No Strike in Hollywood, #TheBatman, SOVAS, LA Times, VoicesCON

Introduction

Hi there and welcome to Vox Talk, your weekly review from the world of voice over. I’m your host, Stephanie Ciccarelli from Voices. In today’s show, you’ll hear how a strike was averted that would have wreaked major havoc in Hollywood, about the new voice of the Caped Crusader, a star-studded lineup of SOVAS nominees, a feature in the LA Times all about voice acting jobs, VoicesCON in the Philippines and this week’s Vox Talk Community Spotlight.

News 1: IATSE Strike Averted

On October 16th, Deadline reported that IATSE and the AMPTP reached an agreement on a new film and TV contract, averting a threatened nationwide strike that would have crippled Hollywood productions.

Within less than an hour of publishing that article, Deadline issued a follow up piece stating that IATSE appeared to have received much of what it was asking for in a deal with the AMPTP including more rest between workdays, a significant investment in the health and pension plans, improved wages and working conditions on streaming shows.

For more details about the agreement, visit links to Deadline on the Vox Talk blog.

News 2: Robert Pattison’s Batman Voice

If you’ve been looking for news on the upcoming Warner Bros feature film, The Batman, your wait is over. Last week, a brief portion of their full length trailer featuring Robert Pattinson’s voice as the new Batman was tweeted out as a teaser with the trailer in its entirety debuted at DC Fandome. Now that the whole trailer is out, fans around the world have more than a taste of what Pattinson’s Batman sounds like.

The Batman is not in an origin story, rather the story of a young Batman finding his way. From what I can tell, Pattinson’s Batman voice is not as ominous or gritty as previous Batman voices have been. Based on the trailer, his portrayal of Batman’s voice has a softer, yet commanding tone. Director and Co-writer Matt Reeves said he saw The Batman’s Bruce Wayne as “a recluse rockstar in a decaying manor” -- perhaps there’s a bit of that in Pattinson’s Batman?

The Caped Crusader has had dozens of voices over the years in animation and film. Ever since Christian Bale’s Batman, the sound of Batman’s voice has been a hot topic with mainstream audiences and most certainly in acting circles.

Who has voiced Batman? A handful of actors come to mind including Kevin Conroy, Bruce Greenwood, Rino Romano, Dietrich Bader and Michael Dobson.

So riddle me this: who’s your favorite Batman? Be sure to answer the poll on our socials at Voices and also take part in an animated discussion in our Community Forum at community.voices.com.

News 3: SOVAS Nominees Announced

The Society of Voice Arts and Sciences (SOVAS) has announced this year’s nominees ahead of the 8th annual Voice Arts® Awards Gala recognizing exceptional performances in voice acting, presented live from the Guggenheim Museum, NYC.

The awards cover more than 100 categories ranging from voices for motion picture animation and TV commercials to audiobooks, spoken word, political ads, toys, and audio description for the blind.

Some celebrity nominees you’ll recognize include Barack Obama, Tina Fey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jamie Foxx and Sandra Oh.

A special congratulations goes out to Marc Graue who is this year’s recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

To see a complete list of nominees and celebrate with those up for awards, visit sovas.org

News 4: Explaining Hollywood - How to Get a Voice Acting Job

Just how do you get work as a voice actor? More specifically, how do you get a job as a voice actor in Los Angeles? The LA Times sought to answer that question in their Explaining Hollywood feature by interviewing a number of voice actors from Los Angeles and sharing their pointers.

To quote from the Times, they talked with Los Angeles-based voice actors Stephanie Beatriz, who works in film and TV; Chanté McCormick, who records audiobooks; Thomas Copeland Jr., who specializes in commercials; Joe Zieja, who’s worked in animation, games, corporate video and commercials; and Kathy Perkins (stage name Kathy Grable), who’s done a wide variety of voice gigs in addition to teaching the craft, as well as agent Jen Rudin, head of animation at ICM Partners in New York.

To read the article, visit the LA Times link in this episode’s transcript.

News 5: VoicesCON in the Philippines

Have you heard of VoicesCON? This weekend, the first and only voice-over and voice-acting convention in the Philippines gets underway. Pocholo Gonzales and his team have put together a line-up of speakers known for their voices and impact in the voice-over industry.

This year's VoicesCON will be about "The Future of Voice Acting." Attendees will learn "future-proof" techniques and adjustments that may be needed to succeed in 2022. The learnings received at VoicesCON will help equip voice actors for success in the fields of dubbing and voice-over.

The event takes place on October 25th. Learn more at voicescon.net

Vox Talk Community Spotlight: Minecraft Live #cavesandcliffs Musical

In the community spotlight today, we’re shining a light on a performance by Aria Sivick featured in the recent Minecraft Live online event. Aria sang both the melody and harmony for Minecraft Live’s #cavesandcliffs Musical. What a number!

That has got to be one of the most creative product releases I've ever seen. To listen to Aria’s performance, visit the link in the transcript for this episode.

Wrap Up

Thank you for joining us this week! I hope you’re enjoying the show. To stay connected and continue conversations you heard on the podcast this week, go to the Voices Community Forum at community.voices.com. You’ll find all kinds of neat people to engage with and opportunities there. Remember to stay subscribed. If you know someone who would benefit from listening to Vox Talk, send them a link to the show! We really appreciate you. Thanks again for listening. I’m Stephanie Ciccarelli from Voices. See you next week!