VAN - Vanpartible.com

COVER ME

“The new alumni magazine is here!  The new alumni magazine is here!” (dialogue read a la Navin Johnson in “The Jerk” )

“Doink!”

In every alumni magazine of every major university in the nation, there’s a section that highlights each graduating class and how they’re contributing to the world.  It shows who’s getting married, who’s having babies, who’s cured cancer, etc.  From my calculations, roughly 1500 students graduate from LMU every year, yet in that section of the magazine there are only about three or four (if that) alumni from every graduating class that write in to let everyone know how they’re doing.

A couple of months ago I got an email from the fine folks at Loyola Marymount University (my alma mater) to see if I was interested in writing an article for the “First Person:” portion of their alumni magazine.  The only guidelines were that the story needed to be 750 words long and it needed to be personal.  What intrigued me about their proposition was that they weren’t looking for a propaganda piece (what alumni magazines are inherently supposed to do) or fishing for compliments.  They wanted an honest POV piece from one of their alumni.

With our alumni barbecue coming up that month, it really got me thinking about my life’s journey.  It was our 20th reunion and I was bummed to find out that a lot of my friends chose to skip it this decade. (I know, right?)  For some it was because they had something happening that weekend and/or the distance was too far for them to travel.  For others, it just wasn’t their thing.  Still, I imagine if they were in a rough season of life, the marker in time could have highlighted any number of disappointments they’ve experienced since graduation. After all, we’re still coming out of a recession where jobs aren’t low hanging fruit and bankruptcy isn’t out of the question.  I know a number of people who never got married, or are divorced and raising kids on their own, or even caring for their family paycheck to paycheck.  So I thought, why not get my grief on (to put it mildly) and address that?

So I dug back into my past and pulled out a snippet of my life to share with others who were going through a tough time in their lives.  I wanted them to know that we’ve all gone through some valleys since that initial launch called graduation.  And just because I’m on the cover, the moment is still only a snippet of my life.  At the end of the day, that cover and $2.95 still only gets me a cup of coffee (or a chai latte at Starbucks).

In case you’re not an alum, I’ve reprinted the text of the article below for your reading pleasure…

Van Partible has a success story that’s almost too successful to be true: college student creates animation for senior thesis, graduates, takes a job to get by doing daycare, then becomes golden when his professor shows the idea to friend at Hanna-Barbera. Partible’s idea became the Cartoon Network’s hit “Johnny Bravo.” Imagine our surprise when, after we asked if he’d write about the experience, he said he wanted to write about failure.

As with television, I often look at my life in terms of seasons. Sometimes my life feels like an endless summer, other times a colorless winter. Regardless, each season is time-limited. Unfortunately, in real life, it’s hard to know beforehand when one season ends or another is beginning. It truly is a journey of faith.

In 1997, after graduating LMU, I sold my senior animation thesis project, called “Mess O’ Blues,” and developed it into the cartoon series “Johnny Bravo” for the Cartoon Network. It was an amazing first season, but I was taken by surprise when the company fired me amidst the Warner Brothers takeover of Turner Broadcasting. The show continued on for several more seasons, but with a completely different crew from Warner Brothers. I can only compare it to being forced to give up your baby for adoption and watching it go to parents who were making choices you didn’t agree with.

Because of the nature of the business, the next production I worked on only lasted for three years, and in 2000, I found myself on the job market again. I was still only seven years into my career, but this time, I let despair take over. After months of pounding the pavement, I was faced with the reality of a non-existent income and no job prospects on the horizon. Some hard talks ensued with my wife, and I reconciled with the fact that I needed to expand my job search outside of the entertainment industry.

After doing an inventory of my marketable skills, I focused on the fact that I could write and that I was good with people. With that as a starting point, I began applying for jobs at hotels, where I felt my people skills would be best utilized. Plus, I would meet interesting characters from all over the world and write about them. I ended up getting a front desk job at a nearby Marriott.

I was relieved to have a job again, but inside, I felt a deep sense of shame and failure. I wasn’t really prepared to go from earning a six-figure salary to minimum wage. My lowest moment came when my boss brought me into his office and told me, “Guess what? I know you’ve only been here a month, but I’m happy to say that you’ve earned yourself a twenty-five cent raise!” Then he pulled his arm back like he was working a slot machine and said, “Cha-ching!”

When faced with adversity, I often ask myself, “If I believe I’m exactly where God wants me to be, then what is He trying to teach me from this experience?”

When I was let go from “Johnny Bravo,” I felt like a victim. I was told that it had a lot to do with the fact that I lacked the managerial skills needed to handle a multi-million dollar production. I saw things differently and took the news more personally. Interestingly enough, the orientation program at the Marriott had a course in managerial training. It was there that I discovered the holes in my thinking and learned a multitude of skills that I still use today. The course was a huge confidence builder, because it illuminated the fact that my being fired had more to do with my inexperience than it had to do with my talent.

Six weeks into my hotel stint, I mustered up enough courage to schedule a pitch meeting at the Cartoon Network with the same people who had let me go.  It was a pitch for a new show idea, but the meeting was a huge risk because some awkwardness remained between us, and it still felt fresh. The pitch was one of the most difficult that I had ever made, but it was also the most rewarding because something about my presentation in that meeting led them to offer me the job of producing another season of “Johnny Bravo.”

I turned in my two weeks’ notice at the Marriott later the same day.

My current manager once told me that, in order to have a successful career in Hollywood, the No. 1 thing you need is the ability to cope with despair. It’s a tough lesson to learn because being successful means putting yourself out there and risking failure.

But even with the shame that comes with failure, I’ve gained a greater gift of competence and confidence that I could never take for granted.  The lessons I’ve learned have worked well for me in the seasons since this story, and I know that they will in the seasons to come.

FUN FACT: For those of you who didn’t see the video on the LMU Website (Spoiler Alert!) the pompadour wasn’t my real hair.  It was a wig. (wah wah wah)  My hair fashion was coiffed to perfection by stylist, Trish Gossett (it wasn’t as big as it is on the cover, as you can see from the picture above).  And in case you were wondering, the cover photo was taken by the university photographer, Jon Rou and photoshopped by DJ Stout, a major, award-winning, internationally-renowned designer in Austin, Texas.

NUMBER TWO OF FIFTY COOL THINGS

This past weekend, I put a call out to a few of my friends to see if they had any old television sets or computers lying around their house, waiting to be recycled.  Not that I was on a recycling binge, but I needed something for a particular soiree I was going to that night. Luckily, my friend, Ryan, happened to have a computer tower that he had been meaning to get rid of for a few months now…

2. THE HP PAVILION MEDIA CENTER

Now this may look like an ordinary computer tower, but it was actually my ticket to pure unadulterated aggression: The 8th Annual Titmouse Smashing Party!

What is a Smashing Party you ask?  Well, according to the invitation, “We supply the tools, you supply the items to smash.”  The event has been going on since about 2004 and I always had something going on that kept me from coming.  But this weekend was different.  This weekend I was going to see what all the hubbub was about.

Besides food trucks, live bands, and free booze, the activities included “Smashing stuff (like TV monitors, computers, pictures, vases, plates, statues, and things you hate) with one or more of the following implements: hammer, baseball bat, axe, brick, golf club, lead pipe, 2 X 4, bowling ball, and sledgehammer.”

I brought the HP Pavilion Media Center.

What you can’t see, are all the people in the bleachers sitting beside the cage and the crowd of people watching on the ground, surrounding the cage behind the yellow tape.  It was like a scene out of “Fight Club.”  People were cheering, holding up their phones, capturing the moments.  Before I went in, people were smashing old tube TV’s (they made the biggest explosions), toilets, and one guy even smashed a Teddy Ruxpin doll.  The crowd cheered like crazy with every hit (fueled by the fact that the majority of them were enebriated).

It was my first time out, so I was kind of nervous going in.  First of all, you have to gear up with hand and face protection.  I went for the safety goggles and full “Dexter’s Lab” gloves.  When you first enter, there’s a bucket filled with a number of instruments for smashing.  I bypassed the samurai sword and settled on the hybrid ax/sledgehammer.  I thought about using the bowling ball, but knew that I needed to take out more aggression.

I figured I wasn’t going to get a huge crowd of people watching me since I had a simple computer tower (no expectant crowd-pleasing explosion).  But as I walked in the cage, the founder of Titmouse, Chris Prynoski, went on his bullhorn to make an announcement to the crowd. As the crowd thickened, I waited my turn to hear what Chris had to say.  At one point during his call for people’s attention, he turned to look inside the cage and saw me.  I playfully waved over to him and, to my surprise, he yelled into the bullhorn, “Hey everybody!  Let’s watch Van Partible smash something!”

The crowd cheered and, with all eyes on me… it was on.

My years of untapped anger unleashed itself for a little under a minute until I swung my last swing and walked off, thug appeal intact.  And just so you know, it felt REALLLY COOL!   There’s something about holding an ax/sledgehammer with a crowd cheering you on that feels kind of… “demented and sad, but social.”  (Big thanks to my manger, Schuyler Evans, for capturing my inner “Rick Grimes” on camera.)  

Just so you know, it wasn’t all smashing (although, it was smashing in a Thurston Howell III kind of way).  There was also a lot of waiting. There were about a thousand people there (which you can’t really tell from my pictures) and I had to wait about an hour and a half to smash my tower.  Some people waited over two hours!  But I got to meet some really cool people in line so the time went by pretty fast.  Luckily, the party lasted from 5 to 11:oo that night so just about everybody got to smash something.  Afterwards, I got to catch up with old friends from all the different studios.  A fun run-in I had was with Maxwell Atoms (creator of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy) whose Kickstarter campaign literally ended that morning!  He is now in the process of creating a new web series about a reimagined puppet apocalypse called “Dead Meat!”  Definite cause for celebration!

So now I’m looking forward to next year when I plan on bringing a tube TV.  Maybe then I’ll use the bowling ball.  But only for starters.  I really liked the feeling of using the ax/sledgehammer.

 I need to go watch some “Leave It To Beaver” now.

NUMBER ONE OF FIFTY COOL THINGS

Since 1995, I’ve been teaching an animation class off and on at Loyola Marymount University.  And whether I teach beginning animation or character design, the thing I always stress is character.  Sure, there are tons of amazing artists out there, but it takes a lot more than great technical skills to create a character that can make an audience “feel.”  So (transition to blog topic), since I’m constantly trying to help students find ways to flesh out seemingly ordinary characters, I thought, why not do the same with this blog?  Why not write about seemingly ordinary objects that have special significance to my career in animation?  Thus began my excavation through the “boxes of stuff” that have survived my countless office moves from studio to studio.  (The experience was fun, but it made me feel like I was on an episode of “Hoarders!”)

After purging myself of worthless giveaways and Post-Its with names and numbers of people who were significant to me at some point in my life, I settled on fifty items (a nice round number).  So fifty it is, and fifty it shall be!  In the next few months I will be posting, in no particular order, fifty random items from my years in the animation industry that have a story behind them.  I may swap out new items for old ones as I move forward (after all, my years in the animation industry are still going!) but I’ll still keep it at fifty.  So, without further adieu…

1. MY AUTOGRAPHED FARRAH FAWCETT SHAMPOO BOTTLE

Like most kids who grew up in the 70′s, I had a huge crush on Farrah Fawcett.  But as much as I was crushing on her, I didn’t feel the need to use her shampoo to make my hair feel soft and bouncy.  (Filipinos don’t do soft and bouncy.)  I actually bought this after it was discontinued.  The funny thing is, I didn’t spend hundreds of dollars at some collector’s show for it.  I actually found the bottle on a shelf at a neighborhood San Francisco drugstore in the 90′s! (I’m guessing that restocking wasn’t one of their strong points.)

The bottle usually sits on my shelf at work, nestled in between all the happy meal toys and photo frames.  As far as the autograph goes, it wasn’t me who got it from her.  My friend, Robert Ramirez, actually directed her on “The Brave Little Toaster Goes To Mars” and had her sign it for me.  On the bottle, she wrote, “Van, I have another one for you.  Love, Farrah Fawcett.  1995.”  I was like, “What does that mean?”  Robert told me that, at the time, I guess she was thinking about releasing a new line of hair care products.  If you Google it, I’m sure you’ll find that that never happened, but it’s fun to think that it was in the works.

Anyways, knowing that she was willing to voice a cartoon, it dawned on me: working with Farrah Fawcett was an attainable goal!  After writing her a nice letter and sending her a tailor made script, we ended up working with both Farrah and her son Redmond on the episode, “Johnny Bravo Meets Farrah Fawcett.”  In the episode, Farrah shows up at her cousin Suzy’s birthday party to work the kissing booth.  The whole afternoon was a whirlwind, but one of the things I remember her saying was, it was the script that really convinced her to do the part (Thank you Michael Ryan!).  After she got into the studio, everything went so well, that I got her to pose for a “Charlie’s Angels” picture with us!

From left: John McIntyre (director), Michael Ryan (writer), Farrah Fawcett (Jill Monroe), & me

For this photo, she positioned her fingers like a gun, held her arm out straight with her palm facing down, and said, “I’ve always wanted to hold a gun like this.”  Apparently it made you look more tough.  As you can see from the photo, she was the only one that held her gun that way.  And she looked the toughest.  (I also notice that it was a big sweater day.)  She capped off our time together by autographing one of my Charlie’s Angels photos…

Thus ended my afternoon with Farrah Fawcett.

FUN FACT: Farrah’s assistant videotaped segments of the session to use for her upcoming special, “All Of Me,” where she showcased her painting talents.  I never saw it, but I hear that none of the footage from our recording session made it into the special.

C THREE THE CONFERENCE FOR CREATIVE CONTENT

I got an email recently from the folks over at Visual Communications, reminding me about the upcoming C3 Conference for Creative Content on October 26th.  You can imagine my surprise when this photo was the lead picture on their webpage:

That’s me (or at least a sliver of me) to the left of uber-talented artist/creator, Lela Lee!  Total fun!  It’s as if I photobombed the picture!  (Rather grimly, but I got in the shot!)

Last year, I took part in the conference and spoke at the panel, “It’s Alive!  Creating For Animation!”  It was a really fun panel and was held over at the WGA in Los Angeles.  Moderated by animation professor Tom Sito, the panel included writers John August (Big Fish, Frankenweenie), Cherry Chevapravatdumrong (Family Guy), Johnny Hartmann (The Reef 2), Lela Lee (Angry Little Asian Girls), and me.  If you’re at all interested in seeing what happened on that fine sunny day in October, I just discovered that they posted the entire panel on Youtube:

FUN FACT: A few months ago, I went to the premiere of “Linsanity” at the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival, and right before the movie started, they showed a package promotional film promoting the festival. During the montage of events, there was a split second clip of this panel.  So there I was, disoriented because I was late to the screening, sitting in the second row, and BAM!  My face was smack-dab on the screen, just about as big as the real-life me!  But it was only for a split second.  Just long enough for me to give out a little “Whoo-hoo!”

I haven’t watched the entire panel on Youtube (just the parts where I talked, to see if I said anything awkward) but I remember it being fun and informative.  And you can’t go wrong listening to John August! Anyhow, the teacher in me wanted to share this with you because I thought that everyone on the panel had something great to contribute.  I also believe that the audience in attendance was able to leave, at the very least, with at least one, if not several, inspirational nuggets (not physical ones, although, that would have been a cool takeaway gift if they had).

So, until next time, enjoy!

CHINESE DELEGATES

According to the recent “Spotlight On China” study by Ernst and Young, China is expected to be the world’s largest movie market by 2020 (Who’d have thunk?).

But what about Chinese television?

According to my talk with some Chinese delegates yesterday, TV is for children and housewives (they said frankly and honestly).  In China, the most popular TV programs are reality shows with their versions of “American Idol” and “The Bachelor.”  As for the men, it turns out that they don’t watch regular Chinese television, but instead watch American TV shows like ”Game Of Thrones” on the internet.

According to these students.

This past week, voice actor and director, Charlie Adler, and I had the pleasure of speaking to a number of animation students and professors from The Beijing Film Academy at Loyola Marymount University.  With the help of our two student interpreters, Ming and Edwin from LMU, we talked to them about the creative processes we go through in order to produce animation here in America.

Lucky for me, Charlie was the first to go.  I say, lucky for me because I was able to adjust my talk by watching how he interacted with the students.  It was a lot like pulling teeth at first because they didn’t want to talk or engage with Charlie (they later said it was because they were scared of him!), but they soon warmed up to his speaking style.  For those of you who know or have seen Charlie perform, he is a whirlwind of energy: fast, loud, and brazen.  But in this forum, he had to pull things back a bit, be careful with the words he used, and really focus his talk for a non-English speaking audience in a way that was non-threatening and inviting.  By the end of his talk, the students said that he was, by far, their most favorite speaker.

As a treat to the audience, Charlie brought up two LMU students, Alex and Edwin, to help him do a dramatic script reading of “Who is Supercow?” an episode from “Cow And Chicken.”  As many of you know, Charlie did the voice for all three main characters (Cow, Chicken, and the Red Guy) so it was entertaining (and mind-bending) to watch Charlie go back and forth between characters.

My three hour slot (which became three and a half hours) came two days later.  As I began, I learned that they understood more English than I thought when I said a joke and they laughed before my translators had time to translate what I said.

Random things I learned:  They like superheroes like we do, but find it difficult creating their own.  Being an artist doing animation in China is like working in a factory where it’s more about productivity than it is about artistic integrity.  They also told me that their programming is the result of a governmental push to make their shows educational.

The topic I was asked to share about was regarding my experience in the animation industry, both domestically and overseas.  What grew out of that talk was a fun conversation about the similarities and differences between our cultures and pop cultures.

The big takeaway that I’d like to share in this post:  Don’t just talk to talk.  Talk and share ideas as often as you can.  Especially with people you ‘re afraid won’t understand you.  Because, once you begin the dialogue, you may discover that you have more in common than you thought.

Finally, Chinese food isn’t just Sweet & Sour Pork and Orange Chicken.

SCRIPTNOTES CELEBRATION

I heart Scriptnotes.

The Scriptnotes Podcast hosted by John August (Big Fish, Frankenweenie) and Craig Mazin (The Hangover II & III, Identity Thief) just celebrated their 100th episode with a live podcast at the Academy’s Lab on Vine in Hollywood, CA.  Big thanks to their mysterious assistant, Stuart Friedel, who scored me a seat for the show after it sold out within minutes!  (For those of you who frequently listen to the podcast, I’m happy to say that he really does exist and is as nice as nice can be.)

I first met John in 2012 when I participated in a panel with him at the Writers Guild Of America.  After an informative talk, I invited him to come speak about his experiences in animation with the character design class I teach every so often at Loyola Marymount University.  In preparation, I decided to binge listen to seven of the latest episodes of Scriptnotes (which you can download on iTunes) to familiarize myself with his work.  It didn’t take long before I was hooked.

For those of you who haven’t heard of this podcast, John August begins each show (in his family-friendly tenor voice) by saying, “Hello! And welcome.”  From there, we hear “My name is Craig Mazin.” Much like the beginning of The Simpsons where there is a different couch gag every week, Craig finds a creative way to say (or sing) his introduction. Finally, John finshes his introductions by saying, “And this is Scriptnotes.  A podcast about screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters.”

From there, it’s an enjoyable hour, hour and a half, of screenwriting musings and umbrage from the front line.  To give you an idea about the show, they often do a three page challenge where aspiring screenwriters can send in the first three pages of their screenplay to be professionally and kindly (at least by John) critiqued.  They recently started adding guests and interviewing other screenwriters like Derek Haas (Wanted; 3:10 To Yuma) and Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada, 27 Dresses).  They even went so far as to interview a psychotherapist for screenwriters!  My most favorite episodes were where they devoted their entire podcast to critique the screenplays for Raiders of The Lost Ark and The Little Mermaid.

For any aspiring or working screenwriter, the podcast is an invaluable tool that not only helps you stay up to date on the latest news that affects the screenwriting profession, it is also a master class in the art of screenwriting.

At the end of every podcast, the two break things up by introducing their audiences to “one cool thing” that doesn’t necessarily relate to screenwriting, but is something that they’d like to share.  In that vein, my “one cool thing” this past week was the San Diego Comic Con.  I wrote about the annual event in a previous blog entry, but at this one, I learned how not to approach a zombie…

Until next time…

HANNA BARBERA ART SHOW

If you love Hanna Barbera (and who doesn’t?), then make sure you stop by the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks, CA sometime between now and April 20th, 2013 to see all the fun art inspired by the studio that brought you the Catanooga Cats and Capitol Critters (amongst other things, natch)!

Here’s a piece that’s near and dear to my heart…

It’s entitled “Sphere Of Influence” and is a collage I created, consisting of every TV show and movie personality that went into developing Johnny Bravo!  I dug into all my old books and magazines and am pretty happy with the final product.  It’s 17″ X 14″ and is framed as you can see in the picture below from the art show…

In case you weren’t able to make the opening reception…

I thought that I would post a few of my favorite works from the show…

“Wonder Twin Powers Activate!
Form of…a Puddle of Water”
by Nicole Aguilar-Copp
Hand Sewn Felt and Fabric
Jayna 32″ Tall / Zan 15″ Tall

“Tribute”
By Don Jurwich
Ink On Paper
24″ X 18″

“Astro’s Moonwalk”
Dan Szezepanski
Mixed Medium

“Touche’ Away!”
Carol Powell
Mixed Medium Textile

It was a really great evening with folks like June Foray and Janet Waldo showing up alongside all the other old-time employees like Carlton Clay and David Kirschner and artists like Willie Ito and Jerry Eisenberg.  Sadly, the balloon sculptures from the show were only there for the evening.  But I got a picture…

So catch ‘em while you can!  Scooby Dooby Dooooooo!

JOHNNY BRAVO ON NETFLIX!

If March 30th were your birthday, and you secretly wished for Johnny Bravo to be available on streaming Netflix, then I’m here to tell you that your wish has come true! (Just in case you haven’t been accessing your streaming Netflix account.)

All thirteen episodes from season one are now available for your downloading pleasure!

I just went to my account and saw that they put Johnny on the top row of choices when you select > Just For Kids > Characters.  And “Wallah!”  Right between “Horseland” and “Strawberry Shortcake!” How cool is that?

Pretty cool says I!

But if you really want to feel like you’re living in the 90′s, then I suggest you put on your favorite flannel, your baggiest pair of carpenter jeans, and order yourself a stuffed crust pizza while you cap off your Johnny watching with a marathon viewing of… 

Also available on streaming Netflix.  Enjoy!

VOICEOVER AUDITIONS

The Other Side of the Recording Booth at Cartoon Network Studios.  From left, Dee Bradley Baker, Collette Sunderman, Kris Zimmerman, Robert Serda, 2001

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  (I hope you can tell by the all caps font that I say those words joyfully and emphatically.)

I wanted to start off the new year with a new post.  Something useful to the reader.  But since every person has different interests, and you can’t please everyone, I’m devoting this post to the up-and-coming voice actors in the house.  So if you’re an up-and-coming voice actor AND you’re a reader, then today is your lucky day!

The fact is, it’s almost impossible to tell what a person looks like by the sound of their voice.  I remember doing a USO visit and a woman yelled out, “What?  Who are you?”  I explained to her that I was the creator of Johnny Bravo and she said, “Oh no you’re not.  Now just turn around and tell the REAL creator he can come on in!”  We playfully went back and forth, but she was convinced that I was supposed to look and sound like Johnny.  She liked my impression of him, but I couldn’t help but feel that I disappointed her by not being tall, blonde, and buffed.

If you’re an actor who wants to get into voice acting, it’s not enough to be the guy/girl in your circle of friends who does funny voices.  So you do a great William Shatner?  The truth of the matter is, the producers are probably going to hire the real Shatner over you.  There’s so much more that an actor needs to have in his/her arsenal if he/she wants to stand out amongst the regular professionals who do this full-time and are constantly honing their craft.  When we’re auditioning actors, we listen to hundreds of voices.  We know after only a few seconds whether or not an actor has the chops to handle a character for multiple episodes.  So what does an actor need to do to stand out amongst the other hungry actors?  Well, that’s a whole other master class in and of itself.  But here’s my two cents…

I just finished teaching a character design course at Loyola Marymount University, and part of the course was a field trip to the Walt Disney TV Animation Studios.  While we were there, we met with the wonderful (and I’m not just using that adjective because it’s synonymous with the World of Disney) Dave Wright, the Executive Director and Head of Casting for Disney Television Animation.  He meticulously walked my students through the casting process from voice auditions to recording.  While showing the students how to audition and direct, he did an excellent job of articulating how painstakingly hard it is to be an actor in the field of voice work.

Much to Dave’s credit, he was able to recreate the feel during a voiceover recording so the students could take what they’ve learned in the classroom and see how it compares to what folks are doing on a professional level.  Needless to say, it was a priceless piece of the educational pie.  Many DVD’s have extras that show you what it’s like in the sound booth, but nothing compares to listening to the mistakes, the retakes, and the decisions that actors and directors make in the thick of things.

It’s an absolute skill to be able to come in cold and read a page of sides and really nail the character.  I feel for each and every actor going into the booth, thinking that they have a shot at impressing the producers and directors.  Unfortunately, 9 times out of 10 they’re totally off.   Which is good news to some actors and bad news for others.  The thing that actors need to know is that they are coming in to solve the producer’s problem.  And believe you me, we REALLY want every person that walks through the casting door to succeed.  What we want is someone to match or exceed the expectations that we’ve already put down to paper.  Unfortunately, the agents think that just because a person looks the part, they obviously should be able to act the part.

At auditions, I usually sit to the side and stare at a drawing to really see if the actor’s voice has merit and matches the character.  Often, a person comes in who looks the part, but after hearing them, I can tell that they’re anything but.  One time, a guy came in who had some really odd beats of silence, which made me curious as to what was going on in the booth.  Sure enough, he was acting and getting into character amidst those beats of silence.  I watched as he made faces and contorted his body to embody the character, but then when I turned away, his voice came out flat and dry.

The saddest part for me is when veteran actors come in deflated.  I can recall one particular instance when a really talented guy (I’m sure if I said his name you could name a number of roles he’s played over the past few decades) entered already thinking he wasn’t going to get the part.  I’d been in the booth with him before and he was always fun and witty, but this time he lacked any kind of life in his reading (at least any kind I was used to).  In the end, he was better than most, but not quite what we were looking for.  But it made me think, how many auditions does he do every week?  And out of those auditions, how many gigs does he actually get?

I’m guessing that most actors get passed on more than they get booked.  There are a select few that are constantly working, but for the most part, many of these “voice actors” end up falling by the waste side.  And I don’t blame them.  I would have a hard time going to audition after audition, being judged and berated, with the hopes that I might book a gig.  I would go mad.

Hopefully you’re not left thinking, “Why is Van posting such a downer at the start of the new year?”

Well, there’s some good news that goes along with this. (Thank you, Van!)

There are a lucky few that make the cut.  There’s always someone new that breaks through all the mucky muck that holds others back.

The other side of the recording booth at Hanna Barbera.  From left: Kara Vallow, Ed Collins, Bodie Chandler, Maureen McCormick, 1997

Basically, what I want to say in this new year is, keep trying.  Keep working on your craft, hone your skills, and study.  Take classes.  Do regional work and make your mistakes where it’s not on a national or international stage.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  Honestly, if you really want to hear stories from the trenches, (mind you, this is not a paid plug, but he’s a good friend) I would listen to Rob Paulsen’s Talkin’ Toons podcast.  You can get all the episodes on iTunes.  It really goes into detail about voice acting and directing.

I hope to see y’all and work with you in the booth someday.  Good luck!

CN TWENTY

“What’s so special about October 1^st?”

It’s the 275^th day of the year (except on leap year).

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, actress Julie Andrews, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court William Rehnquist were all born on this day.

In 1962, Johnny Carson hosted his 1st Tonight Show.

In 1972, nothing really happened. It fell on a Sunday.

In 1982, EPCOT Center opened in Orlando, Florida.

In 1992, The Cartoon Network premiered on basic cable! (as if that weren’t the point of this post.)

If only Jimmy Carter, Julie Andrews, and William Rehnquist had formed a supergroup to combat the forces of evil, the world would be a better place today.  Sadly, the three never crossed paths simultaneously.

Above is a picture of Ted Turner at the launch of the network 20 years ago today.  I like how he wore sunglasses that were tinted the same color as Fred Flintstone’s garb.  Coincidence?  I wouldn’t put it past him.