Pay

I’ve learned it’s important to accept payments from you in a variety of ways, and not frustrate you with mysterious online systems that feel cumbersome. I’ve had to jump through some hoops and get around obstacles, and I’m able to handle most every request. Paypal, Checks, Direct Deposit, Wire Transfer, etc. A client from my old home town, Doug, asked me to share this with VOs:

“Please accept my payment with a plain old check or credit card. I don’t need to sign up for ACH or any esoteric invoice processing system du jour.”

Discuss Relevant Script Background

As appropriate, I’ll ask lots of questions to help qualify what you’re hoping the outcome will be and take suggestions. Many times you can benefit from the broad range of experience that I have, which might improve the piece. Two wonderful clients told me:

“Writers love to talk about their work, and there will be takeaways about the character or scenario that you might not have otherwise got from just the script.” – Anthony

“Every brand, company, etc. has its own ‘voice’. Sometimes, they don’t even know it. But I think a great VO actor will learn what the voice is and be better able to adapt their delivery to match that voice.” – Matt

Communicate When Stuff Goes Wrong

There are moments no one, you or VO actor, can control… weather, technology, personnel changes, and so on. Mother nature can sometimes wreak havoc on a local level, either for the VO or your location. It can also feel like havoc when technology fails us, either through the internet or within local electronics. Layoffs or management turnover can mean my ‘person’ is no longer working for your company. In any of these situations, patience and professionalism are the best recovery systems from small changes to large disasters. This includes everyone doing the best to communicate directly, appropriately, and earnestly.

Some Clients Only Work with a Voice Actor Once

For certain clients, every project is so unique that a new voice is found for each one. It’s a bit dismaying to voice actors like me, who want to cultivate an ongoing relationship and develop recurring work with you. Regardless if the project was super fun, creative and energizing, it doesn’t always mean more work. So, I’ve learned to enjoy the experience within the journey.

“As a small production company, we make an effort to use a variety of voice talent so our website/work doesn’t get repetitive. As much as we would like to find one person to work with and stick with them, it just doesn’t make sense. The unfortunate reality is that every project is unique and we almost never reuse a voice talent unless it’s an ongoing series.” – Scott

No Client-VO Relationship is Forever

Many of my clients have worked with me for many years. And there are client relationships that last only a few years or are based on a finite advertising campaign or branding strategy. I accept the transitory and subjective nature of the work that I receive. I’m also confident and work on my craft, knowing there are new clients on the horizon.

Some Clients Work with a VO Actor Consistently

Let’s end this list on a high note for me! My returning clients are fun because of the personal relationships that develop, and the success of creating voiceover recordings that consistently meet or often exceed my client’s expectations. As we work together, I learn a lot about your needs and deliver accordingly. It’s a professional, mutually collaborative and creative partnership, enjoyable personally and professionally. This is what I strive for.

Recently I had a fun conversation with a partner company’s new employee. I shared insights about the VO industry and what it’s like to run a VO Actor business. My history in video production, advertising, cable tv operations sales and marketing all prepared me to run an owner-operated business in voice acting. I’ve learned, stretched, grown on all counts, from audio engineering or VO acting skills, to marketing and all the administration. I started with a dream and continue with lots of support from loved ones, mentors, virtual teams and wonderful clients. Thank you!

Collaboration Platforms in 2020

accountability, business, creative professionals, small business, VO tech

Collaboration Platforms?

The year 2020 brought us a great, big, (ugly) new reason to work remotely from home. Although I’ve been working from home and am celebrating my 10th year anniversary, 2020 even brought me and you – us all – new collaboration tools.

A vital collaboration platform or app is one you can use easily and share with internal employees or external clients easily. You use it to organize, plan, execute projects, and offer media assets to be reviewed or changed. Put simply, it’s any piece of online software that helps people get work done together in teams.

Collaboration platforms have been multiplying as long as I’ve been in business. The year 2020 pushed the use of them to new levels. My clients have shared many tools with me as I travel with them on their project timeline and make my contribution. I’m really impressed and excited by how many companies and people have truly embraced this tech.

Below is a curated list of impressive tools I’ve come across. I use only a few regularly but I really appreciate the strength and agility this gives to so many.

Before I share the list, I have to say this: CONGRATULATIONS to all of you who transitioned to working from home due to a pandemic! The temerity to keep going through this very difficult time, to keep the work flowing, to keep the world somewhat sane – THANK YOU! Take a moment to look at what you’ve been able to achieve, especially without having seen this coming. WOW.

Tools I’ve used regularly

Google Workspace: Formerly called GSuite, now it’s Google Workspace. It holds all the online versions of Office as well as connects to email. I use this daily and have for years. It’s very effective for when I travel, also for my virtual assistant and I to work on shared documents. It’s also useful for surveys you can do with Forms.

Trello: Has an intriguing interface that lets you drag task cards across columns. It’s easy to learn and works well for monitoring projects and assigning tasks. Project management, task assignments, prioritization. Fully customizable. I use this a few times a month with my virtual assistant.

Slack: Started as a simple messaging system and has turned into a scalable, integrated, customizable collaboration tool. Project management, task assignments, prioritization. Fully customizable

Tools clients have shared with me

Wipster: Built for creative teams that need to share a lot of assets, deal with visual and audio materials, client sign-offs, etc.

Basecamp: Project management, task assignments, prioritization, internal communications. Increase organization and communication, with fewer meetings (hopefully). Fully customizable.

Other tools that seem to have good reputations

From a bit of research I recently did, the following three were suggested by some of my LinkedIn connections. These appear to offer project management, task assignments, prioritization, person-to-person video chat and screen sharing. Fully customizable and integrations available. Flowdock even seems to have the capability to adjust time zones per person.

Asana
Flowdock
Ora

Contact me directly with any other good platform suggestions!

My email is at the top of this page.

Social Media – Does It Support or Waste Time?

business, creative professionals, instructional design, post-production, production, small business, video design, voiceover

Social. Media. I am doing this. Been doing this. For years.

Is it working? Am I succeeding with it? This is one of my tasks to analyze over the next month or so.

OK, let’s back up. Which social platforms am I talking about?

Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

I work at one or two every day, a little bit. I work this effort week after week, month after month, year after year. Are there results? How do I know if I’m succeeding?

Are you doing social media for your small business on any of these platforms? Are there results? Are you succeeding with it?

Because, frankly, I might be ready to let go of several.

Marketing goals are essential.

My goal has always been to generate connections with potential or current clients, get to know each other, and maybe end up doing some business together. I aim to connect primarily with creative pros from advertising, marketing, video/audio production and instructional design.

A secondary goal is creating strong alliances with other pro voiceover actors and talent agents. And there’s the preset that I am not near any of these people geographically. I’ve been remote working within this strategy for over 10 years.

Perhaps it’s this saturation of everyone doing everything virtually in the last few months, but I feel like it’s time to cull the wheat from the chaff among the platforms. Of course, I need to think this through.

Input & Output Experience differs per platform.

I’ve had good experiences with some platforms only, in relation to my above goals. I’ve cultivated many wonderful connections, clients and VO allies. I’ve also experienced a lot of frustration with wasted time and money.

Creating content is the most time-intensive. I created 20 topics to post about monthly. I hired a company which creates custom content from my ideas, and sets it up in a monthly calendar for my final approval or editing. Each unique post is set on the same day, in the same way, for each platform. I know this isn’t a best practice. I’m already frustrated with time spent to get these posts created and branded. Perhaps I need to rethink this?

Here is a mini-dive into how I feel about each platform I’m currently using.

LinkedIn – Highest true, tangible value. I find excellent professional, direct interaction within a professional community of clients, potential clients and other VO allies. Most of the LinkedIn Groups were very vibrant in 2007 and for many years. Now they seem like ghost towns. Active posts in the home feed and direct messaging are interesting and professional for the most part. I’m very satisfied and grateful for this platform and expect to continue finding value there.

Instagram – I started with skepticism, long after many had already lauded its perfection as the newest and next best shiny social place. It sort of felt like everyone I already knew was simply jumping to Insta. What’s the point of creating the same community on a different platform? And since this platform is about images – and now stories – it feels difficult to master with my vocation as a voice actor. I’ve positioned my Insta as a business account. I’ve not found it fruitful. I feel like I don’t have time to customize content the way this feed needs, and I’m not confident I know the best way to take advantage or if there really are opportunities here.

Twitter – So many changes have happened. Seriously, I used to be in a LinkedIn group that was called ‘Twittering’ in 2007! It was a baby then, quite effective and fun. Those were precious times. Since then, I’ve seen the best and worst of times. I have a nice following but limited interactions, primarily with people I already know. I’ve positioned my twitter as a business account. Although I also do what I can here to tweet, re-tweet, and engage, I’ve not found the right business angle during the many years since its heyday. Again, I’m not confident I know the best way to take advantage or if there really are opportunities there.

Facebook Page – This place isn’t my personal profile. It’s a lonely, lonely page. So sad! Friends and other voice actors take notice of my posts, here and there. This wasn’t true back in the day when Pages meant something and got traction. Then they changed the algorithm, and you don’t get eyeballs unless you do paid promotions. Ugh.

Facebook personal profile – I created this to be in touch with family and friends. My ‘friends’ have evolved to include real friends to distant acquaintances in voiceover. Over time I have included a tiny few clients and VO agents into this mix – and I’m always unsure if this is wise. It’s that blurry line that all the ‘specialists’ say you shouldn’t cross. I wonder if it’s a line I simply should stay on one side of? Whatever the answer is, I do not use this for business purposes as much as is possible. Lately, however, due to the Page being so low performing, during the moments I have thought to close my Facebook page down, I have shared from my Page to my personal profile. Wrong? Not sure that’s the right question. Ineffective? Probably.

YouTube – This is a repository for my work, a sort of online portfolio of work where I’ve been able to accumulate copies. Someone just recently suggested that I might want to pursue activity here. That’s never been a goal of mine. Am I missing something?

Best Practices per platform?

I’ve done my research, my content calendar and branding – as much as I have time to devote. Over years!

I found a company I enjoy working with to help me create content custom for my brand. I’ve read and re-read materials about ‘doing social media right’ and generating content. I’ve played with analytics but so much seems based on consumer vs business demographics. I follow experts that show tips and tricks for actors, and I do a lot of that right. I’ve hired so-called and real experts for paid promotion campaigns. I found one experience full of baloney. I was really mad that I wasted my money but at least I learned.

I know there are lots of best practices. The problem is, most seem geared to larger companies than mine. That’s why I’ve started to feel that a lot of advice out there simply isn’t worth the time it takes to read it. I’ve even studied and done the work about identifying my ideal client/s. It takes so much time. It feels so unscientific. It feels like a treadmill rather than a path to a goal.

What’s my opinion?

I know I’m succeeding with LinkedIn. YouTube is only a repository, with no further expectations. Twitter and Facebook are seemingly time-wasters at this point. Insta is an enigma and leaning toward feeling like a time-waster.

Back in 2007, when Twitter was new and LinkedIn was fresh, it felt good and really authentic. In 2020, it feels very different. My opinion is that LinkedIn is still a robust enough platform. The rest? Not especially worth the time. They’re fun to observe, see what others are doing, and to keep in touch with associates, friends and family. And enjoy very funny memes! I’m going to do some analytics again, and a little more deep diving on content value. At this point, my mind can be changed. Professionally though, I don’t see the value except with LinkedIn.

Do you agree? Do you see something wrong with what I’ve described? What’s your experience and opinion? Please leave a comment and answer social media Qs here: https://forms.gle/16qNPgrEmCZPTnba6