“Cool” Anonymity Factor of Voice Over
February 19, 2008
You could compare meeting Sean Moth to unmasking the Wizard of Oz.
As the public address announcer for the University of Louisville, Moth’s voice resonates loudly from the microphone, filling Freedom Hall with carefully enunciated, intentionally emphasized words that incite emotion in fans and foes.
But once the final buzzer has sounded and Moth wishes the crowd well, he morphs into the antithesis of his P.A. persona.
“There’s this cool anonymity of only being known by your voice,” said the 37-year-old, who was hired by U of L athletic director Tom Jurich. Moth first met Jurich at his alma mater, Colorado State University, when Jurich was the director of athletics there.
Animated Goodness and Voice Actors Rewarded at Annies
February 14, 2008
The Annies brought the animation industry together honoring the year’s best productions, including awards for voice actors in animated feature films and animated television production.
A gourmet rat was the big cheese at the 35th celebration, winning 9 Annie Awards. Honoring the best in animation for 2007, the annual gala event was held on February 8, 2008 at UCLA’s Royce Hall.
“Ratatouille,” Pixar Animation’s tale of a rat who wants to become a chef, won the award for best feature production. Other nominees in the same category were DreamWorks’ insect story “Bee Movie,” Sony Pictures’ penguin-powered “Surf’s Up,” Sony Pictures Classics’ coming-of-age chronicle “Persepolis” and 20th Century Fox’s “The Simpsons Movie.”
Below is a listing of the two categories consisting of the finalists and winners of each category honoring voice actors.
Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
* Janeane Garofalo – Voice of Collette – “Ratatouille” – Pixar Animation Studios
* Ian Holm – Voice of Skinner – “Ratatouille” – Pixar Animation Studios (WINNER)
* Julie Kavner – Voice of Marge Simpson – “The Simpsons Movie” – Twentieth Century Fox
* Patton Oswalt – Voice of Remy – “Ratatouille” – Pixar Animation Studios
* Patrick Warburton – Voice of Ken – “Bee Movie” – DreamWorks Animation
Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production
* Scott Adsit – Voice of Clay Puppington – “Moral Orel” – ShadowMachine
* Madison Davenport – Voice of Sophianna – “Christmas is Here Again!” – Easy To Dream Entertainment
* Tom Kenny – Voice of SpongeBob – SpongeBob SquarePants “Spy Buddies” – Nickelodeon
* Eartha Kitt – Voice of Yzma – The Emperor’s New School “Emperor’s New Musical” – Walt Disney Television Animation (WINNER)
* Eddie Murphy – Voice of Donkey – “Shrek The Halls” - DreamWorks Animation
Source: AnnieAwards.org
Finalists Announced for 2nd Annual Voicey Awards
February 14, 2008
This year promises to be very exciting for the voice over industry, particularly for those nominees who became finalists overnight in the 2nd Annual Voicey Awards.
The Voicey Awards, also known as the Voiceys, recognize professional voice actors for their contributions to the art of voice over and highlight performance, education and business know-how.
The Voicey Awards has expanded from five award categories to nine since the inaugural event, nine that are poised to honor voice actors of all ages, nationalities and voice types, including Best Child Voice, Best Teen Voice, Best New Voice, Best Female Voice, Best Male Voice, Best Foreign Voice, Best Personal Branding, Best Voice Team and Life Time Achievement.
Champions of Customer Strategy
February 14, 2008
Voices.com takes customer service seriously — very seriously, and as such, was honored with a 1to1 Impact award.
1to1 Media reports that customer strategy is always evolving. And in many cases, the best advice about what to do with your customers comes from your peers, doing similar things at their companies.
The 1to1 Impact Awards shines a spotlight on companies doing extraordinary things with customer strategy with war stories direct from the winners about how they were able to achieve their customer goals.
When asked in an interview with 1to1 about what advice could be given to marketers about using customer strategy to make an impact on the bottom line, David Ciccarelli, CEO of Voices.com shared:
“I would say treat each customer uniquely, and understand that each has specific needs. They’re coming to you for solutions to whatever problem they might have. Also, be flexible. Understand that their needs are unique to them, and tailor whatever you have to offer around wherever they’re at. That’s everything from going the extra mile to offering discounted rates or flexible payment terms. I think that those are just small ways to meet those customer needs. But also explore tools and best practices that vendors and partners have to offer. Utilize the knowledge of other people within the industry.”
To read more, click on the source below.
Source: 1to1Media.com
Celebs Lend Voices to Airport PA Systems
February 14, 2008
Public Address systems are becoming yet another way for celebrity voice actors to bring awareness to the voice over industry.
USA Today reports that some airports are now customizing their public address messages to make themselves stand out against the general sameness of air travel and to improve communications with travelers.
To accomplish the goals, airports are finding distinctive voices for the routine announcements, injecting some fun into those announcements and using celebrities for specialized messages.
At Boston, Joe LoGiudice, an airport supervisor and part-time professional voice actor, is the “voice” of Logan airport. He delivers not only the routine announcements in the airport, but provides the voice for recorded telephone information and for the airport’s low-power radio station.
Meanwhile, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., have all recorded personal messages welcoming visitors to the state.
Most airports these days use generic-sounding automated voices or recordings made by professional voice actors to deliver security messages and general information. Typically, an airport will hire an agency that produces radio and television commercials to record the announcements. The “talent” are generally professional voice actors. A few airports use computer software that can generate announcements in several languages.
In Tennessee, the Nashville International Airport partnered with the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau to enlist Nashville recording artists to record terminal announcements.
For example, says Emily Richard of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, country artist Lee Ann Womack greets visitors this way: “This is Lee Ann Womack inviting you to relax and unwind in one of the airport’s many restaurants. Thank you for choosing Nashville International Airport.”
Charlie Daniels, Wynonna Judd and members of the Sugarland and Lonestar bands have recorded announcements for the Nashville airport.
“We now have the recording labels and business managers of artists contacting us to provide terminal announcements,” Richard says. “They know this is a great way to get their artist’s voice and name to millions of visitors.”
Customized delivery
At Yeager Airport in Charleston, W.Va., Gov. Joe Manchin’s recorded voice welcomes visitors. Amanda Wilson, a radio veteran who works for the airport’s advertising agency, voices most announcements, and she adds a little bit of fun.
Wilson urges people to “have a fantastic day” while alerting them to security measures. She slips in a few one-liners to keep folks on their toes.
For example, in the standard announcement warning travelers not to accept any packages from an unknown person she adds, “Especially that shifty-looking guy over there.”
The Transportation Security Administration prescribes wording for security announcements, but the agency says it’s willing to work with airports that want to customize the delivery.
Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Ky., has received permission to replace the recorded announcements supplied by the TSA with the voice of Ray Holbrook, a longtime local radio and television personality.
Holbrook, 78, spent more than 40 years in local media and now does commercials for radio and television. After 9/11, airport officials approached him to record some of the announcements on the airport’s public address system. He continues to do so.
His pay? Breakfast, complete with biscuits and gravy.
Holbrook says he enjoys the positive feedback from travelers who hear his announcements.
“A lot of people tell me, ‘We know we’re home when we hear you.’ I like that I can make people feel comfortable, especially the way things are for travelers these days.”
Blue Grass Airport Executive Director Michael Gobb says Holbrook “has a way of reassuring our customers,” comparing it to the effect that former CBS newscaster Walter Cronkite had on his audience.
Entertainment factor
Holbrook’s voice may be reassuring, but at McCarran airport in Las Vegas, some of the recorded voices you’ll hear at the airport are downright entertaining.
Since the early 1970s, celebrities who have headlined at the many showrooms in town have recorded messages for moving walkways, reminding travelers to stand to the right so folks in a hurry can rush by on the left. Over the years, the voices have included Bill Cosby, Dick Clark, Phyllis Diller, Rich Little and Rodney Dangerfield.
“They all did it for free,” says Randall Walker, airport director. “The messages are all funny and clever. The whole concept is to grab people’s attention. If people don’t pay attention, then it has no effect.”
Paying attention on the moving walkway is important, but at the security checkpoint, it’s essential. So, in 2004, the airport joined forces with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to spice up the videos shown to passengers waiting in line.
Now, instead of the standard, stern, TSA-supplied instruction videos, passengers can be heard chuckling and occasionally guffawing at entertainment icons such as Wayne Newton and Cirque du Soleil, comics Carrot Top and Rita Rudner, and assorted clowns, magicians and celebrity impersonators.
The videos show those characters trying to get their medical devices, loose change, giant footwear, weapons and oversized carry-on bags past straight-faced security officers.
Source: USA Today
George Lucas To Bring CGI Animated “Star Wars” Installment to Theatres
February 14, 2008
Another “Star Wars” tale is on its way to the bigscreen, but it won’t be distributed by Fox.
Lucasfilm has partnered with Warner Bros. Pictures and Turner Broadcasting on “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” a CGI toon that will bow in theaters this August before moving to the smallscreen in the fall. The Aug. 15 feature will set the stage for the spinoff skein, which will bow on Cartoon Network, followed by airings on TNT. International release dates for the feature and TV series are still being set.
Multiplatform project is an expansion of the earlier “Clone Wars” microseries that aired on Cartoon Network. However, Fox’s homevid arm released those episodes on DVD, just as it has distributed every “Star Wars” theatrical release since 1977.
Lucasfilm said Warner Bros.’ cable and theatrical resources made it an especially good fit for the project. “We’re trying to do something unprecedented — marrying TV series and theatrical release,” a rep said.
Under this deal, Warner will release the film and TV skein on DVD.
Warner execs eagerly tracked the project throughout the development process, and decided to give the property a theatrical launch after seeing footage.
“I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t want it,” said Stuart Snyder, president and chief operating officer of Turner Animation, Young Adults and Kids Media, who said a theatrical launch “has always been contemplated as part of the process.”
The “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” movie is expected to run around 100 minutes and pick up between episode II and III. Anakin Skywalker is not yet Darth Vader. The story will then continue in 30-minute smallscreen installments.
George Lucas, who has revisited the property and time again over the decades, said he mounted this new spinoff because he “felt there were a lot more ‘Star Wars’ stories left to tell.” He said he wanted to tell them through animation, pushing the technology forward at the same time.
Lucas serves as exec producer on the project, which will primarily employ voice actors. The only original actors returning are Anthony Daniels as C3PO and Matthew Wood as General Grievous and the battledroids.
Lucasfilm Animation has already produced more than 30 episodes in the TV skein, with production continuing in Singapore and Taiwan. On Tuesday, Lucasfilm launched an online Web docu about the project at Starwars.com.
Source: Variety.com
Voice Actors Can Take Virtual Tours of Home Studios
February 13, 2008
Voice actors who want to know what voice-over equipment their colleagues are using can now peek into those studios, in a new series of articles and photos on VoiceOverXtra.com.
Located in the web site’s Home Studio section, these virtual Home Studio Tours reveal the equipment, studio layouts, soundproofing and other factors that are crucial to providing clients with quality voice-overs.
The articles also provide insight into the studio owners’ reasons for buying certain equipment.
For instance, the current online tour explores the West Palm Beach, Florida studio of voice talent Ed Victor. He was recently hired to do all voice-overs for the Florida Lottery – a job that takes him to a Miami studio for recording.
In his first visit to that studio, “The booth was dead silent, and the microphone was the same one the big movie guys use in Los Angeles,” Victor says. “I couldn’t help myself, and broke into my best ‘Don LaFontaine’ (the premier voice of movie trailers).
“The door was open and the ad agency in the next room overheard my impromptu – and called me for an audition right there on the spot!” Victor says. “So I had to get that microphone for my own home studio, and bought one the next day.”
Stories abound from the growing slate of other voice actors whose studios are profiled in the series, including (in alphabetical order) Colin Campbell, Cookie Colletti, Mitch Collins, Luis Garcia, Joan Hovey Hall, Diane Merritt and Alan Varner.
The Home Studio section also features advice on constructing home studios, equipment to use, a voice-over bookstore, and an expansive Home Studio Super Store for quality equipment purchases.
Source: OpenPR.com
Writers Taking Final Steps Toward Getting Back to Work
February 11, 2008
Hollywood writers got their first look Saturday at details of a tentative agreement with studios that could put the strike-crippled entertainment industry back to work, an offer the union’s East Coast president said he was endorsing.
A summary of the proposed deal crafted this week was posted on the Writers Guild of America’s website hours before members attended meetings in New York and Los Angeles.
Compensation for projects delivered via digital media was the central issue in the three-month-old walkout, which idled thousands of workers, disrupted the TV season and moviemaking and took the shine off Hollywood’s awards season.
“I believe it is a good deal. I am going to be recommending this deal to our membership,” Michael Winship, president of the Writers Guild of America, East, told reporters before the New York meeting at a Times Square hotel.
Winship said afterward that he was encouraged by the membership’s response.
“We had a very lively discussion. I’m happy with what happened. … At the moment, I feel strongly it (the proposed deal) has a strong chance of going through,” he said.
Microphones Donated to Upgrade PA System for Announcing
February 7, 2008
The Pratt Leadership 2000-Plus fall class of 2007 donated two microphones to the Pratt Recreation Department Wednesday at the Green Sports Complex.
The microphones upgrade the complex’s public address system. The donation was part of the class’s community service project. PRD director Bruce Pinkel graciously accepted the donation.
Pinkel and his staff welcome 90,000 visitors per year to the complex, hosting national, state and local events.
In 2007, the PRD hosted the state American Legion AA championships and Hap Dunlop World Series.
Source: Pratt Tribune
Val Kilmer Replaces Will Arnett as KITT Voice Actor
February 7, 2008
A conflict between car sponsors has caused NBC to hire Val Kilmer to replace Will Arnett as the voice of KITT on its “Knight Rider” revival.
Variety reports that Arnett (”Arrested Development”) had already finished the voice-over for the movie, a back-door pilot which is slated to debut on NBC in less than two weeks.
Producers Doug Liman, Dave Bartis and Dave Andron — along with the network and studio — were thrilled with his performance.
Unfortunately Arnett had a contractual conflict of interest. Arnett is the voice of General Motors — voice overs for GMC Trucks.
NBC’s new “Knight” is a Ford Mustang.
Because Ford is also taking an active role in the marketing and branding of the pilot for a possible series. Ford’s logo are on the NBC promos too.
When GM got wind of this and about the Ford connection, Arnett was “asked” to pull out.
“I was very excited at the prospect of playing the part of KITT in the new ‘Knight Rider’ movie,” Arnett said. “However, because of a long relationship with General Motors as the voice of GMC Trucks, I had to respectfully withdraw from the project.”
With NBC and Universal Media Studios scrambling to replace Arnett’s dialogue with Kilmer’s, Val has plenty of experience and has done lots of voice-over work, including the voice of Moses in 1998’s “The Prince of Egypt.”
Source: Monsters & Critics
