VOICE2008 Creative Experience (ahem) Article

[Rajiv]

Hello Todd. Rajiv from Nottingham here. Love your stuff...

I can see where you're coming from on this, but frankly I think your ironic - and sometimes witty - stabs at VOICE are rather naughty, and, at times, verge on the blindly self-justifying rantings of a bitter, old Ebenezer.

No-one forced any of us to go. We chose to - for, what I'm sure, were a whole variety of reasons. Personally, it represented a wonderful opportunity to finally meet some of my forum buddies (mainly Diane Havens ;-)) - and other fellow VO hermits - in the flesh. Anything I might end up learning through the conference presentations would be a bonus - which turned out to be plenty.

However ridiculous you might consider the notion of a rapidly-formed virtual 'voiceover community' to be, to many, it is a living, breathing, nasal-irrigating reality - and was the primary reason that a fair few of us ended up in LA.

Naturally, coming over from England was a considerable expense, but once I'd negotiated the protracted 'affections' of customs and border protection (surname - "Hasan"; date of birth - "9/11"; facial features - "definite terrorist" ), my American VOICE adventure was a fun-fest of fraternising, networking and nugget-gathering. Of course, there were people of all levels of expertise, experience, spiritual wisdom etc, and of course some of the presentations were more/less useful/inspiring than others, but I dare say that even the most brilliantly talented/successful/knowledgeable voiceover professional present would have picked up at least something of genuine value from the 4 and a half days in the Century Plaza.

Like I said, to me it was mainly about the 'human' experience; about getting out of my cave and relating to and with my co-workers; about friendships; and yes, about learning. It would have been good to have a drink with you at the X-Bar, Todd. I could have filled your half-empty glass. And, more importantly, you could have been in 'our gang'...

As one of my delightful new VOICE friends, Diane , says, "peace" (and, might I add, "to each their own"...).

[John Spackman]

Todd,

I just read Rajiv's post above, and once again it appears that your criticism of Voice 2007/8 may have been misinterpreted. Possibly my comments following will shed some light:

===========

Thank you so much for your last post. You did a great job explaining your concerns - and I think I finally understand. And - (make sure you are sitting down when you read this) - I essentially agree.

Yes, the Internet, V123 and Voices.com have dramatically changed the industry. My introduction to VO was actually 6 years ago when demos were hand-delivered on CDs and/or even cassette tape. And VO wasn't proclaimed to be a ticket to making piles of easy money.

If I'm reading you correctly, you feel that the entry of so many "mildly talented" people is diluting what should be a lucrative industry for the experienced VO actors. I can't disagree. The fact that "a massive percentage of those in our industry have day jobs" is the obvious result. I met many part-timers at the convention.

And even some self proclaimed coaches are really part-time VO actors waiting for their "big break" - although I did NOT meet any of them at the convention, but have met some elsewhere. They are good at blowing "sunshine upwards ...."

Todd, I love your comment ".... we're communicators. Interpreting (therefore transforming) the written word into a verbal context to enhance communication." That's very insightful. And your recommendation of theatre experience and performing is very valid.

Finally, and here's the most important question for you, since you do recognize the value of "good coaches" - can you recommend some ? With your impressive background and experience, you must have worked with individuals who are outstanding. If you don't want to "name names" in an open forum, please send me a personal email.

Thanks,
John
jsvoice@telus.net

[toddschick]

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[toddschick]

Hey Rajiv,

"....once I'd negotiated the protracted 'affections' of customs and border protection ..."

Sadly....a sign of the times. I'm sorry about that Rajiv.....my wife got body searched going through security on a domestic flight and they confiscated her nail clippers.....an obvious threat to National Security.....LOL!

"No-one forced any of us to go....."

I don't think that was ever implied. Did I say this? Perhaps you're confusing my stuff with someone elses text?

I'm not exactly sure what it is about my writing that gives people the impression I'm an old "Ebenezer" or angry.....I just don't know why you're getting that impression. Realistic maybe, but.....certainly not angry or bitter or twisted.

You want to talk about anger......you should have read the e-mail I got from James after he read the first line of my article.......the word count was 1463 - about 10 minutes of finished audio. Now THATS anger. Venom was ooozing out of my monitor.....and this.....over a simple joke (which I though was pretty funny, really).

As for "self-justification"....I was awarded that years ago when I began to make a full time living doing VO. There really IS no better self-justification....and I certainly don't have to go look for it on a forum on the internet....lol!

Really, I have nothing to be angry about. I make a fine living doing what I love to do. I have my health. I have many family and friends who bring joy to my heart and my life everyday. Life is good.
I write and speak here (and on my website) to inform (and entertain) others.....not vent anger or frustration.

Perhaps you should read more carefully what I have written here not from the perspective of a crotchety old man.....but....perhaps someone who has a unique perspective from an experience standpoint. Maybe that will skew your thinking a bit....? I hope so.

".....like I said, to me it was mainly about the 'human' experience; about getting out of my cave and relating to and with my co-workers; about friendships; and yes, about learning......"

I hear ya. Whatever floats yer boat.

If I haven't made it clear before....I'll endeavor to make it clear now:

I don't have it out for anyone or any......thing. I'm just merely making an observation of the industry as I see it today...and a prediction of where it's going in the future.

If you choose to think that I'm bitter and twisted - well.....there's not much I can do about that except to say......you're very wrong.

Kind Regards,

Todd Schick

[toddschick]

Hey John....

Ya see Rajiv......? John here "gets it".....thanks for that, John. Good to know someone is getting the message.

".....since you do recognize the value of "good coaches" - can you recommend some ? With your impressive background and experience, you must have worked with individuals who are outstanding...."

At the risk of sounding pompous (sp?) and rude...I'll take a line out of that.....

".....your impressive background and experience...."

.....and say that because of that background and experience.....there wasn't a coach who could teach me anything more when I started to do VO full time.....except just one.

Are you sitting down?

Theater.

That was the next level after radio.......and that's what has afforded me a wonderful, rewarding career. Theater was the proverbial "icing on the cake"......and I came across it purely by fluke - I went to do a cold read audition for a local theater group and was cast on the spot for my script interpretation skills. Little did they know I was the greenest of actors...LOL!

I fell firmly flat on my face....several times. But, I kept at it. And through that process....I discovered the skill that is Physical Adaptation to the Spoken Word....you can only get it in theater....not on-camera.

I hope that helps....

TS

[Diane Havens]

THEATER! Yes. Thanks for validating me, Todd.

But while we're on the subject of theater, let me share my thoughts a bit further on the connection, and though I don't have the years or the experience you have in Vo -- here are some impressions from a relative newcomer.

I think, too, since you brought up the fact that indeed we ARE first and foremost communicators, I hope nothing that I say will be miscommunicated to anyone, as even a skilled communicator such as yourself might have his true intentions misheard.

First and foremost, from entering this enterprise late in life, your vocal tone must start out as a marketable one. Young in VO, as in most things in life, is most in demand. For women especially. You can only fake, er, ACT this so much. If not, you'd better be a seasoned pro with a couple of agents, ISDN and an extensive list of loyal long time clients. It is possible to find your niche in a less traveled road, but much more difficult.

Secondly, yes. You must be able to act. But improv and comic acting will serve you better than drama. As they say: "Dying is easy; comedy is hard." More call for comedy in advertising. The timing is extremely helpful. Stand up, too, could be great if you have that ability. Also, many folks might find it hard to get parts in plays due to their appearances not matching their voices. That is the reason many go into VO in the first place. Add to this that you have to show up and put your bod up there for hours a day and weeks at a time of rehearsal, and then show up for sometimes two shows a day, for which you may only have a few lines. (And, while we're on the subject here, how many stage actors are put out of paid work by unpaid non-pro community theater?)

Be a good business man or woman. Aggressive yet likeable, strong and on message. Make friends for what they can do for you, whether or not you really like them. Have a marketing plan. Be focused. Market every day. Not nearly as much fun as voicing.

Be a great sound engineer. With some cash to spend on quality equipment and surroundings. Fun for some, but not for all. And a talent in itself, being a skilled producer. I thought once to take an audio course at the local college, but then I failed stage lighting as a grad student, and just didn't want to go there again.

Lastly, always be positive. About something. Believe in yourself unwaveringly. Have a healthy ego. Be mature. Never sulk. When you get knocked off your pedestal, put yourself right back up there.

Each of us will find our own paths, our own ways to get where we want to go. Enjoy the journey, the unending journey with no destination. Life is full of surprises, some delightful, some not so much. Be open to them.

Thanks for stirring the pot, Todd. But say what you mean -- it's not so much what you're saying but how you're saying it, and all will hear you better. Otherwise, your message will be dismissed, even though you make some valid points. When I was teaching writing to my students, especially persuasive writing, I admonished them never to write angry. It undercuts your credibility. It only makes people defensive. I also heard much anger there -- I guess I misheard you.

[toddschick]

Hey Diane...

Great, sound advice for anyone getting started - well written.

Stupid English teachers. Stymied! Newman! LOL!

As for anger......I submit that to write angry....one has to BE angry. Which I'm not. Like beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so to is one's perception of anger within a composition.

If there was anger to be perceived anywhere...perhaps it was here:

"So....when you ask me why I appear to be a touch disgruntled....perhaps negative....know this. Myself and a scant few others invented the VO industry upon the inception of the Internet over 12 years ago. Now, we're looking at all these people jumping on the bandwagon.....(over, like....the last 3 years) and we're watching it overflow, sway, creak and buckle under the weight of everyone trying to get their share of what's been proclaimed as a "lucrative" market.

I've got news for you. If you don't have the talent or experience......there's nothing "lucrative" about the VO industry......because there's simply too many people with the same skill set vying for a piece of pie that's getting smaller and smaller by the day...."

On reading the first line, you'll note that I'm addressing the issue of anger directly......and following that up with keen insight that can only come from a person who truly has lived what is now the history of the industry.

But, I'll try to put it another way:

V123 and Voices.com have given all these people with a credit card a sense of entitlement they don't deserve and in doing so, have made a mess of the whole industry by bringing in competition that didn't even make it to training camp. This is why we have hundreds and hundreds of people going to these conferences where there's a pile of coaches waiting to take their money. People can't figure out why they can't quit their day jobs....because all these coaches have told them that the industry is "lucrative."

Here's a classic example of what I'm talking about: Voiceover Classes in Los Angeles

My prediction? Eventually, the wannabes will figure it out and simply give up.

Perhaps the anger your hearing is borne of the fact that I'm watching people try to sell information I've given away since day 1. That concept, like acting, I also came upon by fluke.

In the first 6 months of running Todd Schick Productions, I quickly discovered that more than half the job of getting and keeping clients was not the simple execution of recording and delivering audio and then sending an invoice........but rather.....educating my clients on what a VO service was in the first place.....no-one had ever heard of it!

So, I made up a bunch of pages on my site explaining what the service was so I didn't have to repeat myself. Then came the requests from people wanting to provide the service as well. I was the only person offering information so everyone came to me. So, I made up a bunch more pages for these people so I wouldn't have to repeat myself.

180 pages later, I'm ranked #1 on Google under a pile of search terms.....and soon discover that I'm the only one who's NOT selling a book or a course...! The thought occured to me....but I just couldn't see myself with a picture of my hand under my chin with the caption "How to make money in VO" and selling it for $19.95.

Tacky.

So...that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Have a great day.... :-)!

[Diane Havens]

All cleared up, Todd. We're all friends here.

I had read every word you wrote carefully. But even though you said you weren't angry, you still managed to come off angry. It's much the same in voicing when people say they hear something in my voice that I didn't intend to be there -- it comes from somewhere -- and I am very tuned into it now.

I do understand what you're talking about. There will always be the vulnerable and gullible and unrealistic sorts out there to be preyed upon. Some deserve to have their money taken, by the way. I've met a few of those.

It's like my son, who loves playing tennis. There's a money pit. It costs me about $3000 a year for his tennis lessons and tennis camp. Will he be the next Federer or Nadal? No. Does he love it and might he make the high school team? Perhaps.

Everyone spends their money as pleases them, as others look on with disgust. I have to admit to being physically sick every time I see a Hummer on the road.

As Benjamin Franklin once said, and he said SO much, "The wise man doesn't need advice, and the fool won't take it."

[John Spackman]

Todd & Diane,

May I summarize our discussion with this old saying:

" A fool and his money are easily parted "

But that doesn't give anyone (VO coaches included) the right to take advantage of the gullible.

John

[Robert Jadah]

Much wisdom here.
I'm enjoying it.

How about them Alouettes, huh?

CFL'ingly Yours,

PS: The VO dream merchants are carpetbaggers, as are the travelling modelling troupes and the matchbook cover ads for Do It Yourself Home Organ Transplants. And the trade schools for home-study careers in aviation, aeronautics, and the exciting film industry.
The list goes on.
If I'd attended Voices (and again; I wish that I had), it would have been $1500 well spent to mingle with my peers.
That wouldn't have made me a dupe, nor the organizers opportunistic.

It is not so, however, for the poor schmuck who invested $3000 in the bright-eyed expectation that it would scuttle him from Number 45,789 to Number 611 on the VO food chain.

post-scriptingly yours,
rj