Friday- The short synopsis from one angle.

I had a bit of a restless night, so I woke up tired. I think I was just amped out because of all the incredible energy happening here, and having adrenalin overload.
Susan Berkley was unable to make it here for the keynote because of a family tragedy. Susan lost her Dad on Tuesday night, so James Alburger and Penny Abshire stepped up.

My first assignment was as assistant to Canada’s Deb Munroe of Chianti Productions. The role of assistant is to mek sure the needs of the presenter are addressed.
In short, Deb is full of tremendous energy and insight into auditioning. Her tips:
Stay in character, and bring confidence into each audition. If you slate, say your name clearly, perhaps with a slight break between your first and last name. Smile!!! Sometimes it may be appropriate
to slate at the end of the audition.

In online auditions, offer a triplicate choice of reads: What you think they should have, then try a sultry or sensitive read, then something else more risky, like a flat read.

The name of your file should always include your name.

Next, I was assigned to Gabrielle Nistico of Voicehunter.com and her very educational presentation on radio imaging.
Radio Imaging has many opportunities in a number of formats in HD radio, satellite, syndicated programming, Internet radio, and in the future, podcasting.

The do’s and don’t of radio imaging demos was covered in detail, and examples were played.

Some advice: If you wish to pursue this niche, hire a qualified imaging producer to produce your demo.

I looked in on LA’s Marc Cashman’s master class. He put a number of attendees on mike and put them through a series of fast paced reads, giving direction and
having them get in touch with their inner clock, and get that copy read in a specific time.

Raleigh Pinskey had a full seminar on marketing, suggesting that each voice actor’s individual website maintain a 24/7 media access “News Room”:
A place for press releases. Be on the major social networking websites. She shared a great quote by P.T. Barnam “Without promotion…nothing happens.”

Richard Horvitz-A willingness to play pretend involves learning to become completely comfortable in the v/o booth. He said, “The words are never as important as the situation you are in.” The idea when you play pretend, is not to act. The voice must do the work of the spirit of the moment.

I wish I could clone myself and sit in all the sessions somultaneously!

Tonight, AFTRA holds a wine & cheese event and will feature an awesome panel of voices from the movie and TV show, “Land Before Time”.

I’ll publish mostly pictures in the post to follow. It’s now Saturday morning, and I am assigned as the Advance Team Leader for today. Gotta go “have a meeting” before the staff meeting. Please excuse typos, if any.
Totally on adrenaline. More Starbucks, please.