PSAs for Myanmar Cyclone Aid Available Free Online
May 9, 2008
The nation of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) is suffering through the aftermath of a cyclone that has killed 3,900 people and perhaps as many as 15,000, and has left over 10,000 people displaced and homeless.
In the wake of this natural disaster, aid that has been sent to the people of Myanmar has been intercepted by the country’s ruling junta who has seized all materials sent by the U.N.’s World Food Program, resulting in the U.N. to suspend further shipments of food until the matter has been resolved.
WFP spokesman Paul Risley relays “The food aid and equipment that we managed to get in has been confiscated,” including 38 tons of high-energy biscuits.
While governments and agencies around the world are waiting for a shift in the situation, voice actors in North America have banded together as in the past to bring critical messages to the people of the world centered on the welfare of the children who have been affected by this devastating natural disaster.
Organizing voice talent, Peter K. O’Connell, pleaded “If you directly know any radio station or television station program directors, internet radio stations or podcasters, please direct them to the audioconnell.com website where they can download a free :60 or :30 PSA or email them the spots or scripts (if they want to record spots with their own voice talent, God bless ‘em!).”
Several years ago when Hurricane Katrina decimated New Orleans, O’Connell was the first to develop as PSA campaign that made a significant impact regarding awareness of how Katrina had clobbered the landscape and its people, directing those who listened to the PSA to give generously to the American Red Cross.
As O’Connell pointed out, public service announcements don’t do any good if they aren’t played. In order for people to respond to the call to action, they first need to hear the message.
“Please promote the availability of these spots within whatever professional network you are a part of and encourage their use to help raise money the people in Myanmar who have been so terribly distressed,” O’Connell concluded.
Source: Peter K. O’Connell
Source: NewYorkTimes.com
Results of Health Survey Insurance Polling US Voice Actors
May 7, 2008
“Ridiculous and getting worse’ … ‘Horrendous’ … ‘A conundrum” … “Huge concern.”
These unscripted words are among many that are passionately flowing from voice actors in the U.S about the state of their health insurance.
Financial and emotional pain is evident as premiums rise, life circumstances change, and insurance plans yank precious benefits.
“Health care costs are strangling us,” says one. And another: “All our money goes to mortgage and insurance.” Read more
Voice Talent Tony Pasquale Announces Live at the Georgia Dome
April 22, 2008
Voice Talent Tony Pasquale is the live announcer for this year’s DECA International Career Development Conference in Atlanta.
High energy voice talent Tony Pasquale has been contracted to perform as the live announcer in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome during DECA’s International Career Development Conference. The annual conference, with nationally recognized entertainment, has an expected attendance of over 14,000.
Butcher Swaps Meat Cleaver for Microphone
April 18, 2008
The dulcet Tyke tones of a Bradford butcher have won him the chance to swap his meat cleaver for a microphone as the new voice of Yorkshire Water.
Kevin Carroll, 52, won a competition to find a friendly Yorkshire twang to greet customers when they contact the firm’s call centre.
He and more than 100 others recorded their own versions of the Yorkshire phrase: “Hear all, see all, say nowt. Eat all, sup all, pay nowt and if tha ever does owt for nowt allus do it for thi sen.”
Five finalists were chosen and the contest was put to an online poll, which Kevin, of Gregory Crescent, Horton Bank Top, won with more than two thirds of the vote.
He said: “I’ve been told my voice isn’t bad so when I saw the competition in the Telegraph & Argus I thought I’d give it a go.
“I’m proud that so many people voted for me.
“I think they just wanted a friendly Yorkshire voice, although strangely, I was in America last year and everyone thought I was Australian.”
Kristine Oller Helps Voice Actors Get Organized
April 17, 2008
Most performing artists want only one thing… to be a performing artist as a full-time gig.
In pursuit of the dream, many unconsciously let it slip away from them and find that in order to make their dream a reality, they need to overcome several obstacles, often self-imposed, before they can achieve their goal of a solid and stable career doing what they love.
That’s where people like Kristine Oller come in.
Kristine is a professional organizer and career strategist who consults people, works with them on plans to make the most their situations, and then frees up precious time, space and financial resources liberating her clients from their ruts and the baggage that holds them back from success.
DB Cooper Featured by Seacoast Online
April 16, 2008
For a woman born in California and raised in Hawaii, DB Cooper (Deirdre Williams) is heavily entrenched in the Seacoast. She’s a voice you know, even if you can’t put a face to it.
Cooper is a longtime, regional radio personality and has acted and directed for film and stage. These days she’s still “the voice” performing as a staff announcer for CBS Radio Boston, WBZ, one of four employees doing company commercials.
She actually makes a living with those pipes.
“Pat Fraley (my business partner) says I’m the poster child for the successful voice career from the hinterlands of America,” she says, laughing.
Stars to Give Car Park Voice-overs in the UK
April 14, 2008
THE squeaky voice of comedian Joe Pasquale will soon ring across a town centre - reminding motorists to lock their cars and take valuables with them.
The high-pitched funnyman is one of a number of celebrities whose voices will be given to “talking ticket machines” in Tunbridge Wells.
Reminders will be given to motorists as they wait for their tickets to be printed at Pay and Display machines.
Others voices used include Boycie from Only Fools and Horses, characters from the television show Little Britain, Elvis Presley and cockney actor Michael Caine.
Voice Talkers Video Gets Thumbs Up From Voice Actors
April 10, 2008
To say that the video “Voice Talkers : Living the Dream of a Voice Actor” by New York-based comedy troupe POYKPAC struck a chord with the voice acting community would be an understatement.
Little did they know that the brief video “Voice Talkers” featuring Taige Jensen, submitted to YouTube’s Sketchies II contest would turn into one of the most interesting and close-to-home snapshots of families with multiple voice actors.
Professional voice actor Dan Nachtrab remarked, “It’s as if someone put a camera in my house.”, suggesting that the video hit very close to home and the crew from POYKPAC had done a bang-up job presenting the realities of working in the voice over business.
Don LaFontaine’s Health Issues in Full Retreat
April 9, 2008
With treatments finally at an end for a lung infection, Don LaFontaine is on the road to full recovery and has his family to thank. Don’s wife, Nita Whitaker, a former nurse, was the first to realize how serious the situation was and took charge of monitoring her husband’s health during his stay at Cedars Sinai last Fall.
In a recent newsletter, Don shared, “I would have never made it without the endless patience and support of my one-of-a-kind wife and daughters.” Read more
Voice Coaches Advanced Marketing Expo and Conference
April 7, 2008
For the second year in a row, Voice Coaches, a company that provides creative voice development services and instruction for voice actors, hosts the Voice Coaches “Advanced Marketing Expo and Conference” on Saturday May 3, 2008 in Schenectady, NY at the GE Theater.
This one-day event for voice actors brings together a unique blend of industry professionals with a variety of specialized knowledge and experience, giving attendees a rare opportunity to learn from and interact with top professionals and experts.
In previous years, the conference had been exclusively limited to clients of Voice Coaches, but this year, their team is excited to announce that the Advanced Marketing Expo and Conference has open registration and welcomes voice talent from all over the country offering registration over the phone toll-free to reserve tickets for this industry event.
