Here’s an enjoyable radio commercial I just did for Miller Lite introducing their new Aluminum Pint. Beer commercials usually have really funny radio & TV campaigns and its an opportunity for voiceover talent to stretch your muscles and do something a little bit more over the top. I thought this spot, called “R & D” for research and development, was a clever concept delivering mundane facts within a humorous situation. Speed, clarity, and timing (Chuck!) were key to making this voiceover work. Also, Chuck (sorry Chuck for not getting your last name at the session) was the PERFECT Brewmaster. The funny thing is that Chuck really sounds like that in person. Some people are just given a great set of pipes and others, like me, sound like a teenager in prep school.
When SAG and AFTRA didn’t merge in early 2000 I knew it was the beginning of the end. The leadership that blocked the merger at SAG is the reason I’m not involved in SAG politics and really don’t have much hope for SAG in the future. In other words, pension when I turn 65, I wouldn’t bet on it.
No comment really necessary other than to say read this because to say it happened you wouldn’t believe me:
Italian crime drama unmasks alleged gangster
Monday July 7 2:24 AM ET
“Gomorra,” the organized-crime tale that won rave reviews at Cannes in May, is helping the Italian police track down real criminals.According to the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera, the film was screened at a Naples prison where inmates in jail for activities related to the Gomorra — Naples’ version of the Mafia — recognized one of their own among the film’s cast.The actor, credited in the film as Giovanno Venosa, who is reported to be a wanted organized crime figure with a passion for acting, ended up as part of the no-name cast that director Matteo Garrone selected for the film. He tried out in an open audition and won a role.
Police said they easily tracked him down and that he was placed in prison in the northern Italian city of Modena, near Bologna. “We would have never known Venosa was who we were looking for if he had not been recognized by the inmates who saw the film,” a spokesman for the Carabinieri in Naples said in a telephone interview. In the film, the character played by Venosa killed two teenagers. Police did not say which crime he has been accused of in real life.
Reuters / Hollywood Reporter
Screen Actors Guild Continues to Negotiate
Members Continue to Work Past Contract Expiration
Los Angeles, June 30, 2008 – The Screen Actors Guild national negotiating committee has bargained with the AMPTP for the last 42 days and remains committed to negotiating a fair deal for actors as soon as possible.
Here’s an adorable story coming out of the Huntersville Herald in North Carolina about two of the youngest voiceover actors around. It’s worth reading not only for the cuteness factor, but because there are several helpful hints to be picked up thanks to the wise advice of the sisters father Brian Haymond.
Here is a great podcast that I subscibe to called “The Business” on KCRW, which is a local NPR station out in LA. Frankly, it’s the only radio station in LA worth listening to and it’s subscriber supported. What does that tell you about the state of LA’s radio scene?
In this episode Claude Brodesser-Akner, the host, interviews a therapist named Dennis Palumbo. I have never felt so understood as an actor as when I was listening to Dennis describe what it’s like for creative people living and working (or attempting to work) in Hollywood. Dennis touches on jealousy, the highs and the lows of success, feelings of self worth tied into how well your career is going, and more. If and when I move back to LA and when I can afford him, I will most definitely be contacting Mr. Palumbo for a few sessions. Just a quick tune up is all I really need. I’m not a narcissistic self loathing actor at all. I actually probably only need one session with him just so he has time to get to know me and tell me how amazingly adjusted I am for an actor. Help me let out the rear and beautiful person hiding inside me. OK, two sessions. Continue reading →
For actors there are countless recourses available that promise to improve your skills, but as a voiceover it can sometimes be more challenging based on the fact that voice-over is a specialized skill within the acting field with a smaller pool of talent than mainstream acting circles. So when Joan Baker compiled her book Secrets of Voice-Over Success: Top Voice-Over Actors Reveal How They Did It I was inclined to read it and hopefully glean some wisdom from those more successful than I in this field. I must say the mere idea of compiling a series of “how I did it” short stories written by top voiceover talent is a great one. It would be assumed you could learn many a trade secret from the best of the best, and a few gems were found, but I had to do a bit of digging to find them.
Chasing Radio Imaging jobs these days can be a real headache for a number of reasons. The first being less people are listening to radio stations which makes for tight budgets and a slowing economy adds even more incentive to cut the bottom line. Therefore the pay for the imaging voice of a station has seen a decline. Why, as a radio imaging talent, spend money on demos and marketing when the return is so little. The mere accessibility to talent these days, thanks to the internet, has also saturated the marked driving prices down. The last offer I got was $50 a month. Industry standard, as I understand it, for radio imaging voice talent in the past ranged from $500 - $1,000 per month or about $100 a page. The range was in place because the smaller the market the smaller the radio imaging voice talent budget.Yet, with all of the Station Managers and Programming Directors complaining of tight budgets Clear Channel, the biggest employer of radio imaging voiceover talent, “performed better than the industry as a whole.”
I guess I’m not the only one who thinks this may be one of the best plays ever…if not ever definiely this year! Very exciting news for Tracy Letts, Steppenwolf, and the actors in the cast! I’m very excited for all of them.
I was inclined to read it and hopefully glean some wisdom from those more successful than I in this field. I must say the mere idea of compiling a series of “how I did it” short stories written by top voiceover talent is a great one. It would be assumed you could learn many a trade secret from the best of the best, and a few gems were found, but I had to do a bit of digging to find them.
