Amy Taylor Fernandez
Voice Over Actor
  • Home
  • About
  • Videos
  • Blog
  • Contact
860.459.5018
amytaylorvoice@yahoo.com
Amy Taylor Fernandez Voice Over Actor sag-aftra
Amy Taylor Fernandez Voice Over Actor source-connect

Voiceover

COVID and Career Change

December 6, 2021 by Amy Taylor Fernandez Leave a Comment

“This letter is to inform you that I’m leaving the company.”

In the past month, I’ve received these dreaded emails from 3 of my contacts. It always hits me like a brick. I try to develop hearty relationships with my clients over the years. It’s sad to think the relationship has come to an end.

I always respond by expressing how much I’ve enjoyed working with them, tell them how much I’ll miss being part of their projects (I truly will) and wish them the best in their new endeavors. It’s a scary email for a freelance voice actor to receive. I can’t be sure if that means the end of the line for me or if I will continue working for that company.

The client may introduce me to their successor via email. Those emails are encouraging and give me a sense of job stability, although nothing is guaranteed. Other clients ensure me that they’ve given my contact info to their creative departments. A few simply vanish and I’d never know unless I write to them and get the message that their email is defunct. Fortunately, that seldom happens.

Long gone are the days people work for a company for 30 years, get a Rolex and a retirement cake and move to Florida. Business is in a constant state of flux. Millennials on average change jobs every two years and 9 months. Gen Zers are expected to have a whopping 18 jobs over their lifetimes. We must be prepared to deal with the ebb and flow of clients throughout our voiceover careers. How do we retain these companies as clients once our contact person is gone? (I don’t have an answer to this. Please let me know in the comments if you have any ideas.)

Why the sudden uptick in career changes? Is it because it’s the end of the year? Is it due to Covid? I’ve heard a few people say the pandemic has made them rethink their careers. Others have moved to another state, citing covid 19 concerns. Even though we’ve proven some jobs can be done remotely now, I would imagine telecommuting is not an option for all. A change of residence could account for some of the job switching.

Downsizing happens, also. The pandemic hit some companies hard. Positions were eliminated. Quite possibly the person who took over my contact’s duties either didn’t get my info or they have their own talent pool and don’t need my services. 

Looking at this with a glass-half-full mentality, I could say the personnel turnover means new people are taking over for people who *have not* hired me before. They will now be in the position to discover me and use my voice talents. While I’m sad to see my clients leave, I welcome new clients with different perspectives and fresh ideas for voice projects.

Fortunately, the 3 contacts that left their respective companies did connect me with their colleagues and I do continue to work for those companies. I’m hoping this turnover will result in more opportunities for voice work both with my established clients and new ones.

Filed Under: That's Life, Voiceover

Voiceover Auditions

October 6, 2021 by wadmin Leave a Comment

This week in the world of voiceover auditions I was asked to be a small wheel of cheese, a zebra and an eight ball. I don’t know what any of those things would sound like personified, but that’s half the fun of my job. I get to imagine how the character sounds. Delving even deeper into it, I imagine how the character feels, thinks, laughs, cries, sighs, etc. Having a connection to the copy and to the character is key to booking a job.

A few years back I booked a promo for a Dora The Explorer DVD. I remember they were looking for an older abuela or grandmother-type read. I channeled my inner “abuela” and thought about how her kitchen smells, how proudly she displays photos of her grandkids, etc. and I recorded the script, sent in my mp3 and waited. The result? I landed the job! When I got to the studio they said, “We chose you because there was a connection there. Most of the auditions we got were “cartoony” and yours sounded like a real person.”

That’s not to say that sometimes a cartoony read isn’t warranted. For the Dora spot, I took a chance and it worked out. Auditions always involve taking a risk. Sometimes those risks work out and sometimes they don’t. There will always be another audition around the corner, so I try not to get too hung up over them.

Filed Under: Bilingual Voiceover, Voiceover Tagged With: auditions, Voiceover

One Voice Conference USA 2021 Report by 2X Nominee Bilingual Voice Talent – Amy

October 6, 2021 by wadmin 2 Comments

US English/Latin American Spanish Voice Talent, Amy, guest blogs about attending the One Voice Conference in Dallas Texas, August 26-29, 2021

One Voice Conference was a welcome change of pace for us voice actors who are usually isolated in our padded rooms. It was a vibrant gathering spot for fellow voice talents, coaches, demo producers, agents and casting directors. It was particularly special for me because I brought my 18 year old who also does voiceovers with me.

There was a LATAM component to this conference, which was beneficial to me because I’m bilingual. I spread my time between the English and Spanish sessions offered. Highlights of the conference were meeting Bill Farmer (voice of Disney’s Goofy) who gave a session with Mario Filio (Spanish voice of Goofy.)

I decided to try some new things at One Voice and stretch as an actor. I went to a dubbing class. Dubbing is an area of voiceover that I’ve never dabbled in and I found it fascinating. I attended a session with a panel of casting directors and agents, some of whom I work with daily by way of auditions, but whom I’d never seen or heard before. There were several take-aways from that session, including the importance of slating or not slating, how many takes they expect, and how they want their MP3s labeled.

One Voice Conference USA 2021 was the first conference I’ve attended since the pandemic. I was impressed with the preventive protocols, including a mask policy, at the elegant Hyatt Regency DFW Hotel. The conference floor was peppered with hand sanitizer stations, and socially distanced tables were in all of the breakout rooms. Organizers took every safety precaution, and I felt safe going into each session.

The event was organized by J. Michael Collins as well as Gravy for the Brain founders, Hugh Edwards and Peter Dickson. Kudos to them for forging ahead with the conference amidst all the obstacles that I would imagine Covid-19 hurled onto their path.

I applaud the production crew for making this first-of-its-kind hybrid conference a nearly seamless event. This monumental task consisted of hybrid sessions, where some panelists were in person on stage, while others were virtual, on a big screen above them. There were a lot of mics to pot up and down and many on screen participants. There were people walking around with mics during the Q&A portions of the sessions, so that those watching the session on-line could hear the questions. It was well thought out for both in-person and on-line attendees. The technical team deserves many props for their efforts.

I’m glad I attended. I’m looking forward to attending future conferences. Hopefully, the state of the world will have improved for the next one so the conference can become even better!

Filed Under: Bilingual Voiceover, Voiceover Tagged With: voice actor, voiceover awards, voiceover conference

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2

Primary Sidebar

Archives

Categories

© 2023 Amy Taylor Fernandez // Voice Over Site by Voice Actor Websites

860.459.5018
amytaylorvoice@yahoo.com