BOY what a D day indeed

Yesterday D was for Demo -- I met up with my friend for my demo session. He wanted me to do some reads for alternative rock station. HILARIOUS! I did not realize how strong my regional accent was until he started pointing out how I was pronouncing certain words. It was very eye opening. It is going to be interesting to hear the final product. It will be a great starting point until I am able to start gigging regularly.



Yesterday D was for doomsday, but in fact it wasn't doomsday yesterday. TODAY was doomsday. The company for which I work, WorldSpace Satellite Radio, filed Chapter 11 this morning. Consequently, this afternoon, everyone in my dept except for 3 people were laid off. So I have now officially joined the ranks of the unemployed. How do I feel? Well, frankly it sucks but I anticipated something like this happening months ago, so I prepared for it. I am so grateful I did. I had asked the HR person about COBRA and you know what? The cost of basic medical insurance for a single person is about $527 a month. How much do I get a month in unemployment insurance? Approximately $1500. So how does one budget for rent, gas, food, bills AND medical insurance?? Let's see....food or bills, health or rent? Indeed people are hurting. Glory be to God. I am doing fine. Will I have medical insurance? I have to start looking now to see what my options are. I am very healthy so I may have to pass at least for a lil while and believe God will continue to keep me safe.

Still, ironically, I am excited. Excited about what is coming. Excited to see what this challenging situation will bring out of me. Again I know I said it before, but preparation is soooo important. When I first suspected this company may be coming to a close, I got ready for this season. Now here I am - in it. Wow.


Here's to the future! Pray for me!


I feel like I am being led to the edge of a cliff, and have to trust that my parachute will open and help me land on my feet.

GERONIMOOOOOOOOOOOO!




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Today is D day

Ok what do I mean by D day. Well..

D is for Doomsday?
Today is the day that I am supposed to find out what happens with me at my job. They owe me back pay. Will I get it? If not today, when? and afterwards will I be fired, let go or asked to stay on?

Today is also the day that at least 10 of my friends were laid off in the Sirius XM merger.

D is for Demo Session
Today is the day that I am supposed to have my official imaging Demo session with my friend Zoltar. I am working on his resume and he is editing my first demo. We met yesterday to discuss it and gather all the previous work I have done. He's stretching me in some ways, so I am excited and curious how well I will deliver.

D is for Depsite
Despite what some would say is crazy times in the overall economy and even in my life right now since so many things are up in the air for me,

I am feeling quite good -
grateful to be alive and healthy
fortunate to have more than enough to pay my bills
excited about having great family and friends who love me
curious about the lessons I will learn in this season
impassioned about the creative adventures I just started to embark on....(what r they? I'll let u know eventually...)

and somewhat anxous for the election to hurry up and be over with! Barack the vote!


Oh BTW, D is also for deep cleaning my house. I am finally putting my summer clothes away even though it was HOT is DC yesterday.

ttyl!

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Just for Laughs: SNL debate

I've been in NY handling family business and am right now grateful that my mom has DSL!

Did u catch the debate on Tuesday night? I caught part of it on radio. Here is the SNL skit of it. I got the biggest kick out of

McCain saying the same thing over and over again,
Tom Brokaw trying to stay within the time limits,
McCain calling a questioner the wrong name,
referring to Obama as "that one", and ultimately,
McCain walking all over the place and getting into the camera shots LMAO
How both McCain & Obama answered the last questions simultaneously "Change...Maverick" lol

I wish Obama was easier to make fun of...so snl could get more laughs regarding him.

On a voice over tip, what a science it is to imitate people's voices and cadences. Props to SNL!

Enjoy!

Inside a coaching session with Nancy Wolfson

A friend of mine like me, was looking for a coach and decided to do a tele-coahcing session with Nancy Wolfson. As many of you already know, Nancy is one of the major players in the business, and has a great repution. However, her worksop at VOICE 2008, in my opinion, left much to be desired. I was very disappointed.

My freind also had some questions, but decided to go with Nancy anyway. So finally when the session happened, I told her to give me some feedback. Here are some of the things she said.

First, since it would be thier initial sesson, Nancy sent her some "homework-prep " which she said was very helpful. (GO Nancy!)

"My first session with Nancy went well -- it wasn't so much a coaching session as a demo audit. We spent time chatting a bit and then she gave a pretty detailed listen and analysis of my current demo. Total of an hour.

Right away, I did notice is that she has a very keen ear. Before listening to the demo, I shared a bit about myself, and she made observations about my sound, vowels, my regionalisms, and could also tell what my face was doing (my mouth/jaw/tongue) over the phone.

Re the demo...She gave a strong critique, and I was expecting that, however it was constructive. She told me what she liked, didn't like and why. One aspect is local / national market standards. I know that her standard is a national market, so that's the bar that she's holding the demo to. My feeling is that national vo commercials are very nuanced and subtle. My demo was created in a small local market, and I agree with her assessment on the forced, "corny commercial" (my words) feel of my demo. However, that's what local commercials sound like here! She did note that the overall demo is a reflection of the director (who does come from a small market and knew very little about me before doing the demo). Some music or sound layering was dated and obviously small market to her ears. Either too over the top, or did not match my voice style.

On branding, while listening to the demo, she picked out what was my "brand sound." And I was surprised, but based on my interpretation of what national commercials are (subtle), it makes sense. if you listen to my demo, she liked my voice/delivery for 2 spots I did, 1 PSA and one health food commercial. So that's good to get a beginning direction on where my niche could be.

But aside from that, some things that I really understood is how I do need coaching on commercial acting. I have no training in commercial. It's all been intuitive or guessing. Commercial have such a limited amount of text, so each word or phrase really does have a big punch. Or no punch if I totally miss the point of the copy writer putting it there. She asked me questions about the 'call to action' that I am asking of the customer/listener, and how to present that for different goals (do I want the person to think about something or buy something or call someone, etc.)

I think her skills are definitely worth the cost... I was very impressed with her ear and her knowledge and insight about the minutiae of commercial script analysis that she does have. I look forward to tapping that in the next lesson. I do have another session scheduled for November, and in the meantime I'll download her "acting for advertising" mp3s. She sent copy to work on, and so it's good to have 'homework' "

Bravo to Nancy and my friend. It sounds like it was a productive session!

My Voice & An Australian's view of OBAMA

B4 I talk about Australia, I just have to say that my voice is back!!!! YAY!!! I can move forward on my demos and even run my mouth with my amigos. Me Me Me Meeeeeeeeee! lol


Now that that is out the way, I just wanted to share an email I got from a co-worker. The company I work for is international and he is based in Australia. Do I know him personally? No, but in his company wide letter/email of resignation, he added a PS to share his thoughts on the upcoming American election.


I know in general, many Americans do not concern themselves with the perception of America abroad, or even concern themselves with what occurs in other countries (except for perhaps the Iraq war, and even Palin admits that she doesn't know too much about it despite her son's deployment). Still it really moved me that an Australian co-worker took the time to express his case to his American co-workers about the US election. I know that people all over the world are closely watching this election. His comments made for a very interesting read.

Please keep in mind that this was written prior to the Wall Street crisis.




PS- Im sorry, but in closing i just have to take this opportunity to make a plea to all my colleagues in the US. I beg you please dont miss out on the once in a lifetime chance of having one of the smartest and compassionate presidents the US is ever likely to have and i beg you even more, please please do not vote for those idiotic numbskulls in the republican party who are destroying this world and destroying the chances of middle class America to live decent lives. Barack Obama is the only way forward for you guys, he has amazing vision and a fantastic team of people to help him- he will change your image overseas for the better and he will bring you once more international respect and integrity. I can tell you that the whole world is watching this amazing election campaign and that the whole world is watching with disbelief the propaganda peddling and the stupidity of the republican party- they are fooling you(with the help of a certain news channel) and they are lining their pockets with your money! Voting the GOP in again will destroy middle class America, it will bring more instability to the world, they will do nothing to address climate change and eventually it will be sure to topple you from the worlds superpower status. I hope for the sake of the US and planet earth Barrack Obama wins this election.

Wow even Australians are campaigning for Barack from abroad. lol. It makes me think that if the world voted in the US election, who would they vote for and why?

Talk to ya soon!

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The power of a COLD

My goodness, I have been shaking a cold that I have had since last week, Monday. Now mind you, when I first got it, I pretty much kicked the bulk of it in the butt within three days. However, it is Monday and even though I am only just a little bit congested, and I do mean a little bit, my voice is not normal yet. Ugggh, and I am supposed to have a demo session tomorrow. What am I to do? Well, here's to maximum strength sudafed, echinacia and some maximum strength meditation on healing! LOL!!!!!

Wow if I was doing VO full time, this would be like a week without pay. OUCH!

So make sure you take care of yourself as the seasons change.

Let u know what happens!

BTW, I saw one of my absolute favorite soul artists and producers of my generation last night, Raphael Saadiq LOVED IT!

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My Friend's Gig!

Here I am interested in Voice Over and I get an email from my friend Kenya Brome, an actress in NY, who recently narrated a book. They say, voice over is really voice acting, and an actor is better than a "great voice". I am proud of her. We were partners in crime (lol) in college, so of course I had share her work with you and the write up. Tell me what you think? The author apparently loves it. It's always great when a client is so satisfied and pleased with your work.

Actress Kenya Brome
from shanaburg.com

When I first heard a clip from the audio CD version of A Thousand Never Evers, goose bumps sprang up over my entire body. I couldn’t believe what a spot-on job Listening Library did casting it.

Dr. Teri Lesesne, a.k.a. the Goddess of YA Literature, writes, “The narrator of this audio, Kenya Brome, is perfection. She gives singular voice to Addie, creating something that moves beyond the text.” (Click here to listen to a clip from the CD.)

Kenya has worked as an actor in New York since she was a child. Her many theater credits include Tranced, A Young Lady From Rwanda, and Valley Song. Her television credits include Law & Order, Third Watch, Law & Order Criminal Intent, and All My Children. She was also in the award-winning commercials for Citibank Identity Theft Protection.



I recently caught up with Kenya. She told me about her experience recording the audio CD for A Thousand Never Evers:
“Working on A Thousand Never Evers was a rewarding experience. I got a sense of accomplishment by telling this story. I felt like I was contributing to the civil rights movement by helping to convey some of what life was like for black people in this country not too long ago.

“I read the book quickly a few days before the first session, and I made some mental notes on how to vocally approach a few characters, but I was acting on my feet. Sometimes the director said that I was too much of a perfectionist in my trying to get the best or what I felt was a natural or an ‘authentic’ read on some sections; but I didn’t want to just get through it. I wanted to give my best; the same attention to detail and specificity that I would give to a stage performance, because all the audience has is my voice to help the listener hear and visualize the story.

“I hope the recording of A Thousand Never Evers can be a tool to help young people get a sense of themselves in the historical context of this country. It’s very unfortunate how people today dishonor the memory and fight of the civil rights movement by cavalierly using ‘the N word’ in their everyday language. That gives everyone license to abuse that word and ingrain its connotations into the fabric of society. Thousands of Black people were killed and oppressed with the venom of the N-word. Why make it the catch phrase of so-called hipness?”
In a few weeks, Kenya will be packing up to work in a play out of town; a regional production of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at the Berkeley Repertory Theater, directed by the Tony nominated film star Delroy Lindo. She also has a supporting role in an upcoming film called Order of Redemption starring Tom Berringer, Armand Assante, and Busta Rhymes.
Click here to order the audio CD from Amazon.com


You go Kenya!!!

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