Edge Studio

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VOICE OVER TODAY – May 18, 2004

Helping voice-talent build careers.

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Published by EDGE STUDIO
     New York training - 212-868-edge
     Washington DC training - 202-398-edge
     Connecticut training - 203-374-edge
     Tele-Training - 888-321-edge

established 1988
member Better Business Bureau

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WHAT IS EDGE STUDIO?

Voice Over Career Building
- training, evaluations, demos, marketing resources, guidance, duplication

Production Studio & Casting
- commercial and narration productions

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WANT PRACTICE SCRIPTS?
visit www.edgestudio.com/scripts.htm

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THIS ISSUE INCLUDES:
1.) Marketing?
2.) How Much Extra To Charge When Supplying Voice Overs
3.) Make Funny Voices? – get paid in NY and DC
4.) Opportunities For Minority Voices

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The 2004-2005 edition of the Audiobook Reference Guide, from the publisher
of AudioFile magazine, is worth checking out. This comprehensive sourcebook
to the audiobook industry provides contact information for 600 audiobook
publishers, wholesale and retail distributors, creative, manufacturing and
support services.

Check out the section on Voice Talent--and sign up for YOUR listing in the
2004-2005 Edition.

Call 800-506-1212 or visit www.audiofilemagazine.com to order your copy
now. Just $24.00 (inc. s/h). For info on the Voice Talent listings email
guide@audiofilemagazine.com.

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A new voice-over training package at Edge Studio:

“Do It with The Works!” for $804.

• 2,000 online production scripts
• three private coaching sessions
• one private demo-preparation session
• production of one demo
• one private marketing consultation

Of course, we always suggest an evaluation first, to determine:
• if you have potential
• and if so, which niches are most marketable for you

Interested? Call us weekdays, 9-5 EST, at 888-321-edge.

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1.) MARKETING?

if you
…WANT VOICE OVER WORK
and
…CAN BE IN NEW YORK CITY ON Thursday June 3rd, 6pm-10pm
then
…THE MARKETING ‘GET ME WORK NOW’ CLASS
could be for you.

IS THIS RIGHT FOR YOU? Do you want work?
RESULTS? We don't know how Scott Glasgow (the instructor) does it, but results are amazing!
SCHEDULE: Thursday, June 3rd, 6pm-10pm
LOCATION: Edge Studio, 307 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1007, New York, NY 10001
PRICE: $99
INTERESTED? Please call us weekdays 9-5 EST at 888-321-edge.

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Audiobook Readers: Channels for Success
What narrators need to know about audiobook publishing. Learn how your
acting skills fit into the world of audiobooks. Whether you have dozens of
audiobook credits or are looking to break into this specialized voice work,
this track gives you a unique opportunity to learn from producers and peers.

The Audiobook World for Narrators
Tools for Narrators
Stars Talk: How We Do It
At the Mic: Training with Audiobook Producers

When: 9-5:30 on Thursday, June 3rd, 2004
Where: Union League Club, Chicago
Who should attend: Actors, Producers. Mid-career and Career Builders
How Much: $195 per person inc. meals & 5:30 PM social [After May 3, 2004
$225.]

In this full day seminar you will learn about opportunities in the audiobook
industry and help you succeed as an audiobook reader. Topics include

Overview of the audiobook market
What narrators need to know about audiobook producers
independent producers; home studios; agents.
Pros and cons of adding audiobook narration to your acting skill set
How you can make a living reading audiobooks
Where to find the jobs & how to get them
How the stars of the audiobook world do it
At the mic training demonstrations with top audiobook producers
Q & A opportunities with participants and panelists

Seminar panelists include: audiobook publishers, audiobook
producers-directors and successful audiobook narrators.

Registration available at www.audiopub.org or by
email, info@audiopub.org or
by calling 703-556-7172.

Event sponsored by the APAC Committee of the Audio Publishers Association, a
non- profit association that exists to further the interests of all involved
in developing and promoting audiobooks.

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* * * ATTENTION SINGERS * * *

WNBC is holding auditions for “GIMME THE MIC” throughout the New York area.

• MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: Friday May 21, 3pm to 8pm, at the Media Arts Center: 110 Leroy Street, 5th floor, New York, NY.
• QUEENS, NEW YORK: Saturday May 22, 10am, to 4pm, at the Queens Center Mall: 92nd Street between 57th and 59th Avenues (JC Penney wing entrance), Elmhurst, NY.
• ROCKLAND, NEW YORK: Sunday May 23 – 11am to 5pm, at the Palisades Center: Adler Community Room, 4th floor near the ice rink, West Nyack, NY.

For details, visit www.wnbc.com. PLEASE DO NOT contact Edge Studio for any details, as WNBC asked us to include this information in Voice Over Today and did not give us any more information than above.

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2.) HOW MUCH EXTRA TO CHARGE WHEN SUPPLYING VOICE OVERS

It is becoming more common for clients to hire voice-over artists outside of their local area to record a voice over and email the finished product to them.

Therefore, we offer some thoughts on what to charge for said services.

Of course, you want to charge as much as you can without losing the job, yet you don’t want to charge less than could have received.

First - know your competition. Some of them work from a home studio, allowing them to avoid paying recording fees to a local studio. However, this does not necessarily mean they can charge less, as they need to recoup the money they have shelled out to build and maintain their home studio.

The rest of your competition pays recording fees since they need to visit a local studio to record their voiceover.

Either way, your charge for emailing a finished product to a client must take into consideration recording fees.

So begin by making a deal with a local studio -- ask them to give you a discounted rate because you potentially can bring all of your business their way. Then add your profit to the price the local studio charges you for the recording. This is what you charge your client.

The other option is to build a home studio. This topic will be discussed in a future issue of Voice Over Today.

For related information, visit: www.edgestudio.com/answerseries.htm
and choose “billing.”

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Happy with the work you do?
Use your computer to make money from home.
Be your own boss!
Enjoy unlimited earnings potential.
Call now to learn how you can start earning money and have the spare time to enjoy it.

Call 203-372-1300 9-5 EST or
email me at successinasnap@sbcglobal.net or
visit my website www.successinasnap.com

- Susan McGrath

"Teaching consumers about wellness products and services, or intellectual
distribution, is the greatest entrepreneurial opportunity now and for the foreseeable
future." Paul Zane Pilzer Leading Economist & Presidential Advisor

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3.) MAKE FUNNY VOICES ?
…….……………wanna get paid for them?

The INTENSIVE CHARACTER & ANIMATION WORKSHOP

Determine if narrating cartoons, multi-media games, character commercials, talking toys, and more is for you, with Paul Liberti (resume below), one of the country's most favorite character voice-actors.

WHAT DO YOU GET?
This 4-hour workshop has 4 objectives:
1.) Acquire voice placement to expand your character range
2.) Candidly discuss which of your voices are marketable, and where best to market them
3.) Learn how to best read character copy, with microphone time, helping win auditions
4.) Discuss the "business" side of character work: demos, marketing, and auditioning

WHERE AND WHEN?
Washington DC: Friday June 25, 6pm-10pm
New York: Monday September 13, 6pm-10pm

HOW MUCH?
$99 in New York. $159 in Washington DC. Seats fill quickly as only approximately 12 participants per workshop. Prior voice over instruction is a prerequisite

INTERESTED?
To participate, call Edge Studio weekdays, 9-5EST, at 888-321-edge.

PAUL’S RESUME
As a voice actor, Paul has narrated for Nickelodeon, Blues Clues, The Rosie
O'Donnell Show, Disney Cartoons, VH1's Behind the Music, MTV, Professor Elm
on Pokemon, PBS, Nickelodeon, Sesame Street, Noggin, Saturday Night Live
cartoons, Fisher Price, Whack-a-mole, Claritin, Starbucks, Wendy's, Lowes,
Bud Lite, Clean Shower, NJ Lottery, Informix, 1-800-Fed-Info TV spots,
Mapquest CD ROMs, and many more. As a film actor, Paul has had featured
roles in The Guru w Marisa Tomei, Dummy, No Such Thing w/ Helen Mirren, the
lead in Showtime's Priority Seating. On Commercials, his face is noticeable
as the NJ Lotzee Man, the Snapple Guy, Kraft Velveeta Cheese, Bud Lite. As a
stage actor has worked at McCarter Theatre w/Hershel Bernardi, Seven Angels
Theatre opposite Semina Delaurentis. Tours include: A Chorus Line, Cabaret,
Frankstein, Muppet Show On Tour, Muppet Babies Live. Plus Paul has done
choreography for the Muppets, Bud Lite, Diet Coke, and owns a TV Commercial
Puppet Company named Criddera And Cooties Inc.

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Are you tired of reading off of cue cards? Memorizing long scripts only to
get to the job and receive changes? Then this is for you.

EAR-PROMPTER--The ability to speak, simultaneously, pre-recorded material
from a micro-cassette recorder, while hearing it through an earpiece,
giving a flawless performance.

This extraordinary on-camera class comes from a leading ear-prompter
proficient actor and trainer. Receive a nation-wide list of "Ear" agents at
the end of the course and open the doors to more moneymaking opportunities.

Call Andréa Urban 917-664-7777 for private or group lessons.

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4.) OPPORTUNITIES FOR MINORITY VOICES

An interesting question arrived via email. “Does being a minority mitigate my chance of receiving voice over work?”

First, let’s establish the foundation of casting. Voice-talents are hired when their voice is appropriate for a given script.

Therefore the real question is not whether being a minority will diminish your workload (remember that not all minority voice-talents sound like a minority, and some non-minorities sound like minorities, as well).

Instead the real question is whether there are more or fewer scripts that require a specific sound – in your case, of a given minority group.

The answer must be broken down into two sections.

First, accents. There are usually fewer scripts that call for an accent than those that call for a voice without one. However, a voice-talent with an accent can market themselves in the county of their accent and do quite well. (Remember, much of today’s work is produced by telephone and emailed to the client.)

Voice-talent with accents should also market themselves to international agencies, as well as any organization that has dealings with their voice’s country of origin, such as:
• Business with ties in the given country – offer to record their website, training films, welcome-to-our-company-videos, and so forth
• Advertisers with foreign products – if you have an Australian accent, market your demo to Fosters Beer
• Embassies, educational programs, and the likes.

Second, dialects. Dialects are more in demand today than ever. This is because the “real voice” has become very popular. For those with a strong dialect, your voice may be appropriate for local commercials as it shows a “hometown” sound. A strong dialect may also be appropriate for a comedic spot, one that requires a stereotypical sound, such as the “New York City cab driver.” A slight dialect may be appropriate for large-scale work that requires a “regular person.” For example, in its current advertising campaign, Burger King uses voices that are not quite “standard American English.”

Finally, some government agencies hire minorities before hiring non-minority. Sometimes, it is not your voice that will get you more work, but it is a minority-sounding name.

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HAVE A DEMO?
We're always searching for new talent.
Please email your demo to: demosubmission@edgestudio.com
or mail to:
Edge Studio, attention demo submission, 307 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1007, NY, NY 10001 USA

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WANT TO ADVERTISE in Voice Over Today?
Results have been great!
Email info@edgestudio.com or call us weekdays 9-5 EST at 888-321-edge

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