VO School Podcast

Joe Cipriano is a 40 year veteran of the voiceover industry, his extensive resume includes many years as the voice of networks such as NBC, CBS, Fox, ABC, Disney, Sony Television, The Food Network and many more.

His resume is long and varied, including commercial, live announcing (including the Emmy and Grammy Awards), imaging and radio, but Joe is best known for his work in promo.

And promo is the subject of this weeks episode! We are taking a deep dive into the world of promo with one of the its most experienced practitioners.

What is promo? How does one get into it? What does a typical day look like for Joe? How important are mentors? What are the skills needed to compete? And how does network and cable promo fit into SAG/AFTRA. We answer these questions and more on this weeks VO School Podcast!

http://www.voschoolpodcast.com

This week on the VO School podcast we are celebrating our 20th episode by honoring Black History Month with a show devoted to the founders of the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences (SOVAS), which boast the longest running and most prolific voice over conference in the world.

This episode is guest hosted by chief diversity officer for international advertising agency TBWA, Doug Melville. Doug brings a wealth of knowledge to this episode. He is intimately familiar with the SOVAS mission, and he matches that mission as a vocal proponent of diversity in all its forms both in his day-to-day role within TBWA, and via his personal outreach on social media and public appearances.

Joining us this week on the podcast are power couple, Joan Baker (voice actor and author of Secrets of Voiceover Success) and Rudy Gaskins (Emmy Award-winning producer and creative director). Joan and Rudy are the founders of the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences, a Not-for-Profit organization that brings education, job training and award recognition to the global voiceover community. They organize and present professional networking events, workshops, presentations, job opportunities and learning opportunities across America, and curate That’s Voiceover! Career Expo and The Voice Arts® Awards.

In this episode we learn how Joan and Rudy established themselves in the industry, how they advocate for the concerted inclusion of talent from diverse backgrounds, where they believe the industry is heading, the importance of the human voice and how the collaboration of technology and voiceover presents new and exciting opportunities for voice actors.

This week on the VO School Podcast we are are doing something a little different – I asked listeners of the show to submit a recording of a commercial script that would then be read out and assessed on the show.

Jim Kennelly, producer and casting director of Lotas Productions with the help of engineer Sam Ufret and myself played through a selection (picked at random from a super special box). We get a behind the scenes peek at how reads are assessed and why some are chosen chosen to be forwarded to a client and why others may not be.

We learn the importance of reading and understanding specs. Using your imagination when you read. How pace and energy is critical to garnering or losing attention. The importance of audio quality, and some do's and don'ts that will help you to stand out from the crowd.

The microphone is the centerpiece of any voice actors studio setup and this week on the VO School Podcast we put this piece of technology front and center.

Join us as we geek out about an exalted but often misunderstood piece of technology!

Do you need an expensive microphone to be a professional voice actor? How much better is a $3k mic compared to a $200 model? How do you use a microphone to get the best out of it? Do they require maintenance? And how long should a mic last?

Joining me this week are Dan Friedman and Emmett Andrews. Dan is an audio engineer, producer, voice talent and author from the mountains of Asheville, NC.

With nearly two decades in the voiceover industry, he has produced, directed or provided his

voice to thousands of audio productions.

In 2010 he published SOUND ADVICE- Voiceover From An Audio Engineer's Perspective. A

first of its kind in the industry, the book covers audio engineering and studio session etiquette as

it relates directly to voiceover talent.

Emmett’s background includes over 20 years in commercial radio, with much of the time spent in St. Louis and Indianapolis. Additionally, he has worked for Sweetwater as both a Sales Engineer and Tech Support Specialist. He is also a national voice talent, with clients like Dell, Long John Silvers, Spalding, Lexus, and Pandora. He offers technical design services for home studio owners and ad agencies. Emmett currently serves as Production Director for Emmis Communications.

In episode 11 of the VO School Podcast we spoke with Celia Siegel and Doug Melville about marketing and branding as it relates to voice actors. In today’s episode we are putting those theories to the test as we take a peek behind the curtain of a brand audit.

Celia shows us her process of breaking down and distilling a voice actors personality, their voice, their demo and their aesthetic to create a marketable brand.

Marisa Blake is our competition winner and the subject of Celia’s examination. Marisa restarted her voiceover career three years ago and is looking to reinvigorate her brand.

We get to listen in as Celia illuminates her process, starting with a questionnaire that probes Marisa’s history, her opinion of herself, her ambitions for the future and her opinions of the world.

The process is a mesmerizing stream of consciousness that is at times poetic and others incisive.

Welcome to VO School Podcast’s first interview of the year! It’s also the first of a new semi-regular series that will be examining the different genres of VO. And we begin with Audiobooks!

Do you have to have a certain temperament to be an audiobook narrator? How much stamina does it take? How do you land your first book? And how can you reach out to publishers for prestige projects? We discuss all of these things and more!

Joining me are two of the world’s top audiobook narrators. They are multi award winners, respected coaches and have narrated well over a thousand books between them!

Sean Pratt has been a working actor in theatre, film, TV and voice-overs for over 30 years.

He has been an audiobook narrator for 22 years, recording over 950 books in almost every genre and has received 8 AudioFile Magazine “Earphone” Awards, 5 “Audie” nominations and

1 SOVAS nomination.

He narrates for such companies as Blackstone Audiobooks, Tantor Media, Gildan Audio, Harper Collins, Penguin Random House, and Christian Audio.

Sean is also the author of “To Be or Wanna Be – The Top Ten Differences between a Successful Actor and a Starving Artist,”

Johnny Heller is a narrator of over 500 audiobooks, he specializes in adult, noir/mystery, personal development, history, comedy, and children's book narrations. His awards and accolades include being the 2008, 2009, and 2011 "Best Audio Book" winner; a Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award winner from 2008 through 2013; a 2014 Audie Award nominee for Solo Narration; a 2005 and 2009 Audie Award winner; a double Audie nominee in 2012; one of AudioFile magazine's Top Fifty Narrators of the Twentieth Century; and a multiple AudioFile Earphones Award winner.

This week’s podcast episode is the final part of our Voiceover Guide. We cover such wide ranging subjects as voiceover conferences, anxiety and motivation, branding and marketing and the business and legal practices successful voice actors employ.

What will attending a voiceover conference do for your career? How can you perform your best at an audition, even if you suffer from anxiety? What is the difference between branding and marketing? What does a Madison Ave advertising executive look for when choosing a voice talent? And how should you structure your business affairs?

Podcast guests this week include voiceover conference directors Gerrald Griffith (VO Atlanta) and Dave Courvoisier (WOVO Con). Psychologist Dr. Chloe Carmichael, author, voice actor and comedian Anna Vocino, marketing and advertising gurus Celia Siegel and Doug Melville, and business savvy brainboxes Tom Dheere and Robert Sciglimpaglia.

Today’s episode of the VO School Podcast is part two of the VO Guide. I’ve selected the most awesome highlights and important tidbits of information for the new or working voice actor.

This handy guide covers… voiceover coaching in episode 5 and VO demos in episode 6. We discuss networking (on and offline) in episode 7, and we find out how you can get your first voiceover job in episode 9.

With the help of nine industry professionals who are all experts in their fields, we get to the truth of these often misunderstood subjects.

Joining me this week are voiceover coaches Anne Ganguzza and MaryLynn Wissner. Demo producers J. Michael Collins and Terry Daniel. Networking gurus Tim Friedlander, Jay Preston and Brad Venable, and business savvy VO entrepreneurs Rachael Naylor and Armin Hierstetter.

Thank you to our sponsor J. Michael Collins. Backstage Magazine, and social media support from Kyle Marie Colucci and Chris Sharpes.

This week’s episode of the VO School Podcast is the first of three festive highlight shows. I’ve scoured episodes 1-4 for the highlights and most important tidbits of information for the new or working voice actor.

Think of these episodes as a pocket guide to starting out as a voice actor, and also a quick reminder of best practice for those who are more established.

We take a look at the current state of the voice industry, what qualities you as a voice actor need to develop, where you should go for advice, how you can avoid being exploited by unscrupulous coaches and demo producers, and we talk technology as we dive into microphones, audio processing and file formats.

Join myself and 7 of the industries top professionals as we examine some of the most important factors to consider when starting out in voiceover.

This weeks VO School Podcast is the long awaited business episode! It’s time to get your business and legal affairs in order, and while that may sound intimidating, we are here to help you get there!

How do you structure your business? Are you a Sole Proprietor? An LLC, an S Corp, or a C Corp? How do you keep track of your expenses? Can you reduce your tax liability? And how on earth do you save for a pension and maintain health coverage in this topsy turvy industry?

Joining me this week are two business and legal experts who also happen to have decades of experience as voice talents!

Tom Dheere is a New York-based voice actor with over 20 years of industry experience. He’s narrated thousands of projects for hundreds of clients in over a dozen countries. Tom’s experience as a corporate trainer as well as a voice talent make him uniquely qualified to help both aspiring and veteran voice talents navigate the voiceover industry.

Robert Sciglimpaglia is a voice and screen actor, producer and practicing attorney. He’s appeared on the History Channel, Discovery Channel, A&E, Nat Geo, The Travel Channel, PBS, and others. He has worked on shows such as "Rescue Me", “Maury Povich” and “30 Rock” and is best known as the DAD on the 2012 Chevy Super Bowl Commercial HAPPY GRAD. Robert is also a practicing attorney and was named as a Super Lawyer by Connecticut and New England magazines. His book, “Voice Over Legal” hit the number 1 spot on the Amazon Best Seller list in April of 2015 in the Entertainment Law category.