VAMFR 036 | The Final Episode of the VAM Field Report

Welcome to episode 36 of the Voice Acting Mastery: Field Report podcast!

You can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.vamfieldreport.com/podcast

Greetings everyone! This is Crispin Freeman, voice actor and host of the Voice Acting Mastery Podcast. As you may know, we started this sister podcast, the Voice Acting Mastery Field Report, back in October of 2015. Since then, our Field Report correspondents have produced some amazing episodes including in-depth interviews and detailed special reports on a number of important topics! It has been so great to learn along with them as they’ve explored many relevant and helpful subjects that continue to be of value to our listeners.

However, all good things must eventually come to an end. As we announced this week on the Voice Acting Mastery blog, this will in fact be the final episode of the Voice Acting Mastery Field Report.

I’m very grateful to all of our correspondents who have contributed such great content, and I’m very proud of the work they put into their episodes. Each correspondent has shared their unique insights into the world of voice over as they’ve pursued their own voice acting careers. In fact, these careers and other aspects of their lives have gained so much momentum that our intrepid correspondents inform me that they have less and less time to commit to the Field Report! So even though it’s bittersweet to say goodbye, I’m so happy for their success and wish them much more in the future!

For our final Field Report episode, I’ll be doing one last round table interview with our current correspondents, Tom Bauer, DanWill McCann, and Maureen Price. They’ll be sharing with us how their careers have grown over the past couple of years, what lessons they’ve learned from working on the Field Report, and what they’re all looking forward to in the future!

I hope you’ll all join me in giving a heartfelt thank you and farewell to each of our correspondents!

You can find their websites here:

DanWill McCann
Tom Bauer
Maureen Price

Thanks again for listening and for joining us for the Field Report. We truly appreciate it.

(P.S. – For those of you who are about to ask: Yes, I’m still releasing monthly episodes of the main VAM podcast on the 3rd Wednesday of each month, so please continue to tune in for those. Thanks!)

Download VAM Field Report Episode #36 Here (MP3)

Greetings Voice Acting Mastery listeners! I have a big announcement to share with all of you.

As you know, we started our sister podcast, the Voice Acting Mastery Field Report, back in October of 2015. Our correspondents have produced some amazing episodes including in-depth interviews and detailed special reports on a number of important topics! It has been so great to learn along with them as they explored many relevant and helpful subjects that continue to be of value to our listeners.

However, all good things must eventually come to an end, and it’s time for me to announce that the next episode of the Field Report, episode 36, will be our last.

I’m grateful to all of our correspondents who have contributed to the Field Report, and I’m very proud of the work they put into their episodes. Each correspondent has shared their unique insights into the world of voice over as they’ve pursued their own voice acting careers.

In fact, these careers and other aspects of their lives have gained so much momentum that our intrepid correspondents inform me that they have less and less time to commit to the Field Report! So even though it’s bittersweet to say goodbye, I’m so happy for their success and wish them much more in the future!

For our last Field Report episode, I’ll be doing a final round table interview with our current correspondents, DanWill McCann, Tom Bauer, and Maureen Price. They’ll be sharing with us how their careers have grown over the past couple of years, what lessons they’ve learned from working on the Field Report, and what they’re all looking forward to in the future!

I hope you’ll enjoy our farewell episode and that you’ll continue to gain insight and guidance from all our existing Field Report episodes, which will remain accessible here at VoiceActingMastery.com and on iTunes. I also encourage you to follow the achievements of our correspondents as they continue in their careers! I’m sure they’ll all have more information to share via their own social media channels!

You can find their websites here:

DanWill McCann
Tom Bauer
Maureen Price

Thanks again for listening and for joining us for the Field Report. We truly appreciate it.

(P.S. – For those of you who are about to ask: Yes, I’m still releasing monthly episodes of the main VAM podcast on the 3rd Wednesday of each month, so please continue to tune in for those. Thanks!)

VAMFR 035 | Interview with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Part 3

Welcome to episode 35 of the Voice Acting Mastery: Field Report podcast!

You can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.vamfieldreport.com/podcast

Welcome back, everyone! I hope you enjoyed the first two parts of Maureen’s interview with the phenomenal Mary Elizabeth McGlynn!

To recap, Mary Elizabeth is an industry veteran who has worked on both sides of the glass as both a voice actor and a voice director. Her acting credits include Major Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Governor Pryce in Star Wars Rebels, and Dr. Maheswaran in Steven Universe. She’s also an accomplished voice director having taken the helm on titles such as Tangled: The Series, Cowboy Bebop, and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.

In the previous episode, Maureen and Mary Elizabeth had a great conversation about dealing with self-doubt. They also spoke about the importance of using positive language with ourselves in order to combat our internal critic. Then they explored how Mary Elizabeth suffered a significant professional failure and was able to recover from it and get “back in the saddle” so to speak. This lead directly into a discussion of the value of failure and how Mary Elizabeth handled the challenges that came with being a first-time director on Cowboy Bebop.

In this, the final part of their interview, Mary Elizabeth and Maureen talk about how voice directing as a career path currently seems to be more accessible to women than on camera directing and our theories as to why that might be. They also discuss what excites Mary Elizabeth most about the industry right now. Then, Mary Elizabeth is generous enough to share a recent experience that pushed her way out of her comfort zone. They draw their time together to a close by focusing on the importance of storytelling in dark times, and before they say goodbye, Mary Elizabeth leaves us with her number one piece of advice for aspiring voice actors.

The VAM Field Report will be released on the 1st Wednesday of every month so stay on the look out for it!

Download VAM Field Report Episode #35 Here (MP3)

VAMFR 034 | Interview with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Part 2

Welcome to episode 34 of the Voice Acting Mastery: Field Report podcast!

You can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.vamfieldreport.com/podcast

Welcome back, everyone! I hope you enjoyed the first part of Maureen’s interview with the phenomenal Mary Elizabeth McGlynn!

To recap, Mary Elizabeth is an industry veteran who has worked on both sides of the glass as both a voice actor and a voice director. Her acting credits include Major Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Governor Pryce in Star Wars Rebels, and Dr. Maheswaran in Steven Universe. She’s also an accomplished voice director having taken the helm on titles such as Tangled: The Series, Cowboy Bebop, and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.

In the previous episode, Maureen explored how Mary Elizabeth got started as an actor and how her career progressed from graduate school, to guest starring on Star Trek: Voyager, to a fateful horse riding accident while filming the TV show Xena: Warrior Princess that eventually led her to voice acting. Maureen and Mary Elizabeth also discussed how she made her debut as a voice director on the anime series Cowboy Bebop! Then they spoke about how Mary Elizabeth deals with imposter syndrome, which is a psychological pattern where one doubts their accomplishments. Lastly, Mary Elizabeth shared some tips for how to talk to a director on your first job, and they concluded the episode by revealing which of her many characters was the most emotionally difficult for her to portray.

In this episode, Maureen and Mary Elizabeth dive into a discussion about how to deal with self doubt. They also talk about the importance of using positive language with ourselves. Then they explore how Mary Elizabeth suffered a significant professional failure and was able to recover from it and get “back in the saddle” so to speak. This leads directly into a discussion of the value of failure and how Mary Elizabeth handled the challenges that came with being a first-time director on Cowboy Bebop. Then, to wrap up this episode, Mary Elizabeth shares her philosophy on directing and how she develops trust with actors

The VAM Field Report will be released on the 1st Wednesday of every month so stay on the look out for it!

Download VAM Field Report Episode #34 Here (MP3)

VAMFR 033 | Interview with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Part 1

Welcome to episode 33 of the Voice Acting Mastery: Field Report podcast!

You can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.vamfieldreport.com/podcast

Buckle up, folks because Maureen is thrilled to share the first part of her interview with the phenomenal Mary Elizabeth McGlynn!

Mary Elizabeth is an industry veteran who has worked on both sides of the glass as both a voice actor and a voice director. Her acting credits include Major Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Governor Pryce in Star Wars Rebels, and Dr. Maheswaran in Steven Universe. She’s also an accomplished voice director having taken the helm on titles such as Tangled: The Series, Cowboy Bebop, and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Maureen has been eager to sit down with Mary Elizabeth ever since she first became a correspondent on the field report. Not only does Mary Elizabeth’s fantastic work speak for itself but she’s also wonderfully down to earth, hilarious, and open to discussing everything from advice for newcomers to the lessons she’s learned from failing and getting back up again.

In this first episode, Maureen explores how Mary Elizabeth got started as an actor and how her career progressed from graduate school, to guest starring on Star Trek: Voyager, to a fateful horse riding accident while filming the TV show Xena: Warrior Princess that eventually led her to voice acting. Then they discuss how Mary Elizabeth made her debut as a voice director on the anime series Cowboy Bebop! Maureen also talks about how Mary Elizabeth deals with imposter syndrome, which is a psychological pattern where one doubts their accomplishments. Then Mary Elizabeth shares some tips for how to talk to a director on your first job, and they conclude this episode by revealing which of her many characters was the most emotionally difficult for her to portray!

The VAM Field Report will be released on the 1st Wednesday of every month so stay on the look out for it!

Download VAM Field Report Episode #33 Here (MP3)

VAMFR 032 | Interview with Taliesin Jaffe, Part 3

Welcome to episode 32 of the Voice Acting Mastery: Field Report podcast!

You can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.vamfieldreport.com/podcast

This is the third and final part of DanWill McCann’s chat with Taliesin Jaffe.

If you missed the first two parts, you can find them on VoiceActingMastery.com. Just search for episodes 30 and 31 of the Field Report. Taliesin has been involved in the entertainment industry since he was a young boy, working with actors like Michael Keaton in the movie Mr. Mom and Suzanne Somers on the T.V. show She’s the Sheriff. As Taliesin grew older, he transitioned into a portion of the industry he felt more passionate about: providing voices in the English dubs of Japanese Animation titles like 3×3 Eyes and directing voice actors in dubs like Read or Die, The TV. He has also voiced characters in video games, such as Highlord Darion Mograine, Leader of the rebelling Death Knights in the World of Warcraft, Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack.

In the previous episode, Taliesin shared with us which projects he most enjoyed working on, both as a voice actor and as a director. He talked about what made those projects stand out for him, as well as what artistic lessons he learned from working on them. I appreciate how Taliesin is able to successfully balance being a fan of the mediums he works in, while still maintaining a professional demeanor at the same time. We also discussed how to make professional connections with voice actors we admire at fan conventions and on social media. Taliesin stressed how important it is to find genuine connections with them on more than just voice acting while also making sure to respect their time and privacy. He also told stories of his own early attempts to make professional connections at conventions and how some of those interactions were more successful than others. He learned a lot from those experiences and I hope you found his adventures both entertaining and educational! I know I did.

In this final segment of our interview, Taliesin begins by sharing his advice to folks that like to make fan dubs. For those who are not familiar with the term, fan dubbing is the practice of taking an established anime property and dubbing it into English for fun or for improving one’s voice acting skills. While fan dubbing is not officially sanctioned by the companies that hold the copyrights to anime shows, many aspiring voice actors try their hand at fan dubbing in order to get more experience with the process of dubbing animation. Taliesin also offers some suggestions about how to listen to professional performances so that we can learn from the pros and take what we admire about their artistry and incorporate it into our own acting. He then adds some of his own directorial advice, especially when it comes to recording challenging lines like fighting sounds or efforts. While the majority of actors rightly spend most of their time learning how to deliver dialogue in a believable way, the non-verbal efforts, exertions, death screams, and other fighting noises are crucial to master as well. This is especially true in the world of video games, where your characer will likely have many different battle encounters over the course of gameplay. I definitely find Taliesin’s methods for creating efforts very helpful, and I believe you will, too.

The VAM Field Report will be released on the 1st Wednesday of every month so stay on the look out for it!

Download VAM Field Report Episode #32 Here (MP3)