more Voice Over Today past issues
VOICE OVER TODAY
January 8, 2008
This issue contains:
1.)
Edge Studio Presents: Audiobook Workshops!
Intensive and Advanced Classes available in February
2.) Upcoming Class Schedule for Edge Studio
3.)
A Quick Question, a Quick Answer, Can I Really Do This?
An Article by Bruce Bayley Johnson
Read
this issue and PAST ISSUES at:
www.edgestudio.com/voiceovertoday_past.htm
==================================
Published by EDGE STUDIO
Helping Voice-Talent Build Careers
www.edgestudio.com
New
York - 212-868-edge
Washington DC - 202-398-edge
Connecticut - 203-334-edge
Toll Free - 888-321-edge
SINCE: 1988
MEMBER:
Better Business Bureau
RECOGNIZED: Voice and Speech Trainers Association
SPONSOR: National Public Radio, Recording For The Blind & Dyslexic
WHAT IS EDGE STUDIO?
1)
VOICE OVER CAREER BUILDING
. coaching
. voice and demo evaluations
. demo production
. marketing resources
. audition preparation
. guidance
2)
ACCLAIMED PRODUCTION FACILITY
Recent Productions:
. Lee French Toast Uniforms
. Disney
. Al Gore Podcast
. Glomobi
. Klaffs
. Brown Shoe Company
==================================
1.) Edge Studio: Audiobook Intensive and Advanced Workshop
Taught by Audiobook producer, coach, and engineer Bruce Kitovich*
AUDIOBOOKS
- ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING SECTORS IN VOICE-OVER
Edge Studio offers one of the premier Audiobook Workshops in New York!
Learn from a professional who has worked in the audiobook industry for
over a decade! Join Bruce Kitovich for an Intensive session, where you
will learn the differences between audiobook and standard narration. Then
proceed to the Advanced session, where you will go further by learning
specific techniques and tricks of the trade for audio book narrators!
INTENSIVE AUDIOBOOK WORKSHOP:
This highly specialized, four-hour workshop has three objectives:
1) An overview of the audiobook industry. How are audiobooks produced and recorded? How are narrators selected? How can a voice-over artist market themselves for this specific area?
2) Audiobook narration skills and techniques. Audiobook narration differs significantly from other types of voice-over work. Discuss the special skills, techniques, and demands of audiobook narrators, how to develop them, and how to create an effective demo aimed at audiobook producers and directors. Also discuss the specifics of the recording process and what to expect at a typical audiobook recording session.
3) Practice and evaluation. Would you make a good audiobook narrator? Some people have the knack, others have to develop their long-form narration skills. In this workshop, your potential will be evaluated, and steps recommend to make audiobook narration an effective part of your voice-over repertory.
ADVANCED AUDIOBOOK WORKSHOP:
This detailed, four hour workshop has three objectives:
1) Advanced Narration Technique: Creating character, maintaining consistency, interpreting copy, dialogue technique, as well as tips the renown narrators use.
2) Maintenance, Practice, and Furthering Your Career
3) Learn how to self-practice to retain and enhance your abilities.
These workshops will be offered at our New York studio.
Intensive Workshop: February 9, 10am-2pm
Advanced Workshop: February 9, 3pm-7pm
Our
New York Studio is located at:
307 Seventh Avenue
Suite 1007
New York, NY 10001
To
register for these workshops, simply call our offices at:
New York - 212-868-edge
Connecticut - 203-334-edge
Washington DC - 202-398-edge
Toll Free - 888-321-edge
If you have other questions, do not hesitate to email: dan@edgestudio.com
INSTRUCTOR BIOGRAPHY:
Bruce Kitovich, producer, engineer, coach
Bruce Kitovich is well versed in every aspect of audiobook production. Starting out over twelve years ago at Talking Book Productions as a recording engineer and proofreader, he has since gone on to become involved in all stages of the production process. Bruce is often sought after to audition and cast talent, prepare scripts, and to record, edit and format in every genre of audio publishing. He’s overseen entire projects for such clients as Ericsson Cellular, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and Choice Magazine Listening.
In addition to the hundreds of book titles he has produced for the National Library Service, he has had the pleasure of engineering and directing some of the best narrators in the industry for such major commercial publishers as Random House, Time Warner Audiobooks, Blackstone Audio, BBC Audiobooks America, The Teaching Company, and Scholastic Audio.
He has also lent his talent as engineer to the highly acclaimed “Narration Arts Workshop” More recently, a title he directed for BBC, “The Power Broker” by Stephen Frey, won an Earphones Award from AudioFile magazine.
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2.) Upcoming Classes at Edge Studio
No
matter what your skill level is, dozens of workshops and seminars are
being offered for all levels of voiceover experience!
JUST GETTING STARTED?
Try
our Evaluation Placement Workshop, for a wealth of information on the
voiceover industry, as well as a private, 1-on-1 evaluation with one of
our experienced voice coaches!
NEED AUDITION EXPERIENCE?
Our
Act-Up and Ringer Classes offer training and confidence building for a
variety of different types of scripts, as well as actual audition experience!
Do you have, or are about to finish recording a demo?
Don't
know what to do next? You need a Marketing Foundation class to learn
the basics, and a Marketing Forum for even more information on how to
market your voice, and get yourself work!
INTERESTED IN AUDIOBOOK NARRATION?
Gain
a wealth of experience in workshops which deal exclusively in this
specialized field of the voice over industry!
SCHEDULE THROUGH FEBRUARY 2008
_______________TELE-TRAINING_______________
--------------Call 888-321-edge for details-------------
*Intensive
Foundation Technique Evaluation Workshop: $159
January 14, 6pm-9:30pm ET with Kerry Miller
*Marketing
Foundation: $79
January 21, 7pm-9pm ET with Kristin Price
*Intensive
Foundation Technique Evaluation Workshop: $159
February 11, 6pm-9:30pm ET with Kerry Miller
*Marketing
Foundation: $79
February 18, 7pm-9pm ET with Kristin Price
_______________CONNECTICUT STUDIO_______________
------------------Call 203-334-edge for details------------------
*The
Ringer Workshop: $35
January 12, 10am-12pm with Bruce Bayley Johnson
*The
Ringer Workshop: $35
February 9, 10am-12pm with Bruce Bayley Johnson
______________NEW
YORK CITY STUDIO________________
-----------------Call 212-868-edge for details-------------------
*Intensive
Foundation Technique Evaluation Workshop: $159
January 19, 2-5:30pm with Kristin Price
*ACT-UP
Workshop: "Doubles" $35
January 26, 1:30pm-3:30pm with Eric Rath
*The
Ringer Workshop: $35
January 26, 4pm-6pm with Eric Rath
*Intensive
Foundation Technique Evaluation Workshop: $159
January 30, 9am-12:30pm with Kristin Price
*Intensive
Foundation Technique Evaluation Workshop: $159
February 2, 2-5:30pm with Kristin Price
*
Audiobook Intensive Workshop: $99
February 9, 10am-2pm with Bruce Kitovich
*Audiobook
Advanced Workshop: $99
February 9, 3pm-7pm with Bruce Kitovich
**SPECIAL! PURCHASE BOTH AUDIOBOOK WORKSHOPS FOR $179**
*ACT-UP
Workshop: "Silent Warm-Ups" $35
February 23, 1:30pm-3:30pm with Eric Rath
*The
Ringer Workshop: $35
February 23, 4pm-6pm, with Eric Rath
*Intensive
Foundation Technique Evaluation Workshop: $159
February 27, 9am-12:30pm with Kristin Price
_______________WASHINGTON DC STUDIO_______________
-------------------Call 202-398-edge for details--------------------
*Intensive
Foundation Technique Evaluation Workshop: $159
January 14, 6pm-9:30pm with Kerry Miller
*Intensive
Foundation Technique Evaluation Workshop: $159
February 11, 6pm-9:30pm ET with Kerry Miller
To register for any of the above classes, do not hesitate to call our
offices at:
New York - 212-868-3343
Connecticut - 203-334-3343
Washington DC - 202-398-3343
Or toll free at - 888-321-3343
==================================
ADVERTISEMENT
Casting Call for Audiobooks:
Talent listings in AudioFile's Audiobook Reference Guide
Is
your voice in front of the directors and producers who cast audiobooks?
AudioFile is the source of all things audiobook, and the Guide’s
listings have new features and the expanded details audiobook producers
asked for!
Multiple voice demos; agent info; accent & language skills; voice & age range; audiobook credits and more.
List
in AudioFile’s Audiobook Reference Guide. Just $125 includes AudioFile
professional subscription.
Find out more: http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/guide_talent.html
Or Guide@audiofilemagazine.com or 800-506-1212 or http://www.audiofilemagazine.com
==================================
3.) A Quick Question and a Quick Answer, Can I Actually Do This?
An Article by Bruce Bayley Johnson
I get this question all the time from voiceover students, and sometimes from pros who’ve been working—on and off—for years. Actually, I ask myself this question fairly often.
Most often, a student wants to hear that his or her read is so stunningly good—his or her voice so powerful and compelling—that the world is about to come flocking to the door with wads of hundred dollar bills fluttering in offer.
Regrettably that happens for very few of us.
Voiceover work is a service industry. Just as a restaurant may have good food but slow or discourteous service, a talented voice actor can shoot his career in the foot with bad habits, an unpleasant manner, or an overdeveloped ego. I know some folks that are only moderately talented who work a lot…and some very talented people that don’t work much at all.
To
work you need to market yourself, show up on time, make the recording
session smooth and pain free for the client and producer, and—if
at all possible—make it fun for everybody.
You need to be personable, pleasant to work with, and most of all professional.
Oh, and one other “P” word. In a gentle, non-intrusive way, you need to be persistent. Do follow up calls, cards, letters, emails at sensible intervals. Do marketing that comes naturally to you—be yourself above all things—but be yourself marketing! I have heard of guys doing things that I thought were bizarre if not embarrassing…from bringing black cereal to every gig as a gift, to flooding the studios they worked in with promotional pens, pads, and nifty gizmos. After a while, people came to expect it, and it became sort of cool. While a lot of the rest of us sat around saying, “I couldn’t do anything cheesey like that,” those guys were working. It was a double whammy. The more work they got, the more studios they showed up in and left promotional pens and pads behind to keep their name up front.
Persistence makes perfect. Almost everybody contacts a potential client once. Very few follow up a second time. Those who touch base in an interesting, pleasant way every few months are few and far between. Those are the successful marketers.
* Bruce Bayley Johnson: Among many national voice over campaigns, Bruce's
most memorable voice over is, perhaps, as the signature voice of Lever
2000 ("For all your 2000 parts."). Bruce is the voice of Mayor
Jeff on Disney's "P.B. and J. Otter," Mr. Swirly and many others
on Disney's "Doug," and "Doug’s First Movie,"
as well as Mr. Spudinski (the couch potato) on Disney's "Jo Jo's
Circus." He has narrated children’s videos for the likes of
Random House, Weston Woods, PBS, and Scholastic. Also a Clio-winning copywriter
and experienced audio producer, and Bruce maintains a state-of-the-art
voice over home studio.
==================================
ADVERTISEMENT
VOICEOVER ARTISTS WITH ABILITY TO RECORD MP3 OR WAV FILES WANTED TO READ ALOUD SCREENPLAYS
NYU-trained screenwriter-director seeks voiceover artists with the ability to record MP3 (preferred) or wav files. Read aloud the best professional screenplays--The Shawshank Redemption, The Color Purple, Brokeback Mountain, etc.--as well as my own screenplays, so that I may listen to your recordings as I read and analyze the screenplays. No pay, but good practice for Books-on-Tape and other voiceover work.
For
phone audition, please email bob@bobslaymaker.net with "Reader"
in subject. (P.S. If you have a computer--laptop or desktop--you can buy
an inexpensive microphone from Radio Shack and obtain freeware (Audacity)
from the internet to record
MP3 files on to your computer.)
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Adding active links on your website can expand your profile while
increasing your search-engine results. Take this opportunity to add a
link
to Edge Studio. Visit www.edgestudio.com/link.htm
==================================
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