101 Useful Resources for Online Entrepreneurs

I found this on a non-vo site for internet Entrepreneurs and in today's environment, isn't that what most of us are? Anyway, here is a great list of resources entitled: 101 Useful Resources for Online Entrepreneurs

Over a 180 Resources for Voice Actors

The good people at Voices.com have compiled an amazing list of Over 100 Resources that every voice actor should know about. There is a ton of great stuff here!

They also put together a fantastic list of over 80 Online Marketing resources for voice actors as well.

My thanks go out to Stephanie Ciccarelli and the people at Voices.com. You just gotta love people who share the wealth, huh!

Jimmy Hears a Who

OK, I have been a huge fan of Jim Carrey since his "In Living Color" days.

The man is one of the most amazing comic talents ever. His elastic face and voice have brought me many an hour of explosive laughter. One time, I laughed so hard at his antics that I literally burst a blood vessel in my eye.

Anyway, Jim is starring in the animated version of the Dr. Seuss classic "Horton Hears a Who", opening this weekend at a theatre near you (I've always wanted to say that!).

Here is a link to a Jim Carrey interview about the film on the Dark Horizons website.

When I saw on Oprah (my wife makes me watch it I tell you!) that Jim was co-starring with none other than the legendary Carol Burnett and another of my favorites, Steve Carrell I was thrilled!

Speaking of Steve Carrell, did you catch him as Hammy, the fastest Squirrel on earth in "Over the Hedge"? He was fabulous in that role! But I digress.

The movie opens this weekend which just so happens to be my Birthday weekend (I was born on the Ides of March for you Shakespeare fans) and although I am on the downhill side of my 40s, I am looking forward to this movie and what are sure to be some amazing voiceover performances from these three incredibly talented people.

In a missive from James Alburger and Penny Abshire, they share with us the following:

Meet the VOICE Headliners!

Susan Berkley - What a Great Voice!!

Friday Morning Keynote Speaker,Susan Berkley, is a top voice-over artist whose voice has sold millions of dollars worth of products and services on TV and radio commercials. She is the telephone voice of many Fortune 100 companies. Susan is CEO of Berkley Productions, Inc., a company that provides voice mastery training for aspiring voice artists, and well as performance coaching for business and sales professionals. She is the author of Speak to Influence - How to Unlock the Hidden Power of Your Voice. Visit The Great Voice Company to learn more about this dynamic lady! Susan is a master marketer and a darn good voice coach!!

Pat Fraley - Our Special Guest Star!

Keynote Speaker Monday Morning
Winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Voicey Awards in 2008, Patrick Fraley has created voices for more than 4,000 characters, placing him among the top ten performers of all time to be cast in animation. Pat teaches 700+ students a year in events, workshops, and seminars on various aspects of voiceover. His unique character voice cirriculum is the only one accredited at the university level. He has taught voice for 35 years, is a member of the Voice and Speech Trainers of American and holds a Master's of Fine Arts degree in Professional Acting from Cornell University.

Pat Fraley is the "Voiceover King" of working outside the box! During his special guest appearance at VOICE 2008, he will reveal his "Secret Dialect System" created for voiceover. You'll be amazed at how Pat's dialect secrets will change the way you work with your characters! All that and even more. . . Pat is one of the nicest people we know!
Learn more at www.patfraleyteaches.com


Marc Cashman - Looking for a Muse!

Keynote Speaker on Sunday.
Marc Cashman is one of the few voice-acting instructors in the U.S. who is on "both sides of the glass"
as a Clio-winning Radio and TV commercial copywriter, producer, and casting director, and as a working voice actor. As a voice actor, he has been heard locally, regionally, nationally and internationally on radio, TV, film, documentaries, radio plays, video games and audio books. Marc has voiced thousands of commerials, dubbed foreign films, narrated dozens of audio books, and created the voices of many CD-Rom, online and video game characters. Oh, and did we mention. . . he's a really funny guy! Find out why at www.cashmancommercials.com



We're very excited about the caliber of all the speakers who will be presenting at VOICE 2008. In the coming weeks you'll learn more about:

Beverly Bremers Warm up that Voice!
Bob Bergen The official Warner Brothers Voice of Porky Pig
Nancy Wolfson Brain Tracks
Richard Horvitz Character Crazies!
Steve Hudson (UK) Creator of the PSR Method
Randy Thomas Voice of The Academy Awards
Dan Balestrero Voice Over Mastery
Karly Rothenberg Improv Maddness
Julie Williams Voiceover Chocolate
Deb Munro (Canada) Winner of Best Female Voice 2008 Voicey Awards
Chris Allport Mastering Self-Direction
Raleigh Pinksey Shameless Self-Promotion
Gabrielle Nistico (Voice Hunters)
Lee Marshall The Voice of Tony the Tiger
Marc Graue Fix in the Mix
Joe Klein The Podcast VO Guy
Stefan Kinell (Sweden) VO with an international flair
MJ Lallo Characters that move!
Joyce Castellanos Promo and Trailer Expert

And even more big names will be announced as they get closer to the event!!

O.T. - Am I working too hard??

This is way off-topic but I just had to share this.

I read an article recently about a woman by the name of Ailin Graef who created a character in an online game called Second Life. The character's name is Anshe Chung. Anshe / Ailin has become the world's first Virtual Millionaire while playing the game! Furthermore, it only took her 2 years to do it! Here is a link to the press release: Anshe Chung became the world's first Virtual World Millionaire.

I mean this is amazing! This is an early step toward "The Matrix" when we will all be living our lives in virtual worlds! It is also very exciting because the possibilities are endless.

Now I've been working my day job and trying to build my voiceover business over the last 2 years and I have yet to get anywhere near millionaire status, so now I'm wondering, should I stop working so hard . . . and start playing games?

Learning to Fish

I've been learning how to fish lately but so far, I haven't been able to land the big one.

I put the worm on the hook. There is some interest. I start getting a number of queries about voiceover work. Some interesting things are popping up for Spanish language voiceovers.

The fish start to nibble. I've responded to the queries and we start going back and forth. A couple of times, it looks like I'm going to book the job.

The fish are circling. I can see a dark shadow beneath the surface of the water. He looks HUGE! Man oh man I hope he bites!

There is a tremendous tug on the line! Oh baby I'm about to pull in a whopper! They ask if I can run into the New York City today! DRAT! I'm already booked for something else. Can I do it tomorrow?

Suddenly my line goes slack. The big one has gotten away. Man I hate that!

Truth be told, he wasn't that big, maybe just a Bluefish, but I wanted him, and I didn't get him.

But guess what. Tomorrow, I'll start all over again. I'll bait the hook, throw it in and see what bites. And if I get a great big tug on the line again, I'm going to finesse it gently, until I sink that hook in good and deep. I'm not going to let one get away that easily next time, that's for sure. And if he tries to get away, I'm going to fight him like a 300lb Marlin until I land that sucker and mount him on my wall.

Oh yes . . . it's just a matter of time.