Don LaFontaine's Health

Yesterday was THE superstar of the voiceover world Don LaFontaine's b-day! Not only is his voice heard on countless movie trailers, promos etc., Don has developed a reputation as being down to earth, generous, professional, grounded, approachable, talented, accessible...the list goes on. Over the years, Don has earned the admiration and love of so many in the voice over community, and now the VO community is rallying behind him and his family as he currently lays in the hospital dealing with several health issues. Here is an official update I received via voiceoveruniverse from his best friend of over 30 years, Paul Pape.

August 26, 2008 - UPDATE 5:24 PM PST (8:24 PM EST)

To all of Don's friends in the Voice-over Community:

Don's condition continues to stabilize. There is significant progress
and while he has quite a ways to go yet, there is every reason to keep
the faith. Many of you have expressed your feelings and chosen to
respect the privacy that Don and his family need right now. One could
ask no more of you. This show of respect is deeply appreciated by
those closest to the situation. Don and I often remark that we are
more brothers at this point than just best friends. Yet, as your
outpouring of support shows, Don has many "best friends." He is
clearly important to us all .

Don's wife, Nita, read every single comment that has been posted and
was truly touched and strengthened by your words and prayers. Please
see Nita's response below. As for me, please accept a simple "thanks"
for being there for my ol' pal.

Sincerely,

Paul Pape

FROM DON'S WIFE NITA

To all of you beautiful voice angels,

I am overflowing with gratitude for the responses you've sent on
behalf of Don and our family. I read each of your comments and tears
of joy fell with each sentence, prayer and good wish. It's so easy to
live your life in pursuit of your dreams and not realize how you are
affecting others in a positive way; that in some way by living your
dreams you inspire others to pursue theirs. I am so honored to have
you all praying and rooting for us during this time. Don is a
warrior, larger than life, but in all this he is always slightly
amused that you find him some sort of "guru". He never gets used to
that and lives his life with a kindness, humility, and dignity of a
"small town boy who done good". Your kindness overwhelms me and fills
me with great peace. My husband is a great man to me not just because
of his work and the trail he's blazed in your business, but because he
is so generous of spirit, a terrific husband and father, and the love
of my life. Thank you for being in our village of believers and
pray-ers as Don works his way back to the mic! I'll be sure he knows
of your kindness.


Please keep Don in your prayers.

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My Imaging DEMO & Patti Labelle

I figured the relatively easiest demo to put together would be my imaging demo. Why? because I wasn't doing it! HAH! (not that I am doing the others but still) So I was trying to dig into the "crates" so to speak to pull out some work I have done in the past. I reached out to my friend Dave who has his own radio imaging company called Splat!. I hadn't spoken to him in years but this morning, he sent back to me all of the reads I did for his company. Now I am in the process of gathering together my other reads from other formats. I also need to check out some imaging demos too. Any suggestions? I need all the help I can get.

Aaaahhhhh this is fun. I love the creative process!


Oh on another note, I was spending time in just about all of the discussion groups on Voiceover Universe. I joined alot of them. ( I think there is a radio imaging one, I have to check)I found a Christian one, and the moderator just sent me an email this morning, saying they started a new thread called the prayer closet where members can post requests. I think I may post my brother and his wife, whose children have been diagnosed with autism; and you know that check that I told you a while back was delayed? Well I need it to come thru....I got billz to pay!!! Jesus, hold my mule b4 I have a Patti Labelle moment and roll around on the floor, flailing my legs, while hitting some high notes like a crooked holy ghost preacher on crack withdrawal. That would not be pretty. See what I mean @ around 3:56.

Isn't it a shame?...Gotta love Patti.

I'll keep you posted!

In Search of a Coach pt 3: Cool Peeps in DC

Let me tell you what happened to me when I finally got in touch with DC voice talent Ilene Russell. The nerve of her! So far, I have found the VO acting community to be filled with down-to-earth genuinely nice people, who are open to helping others. When I finally got to talk to Ilene Russell regarding coaches in DC, my impressions about the community were further solidified. (Yes, solidified, not shattered lol psych!) Ilene was very open about how she got involved in the biz, her coaching experience and her current pursuits; and even though I am the newbie in the biz, she picked my brain about VOICE 2008, since she was unable to attend. Ironically, she asked, what will I remember most about the event, what was the most impactful? I told her it was the people I met. The genuine friendships I started (like the one I just made with her). We chopped it up about VO work, blogging and life in general.

As far as coaching is concerned, here r a few things (among others) that I took away from our convo....

1) Chemistry between u and the coach, do we work well together?

2) That all of us are at different levels, some have more production experience, others more acting etc., so it is important that your coach meets you where u r and grows u from there.

3) Don't be surprised if that professionally produced demo you paid to have done a year ago may sound dated or "stale" after you start gigging and growing in your craft. (Shoot, my self-produced demo I did about three weeks ago has mildew all over it!)

4) This is a business of relationships. Stay in contact with people and continue to make friends in the community.

On that note, I am looking forward to talking to more folk, making more friends and learning more about the VO biz (and life in general too). Any advice you'd like to share (must read articles/books, websites I should visit, people I should stalk lol.) By all means, hit me up!

Thanks for reaching out Ilene. (Gotcha!)

Peace.

Infamous Voices

As I was exploring voiceoveruniverse today, I grabbed a couple of gems to share with you. One is a video from the Today Show. It's a great segment on some of the big VO stars -Joe Cipriano, Don LaFontaine, George DelHoyo, and Mark Elliott. See how many you recognize.

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What will VO be like in 5 years?

Here is a post I found in one of the Voiceoveruniverse groups I joined, bettyezollersvoiceoverinformationcentral. The topic was "What will the VO Industry look like in 5 years?" This post blew me away. I thought it was quite compelling and broadened my perspective on what my VO career could be like in the future.

From the advancements in text to speech and voice synthesis technology I've seen, Bettye, we won't have to worry too much about competition from VO talents that charge peanuts for their labors on pay-to-play sites. They'll be replaced with "VO in a Box." For a few hundred bucks, someone in need of voice talent will be able to buy software that will convert copy from text to a voice-over in your choice of voice, male or female. You'll be able to select from, say, 500 different voices and be able to tweak the read simply by indicating emphasis, inflection, and pauses in the copy text or after the VO is rendered. A small ad agency or production house could buy this software to crank out spots and narrations without needing to shell out for real human voices.The technology to do this is here now. You can hear how close technology has gotten to real-sounding synth voices at YouTube and other video sites in videos by virtual singers like Hatsune Miku, which are created with software called Vocaloid 2.

Check out this song on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ-SnC50HQU. Listen closely and you can tell the voice isn't quite human, but it's close and as time goes on it will get closer still. Check out the original Vocaloid product here: http://www.vocaloid.com/en/index.html. Listen to the demos. Again, not quite human, but very close.After convincing voice synthesis arrives, there will still be a market for real human voices, but my guess is that the number of people that can make a living from VO full time will shrink because the low-paying gigs will go the Vocaloid route. There will be a market, of course, for real voices. My guess is that it will support a much smaller supply of the best VO talent--those that can elicit that little extra emotion and, well, humanity--that will be able to command enough to make a living. Whether this scenario is just five years away is certainly up for debate, but the technology that could make it reality is moving quickly. If technology can save someone money, technology will get the nod. And, every time I hear a badly acted local radio ad, well, that might not be a bad thing! :)Cheers, Peter Drew

So could this mean that I could be fired b4 I am even hired? lol

Btw, Peter Drew's website is an awesome resource, filled with very helpful articles along with great samples of his work. Thanks Peter!

Bettye Zoller's group is da bomb! Click here to check out her personal website.

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My Search For a Coach pt 2: DC

No I have not written in my blog recently, why? because I have been partying like a wild woman LOL. The DC Salsa Congress happened this weekend Fri-Sun. Yes I went salsa crazy! I danced so much with so little sleep that my voice was an entire octave lower all day Monday. (Awww sookie sookie Don LaFontaine look out! lol) I am so glad I did not have to do a live shift at my radio job on Monday.

A couple of things have happened in my VO world since I last blogged

1) I posted a discussion at Voiceoveruniverse, asking if anyone had found the phone I lost at VOICE 2008...Two have responded, directing me towards other people who they believe had a clue. I've emailed those folk and am waiting for a response.

2) I also posted another discussion asking if anyone knew of any good coaches in the DC area. My friend at work got coaching from Melissa Leebaert, and I wanted some more feedback. So I asked if anyone had any thoughts on her as a coach. Well I heard from someone. yea!!!!! Ilene Russell is her name, a very talented DC based talent. (I went to her website and got a big kick out of her character demo) She told me Melissa was a fine coach, almost hers in fact, but at that time the money wasn't in her budget (oh I can relate to that one Ilene!!) Later on, she was referred to John Burr, who she said was excellent. Not only am I doing some research on both, but I also asked Ilene if I can pick her brain. She consented.

I'll hit her up tonight.

3) Also got an email from Peter Rofe in regards to his small intensive training program that will take place in September. Even though I want to do it SO BAD, I may have to pass since it is not definite at this moment as to whether I will be in NY at that time. (I plan to move back there in case you didn't know)

After all that dancing I am happy to say that today, my voice is back! Me Me Me Meeeeeeeeeee! Ahem, excuse me, I meant Mi Mi Mi Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

Tootles!

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Making My New Demo???

OK ...right now, I know I need to do some voice coaching and have a "reel" professionally done. Still it may take a little while b4 that actually happens in light of the transitional state I am in (looking for a new job, making extra money etc)

In the meantime, I figured I would do research on what makes a good demo

I've listened to some more demos critically now, breaking down their presentation etc. I am also looking for scripts via magazines, friends etc. to practice breaking down and reading copy.

I figured I might create an interim demo. The process of doing it, I also find, will be a great learning experience too. It's like I will have a much greater appreciation of the process when I have it professionally done.

I know that I need professionals to really assess my strengths and weaknesses and provide direction, since I have an idea as to my range, but they would be able to assess better and see things I may totally be unaware of, and of course provide a seasoned perspective. Once my money comes in, that is one of my immediate goals.

I lOOVE learning, so I am really enjoying this adventure!!

I'll have to talk to God and visualize the right advice, scripts. etc.. to come my way (and anything else I need)

At this very moment tho, I am off to the DC Salsa Congress. So, I also may need to visualize God oiling up my Salsa chops 'cause man I am RUSTY! lol

Adios!

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