SunSpots Productions Zak Miller becomes full-time Voiceover Talent

As one of the founding members and manager of SunSpots Productions Orlando studios team, Zak Miller has decided to “put out his shingle” and work as a full-time voiceover announcer. Zak’s been working behind the console and mic for over 12 years with SunSpots and produced over 7,500 sessions and personally voiced over 1,700 radio and tv commercials and narrations. You can hear Zak Miller’s voices at SunSpots: http://www.sunspotsproductions.com/Voice_talent_detail.cfm?id=59

Zak got his start behind the mic in 1992 on the air at WCHZ in Augusta, Georgia. Zak says, “That opened the part of my brain that told me I love to voice! I produced my first spot for a horse show at a South Carolina mall. I had no sound effects so I had to foley everything!” From that radio station in Georgia, Zak worked his way to WDIZ in Orlando, Florida working middays as a DJ. Eventually he moved off the air to the Creative Service Department of Clear Channel Broadcasting in Orlando. While there, he voiced for the Orlando Predators Arena Football Team, Solar Bears Hockey Team and various concerts for the Orlando area.

It was Zak’s work on the radio that attracted SunSpots Productions attention. He joined the SunSpots team in 1997, soon after the company opened its Orlando location. Within a few years he became manager of the Florida studio. Zak describes his early years at SunSpots Productions, “Being on the ground floor of SunSpots was a very exciting time. To be a part of the growth and formation of a company like SunSpots with the ideals and approaches to the industry will always remain a special memory. To be able to raise the industry standards and what is and was expected from a production studio and talent agent was a great feeling. SunSpots has changed the way I approach life, business and relationships.” One of his favorite memories of SunSpots was, “sitting in the lobby eating Chinese food and thinking of names for the company. I’ll never forget the time that Janet (SunSpots Co-Owner), fellow voice talent Jaz Adams and I spent the day piling sand around the building to keep “Lake Cassidy” from flooding into the studios!”

Zak’s enthusiastic about his career change to jump to the other side of the recording console as a full-time voice talent. “I am very excited about voicing full-time. How come? When you’re able to do something in life that feeds your passion and creativity, your life becomes more fulfilled…My favorite spot to voice is a spot that tells a story. I love to be able to bring a person into a scene with my voice and my inflection.”

The entire SunSpots Productions staff wishes Zak the very best in his new voice talent career. To hear Zak Miller’s voices (he does a variety of voiceover styles) and his voiceover demos please contact SunSpots Productions at 800-355-SPOTS or online at www.SunSpotsProductions.com. You can also schedule Zak online through SunSpots web site.

SunSpots Productions is a global supplier of voice talent and creative audio production and is a licensed talent agent in the State of Florida. SunSpots creates award winning audio from their studios near Asheville, North Carolina and Orlando, Florida .

A little black bear with a serious sunflower seed jones came a knockin’ at Shannon’s office window today here at SunSpots Asheville studio location. Take a look see.

Yes it looks like we are best friends but be assured after we were done taking vids and pics we scared it off properly and brought our bird feeders in until further notice. The last thing you want around here, or anywhere for that matter, is a bear getting used to easy food.

Seems like there has been a lot of bear activity in the region lately. Here’s an article on the closing of the Abrams Falls Trail in the Cades Cove area of the Smokies.

And here are some bear safety tips for any of you voice talent looking to take a vacation here.

Jay happened to have his camcorder on him so here is a quick video of our hairy, nosey neighbor.

I was talking with someone the other day about my work and was running down some of the stuff I have recorded here at SunSpots. When I mentioned a documentary that I had recorded for PBS on Islamic Spain she said “Wow that sounds really boring.”. And normally I would agree with her but in this case voice talent Sam Mercurio did a great job of making a rather dry script very interesting.

This is why in most cases I cringe when I hear a director utter those fatal words “Less Feeling”. Of course that type of direction has it’s place on medical and technical reads but, in my opinion, it’s an overused direction. Give your narration a little boost. Let the talent throw a little of themselves into it. I find that when there is a little give and take from both ends of the session that the read always turns out better.

When voice talent Jim France is in town he comes into SunSpots Asheville and he and I are usually given free range on the direction of his voicing for “Dangerous Game” which is a big game safari hunting show that airs on Versus. This makes a subject that I usually wouldn’t be interested in fun and, well… interesting.

My two cents.

-Bryan

Howdy all,

Looks like I have been given the keys to the caddy here. I am about to jump into session but look for some blog posts from me now and again regarding the VO industry as well as the occasional non-industry related post.

Have a great week!

-Bryan

Hi there! SunSpots Deb here. Recently, I did a talent poll on Facebook asking what do voiceover talent wear while they are in the booth voicing. I also asked if there are certain materials that should or shouldn’t be worn. I got some interesting feedback.

Catherine Smith admits that “VO talent are probably the only people in the world who worry about how much ambient noise their clothing makes. For me it’s PJ’s or my gym clothes!” Now I’m wondering, are those one piece footed PJ’s? Cuz those sure are comfy.

Caryn Clark also likes to go the casual, comfy route. “jeans and a tee, or shorts and a tee. Come summer, it gets a little warm in the studio… so tank tops and shorts work!”

Cindy Neill apparently has a voice booth and sauna in one! Her “Sweat Box” doesn’t have A/C, so she keeps it light and wears Workout Clothes
. She said nothing that makes noise when you move, but “Think more along the lines of “Reese Witherspoon at the supermarket.” But without the body. Or the good looks. Or the hot boyfriend. And a bit more sweaty.” Poor Cindy. Maybe someone will invent a noiseless fanso you can get some air moving in that booth.

Some talent really like to dress for the part and get into character. Take Jessica Gee for instance. At the time she was “voicing a chimp who plays tennis. So, I’m in a chimp suit from head to toe and i’m swinging a Tennis Racquet
at the mic!” Now that’s dedication to a part!

Eric Michaels likes to keep things very low key. He prefers a “burlap sack with armholes and ‘Will VO For Food’ scrawled on it.” Would someone please give Eric some VO work!

Most everyone agreed that the perfect VO wardrobe should be comfortable and made of cotton. That will help keep the noise to a minimum. And don’t be like Eric who “Once had a leather belt- the braided weaved kind- that crunched and squeaked! Not good.” Thanks for the advice Eric!

That’s it for now. Be sure to check out my Facebook page for more exciting and informative talent polls. And thanks to the wonderful talent for participating and passing on their knowledge. Be sure to click on the link below to listen to their demos and check out all the SunSpots voiceover talent.

TTFN SunSpots Deb
SunSpots Productions

What’s this? Jay (that’s SunSpots founding audio engineer and voice talent Jay Patrick) and I were emailing this morning talking about what we did this past weekend. I started thinking why don’t we post up some non-work related stuff on the blog. Figured it’s a great way for you to get to know who we are and you can add your comments too and let us know about yourselves. What do you do when not writing scripts, voicing commercials, directing voice talent, producing industrials, etc.? How about it? What’s new with you?

How’s the voiceover business going for you? Ad spending has dropped which means we voice talent are not working as much. From blogs, twitter and facebook I’ve read that many talent are keeping busy doing voice work and also doing many auditions, but how much those gigs are paying is a different story. How about you? How are you coping with the general economic slowdown? Have you had to lower your rates to compete with some of the “dollar a hollar” people on the web? What strategies have you taken to ensure your success? Are you marketing yourself more or less? Have you had to take a second job?

My thoughts are pretty old school…advertise (self-promote) more. Now’s the time to refresh your demo or even redo your demo entirely. You can spend time finding new job opportunities online. Find a new agent. (By the way, SunSpots clients are always looking for new professional voice talent. If you have your own ISDN studio, Source Connect and/or live near our studios near Asheville or Orlando please contact us.) Do everything you can to make yourself better and keep your skills honed. Also, listen to the work that you hear on the air now. Has it changed? Are styles changing. Is there some thing about it that you can make your own?

We can all take small comfort in that if we’re slow now we’re not alone. Hundreds of thousands of people are also seeing a slow down or even worse. If you’re not, thank the tiny voice gods of your choosing and be grateful for what comes your way.

The true bottom line is that we’re all so lucky to be doing voiceovers for a living. Most of us had other jobs prior to becoming full-time voice actors and this is a good time to reflect on just how lucky we are. This voiceover business has been a blessing to me and I’m certain it has been to you too no matter your level of success. These slower times have reminded me of how lucky I’ve been and how each session is special.

I hope you make today a productive one and have a wonderful weekend wherever you are!
Cheers-
Tom

Thomas “Cassidy” Rohe
Pres.
SunSpots Productions Voice Talent & Creative Audio Production
Twitter: http://twitter.com/SunSpots_Tom

I was reading a news story today about how so many charities are having difficult times.

I asked the staff at SunSpots which charities were their favorites and thought you might be interested. I’ll have separate blog posts of their responses. You might find one you’d like to donate to.

Jen Stevens is our voiceover talent coordinator and one of our recording session schedulers at our recording studios near Orlando, Florida. Here are some of Jen’s favorite charities:

American Humane Association
The Breast Cancer Fund
The American Kidney Fund
Doctors Without Borders
International Planned Parenthood Foundation
The Elephant Sanctuary

You can follow Jen on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/SunSpots_Jen
Be Friends with Jen on Facebook: SunSpots Jen Stevens

If you can, please give something, no matter how small or give your time to your favorite charity. We’re all in this together. Here’s a helpful guide to choosing an effective charitable organization.
Tom

Follow me on Twitter at: SunSpots_Tom
Be Friends with me on Facebook: SunSpots Tom Rohe

I was twittering and blipping earlier today and thought I’d share on here what I’ve been listening to at the office between being berated by Bryan about the newsletter, talking photography with Tera and having lunch with Zak.

In no particular order:

The Rough Guide to Highlife-Music from west Africa
Primarily music from Ghana and Nigeria. Some intricate guitar work and funkiness.

Ray Charles-Night Time is The Right Time
Remember this one from an episode of the Cosby Show when the ladies of the family performed it for the grandparents.

Johnny Cash-Why Me Lord

Lyle Lovett-That’s Right You’re Not From Texas

Norah Jones-Shoot The Moon from her Come Away With Me CD

Steely Dan-Blues Beach from their Everything Must Go CD
(I’m such a Steely Dan fan I have every CD of the band plus Donald Fagen and Walter Becker’s solo work on my ipod.)

Hot Fun in the Summertime-Sly and the Family Stone

Foggy Mountain Gospel-Flatt and Scruggs
I grew up with a bluegrass pickin’ and preachin’ grand daddy from eastern Tennessee. It’s in my blood. Lester Flatt’s voice is comforting and sweet as he sings about “a place called Heaven”.

Jack Johnson-Dreams Be Dreams from his On and On CD

King Tubby-Essential Dub
It’s not a work day without my Tubby!

Jerry Garcia and David Grisman-Shady Grove
Some good old timey music with Jerry and David singing and playing.

Time to get back to work. That’s just a sample of what I’ve been listening to at work today. How about you? What’s on your playlist? What music helps you through your day?

Think Positive and/or Pray for Recovery
Tom

Voiceover talent Gordon “Gordy” Owens is celebrating his birthday today!
Listen to Gordy Owens voiceover demo right now.
Happy Birthday Gordy from your friends at SunSpots!
Tom

I was on Twitter this morning looking at was happening and found a great post from our Twitterbuds Wadester23 and AshevilleLive (Asheville Live are the people that bring us the variety of downtown web cams: http://www.ashevillelivecam.com/ ).

The post I found was a web page that shows the various places in Asheville and Buncombe County that you can find free wi-fi for your laptop or other wireless device. Looks like a good list, I haven’t tested anything other than downtown near Jack of the Woods.

Here’s the Asheville/Buncombe County free wi-fi guide.
http://www.openwifispots.com/Finder.aspx?City=Asheville&State=NC#35.602711,-82.567281,12

As always, cause the self-promotion never ends, if you’re in Asheville and looking for professional, not part-time, creative audio production please give SunSpots a shot to bring your audio and video projects to life.

http://www.sunspotsproductions.com/Voice_Talent_Contact.cfm#sunspotsnorthcarolinamap

Have a great weekend!
Tom

SunSpots voice talent Jen Sweeney celebrates her birthday today. Happy Birthday Jen, we hope you have a wonderful weekend of birthday cakey goodness!
Listen to Jen Sweeney’s voice talent demo at SunSpots.

After posting the new show intro I found this quickie of the evolution of Homer from Hulu. More stuff to turn our brains to mush. Yummy.

Alrighty boys get ready, here they are, those wild <a href="http://event.godaddy.com/videos/super-bowl-commercials.htm
“>GoDaddy Superbowl commercials ONLY available on the internet. lol What I’ve seen so far is very tame. Enjoy!
http://event.godaddy.com/videos/super-bowl-commercials.htm

See the tv commercials from the Pittsburgh and Arizona 27-23 Superbowl here: http://www.sunspotsproductions.com/voiceover_video.cfm#superbowl_commercials

I’m watching the Superbowl tonight just like a handful of others are doing and posting live on my Twitter account too: http://twitter.com/SunSpots_Tom

I’ve been trying to find SunSpots Scheduler/Audio Engineer Deb Munini in the crowd. She’s there working audio like she has done for previous Superbowls. She’s also done audio work at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Here’s a post about Deb from October, 2008: http://sunspotsproductions.blogspot.com/2008/10/multi-talented-deb-munini-gets-profiled.html

I think the tv spots have not been as strong as they have been in the past, either in creativity or emotional connection. Some are good, few are great and some are just lame (yes, GoDaddy I’m talking to you, but we LOVE your prices and service).

Watch all the Superbowl tv commercials here and on SunSpots Productions web site Plus on our video page there’s a good bunch of other videos featuring SunSpots voiceover talent and some other video oddities:

So far things have come down like this:

Thought Conan O’Brien’s Bud Light spot was hilarious. I love his strange sense of humor. Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James, had a nice dream sequence of the star basketball player playing football.

One of my favorites early in is from Bridgestone with Mr. and Mrs. Potatohead. Bridgestone’s Superbowl commercials have all been strong and creative tonight.

Castrol’s grease monkey ad ended being creepy. C’mon kissing a monkey?

The trailer for Land of the Lost with Will Ferrell looks like fun. (I’m eagerly anticipating seeing Will Ferrell as George Bush in, “You’re Welcome America: A Final Night with George W. Bush” on March 15 at the Cort Theater in New York.) The original Sid and Marty Krofft show, Land of the Lost, when I was a kid was tough to watch. Maybe I was too old. But any Krofft projects were just plain chock full of Ecstacy induced weirdness. I’m just guessing on that.

Pepsi Max tv spot was funny. Can’t beat slapstick pratfalls. I like the Pedigree except for David Duchovny’s waaaaaaay too laid back read for the voiceover. I prefer voiceovers with just a pinch more interest in the voice. But that’s me. He’s doing the “authentic”, “real person”, “pulled back” read. Since I’m mentioning voiceovers, if you’re looking for a voice to bring you audio project to life search SunSpots ezCast for voice talent.

More to come. Time for a chicken wang!

Sad to see a company I spent years doing radio and tv spots for and still do some voicing for is filing for bankruptcy. Circuit City just announced it today. I was lucky enough to do lots of work with them over the years. Really fun creative people and hilarious times in session.

Here’s the story from CNN’s website:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Circuit City Stores Inc., the No. 2 electronics seller after Best Buy, filed for bankruptcy protection Monday, hoping the move will allow it to stock its shelves in time for the crucial holiday shopping season.

The move comes about a week after Circuit City said it would close 155 stores as it deals with a worsening economic downturn that has left more consumers with less money to shop. The company intends to keep its remaining stores open through the bankruptcy procedings.

Circuit City (CC, Fortune 500) said it decided to file for bankruptcy at this time to ensure that it would have “adequate merchandise flow to stores during the important holiday season.”

The retailer said consumers should continue to shop at its stores.

“Chapter 11 is not a closing or liquidation,” the company said in an e-mail to CNNMoney.com. “We remain committed to doing a better job of taking care of our guests, and making it easier to shop at Circuit City.”

For anyone that’s on the hunt for a sweet deal on a flatscreen TV, Circuit City spokesman Jim Babb said it’s “safe to assume” that consumers can expect deep discounts on TVs and other products in those Circuit City stores that are being liquidated.

In the rest of its stores, Babb said the company’s prices will remain competitive with the market over the coming weeks.

Circuit City said it is seeking approval from the bankruptcy court to honor customer programs such as returns, exchanges and gift cards. “Approval of such programs normally is granted,” the company said in the e-mail.

The electronics seller said it will still accept credit cards, including Circuit City-branded credit cards, which the company said are not be impacted by its bankruptcy.

Circuit City also said it will continue to honor its warranty plans, including its Circuit City Advantage Protection Plans.

Despite these measures, one industry watcher remained unconvinced that Circuit City could still attract shoppers from here on and especially through the holiday season.

“Consumers will be skeptical about buying a $1,000 or $2,000 flatscreen TV with a warranty at Circuit City,” said Craig Johnson, retail analyst and president of Customer Growth Partners. “In their mind, there’s no guarantee that the company will still be around in the future.”

“Regarding gift cards, if you are buying a $50 gift card for Christmas, where would your comfort level be higher? At a Circuit City or a Best Buy (BBY, Fortune 500)?” Johnson said.

The company’s bankruptcy filing was also made at a crucial time of the year for merchants who are preparing for the year-end holiday shopping season.

The November-December period can account for 50% or more of retailers’ annual profits and sales. But this year, many Americans have clamped down on their shopping habits amid a weak economy and a shaky job and credit market.

Industry analysts warn that retailers will have to do whatever they can this year if they hope to have at least decent holiday sales.
Will stay in business for now

According to the company’s Chapter 11 filing with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Richmond, Va., Circuit City has 566 operating stores in the United States and will continue to do business and pay its workers while it restructures debt and its business operations.

In announcing the store closings last week, Richmond-based Circuit City said it would cut about 17% of its 40,000 domestic workers.

Johnson said Circuit City’s problems are partly its own making. On the external front, the retailer’s competitive landscape has became much more formidable as Best Buy continues to enhance its product offerings and service.

Circuit City has also felt the squeeze from discounters like Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) who has aggressively expanded into electronics over the last few years.

More importantly, Johnson believes Circuit City shot itself in the foot when the company decided last year to fire more 3,000 of its highest-paid sales staff and replace them with lower-paid workers.

“This was a huge strategic blunder,” said Johnson. “People want a knowledgeable sales person when they are spending $2,000 on a TV. They don’t want to buy it from some kid at Wal-Mart,” he said

The company said it has negotiated a commitment for a $1.1 billion credit line to supplement its working capital. The company said the credit line will replace the company’s $1.3 billion asset-based line provided by its lenders.

Circuit City said the credit line will give it immediate liquidity while it works to reorganize the business and enable it to pay its vendors and employees.

“We recently have taken intensive measures to overcome our deteriorating liquidity position,” James Marcum, Circuit City’s acting president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

“The decision to restructure the business through a Chapter 11 filing should provide us with the opportunity to strengthen our balance sheet, create a more efficient expense structure and ultimately position the company to compete more effectively,” he said.

End of story from CNN.

I agree that it was a horrible blunder when they fired so many people to restaff with lower paid, less skilled employees. Here in Asheville, they fired skilled staff and then tried to restaff with lower paid workers and I think they even tried to rehire the people they fired at a lower wage. Not only error in judgment, but bad for morale internally. It made the local news here and was a bad pr mess for them.

Here’s a story from the Washington Post from March 29, 2007 about those firings: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/28/AR2007032802185.html

I wish the best for my buds in the ad department at Circuit!

Doesn’t it seem like it’s taken years to get to this point? Election Day is finally here. I hope that you vote today if you haven’t done so already in early voting. Reports so far are mixed about lines at polling places. I just spoke with someone in south Florida who waited 2 hours this morning. Some of our Orlando SunSpots crew waited a half hour and here in North Carolina voting lines were about 15-20 minutes for our staff that voted today. Looks like the early voting, where available, helped the process.

To me, this is one of our greatest aspects of our democracy. So many people who have come before us have suffered and even died to either get the right to vote or to protect that right. I remember when President Nixon certified the Constitutional Amendment for the voting age to be lowered to 18 from 21. Kids were being sent off to Vietnam at 18 to fight, but could not cast a vote and had no voice until then. Amazing how times have changed. Think of all the African-Americans who were intimidated and murdered because they wanted to cast their ballot. Even though they had the right to vote in the 1870, it wasn’t until the Voting Rights Act in 1965 that voting became easier and more Federally protected. Just think that in 1870 voting rights were given to slaves. Slaves. It’s hard to wrap the mind around that fact. What about women and their right to vote? Can you believe women didn’t have the right to vote until 1920? What progress we’ve made! Look at other countries where people are still beaten because they want to vote. Why don’t we have 100% turnouts at the polls?

My point in bringing all this up is that so many have toiled and given so much of themselves in every way to get us to this point today. To sit still and not vote is a disservice to their dedication, their lives and the foundation of freedom that they all laid to lead us to where we are today.

How wonderful it is now to see where we are in history. I hope that you take the time today and cast your vote for whomever you see fit. If lines are long think of those who had no lines to stand in. If the weather’s bad think of the many who braved more than the elements to cast a vote.

We take so much for granted here and many of us think our voice doesn’t matter, but it does matter. It matters who you vote for and it matters that you do vote. Please do so and make your voice heard for all those voices long since stilled by time.

One other thing. Let’s make our national election day a Federal Holiday. We should be celebrating this day with as much patriotic enthusiasm as we do July 4th. What do you think about making today a Holiday where we vote and share the American Experience as one? I think we should and we should pass the idea around till we make it happen.

However today ends I hope that we all come together as one tomorrow and that in whatever way we can we work to make our country and the world a better place.

Tom

SunSpots talent scheduler and audio engineer is a graduate of Full Sail University in Orlando. They profiled her this year and asked her about her experience when she ran audio at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Picture and story is from Full Sail’s web site: http://www.fullsail.com/news/15990-event-audio-for-the-democratic-national-convention-deb-munini.html?section=ra

Deb Munini takes the stage during setup at the DNC

Audio is an integral part of nearly every kind of production. Whether it’s a commercial, live broadcast, film, or television program, good sound has the ability to grab listeners and transport them from their homes, making them feel as though they are right there on location.

Deb Munini feels this effect just like everyone else, but with one key difference – sound literally transports her around the country. As a freelance audio engineer, the Full Sail Recording Arts graduate has covered an assortment of huge events, including eight Super Bowls, TNA Wrestling, and this year’s Democratic National Convention in Denver.

“The DNC was really interesting,” she says of her two-week stay in Denver. “It was very cool to be involved and see the whole process of the event. It was also very odd to me to see how people treat these politicians like they’re celebrities. I’m so used to going to rock shows and working with those kinds of celebs, so it was an unusual experience to see that kind of attention put on politicians.

“During certain speeches, the atmosphere was just electric,” Deb adds. “Everyone was just so enthralled during Hilary Clinton’s speech, and of course during Obama’s speech, as well. It was very exciting and energetic. And of course, a lot of setting up had to be done. Miles and miles of cable that always seems to come out a lot faster than it goes in.”

Along with her freelance endeavors, Deb is also an audio engineer and scheduler at SunSpots Productions in Orlando, Florida. The studio records voiceovers for radio and TV commercials, documentaries, audiobooks, and anything else that may need a voice and also functions as a licensed voice talent agency.

“My days at SunSpots definitely vary because it all depends on what a client needs done,” Deb explains. “Sessions can take anywhere from 15 minutes to a couple of hours depending on how many talent are involved and if it’s being produced here or if it’s being produced at another studio and we are just recording a backup of the session. We have some voiceover talent that come in-house, but a lot of them work remotely from all corners of the world and we connect with them through ISDN [a high-speed telephone network system that allows the digital transfer of voice and data].”

According to Deb, the wide availability of such remote technology is something of a double-edged sword. “I think it’s opened up a lot of competition for studios like us,” she says. “But it’s also a good thing because it’s made it easier for us to access a variety of talent across the country.”

While balancing the studio gig and her own freelance work can be a tricky task at times, Deb says that it also allows for the best of both worlds. “SunSpots has been great in allowing me to continue to do freelance work, and it’s because of that freedom that I am able to come back with added experience that I can contribute to them,” she says. “I definitely apply what I’ve learned on other jobs to any problems or situations that we come across in the studio. It keeps things exciting. Instead of doing the same thing over and over, I can look forward to going out and working with other people at different times and learning new things out in the field.”

Thanks to Full Sail for the use of the story and image.

Months ago, I found a good retro video on www.declareyourself.com about voting. I thought it was a neat little piece with Ed Helms from the Daily Show and The Office featured as the voiceover talent. I liked what they did, but I thought we could amp up the energy and sound effects with it so I asked Tera Parks, one of our engineers in SunSpots Orlando studios to take it on because she enjoys doing audio post production. I think she did a great job. I hope the people at www.declareyourself.com don’t mind. By the way, they’ve got a nice variety of videos and still pics related to voting. They’re a non-partisan group just wanting people to get out and VOTE. Here’s Tera’s video with Tom Cassidy providing the voiceover:

You can find the original version of the video on this page: http://www.declareyourself.com/multimedia/multimedia.html

Are you able to drive to them?

Around the Southeast and here in Asheville, it has been a little unsettling to see so many stations out of gas. It wasn’t till yesterday that I really started getting concerned about it. If need be I’ll hop on the Goldwing and run my smaller errands. I was wondering how YOU are doing. Is the gas crisis in the South an issue for you if you don’t have ISDN and have to drive to the studio to record? If so, how are you coping with it?

If you do need a studio to work from to connect to another studio we offer special rates for visiting voice talent.

Speaking of voice talent. Many folks have been very busy lately with us:

CJ Goodearl doing some sports work Michigan.
Wendy Hawkinson, Carlos Quintana, Daniel Eduardo and Nadia Garzon voicing for Fedex en Español.
Brian LaFontaine is on an av today.
Tom Cassidy and Ross Bagley are voicing for Capitol College outside DC.
Orlando’s own traffic reportin’ wonder-girl, Kim Sanders, heads to the islands..virtually, for an av for the Virgin Islands.
Longtime friend and original SunSpots voiceover talent, Bill Thomas is the voice for a builders association airing in Birmingham.

That’s just a few of the voice pros working today at SunSpots.

Let me know how things are going with you and if getting gas is an issue. LOL! Oh yeah…I can hear the mexican food jokes already.

Peace-
Tom

So what have you been up to? Any spots you’ve done the voiceover for and you want to tell the world about it? (And you really can tell the world via the internet.)

We’d love to hear what you’ve been up to.

Have you starred in a play, had a film role, on-camera spot? Is that you on a radio campaign? Are you the voice on hold somewhere we all know? Is that you on doing a voiceover on the web? How about voicing at a theme park? You can tell the world right here. It doesn’t matter where you’ve recorded it or when you did it.

Let’s let the world know about you and your talents! So go ahead let’s get out those horns and start tootin’. Who else better to tell the story of successes than you?

Cheers-
Tom

“In a world…” Where he’ll be greatly missed.

This morning we decided to shutter the studios in Florida as Tropical Storm Fay passes nearby. Zak and Xavier were troopers this morning and came in a for a couple short sessions. The brunt of the storm is passing by this afternoon so they left in time. Currently at 2:27pm local time, Orlando is reporting light rain and light winds around 20 mph. Just like any other summer afternoon storm so far.

Watching CNN this morning I heard a report about Obama’s visit to Europe. In the story the anchor mentioned a radio ad by the RNC that is airing in Berlin. That’s Berlin cities and towns in the USA. Here’s the radio ad. Here’s a story about the radio commercial in the Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch section online. It even contains the script with a fact check at the end of the story. Here’s the story from Reuters online. This story is about the ad and the information in it from CBS News online.

As usual, these posts come from sitting around yapping with friends and co-workers about the state of things. Seeing the collapse of the Indymac bank, all the record foreclosures and tonight hearing of Anheuser-Busch being sold to Inbev in Belgium would make one think we’re in the latter days. I mean, it IS an American icon of beer!

Carol Krol reports on Business to Business online magazine’s website that a severe slump in U.S. ad marketing is expected to continue through 2009.  Those folks predicting the numbers aren’t saying they’re going negative, but just lacking the growth of the past. It does indicate changing times will continue to trend slightly stagnant with light growth.

Hearing of George Carlin’s passing has been like a death in the family. I remember as a kid in the the late 60′s always catching Carlin on whatever 3 channels were broadcasting him. He and Richard Pryor were my favorites to watch. Maybe I didn’t understand exactly what he meant at the time, but I knew the authority’s noses were being tweaked. George’s edge got even sharper once he let his hair down and spoke from his heart about the war and 60′s/70′s American popular culture.�

We were having a staff meeting at SunSpots Orlando recording studios last week and there was one of those moments where the conversation stopped and after a long pause I said in disbelief, “HUH? Really?!”.

What stopped the conversation and what stunned me is that someone was speaking with one of our clients and they had told them, “Oh, I didn’t know SunSpots did audio production. I thought you guys just provided voiceover talent.”

Que? Say what?

We were all a little flabbergasted (there’s a word you don’t hear too often or enough I say!). It was shocking to hear this because SunSpots has won awards with our audio production for clients all over the country for over a decade now. We’ve been creating award winning audio production since we were cutting tape with a razor blade. The company was built upon skillfully produced, creative audio production.

So, I guess it’s time to climb to the top of this electronic mountain and shout it out to all the world…SUNSPOTS PRODUCTIONS DOES KICKASS AUDIO PRODUCTION!

You can listen to our Audio Production Sampler by clicking this link to our Audio Production Sampler. You’ll hear Kim Sanders (have you seen Kim on WKMG-TV Orlando in the morning?), Tom Cassidy, Bill Thomas, Lindsay Ayliffe, Sam Mercurio (You should hear his Burgess Meredith imitation!), Zak Miller, (Yep, that’s SunSpots Audio Engineer Zak.), Diego Diment, Jonathan Hanst, Jen Stevens (That’s our talent coordinator and booker, Jen Stevens in a bit part.), Austin Howard, Angel Tolentino, Bobby Jaymes, Jaz Adams, and others.

SunSpots Engineer, Zak Miller and I were talking yesterday about voiceover talent having issues with their studios and ISDN connections. Since Zak is our resident ISDN expert we thought it’d be good if you wanted to post questions here and he could answer them for you. He’s helped many talent set up their home studios and voice booths and has had years of experience with the ISDN boxes. SunSpots was working with ISDN back when the similar technology was called “switch 56″.

Jon Stewart was great fun don’t you think? I called it for “No Country for Old Men” fo Best Picture, but thought Juno would win more. Surprised Ellen Page didn’t get the win tonight, but what competition! You know the thing I liked the most about the show tonight? It wasn’t hokey like they used to be. Same with the Grammy’s. The performances were good and less hoke was had too. Speaking of Hoke…He’s got to drive Miss Daisy and I off to the big house. It’s late. Good Night and Good Luck!
Tom

Who do you think it’s going to be tonight? I’ve tried to see as many of the nominees as possible, but missed a few like Atonement. By the time we were ready to see it it was down to one theatre across town. If it does well tonight it may be re-released. Here’s a link to the nominees.
I’ve seen: There will be Blood, No Country for Old Men (I’m thinking Best Picture for this), Charlie Wilson’s War, Into the Wild, Juno (Ellen Page WILL win!), American Gangster (amazing story), Ratatouille (surprisingly good film about a rat in a restaurant), Surf’s Up (surprisingly un-annoying penguins), Across the Universe (BEATLES!!!!!), Sicko, the Bourne Ultimatum, Pirates of the Caribbean (nominated for makeup and I’d nominate for exceedingly too darn long), 3:10 to Yuma, Transformers (for Sound Mixing…another film that could have used the knife) and did I mention Across the Universe, which I saw twice. You can’t beat dancin’ Beatles! I’m thinking Juno is going to win a handful tonight. It was witty, original, fresh, fun and reminds you to rent “Hard Candy” which is far from fun, but brilliantly acted by Ellen Page.