 Hey, it's time for voiceover body shop, and we got a very special show tonight because George and I went to voiceover Atlanta last week and We're still recovering I did not come home with COVID. I had neither did I I came home clean. Thank you. We're very grateful for that We are and we've got some great interviews from that and also if you were there We'd like to hear from you on your impressions of it as well And we'll get to that in a little bit, but right now let's get into the show and what we've got a voiceover body shop right now Voiceover body shop is brought to you by voice over essentials calm the home of Harlan Hogan signature products Source elements the folks who bring you source connect the oh heroes calm become a hero to your clients with award-winning voiceover training Voice actor calm your voice over website ready in minutes Voiceover extra your daily resource for voiceover success and by world voices the industry association of freelance voice talent And now here's your hosts Dan and George Well, hello there. I'm Dan Leonard and I'm George Whitton and this is voiceover body shop or VO BS Yeah, we just added that little thing with us rotating around that was part of the Atlanta That was so funny, but so great. Yeah, we figured I will just throw it in the intro. It's funny Anyway, we had a great time there But to explain to you what we're going to see for the next few minutes is a couple of great interviews that we did To give you a good idea of what it takes to put something like that together And again, we'd like to remind you if you are at VO Atlanta, we'd love to hear from you You can actually come on the show and give us your comments About what you thought of it, you know, yay or nay or greater whatever and go back Yeah, you liked about it versus other conferences you've been to what maybe you learned. Yeah, there were a minute Keep it under a minute, right? Yeah, I'm trying to keep it to a minute so we can get a lot of people on Exactly. So if you want to be on put it in the chat room and Jeff Holman will will direct you all to where you need to go so you can be on the show anyway, why don't we get to those interviews right now and We'll talk to you right after these so don't go away. Here we go and You know, it's like I haven't seen you since 2007 I know we're all I'm supposed to be meeting clients and meeting my own clients and meeting new But it's we're having just as much fun meeting all these all these vendor contacts industry folks and just our Colleagues in the business right well, and of course, you know after the pandemic we were both suffering from massive hug debt That's right, which which we've been making up for and in the time that we've been here Yeah, but you know, it's it's great meeting some you know some new vendors and some companies that we haven't talked to before We're talking the guys from road and they've got that new microphone the NT1 Gen 5 which is the replacement They told me it's gonna completely replace the the NT ones and it's the new hotness and it's got USB With this magic sauce 32-bit float, I know I've talked about it a bit on the show But we'll we'll have some time with that mic later on to really explore what that really means Yeah, so it's been fun, you know, I haven't been to a big conference in a long time while nobody has so so it was good that you know, we're here and You know explaining to people what we do you're you're George the tech You know, I'm here representing world voices as president and getting people to know who we are and you know Telling they should join and come to our conferences and all those sorts of things But how about that one panel? Oh? Well, there was the one panel That Paul struck we're to yeah What was so I was up on stage you were in the audience really? I really I should have been the one up there because I I know how to explain that one a little bit better me with more attitude but it was it was about voiceover awards and You know, I have a very strict interpretation of that voiceover awards is a sign check from your client mm-hmm and That that is justification and renumeration for this it's getting the next job Exactly, I exactly the real award right Recognition awards should not have to be paid for It's like it should be your peers saying this person has done an important thing You know or that was a great performance But the categories are all sort of arbitrary and silly You know some people were defending it saying oh, but no somebody the you know the Stefan. What's his last name? I'd never met him before so but you know, he was an interesting guy Stefan. Yeah, Stefan the actor who's got quite a few words the multilingual actor And and he was saying well, I'd my business, you know doubled after I won this this award from from this particular organization That's kind of a tough metric to really yeah, I mean the fact of the coalition causation blah blah blah Yeah, I mean he's a multilingual actor and he's very good. He's got a great voice. Yeah, he certainly deserves it. Yeah Yeah, I mean yeah But was that the reason that he got but what he's saying was that he marketed in himself Using that saying you know as a pseudonym Republic relations person to promote himself saying he won this award and You know so that's what I say about those award shows like they are their real value is as a marketing tool for the actor, right? It's it's it's making you feel feel good. It's Supporting your peers, but at the end of the day you're running a business and it's supporting Your marketing it's really how I feel it's most important, but I also was glad that they talked about Rob siglin-paglia talked about a little issue in transparency about the judges and right And there's a little bit of conflict of interest that occurs or sometimes a lot. That was his biggest concern Yeah, and you know and then they were and then Paul was talking about you know I researched this company that's doing this particular thing and he did not have Favorable things to say about them. No, you know, we know Paul Yeah, he's not afraid to name names and and be a little bit Stir pot stirring. Yeah, he's not can be a little divisive But I think he you know he had a good point to me Yeah, but he moderated it very nicely, you know, I mean, you know, there were other people on the panel and Rob siglin-paglia and Karen Guilfrey right and And you and you and you and you yeah, yeah, and and you You being someone representing the the actual award shows that they don't run right, but he doesn't charge for running those awards, however, it's all part of a Conference that people pay to come to and that's what I thought he was that I thought his Transparency on that was really good I thought he's like, you know, this is a part of a three-legged stool He knows those words, but we have this we have these organizations and at this that the wards part isn't profit-making Right, but it's part of a profit-making venture that does help everything else. So I Appreciate that right and that was the thing in They were Paul was looking for a word and I was sitting there with our good friend Larry Hudson I'm like transparency and then Hugh said it. Yeah, transparency is very important Yeah, you know, I think with any organization when you join an organization. What is it that they're actually doing? Are they really working for the benefit of the community or are they? Driving someone to join their organization to market their products to them of which there is a lot of it's a delicate balance Right, but yeah, we just want people to be honest about absolutely and that's how it fit in there So that was that was an interesting panel. Absolutely and right now There's there's a lot of stuff goes on at night. You know, there's a lot of script reading Yeah, Deb on rose performing in the other room in life. Yeah, so it everybody is saying this has been a great conference I mean, I mean you when I hang out in the vendor area most of the time But we have done all the conferences Yeah, we have done almost everyone for its scale and they say that they say they've surpassed a thousand attendees at this point Wow, they're at a capacity now. They sold out They're keeping it together Nothing's falling apart of the seams too much, you know from the from the presenter side that we're on that on this end It's been a very smooth process and I will be happy to come back. Yeah, I'll come back I mean last time I was here You know, it got a little monotonous at times and of course the opening the opening ceremonies and all that stuff Made me want to sell amway It was it was a real gung-ho rah-rah. Yeah, so that was interesting But but the best part is is really seeing the people we know Yeah, and the people who are are very very talented because some of the top talent in our businesses is here I mean, you know David noise here and Scott Park it and Laurie Allen. I didn't see Laurie, but I know she's here She's definitely here. I got I got I was lucky enough to have lunch with her. Oh, okay. She's doing great and You know and then I've met some really good people. Yeah, and I got to eat at the waffle house We had breakfast or dinner last night And my daughter Elijah who we're gonna talk to in a little bit. Yeah, it was quite an experience Yeah, it's the white castle of the south. I think it's the best way to describe it Yeah, I mean the phone was edible. It was okay. It was an experience. You know, I guess it's just the people It's the attitude. It's the way people see, you know, it's just a thing down here, right? But people are real cool. They're real nice. I want to help each other out. I like that Yeah, yeah So that was that was fun and we were really hungry and it really didn't matter what we ate But yeah, not to say anything bad about the waffle house, you know I mean they they they serve you know disaster people when they you know There's a disaster they're open 24 hours a day if there's a disaster in the place Hasn't been knocked down by a tornado. They feed all the that's right All the disaster work according to Byron Wagner who that's right. We've learned to know that he's right about everything He does his research. He does knows this stuff. Well, we've got a couple people to talk to One of them here with us my daughter Elijah's gonna share about the kids program. Mm-hmm We also have a kind of a VIP. Yeah Anna Collins She's one of the whole thing. She is the CEO. Yeah, and she'd agreed to come on So we're gonna take a break Go round her up And we'll see what happens outstanding stay tuned And we're here with Anna Collins who is running this whole shebang at void VO Atlanta 2023 Has it met all your expectations so far? It has it really has um, it's been a dream come true in many ways and an incredible effort only on for me, but from Lenores Jessica Matheson Kayla Jackson and so many other more and the credible ambassadors that have volunteered their time It's just been yeah, really a dream come true and it has definitely met my expectations How much how long did it take to really plan this? I mean it I mean there's bits and pieces here and there But but really pulling the whole thing together. How about it? What did it really take a year? We literally started the week after the last one finished to start negotiations with the hotel Do some preliminary work with the vendors to find you know to help us bring the vision to life It has literally been well 11 and a half months How much of How much did you feel like? We're gonna have to do this over again and how much of it was like this is working We're just gonna like from an HR perspective from Operations how much of it did you have to just start all over and how much did you get to adopt? 95% I'd say it was new. Yeah, this because we had different operational methods. Yeah, and also What worked in some things because we were doing so many new stuff and adding so many like more sessions on a Thursday and a Sunday and also just you know changing the ticket ticket styles and We weren't quite sure what the numbers would look like, you know, that's always where you do you start planning you Hope for the best, of course And you hope that you know you pull it off and you meet other people's expectations not just my own but of course other people's So yeah, I do see familiar face faces on the boots on the ground folks though Yes, like that. There's a number of people that are back from years past who are who are in some of the same roles Yes, every single one. I'm actually reached out. We had a call for volunteers and all of them said I want to help What can I do and they are my superstars? I really call them because that's literally what they have We've all said we want to help we want to contribute we want to develop and so generous with their time and They've just been knocking me it out I'm just beyond grateful because they're obviously what help makes everything right. Well, we knew we were gonna see uncle Roy Like that's just a gift That's the important thing. Yeah, they've definitely been helpful like you said last night, you know, if there's a problem We'll take care of it and that certainly has been the case. We asked for something something has something has happened You know, it's not easy to find good help these days, but But in the voiceover community you you have a unique community of people that really want to help out This is a very large conference. We've got you know, what a thousand people here pretty close. I Have noticed that the attitude is a little bit different. It's it's got it It's a little smoother running than we've seen in past There's a flow to it that works really really well and people are really enjoying themselves and that's that's really that's really important for for something like this What did it take to really bring all that together and what kind of ideas what things did you change? Well, it's quite a question Well Okay Well first off, you know, we started off with great ideas and I did at the first thing I did after we took over was assembled an amazing group of advisory women who are and my husband too, of course so, you know, not just women but people who were like agents and casting directors and branding and Also just saying what would you like us? Because it really is about what your customer wants and I wanted to make sure we got it as right as possible So they were all very generous and said here's some ideas and I said to week that I have this idea Does it look right to you because you can plan a great conference? But if you're not planning for your clients that are your customers, which we see every single one these people as they are clients There are guests. There are customers So we wanted to make it an experience for them You can plan an incredible conference, but if you don't plan the right one or the right way, it could come across the wrong way so To get it as right as we could it's not always perfect. I guarantee you Not that we see it looks perfect from our perspective what goes on behind the listen We do this show all the time what goes on behind the scenes is there's a fire going behind. Yeah, you have no idea That's the idea never let him see a sweat So and then starting off from there then coming up with ideas then reaching out a lot of the vendors were brand new We had to find a group of vendors. I came back To Atlanta to specifically meet with about 12 or 13 vendors over a couple days to see who was the right fit for Audiovisual for furniture for layouts for things like that to you know, digital screens I mean lighting everything, you know, so we got close in different companies I think I have another battery It's important for you to have a lot of women Represented and be a part of this team for you. I mean it's you came out at the beginning of the show Who runs the world girls and that was great. I have a daughter. So I don't you know for me That's really fun. So were you successful in getting a team together that you feel really represents really did I mean, it's it's important for me to have diversity in everything Both in all aspects of voice over, you know, because I'm not a voice or person myself I'm training slowly but my talents lie more in event That's good. So I wanted to make sure from a voice over perspective and also from a talent perspective from a cast From a director perspective that I got as many aspects Because I wanted to understand what would be important to the voice over community Not just what's important to me or to j. Michael, of course And of course he understands it very well, but I wanted also to get there and put saying if you're going to a conference What is something we could do to help improve it, you know, so Yeah, that's great. So it's also men. I have an incredible head of tech, which is, you know, Steven George I've got Roy O'Cleason. I've got all these incredible. I've seen Steven and Uncle Roy back It's kind of a staple And also they've assembled a great AV team and I really rely on them to make I'm not a tech person by any such Imagine I just want to look really good and sound great And but they are the brains behind that part and I Kind of let them run, you know as he see fits and he's just I mean I'm believe well amazing. I'm glad I'm not doing it I'm glad I get to just show up It is The AV was very impressive and the big screen and all that that's not something you would expect to see at a You know at a voice over conference, so they're usually like, you know, low budget operations It's a high level. This one. This was really really impressive really pro I was really thrilled when I saw it all put together because of course you hear a lot of quotes And you sell numbers and I'm not so good at feaks. We do meters But the AV company house of music I definitely got a lot of props to them because they were really great to work with and they really helped Our vision mind and j. Michael's vision come to life and wanted it to feel And also the sound really good too because I remember other cameras I'm like, what did he say you're sitting at the back or you can't hear so I'm like What a voice over conference the sounds gotta be good, you know So and also one of the people who see things like, you know from the back I don't have to be like squinting or you know trying to scramble with I'm short so someone's You know toss in the front of me that could be, you know, you can't see so well So yeah, and I'll just you know wanted to we had a had a vision We both had a vision of what we wanted it to look like and It's been unbelievable amazing and to see it come to life Now in a big commercial conference like this, it's important to have sponsors And there's some amazing sponsors here a lot of and and vendors that are you know that are showing people their wares and stuff and the vendor area usually is in a big open room It's very echoey Why Having it in a more intimate style the way you have it here was really nice because You'll find that the people that are in the vendor area are the people that everyone that George and I know Because we've been going to these conferences for for 15 years Yeah, and and so there those are all our friends and and yet we've met some new ones And we've made a bunch of new friends this year um What does it really take to convince people to come and sponsor and to be a vendor here Well, actually to be honest j. Michael actually does a most like the the sponsorships and everything too is really his specialty But um, some people reached out some people were reached out to we all seem like a A sponsor prospectus to a lot of contacts and a list of people that we you know We'll see if they're interested in everything too. So Yeah, um, it's very much it's kind of like a we we sent out we sent out messages We like we do like we're interested that people reach out to us. It's kind of a mix of both Well, it's good because Sometimes there'll be you know vendors that are there And they really don't understand the voiceover market It seems that most of the vendors that are at this particular one They all are very very specific to to voiceover. They all seem really suited for this industry They seem to really clear like what the conference was so there wasn't misunderstandings there and also A lot of people actually like presenters and also to have given us ideas of who they could send it to or who might like to So it's been very much a team effort in that way And of course I gotta give a lot of credit to my husband j. Michael Collins because he's the one who really You know the presenters and the sponsors It's really been his and the schedule and everything too. I take care of the rest A lot of the logistics all the all the nuts and bolts you're dealing with the logistics I have to give absolute credit to him for that for because that was really a Quite a beast to put together for him. So He is a force of nature and if anybody's gonna do it he will So And it's been great talking with you and and congratulations so far. This has been fabulous And I think it as as everybody gets warmed into it even more It will continue to run smoothly. So congratulations. Thank you very much and thank you for having me both of you Thank you We're back here at vio atlanta 2023 Uh talking to lots of great people We have a very special guest right now because there's a program That's running concurrently here For child voice actors. We wouldn't quite consider you a child, but a young lady who I've known since the youth Yes, she's one of the youths here. It's a young lady. I've known since she was In small diapers Yes, I've known you for a long time um It's elijah widow It's good to be here. Now you're participating in You know the young people's program or should we call it the youths program call it the kids program kids program Okay, okay Uh, what what have you been doing? What kind of classes and Activities have they had? Well, they basically have been just doing like really fun games to like show the basics of voiceover like a little improv games and Just fun ways to do like show the warm-ups and stuff like that like they are showing like There was this one game where it's you um Would like basically There's two walls and then you would split into groups and line up on the wall and The person you know teaching it. I forgot his name So Scott No, it wasn't Scott. Um, it was the person at the end But um, you would basically split up in the groups and what you would do is uh It was for the gibberish class for like Dungeons and Dragons Um, basically what you would do is you would pair up with people in the lines And then you'd basically have like a normal conversation But like in gibberish like you'd act like you're talking to them But like you're just saying random like random like But I don't want to think about that one. Exactly. Yeah, I love gibberish So they have fun things like that to like to basically Teach them ropes of how things work in voiceover and loosen you up Loosen you up Yeah, exactly you guys feel at ease with each other Just have a good time and then maybe tomorrow you get to you know get a little more serious stuff into Yeah, exactly So you you've been studying voiceover. Well, obnoxiously most of your life since your your old man seems to be involved Modically, yeah, yeah, and uh, of course now you have you have that booth at home Which uh, well, you're moving to Atlanta, but having the facility at home was probably cool She's got two studios one one in LA and one in Atlanta All right But it's it's always important to have the kids help pay the rent If they can do it and in this day and age that's that's the way that's the way it works That's the way we're yeah, but it it it gives you the opportunity to see really what this job really involves And if you can learn it early on it makes a very easy transition to doing it full-time professionally and uh Do you do fine? Have you been have you booked any work yet? No, but I did do at least one audition like a month ago. I think it was for a real audition Yeah, like an actual legit audition, which I think was pretty cool. But um, obviously I didn't get it because we haven't heard back But I was I'm not surprised I didn't get it because there was lots of more very talented people and more experienced people auditioning for the role and I only have like five months of training so far. So um, but it was cool like Doing the audition seeing what it really be like if I was to do like an actual audition for like a show or a cartoon Yeah And your coach is martha con And is that wire here because she's the coach and it happens to be learning the kids program Or is there any other reason why possibly because uh, you smugging on me last minute. I was like, okay, we're go I already booked the flight in the hotel. So pack your bags. Does it sound like you came kicking and screaming? No, I definitely definitely not There was there was a brief moment of of of shock Yeah, I was like, what? You know being in a large crowded room with strangers is not your first thing on your list of things to do But you've adapted to it really well. Yeah, I It's definitely not scary as I imagine it should be obviously because you see you like to psych yourself out about things like that But yeah, it's been really fun so far. But yeah We haven't really seen the kids out there. I mean they're they've separated off to a totally different part. Yeah They're kind of sequestered to the to the lower level downstairs um And I'm sure there's good reasons for that Keep them focused and and kind of keep the distractions away, right? Keep me Do you guys feel like you can really focus down there? There's nobody milling around. There's nobody watching There's no parents watching definitely because the one of the main reasons why they didn't want Uh parents down there watching their kids doing it was because they didn't want them to feel like they needed to perform when they were doing it because they wanted to be A safe place to make mistakes be themselves be loose with it So but like if their parents say they they're on a Mac thing is like, okay, I need to do good I need to perform for them So that that took an adjustment for me when you're coaching in my at home and in our studio because I wanted to That the first couple of times I was actually in the room I was sitting on the sofa. I was watching listening and eventually Martha's like You should you should yeah, you should go you should go let Elijah play and not feel like she's performing Which is the coolest thing. Yeah Martha's been really great The more she does this the more we're seeing that she is really She understands how to work with kids and and develop their skills and the more you do anything like Studying home studios and stuff the better you get at it and Martha has really done that and she's fun to work with it Very very she's very easy to talk with and be loose with and just Have fun, you know, she's not very judgmental Can't be with kids, you know, which is why the parents aren't allowed in there You know, it's like, you know, come on. You can do this better Jenny, you know, I you know I work with parents and they're like Gotta set up the studio Let the kids be kids that's really the best part of it Yeah, what's what's we know that voiceover isn't your first passion though I know that no it was not my first so so so what is your first passion right? What is the thing that you really enjoyed doing? I really enjoyed drawing Uh, mostly like people drawing. I want to learn to do more things like backgrounds and objects and animals and stuff like that But my main thing is drawing people or portraits um I've definitely put a lot of my uh passion and time into drawing A lot more than voiceover to be honest But um, I feel like I want to try putting a lot more of my daily routine and you know Reading more out loud because that's what I've been constantly being told to do is for especially for voiceover and stuff is to keep reading keep reading out loud To you know, make it easier to read scripts and stuff like that But uh, I've definitely put a lot more of my my passion and interests into drawing Have you've done any animation or tried to do some work like that? Actually, I have it was just simple animations But they honestly aren't that good because I don't really know where to start with animation I actually did take a school class because in fourth grade. I think before covid started they had um an after-school problem Program called hearts and you could do like extra like clubs thingies Um, and I chose animation because that was an option It was actually really fun. Um, it was we did it on paper So it was like it took a while for us to do at least one animation That's unfortunately all we got to do because that's when covid happened. We had the school to shut down So we had to stop it But it was really fun for the first couple months that I got to do it If you can do animation and voices you can bring your own characters to life Which is kind of cool. I know my son does that and you know, we He fortunately has a father with a voiceover studio as well and you know, it's kind of fun So what do you what what are your future plans for you know after this? So you're going to continue to pursue voiceover and uh and then really see if it's something you want to do or Something along with a lot of other things uh, yeah, I think I would because at the beginning before this convention I was still kind of In between of like, do I really want to do this? Is this really what I want to do for a while? I think you were worried that committing to coming to this that there was a little bit of pressure on you That if your dad's going to bring you to this that you really have to give this a real go And I wanted to make sure that pressure wasn't really that you that Being here would inspire you to want to keep doing it and not that being here is like Well, if you're here, you better you better take it seriously, you know that kind of thing I didn't think that. Um, honestly, I know I had to go anyway, but it's I felt like it's not like I was like No, I really don't want to do this. I can't believe dad's making it. There was a moment where that you were feeling There was a moment the moment of shock when I sprung it on you. Why would you do this? Yeah, but um No, I think I definitely after this really want to give it a go and maybe put a little bit more dedication into it, but um I definitely still want to pursue art and maybe Also a lot more voiceover Can I ask you something that maybe might feel a little personal and we can edit this out if you don't like to talk about? Um, you're very new to wearing glasses How did how did that come to be because you were doing okay without them? So Where why glasses now or how did that come to be? Well, um I've always kind of had a problem of skipping over words and sentences and you know adding words and stuff like that I also had a problem of the like words would like mash together almost because it was like my eyes wouldn't focus on them properly and One day during a session Martha was like After the session you came in and I overheard you talking about like yeah I think she needs glasses or something like that Because she keeps on like mixing up words or adding in words or forgetting words or mixing up sentences and stuff like that because we were already Um considering about getting me glasses, but we just weren't like it was like a sigh of thought almost not like oh We're not actually gonna do but it's like a possibility But I guess after Martha was like yeah, you need glasses and I was like, okay I guess I'll she said she said you should check to have your eyes checked Yeah, and just see you know, we didn't know so what was the diagnosis? What what are the glasses helping with? um, it's my eyes like to Rest at the sides of my eye sockets where it's like they like to be outwards or then inwards Um, it's called my eyes are divergent. I'm pretty sure that's what's called. Yeah, that's right. Yeah So the glasses help with that and it did you notice immediately once you got used to wearing them Did you notice that you could read your lines a little easier? Was it coming? Yes, I Before like I actually read any sentences. I kept on like Going like this like seeing the differences of like smaller letters or words that were like farther away kind of smaller I did notice a big difference actually. Um, it was like way clearer and it wasn't like kind of blurring up just slightly um, but when I did finally read sentences, it definitely did get a little bit easier and um Yeah, it was it was definitely way more clearer to see the sentences When I when I started back 25 years ago and doing voiceover and I hadn't done any for a while after being in broadcasting I remember going into a studio to cut some demos And looking at this good boy That's what I knew I needed both this is too. I thought I would never be someone that would wear them I hate to say that to say that you're destined to wear glasses is not really fair, but you were kind of Between me between me and your mind your mom. Yeah, mom had glasses when she was since she was three So sorry about that. So it was kind of meant to be I was just kind of in denial for a long time. So I was like not gonna eat glasses. I'm fine I have two pairs of glasses Lashes great talking to you. It's always a pleasure talking to you Especially when you come to the studio with your dad and uh and hang out with us But we're really proud of you for for looking at this and and and Seeing that you know, this is a potential career or part of a career. So congratulations on coming out here and sticking with it This seems to be really a cool experience and um, I can't wait to do it tomorrow I just need a good good sleep because I'm very tired after the seven hours. It's been a 12 hour day for you actually 12 hour. Yeah, we started at nine. It's nine now Well seven hours of actually being in classes. Sure But no, yeah Go to bed Very tired. I'm proud of you very much. I love you Oh, that was cool. That was nice to hear a week later after that You know a lot has happened since we did that she now lives there, which is crazy She actually moved across country with her mom is living there and um, I still can't believe it, but Um, she's there Sorry. Oh, you'll you'll talk about this stuff live because I can guarantee it's gonna trigger me, but She's she's over there, but she's got a huge industry to behind her and so many great contacts and People to interact with showbiz and lana is a growing industry. Like oh, yeah, like crazy There's so many things she can access. So a little really looking forward to see what comes forward For her in the future. It was great. We could have her on. Thanks for having her Invited and and having her be interviewed on vobs. Yeah So anyway, we're gonna take a break right now And if you were at vo atlanta and you have some thoughts about it Put your you know, let let jeff holman in the chat room know that and we will get you On here and we'll talk about it and hear what you guys have to say and then We got more stuff to do with that So we're taking a break right now and we'd be right back with more stuff here at voiceover body shop So don't go away This is the latin lover narrator from jane the virgin anthony mendez and you're enjoying dan and george on The voice of our body shop As voice actors we need to hear the clear transparent and honest sound of our voices Harlan hogan signature series voice optimized headphones 2.0 Provide both that accurate transparent sound with enhanced mid-range audio less bass and the creature comforts voice workers deserve Clearly different from traditional studio headphones The upper mids and highs are clear as about no muffling or cross bleeding between frequencies Like a pair of studio monitors the low is there But at the same level as the rest of the spectrum They're comfortable like no other phones i've worn that's because harlan used actual leather for the pads It's like putting on a pair of leather gloves for your ears They're also very light for their size as harlan made them from aluminum instead of plastic The headband is flexible like a watch band and the plug comes out for walking away Get the only headphones designed for vo harlan hogan signature series voice optimized headphones 2.0 for just $149 With free shipping from voiceover essentials.com I'm wearing those headphones right now actually and i'm smacking into the headphones Smacking into my mic with them Anyway, let's move on and thank our sponsors source elements the creators of source connect They were actually there in the house. They were at vio atlanta and demonstrating Their their latest updates to their softwares source connect in nexus And there is some exciting stuff coming soon. We'd love to see we'll keep you We'll keep you tuned in about what's happening In the in the source connect world, but there is new things on the near horizon that I can't share yet But it's going to be pretty cool. It's going to really make it easier to interact with studios But at this stage of the game and as it's been for a very long time You want to make sure you're familiar on at least a basic level as how source connect works How it would work in your studio and what you need to do to be ready to use it And they have a huge amount of education on their site Really helpful support. We at george the tech, of course have the best support out there for third party software Hardware to assist if you run out of support on the source elements side We even have rob rob himself robert marshal the co-founders of source elements Here at george the tech. He's one of the first guys who will answer the phone If you get on an emergency call with george the tech to help you But we are here to support you in your source connect journey and all things source elements So let us know if you need anything. But anyway, go over there get your trial get up and running with source elements and Be ready when the big gig comes into your inbox. All right, let's get on to the rest of that show right after this Hey, it's david h. Lawrence the 17th and we talk a lot in this business about moving forward with our career getting more information We often don't talk about simply Getting started It can be one of the most immovable objects In in our life getting out of our own way and just simply taking the first step And if you're watching this podcast voiceover body shop For some tips on how to get started in voiceover or to change something about your voiceover career or to increase your knowledge in a certain area Check out vio heroes comms getting started in voiceover If you go to vio heroes comm slash start you'll get all the information Uh, it's really cheap And I give you a lot to get started in the business But you might also learn something if you've been in the voiceover business for a while vio heroes comm slash start That's vio heroes comm slash start This is bill radner and you're enjoying voiceover body shop with dan lennard and george widham v obs dot tv And we're back Yeah, it was wonderful hearing from everybody that we talked to it and vio atlanta. I mean there were a lot of A lot of good conversations that we had with people that we haven't had in a long time I had a chance to talk with jim james allberger. Yeah Who started all of this with the voice conferences back in? 2007 seven right i can remember seven because i know i went to the second one you were there in 2008 That's how i know it was 2007 that's that's that's where you and i met so uh, yeah, it's 2007 was the one that donna fontana Came to yes, he did wasn't in vegas. Yes somebody want asked him while he was there Um, is there room in the business for all these other people to do trailers and he went? Yes When I die And unfortunately he died about six months later So and look at all the guys doing trailers now But it's not that many It's still pretty it's about the most elite voiceover biz gig there is I think is trailers still and nobody that was in that room Well, we'd love to have your comments on uh on on vio atlanta if you were there and uh So we can we can add you on onto our broadcast here. You know and and here's somebody who uh Who is a regular viewer of our show and he came up and and Was just there the rest of the weekend rob Rob writer Reader reader writer writer writer it is Oh man, it was great to meet both of you guys Uh, you know, I've been following your Following the show and following your admonitions and your training and your suggestions for a long time as you notice I'm right there with a microphone in the right place, but uh Uh, boy george your daughter what a what a treat and what a sweetheart she is and you're so right about atlanta I got some friends in the atlanta production business and they are just busier than than Then they they're just making money hand over fist. It's quite a center I'm glad to hear that good stuff out there because her mother her mother moved there for some greener pastors as well You know, that's why they're there and she's a photographer. So, you know Opportunities will be a little bit more forthcoming to her there. I think a little bit less Yeah, so looking forward to see what happens. Thank you for that. Yeah. Yeah. What were your overall impressions rob? overall impressions were very strong first time i've been to to the conference and the the audiobook track was was especially strong with scott brick and susanne Uh, running that and uh with johnny heller and and all the rest of the folks I got involved in x sessions with johnny heller uh, I then went on to apac in new york and That's more a networking thing. Oh man. I've just I was so overloaded and I did not get covet but, um The uh, the the audiobook track was so strong if you atlanta I would highly recommend it for anybody who wants to get involved with that I stayed at the jewelry ran into lori alan never met her had breakfast with her Which was kind of fun. I did go to the waffle house and had breakfast at dinner Scattered smothered covered and chunked Yeah, that's the waffle house But but and it was I mean just so nice to meet you guys ryan white from road I got to talk to him and I'm gonna be announcing an air show in kansas city And I'm gonna meet with him out there this coming summer and And and the food that j michael put out there the the two lunches were unbelievably tasty and plentiful So, uh, I'm I'm definitely going back. I never I had not initially intended to go and then My voice over excuse me my my audiobook coach Uh, hillary huber suggested well, yeah, but we'll have fun And so I showed up and I had way more than fun. It was totally worth it But primarily and no no doubt about it meeting you two guys was really Is really a really a treat. So thank you for that opportunity to spend that you gave me the time you gave me We were all in one. We were all in like one little clustered up group Shoved in there. Dan was over there at wolvo the wolvo booth. We were all right there. So I want to join wolvo too So I'm good job part of the fam That's great to know Well, anyway, thanks guys. I don't want to keep you forever. So okay, we appreciate that Anyway, but thanks for being there. Alrighty if anybody else was there at Uh Via, Atlanta, we'd love to hear from you and have your thoughts on it And uh, what what made it special for you and what was it good? Was it was it this? Was it that? There was so much to it though. I mean, there were so many sessions. There were a lot of x sessions You did an x session, you know, I I think for a big commercial Production like that where you've got all these people in there. I suppose the x sessions made sense What was it that you would that you did differently in an x session that you know that you or I would have done at a You know in an hour session or something Yeah, well, I I had never gotten to do an x session before and I hadn't done a three hour live in person workshop in Long time. So I Honestly, I didn't know exactly the scope of what I wanted what's going to be able to cover and so I went into it with a slide show that was kind of a I called it mic to mp3 and I just had to come up with some it's an old name I had from used years ago, right? But it was just it was just me answering people's questions and throwing a lot of things at them and seeing how they handle it You don't know what those 12 people are going to know. You don't know who they're going to be that sign up You don't know what their skill level is when when they come in but with 12 people it really allowed me to Make it a very just a free flowing Presentation rather than when I do my remote webinars my typical online webinars were Okay, I'm going to talk for one hour and 20 to 30 minutes Or 40 minutes for a really long time and then I'm going to answer your questions I wanted it to feel a lot more interactive. I wanted people to be able to interject Ask questions real time and make it feel like we're all in the same room Let's take advantage of that. So There was a lot of talk about mic placement You know after I did a pretty long spiel about acoustics And really demonstrated how bad acoustics work because the conference rooms I mean, come on guys. These are rooms made for communication and they had zero acoustical treatment Just hard surfaces. They were so reverberant But it was so funny But um, yeah, it was a great way to demonstrate acoustics because it was a bad badly acoustically treated room And so people got to hear that and we got to talk a lot about mic placement and really get to talk about people's specific Situations what they are using what mic they're using How to make it work better for them? So That was neat. They're getting really that lot of one-on-one personal time And uh, so that I think it worked out really well Yeah, we shot that bit on Friday night. Yeah, and then on saturday was the most fun because that was like We had a an audio master's Yeah, we like to call them the round table, but it was a panel and on it was you me uncle roy Larry Hudson dan Friedman tim tippets and dav Whose last name escapes me because I hadn't met him before but uh, that was great because I think for the most part, you know, I got the first question And it was like what's most important. I said acoustics and everybody agreed and I'm like, okay, we can all go home now You know they uh, it was it was great to To have people who think like we do and you got to remember that People who actually work with home voiceover studios We come from a lot of different angles at it and some have a slightly different attitude about it But it's uh overwhelmingly we're on the same page as we always seem to find About 80 of the time maybe more. We're totally on the same page 20 of the time we have some different ideas about how we should accomplish the details And we have a lot of clients who work with all of us or in a mixture of us You know some some have worked with uncle roy and dan and me or me and jordan or me and uncle roy and jordan All these different combinations tim tippets Which was great to see him there and and looking and feeling apparently feeling much better Clearly, you know and and um Hearing how everybody's worked with all these people It what happens is when people do this. Yeah, they learn a lot, but some folks tend to get hung up on that last 10 to 20 percent Where we have different ideas about how to execute things and that can get people In a little bit of I'm not trouble. It just frustrates them because then they're like, well, what really is the right answer And at the end of the day, we can't all hand it to you You you do have to make your own decision That's what the right we've been give we've given you a lot of the right information We've given you some different things like somebody came into my X session she said I was told I should get a windows computer You're telling me I should get a mac computer Which is the right answer and all I could do of course again was give her my perspective and my experience Right, so that's that's the way it goes. You do have to make your own decisions at the end of the day You're running your own business. You have to steer your own ship But get the best crew you possibly can Yeah, and Yeah, and jordan ronalds ran that ran that particular panel very very well Until his wife started to talk, um and uh Oh, that's where things got interesting when maryl stood up to to talk. Yeah Yeah, and she's like asking all of us these very detailed questions and you know, we all look at jordan and we're like Take it home What was that clearly that jordan's probably had to deal with with mara and try to answer for her or try to work with You know work on with her And she wasn't getting the answers that she wanted from jordan. So she asked the rest of us Yeah awkward It was very awkward, but it was still fun You know just lining up for a picture. I mean, you don't get a picture of all of us together like that I mean, we are a very exclusive fraternity. I mean, there's other people that You know say they you know, they work with home voiceover studios and stuff Well, who was missing really that definitely could have been on stage with us was tim friedlander Yeah, I know what he was doing. Yeah cliff cliff zelman cliff who was there, but he was he wasn't in that particular It was it was impossible to really I've ever that's how big of a conference There's so much going on that you still can't get everybody On stage plus you might I don't know if you noticed the very beginning. I was holding a glass of champagne Yes, the champagne toast was at the same time as our panel So I grabbed a glass and ran out to do the to do the panel at the end Yeah, you've got a great video of the glass sort of like in front of you the entire time and Perfectly. Oh jeff gelder is in the chat jeff gelder Yeah, jeff. Can you jump in jeff? Yeah, winner of the unicorn award for his annual holiday cd Yeah, that would be yeah, the unicorn award was I mean, I have video of that whole thing too. It's 26 minutes long Um, it's really long tray is saving his voice. He's just getting over. Oh damn tray tray tray who's been a watch We've known tray. He's a fan of ours forever. Yeah, um, he was there. We got this I got to say hi to tray He says i'm saving his voice getting over covet. Yeah a number of people came down with covet I mean, that's the thing about a conference now is yeah, yeah, if you're careful You know, you wash your hands. You don't get too close to people. You're not going to get covet. So it's uh Yeah, I we're you know, we've got woevolkan coming up in a month exactly a month and uh, it's uh You know, we're trying to come up. What's the policy going to be and we're thinking You know respect other people if they're wearing a mask and you know, don't make a political thing out of it You know people are entitled to uh, you know protect themselves People that wanted to protect themselves wore a mask. I mean it's different in every city In la it's it's you're free to free to do your thing if you want to wear one You when you when you don't want to wear one I think a lot of these conference halls a conference spaces people are very are becoming after three years of this Getting accustomed to some people have a mask on some people don't have a mask on right if you can't handle that at this point Just don't even show up to any conference. Indeed. That's my opinion Yeah, well, it was a great show. Anyway, we we're going to take a break here And we're going to come back and wrap things up for this particular hour and then rack it for tech talk And if you got a question for tech talk throw it in the chat room now because George and I love getting questions about home voiceover studio tech So we'll be right back here at voiceover body shop. So don't go away You're still watching vlbs Your dynamic voiceover career requires extra resources to keep moving ahead There's one place where you can explore everything the voiceover industry has to offer That place is voiceover extra dot com Whether you're just exploring a voiceover career or a seasoned veteran ready to reach that next professional level Stay in touch with market trends coaching products and services while avoiding scams and other pitfalls Voiceover extra has hundreds of articles free resources and training that will save you time and help you succeed Learn from the most respected talents coaches and industry insiders when you join the online sessions Bringing you the most current information on topics like audio books auditioning home studio setup and equipment Marketing performance techniques and much more. It's time to hit your one-stop daily resource for voiceover success Sign up for a free subscription to newsletters and reports. It's all here at voiceover extra dot com. That's voiceover Xtra dot com All right, I got to tell you guys a story About 10 years ago. My good friend joe davis gave me a call and he says what can I do for the voiceover business Now joe is a webmaster. He was primarily designing websites for midtown Manhattan law firms And he's like, I want to help the voiceover business. What would work? And I said, you know something And this is the way I stated it to him your voiceover website shouldn't be a pain in the ass Because it takes forever To create a website. You got to talk to your webmaster They'll charge you 25 bucks for adding a comma and then people start to become very elaborate in it And all you really need is your name your Your demos your contact information and a nice background And if he could create something that was templated That would be a lot easier So 10 years later. No, he started voice actor websites dot com and where we were doing uh They were they were somewhat templated but people could design their websites and After 10 years now he has 30 people working for him But now we have voice actor voice actor dot com which is It's it's amazing because Look at all the different templates that are in there All you have to do is go in there and you can do it for free to start That's right for free if you go into the uh into the home page here You can build it your website in minutes and you can get started for free Uh there, you know, and then it's not really all that expensive But 20 a month to have your website the way you want it and Not only that but it also includes Where it gets hosted So you're on like that and George and I started started using this and it was absolutely amazing Because we were able to do it Literally in 10 15 minutes and we had a website why we had a website for for elijah We had a little website for my son jacob And there it was so if you want to try it go try it free over at voice actor dot com That's voice actor dot com. Let us know how it goes for you We are the world voices organization also known as wovo We're the not-for-profit industry association of freelance voice talent voiceover is a complex entrepreneurial business Wovo is there to promote the professional nature of voice work to the public to those already established in their voiceover practice And to those who want to pursue voiceover as a career Membership benefits include a supportive and creative community a profile and demos on voiceover.biz Our searchable directory of vetted professional voice talent our exclusive demo player for your personal website Our mentoring program business resources and our video library our annual wovo con conference Of fun and educational weekend with other members with the chance to learn and network webinars and great speakers And weekly social chats with other members around the world If your world is voiceover make wovo part of it world voices organization. We speak for those who speak for a living Yeah, hi, this is carlo zellers rocky the voice of rocko, and you're watching voiceover body shop All right Well, we got time for one more person who was there who was greatly honored and that was Jeff gelder. Jeff. How you doing, man? I'm good. Can you see me? Yeah, we can see you. We can hear you You have 60 seconds go Aside from winning the unicorn award which had lots of benefits to it. Uh, what was what was your impressions into the conference? That was a definitely my favorite part. I have to say But uh, I thought that it was phenomenal. This was my first video at lana ever And now from what I've heard it was the best one so far. Um, I hate to say it But I think they might have raised the bar on the wovo Well, there's two different things so right we'll have a hundred people there was a thousand there So ours will be a little bit more into it. Yeah No, I just I was excited about they had a lot of different speakers that I'd never seen in the last 10 years I've going to places like camaraderie the love in the room was huge For sure Yeah, it was a lot of fun and it was great seeing you there and it was great watching you win the unicorn award How are you gonna use all of that stuff that they gave you? Oh my god, you know, it's a little overwhelming I'm still like I after they read the list for about 30 minutes I shut down and just I don't remember what's on that list We're about to get into it. I think in the next few days and figure out who gets what and how that works, but Already, I've got this wonderful thousand dollar donation to the charity from debaulton Which is you know amazing. So those are the best parts of it, but It's exciting to read out, you know some of the studio and the career and go to some other conferences and make some new demos Everything I wanted to do That's incredible Yeah, and it's helping out your your charity for the the annual holiday cd that you guys give out and that's a really cool project We'll talk more about it, uh, you know, and you know as we go towards the holidays We'll talk to you about it and maybe maybe you can help promote it Thanks for being with us. I want to thank george team for the video. That was awesome to be able to see what happened Remembering Yeah, it was like behind you off to the side in this other perspective So you got to watch the whole thing. It's like an out-of-body experience. It was really surreal Thanks for joining us. All right guys. Thanks. Alrighty Well, it's that time to say goodbye and get Get revved up for tech talk if you got a question for tech talk We do it live and if you're watching live You get to ask your questions and that's what we want to hear from you So we'll get to that in the meantime So next week you're going to hear your questions answered on tech talk Number 100 if you can believe that Yeah, 100 tech talks my god Oh Yeah, so stay tuned for that We need to thank our donors of the week like grace newton who I know is watching Hey, robert leadham. Steve chambler Casey clack jonathan grant thomas pinto greg thomas a doctor voice ant land productions martha con Hey martha my dear 949 designs Christopher epperson sarah borges philips appear brian page patty gibbons rob raider writer reader reader shuna pennington barred don griffith trey moseley hey trey diana birdsall and sondra man willer All right Hey join our mailing list too So you know what we're going to be doing on this show Every week as I send that out and you get to find out what's going on We need to thank our wonderful sponsors harlan hogan's voiceover essentials voiceover extra source elements bioheros.com voiceactor.com and worldvoices.org That's right. We are the industry association of freelance voice talent. Join us today Thanks to jeff holman for getting everybody together in the chat room And of course sumer lino for getting it done from the switchboard And and of course lee pinney for being lee pinney Well, look this was an interesting show You got a little bit of a flavor of what vio atlanta was about maybe you want to go next year, you know and Hopefully not get covet but also learn an awful lot about the voiceover business Which is why we're here every week doing what we do to help you out with your home voiceover studio and your voiceover career So make sure you're here for that Anyway, i'm dan lennard and i'm george woodham and this is voiceover body shop or vo b s close enough Stay tuned for tech talk