Hearing Voices

"Archer" on FX - Superspy Silliness

2010-03-06T16:01:00.000-08:00

The FX cable-channel has almost finished the first season on their new animated series, Archer, a spy-comedy series in the spirit of "Austin Powers" and "Casino Royale" (the 1960s version, with David Niven and Woody Allen). Fans of "Adult Swim" will enjoy the humor of "Archer" - and the animation style is a lot better.

The voice cast really shines in this series, with H. Jon Benjamin (Family Guy, Dr. Katz) in the lead role of superspy Sterling Archer (aka "The Duchess" - a code-name picked at random). Benjamin, whose deadpan style has been the voice of many goofy slacker characters, does very well in the role of Archer (who is more a rich-kid slacker than a competent spy). Also in the voice cast is comedienne Aisha Tyler as sexy spy Lana Kane (and Archer's ex-girlfriend), Chris Parnell as wimpy accountant Cyril (and Lana's clingy new boyfriend), Judy Greer as "Moneypenny" receptionist Cheryl/Carol/Carina (or whatever name she's currently calling herself), and Jessica Walter as the head of the spy organization (and Archer's mom). A stellar cast rounds out the rest of the characters, included some well-known "guest stars".

Another great part of the series is that it's not as predictable in its humor as you would think. It isn't just Archer that has faults; all the characters in the show are "off" to some degree - some minor, some major (i.e. the receptionist). Aisha Tyler is great at spoofing her "Bond girl" role, Chris Parnell brings nerdy to new heights, Judy Greer walks the line between sexy and psycho, and Jessica Walter couldn't be more perfect in her "mother hen" role.

As I said, Archer is definitely a "can't miss" series, especially for fans of late-night animated series. The animation is excellent and very well-done, and the entire voice cast really gives it their all to bring the funny.

Sharing stories - tales from VO classes

2009-06-25T18:12:00.000-07:00

I saw this cartoon from Matt Moylan's "Lil' Formers" website (www.lilformers.com), and I had to share a story when I was taking voice-over classes:

My first voice-over class was back when the 20th century came to an end, and it was through the program Learning Tree University. It was an introductory class where I could learn the basics and was taught by Beverly Bremers, who had plenty of voice-over experience with Disney and Warner Bros. Every week we were given copy for different characters, and we all had to come up with different ways (and voices) for each one.

See the character on the far right? That's the female robot "Crasher" from "The GoBots". One of the first copy I received was dialogue from her character. Fortunately, I wasn't required to do an effeminate voice, and I could approach it in any way - as long as it was in a sinister manner, since she was one of the "bad guys" (or "girls", or " 'bots", or whatever). I ended up doing a variation of a Dennis Miller impression, like when comedian Dana Carvey used to do impressions of him. I was able to give a smarmy feel to the character, and the teacher liked what I did.

(In case you don't get the joke - from left to right: "Blackarchnia" from "Beast Wars: Transformers", "Alita-One" and "Arcee" from the original "Transformers" animated series, and "Crasher" from "GoBots". And, yes, they're all girls.)

Voice session - Ghost Slayers Ayashi

2009-01-16T15:36:00.000-08:00

Bang-Zoom Entertainment called me in for some "walla" work on the anime series, "Ghost Slayers Ayashi". "Ayashi" is a supernatural/action series set in feudal Japan, and has been anticipated since its announcement back at last year's Anime Expo. I already know some good people are involved, including Steve Blum ("Cowboy Bebop"), Kirk Thornton ("Samurai Champloo") and Wendee Lee ("Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya").

This time, it was me and four others providing voices for both prisoners and soldiers. For the prisoners, we all provided grumbling, group laughter and surprised reactions. One scene had the prisoners bowing to the warden and saying "Thank you" over and over. One other scene had the prisoners reacting to a fire that had broken out. We had to react as to convince the fire to burn to their area, so as to burn down the jail and make their escape (if they don't get burned alive first). We had to provide reactions for over a full minute, which takes longer than it seems when you're improvising. I had the opportunity here to give a line of dialogue for a prisoner pleading to the fire, "This way! BURN THIS WAY!"

For the soldiers, we only did a couple of scenes. One had to have them give orders or provide panicked reactions to the fire. The last scene we did, it was revealed that the fire was actually a "spirit wolf-demon" conjured by a little girl. This demon heads towards the soldiers to slaughter them; we had to give our best guttural/gagging reactions to show the soldiers being eviscerated (you don't see it, but you can tell from the massive amounts of blood-spraying taking place).

All of us did each scene 2 or 3 times, so as to provide enough voices for a cell packed with criminals or a platoon of soldiers. The director of the session couldn't have been nicer and was very encouraging towards our performances. It was another great session, and I can't wait until this series is released. I hope they'll call me back to do more soon.

VO review: Resident Evil: Degeneration

2008-12-28T15:03:00.000-08:00

I haven't gotten any voice-over jobs to write about, so I thought I'd do something different and review the recent DVD release, Resident Evil: Degeneration, and give a shout-out to the voice-actors involved.

The "Resident Evil" video-game series has been a successful franchise from the beginning, eventually leading to a series of live-action movies with Milla Jojovich. The "Resident Evil: Degeneration" animated-movie follows the video-games, and brings back familiar characters Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield. The story takes place after "Resident Evil 4", with a new zombie outbreak. This eventually leads to a conspiracy resulting from both the Raccoon City disaster and the downfall of Umbrella, the evil conglomerate that produced the zombifying "T-virus" and the monster-producing "G-virus". Fans of the video-games will appreciate the action sequences, as well as homages to the game series.

The computer-animated movie runs at a surprising 96 minutes; unfortunately, this means that there are scenes that require backstory, family relations, conspiracy theories and other exposition. These scenes tend to slow the movie down and often drag it along. The romantic elements that come later end up as awkward and slightly cheesy. However, once the action begins the movie kicks into high-gear and gives the fans what they want. I almost picked up a game controller to begin playing during these parts. The ending, predictably, is a lead-in to the upcoming game, "Resident Evil 5."

Much of my praise goes to the voice-actors, and there is an excellent cast here (well supervised by ADR director and "Ghost in the Shell" actress Mary-Elizabeth McGlynn). Paul Mercier ("Resident Evil 4") and Alyson Court ("Resident Evil 2", "Code Veronica") reprise their roles as Leon and Claire, reunited after experiencing the horrors of Raccoon City in "Resident Evil 2". Laura Bailey voices a new character, military officer Angela Miller, while Roger C. Smith voices brother Curtis Miller (who factors largely in this new outbreak). Steve Blum ("Cowboy Bebop", "Samurai Champloo") does his best macho work as officer Greg Glenn, and Crispin Freeman ("Hellsing") fronts an British accent for suspicious CEO Frederic Downing. Michelle Ruff gets her voice really high to portray the little girl Rani, while Mary-Elizabeth McGlynn voices her aunt (as well as the "emergency announcements" you hear quite often from the early games). Also included in this fine cast are Kirk Thornton, Michael McConnohie, Kari Wahlgren, Barbara Goodson, Dave Wittenberg, Johnny Yong Bosch and many others.

There are abundant extras on the DVD, including a half-hour documentary on the making of the CG film, all the trailers (including the Comic-Con and Tokyo Game Show exclusives), and previews of "Resident Evil 5". The "voice-bloopers" are hilarious, since they're based more on improvization rather than actual flubs; the "Leon interview" is a little bizarre, since the one being interviewed is the motion-capture actor who portrays Leon. And, of course, there are numerous promotions of other DVD releases (many of which you'll have to skip through when you insert the DVD).

Overall, "Resident Evil: Degeneration" is a good addition to the "Resident Evil" storyline. Everyone that enjoyed the games will like this, but will clamor for less romance/exposition and more zombie action. The CG animation is top-notch and is like it was taken directly from the games, and the voice-actors do excellent work portraying their characters.

New Bang-Zoom session: Zombies!!!

2008-07-28T18:51:00.000-07:00

Last week, Bang-Zoom Entertainment asked me back for another walla session. This time it was a live-action Japanese "zombie comedy", where two truck drivers (who look like the Cheech & Chong of Japan) try to avoid and outrun an army of zombies. Basically, everyone in the room had to due low moans and groans, so it'd seem like it came from the background and didn't drown out the actual dialogue. We did several scenes like this for a few hours, sometimes adding a little sadness if the zombie's "meal" ran away or grunting if a zombie got run over by a car.

The last hour we had to do crowd and audience voices, because the final scenes were in an arena where zombies and normal humans fight it out. We all did cheering, booing, heckling and whatever else the scene asked for. I had a little trouble with my "on-the-spot" improv, trying to come up with original heckles and taunts that fit the scene without ruining it.

I'd have to say this was the most fun walla session I've had. It was like Japan's own version of "Shaun of the Dead."

Bang-Zoom session - those darn witches again!

2008-04-17T18:36:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Bang-Zoom Entertainment asked me back for another voice-session. Once again, it was for the same project as before - doing background and incidental voices for the anime series, "Tweeny Witches". There were 11 people altogether (6 girls, 5 guys), and most of the work would be provided by the girls.

The first part required all of us, doing voices for panicked crowds, scurrying animals, and awed villagers. We all had to make a good space behind the microphone, which meant being crammed in the back of a small soundproofed room. I'm not claustrophobic, but I think it was the poor ventilation that caused me to sweat a little.

After that session, it was the guys turn to give grunts, growls and other noises to either evil warlocks or heroic fighting wizards. There was one guy in particular who knew how to give a blood-curdling yell or a really loud cry of agony. He was the type who always had something to say or talk about, when he wasn't practicing doing voices or impressions (at one point, he and his friend were reenacting the Harrison Ford/Sean Connery scenes from "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"). It made me wish that I could be a little more ballsy rather than saving my voice by not talking.

After an hour, the guys' work was done and we could leave while the girls could do their scenes. As I said, it was pretty much the same as my last blog, but it's still worth sharing since I love doing this. (Maybe one day I'll get paid for it...)

Retro blog: Robotech: Shadow Chronicles DVD

2008-04-17T18:26:00.001-07:00

This took place a few months before Anime Expo 2007:

Anyone who's a fan of Japanese animation knows about the "Robotech" series. Back in 1985, the 85-episode sci-fi series spawned three storylines and a whole lot of fanboys (and fan-girls). Most noteworthy about the series was that it had showed what anime was capable of portraying; more than just outer-space dogfights and transforming robots, it was able to show human relationships and tragedies - disasters occured, villians got the upper hand, and long-time heroes died.

Last month they released the Robotech: the Shadow Chronicles DVD, an animated feature-film that picked up where the series left off. Most of the original voice-cast returned, along with actors Mark Hamill (Star Wars) and Chase Masterson (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). The film featured improved animation along with CG effects, and proved to make even the hardcore fans happy.

Along with the film was a "making-of" documentary which, along with the actual making of the film, had several fans discussing their thoughts on Robotech. I remember being at the event where this took place, and had put my two-cents worth on the series. Unfortunately, they never used my piece for the documentary.

However...

During the end as the credits were rolling, there was a montage of cast, crew and fans all shouting "ROBOTECH!" through to the end.

Guess where they used me...

They also put my name in the "special thanks" section, which was nice. But, if it was either the bad camera angle or all the bright lights, it reminded me of what a ugly fat face I have.

2nd walla session w/Bang-Zoom - wizards & warlocks

2008-03-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I had my second "walla" session with Bang-Zoom Entertainment. This was for an anime series called, "Tweenie Witches", a fantasy where three girls bring down an overlord. We were needed to provide voices for many of the background characters; Tony Oliver, the teacher from my voice-over class, was the voice director for the series so we had take instructions from him.

This time there were five women and three guys (including me), and the show called for mostly female voices. The guys were called in first to provide the more gruff/surly/"masculine" voices, like:

- warlock soldiers

- noble wizards

- citizens living in a barren town (wearing beak-like gas masks due to the pollution)

Sometimes each of us were asked to provide a single line of dialogue for a soldier or wizard, and I was able to give a couple of lines (although you may not clealy hear it in the final product). Some scenes lasted as long as a minute; it may not seem like a long time, but when you have to improvise with grunts, growls, shouts or incidental lines it feels that way.

Afterwards, the girls were called in with us to do a couple of larger scenes. The first was in a woodlands area, and we all had to give animal noises for the very odd-looking creatures residing there. We came up with some very unique sounds for each animal. The final part (for the guys) was a bizzare amusement-park scene, where the girls voiced the children and the guys did voices for the parents.

That was it for us guys, and we got to leave early. I wouldn't have minded sticking around to do a few more voices. Like before, this session was for experience and I didn't mind doing it for that. I hope that it'll lead to good word-of-mouth about my work and better jobs.

FIRST Voice-over Audition!

2007-12-27T19:40:00.000-08:00

Bang-Zoom Entertainment called me last week for an audition at their studio in Burbank. It was the first I had heard from them since the "walla" voice session last month.

On November 20th, I left work a couple of hours early to make it to my audition by 5:00 (given the unpredictability of the 5 freeway). I arrived in Burbank 15 minutes early, and waited for someone to call me in. Shortly after I sat down another actor stepped out of the recording booth, most likely the appointment before mine. They then ushered me into the booth, set up the microphone, and I put on a set of headphones. There was a stand with some lines on it and a television with a scene from an anime on it. To my left was a window where I could see the people in charge of the editing. They remembered me from the "walla" session, and told me that I did a fine job.

Over the headphones, they instructed me on the type of character I was voicing. He was an adult doctor in a small town, but he also coaches a little league as was shown on the screen. (You can tell he's an adult because he wears glasses; otherwise he'd look like any of the other effeminate looking boys in the anime.) According to the lines, he was talking to one of his players about an orphaned girl who had been abused. The first line brought up that he had thought about adopting her, the second line pointed out that he did not have a wife and kids already, and the third line dealt with that he didn't see himself as attractive to women and that it was difficult to meet them. I went over each line with the information I was given; in the first two lines my character was looking out watching the game, but in the third he turns to the player with an embarrassed look. We recorded the first two lines a couple of times each; I had to say them a little louder and enunciate a little more each time. With the third line, I implemented a little chuckle into my voice to indicate the embarrassment of the character. The people in the editing booth liked my choice.

After recording all my lines, they then wanted me to provide them with some voice samples. They first asked to do my "youngest" voice, and I hiked up my vocal chords to provide the best kid voice I could do. We then went older as we progressed: teenager, a teenage bully, an early 40's adult, an early 40's adult thug, and an old man. After that were "reactionary" sounds - sounds I would make if I was getting hit in a fight. I provided plenty of grunts and other injured reactions. For the last sample, they wanted me to give off the best "battle-cry" that I could do. I cleared my throat, took a deep breath, and gave the best, loud, longest "300/Sparta" yell that I could give. (I think the previous appointment did that as well, because I had heard a similar yell when I arrived.) They then complimented me on my samples, and that was the end of the audition.

For the over two-hour drive home, instead of fuming about the traffic, I thought about the choices I made - which were good, and also what I could have provided for them. I tried out other options to myself and got creative in some cases. I can only imagine what the drivers around me were thinking if they saw me, like I had lost my mind due to the slow traffic. I did make some discoveries: I can do a reasonable impression of Kermit the Frog, Oscar the Grouch, and Louie Armstrong (while doing Louie, I practiced doing "Fat Albert", which led me to doing "Mushmouth"). Also, it turned out my throat can take more punishment than I thought.

Now, it's a wait-and-see. It'll be one of those "don't call us, we'll call you", as it always is in Hollywood. I know I did a good job, and I can definitely see myself doing this as a real job. And, as I said before, I had fun doing it. What more could you want from a job?

FIRST voice session - walla walla

2007-12-27T19:39:00.000-08:00

Since I took their voice-over course, Bang-Zoom Entertainment called me this week to be involved in a "walla" session. This type of voice-over involved random conversations and other sound effects that take place while the main actors in the scene are talking.

("Walla" refers to the sound that the background actors make to simulate conversation, most often out of surprise - "walla walla walla")

I got up early to be at Bang Zoom's studio by 9:30 AM. It was a long, difficult drive from Orange County to Burbank; I'd have been ticked off if I was doing anything else but voice-overs, but this time I kept a cool head. I also discovered that the studio was in a different building than from where I took their class. The outside looked plain enough, but entering Bang Zoom's office proved to be an otaku's paradise. The walls were covered with posters, wallscrolls and other promotional items that were from their past anime projects. In the corner of the waiting area was a display case filled with action figures and models of characters from the same anime series.

Soon, the people in charge of the session took me and seven other people into the recording booth. It was a small soundproofed area with a microphone, a display stand and a TV showing what scenes were being dubbed. There was a window in front of us where we could see the people handling the ADR and synching. The woman in charge gave us the rundown of what each scene was about and how we should speak or react to each one.

The first part of the session was for a live-action Japanese feature, about a teacher/superhero called "Zebra-Man" (If you see this movie, you'll understand why he's called that):
The first scene had all of us in an audience scene, cheering on the hero: "ZEBRA-MAN! ZEBRA-MAN! ZEBRA-MAN!" for almost a minute. We then followed with surprised reaction as the hero changed from a homemade costume to a full-armored battlesuit of "zebra armor".
For the next couple of scenes, we were doing young children, both welcoming a substitute teacher (secretly Zebra-Man) and a young boy in a wheelchair. We had to display disappointment for having a substitute, and uncomfortableness for the kid in the wheelchair. We also did another scene where the kids mocked the substitute teacher for his messed-up hair: "bed-head! bed-head! bed-head!".
The last scene takes some explaining: apparently, aliens have landed in Japan and have mind-controlled the children into displaying mischievous, "zombie-esque" behavior (they were even using baseball bats). As they ransacked the shops, we all had to do grunting noises and eating noises when the kids were consuming broken watermelons and bags of candy.
After finishing the first feature, we had a five-minute break to prepare for the next one. The second feature was an anime series, a "magical-school" setting in the vein of "Harry Potter". We couldn't see any video this time, and were only given audio cues. One of the main characters of the anime obviously doesn't know how to use magic and causes constant disaster. Our job was to give voice to all the students in the background. Our reactions ranged from surprise (major and minor), disgust, random comments, and confusion. Our final cue was actual dialogue for the anime, where the students recite a prayer before the afternoon meal.

The whole session went fairly smoothly. The instructor liked everything we came up with, and rarely wanted a second try to go "bigger" with our reactions. I personally had a great time through the entire thing, but my throat had a different opinion (since I don't yell or speak loudly on a regular basis, it was wondering what the hell I was doing). Being part of this "walla" session only certified that voice-overs is what I should be doing.

There's the strong chance that I'll have my first audition with Bang Zoom next week. If it happens, I hope that it'll move me forward to bigger things.

Bang-Zoom voice class - Best Day, part 2

2007-12-27T19:38:00.000-08:00

A while back I talked about one of the best days I had, and how it may finally push me ahead in my voice-over career. The VO workshop I had won at Anime Expo was last weekend and even if it taught a lot that I already knew, it was still a learning experience.

The class was in a studio over in Burbank, so I had to leave early for an all-day session. The studio itself was a small brick building on the outside but the inside looked very modern, almost like an art gallery. The lobby was where we had the workshop, and it was designed like something the Cartoon Network would have: large, colorful plush couches with a odd-shaped coffee table that had the weirdest plush dolls on it. The wall behind us had a mural of this large pair of "anime" eyes, and the opposite wall had a Japan "rising-sun" design. (Unfortunately, the other students took up the couches so I had to use a folding chair.)

At 10:00 AM the class started, and our teacher was a professional voice actor himself: Tony Oliver, best known for the lead character "Rick Hunter" from the series Robotech (and many other projects after that). The first part was devoted to the importance of acting and improv towards voice-overs - to be a good voice actor, you have to be a good actor first. Also, improv plays a vital role when trying to understand the character you're portraying. Finding the character is always important; sometimes you can go "inside/out", where you determine the emotional state of the character, or one can go "outside/in" like Shakepearean actors do, by changing your outer appearance and working your way in. Finding the "motivation" of the character is important in all forms of acting, but it doesn't hurt to know about age(maturity), socio-economic upbringing, and knowing where the character will go in the story-arc.

Science was actually involved in the course, including a hand-out on basic anatomy (the mouth, tongue and vocal chords). It's always ideal to know proper breath control and diaphragm exercises when deciding how to play the character, with usually 3 to 4 different choices when doing a voice. Figure in the tone, volume, timbre, and especially speed, since anime requires matching the character's mouth on-screen. It's best to "feel" the character and let the voice come through; having to think about the acting part ends up getting in the way of the performance.

After all the talking and learning, we had a short tour around the studio. There was an editing room that looked more like a small movie theater, and next door was the microphone room where we would say our lines. There was a mic and a stand to place our copy, and a large TV where we could see what was being dubbed. They use a "4-beep" system - through headphones, they count down from 3 beeps, and on the "imaginary" fourth beep we say our lines. We all started with monologue work first, reciting paragraphs from a book (that I found out later was called "Monolgues for Girls)(?!).

(After all this time of practice on my own, hearing my voice over a professional system was humbling. It was the same way I look at a picture of myself - I can find a million things wrong with it...)

There was an hour for lunch, and afterwards we briefly learned everything about ADR (automated dialogue replacement). The important that we had to take from the lecture was "studio ettiquette", and what that came down to was, "Don't Fool with the Microphone." (It's the crew's job to do that, and they don't appreciate the actors messing with the mic - especially if it's a union job...). There were breathing exercises, as well as tricks to avoid "plosives" ("popping your p's" in front of the mic, etc.). I actually tried some "walla" work with everyone for an audience scene in the anime. We first did shouting and cheering, then went to outbursts, and ended with random conversations, to give the feel of an active audience.

At the end of the workshop was actual scene work. My first one was for "Eureka 7", doing a couple of lines playing a chaffeur type role. It went reasonably well; the crew asked to do a different take, and the result didn't make me cringe much. The next part, however, was more difficult. The anime was called "Hare Guu", about a private school in a tropical setting. I played a laid-back teenager; I was trying to project a surfer "Spicolli" voice into my character, but the limited time I had to say my lines to match the mouth movements proved to both difficult and humiliating. There was hope in my last scene, from an series based on the book "The Count of Monte Cristo". I played a henchman of this notorious man, acting in negotiations for a recent kidnapping. I thought at first he'd be a sniveling character, but what I saw on screen was this gruff, dangerous-looking creep. It was here that I got to be creative and went with a voice that was every bit as dangerous. It went well; everyone it was the best performance of all and that I understood the acting approach of voice work.

I have some ideas as well as important people to contact at this point. Hopefully, I'll be able to share with you my first actual audition and my first professional work.

Best day of 2007

2007-12-27T19:36:00.000-08:00

I was at the Anime Expo in Long Beach during the 4th of July weekend. I had arrived early that Sunday morning for a voice-over seminar provided by Bang-Zoom Entertainment, who provides ADR and audio dubbing for Japanese anime, video games and other animated features. A few of the people who worked behind the scenes were there, along with professional voice-actors Mary Elizabeth McGlynn and Steve Blum ("Cowboy Bebop", "Ghost in the Shell") and Vic Mignogna ("Fullmetal Alchemist"). During the panel, there was an opportunity for a few audience members to try dubbing a scene.

I was picked out of the few.

As I was waiting my turn at the microphone, I got to know the character I was playing: Jouji "George" Koizumi, the lead in the dramatic series "Paradise Kiss". "George" looked the standard anime male - ultra-thin, slightly effeminate and looks like he puts too much gel in his light-blue hair. He had a major attitude, very cocky and always making snide remarks while still being a ladies man. My scene had my character dropping off a cute anime girl at her place; she nervously invites George in, but (for some foolish reason) he plays hard-to-get. The anime girl then gets mad and asks George to leave. George drives off, but the girl changes her mind and runs after George's car.

They asked me up, and by then I knew how to voice George. They adjusted the equipment, and then gave me my cue. My first line went smoothly; I was able to give a snide, snarky voice to George's lips on the screen. The audience at the panel applauded for my good effort. The second line was a little more difficult: George's mouth would be off-screen for a few seconds, and the "camera" would move down to his mouth at the last part. I had to say my line at the right speed so that I could synch with the character's mouth at the end. I got my cue, and was able to synch my line without problems. More applause from the audience. There were two short lines after that; the first one wasn't a problem, the last line they asked me to re-do so that the attitude in my voice matched the attitude of the character. I did the last lines well, and the audience applauded.

You'd think that would be it, but it wasn't. Everyone that had gotten up to try their lines were eligible for a "grand prize": a special voice-over workshop over at Bang-Zoom's studio. At the end of the seminar, everyone had made their decision on the winner and several had actually said it was an easy choice: ME.

It I ever had any doubts about wanting to take up a career in voice-acting, they all disappeared that day. All those classes I had taken I finally put to use, and it came to me almost naturally. And, I was doing this in front of a large audience as well as two voice-actors I've come to respect (The series "Cowboy Bebop" is what inspired me to study voice-acting; Steve Blum voiced the lead in the series, and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn directed the entire series as well as voiced several characters). Steve and Mary congratulated me and gave plenty of encouragement, which meant a lot. The workshop is scheduled for next month, and I'm already preparing myself for what lies ahead. I don't think my voice-over career will get off-and-running immeadiately after, but I know this is a good step forward.

Best of all, I had fun. Who wouldn't want a career they enjoy?