Voice Actors Can’t Take Off Snow Days … Even In the Snowy South, by Bob Souer
Voice-over home studio, circa February 2010 …
What’s YOUR VO snow story? Share it in COMMENTS!
Voice Actors Can’t Take Off Snow
Days … Even In The Snowy South
By Bob Souer
Voice Actor
Feb. 11, 2010 – Charlotte, NC
If we’re going to be successful voice actors, there are several paths we can take, I suppose.
Some concentrate on audiobooks. Others on promos. Trailers. Corporate narrations. Commercials.
Some of us do lots of different things. Some just a few.
But for every one of us, having clients who come back again and again with work is a great blessing. If we have enough clients who hire us repeatedly, succcess is guaranteed.
So, Monday of this week was one of those days when I was faced with a few obstacles, and here’s how we handled things.
MY AGENT CALLS
I had been away from my home studio for a few days, and as I was driving home I received a call from my agent Doug at The Talent Group in Cleveland.
A very frequent client, who had booked me for work the previous week, needed two lines of revisions.
I explained that I was driving and that I should be home before 4:30 that afternoon. We set the phone patch session for the revisions for 4:30.
We actually got to the house a little early, but that’s when it became clear there were a few obstacles to overcome.
DRIVEWAY SURPRISE
Obstacle number one: while I was gone, two feet of snow had fallen on my home (see photo).This, of course, included the driveway.
When I got to the house, I couldn’t get the front wheels into my driveway, much less the entire car.
Obstacle number two: I didn’t have a snowblower, having given it to one of my brothers when I moved from Minnesota to North Carolina, figuring I wouldn’t need it anymore.
Obstacle number three: I didn’t even have a snow shovel – at least not with me. It was buried under a whole lot of other stuff up in the garage.
Obstacle number four: My snow boots and winter coat were in the coat closet in the house, up the 75-foot driveway that was now buried in two feet of snow.
A SLIGHT DELAY
So I called my agent back and asked if we could move the session to 4:45 p.m.
Then I found a spot across the road that was cleared of snow enough that I could get my car off the road, and tramped through the snow in my dress shoes. But my son Eric, who was with me, had it worse. He was wearing shorts!
MADE IT!
Finally inside the house, I fired up my workstation. Got the phone patch set. Caught my breath, and did the session at 4:45.
Delivered the audio just a few minutes after the brief session was done. Took care of a couple of other quick lines that another client needed, and then kicked the heat up for the house.
Pulled on my snow boots and winter coat, and headed back out through the snow to see if I could find a snowblower – or at the very least a couple of snow shovels.
Even though all the snowblowers were gone, Eric and I did find a couple of shovels. And after a day and a half of shoveling we got the driveway cleared and the car into the garage.
Neither of us missed any sessions, and we got a great workout together.
ABOUT BOB …
Bob Souer has been a voice actor for over 25 years, helping an array of faithful clients tell their “stories” through commercials, narrations, podcasts, e-learning, promos, imaging – you name it. He also posts a highly informative daily blog about voice acting, The VoiceOver Boblog.
Email: bob@bobsouer.com
Web: www.bobsouer.com
Bobblog: http://bobsouer.com/blog
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I feel your pain, Bob, since we’ve been buried under snow in our area as well. In spite of the hurdles you faced because of the several feet of snow, I liked the way you put a positive spin on the situation.
Here’s some good things to consider (from my VO point of view):
There were no planes flying overhead since Reagan Nat’l was closed for a few days, cars weren’t able to travel our suburban roads because it took 4 days for the snowplow to get to us, and the bulldozers from our 2 neighboring construction sites were silent! Luckily, we never lost our electricity! When I stepped into my home studio, the recording conditions were ideal!
Today, the tree removal guys are across the street loudly sawing fallen branches and getting rid of dead wood still attached to the old pine trees. I console myself by knowing more snow is predicted to be heading our way for Monday and Tuesday this week.
By the way, I do believe I heard on the weather that you may be getting some more snow as well! Hang in there, and keep those snow shovels at the ready!
Oh, and the sound isolation of snow is great!!! I just hate when I have to tear down my studio when a hurricane threatens!
Paul J. Warwick
Had a big smile while reading, thanks Bob!