life Archives - Rebecca Haugh

Awards for Voice Actors!

animation, business, creative professionals, improvisation, life, small business, voiceover

There are many professional awards Voice Actors receive for their acting. Here’s a hot list of the big ones.

Annie Awards

From their website: Honoring excellence in the field of animation. An Annie Award is animation’s highest honor. Since 1973. Founded by ASIFA – Hollywood.

From their website: The Audie Awards® is the premier awards program in the United States recognizing distinction in audiobooks and spoken-word entertainment. Publishers and rights holders enter titles in various categories for recognition of achievement. Finalists are selected, and then one winner is awarded in each category at the Audies Gala.

Television Academy Emmy Awards

From their website: Founded in 1946, the Television Academy is dedicated to honoring excellence in television while promoting creativity, diversity and empowering storytellers through recognition, education and leadership. Learn about the history of Emmy awards for voice-over performance via Wikipedia.

Critics Choice Awards Documentary Best Narration

Per their website: The Critics Choice Association (CCA) is a group of broadcast, radio and online critics as well as entertainment journalists who review films and documentaries as well as scripted and unscripted television. The CCA was officially formed in 2019 with the merger of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and its sister organization, the Broadcast Television Journalists Association.

SOVAS Voice Arts Awards

SOVAS is Society of Voice Arts & Sciences. From their website: The Voice Arts® Awards is uniquely designed to honor the community of performers and craft professionals who perform, direct, produce, cast, engineer, and publish media where voice acting is a central creative element of the work. Categories here. Since 2013.

One Voice Awards

Awards program as part of a conference, once in the USA and another in the UK annually. From their website: The One Voice Awards continues to be the only truly independent voiceover award running today. There’s no “Pay To Win” here. Anyone can submit, and anyone can be in with a chance of winning an award. Since 2018. Categories here.

Let me know if I’ve missed any.

Does Improvisation Make You Be ‘More’ You in Voiceover?

animation, business, creative professionals, improvisation, life, small business, voiceover

Most people in voiceover know that improvisation is an important skill for their success. My main point about learning improv, is that it helps you be more you. There are a variety of benefits we get from improv in addition, but I believe this is the ‘gold’.

Why is ‘be more you’ important?

Most VO coaches and teachers and agents will tell you this in a class or webinar. I’ve heard it hundreds of times, and now say it. And it’s true! If you don’t understand why “being more you” is bottom line, you are probably either new to voiceover or a naturally born great actor doing it instinctively!

The importance of “be more you”: The people hiring you want to hear the alliance of authenticity plus the meaning of the scripted words, as intended, come through your voice.

This is why I say you are “performing” a script, not reading it. The difficulty for voice actors is nailing that alliance in a natural way with words we don’t naturally use in conversation. Oh yeah. That!

What does ‘be more you‘ mean for voice acting, then?

The short answer is, you perform a script as if it were real words you just thought of, like in conversation. Authentic. Believable. Natural.

Isn’t that what you already do when you read a script aloud?

You’ll have to answer that question for yourself. Some think their answer is ‘yes’. Are they being hired again and again and making a living at voice over?

Some think the answer is ‘no’. That when you read aloud you are not speaking as if you are in conversation, naturally. You might sound clear, articulate, with some emotion. But in the majority of cases I believe reading aloud is different than excellent natural acting.

For me, and many other high level voice actors, the target is personal authenticity aligned with the intended meaning of the script coming through your voice. Acting is a skill. So is improvising. And when I read the books of Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, I believed them when they said that improv made them either better actors or helped them actually act.

Improvisation is a door opening to ‘be more you’ when acting.

I believe this. Acting, as defined by Meisner is, “living truthfully under imaginary circumstances”. After studying hard, with some struggle, I found some golden moments while studying Meisner in Hollywood back when I lived there. I felt that ‘knowing’ feeling of living truthfully while pretending under imaginary circumstances. You learn to tap into your instincts, your gut, your whole life experience to play pretend with someone else’s words.

For me though, I found that process difficult and slow, and sometimes even emotionally painful. It was also expensive, and didn’t seem to work as much with voiceover. I think Amy and Tina had an outstanding point. In my own words, I think improv helps you put your life experience into your skills as an actor, or voice actor, if you are willing. Just like Meisner, but easier, and usually more fun.

I think improv is the way to find the alliance of authentic and scripted meaning for VO.

Rather than simply following the adage for voices actors which says “picture your are talking to XYZ friend/family member/loved one”, improv gives you a strong foundation to create that imaginary circumstance. And, improv lets you use your life experience and interests to do that. Even if it does take practice getting good at it. It’s fun!

Are you into knitting, or rebuilding engines, or bar tending when you have guests? Do you spend time playing video games or reading history or playing with your kids? All of this is beneficial within improvisation. You bring your life to improv and play with things you love. And that, my friends, helps you bring your life – YOU – to voice acting. Jump into improv with the thrill and gusto of knowing everything you ever experienced can be used in it!

That, friends, let’s you then apply improv freedom to the structure of a script.

For some, this means a sense of freedom, and of play. Great! Wait – hang on. For others, it’s a bit scary because it’s like uncomfortably exposing the real you to the world. Or feels that way. What if the real you isn’t interesting enough, or not good enough? What if they think you are weird? What if…

Fear scares a lot of people away from improv.

In these cases of fear, you need to begin your improv journey in a safe space with a group leader who understands and teaches you to push but not break your comfort zone. Adults learning new skills sometimes feel vulnerable or uneasy, thinking approval from others is needed. The people in your training and the teacher’s strength to guide can make a big difference. You will be asked to stretch and pull at your comfort zone in expressing yourself, when led by a good improv teacher. Don’t let fear stop you. Do a little research about where you want to study improv, and give it a shot.

Passion from your life experience can be very contagious and uplifting for all! By sharing it, you add new perspectives to improv scenes that cannot be duplicated by anyone else when you are truly authentic. Your unique points of view will always add good flavor to the improv meal! And that, my friends, leveraged to your voiceover scripts, will have “you being MORE you”.

There’s always a little more to this, and you do need to know your VO basics in tech, microphone proximity usage, and script analysis to know the writer’s intent. I suggest you learn all that first.

Then, embrace opportunity with the fear. Learn improv.

We’re All Adaptable…

down-time, improvisation, life, voiceover

It seems almost the whole world is moving into ‘the next phase’. Are you feeling nervous or just a little anxious?

I was both when I ventured out this week because I hadn’t been out in more than a month. A part of me even panicked while driving to the store. Seriously! But a deep breath or two resolved the angst. I shopped and consciously noticed feeling a bit of joy, seeing other human beings like me. We are alive! We are moving! Hopefully the majority of us will take all needed precautions and move into the next phase with a little bit of joy thrown in – perhaps on top of the facemask like this?

Considering adapting, I also recently taught an online ‘improvisation for voice actors’ class. The students often enter class with anxiety about attempting improvisation, putting a lot of pressure on themselves to be perfect or funny. After class they graduate with ‘training wheels’ and a newfound trust in themselves and their abilities. Happens every time.

Learning to change makes us strong.

So I thought about all of these circumstances, and couldn’t help but be uplifted by the large and small adaptations I witness, in person or online. I want to acknowledge you ALL – HERE. You deserve recognition.

You have been either within some level of unsettled discomfort, all the way to potentially the worst during this pandemic. You have changed your routine. You stopped traveling to an office, limited travel to stores and doctors. You learned new technologies, shifting from in-person to on-line.

You did this in your personal life, your business life, your parent life, your family, relatives, churches, sports, and so on. All the roles you live in life. This pandemic has been a big event for all of us, reaching almost every corner of the world. That’s scary impressive.

CONGRATULATIONS. I really love what I have heard, where people showed integrity, ingenuity, compassion and strength.

Human beings are so amazing.

We’re all adaptable… whether we like what we adapt to or not!

Adapting to stay alive. And more than that…

To learn new ways to thrive?
To remember old ways to thrive?

If you’d like to comment or share how you’ve adapted, please do using my email listed above.

My Coronavirus ‘Moment’

life, voiceover

Personal Reactions

During my personal coronavirus moment, I’m learning that I’m resilient. That if I let myself move through the emotional waves around me, my feet still touch the ground. Bend, flow, be connected, even if socially-distanced. I can lift up and fly, above all the chaos, the constraints, upwards to go where I want to go – live how I want to live. And be moved by so many human acts of love and connectivity – while we remain arms-length apart.

As you may already know, I work from home and have since 2010. You may not know I am currently in Italy, near Rome. I live a fairly remote lifestyle in the countryside when I’m here. The little Italian town I live near, a farm or two over, had no incidences of the virus until days ago. I hear a family is in isolation. Maybe three families. News like this is hard to confirm and it could even be gossip. But it’s changing how I feel. I was in a safe bubble. I am still but it just shrunk. News here says 80% of people will get infected by the time it’s all over.

Let me back up, to give you a sense of what it’s felt like. I’ve been in Italy since the holidays when coronavirus first happened in Wuhan, China. It all seemed so far away then, only a glimmer of news. But upon learning how it had spread to northern Italy, I felt a tsunami of fear and claustrophobia. The TV news was updating with bigger and bigger numbers in the Lombardia region, showing coronavirus spreading.

I was not alone in that moment. But suddenly I felt very alone, floating in an invisible padding of panic with an inevitable implosion. It became a mental panic vice on my head, squeezing and inciting adrenaline, with nowhere for me to run. Panic, fear of no way out, that claustrophobia and sense of doom. That feeling you have in the pit of your stomach watching a movie scene where someone is slipping into quicksand but this time it’s you. Is this similar to those who learn of a world war, or regional war?

Tough Decision: Stay or Go

I really had to sedate myself that night and, being honest, a few other nights since then. Escaping to the US occurred to me, but I couldn’t abandon loved ones here. Was I weak for considering that option, one most here do not have? Choosing to stay gave me a release on the vice and the rampant running of adrenaline. It gave me a sense of control and purpose. Do what I can, from here, for now.

Obviously, if I go ‘home’ to California to help my senior parents, I will be asked to self-quarantine for 14 days. Could I even be a carrier? Do I want to risk it? At this moment, they seem OK, so I remain where I am. But my heart weeps for anyone separated from dear loved ones. I’ve seen both horror stories and others of love in the last few weeks. I bet we will all see them.

So here I am. Depending upon where you are, perhaps I’m ahead of the curve you are yourself facing. It’s a bit of a dark day for most of us, isn’t it, generally? Like we’re playing out some epic blockbuster movie. There will be death and destruction… and heroes.

Aside from the doctors and valiant others involved to heal and keep our world turning in the right direction, I want to shine a light on some other heroes. The Italian people are known stereotypically to have strong emotions worn on their sleeves, dynamic with love and anger. I’ve always admired this. In these recent days of #StayStrongItaly, #TuttoAndraBene (everything will be all right), #IoRestoACasa (I stay at home), Italy has shown its beautiful colors. Through social and other media, they have joined together while distanced, singing and holding lights from balconies and windows at a precise day and hour, spreading hope and love. It brought tears of hope, love and decency to my eyes, and encouragement to my heart.

Surviving and Thriving

I have always been known as a strong woman, brave, full of life, energy and intelligence. It’s a nice reputation that I’ve been happy to have. But I have to admit, I’m also vulnerable, a little bit scared, and hopeful.

I go outside when possible and hope you can go outside too, even if it’s a balcony or a windowsill. It’s healing when the sun shines on your face. And maybe you can see the trees blossoming regardless of our virus, rebirthing in their annual mockery of wintery death. I am thankful for so much. Smiles, floral perfume, then fruit and marmalade will come from the blossoms. We are resilient, like a flowering tree.

Be the hero in your own life. Find your light and share it during these darker fearful days. Loosen the vice of fear, open your emotional heart, and for the sake of humanity – share your love.

Will this end? Or simply become a seasonal incident? When we look back at this, will it be with pride in our response? I don’t know. But at 6pm tonight, I might just sing. Even if no one can hear me from their balcony.