To: Andy Isaacson

RE: “Why Men Tell You What Movies to See”  – New York Times Jan. 27, 2012

Read this article with great interest.

Thanks heaps for bringing voice work to the attention of the four people on the planet who are not already considering a voiceover career!

With technology giving everyone, everywhere the means to audition for commercials, narration, TV promos and emerging media, as well as some work calling itself trailer, albeit often fringe and questionable fare and good luck getting paid, the most recent figures state that on any given day, 1.3 million people are pursuing voice work on a global basis. Too many have fallen prey to teaching mills touting quick and easy money and the ability to work in your skivvies and wind up with dated skills and demos only a mother could love.

If a producer does not place a limiter on a job posting, they will get more mail than Santa Claus.

As a result, those who represent and hire talent do not accept unsolicited inquiries without a referral from trusted colleagues.

Having trained the dominant number of careers at the pinnacle of the voiceover pyramid, particularly in trailer and promo, we’d like to add that while producers say that eliminating the voice from theatrical trailers allows films to “speak for themselves”, it would seem to follow that capturing viewers attention without voiceovers on smaller screens would be equally effective. But, most versions of trailers, especially for television and for the Internet, do carry voices.

Perhaps “scratching” has something to do with it? Scratching is trailer talk for auditions.

While auditioning is how actors of all stripes compete for work, the amount of scratching voice artists were being asked to do took up more and more time and substantially cut into their earning hours.

Scratching’s also how newer voices get considered. Even though jobs generally go to an established pro, once in a great while a worthy voice will “go to finish” and begin the long build to a trailer career.

Lest we not over simplify this, the volume of voices consistently working trailers hovers around 20.  Attaining a spot on that bench happens every five years or so. So please, don’t quit your day job, especially these days!

Recently there was a stand taken on scratching and coincidentally, voices on theatrical trailers took a precipitous drop.

The evolution of a film campaign can take years and the severe limiting of scratches has had an equally damaging effect on the industry and word of a middle ground compromise is now making the rounds.

Perhaps the compromise could also mean a return of voices to theatrical trailers? It would be a good thing, not only for talent but also for ticket sales and hello, the audience.

Hi, ‘member us?

With homage to Don Lafontaine and Hal Douglas, the two most recognized voices to utter these words, “in a world” filled with mounting chaos and uncertainty, there are precious few constants or emotional anchors.

Sound is primal. It tells us, as early as hearing our mother’s heartbeat, that we are not alone. A constant and rhythmic sound is comforting. It’s why children (and not just children) want stories told the same way each time. It makes us feel safe. Tell us a story and we’re all yours.

We go to movie theaters to escape the chaos, even when we are scared out of our wits!

Without a Voice, without a Storyteller immediately pulling our focus and drawing our attention to the screen, we’re talking, checking messages, moving up and down the aisles and not paying attention to trailers as we once did. Music, effects and clips are powerful but nothing stops us in our tracks like a voice.

Voiceless trailers break an unwritten contract with movie-goers. The Contract states that we buy our tickets, get our treats and a voice envelops and transports us. The Voice was part of the theatrical experience that made trailers a cherished and modern day art form. And, you don’t get that at home, on a computer or an iPad.

In our humble opinion, a voiceless trailer is not really a trailer but a cut-down version of the film and as such, can easily defeat its own purpose, which is to whet our appetite, not to fully satisfy it.

Ultimately, voices tell us how to feel … and feeling is how we anchor experience. Give us back the full experience of going to the movies, of hearing that surround sound voice in a darkened theater and give us back one of the reasons we went to the movies in the first place.

(And by the way, the female voice is the first voice we hear and the most often heard voice in our formative years.

Just sayin’…)

Marice Tobias

“The Voice Whisperer”

Tobias Entertainment Group

tobiasent.com

In our last blog, we noted that doing what you are doing will keep you in place.  Expanding on that concept,  doing what you are doing will also keep you from stepping up to the next level and beyond.

When I decided to start directing commercials in New York, I shared my strategy with a producer at a well-known ad agency. I was going to be the first woman to direct at a production company.  I decided to focus on what I felt would be a good point of entry: i.e. commercials for shelf goods.

There was a plethora of those spots being produced every year and as a script supervisior at the production company that shot over half of them, I knew the genre, the producers and the creative teams. He agreed and then offered some advice that still resonates today:

“Just remember,  you can’t get into Compton (Advertising) with a Compton reel. We always want to feel we are going to best ourselves with our next campaign.”

That advice informed the spots I wrote and directed for my sample reel. They broke the traditional “slice of life” model for shelf goods.

Ironically, my first directing job turned out to be a very traditional slice of life campaign!

Who cares?

My reel said I’d bring something fresh and new to the same old, same old and I guess I did because I got to direct more spots for them after that.

So, the big little secret in moving forward is not just being good at your current level of work, but also being good at the level on which you want to be..and good in a way that inspires people to risk choosing you. Yes, it’s a risk. Their jobs are on the line so help them help you. Give them something to cheer about because that first person now becomes your champion and has to convince others you will cover them all with glory.

In terms of representation – reads, demos and marketing that stop people in their tracks are no longer enough.

You also need marquee credits.

These are gigs that impress and serve as talking points for those who will be singing your praises.

The days of being automatically signed are disappearing. A honeymoon or test-drive is now quite common.  Don’t take it personally.  It’s a step in the right direction.

On a purely personal note, when I see postings, it’s mostly because they’ve been forwarded to me.

Good grief.

Enough railing about the business. It is what it is.

Concentrate on what you can actually do something about.

Your delivery.

Too many reads just don’t hit the mark. Make sure what you are turning in will indeed stop people in their tracks.

Wishing all a Happy, Prosperous and Peace filled 2012!

The Bad News is, doing what you are doing, keeps you doing what you are doing.

It’s why sports teams have a staff and individual atheletes have people who travel with them to keep them sharp.

A win is as good as the game in which it was played but afterwards, there’s no slacking off on drills and practice unless there’s travel involved. Why? Because the more finely-tuned one is, the quicker rigor will dissipate if it’s not reinforced and enhanced.

Whatever they did right will also be analysed by others, as well as where their flanks might be vulnerable.

Established careers that want to cut through to the next level as well as  those at the top of the game cannot rest on laurels.  Being a pro, in anything, is as competitive as moving up the ranks. The medal jumps that athletes did in the Olympics a few short years ago would not even qualify them for the team today.

So know that the level of play you are at today might not be enough, especially when trying to get the attention of those who are able to open bigger doors.

The #1 issue for agents, managers, casting directors and producers is that auditions, especially self-directed ones, are not where they should be but there isn’t time to help get them where they need to go. That,  they feel, is your job.  They give you the shot, it’s up to you to hit the target and to keep hitting it, read after read after read.

“So, when you’re busy, they don’t hear from you but when you aren’t, they do?”

“Right. Oh, I see what you’re saying. My calling says I’m not busy.”

“Yes.”

For the most part, that put an end to a glaring error in impression management.  If, for some reason, cold calling is still a part of your marketing strategy, please hire someone to do it for you. I’m even against calling producers with whom you’ve worked. It still says you aren’t behind the mike and who knows what they are dealing with when they pick up their phone.

If you want to keep the personal touch a componant of your business, there are lots of college kids looking to make extra money. With a succinct script and plenty of rehearsal, they can come off as fresh and enthusiastic member of your team and  keep you off the front line of your own marketing.

The image we want them to have of you is that you are either in session, in a meeting or in transit.

Now, how do we reconcile that philosophy with the extremely seductive and addictive nature of social media?

It’s the same principle. Too much is too much.

The time you spend in chat rooms and/or creating materials for various sites and postings should be kept to an absolute minimum. Too many posts, too much information and being on too many venues says one thing and one thing only: You have the time to do it. That is not the statement you want to be making about your career. A cogent comment now and then is sufficient. If they want more of you, let them hire you.

And, while we’re on the subject of marketing, sending out notices for the sake of reminding people to think of you  is in the same category.

Time is all we have. If you are going to ask someone to spend a scrap of time paying attention to something you’ve sent them, make sure it contains some content that will help them put you on their radar. If you are launching a new site or have updates, great. New credits and their links are best. Everyone wants to work with players. Make sure you are showing up like one. And, be sure to pick and choose what you spotlight judiciously. Making a big deal out of every booking and showing up too often wears out your welcome.

Rule of thumb:  Become a bit scarce and let them wonder if you’ll even have time to work with them!

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There is a consideration missing from the trailer conversation.
It’s called The Audience.

I know, every new group that comes along wants to make their mark on the cultural landscape and define their time distinct from all others. Aside from whatever financial considerations there are to using or not using a narrator for theatrical trailers, there is the idea that not using a voice “lets the film speak for itself.”

Yeah, no. That’s not a trailer. That’s a cut-down version of the film that does not immediately grab our attention from looking for seats, texting, asking what everyone wants to eat, catching up on gossip.

A trailer is a series of strategically orchestrated scenes narrated by a skilled storyteller who tells us how to feel about what we are seeing. It’s a time-honored contract that is being broken and depriving us of a treasured aspect of going to “the movies.”  It’s also giving the audience permission not to pay attention to what’s on the screen because it’s not cashing in on the subconscious need we have to be instantly transported from our own lives and dropped in to “a world” other than our own.

No matter when producers, editors and filmmakers showed up on the planet, they still grew up going to theaters, buying popcorn, sodas, candy, etc. and settling down to watch trailers before the Main Attraction came on the screen. In that darkened enclave, a voice came on, enveloping them and the rest of the audience in the world of the Coming Attractions.

Without The Voice, we are not hypnotically pulled to the screen with the almost pavlovian response to pay attention that was ingrained into our psyches since childhood.

When the odd and random, disembodied voice does suddenly shows up on a few lines here and there or suddenly drops in at the end to announce the title, it startles us and not in a good way.  The rule in writing is called ‘playing fair with the audience.”  If you are going to introduce an element, it should be there from the  beginning and be a part of the story or it attracts attention to itself and is frankly, just plain bad writing. The reaction is “ Who’s that and where’d they come from?” It often gets a laugh and again, not in a good way.

So please, restore our movie-going experience as we knew and loved it and in the process, cash in on the equity trailers have built up over the years to pull us in, settle us down and help us not only get ready for the Main Event but make a mental note to make sure we see all those others, as well.

Play fair with us and we might just come back more than we have been lately!

A friend suggested I attend a weekend retreat she’d just completed. It became my first step towards living an examined life.

Our last process was to pair up, go off into the high desert and find a token that would remind us of the work we’d done that weekend.

My partner found his token right away and trudged around with me, pointing out rocks, feathers and assorted desert debris as possibilities. Nothing felt like a fit.

He was cold and wanted to get back to the compound.

”Are you looking for something special?” he asked.

I nodded.

“What?”

“A pinecone.”

“ A pinecone” he said flatly.  “You’re looking for a pinecone in the desert.”

I nodded again. He shook his head.

When I was a kid, we lived next to a forest for a while. I would wander around under the canopy of trees. They made me feel secure.  After that, whenever I ran across a pinecone that wasn’t where it should be, like in a city or on the beach, I brought it home.

I saw it as a sign that all would be well.

“Right, he said, shivering, “ but you know that’s probably not going to happen.”

A few steps later, I saw what looked like a pinecone. I raced over but it turned out to be a parched sunflower. “Ok, I said, “if I don’t find what I’m looking for, I’ll take this.”

He threw up his hands and said he was heading back.

Just as I too was about to give up and go back to the sunflower, there it was – a real, honest to goodness pinecone! I scooped it up and held it against my heart.

“Thank you“ I whispered “I knew you were out there somewhere.”

When it was time for me to tell why a pinecone meant something to me I said: “I’m going home with a renewed belief and trust in myself. I learned that whatever it is you seek, don’t settle, because what you really want just might be a few steps away. And, that no matter what, if I can find a pinecone in the desert, I can do anything.”

I still bring pinecones home when I find them in an unlikely place.

You’d be surprised how many there are out there.