The VO Meter Episode 44, Debbe Hirata
[00:00:00] Female announcer: The VO meter, measuring your voiceover progress. The vom meter is brought to you by voice actor websites. vocal booth to go. Podcast, demos.com global voice acting Academy, J M C demos and IPDTL and now your hosts. Paul Stefano and Sean
Sean Daeley: Daeley
hi everybody, and welcome to episode 44 of the VO meter.
Paul Stefano: Measuring your voiceover progress
Sean Daeley: this time we were very excited to have Debbie Hirata an actual local talent for me. She’s a Seattle based voice talent who’s got over three decades of experience in all genres of voiceover. I met her at a recent documentary narration workshop in Seattle, led by Pat Fraley, and we kind of took turns receiving instruction from the two of them and she was just amazing.
So I’m really excited to be able to share our [00:01:00] interview with you guys in just a few minutes.
Paul Stefano: Yeah, it was the one time you thought you were going to have the only connection to the guest and, uh, I still manage a weasel, a one in there. Anya, I apologize.
Sean Daeley: I haven’t, bacon rears its ugly head once again.
Paul Stefano: So we’ll have that fabulous interview with Debbie in a few minutes, but first a word from one of our sponsors, this sign from IP DTL, who’s actually powering the shell right now, we’re recording with IB TTL.
If you don’t know what IP DTL is, it’s the cost effective ISD and replacement. It’s great for interviews, outside broadcasts, and of course voiceover. There’s no special hardware or software required. It works anywhere with an internet connection. There’s monthly or annual subscription plans, and it runs in the Chrome web browser, and the best part is it just works.
So thanks again to IP DTL for sponsoring the shell. Once again, we’re pleased to bring you the interview with Debbie Hirata. Bri, after we get to our.
Debbie Hirata: Voiceover extra brings you the VO meter reference levels. [00:02:00] Seriously, guys, that’s the best you could come up with. Hey, it’s your show.
Paul Stefano: All right, so Sean, what’s happening in your VO?
NAPE of the neck, neck of the woods,
Sean Daeley: Naples, the woods, but Paul, it’s only our first date.
Paul Stefano: Only that were true.
Sean Daeley: I know. Going on, going on strong for what, four years now? Um, anyways, a lot of stuff is going on in my VO world this month, and October is usually a pretty busy time of year for me because of the Halloween season.
And my girlfriend and her family are really fanatic about it, so they always have like a big Halloween party at the end of the month and they decorate their house more than anyone I’ve seen. It’s their Christmas. Totally. But anyways, so lots of VO stuff. It’s been going on. Um, I just finished my, my monthly e-learning projects.
I had been doing a lot of cool new auditions. So thank you to all of my agents and, and course Arman here. Stead are over at Bodalgo. Got a lot of [00:03:00] fun auditions and projects from them and got some exciting audio book, uh, auditions that I’m hoping that I get. And other than that, I just recorded a, an e-learning demo with one of our sponsors, actually the, the awesome JMC Jay, Michael Collins of J Michael or James.
Paul Stefano: Congratulations.
Sean Daeley: Thank you. Thank you. We were. It went really well. He was a pleasure to work with. Uh, I coached with him before once, like three years ago when I first learned about him, let’s just say I am much improved as far as skill ability goes that he was, he was really impressed and we were, we worked on like five or six scripts and we are in and out and like.
20 minutes. So, um, that scare you.
Paul Stefano: I, I had the similar experience where we are done quickly and he attributed that to my, uh, professionalism, which I highly doubted. So I’m wondering if that experience is common. Did you feel like you were, or were you worried afterwards thinking, wow, that was too fast?
Sean Daeley: Well, not in my case, yours who’s probably blowing smoke, [00:04:00] but
no, but I mean, I mean, to be fair, e-learning is kind of my bailiwick and my bread and butter. So I was expecting something like that to go well. But I mean, he was great and like we got three strong reads of every script, so I’m really happy about it and I’m really excited to see what he comes up with. It should take about a month to, to finish producing.
He said.
Paul Stefano: Yeah, I was, uh, also, please, really please with what we came up with. Actually, I submitted it for Sovos, didn’t get selected, but I was really happy with the way it came out. And even despite that, the worries I was talking about, it’s, I think it’s just a Testament to the prep work that he and his team do because he really makes sure you’re ready before you do the demo.
And that’s the way it probably should be. It should be quick once you’re prepared.
Sean Daeley: Absolutely. Yeah. And it should be a fun, relaxing experience. Right. And I mean, like throughout and even posted about it on Facebook, he’s like, man, you just, you make it look easy. And it was like, Oh shucks. And that kind of positive reinforcement [00:05:00] does help you try and keep continuing to give your best stuff.
So thank you again, Jay. Michael, it was a pleasure working with you and I’m really excited to see what, uh, you and your team come up with.
Multiple announcer: Walgreens because it’s flu season.
You live in a place with
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They don’t always tell you everything the stars take until the red carpet. We are back live from the red. Crockett, California leads the way for change in America and sodas. Kamala Harris rated M for mature Claire Redfield. And who exactly are you. Yeah. What hashtag should I use to describe a grown man in a tuxedo wrestling a goat, and prior to 1933 many of them belong to a variety of political parties that were now outlawed in Germany.
This is the story of how Q got curly. Queen was crazy about curls, curly fries, curly straws, curly here. Doug. Hey, Jay. Michael
[00:06:00] here.
Thanks for listening to the VO meter podcast. It’s one of my favorites. If you’re looking for a great demo like the ones we just heard, check out JMC demos.com for more information.
Paul Stefano: Cool. Anything else going on?
Sean Daeley: I’m also working towards a new commercial demo with, um, with another friend of the podcast, Terry Daniel. We’ve worked together. He was actually one of my first coaches and then a long time ago, I purchased the demo credit from him before I left Japan. And then. Life got in the way.
And then I was just busy and my schedule wasn’t allowing it for a very long time. And then I went through an emotional crisis where I was like, I don’t know if I need a new Tebow yet. But anyways, so we, uh, so we’re working together and hopefully get that recorded by, uh, sometime in the next couple of weeks.
And then I’m actually working towards some, uh, some character demos, a video game and animation demo through GVA. So, uh, cause that’s kind of what we’re known for. And. I’ve done David Rosenthal’s, uh, creating characters for your demo class, which is a really [00:07:00] unique way to kind of take ownership of the characters you create because your.
Like it’s all coming from your head, like you’re either writing or adapting scripts that you found, and you’re really creating this sort of in depth connection with these characters because like it says on the tin, you’re creating them. They’re your characters, right? These aren’t impressions or references or whatever.
These are things that you can pull out for your own work, and it’s on your demo, so it’s on your calling card as needed.
Paul Stefano: That’s very cool.
Sean Daeley: Other than that, I’ve just been kind of trying to buckle down and try and improve my craft, whether it be practicing, working with coaches, kind of making my studio setup more efficient and improving my workflow.
I’ve experimenting with different monitors setups. Trying to get like true punch and roll inside the booth, and I’ve been really happy with this little device called the Luna display. It’s like a little dongle that you can plug into either like a USBC or a Thunderbolt port on your Mac. [00:08:00] Sorry, it’s only Mac only, but it works really well.
And, uh, and then it allows you to connect to your iPad over either the lightening connector or the, or the wifi connection. And they keep making updates and improvements on that. And it’s just been getting, because they had some early connection issues and stuff like that, but the performance has been getting better every time.
And now it’s so smooth and easy. It’s so great being able to look at my script and have TwistedWave open on my iPad on an older iPad even. And then. Just have that kind of control. I know it’s going to save me hours of editing out, like getting in and out of the booth and all sorts of sounds and takes that I don’t want in my audio.
So as you can see, I’m just kind of trying to reinforce the different foundations of my VO
Paul Stefano: business. Yeah. I know you mentioned you’re doing more audio book auditions when you do those. Punch and roll is really a lifesaver. I resisted for a long time because I’m just stubborn as a, as an ox, but once I [00:09:00] did a whole book with punch and roll and realize that once you finish, you’re more or less done.
Going back, aside from going back and taking out extraneous spacing and breaths, it’s such a lifesaver. .
Sean Daeley: Yeah. I mean, you still have to like, uh, depending on how facile you are with it, you might still have to adjust like pausing and stuff like that, but compared to the amount of work you would be doing otherwise with multiple takes and editing out mistakes and things like that, it’s just, Oh man.
I highly recommend it. And I know it can be difficult for people starting out to, to a, understand what PNR or punching role is and why you might benefit from it. And it does have a bit of a steep learning curve. But if you have, if you ha, if you’re working with like, say an instructor, like some of our friends of the podcast, like George Widom or, um.
Or Don Barnes, people like those who know how to do that and can kind of hold your hand through the process. It’s really worth the investment in [00:10:00] time and like you’re just going to save yourself so much time with in the recording and editing process.
Paul Stefano: Absolutely.
Sean Daeley: Cool. Well, that’s pretty much end of my reference rant.
What about you, Paul?
Paul Stefano: I have a few things going on, but, um, before I get to that, let’s talk about another one of our sponsors. So VOCA booth, the girl has been actually, they’re our first sponsor of the show, and they’ve been with us for several years now. Vocal booth to go patented acoustic blankets aren’t effective.
Alternative to expensive soundproofing. It’s often used by vocal and voiceover professionals, engineers and studios. As an affordable soundproofing and absorption solution. We make your environment quieter for less. Thanks again to Jeff Steven, their marketing director at vocables to go big fans of their products.
So things going on in my world. A first, I’ve been working on a lot of audio books. Um, we were talking offline about overbooking and I did it again. I’m working now feverously on a book that was due in July, and I’m a little ashamed to say, but it’s a royalty share book that I talked to the rights [00:11:00] holder about, and we had the deal done back and I guess it was may and I snap time.
I have too many. Paid per finished hour, books to work on. And I told them this, that I’d get to it when I could, but now it’s getting a little ridiculous. And at one point, I actually did reach out to them back in September and said, I’m still not done. Um, do you still want me to do this? If not, I’d completely understand.
Please find somebody else. And they said, no, we, we like, we’re, we’re really happy with your performance so far. Just keep going. So that’s what I’m doing and I’m hoping to finish it in the next week. And. Finally be done with it. So I apologize to the rights holder of death in Shangri-La. It will be done presently.
Sean Daeley: Well, that’s great. I mean, we can, I know we talked about it off the podcast, but I see no reason not to mention like sometimes despite our best intentions and things like that, and especially as you’re learning how long some of these projects can take, sometimes despite our best efforts, we fall behind.
And fortunately it’s not. The end of the world, and as long as you go about it [00:12:00] responsibly, if you communicate with the client, let them know that you’re having sort of roadblocks and obstacles and stuff like that, or make other arrangements, right? Maybe you just kind of, you, you re extend the deadline or like you could offer them at like a lightness discount if it’s that bad as a last resort, things like that to kind of preserve the relationship because right.
The goal is to have a continuing relationship rather than just a series of one off projects, right? So these are all things that you can do to kind of preserve that when things don’t work out in your best interest or in your favor.
Paul Stefano: Yeah, totally makes sense. Because very rarely are projects a one off. In fact, this book even has a SQL that’s coming out in, well at the end of October, so it should be out soon in written form, and then they’ll probably want to do another audio book and most likely, not with me, but you never know because like you said, I have been up front and, and above board rebutting is going on.
So we’ll see. So that’s one thing I’m working on. Then [00:13:00] also as part of the, um. Stephano empire of voice actors. My, my daughter, uh, recently did a job, got it, sad credit, and is now SAG-AFTRA eligible for, um, for joining the union if she wants for a job. She did for a commercial in Chicago and she, um, she got Taft-Hartley so she’s not a must join with the union yet, but really excited for her to, to get this, this job through an agent.
Thank you to Santee talent.
Sean Daeley: That’s amazing. Well, congratulations to your daughter.
Paul Stefano: Thank you very much. And then finally, uh, exciting. More exciting news for me. Just this week, I had the first drive by in a while to my website, and for those who don’t know, what that means is when someone sees your website, either doing a search on Google or because they somehow saw your actual URL somewhere, maybe a Facebook group or an Instagram post or a LinkedIn post, and they called me last night on the phone, which was shocking because I very rarely answered the phone.
I don’t recognize a number. I saw it was a Florida area code, and. [00:14:00] Also even more sort of even more synchronistic or serendipitous. I had been getting calls all day about my social security number being suspended, which we all know is this phishing scam. Just complete garbage. But I had four calls yesterday with either computer generated voice or.
Uh, a voicemail saying, uh, your social security number has been suspended. Please call this number for our fraud division. So I was really been more hesitant to answer the phone, but for some reason, I picked it up last night and it was this production company in, in Miami, Florida, and said, we want to hire you for a series of auto commercials.
And I said. Awesome. Let’s do it. So I did that last night, the first spot. And um, so I do believe that was the first drive by hit from my website for a TV commercial and it’s all due to the efforts with Joe Davis and Karen Barth over@voiceactorwebsites.com another find sponsor this show and all they’ve done to help my website and SEO get pushed up to the top of some of those search terms or voiceover.
So I really appreciate their work. They’d done again over@boysectorwebsites.com.
[00:15:00] Sean Daeley: Yeah. Joe and Karen and the rest of the voice actor websites team are so wonderful. I got to talk with them a lot at a, at vio North in September, actually. And, uh, and Joe was saying, how proud of you he was, Paul, because he got to see you, uh, do your presentation at vocation.
Paul Stefano: Yeah. And I know he was there, but I’m surprised he was
Sean Daeley: yo. Yeah. Yeah. He was just like, he was just like, Oh, how far you’ve come. And he was out of view. I’ll definitely be reaching out to Joe and Karen in the coming months because like I said, I’ve got a lot of new demos. Some of you guys who follow the podcast long enough know that the original people who made my website artists upgrade, went out of business a while ago.
And I’ve. I’m still trying to kind of like maintain full control over my website. So I think it’s about time to kind of blow the old building up and then start a new. So, uh, so Joe and Karen, don’t be surprised if I reach out to you soon.
Paul Stefano: Awesome. So that’s really all that’s going on in my ideal world. We do want to get to our fabulous interview with Debbie Hurghada in just a [00:16:00] minute after these words from podcast demos.com.
Sean Daeley: Let me tell you about Tim and his team over at podcast demos. Tim’s team has produced over 1000 podcast intros for some of the biggest podcasts on the planet. Each demo includes custom written scripts and hand-selected music, and it’s guaranteed to showcase your voice and talent in the best light possible.
With a finger on the pulse of what prod cast producers want. You can be sure your podcast demo will sound professional, current, and competitive. Now, we talked about this a lot, but Tim actually produced Paul’s and my podcast demos, and all we can say is that he and his team were absolutely amazing. His script writer created original scripts, perfect for my voice and personality as well as reflective of current popular podcast.
Sean Rez. I recorded in the comfort of my own home studio and Tim worked his mastering magic. The whole process only took a couple of days and I couldn’t be more pleased with the result. Tim is a consummate pro and so easy to work with, so thank you, Tim and podcast demos.
[00:17:00] Paul Stefano: So enough of us a babbling. Well, we’re going to get to the meat of the program, our interview with being one and only Debbie here at, uh, enjoy.
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fun.
Sean Daeley: Hey everybody, thanks for joining us in our interview portion of the VO meter podcast.
Our guest today is an award winning voice actor of national distinction. Her fresh contemporary range gives voice to fortune 500 ads with as much verb as it delivers for arts and entertainment content. Her acute awareness of storytelling enhances the creative process as she follows the lead of the director to create dynamic voiceover performances that bring words and images to life.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is our pleasure to welcome the incredible Debbie Hurghada. How are you doing, Debbie?
Debbie Hirata: Thank you, Sean. I’m doing great. What a fantastic introduction. Thank you.
Sean Daeley: You’re very welcome. Our pleasure.
Paul Stefano: We are so excited to have you. I can’t, Sean’s been talking about this for a long time actually, and I know he’s like a kid in a candy store right now, so we appreciate you taking the time.
Debbie Hirata: Yeah, I [00:19:00] mean, I’m, I’m, I’m really honored that you asked me to be here and I’m looking forward to all your questions
Sean Daeley: will. Absolutely. And for in case some of our viewers don’t know. I actually met Debbie doing a documentary narration workshop led by friend of the podcast, Pat Fraley. So I was just so.
Charmed by your, by your, just your gentle directing style. I just knew we had to have you a guest at some point.
Debbie Hirata: Wow. That really means a lot to me that that was one of the best sessions, training sessions and that particular group that day. It was really quite a remarkable thing.
Sean Daeley: With the bell curve, you know?
Debbie Hirata: Yeah, no, I mean, it really was. And I came in not knowing, you know, because Pat, I was honored that Pat invited me and I’ve, I’ve done things like that with him before. Pat Fraley, who’s an absolutely awesome friend and even more spectacular talent. We’re so gifted [00:20:00] with him in our community, but, um, I wasn’t really sure how to approach it.
Because I didn’t know how much he was gonna have gone over with you guys or where I would be the most valuable. And I say this because I, that’s how I approach voiceover too. A lot of times I don’t exactly know what angle I’m going to take it at and I trust my intuition. And, uh, but you know, you have to have a lot of experience to do that.
And it really, it worked out. And so my, that time I didn’t have my without, you’re
Sean Daeley: right.
Debbie Hirata: You caught me on a good day.
Sean Daeley: Well, we our own worst critics. Right. So
Paul Stefano: you talked about your experience, and if we could go back in time a little bit, can you tell us a little bit about how you got started as a voice
Debbie Hirata: actor?
Yeah. I wonder, you know, like it’s been, I’ve been in this business way over 40 deck. Oh, for decades, not 40. [00:21:00] Yes. I’m in look
Sean Daeley: incredible for 4,000.
Debbie Hirata: Oh, I’m a thousand years old. Um, no, but I, I’ve been in it for decades. So I’ll wait over 40 years. That’s a long time. And even I myself don’t understand really that length of time.
The industry I can say has changed so much. So do people generally. Wake up. I mean, there are those people that wake up in the morning or even when they’re two or three and they go, maybe they’re not saying it too, but they go, I was performing it too. I was, I knew this is what I wanted to do. By the time I was three.
Well, that didn’t happen in my case. I grew up in a real small town, port Angeles, Washington, and was raised by a single mom who was incredibly creative, intuitive, and um, she herself really had [00:22:00] strong acting capability and had done high school theater but didn’t go, didn’t take it, you know, she just did that for fun.
You weren’t, you really back in those days, you weren’t thinking of a huge career. So. I thought I was going to major in home economics because being in a small town that was basically about the most creative class that I had, that I liked the most, and I was accepted at Washington state university. And then somewhere in between I, a recruiter from Gonzaga university was visiting a friend of mine and took an interest in me and.
He really recruited me to the school and I got accepted there right after Washington state with a full ride my first year. So I’m, it said of the school newspaper that I was going to. Go to Gonzaga university and major in home-ec, and people said, do you know their priests? There’s Jesuits there. They don’t, Tito, [00:23:00] Tito Mac.
I said, Oh God, okay, help me God. So that’s what happened. They did have a communications department and that was something I liked a lot. I liked communicating with people, talking to people, but back then, that was 1970. In that school, small school in Spokane. It was mostly theory, and so it was like, you know, corporate communications, how you can further productivity and accompany by effective communication and reaching goals and that kind of thing.
So my advisor, at some point, there came a time he had me on and he goes, you know, we’re going to have our very first internship. This was in 1973 and it was at the local NBC affiliate. And he said, I think he’d be a really good candidate for that. And I go, well, I don’t have an interest in being on television or radio.
I [00:24:00] do think I should do it. And he goes, well, you don’t have to do it. It would just expose you to it. And so I, and I trusted him. So I applied and I was accepted as the first intern at this local affiliate. And it changed my life. It was myself and two other young women. So they were really progressive for being a really conservative, small town.
In 1970 they accepted all women.
Paul Stefano: Yeah, definitely.
Debbie Hirata: So I was working, and I mean, I had, I mean, I grew up in a small town. I had very little self awareness in terms of career. So I was assigned to the promo department. And so I became a writer, producer there. And I. I knew I could write well, but I’d never written a promo before.
I didn’t know what it was, and I was kind of, by my nature, I realized, well, I kind of am really good at producing, but. It reminded me of baking cookies. [00:25:00] You get all these ingredients together, you know, like the eggs and the sugar, and then you mix them together and you create something. So that’s how I looked at it.
So I started and I was there three weeks and I was working 10 hour days and then going to night school. And, um. This woman in my department who was my boss, she quit and I was offered her job, and I’d only been there three weeks. So that’s how I started. And I really, really honestly needed the money. It was just working 10 hour weeks and two other jobs.
I said, this is great. So that’s how I started, and it was really that I needed a job, so I knew I had to do a professional job. They hired me. I mean, and I was like, I had another person, she handled, I wrote and produced, they had an am FM and television station, and it was, uh, a really high quality station and they did [00:26:00] really excellent work, even though it was a smaller market.
In those days, the NBC pro NBC would work with the stations to produce promos. They would send a feed of ones that they did, but remember, there was no internet and everything was practically on stage coach and Spokane. So that’s how I started. And. One day the, I had to, you know, get the people, I wrote my promos and it was all male staff and they wouldn’t do the voiceover for my promos because they were mad at the person that I replaced.
And so, I mean, I was like all of 20 and I’m like. I can’t do my job because they won’t. I don’t know how to, you know, they, they won’t do they, they’re not going to do this. I didn’t know how to assert myself with these 45 year old or men. So my boss said, just, well, go to the program director and he’ll show you how to [00:27:00] do it.
I said, me, I’ve never done it. And I had to do it because I had to do my job. So that’s how I learned and
Paul Stefano: voiceover at the station.
Debbie Hirata: It was at the station in promo, which remains my favorite genre today, along with narration. That’s
Paul Stefano: fantastic.
Sean Daeley: Yeah, that’s incredible.
Debbie Hirata: Yeah. I mean, it really, really was for me because, uh, I did that for a year and then they promoted me only with one year experience as a on the staff full time as an announcer.
So I did like baseball games on, on am and I did on newscasts on the FM station. I call hosted television talk shows. I was on camera talent for TV. I did, I produced radio promos that aired on television and I would [00:28:00] produce radio promos promoting the television stations. So they aired on radio. And so, I mean, and I was doing news and that’s so, I mean, I just got fully in, you know, into it with no training.
I mean, the one, the only, and here’s the training I got, which actually turned out to be the best training ever. A guy named Dave Rogers, who was just, these guys were really fabulously talented. He just took me to the Mike and said, now think of one of your favorite times of communicating with someone. And I thought of my mom reading stories to me when I was a little girl.
And then he, I said, he goes, do you have that in mind? And I said, Johnny handed me the copy. And he said, okay, you’re reading to that person. And so that’s how I learned. That’s how, that was where I always started from. But back in those days too, but you know, it was like. We believe in teamwork. [00:29:00] I mean, you know, there was that whole announcer sound, right?
I mean, so they, um, they had this big announcer thing, and I could do that now and then for when they needed it in a spot, but they just kind of let me be myself, which was incredible. I mean, they were very forward thinking in so many ways. So that’s how I started. I worked there for three years and then, um.
You know, this is just real life stuff. I mean, Spokane, Washington, I was then about 23 and I got put into this slot, you know, it was like late night and, and I was during, not during the day and, and it was just killing my spirit. I literally, I had, I’m a social person and I was becoming so isolated, even being on, on, on air.
And I said, you guys have got to get into, I have to have a different, a different time thing. They go, well, there isn’t anything I could, I couldn’t stand it. So I [00:30:00] decided to go back to school to get my master’s and go into communication with corporations. So then, so I could make more money selling cosmetics, the local department store than I do at the station.
So I needed the money for school. So I took this job and, um. I, you know, I really prayed, God, you know, I’m doing my best down here and if I’ve done something wrong, you’re going to have to really help me and help me out to find my way here. Cause I’m going to get my master’s right now in Pullman, Washington.
Well, he did like out of the, um, I am a really spiritual person and, but it was so clear out of the clear blue sky. I was contacted by a friend, Greg Hirschfeld, whose grandfather, by the way, is Jean Hersholt, who is humanitarian award for the Oscars. And Greg is a radio [00:31:00] broadcaster and has, has had a huge career in the Northwest.
And he said the station he was working for was owned by Danny Kaye and Lester Smith. It was called K Smith enterprises, and it was in Seattle. And he said, you know, the program director of the FM station, he called me out of the blue. Her heard you on a, on an you’re a newscast and he wants to interview you.
To be the news director for KISW in Seattle, Washington. It’s men 18 to 34 radio station. And I went, you’re kidding? He said, no. So you know what happens? So Sean, it was my last, it was my last newscast. And he was camping in Winthrop, Washington in an area. I mean, this is an, you know, the 70s where they really did not get FM in the mountains where he was
Sean Daeley: just the serendipity of it.
Like
Debbie Hirata: I know he heard that one. He, he heard me, he goes to the airwaves. You were [00:32:00] bouncing off the ionosphere just right. And he heard me and he called me. And he hired me. So then I went to work. I left Spokane and I went to work in a major market, which was Seattle, talking to men, 18 to 34 with rock and roll as the news director.
And then I did it board shift on Sundays. So that is how. I really got started in it all and I learned a lot. I was doing mornings with a guy named Terry MacDonald who, uh, is still doing great. He lives in Washington DC, but he, he taught me a lot. He was like from San Francisco, and he taught me a lot more about voiceover.
So, you know, it was all men. It was, there were very few women on the, or Barbara Walters, Jane Pauley. Um. A couple of other, there were very, very few women. So because there were very few women, I got a lot of work when there [00:33:00] they needed a woman’s voice. So that led to a lot of experience in a lot of different genres that I didn’t have the luxury of going to a seminar to learn e-learning or to a seminar to learn promo.
I had to just do it. And so it was a good thing. My mom told me good stories.
Sean Daeley: Absolutely. Talk about trial by fire. I mean, and, but that actually leads really well into our next question because during my research for the interview, I noticed on your website, you’re really a, what I like to call a Jill of all trades, genres and mediums.
Um, so do you specialize in any particular genre or do you just do a little bit of everything? Like as it comes your way, like
Debbie Hirata: you said, well, it’s really, really interesting. Yes, I can do a lot of things. And I can do a lot of formats, and I mean, from radio imaging, [00:34:00] which I’m not doing now, but I did do, I mean, you know, and, uh, news and, and it will, news isn’t really voiceover, but it’s a part of it.
But, um, here’s what, here’s what happened really. You know, the industry has changed. I mean, 40 some years ago. There were no voiceover coaches. There was no internet. You couldn’t learn. Like we have these capacities now to learn with the best in the industry. So I was a, I had to learn on my own how to do everything.
And so out of that, I’ve been able to apply that skill to all of these different genres. I have. I, I don’t do audio books right now, but maybe one day I will. I don’t do them right now because they’re pretty time intensive and I do right now mostly kind of the basics, commercial promo narration, but now I’m getting into movie [00:35:00] trailer.
There’s, you know, and the thing is, is like in narration now, it’s not just narration. It goes into all these different subsets. There’s documentary narration, there is film narration, you know, there’s, and then there’s great demand. And another thing is like, you know, video games and animation, which I’m starting to do.
So I think I am going to probably be a Jane of all trades. But the difference is now I can work with some of the best voiceover coaches in the world and do my very best to Excel at what I do. Still do those genres, but take them to my highest level because you have to be at that level to compete in today’s market.
There are so many fantastically, wonderfully talented people, and the competition is fierce. So I do specialize, but in a general way, [00:36:00] they make a
Paul Stefano: great point. I actually spent the last weekend at the first ever vocation conference. It’s a conference put on by Jamie muffin, carne Gilford in New York city to focus entirely on the business of voiceover.
And somebody was having a chat with me talking about coaching, and they said, I told him some of the people I’ve worked with, and I said, well, aren’t they expensive? And I said, yeah. But that’s the point that they’re, they’re the best at what they do and they should be valued for their time. So if you want to work with the past, you kind of need to
Debbie Hirata: pay for it.
Absolutely.
Sean Daeley: Well, I was just going to say, once you reach a level or like a certain level of aptitude, you have to kind of increase your price bracket for training because you’re not going to benefit from that lower to intermediate level anymore. So. Yeah, like, and I just love that. I mean, I kind of suspected this when we worked together in Seattle, but I was just like, training and education seems very important to you.
And.
Debbie Hirata: Oh, absolutely. And, um, I, I’m so ha. I mean, can you imagine? I mean, really, [00:37:00] I was, I remember being in front of the camera doing a newscast, just, it was just a five minute whole of the envy of the today show. They’ve, uh, there’d be a local news. But I mean, I had no training on how to breathe and the teleprompters back there were like dinosaurs and they were going
and then, and then the directors, these guys in my headphones were making all kinds of jokes to get me off track.
Paul Stefano: Oh, that’s what we do. That’s why we keep our, that’s how we keep our sanity.
Sean Daeley: Yeah.
Debbie Hirata: And so it was learning my prior. So when I said, Oh my God, there’s somebody who really cares that I learned this and I was so happy, and that’s why I, yeah.
And to people who may be listening, always, always, always invest in yourself. It’s a return that will come back a million fold. And so training is something, yeah. That I, I, [00:38:00] I’m working like now in video games, um, training with Dave Fennoy and, um, I, yeah. And then I, you know, I’ve done work with all kinds of different coaches.
There’s a lot of great coaches out there. We’re so lucky.
Paul Stefano: Yeah, absolutely. Well, Debbie, you mentioned you haven’t done audio books. I want to know, is there a genre, and maybe that’s one that you haven’t worked in that you really are looking forward to trying maybe for the first time.
Debbie Hirata: Yeah. It’s funny you mentioned e-learning because another person that I was talking to the other day, her stable is, is learning.
Yeah, a lot of e-learning. But I do think audio books, audio books though. I mean, to me that is like almost like their movies. Literally. I mean, there are audio dramas. I mean, you, you have to really, I think it would be great fun and satisfying and something to leave as kind of a legacy to people books. [00:39:00] And it would take me back really to when I was a little girl, but that is a genre I want to explore.
And, um. Pat Fraley. You have it on tape
Sean Daeley: here. He has a class in that.
Debbie Hirata: Yeah, I, and I’ve taken some classes with him, but I just, um, they’re just, it’s too intensive because. So because I, when I’ve been getting commercial work and promo work and narration work, you have to really be able to sit down, read a book for a long period of time and really get it, you know, you read them two, maybe, sometimes three times, and really get it.
Then go through the book, then record the book, then edit it or send it off to her. And you have to really be up for that.
Paul Stefano: And
Debbie Hirata: yeah, you must find great satisfaction out of it. Yeah. When I
Paul Stefano: found, and when I’ve talked to other. Talent who do a lot of commercials almost exclusively. What I like about it is that it grounds me and it keeps me honest when I know I should be doing [00:40:00] something.
But you have those periods where you have downtime, you don’t have any auditions, and you’re thinking, Hmm, should I look at Facebook? Should I go pet the dog? And if I know that I have to get an audio book done and a 12 hour audio book done by a certain date, I know I need to get my button to booth and do it.
And it keeps me grounded and on track.
Debbie Hirata: Oh, I like hearing that. I like hearing that. So, um, because that’s really good information because I just thought, I saw a gal who was interviewed on VO buzz weekly, I’m sorry, I don’t remember her name, but she was a fabulous, uh, audio book narrator. And she said that she was this little girl growing up.
She was a girl that liked to get into her closet with a flashlight. She actually had it down and she would read forever and ever. And she, she goes, you kind of have to be that person. You have to kind of be, you love this moment of intimacy and isolation, and that was the thing that kind of, not that I didn’t like it, but it was kind of too isolating for me based on other things.
But [00:41:00] now when you’re talking about the intimacy and the grounding, now that I’m older, that is really appealing. Oh,
Paul Stefano: hopefully that helps you in your journey.
Debbie Hirata: I will. I will, I will say in another interview that you are my inspiration.
Yeah. Thank you. So back to a genre. Am I a person of all trades? Yeah. I think that’s kind of my personality. Even when I got out of school, there were a lot of jobs I did in between. I mean, I always did voiceover, but I did other things as well. So I think that’s my natural personality. However, I don’t just do them.
Bad. I always take it to my level of excellence. And then you, you go to another level of excellence and then you have to maintain that excellence and then you have to change because everything else has changed. So you keep going. I do think really honing a particular craft before you go onto the next one is really important.
Sean Daeley: Wonderful. So talking sort of about the, [00:42:00] uh, the requirements of different genres, cause like you said, you’ve got an understanding of so many different ones and you, you do them also. Well, so like I said, when we met, you were the guest director of a documentary narration workshop. So in your opinion, what kind of skills and mindset are required for that style of narration?
Like the visual documentary style and what is it that appeals to you about documentary narration?
Debbie Hirata: Documentary narration is one of those times when you really must be centered and grounded with the story. And I guess I really do like that it’s really an important story and you really have to do a lot of research into it and not just the intellectual research, but that’s that.
That’s absolutely critical. But actually you, it’s the acting part of it. I think. I kind of do this naturally, and I haven’t really articulated it until now, [00:43:00] but actually I really become the person that is telling the story and I really do think back like the experience I had with my mom. I’m telling this intimate story to someone and I want them to fully understand.
All the nuances about it. So in my research, you know, if it’s a, if it’s a certain era, what were people feeling during that time? If it’s something on a, um, I’ve done things like on for Jewish concentration camp to understand that time of history and really what people in the story. We’re feeling I’m the person is the narrator.
Connect all these different parts of the story. You’re just weaving, you’re weaving, you’re weaving, and you have to bring this part in. And this part in, and this is really the producer side of me, bring all these things in. But it becomes one fluid performance. So like the one that [00:44:00] I won, the voice arts award, which was my first voice arts award in 2014 was for a documentary film called return of the river.
And. I just through how I got that job, a local casting agent needed help and they had a client entering this film, the producers of return of the river, and the narrator on that film was sick and somehow they weren’t. They were trying to get it into the Seattle film festival and the Seattle film festival.
They moved their deadlines forward. They didn’t, they gave them less time to get their work in and the person who narrated it was sick. She, she could not do it. She could. She was really sick. So I was just the temp. I was just the, you know, just to fill in, to get it into the end of the, um, award entry deadline.
And they said, you know, we’ll pay for that, but we probably won’t use you because we like the person that we did. But then it ended up that they liked me [00:45:00] better.
Paul Stefano: Funny how
Debbie Hirata: that works. Yeah. Really, I mean, these moments of grace so that you have to, um, I did a lot of research on that and, but here’s the ironic thing, neither the casting director nor the producers knew that I had grown up playing in the river, the L wa river, that the story was about.
Oh,
Paul Stefano: wow. I know.
Debbie Hirata: It really and truly my career has really been the result of grace and I really, I give all thanks really to create are for these moments because it’s been clearly, it shows me, you know, I, this has chosen me and I’m still discerning where I’m going with it all because I really take that lead.
But having been at played in that river, my mom used to work with the us. She worked with the tribe, Neah Bay tribe, and a lot of the [00:46:00] tribes, uh, in that area, she worked for the federal government during Lyndon Johnson’s war on poverty. And so, um, she would be up there and we, you know, I’d be playing in the river right near where she was with them.
And I w w the beauty. The absolute pristine beauty of the Olympic national park. It is. There’s an energy in those trees in nature, in the mountains that is deeply, deeply spiritual. And I literally remember as a five year old girl falling in love with nature, the , which to me was creator. And I remember saying to that river, as a little girl, I said, I will always protect you.
I will always protect you. And little did I realize whey it was well over 50 years later here I was on a stage in New York receiving an award. How did I, the little five year old girl playing in the river get here [00:47:00] in voiceover. So the, but the research beyond that. So the role I played is that I was the voice of the river.
So as the narrator, I was the river. So if I hadn’t grown up in that. Little river playing there. I think I would go to that river and sit in it and play with it and be with it and, and take in the energy and the emotion of what I would feel in that experience.
Paul Stefano: It’s almost almost like a miracle and
Debbie Hirata: acting really.
It
Paul Stefano: is, yeah. The story to that level. Right,
Debbie Hirata: right. And, um, and then once I do all of that and then really become, you become so familiar with the words, everything flows out of you. And I, I take that approach even with a, um, you know, like I’m looking at something here. It’s just a paragraph. It’s a paragraph.
For an ADR, for a movie where I’m a captain on a spaceship and, and I, I mean, I can’t go [00:48:00] out in the space, outer space, but I really imagine it, I go online and I look at space and I imagine what it would be like walking there. And if I was responsible for all these people, and then I have to be really familiar with the words because I have to let really the words go and remember who I am.
And somehow get it out while following the script. But then the script you start, you become so familiar with the words and the feeling. The script just is just kind of like a reference to keep you communicating the message to your audience. So that’s, that’s how I do it practically. And everything. Like I was the promo voice for Claus.
And I really am a huge believer in diversity and inclusion, and that’s why I like the voice arts awards so well, Joan Baker and Rudy Gaskins have founded that on diversity and inclusion of everyone’s voice. And I w. [00:49:00] My, I’m a do, my husband’s Japanese, so my children are half Japanese and half Swedish, which is my background.
So we’re a diverse family and I on purpose had them. Go to very diverse schools where it was like 73% not white. And I wanted them to be with other people of color just for them to feel comfortable in their own skin and to know other people as people. And so I was very familiar with a lot of different women of diverse cultures that I was friends with.
And when Claus came on, I loved it. It was Niecy Nash, who’s African American, and. Carucci Tran, which is Vietnamese, African American, and Judy Reyes is Hispanic. And um, the other two women, Jen Lyons, and, uh, Carrie Preston are Caucasian. And it was about women that were in. Now here, my mother was a single mother in the S in the fifties and sixties.
So I had [00:50:00] experience of what that’s like to be a single mother and these women. We’re all single mothers. Niecy wasn’t a mother, well, she was taking care of her brother. But anyway, so I had that experience and really experienced and respect for the diverse cast and just the story about what they were trying to do just to make a living.
It’s a wild, wild show, but I approached it, you know, the name of the show is clause. So you know, clause can be used for protection or they can be used to. You know, because their nail salon artists, uh, that’s what they do. And that’s a term for that kind of a nail salon that beautifully painted gorgeous nails.
And really, I took that approach to the character that I was for just a promo. But then, you know, through my career I’ve worked with incredible directors. And again, that’s probably one of the best things in the world. When you have a director who. [00:51:00] Allows you to be a blank canvas and they just tell you and they you, they tell you which way they want you to say this or they really bring it even more.
I mean, you get an outstanding performance. Well, to
Sean Daeley: be fair, you bring a lot to the table and
Debbie Hirata: just listening
Sean Daeley: to it and the level, the level of, uh, of research and emotional investment, even in a smaller project like a promo, it’s really inspiring to hear.
Debbie Hirata: Well, thank you so much. I mean, you probably didn’t get that from me seminar because, because that was, you know why Sean?
I didn’t really go into that kind of, uh, talking about these kinds of things there, because I was really, really interested. In being with you guys. And, um, you know, Pat , Pat, fabulous director, she says, your call, you do it however you want to do it. And when, you know, see, that’s the genius of Pat. And so I decided I just wanted to literally be [00:52:00] with your bike sitting in the river.
I wanted to be right next to you to feel your energy and to kind of get and respect you. So it really required very little direction. And I think in the end, that’s why when I walked, when I was done with my side of it, because Pat had worked with you guys before, but when I was done and I went out for a little break and Steve was putting together all the pieces when I came back in and heard everything, Oh my God, because I didn’t hear it when it was being recorded cause I was sitting right next to you.
It was actually a spiritual experience for me.
Sean Daeley: Wow.
Debbie Hirata: From all of you. From every single person in that room. It was like nothing I had ever experienced. And I’ll see Pat Fraley calling you a genius.
Paul Stefano: I heard that. I didn’t hear all the participants by her and the resulting demo from Sean, and it really was amazing what you were able to accomplish in that one session
Debbie Hirata: on in one day with all those people there were like between, was there 10 or 12 it’s
Sean Daeley: about 10 of us.
Debbie Hirata: Yeah. [00:53:00] 10 and all really different and, and the level of talent in that room. And they all can. The great thing is all these genres are opening up, so there’s work for us all. It’s an exciting time to be in voiceover.
Paul Stefano: It definitely is. A deputy wanted to ask about, speaking of talent, you’re a union talent, but you live outside of Los Angeles.
How does that affect the work that you can or can’t do?
Debbie Hirata: You know, that’s a really good question because coming from a single mom household, we. We were very poor. Like Michelle Obama said she didn’t have the Liberty, she didn’t have the, the, um, the leisure to make a choice about what she wanted to do. She had an opportunity to become, uh, an attorney and to go to law school.
She went and she learned and she became the best I, that’s why I didn’t really, I didn’t have like, think about what I want to do, you know? I mean. [00:54:00] Wow. Uh, so anyway, I just started working here in this market. So luckily, and again, it was grace. I, um, started doing a lot of things in this market, but when I was doing it, it was a union town.
And that was in, uh, the late seventies. And, um, my very first union job I got in Spokane, and there’s a whole nother part after, and I don’t, I won’t go into it cause it’s too complicated. But I’ve, I did work for as a creator, as a writer and producer for advertising agencies. And so I was one of the clients in Spokane.
I did that. And one of the clients we had was Washington water power, which is a big utility for Eastern Washington. And I was given that job as the writer. And, uh, we came and I worked with, uh, an artist and we came up with an animated spot. And the concept was they wanted to get people to stop [00:55:00] using electric heat and to convert to natural gas because that was plentiful and electricity was really expensive.
So, so I, I wrote the spot, it was a 32nd spot, and he did the animation. And I knew what, how I wanted it to sound, but that was when women were really not doing that much. And I knew this was a real conservative company and conservative agency and I said, I know you guys don’t want a woman, but just bear with me on my little cassette.
This is just how I want these words re read, because it was really simple. It was something like, there’s a lot of things that natural gas can do. But heating your television isn’t one of them. It was this little guy that comes in and he turns on his TV and it’s a natural gas flame. So we were encouraged him use electricity, um, use natural gas, which there’s plenty of to heat your home and let’s use electricity for those jobs that only electricity can do.
And then this little guy would go, all right, well, I auditioned a lot of [00:56:00] men for them, and the client picked me. So that was my first union job in Spokane, Washington. And so I was in the union. And then I, when I moved over to Seattle, later on, I was hired. I put together a demo reel, and then that was reel to reel.
And then a Steve Lawson. Great. Shout out to Steve Lawson. He’s a legend in Seattle. He, um. Would give everybody, you know, she, you go and bring your demo to them, and the first person on the sheet was outcome advertising or ad comm. It was, I think, and um, it was for the bond Marshay, which was a, you know, regional department store, like Macy’s.
So they hired me for on-camera talent. Then. There was a competing company called Lamont’s, and they were using a famous actress to do on camera all the time, and they were taking share away from the Von Marshay. So the director that had hired me for my mattress commercial, [00:57:00] my TV mattress commercial, yay.
He said, well, I’ll give you a shot at it. We’re gonna, we’re gonna, we’re gonna hire a spokesperson and we’re gonna talk to LA talent and New York talent in Chicago, but I’ll give you a shot. And I went, Oh, thanks bod. You know. Anyway, I had to go through all these, you know, at that level because they had their, you know, Macy’s in, in New York was, was the mothership.
And, um, you had to go be tested against all these people. And I got it. And I was double scale and I was a spokesperson. I did all their on-camera, all their radio, their industrial, and I actually did write and produce with them for four to five years. Wow. And that was all union. And this is a shout out to sag AFTRA and everything I did, I w I did was double scale in the Seattle market, which was like unheard of.
I mean, you know, I mean, it was really God’s grace. I mean, I [00:58:00] have to say it was grace. So that is how I’m now, I was able to. Do that. But then everything changed, you know? Then everything started to really change during that time that I had a family and I decided I’m not going to do on camera anymore. I’m just going to do voiceover and be and raise my kids.
I didn’t, I wanted to be a normal mom and not have celebrity and that kind of thing. So I, um, raised my kids and I could go and go into the booth and out of the booth and be back and be a mom. So that’s what I did. And. My mom then was, you know, I still, my mom lived nearby and she was part of our family, and then my mom got sick.
I raised my kids and my mom was getting sick and I needed, and I was her primary caregiver and my mom passed away. And during that time, that was 11 years ago. Actually on this day, mom. You heard me, I’m serious. 11 years ago on this day. [00:59:00] And that was a huge changing point in my life. I mean, up until then, I mean, the internet was coming and you know, every technology, but I was in caregiving and being a mom and I was on that world.
But I would go into the studio still and do work. But I remember talking to Wendy wills at that animals, and I said. I don’t think I can compete in this anymore. It’s gotten away from me. You gotta have your own booth, you gotta have your microphones and do all this stuff. And I said, cause I, I said, I don’t know.
I think maybe, maybe I can’t do it anymore. I’m going to have to get out. And all she said to me is, I would be really sad if you did. And that’s the power of a friendship. And I said, well, you know what? I’m going to give it a year for you, Wendy. And if it doesn’t work, then that’s, that’s not meant to be anymore.
But guess what? It worked.
Sean Daeley: That’s great. So Debbie, your work is recognized and respected by clients and colleagues [01:00:00] alike, and rightfully so. So we’ve mentioned this before, but you’ve received awards for outstanding movie narration and consumer product video at the 2014 and 2016 voice arts awards respectively.
So tell us a little bit about that experience and what these awards mean to you personally.
Debbie Hirata: Okay. There was all, I also got, let’s see, in 2014 it was for return of the river
Sean Daeley: in,
Debbie Hirata: in 20, in 2015 I won an award for a commercial for Chumash casino, and I won best animation and best commercial. So I won two for that one piece.
And then, yeah. And then, um. Oh, okay. So what these all meant to me. I’ll be succinct on this. We’ll read the return of the river. We return to the river was my soul. I mean, it was my soul and it was a miracle. And then Chumash casino, [01:01:00] I played the role of a native American woman, like an 83 year old American woman, native American woman.
I used to have a sketch of her in the studio here. I can’t see it. And, and it was about. The shoe mash people, and this was a branding piece that was being done by a company in Minneapolis, and it wasn’t about, you can win a jackpot. It was about, we are the shoe mash people. We live, we live in a part in the Santa Ynez Valley for centuries, and when people were traveling and they would come through the Santa Ynez Valley.
They need. They needed food, they needed duress, and the native American people there saw that as their culture. It was one of hospitality. And so that meant, I mean, I love that one because it was about nature again, and Oh my God, Sean. Go and look at that commercial on my commercial, um, real it is, I [01:02:00] worked with a highest level animators, musicians, directors, and I, and I had to get their permission from all from all of them to submit it in the voice arts awards.
And I said to the one that the music producer, he said, you guys were like, like Academy award winning artists. And he goes, yeah. And all for a casino
Sean Daeley: told a great story. Yeah.
Debbie Hirata: So look at that. And the reason I love it, it’s like they say you to our shoe, mash it. It talks about hospitality and, and nature, and that we all are part of earth and hospitality, and it’s just a gourd that, that really, that really got my heart when I did Aerotek. That one. That one was fabulous.
It was Donald Trump was starting to run for a president [01:03:00] and he was so disrespectful. I mean, that’s towards people of color and I am huge. I am all about diversity. And so Aerotek was all these diverse people and it was for a consumer sales video. And, and it really focused on their diversity and that these are our people and how much, you know, we believe in them.
And it was like, I could take all this angst and
Paul Stefano: I don’t get too political, but in Baltimore or just outside of Baltimore, the history, the recent history with, you know, the president and Baltimore.
Debbie Hirata: Yeah, yeah. Right, right. There you go. Well. Yeah. So there was that, and I worked with a really great writer on that.
He was, he was incredible. He knew how to, let me just go. So that one was meaningful too. They’ve all been meaningful. Well, that’s
Paul Stefano: fabulous. Well, you know, we’ve come to the end here, Debbie, and we appreciate your, your honesty, your, the [01:04:00] spirit you bring to everything you do. But thinking ahead, what’s next for a Demi Hirata?
Any business goals you’d like to share?
Debbie Hirata: You know, I’m, I’m just discerning that right now. What I’m going to do next. I will continue to do first and foremost. First and foremost, I am a voice actor and so I will continue doing my best to Excel at the work that comes in and stay current with the genres I am good at, and I may start exploring more genres.
And I actually am thinking about starting to do some producing myself, so I’ve got some ideas, but you know, that’s a big jump out of what I’m doing. But I’ve got a little tiny project that I can’t really talk about yet, or it would wreck it. That would be bad karma, but it’s a real small project, and I might be doing it with a friend of mine who’s [01:05:00] an artist.
And it would require voice and it would be interactive with people. And it would be, I would hope that my narration would be a source of peace and calm and hope for the listener. But when I ready to announce it, I’ll let you
Sean Daeley: know. Alright, I’m waiting on pins and needles for that one.
Debbie Hirata: No, you guys are the best.
Sean Daeley: It’s been an absolute pleasure, Debbie. I mean, it’s, it’s been so inspiring to hear you share your story and just. Like, learn from your example. Really, I mean, your openness to opportunity, your endless striving for excellence. It’s just, it’s really refreshing and invigorating to hear. So , like I said, it’s been an absolute pleasure and we wish you nothing but the best.
Debbie Hirata: Gosh, that’s the highest compliment that you could say to me that I inspired you. Thanks, Paul. I really, I really have enjoyed this as a voice talent. You have to have a [01:06:00] website, but what a hassle. Getting someone to do it for you and when they finally do a break or don’t look right on mobile devices, they’re not built for marketing and SEO.
They’re expensive. You have limited or no control, and it takes forever to get one built and go live. So what’s the best way to get you online? In no time? Go to voice actor websites.com like our name implies, voice actor websites.com just does websites for voice actors. We believe in creating fast, mobile friendly, responsive, highly functional designs that are easy to read and easy to use.
You have full control, no need to hire someone every time you want to make a change. And our upfront pricing means you know exactly what . Your costs are ahead of time. You can get your voiceover website going for as little as $700 so if you want your voice actor website without the hassle of complexity and dealing with too many options, go to a voice actor, websites.com where your O website shouldn’t be a pain in the, you know what?
Sean Daeley: Wow. Thank you so much, [01:07:00] Debbie. I mean, it was a pleasure to meet you in person at that documentary narration workshop that I talked about, but getting to hear your story, and it’s just so inspiring and I love. And I wish you nothing but success in your continued VO career.
Paul Stefano: Yeah. I really didn’t know Debbie before this interview, but she was just a delight, and I know her name because it seems like she’s nominated for a syllabus every year because she’s just great, and by the time this air, she probably will have won another one.
So congratulations, Debbie.
Sean Daeley: Well deserved,
Paul Stefano: but thanks again for being on the show. So that
Sean Daeley: pretty much wraps up this episode of the VO meter
Paul Stefano: measuring your voiceover progress.
Sean Daeley: You’ve got some exciting episodes and interviews coming up in the next coming weeks. Up next we have Jim Kelly and Sam from Lotus productions, and then after that, Paul and I are going to do our recap of some of the fall voiceover conferences.
Paul is going to be talking about his experience at a vocation, and then I’m going to be talking about my experiences at the second annual VO North conference over in Toronto. That was headed [01:08:00] by a voice actor. Or voice talent. Durable a trainer and voice agent Tanya Buchanan. They did a wonderful job organizing the smaller conference and I highly recommend it if you’re on the East coast in Canada or in the U S
Paul Stefano: and then finally we have upcoming Tracy Lindley, whose LinkedIn edge program is all the rage and voiceover, and she’ll tell you how to make the most of your voiceover career while using LinkedIn.
Sean Daeley: Awesome. Well, thank you guys for listening and we hope to see you on the next video meter. Thanks for listening to the VO meter, measuring your voiceover progress. To follow along, please visit www.vometer.com
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