How do I avoid a Voiceover Scam?

I was reading a very interesting article about the voiceover business recently on the internet and this particular site recommended growing your voiceover contact list quickly by using voicecontacts.com. I wish that I could remember the website on which I saw the link.

One word of advice: Don’t. This is a scam. This is a con. If you pay them any money you will see nothing in return. Not even an email.

If you order contacts you have to pay via Paypal. But Paypal will only refund you if you have bought a TANGIBLE asset. Which voiceover audio is not. Therefore you lose your money. You have been warned!

Update: The offending website is now offline.

Why don't female voiceover artists record movie trailers?

Thanks to the wonders of Facebook we came across this video about the world of voiceovers recently. It highlights how and why certain voiceover artists are chosen for certain  jobs. It seems that men still dominate the world of movie trailers due to their innate authority - but one woman is making headway.

While men may dominate film trailer voiceovers it seems that women still dominate the world of on-hold although we are not sure why. Phone up any of the Hastings Direct on-hold companies (and there are many of them including Insure Pink, Renew Insurance, Likewise Insurance and the wonderfully-named "Protect Your Bubble") and you will hear voice talent and MD of BigFish Media Ricky Salmon.

So - back to movie trailer voices:

In a world where women work as police, firefighters, fighter pilots, surgeons and engineers, the vast majority of movie trailers are still voiced by men.

Industry insiders cite a perception that men's voices are more authoritative and have a broader appeal to audience members. Action-and-adventure movies, they say, require the gravitas brought by male actors. And for the most part, even female-focused movies employ male voices in the trailer.

That attitude is changing. A small group of female voiceovers are starting to find work on trailers. They predict that as the audience is exposed to women's voices, the stereotypes will fade. Have a listen to this interesting article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17264883

How do I keep recording Voiceovers when I have builders in?

No one said that running a business was easy. Especially a voiceover agency when you are the boss. Long hours. Spending the weekend doing accounts and catching up on paperwork.

But that is made all the harder when the builders move in. Earlier starts - and even later finishes as we have to schedule our sessions after 4pm.

Still I am sure it will be worth all the pain in the end. At least that is what we tell ourselves as Nathan, Daniel and I sit just a little bit too close to each other for comfort or hygeine - cramped into one tiny office for weeks on end.

And when the clients come visiting to direct our voiceover sessions in person, that's when the fun starts.

The fun starts on Monday.
 

Voiceover News for February 2012

Here is what the BigFish Media happy family of voiceovers have been up to in February 2012:

Josey and Chris M recorded voiceovers for Walden University and Italian voiceover artist Max voiced an advert shown on Channel TV

Nathan our Studio Engineer and Audio Producer - recorded a voiceover for an advert for Greenwich School of Management which was shown on Flava TV.

Speaking of audio production, we made a vociereel for aspiring voice talent Paul Gazzard and completed audio dubbing for another 30 programmes for OSN TV: removing the German narration and replacing it with an English narration.

Malcolm recorded a third job for Tork, Matt H voiced for BillyOh sheds, Marcus recorded a voiceover for Samsung, Steffan voiced another SAB Miller video and Sarah J recorded a voiceover for Astella Protopic - a treatment for eczema.

Both Brian and Immy recorded for the College of Social Work, Corrie and James K recorded adverts for Mood FM in Jordan and Ricky voiced for Mitsubishi and the Global Competitiveness Forum

We also gave Voice Training to Eddie from London. Finally we welcomed Craig - a talented young Voiceover Artist.

Voiceover News January 2012

Traditionally of course in business we think of January as being one of the slow months of the year for voiceover work: everyone takes a little while to get going again after a Christmas break but here at BigFish Media  we were straight back at work even before we had intended to be.

Our star of the month was Alec who recorded two TV documentaries about the 2012 London Olympics for Five.

Mark W recorded a voiceover for the Fire Protection Association, Matt H voiced for BillyOh sheds, James K voiced an advert for Mood FM in Jordan, Luis voiced for SAB Miller and Ricky recorded voiceovers for a Lincs 2 Education Comparison Course, an E-Learning programme for Simponi and two videos for Inzpire.

Jules recorded  for Sealed Air and Nat West, Immy voiced for SAB Miller, Jacky for Qineticq and Jill voiced for the College of Social Work.

Christoph recorded a voiceover in German for Bowers and Wilkins, Ruben S did the same in Spanish and Tony voiced the Italian version.

We made a voicereel for Sky News TV Reporter Matt Smith;  we gave Voice Training to Joy from Surrey and we welcomed Katy - a young Voiceover Artist from the North East.

Voiceover News for December 2011

Here is what our voiceover team got up to in December 2011:

Jacky was a contestant on BBC1's Winter Wipeout - she spent six days filming in Argentina and that resulted in a meagre 30" on the air!

Chris M and Chris H both recorded adverts for Mood FM in Jordan, Michel recorded a voiceover in French for Bowers and Wilkins, Elliott voiced promotions for Motorvision for the OSN TV station, Alec has recorded a video for Erwinaze - a drug that treats leukemia, Andy voiced an internet viral advert for Adidas and Ricky recorded two commercials for the Best Western Royal Hotel being shown on Channel TV and a corporate video for Centrica's Killingholme Power Station

Sally was the voice of a video for Halstead Preparatory School in Woking and Yana has voiced E-Learning for the Cambian Group. The talents of Steffan, Steph and Mark W were used by Nat West

We did audio dubbing for several TV programmes: removing the German narration and replacing it with an English narration.

We have made a voicereel for actor Tony Hemmings and finally we welcomed Estonian Voiceover Artist Prit and Dutch Voiceover Artist Saskia.

Voiceover News November 2011

Here is what the BigFish Media team of voiceovers and
have been up to in November:

We broke one of our own records: within one week of us taking on Jules she was booked for a voiceover for the Mondi Diamond Awards.

The other female voices which we recorded included Sue for Sealed Air's I-Mold system, Rita for a mobile phone app for Urban Paddle, Jill for the College of Social Work, Natalie for three Eurocamp web videos and Andrea recorded a voiceover for Euro PM International Congress

We secured work for Joana to voice an animation for Sanofi, Chris M recorded a voiceover for Gamestop, Paul recorded an advert for Mood FM in Jordan and Gabriela also voiced for Urban Paddle, a mobile phone app

Steffan voiced another web video for SAB Miller, Mark W for a video for Syncapse, Malcolm for a video for the Tork 420 wipers and Paul S for a web video for Brown Dog Creative

Ricky Salmon was the voice of God at the live Butcher Shop of the Year Awards ceremony in London alongside comedian Alistair Barrie. He also voiced two commercials for M R Emmanuel for Channel TV, an internal video for NHS employees and a video for the IBM z Enterprise system

We also made a voicereel for actor Geoffrey Morgan and made audio production elements for podcasts by DJ Danny Howard featuring James K and Lynsey.

We welcomed young voice David W and London Voiceover Artist Andy.