Public Health

Celebrating The New Disabled Voice Actors Database

January 26, 2023 by Maria Pendolino

Here at Blue Wave Voiceover, we are committed to presenting voices that look and sound like America. We’re proud to feature talented voice actors on our roster that span the generations and come from diverse backgrounds. When we talk about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) as a country, one thing that is frequently left out of that conversation is Accessibility for disabled people. Many disabled advocates have called for the phrase to be rewritten as “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility” (DEIA) in order to truly be inclusive.

To that end, we’re proud to be a partner and champion of a new resource for both voice actors and voice seekers in our little production universe here.

Introducing The Disabled Voice Actors Database

On December 3, 2022, in honor of the International Day of Persons With Disabilities, voice actor and Blue Wave Voiceover collective member Maria Pendolino supported the launch of The Disabled Voice Actors Database. This database serves as a central dashboard that empowers casting directors and other voice-seeking industry professionals to source high-quality, talented voice actors who also happen to be disabled.

This database is important for a number of reasons. Studies have shown that people living with a disability still make less money and have higher unemployment rates. Even with its digital embellishment, the society we live and work in leaves little room for any interpretation that isn’t physically or mentally “able-bodied”.

Unfortunately, this is a theme that continues throughout the world of entertainment, including voice over acting. Although the industry may often cite inclusivity and progressinve-ness as values, so often disabled voice actors are looked over for parts — even when these parts involve the portrayal of a disabled character!

A New Beginning for An Important Disability & Accessibility Resource

Maria and The Disabled Voice Actors Database founder Nick Germain made it their mission to make sure that there would never be another easy excuse to pass over disabled voice talent. Inspired by similar databases serving the LGBTQIA+ community (QueerVox) and People of Global Majority (aka BIPOC/POC) (PGM VO List), they created Version 2.0 of The Disabled Voice Actors Database.

Like so many good ideas, the database started as a Google Sheet, but it wasn’t long before it outgrew those rows and columns. The Disabled Voice Actors Database 2.0 exists as a sophisticated AirTable that is free to join and only visible to vetted voice seekers. Other voice actors that were instrumental in making the Database come to life were Satauna Howery, Tony Jackson, Tyler Berman and Lindsay Sheppard — a hard working team of volunteer steering committee members.

Steering committee member Tyler Berman said “To accurately cast and give voiceover talent a chance to go out for both disabled (and more importantly) typical characters is why I feel this will help break the stigma of voiceover actors with disabilities only being able to voice disabled characters. You see on-screen actors with disabilities perform both types of characters all the time so why not voice over actors? You only hear their voice and the voice actor could be very capable for the role.”

How To Search For Talent With The Database

In order to protect the privacy and well-being of the voice actors in the database, The Disabled Voice Actors Database is only visible to vetted individuals. In order to pass the vetting process, an applicant must be in a position to seek out and hire voice talent, and must also be willing to provide a fair wage and humane and reasonable work process, which may need to include accommodations.

It’s easy to request to be vetted — simply visit www.disabledvoiceactors.com and follow the button labeled “Voice Seeker Access Request”. Once we’ve done our due diligence we’ll send you your login credentials along with a short tutorial on how to best use the database.

How To Join The Database As A Disabled Voice Actor

In order to make sure our database helps as many voice actors as possible, we’ve made it free to add your name. The only stipulation is that if you’re under 18, you’ll need to ask your parent or legal guardian to add you to the database.

If you have any questions or comments about this new endeavor, The Disabled Voice Actors Database volunteer steering committee would love to hear from you at disabledvoiceactors@gmail.com.

When the Wear a Mask Message Becomes Really Personal

September 5, 2020 by Maria Pendolino

George Washington III is the resident deep, bass, resonant, African American voice here at Blue Wave Voiceover. His message to everyone right now?

Wear a mask.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the need for protection hit George really close to home. Unfortunately he lost both his mother and father to COVID-19 within weeks of each other and then he contracted the virus himself.

He recently shared his story and had a feature published in the Q City Metro by author Sabrina Clark. From their website:

“George Washington III is a voiceover actor with a James Earl Jones-esque resonance. His body of work runs the gamut, from radio spots for the Carolina Panthers to national TV commercials for Mountain Dew Ice (including one featuring rapper Cardi B) to exhibits at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

While Washington’s line of work is fascinating, the 52-year-old has a new motivation these days: urging people to wear masks to help safeguard against the Covid-19 disease. In North Carolina, the number of confirmed cases continues to reach record highs, disproportionately affecting people of color. Washington’s battle cry is a personal testimony of someone who lost his dad due to the virus and suffered from his own bout.”

Being a caregiver to his father after he contracted the virus, ultimately is what caused his exposure. He continues:

“We believe that in those processes, and the amount of time I was spending with him, I caught a full viral load,” the caretaker turned patient explained. In addition to hallmark symptoms like a spike in fever and body aches, Washington battled significant gastrointestinal issues.

“My problems began when I couldn’t stand the smell of food anymore…it’s very hard to force yourself to eat when you can’t even stand the scent of it,” he recalled.

From late May through mid-June, Washington says he only ate apples and oranges. By the time he returned to Charlotte late last month to self-quarantine, he’d lost 20 pounds. He described the ordeal as “pretty miserable.”

You can read the rest of the Q City Metro profile here: https://qcitymetro.com/2020/07/09/voice-actors-message-to-wear-a-mask-comes-after-losing-dad-and-his-own-covid-19-battle/

George only stopped working for a short period of time. Once he was well enough, he was back up and at it in the booth recording spots for Democrats and progressives running for office this election season.

But more than anything – in memory of his mother and father – George would like you to wear a mask. Not only to protect yourself but to protect those around you.

Here at Blue Wave Voiceover extend our deepest condolences to the Washington family on their loss.

When a Pandemic Is On the Ballot

April 27, 2020 by Ian Fishman

Political Commercials in the Time of COVID-19

As someone who has worked in the medical arena for years, I’m asking myself what happens when a pandemic is on the ballot? After lending my voice to medical narration videos, commercials, eLearning, and more, I understand the importance of making healthcare information:

Readily available to those who need it
Presented in a format that is easily digestible

I have been a voiceover actor on projects ranging from instructional medical device videos for physicians, to hospital videos for patients, to pharmaceutical commercials for the general public, and all of those projects have had one common trait: clearly articulated information can be a huge comfort in complicated and frightening times.

The Benefits of Well-Crafted PSAs

With COVID-19 affecting every state in the nation, doctors, nurses, and citizens need to be kept informed of new regulations, what symptoms to look for, and which safety precautions to implement. The only way for vital information to reach our most vulnerable is through public service announcements, or PSAs and through narrations delivered by skilled medical narration voice talent. There is no question that poorer communities, communities made up of people of color, and undocumented immigrants are affected at a greater rate by the current crisis — even moreso because those demographics include lots essential workers on the front lines providing food and package delivery, bus drivers, grocery clerks, poll workers, journalists, and farmworkers, just to name a few. They might not have the same access to healthcare or basic information on crucial ways to protect their health, and are much likelier to be pressed into working through an illness, or going back to work before they’re fully healthy.

Urging Citizens to Take Action

Beyond public health commercials, we can expect the news cycle will be focusing on the Coronavirus for months to come. It has already changed the way we live and communicate with one another, which inevitably means political campaigns and causes will be talking about the virus as well. Political commercials across the country will be asking constituents to hold their representatives accountable for the handling of the coronavirus response and the lack of implemented safety policies. There will be advocacy groups and relief organizations asking for money to help those struggling and remote volunteers. Although the news cycle is typically in a state of flux, the pandemic, and our economy as a result of it, will be the framework for how PACs, candidates, campaigns, and causes will be crafting their messaging to reach voters in their districts.

The messaging behind these political commercials will have to be crystal clear. Take for instance, the political advertisement entitled Bungled. This particular political commercial focuses on the president’s slow decision to limit travel to and from China in the early days of the Coronavirus when several other countries were already doing so. The advertisement uses the president’s delay in issuing a China travel ban as one example of how he has made the country less safe, and it ends with a literal call to action, providing a phone number to tell the president to enact policies that will protect the American public.

Creatively, the ad is mostly black and white, which is suggestive of newspapers and the early years of TV, and the tone of the woman’s voiceover is very newslike. All of these creative choices send meta-messages to the viewer that this is critical information… that there’s no disputing it, as the evidence is “black and white.”

We should expect ads like this to pop up from both sides of the aisle. Messaging will need to be clear, on whom to hold accountable for the current crisis, and whose efforts should be praised. No doubt, the president will move his message from his daily press briefings to political advertisements, as we move closer to November and the 2020 election.

What’s Next for Political Commercials in the Pandemic?

Regardless of where anyone stands on the aisle, it is extremely crucial that we take measures to protect our public health. Political commercials must provide accurate and scientifically proven protective measures the public can easily implement. They must inform citizens of who they should hold accountable for mishandling the crisis in their own states and the federal government, as well as who to support for their efforts in helping the people of the United States. We will rely heavily on commercials in 2020 more than in any other election year.

Our health will be on the ballot.

Debbie Irwin is a co-founder and talent at Blue Wave Voiceover. Find her at her Blue Wave profile, or hear plenty more at DebbieIrwin.com.