Monday, January 25, 2010

GKN Weekly Update 1/25/10

Hello, my soggy friends! A bit dampish today, ain't it?

I just trudged through the rain to get to a recording session in NYC. It's the one I can't talk about. BUT I can tell you it's for a upcoming video game for Rockstar Games. That's all I got. I'll give you more info when I can!

TIP OF THE WEEK: I've done a few video games but I had no idea how important keeping their content a secret is! Go to Patent Arcade to see what I'm talking about. Yikes! These guys aren't messing around. Everybody wants to be in the know and act like a big shot but sometimes it just isn't worth it. Keeping a secret is a quality that most people look for in others. I'm good at keeping every one's secrets but my own. How about you?

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Don't spit. (from the book “Rules for my Unborn Son” by Walker Lamond)

STUFF!: I saw "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus" last week. This was Heath Ledger's last film. Terry Gilliam used Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrel to finish it since Heath passed before it was completed. Let me tell you, the way it was shot was brilliant! They should have done it that way regardless. Between that and the supporting cast of Christopher Plummer, Verne Troyer, and the incomparable Tom Waits as the devil makes it a must-see.

Have a great week!
Quote of the Week: Don't spit. (from the book “Rules for my Unborn Son” by Walker Lamond)
has a voiceover in NYC for...I can't tell you!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

saw "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus". Outstanding!

Monday, January 18, 2010

GKN Weekly Update 1/18/10

Good morning, my fellow do-gooders! I hope everybody had a great weekend. I went to my friend's annual poker tournament. I did pretty badly this year. Three split-pots and I won one hand. Eek!

Continuing this month's pet project, I'm still tracking my auditions/submissions/cold calls. I won't bore you with the details, but the good news is that I landed two gigs via Craig's List! Unfortunately, I can't give details of either of them. I don't have any about one of them and there's a Non-Disclosure Agreement for the other one. I will fill you in when I can!

TIP OF THE WEEK: Who would have thought you could get work on Craig's List? I check it out every day and you'd be surprised at the quality of some of the projects. Some of the other projects are, well, not surprising. Also, I use Crazed List to search multiple lists at the same time. I have it set up so I see posts from every major city in the US plus Northern, Central, and Southern New Jersey. It only takes about one minute a day. If you're an actor, VO talent, dancer, or model, add it to your daily regiment. Let me know if you land any gigs!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: You’re only as sick as your secrets. Carrie Fisher

STUFF!: I recommend seeing "Sherlock Holmes". It was great! The director is Guy Ritchie who also did "Snatch" and "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels". Those are cult classics and I'm happy to see Guy have some mainstream success. Has anyone else seen it yet?

Have a great week!
Quote of the Week: You’re only as sick as your secrets. Carrie Fisher

Thursday, January 14, 2010

had a late-night voiceover recording session for a client in Israel. I'm tired!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Quote of the Week: What is right and what is practicable are two different things. James Buchanan

GKN Weekly Update 1/11/10

Week One of 2010 is in the books! I hope everyone has gotten back into their routine. I'm not quite there yet. I had a bit of a cold last week so my diet, exercise, and work habits aren't quite back to normal but they're getting there. That doesn't mean I wasn't busy!

Just for fun I've decided to track my auditions every week for a month to see what's going on. Here is last week's breakdown:

Voice 123 Auditions: 7. That includes two private invitations. (BTW I know that many of you like P2P sites and many of you don't. In the 4+ years I've been on it, it has paid my annual fee back many, many times over so it works for me!).

Ingrid French Auditions: 3. That includes going to New York for in-person auditions. Two were for voiceovers (E-Money and Ludens) and one was on-camera (White Castle).

Voice Talent Productions: 2 (Thanks, Erik!)

Craig's List: 1. I got a virtual callback to be the voice of Fast Lane Daily, an auto industry magazine.

TOTAL: 13

This does not include the two dozen cold calls I made.

What does this mean? Well, I have agents submitting on my behalf and I submit myself for projects regularly. I get specific requests for my voice as well as callbacks. The big question is: Does it work? The answer is: it works often enough for me to keep doing it. I believe that all of these things are "part of a balanced breakfast" as a fellow VO talent once put it.

TIP OF THE WEEK: To ply your trade as an actor, dancer, model, VO talent, etc. you need to put yourself out there as often and as efficiently as you can. Be on multiple websites and networking profiles. Have a marketing plan in place and execute it. Be relentless!!!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: What is right and what is practicable are two different things. James Buchanan

STUFF!: I got a bunch of great CD's over the past few weeks. They are:

Bloc Party "Banquet"
Imogen Heap "Speak for Yourself"
Arma Secreta "A Century's Remains"
Gooding "The Return"
(compilation) "Dark was the Night"

I haven't listened to Bloc Party yet, but Imogen Heap is amazing! She's the girl from Frou Frou. You can download the Arma Secreta and Gooding albums from their website for free. The last CD has a bunch of incredible artists on it like Iron and Wine, The New Pornographers, and David Byrne.

What music have you been listening to lately?

Have a great week!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

has an on-camera audition for White Castle in NYC today. Mmm, sliders!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

has a voice over audition for Luden's Cough Drops in NYC today.

Monday, January 4, 2010

got my first private invite for a voiceover project on Voices.com!

GKN Weekly Update 1/4/10

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a safe and grand ole' time. I had a blast at my friend Jim's up in Butler. My Christmas was great, too. Thanks again to the Sylvester family for taking me in!

I consider today the first official day of 2010 and I hit the ground running. I made a big ole' honkin' checklist of things to do and I already did seventeen of them and it's only 1PM! Everything from finishing my 2009 expense sheet to changing the shower curtain liner. Man, I love feeling productive!

I've got a lot of exciting things lined up for 2010. What I'm the most pumped about is the audio books. My stint at Awareness Audiobooks starts this month and hopefully I'll hear from Infinivox about this year's batch of stories. I also auditioned to narrate Robinson Crusoe and I'd love to land that one. I'm also waiting with bated (baited?) breath to hear from TJC Productions about the audio books they're producing this year. And as always, I keep pestering Audible about bringing me on board. I narrated nine audio books in 2009 so this year my goal is ten. Fingers crossed!

TIP OF THE WEEK: New Year's Resolutions, yikes! They're so cliche and hard to keep. Lose weight, quit smoking, blah blah blah. Why doesn't it work most of the time? I think it's because it's hard to put together and implement a day-today-system of thought & execution and stick to it. If you made any Resolutions this year, remember this: keep your goals in sight every day and make them incremental. You're not gonna lose 20 pounds overnight and going cold turkey on a lifetime of eating habits never works. Start small...

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: As president, I believe that robotics can inspire young people to pursue science and engineering. And I also want to keep an eye on those robots in case they try anything. Barack Obama, speaking to Washington D.C. School kids as part of his science education initiative

STUFF!: Let's try something different this year. I'm just gonna go with whatever strikes me at this given moment. I have a feeling that most of the time it's gonna involve music or film. Here we go...

High Fidelity is one of those movies that I completely forget about unless somebody brings it up or I catch it on TV. Every time I see it I think "I LOVE this movie! Why do I always forget about it?" Do you have a movie like that?

Have a great week!