Investor Warren Buffett Narrates Animated Childrens’ Videos

Most people know Warren Buffett as the most prosperous and savvy investor in the world, but how many people know Warren Buffett, the voice actor?

As the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren knows his fair share about finances and the stock market. Little did we know that his own voice-over star is on it’s way up with DIC Entertainment.

Warren will provide candid voice-overs for a new direct-to-video animated childrens’ series called “The Secret Millionaire’s Club“, offering up lessons on money and financing to kids.

After pondering this for a moment, one might wonder why Warren Buffett was selected to record for this new venture.

Berkshire Hathaway just happens to be located in Omaha, Nebraska - conveniently, the same city where DIC Entertainment produces voice-overs for many of its kids’ TV shows and direct to video DVDs. Sources say that a theatre for children and other facilities are also located in Omaha. The connection between DIC and Buffett leaves us asking ‘why not’. Read more

Tulsa Oklahoma Voiceover Workshop on the University of Tulsa campus

As the Feagin Artist Professor, Bettye Zoller will be teaching students enrolled in the Theatre Division of the University of Tulsa (voice-overs/voice acting) in early February in Tulsa Oklahoma. While Bettye is present, the university has graciously arranged for a public workshop in Tulsa to be presented on Sunday, February 3rd (1-5 p.m.) This is in response to the numerous requests from people who are not university students but who seek Ms. Zoller’s training in voice-overs and prefer a workshop in Oklahoma.

Bettye Zoller related, “When I informed the University of this and the numerous emails and phone calls I continue to receive in this regard, they arranged an OPEN ENROLLMENT workshop in Tulsa for those who are not university students! Thank you to the University of Tulsa for letting us use their wonderful facility. And a special thank you to Professor Lisa Wilson of the University of Tulsa Theatre Division.”

All details of the location on the campus will be revealed to enrollees. Register online at the VoicesVoices.com webstore soon as this will sell out quickly. Space is limited.

The fee is $125 to attend. Register online to secure an appointment for a limited number of one-hour private consultations available while Ms. Zoller is in Tulsa. The private consultations will be scheduled individually after you enroll and will take place daytime and evening hours on February 5 and 6 while space lasts.

About Bettye Zoller

Bettye Zoller Seitz is the award-winning voice of thousands of commercials, film video narrations, telephone messages, toys, any’s location, description and website is ideal. She also is a voice speech and voice-over coach, audio engineer, audio producer. She is the recipient of CLIOS, ADDYS, GOLDEN RADIOS, and AUDIE AWARDS. She has served on faculties at Southern Methodist University, University of Texas at Arlington, and the Dallas County Community Colleges. She travels by invitation to present workshops for university divisions, organizations, and conferences. Her 2008 schedule is always found on homepage of website at VoicesVoices.com. Call for information on available 2008 dates! She is a Simon and Schuster audio author/reader, author of 11 other audio CD titles and several books. She owns and operates the VoicesVoices Recording Studio in Dallas Texas.

Voice-Over Accreditation: What’s It All About?

Nikki Saco, a versatile voice actor, was initially “uneasy” earlier this year when approached about a plan to form a professional society to accredit voice talent.

“I honestly wasn’t sure how the voice-over industry would benefit,” she writes in a new feature on VoiceOverXtra.com.

Yet today Saco is vice chair and on the Board of Directors of that new organization: the Society of Accredited Voice Over Artists, or SaVoa.

What eased her mind? How do voice actors benefit? And … how does the accreditation process work, anyway?

Nikki Saco answers these questions and more in a new comprehensive article, available free at www.VoiceOverXtra.com, an online resource for voice-over success.

How To Convert Your Audio into an MP3 using iTunes

Converting files to MP3 from a CD is not terribly difficult, but it helps to have a step by step guide.We developed a short tutorial on how to do this quickly and easily using your own computer. Here’s some rudimentary info about MP3s and a guide to help you to create an MP3 file from an existing audio file.

Converting Audio into the MP3 Format

The universal standard audio file for delivery on the Internet is called MPEG-3 or more commonly known as MP3. For voice talent, you should make your voice-over demo available in MP3 format for easy distribution to clients via email or for convenient download on your webpage.

To Convert Your Audio into an MP3 using iTunes, follow these steps:

1. Import the CD into your iTunes player
2. Create a playlist for your recording(s)
3. Drag your recording(s) into the Playlist to keep it/them organized
4. Select the recording that you would like to convert to MP3
5. Click on “Advanced” in your iTunes menu bar
6. Select “Convert Selection to MP3″
7. Wait a couple seconds, and voila, an MP3 has been created!
8. Plug in your iPod or iPhone and sync. You’re done!

Other Notes

The MP3 file should be encoded at the bit rate of between 128kbps (standard) to 160kbps (medium) to 320kbps (highest) for optimum quality yet maintaining a relatively small file size for delivery over the Internet.

MP3 File Equation

When trying to estimate how large a file your voice-over demo will be in MP3 format, consider this equation.

• 1 minute of stereo digital audio, encoded at 128kbps = 1MB MP3 file

Did You Find This Helpful?

If you found this tutorial helpful, let us know by leaving a comment below.

Voice Actor Stars as KITT Car in Knight Rider TV Movie

The studio behind an upcoming TV movie revamp of 1980s cult TV series Knight Rider unveiled some details about the project this week, including a new car and the casting of Canadian comic actor Will Arnett.

Will Arnett, a Toronto-born actor, has developed a career as a voice actor recording for animated shows, network promotions, movie trailers and advertisements.

KITT, short for “Knight Industries Two Thousand”, was for many the real star of the show. The car boasted artificial intelligence of sufficient level to reason, talk (the voice of William Daniels), and deliver sarcastic one-liners to Michael Knight as an equal.

 

The made-for-TV movie has updated the KITT car from the slickly modified Pontiac Trans Am of the original series to a twin-supercharged, 806hp Ford Mustang Shelby.

Photos Courtesy: Getty Images, Engadget

Clear Channel Enters into Merger Agreement with Mitt Romney’s Private Equity Group

Mitt Romney’s private equity firm, Bain Capital, and Thomas H. Lee Partners have agreed to pay in a leveraged buyout agreement with Clear Channel Communications, the largest radio station owner in the country.

This development is the final stage in a negotiation that has been ongoing for over a year.

Read more

New Movie Release, Alvin and The Chipmunks

The live-action film Alvin and the Chipmunks released today in movie theatre’s across the nation. The movie depicts live actors interacting with computer generated chipmunks. The director, Tim Hill, takes a departure from the 1980’s cartoon version where they were animated to be the size of normal children, in their newest incarnation they are the size of real chipmunks.

By chance Alvin and his buddies find themselves in the home of Dave Seville, who is a down-on-his-luck songwriter. After getting somewhat accustomed to living with rodents he pens them a Christmas song hoping to make the big time.

Seville sends his demo to a sleazy recording executive, played by David Cross. The Chipmunks break into Cross’s house and sing him the song. Soon Alvin and the Chipmunks are super stars.

Alvin, Simon, and Theodore are all voiced by different actors; Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Jesse McCartney. Playing Dave Seville is Jason Lee.The bad boys of 1980’s Saturday morning cartoon are back, and badder than ever. Or so the critics say.

Did you see the movie? Tell us what what thought by leaving a comment below.

2008 Outlook: Local Online Ad Spending Surges by 48 Percent to $12.6 Billion

Research and Markets has announced the addition of new Borrell Associates report: 2008 Outlook: Local Online Advertising to their offering. After a decade of testing the Web, local advertisers are making significant adjustments to their marketing dials, turning up the volume on online advertising.

“We expect a 48 percent increase in local online ad spending in 2008, bringing it to $12.6 billion.”

Driving most of the growth is the popularity of local search and online video advertising. Local search advertising will more than double next year, to $5 billion, while locally placed online video will triple, to almost $1.3 billion. A major component of local video advertising will be long-form pieces for home, automotive and health-related categories.

Read more

Discovery Communications Goes Public

Discovery Holding Co. and a part of private media giant Advance/Newhouse have agreed to combine their stakes of Discovery Communications television into a single, publicly traded business, the companies announced.

The new entity, Discovery Communications, is now the “largest nonfiction media company”.

The 100-plus television brands of Silver Spring-based Discovery Communications include the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC and the Science Channel, which collectively attract 1.5 billion subscibers through cable networks in 170 countries.

Read more

How to create a personalized ringtone for your iPhone

With GarageBand 4.1.1 you can export your original song, your original audio recordings, or use Apple Loops and iLife jingles to create a custom ringtone for your iPhone.

Here’s what you need to create your personalized ringtone for your iPhone:

- GarageBand 4.1.1 or later
- iTunes 7.5 or later
- iPhone with software version 1.1.2 or later

 

Step #1

Create a new Garageband session, or open up an existing Garageband session with the recording you’d like to convert into a ringtone for your iPhone.

 

Step #2

Define the “cycle region” by dragging the little purple triangles to the left and to the right in the timeline. The cycle region will be the audio that is exported, so be sure to have it correct. Also note that the region must be 40 seconds or less. You can double check you haven’t gone over the limit by viewing the clock in the main window.

Step # 3

Preview your iPhone ringtone by clicking play. If something doesn’t sound right to you, such as a “clip” at the beginning or end of the playback, adjust the cycle region.

Step #4

Once you’re happy with what you hear, choose “Share” from the main menu, then select the new option called “Send Ringtone to iTunes.”

Step #5

Next time you sync your iPhone, the new ringtone will appear on your iPhone.

Trouble-Shooting

For additional help and tips, visit the trouble-shooting tutorial from Apple.

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