My weekend was quiet…which meant I spent a lot of time on the internet.
Big surprise, huh?
But what I found out was a heckuva lot…only retrenching my belief that “if I rest, I rust” (German proverb: rast ich, so rost ich).
FIRST
I was surprised to see that one of the top community-relations guys in the VO business was saying goodbye to his employer. Steven Lowell of Voice123 said in his blog over the weekend, that basically he needed a reset. Read about it in Voice the Dream. You can say what you want about P2P sites, or Alex Torrenegra, or bad business plans, but Steven always worked patiently, honestly, and earnestly to explain things. He made converts, and made sense. Without him, I have no idea how V123 will survive.
SECOND
And speaking of P2P’s…over on the Voice-Over Pros FaceBook Group…a deep and erudite discussion over why Voices.com would strip from client/talent communications ANY contact information, URL’s, email addresses, or other info that (gasp!) might foster a relationship between seeker and voicer. To her credit, Stephanie Ciccarelli waded into the conversation, and that took guts (so did Steven Lowell, BTW). Ciccarelli is as pleasant-a-person as you could ask for, and (like Steven) always listens. While the Ciccarelli’s have a business to run, they DO seem to have a heart for their talents’ happiness. We’ll see if they change there policies because of members’ dislike. They have before.
THIRD
Over on Ed Victor’s “Working Voice Actor” group on LinkedIn, another robust conversation gained momentum on the efficacy of the ACX compensation model, and whether it was even worth the ROI for a voice actor to even spend one’s time narrating audiobooks. The usually loquacious and always experienced posts of JS Gilbert held sway, but if you ever had ANY questions about whether the Royalty-Share compensation option at ACX was worth the trouble, you’ll find your answer there.
FOURTH
This Thursday, if you can make it to San Francisco, you might still find a seat for a screening of a movie about the VO business called: “In a world…” A preview of the flic got a lot of attention at the Sundance Film Festival last week. Cameo’s by Joe Cipriano, Mark Graue, and Melissa Disney make this a must-see for voice-actors. Details on VoiceOverXtra
FIFTH
Last night’s EWABS show was another winner. Hosts George Whittam and Dan Lenard throw out lots of great info about making your recording environment better. But beyond that, their esteemed guest was none other than top VO coach Marice Tobias. Tobias is a self-described student of sociology, and her coaching style reflects the astute observations she makes on entertainment industry trends. It doesn’t hurt that she knows the business inside and out, and has the experience to see things change. If you get a chance, make sure to review the show once it’s posted.
SIXTH
Over at World-Voices.org, things are happening and fast. Uber-geek Andy Curtis, a member of the WoVO Executive board, has launched a social media site just for voice-actors that is a worthy challenger to FaceBook. The amazing thing is that he had already launched a site like this, then trashed it, started from scratch, and in days had launched another one… Check it out at WorldVO.com. Right now, basic membership is open and free. At World-Voices Organization we want to get things rolling, and this is an open-arms way to do it. More invitations are going out all the time, and if you want to get an official invite write me at [email protected], and I’ll get you on the next mailing. Membership opens up areas of the WorldVO.com site that will bring added value to the site’s functionality AND to your VO career!
Honorable Mention
Just by way of follow-up…I dug deep and had a new computer built for my studio. The outgoing machine was 7 years old, and I wasted SO MUCH time waiting for it to DO something. The new one has a 500Gig Solid State Hard Drive (no moving parts!), and so much RAM it could be a Dodge Truck. The result? A rise in productivity that is making it SO worth the expense. I’m not bragging…just suggesting that you might want to consider how much time you’re wasting sitting on your hands, when a new computer can make you smile everyday!
Have a great week!
CourVO
