Hispanic American Urban Cool

These words describe my friend and colleague Anthony Mendez, a NY-based voiceover pro who was recently interviewed by Radio and Production Magazine about how to become successful in this business. As a fellow Hispanic-American, I was really inspired by this article and I hope you will be as well.

Getting started in voiceovers

This is a question that comes up quite a bit. My online colleague Dave Houston wrote a really great article addressing this very question. Take a look, you might learn something!

Accents and Dialects - Upcoming class!

Hey! I just came across an upcoming Accents and Dialects class being taught by the one and only Mr. Pat Fraley!. Mr. Fraley is arguably America's #1 voiceover teacher. The class will be in November in Buffalo NY so if you can make it, do it baby, do it!

Accents and Dialects, that is the question.

It has never been more important for voiceover actors to learn to do accents and dialects. Why? audiobooks and computer games. These industries have literally exploded in the last couple of years!

I was at Barnes & Noble last night browsing the audiobook section and I must say I was absolutely floored! It looked to me like every single book published these days is done in both print and audiobook formats. That's a lot of voiceover work for a lot of actors doing a lot of voices.

What about video games? They have become as important, if not more important, a part of the entertainment industry as movies! The current release of Halo 3 is, according to Microsoft, the biggest entertainment launch in history selling over $170 Million on it's opening-day! That's more than double the the 1st-day earnings of Spiderman 3, the biggest movie opening in history thus far.

These two increasingly important industries will continue to need more and more talented voiceover actors who are versatile and can do many characters, accents and dialects.

I don't know about you, but I think I'd like to get in on some of this action. Here is a resource that might help you (and me) get started.

MTV Gives you Legally Blond: the Musical

I just read on another blog that MTV will be airing the entire Broadway production of Legally Blonde the Musical! The first of at least 3 airings is supposed to be on Saturday, September 29th at 1:00 but I would check local listings to verify that. For those of you who love broadway shows, here is a chance to see one that I've heard is pretty darn good, for free!

A couple of cool tools for your voiceover arsenal.

While browing the VO-BB, a voiceover industry bulletin board which I cannot recommend highly enough to anyone working, or wanting to work, in any aspect of this business. I recently came across a couple products I found quite interesting.

1. The CEntrance Microport Pro. Now I haven't gotten hold of one of these babies myself, but it was given a rather good review by a very respected voiceover pro, Mr. Frank Frederick and when it comes to VO technology, Frank's word is as good as gold as far as I'm concerned. You can read what Frank had to say about it here.

2. Adobe SoundBooth CS3. When it comes to recording software, there's a new kid in town! This product brings advanced recording functionality to the novice / intermediate crowd and boy does that include me! After going through the features videos on their site, I can honestly say that I can't wait want to get a copy of this for myself.

Marketing yourself as an actor / voiceover

So I've been giving this subject a lot of thought lately though I haven't really come up with anything good. What are the techniques you use to market yourself as an actor / voiceover? What has been effective and what hasn't? Is it the internet site? Business cards? Post Cards?

I'd love to hear from you on your favorite marketing techniques. Let me hear from you.

Books and Stuff again

Here is a list of books I highly recommend having read each and every one personally. I hope you find some of these useful.

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A most amazing display of power.

This is a somewhat off topic but I wanted to share this with my readers (assuming of course that I actually have some!) Is it real? I guess you will have to judge for yourself.

I came across this video of a man who, through a daily practice of meditation, has been able to harness an energy within himself that those in the East call "Chi". He uses this power to heal people and only reluctantly allowed himself to be filmed.

I believe it is in fact quite real and I believe it is an amazing example of the power that we each possess but which we often never develop. If this man can develop these abilities and do these things using only the power of his mind, what then can we do in our own lives through the judicious application of our own minds?

On acting and aging.

There is so much hullabaloo on all the actor message boards about acting and growing old. Here are some words of wisdom from people much wiser than myself about the whole aging thing. I hope you find some wisdom here.

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Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are cheese.
~ Billie Burke ~

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
~Mark Twain

A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.
~John Barrymore

The key to successful aging is to pay as little attention to it as possible.
~Judith Regan

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?
~Satchel Paige

By the time you're eighty years old you've learned everything. You only have to remember it.
~ George Burns ~

Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. ~Samuel Ullman


You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair. ~Douglas MacArthur

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional. ~Chili Davis

To me -- old age is always ten years older than I am.
~ Andre B. Buruch ~

Old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternatives.
~ Maurice Chevalier ~

Age is a matter of feeling, not of years.
~ George William Curtis ~

It is not how old you are, but how you are old.
~ Marie Dressler ~

Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but they die young.
~ Benjamin Franklin ~

If wrinkles must be written upon our brows, let them not be written upon the heart. The spirit should never grow old.
~ James A. Garfield ~

Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes ~

To be 70 years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be 40 years old.
~ Oliver Wendel Holmes ~

From the middle of life onward, only he remains vitally alive who is ready to die with life.
~ Carl Jung ~

Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art.
~ Garson Kanin ~

When I was young I was amazed at Plutarch's statement that the elder Cato began at the age of eighty to learn Greek. I am amazed no longer. Old age is ready to undertake tasks that youth shirked because they would take too long.
~ W. Somerset Maugham ~

Old age is like flying through a storm. Once you're aboard, there's nothing you can do.
~ Golda Meir ~

Don't just count your years, make your years count.
~ Ernest Meyers ~

We are not limited by our old ages; we are liberate by it.
~ Stu Mittleman ~

The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.
~ Jean Paul ~

Live your life and forget your age.
~ Norman Vincent Peale ~

The older the fiddler, the sweeter the tune.
~ English Proverb

Old age is the most unexpected of all the things that can happen to a man.
~ Leon Trotsky ~

The person of wisdom is the person of years.
~ Young ~

Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many.
~Author Unknown

It's a wrap!

Well, I am back home in NJ. The shoot ended Friday night around 1:00 a.m. and Tyler Martinolich (The Producer) and Patrick Griffin (The Director), seemed well pleased.

The final scenes involved another NY actor who flew in Thursday for the shoot on Friday. He played a grizzled old security guard who Clint idolizes but slowly comes to realize is mad as a hatter. Rich from NY had a scene by himself and then a scene with me inside a car where he reveals to me his true nuttiness.

It was great to have someone to work off of. The scenes we shot on Tuesday with the kid were great fun as well but it's a little different working with a kid than with an adult actor. These were actually the first two scenes in the movie, but they were shot last.

I must say this was an absolutely amazing experience for me. My thanks go out to Tyler and Patrick for casting me in what I am confident will be a really great short. I can't wait to see the final product. I am hope it turns out incredibly well and that it gets these guys (and me!) some well-deserved attention.

My worst night on set by far

Tonight was the worst yet. No lines, just walking, stalking, pointing and not shooting. It was so hot and humid I was drenched in sweat and we just kept doing it over and over take after take. First it was just me just walking off into the distance. Easy, right? Wrong! My walking was fine but they were having trouble with the angles and elevation and speed and zoom etc . . . on the friggin crane shot.

Then I had to stalk around the building, turn the corner and aim and . . . yes! No! Nothing to shoot. Disappointed, I re-holster the gun and stalk off. Do that shot again, and again, and again. My legs were starting to tremble from crouching and stalking my imaginary foe so many times. Then we change the camera angle and do it all over again, and again, and again.

By the end of the night, I was exhausted and soaked in sweat. Did I mention the bugs in Savannah? I think this must be where they all come to spend their summers.

Am I loving it? DAMN RIGHT I AM! Loving every second of it.

Tomorrow we shoot the final scene and wrap the movie. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Turns out I'm a crack-shot!

We finally got out to the range today. We informed the proprietor that I'd never touched a gun before. He started me on a .22 at 20 feet. I was consistently hitting that sucker right in the center. Then we went to a .38 at 30 feet. I hit it dead center twice and close to center more often than not. Then we went to a .357 at 40 feet. I got 4 out of 6 pretty close to center. The proprietor was impressed. That was good enough for the director.

When we got to the set, I had to shoot a .357 Magnum with an 8 inch barrel like the one they used in Dirty Harry. I was only shooting blanks so after shooting the live .357 rounds on the range, the blanks where nothing! Even a full fire round only had a slight kick comparable to the .22 I shot on the range. So we did the scene where I blow the crap out of a candy machine and then storm off into the darkness. There was an armorer on set to provide the guns and ammo and a local law officer to check the gun and rounds between every take. At the end of each take I had to walk to the armorer so she could confiscate the gun between takes. Presumably this is so nobody puts a live round in the thing between takes.

It is amazing how much stuff is involved in the making of even a short film! As the actor, I felt like such a tiny part of the process even though I am the lead! I am having such a blast though. We did the scenes and wrapped early so I guess everything went well. Tomorrow we do the dramatic walking off into the distance scene with a crane pulling up and back as I walk away. Remember the end of Dirty Harry? That's the scene.

That's all for now. More tomorrow.

More on Clint

Monday nights shoot went well. We did many takes of me saying such classic Clint Eastwood lines as "being as this is a .44 magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world . . ." It was a lot of fun. The guys were very complimentary about my acting.

Today we were supposed to go to a shooting range for me to learn how to shoot an actual .44 Magnum but the range was closed. We'll try again tomorrow.

Tonight we shoot a scene with a kid actor who has been in a few major things. It's a short but complex scene that they want to cover from many angles so it should be fun. I'll let you guys know more as things continue to develop.

By the way, Savannah is indeed a beautiful city but it is unmercifully hot and humid and the bugs are relentless. At one point last night I was saying my lines into a mirror for the umpteenth take and a virtual cloud of mosquitoes was hovering between me and my image in the mirror. Them suckers don't play! Well, I guess that's why its called paying your dues. I was also warned to stay at least 6 feet from the waters edge because there's an alligator in there that doesn't take kindly to northerners. They don't have to worry about me getting to close to him, I can assure you.

That's all for now. I'll post more when more happens.

Being Clint Eastwood - Day 2

The first night of shooting is over. We did many takes of me talking to myself in the mirror saying lines from Dirty Harry. The heat and humidity were oppressive and the insects were relentless. I guess that's why they call it paying your dues. At any rate, both the director and producer felt good at the end of the shoot and were very complimentary about my acting. Tomorrow they are taking me to a shooting range to learn how to handle a .44 Magnum! Hoo HAA!! I can't wait.

Being Clint Eastwood - Day 1

Here I am in Savannah GA waiting for my first night of filming. They will be picking me up shortly and taking us to a fort on Tybee Island where I understand you have to stay 6 feet from the shore because of an alligator who is particularly ornery who lives there. The heat down here is pretty bad and the humidity is a killer. Patrick (the Director) and I just spent a couple of hours rehearsing tonights shots. Based on some other work I've seen from these guys, this film should come out pretty amazing. I can't wait to see the finished product.

Last night they took me out to dinner at a local eatery and we talked and talked about movies and Clint Eastwood and their vision for the film. Then we went to a Karaoke bar near my hotel. I sang a song, Tyler (the Producer) sang a song and then an honest to god bar fight broke out! You just gotta love them Southern boys.

Anyway, I will keep you all posted on things as they progress.

2/30 a.k.a. The Narrator

OK, so I just finished doing some voiceover work for the very talented John Rhee of Fretboard Pictures
for his latest short film 2/30. I thought it turned out fantastically. Check it out for yourselves http://www.fretboardpictures.com/.

One for the Troops

My good friend Robert Gavila (on Guitar) wrote this song in support of our troops in Iraq. This is a true Renaissance man. He is a genius programmer, writer, artist and musician. I hope you enjoy.

http://www.gavila.com/artist/Music/Music1.html

By the way, I believe that's his daughter on vocals. She's a cutie!

Clint Eastwood

I just got offered a role in a short film playing none other than Clint Eastwood!

Well, not quite. I play a guy who was named after the man who is arguably America's greatest living actor / director / producer and not too shabby a singer (remember Honky Tonk Man?) but who in reality is everything that the real Clint is not. Despite being a real loser, my Clint gets to have his Dirty Harry moment in the movie and I can't wait to have it! Look for it at a film festival near you!

Lit Between the Ears

I recently had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of the good people at Lit Between the Ears and Two Plus Plus Productions LLC who gave me a very warm welcome on their blog.

From their site: "Two Plus Plus Productions LLC is an entertainment company located in Clinton, New Jersey USA. We write, publish, and produce radio drama. We also publish and edit Lit Between the Ears - Celebrating the Power and People of Radio Drama."

A big thanks to William Spears, President of Two Plus for the warm welcome. I hope you guys have enormous success in the coming years, and don't forget, I'm a voice-actor !