VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

imaginator

there's a great little tv commercial on the air right now that perfectly spotlights the plight of the professional voice talent....only it doesn't know that's what it's doing.

take a look (youtube willing and the copyright owners don't have it pulled), and while you're watching, mentally subsitute a microphone in the hand of everyone you see with a tennis racquet!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Qb2c1gTKoZs

i know it wasn't the original intent of the commercial, but it got my attention the first time i saw it! i'll stop at that, because (as others have wisely noted when their own comments started getting lengthy) this isn't my blog. ...but i've done a piece about this on my blog, and didn't want the message lost in my much smaller readership base!

"love, all"!
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bobsouer · Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 10:55 pm Post subject:

Rowell,

What a brilliant analogy. And I love what you've written on your blog about this. Well done.
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scottnilsen · Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 10:59 pm Post subject:

I have seen that commercial withing the last few days and was thinking the exact same thing. Thanks for posting it, and the reminder.
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Gregory Best · Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 11:47 pm Post subject:

Right on Rowell!! I posted a comment in your blog.
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asnively · Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 7:32 am Post subject:

Another 'right on' from me!
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todd ellis · Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 7:41 am Post subject:

"when you let everyone play .... nobody wins."

brilliant.
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ccpetersen · Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 7:56 am Post subject:

Rowell,

I read your blog and saw the ad, and it did resonate with things I've been thinking about the other work I do as a writer. I've always faced the old "anybody can write" meme pushed at me, mostly by people who can't actually write that well but who want to save a buck by not hiring a professional. I've no doubt that it's the same with VO, and probably ANY talent profession. Just because one can talk doesn't make one a voice-over; yet, there they are, lots of people... talking.

The good news is that the pendulum usually swings back on such things, and once a goodly number of people find out that they can't write, talk, act, etc. at professional standards demanded by many productions, they'll stop doing it. Call me an optimist, but I speak from the experience of having at least one client who once told me "anybody can write" (and then proceeded to try and write his own script and fail) come back to me for a professional's efforts.

That's not to say that I don't find that ad a bit off-putting; but it is thought-provoking. Thanks for sharing that!
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Rob · Guest

You know, after reading this post and a few others along the same thought lines, I'm really questioning whether I should try to get into this business.

Why?

With soooo many people out there, my presence only further dilutes the available paid work.

More voices also dilutes the market price for the real guys.

Don't get me wrong, I would really love to do this. But I'm not sure I could make enough for it to be worthwhile, and I don't want to be a drag on anyone already in the business.

I know you might say that one more is not going to make that much difference, but "just one more" times how many thinking the same thing is one of the reasons for the problem.

But know this, even if I pull out of this completely, this is one great group of people and I sincerely enjoy your company and your teaching, and celebrate each of your successes.

Thanks to all,
Rob

imaginator · Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 9:38 am Post subject:

thanks, all. glad i'm not the only one this spot resonates with.

and rob...don't be too quick to let the discussion discourage you.

for what it's worth...in my opinion, there'll always be room for another GOOD voice talent. my beef is with the mentality that thinks everyone with a voice can do it.

and "cc", i didn't find the ad so much off-putting as i was elated that somebody else "gets it"...even if we aren't talking about the same endeavor.

of course, there's probably yet another strata of voice talent which looks upon ME as the interloper!
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rowell gormon
www.voices2go.com
"Mr. Warm & Friendly Voice...with Character!"
Rowell Gormon's Clogged Blog - http://voices2go.com/blog

louzucaro · Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 9:49 am Post subject:

And, yes, I know that this has been discussed ad nauseum, but isn't this really true of just about any creative profession? There will always be people out there who think they can pick up a pen/microphone/guitar/paintbrush/lump of clay/book on "making web pages" and think that they can do it just as well as any given professional.
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ConnieTerwilliger · Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 9:56 am Post subject:

The whole focus of my class at San Diego City College, the session I did at VOICE 2007 and the Voiceover Expert Podcast on Voices.com is on self-evaluation - for the wannabe, the newbie, the part-timer and the full-timer. At every stage you need to kbe able to critically evaluate yourself, the business and your competition.
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bobsouer · Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 10:01 am Post subject:

Connie,

Your presentation at VOICE 2007 was worth the price of the entire trip, just by itself.
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Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
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ccpetersen · Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 10:09 am Post subject:

Lou, of course. And, sometimes there's one in a hundred that CAN do it well. That's where we all come from in our chosen fields.

I have a client right now who I do quite a bit of writing and editing work for. It's highly technical and I have to have a lot of background knowledge to be able to do the editing, particularly of some of the writers who have their PhDs in their subjects. At least once or twice a year I run into one of these folks who thinks his/her writing is perfect and doesn't need editing. And insists that he/she is a good writer and therefore I shouldn't waste my time. And you know what... they're always wrong. They write sentences such as this one:

"Central gas inflow toward galaxy nucleus has been recently revealed in active galaxy nuclei based on optical observations (see publicationname,, June 2006, p. 22). "

And I have to find ways to tell them that they need an editor or their work goes out looking less than optimal.

We once had another client who wanted us to produce a soundtrack for him. He came in with the script, which was supposed to be a 30-minute script but was something like 50 minutes of narration. Only if you were the guy who used to do those fast Fedex commercials could you have gotten the narration in 30 minutes. Unfortunately, the person our client's museum had hired to narrate was a well-known Star Trek actor, who is a fine actor, but there was no way he was going to narrate the thing that fast (and no reason he should have to).

So, we did something we'd never done to a client before: we sat him down and made him edit his script until it was 30 COMFORTABLE minutes. We told him that the actor would thank him later (and he did!).

The client still tells people about how picky we were and how we made him edit the show, which he admits made it better...

One of our early displays of "spiny."
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ccpetersen · Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 10:14 am Post subject:

Bailey · Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 12:06 pm Post subject: