SAVOA – Society of Accredited Voice Over Artists
Morning Folks,
Missed me? Well that’s nice… I’m still on vacation here in beautiful sunny Jordan. It’s been nice seeing family members and reconnecting with old friends. Not much internet access for me here beyond being able to check my mail regularly. I’m actually writing this post using my Brother-in-law’s old Toshiba laptop.
Today I wanted to talk to you about getting accredited. This thing has been in the back of my mind for a few months but when I did my preliminary research on it I misread the instructions and thought that as someone who does not reside in North America or Europe that I do not qualify to even apply for it.
I am talking of course of SAVOA (the society of accredited voice over artists (sm) ) more »
Going on Vacation Soon
Evening Folks, Today’s post is regarding a few news items and issues that I wanted to wrap up before I go on vacation:
1. Just wanted to remind everyone that I will be traveling to Jordan day after tomorrow so I won’t be updating the blog as often cause I’ll probably be busy seeing family in Amman. I will be away from 2 weeks but that doesn’t mean I wont be checking my mail and messages… I might even write an article or two if inspiration hits me.
2. I still haven’t heard anything from you guys about a good Pay It Forward Program .
Funny Enough I got an update in the mail from the voices.com vox daily blog and it contained a few ideas regarding introducing an intern to the business and having a kind of handing over of the torch situation… here is the link for those interested:
http://blogs.voices.com/voxdaily/2009/07/reasons_to_hire_people_voice_overs.html
So please think about it… we want to set up something to help others in the business with issues that are becoming an obstacle to them whether it be hardware, software, or business related.
3. I’d appreciate it if you guys told people about the directory… The blog and the directory are my efforts at Paying It forward to the community and I want as many people to benefit from it as possible… right now we’re at 215+ websites which is not bad… but I am sure that there are more websites that provide casting that we can add to that list… here is a link to the list if you’ve not been there yet:
http://www.voiceover-casting.com/emporium/directory/
4. Regarding the problems that were happening on the voiceover-casting.com website. Basically what was happening is that someone was opening fake accounts using malicious programs. These programs would go and open several accounts then post advertising like posts for whatever their programmer wanted to advertise. After contacting Fernanda I found out that Brian is on vacation for a month (if memory serves me correctly) and since the website was not her responsibility she directed me to her boss Fernando who I contacted and who cleared the whole issue within minutes. You might not be aware but Fernando right now is in spain handling a big voice Synthesis job and Fernanda is holding the fort in Brazil. The problem should be cleared next month when the buddypress platform that is being used to run voiceover-casting.com will be updated to include a capcha addon (capchas are those weird images with numbers and letters that are used to verify that the person opening an account at a website like ours is infact human and not a program.
5. What else… Oh yes… I have opened a program I am calling Taji’s Voice Over Sentinels. What that means is that if you like a voice over related piece of news and you want to share it with my readers then please just send me a note on the voiceover-casting.com system or contact me at this email
6. Don’t forget that I am also pretty active on LinkedIn.com so if you would like to connect just look for Mahmoud Taji (das ma name don’ wear it out) and I usually accept connections quickly.. unless I don’t like you at which case you can feel paranoid and left out… Just kidding… or am I?
7. I also have a group on linkedin called Taji’s voice over casting group… if you are in casting or you are a talent… please… join in! here is a link to the group:
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=2026506&trk=anet_ug_hm&goback=.gsm_2026506_1_*2_*2_*2_ltod_requests
That’s it for now… I’ll take my microphone and laptop with me in case any VO jobs come up so if you have an Arabic Language project … you can email me at this email
and we can hook you up with some sweet VO goodness.
be good to each other while I be gone now!
Taji
Voice123 Seeks World Domination… Needs Minions
Ohayou gozaimasu おはようございます,
I got this piece of news today through one of my Voice Over Industry Sentinels. And I gotta say its a doozy… Apparently Voice 123 dot com would like to expand their Voice Over Casting Empire into other languages and locales by creating localized versions of their website… so that not only the english speaking part of the world can suffer through their ridiculous Dumbcast system but they can make other members of the human race suffer in their own respective languages.
I’ll let you read through their proposal … and at the risk of getting some of my less informed readers excited that this is a fair offer… wait until the end of the post to read my comments: more »
The Difference Between a Casting Director and a Talent Agent
This article was written by Kate McClanaghan of www.voiceoverinfo.com I thought you guys might find it beneficial.
I once asked a former commercial talent agent of mine, “what would you say is the difference between a talent agent and a casting director?” And she replied, without hesitation, “about $3000 dollars.”
It sounds like a punch line to a joke, but what makes it funny is that there’s a fair amount of truth to it.
To be clear, a casting director gets paid by the advertising agency or the production company that hired them to hold auditions and deliver talent that are best suited to the demands of the production. They don’t ‘rep’ talent because technically they work for the ad agency or production company that hired them for the project.
A talent agent is paid by the actor after they land a job. more »
Bits and Pieces Take III
Morning folks,
Since I don’t have anything to write about today I decided to make it a bits and pieces post. As some of you might know that is when I go through the intertubes and get you interesting voice over related news that you might find amusing:
1. My friend and fellow Canadian Douglas DeNance sent me a tweet today with an interesting link for something called Voice Over Star this is a voice over competition that promises $1,000 to the winner and is run by a company called desktop epics… go to the link to register if you are interested in this
2. Congratulations to our very own Paul Strikwerda for winning top prize at a voices.com testimonial writing competition. Paul’s prize is a $500 certificate to audio provider Sound Water and press promotion through voices.com. Paul Don’t forget us when you’re rich and famous 
3. I have started a voice over casting group on linkedin called Taji’s Voice Over Casting Group yes I know the name is original and should win prizes in the next county fair . Click the link and join the group. Everyone is welcome (except you… yeah you in the back)
4. For those of you who might be marginally interested. I decided to build a second website (the first being my own personal website) and I called it www.arabicvo.com and will use it as an information portal for potential clients who might be interested in learning more about the Arabic language and what they might need in their upcoming projects. I’m regularly inundated with more or less the same questions … this way I can just give them a link instead of having to write the same thing over and over.
5. Voice Over Master and fellow blogger Mr. Bob Souer recently updated his website from the slightly drab white and blue to the more fab site you can see here this is a good move on Bob’s part cause the old site was getting a little long in the tooth. The upgrade also includes his boblog. Good On Ya Mate! Also while I’m at it… here’s an interview with Bob conducted by Tracy Pattin
6. Rob Lee (The Mythbuster’s Narrator) tweets that fellow mythbuster Kari Byron gave birth to little baby Stella. Congrats Kari and Thanks for keeping us in the loop Rob! and discovering something to do while you commute.
7. Fellow Blogger and VO business man Peter O’Connell recently sent out a Media Release Announcing the formation of O’Connell Communications LLC. which is an umbrella company that will serve as the Mother company for his 4 existing companies. You can read the media release here.
8. Jacob Horney of VoiceArchive wrote an article that was included in his company’s latest newletter… its Called “Getting your room Acoustics right” and gives you practical advice on fixing any acoustic issues you might have in your home studio. You can read the article here.
9. I wanted to implement a Pay It Forward System so that we may help voice over talent who might be having problems or need advice. If any of my readers can suggest some kind of Pay It Forward System I am open for suggestions. It has to be free and it has to be something you give willingly for the betterment of our brethren in the industry.
that’s it for now.
Live long and prosper,
Taji
Taji’s Industry Thoughts
It’s been a few months since I started this blog and one of the things that I’ve been doing is monitoring the industry. The trends… the culture… the traditions.
In much of my life I am very inquisitive. Like children when they are 3 or 4 they become a headache to their parents. Why is the sky blue. Why can’t I drive a car . Why do I have to sleep by 8 pm. etc.
The only difference is I am the one asking my self these questions and I give myself a headache sometimes when I can’t find a logical answer to them.
Like any dysfunctional family we have allot of problems, we the members of the voice over family of performers. We wish we were more successful but we don’t do anything about it. We want to be decent human beings and good siblings to our fellow voice over talent. But we have no problems undercutting their price or being envious of their success.
And there is one more thing that bothers me.
Many of us are negative. We try to dissuade anyone thinking of joining our ranks from doing so. We claim that it is because they bring down the prices or that they give us a bad name because they don’t provide good quality work. Or their performances are lacking… how can they even sell their work and get paid… The client should be getting paid to even feature their work. more »
I have this Syncing Feeling
It’s always nice when you get that email or IM message telling you that you got a new job. Sometimes you don’t spend too much time in understanding how technical the job might get because you are happy the work is coming in.
Very recently the lovely Fernanda from Produlz.com contacted me about an Arabic VO for an industrial video. The job was straight forward… get a script translated (I don’t translate but I have a very good translator who I forward the translation work to) and then voice it… and then (and here’s the kicker) Sync it with the audio of the English VO in the video. more »
Happy Canada Day!
Ah Yes… July 1st, a day better known as Canada Day.
Bienvenue
I write this post to celebrate the forming of one of the most beautiful countries in the world… and for north america… the safest.
A country that has national healthcare and provinces instead of states. Where the beaver is the national animal (a workaholic lumberjack with dental issues) and hockey is the national sport (you gotta take out your aggression somehwere). more »
