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voiceover

Representation

Latina Bilingual Voiceover Talent For Political Spots – Meet Issa Lopez

Advertising, Representation, Meet The Talent

We’ve started a new series to introduce you to our talents by going even more in-depth than their profile listings. So, welcome to Meet The Blue Wave Voiceover Talent!

Issa Lopez – Bilingual Latina Political Voiceover Talent

Blue Wave Voiceover Issa Lopez photoTell us a little about your broadcast-quality home studio. Where is it? What kind of equipment do you have? What do you like about it?

My home studio is in Colorado. I have 2 Pro Mics: a Neumann TLM 103 and a Sennheiser 416. My home studio is an Ultra Quiet Booth Room and I use Twisted Wave on my Mac Book Pro with a Scarlet Focusrite Interface. I’ve got Source Connect and Skype Capability, basically the WHOLE PIE 🙂

What’s one thing that most people don’t know about you?

I was a professional singer before falling into this wonderful world of voiceover.

Do you remember what your first voiceover spot was?

Yes, I wrote and sang a jingle for my local channel 9 News Station when I was only 16 years old.

Do you remember the first political voiceover spot that you did?

Yes, it was in 2016, A political voiceover for the Democratic Party in Las Vegas.

Issa Lopez

What has been your favorite voiceover project to date – political or otherwise?

I just narrated for the first time and it was for NETFLIX I am still in shock!

Why do you think voiceover will be an important part of political advertising in the 2020 election?

OMG with all this craziness there is no way a message can be portrayed strongly without a voiceover actor behind it for sure, on any platform!

What issues would you like to see at the center of the Democratic platform for this year’s election?

Immigration, Healthcare, Welfare Issues.

Issa LopezWhat is your biggest voiceover pet peeve?

When someone asks for me to sound conversational and it’s an announcement that asks for EXCITEMENT or clearly promo. I find it kinda funny…

If you could tell political voiceover clients one thing that would help you do your job better, or help them get what they want faster – what would that one thing be?

Please know exactly the feeling or emotion you want to portray it really helps us!

What advice do you have to aspiring voiceover talents that want to work in the political arena?

Look up current political spots with voiceover and listen to them often because I find trends do change.

What hobbies do you have outside of your voiceover work?Issa Lopez

Cook, play with my Frenchie Puppy and overspend on him wayyyy too much and travel.

If you’d like to book Issa Lopez on your next political voiceover project, please visit her profile here and get in touch!

Spoken Word Voiceover Talent For Politicals – Meet Kabir Singh

Advertising, Representation, Meet The Talent

We’ve started a new series to introduce you to our talents by going even more in-depth than their profile listings. So, welcome to Meet The Blue Wave Voiceover Talent!

Kabir Singh – Voiceover, Poet, Philosopher

Tell us a little about your broadcast-quality home studio. Where is it? What kind of equipment do you have? What do you like about it?

My home studio is in Los, Angeles California. I use a VocalBooth that allows for -70db noise floor. I have a iMac, Logic Pro, Sennheiser 416 with Apollo Twin setup. I like having the ability to record and edit in the same booth. It makes it more efficient for the client and myself when turning deliverables around.

What’s one thing that most people don’t know about you?

I enjoy solitude in nature. It feeds my soul. It keeps me appreciative of this dream we live in.

How did you get into voiceover work?

Blue Wave Voiceover Kabir Singh

I’m a poet at heart. Poetry was my only friend growing up. I used it to communicate and coupe. When I started voiceover, there was no money in poetry (YouTube was barely a thing). So, I researched ways I could make money using my words and my voice. From there, I took a Voice Over class and the journey began.

Do you remember what your first voiceover spot was?

I will never forget it. “Mac Keeper” 3rd party cleaning software for Apple computers. A $100 job that gave me the confidence to keep going. It changed my life.

Do you remember the first political voiceover spot that you did?Kabir Singh

A local Democratic nominee needed a young, urban, poetic voice for his radio campaign. He was targeting teens and young adults in a low-income Detroit area. It was a powerful political spot.

What has been your favorite voiceover project to date – political or otherwise?

Nintendo Switch. I voiced all the spots for 2 years and it was the biggest project I ever landed. It showed me the values of residuals. It gave me insight into how large companies like Nintendo run their voice over sessions. It was a great learning experience for me.

Why do you think voiceover will be an important part of political advertising in the 2020 election?

Voiceover has always been a vital part in communicating messages of: despair, hope, love, community, and leadership. During 2020, it will be even more vital as we face challenges that are affecting humanity on a global scale. The leadership of our country needs a drastic change and communicating that change with our voice is our job.

What issues would you like to see at the center of the Democratic platform for this year’s election?

Healthcare and relief from Covid-19.

What is your biggest voiceover pet peeve?

Revisions due to script changes after approval and AFTER recording a long and tedious live voice over session.

If you could tell political voiceover clients one thing that would help you do your job better, or help them get what they want faster – what would that one thing be?

Please have your script ready in pdf/doc or a format that is clean. No markups. No video Notes. Just words. You can have this in addition to a version with markups and notes. But, a clean version for your political voiceover talent allows for a fluid read.

What advice do you have to aspiring voiceover talents that want to work in the political arena?

It is no less difficult and joyous as pursuing any other genre. Hold on and keep it pushing.

What hobbies do you have outside of your voiceover work?

Hiking and reading. I love to do both. I find peace in the depths of observation and internal discoveries.

If you’d like to book Kabir Singh on your next political voiceover project, please visit his profile here and get in touch!

Gun Control – Moms Demand Action: Grassroots Groups Fighting to End of Gun Violence in America

Representation, Blog, Gun Control

It has been seven years since the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut where 20 children and 6 educators were killed, renewing calls for stricter gun control. Since December 14th, 2012, there have been 195 shootings on school grounds in America, averaging about one per week. The Sandy Hook shooting has been a turning point where every-day Americans have banned together to fight for a common cause.

The Calling

There have been many people who have felt a call to action against gun violence in America. One of those people is Newtown resident Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, who started a Facebook group the day after the tragedy, that posed the question, “How can everyone play a part to reduce gun violence in America?”

The group has since grown into a grassroots organization that is part of Everytown for Gun Safety, another organization that was also founded with the goal to end gun violence in communities all over the country. Everytown and Moms Demand Action now have chapters in every state and Washington, D.C., and nearly six million supporters. The group has pushed back on the gun lobby and has helped bring forth victories in state legislatures nationwide.

Small Change is Still Change

Both groups are founded on the notion that small changes in our communities are the first steps towards sweeping change nationwide. Most recent victories include the Richmond City Council, which passed an ordinance to report lost and stolen firearms, the Tacoma City Council which passed a tax on ammunition and firearms in order to promote public safety programs, and the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, which approved an ordinance that requires gun sellers to report failed background checks to law enforcement. Many volunteers from Everytown and Moms Demand Action have formally joined the political arena by winning seats in local offices all around the country. They’ve also been successful at creating content to share on social media sites – finding ways to reach citizens and voters where they are at beyond traditional political advertising. Everytown has produced short videos and spots with powerful voiceover layered over images of marches, rallies and family gatherings.

Gun violence statistics in the US have shown a rise in gun-related injuries. According to the CDC there were 39,773 gun deaths in 2017 alone, the highest on record. Each day 100 Americans die from gun violence. Each month 52 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner.

Movement Has Been Slow

In the past 20 years there has been a standstill in federal funding to research the effects and causes of gun violence. In 1996 congress passed the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Bill, known as The Dickey Amendment, in which “none of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control.”

Now the House has approved a bill that will allocate $25 million to the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be used for gun violence research. The bill will need to be approved by the Senate and signed by the president, but these new funds could help us understand what causes gun violence and how we can prevent it. The push for these changes in the legislature would not have been possible had it not been for the grassroots organizing of everyday citizens.

Sources:

https://everytown.org/who-we-are/

https://momsdemandaction.org/privacy-policy/#Interest-Based-Ads

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/08/16/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-u-s/

https://lawcenter.giffords.org/facts/gun-violence-statistics/

https://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2013/02/gun-violence

https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/17/politics/gun-research-congress-spending-bill-cdc-trnd/index.html

If you’re advocating for common sense gun control, we’re here to help any way we can. Contact us anytime — we’re in the fight with you and will be proud to share our voice talents with your mission.

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.

The Shifting Electoral Map: This Isn’t Your Parents’ Red State

Advertising, Representation

Demographics are changing, and so are the voting patterns

The 2016 election brought a shock to the electoral system. States that were previously thought to be part of the “Blue Wall” were no longer the safe havens they were once thought to be. But some states, though impervious to Democratic advances, have also begun shifting, creating new challenges for candidates in these changing districts to reach potential voters. Especially with shifts in the media ecosystem making it harder for political advertising voices to cut through.

Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin were all part of what had previously been considered firmly Democratic states, ensuring a Democratic presidential candidate a considerable number of electoral votes, with Ohio being the Rust Belt state that was often considered a swing state and a huge focus for political advertising dollars. But 2016 upended those preconceptions, with all 4 states failing to go Democratic, albeit by slim margins in the former “Blue Wall” states.

Introducing: Purple States

However, Democratic fortunes in formerly unassailable states like Virginia and Arizona are raising hopes of activists there. Arizona is trending toward a much more purple state, with victories both on the state and local level by Democrats, including Senator Kyrsten Sinema, 5 of Arizona’s 9 U.S. House seats, and the Secretary of State. The party remains in the minority statewide however, holding only 42 of 90 State Senate and House seats, and lost the governor’s race in 2016 by 15 percentage points.

Virginia is in the process of becoming a fully blue state, with all major statewide seats, both Senators, and the majority of both houses (by the slimmest of margins) held by Democrats. Growth in the metropolitan areas around Washington D.C., bolstered by influxes of northern transplants have fueled this change. Residents of these states can expect to see a huge surge in Democratic political spots hitting their airwaves and streaming platforms.

Other southern states like North Carolina have experienced similar changes. It became a firmly purple state in 2008, when Barack Obama won the state, and in 2012 when he lost it by a very slim margin. Growth in Charlotte and the Triangle area has fueled the balance, though it may be some time, if ever, before the state consistently votes Democratic.

They Do Say Things Are Bigger In Texas

The biggest prize is still out there: the purple-trending state of Texas. The Lone Star State has been solidly red for decades, but some cracks have started to appear in the expected areas: high growth urban areas like Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston, all fueled by the same migration patterns that have brought northern transplants to other Southern states. Democrats have pushed to move the state into their column for years, and are hoping to see this shift happen in the next 20 years. Given the number of electoral votes at stake, residents of Texas can expect to hear political voiceover in their living room right up until Election Day 2020.

For political voice actors supporting and voicing for progressive and liberal causes, ample opportunity is available, as these areas are and will continue to be flooded with advertising in this high-stakes electoral season. These states are growing more diverse; in Virginia, 3 in 4 new residents are people of color since 2000. But growth in diversity is not limited to the South: U.S. News and World Report states that Colorado Springs, CO and Henderson, NV have some of the fastest growing diversity rates in the country.

And as advertisers and candidates look to reach out to this growing, diverse population, finding the right voices to reach all segments of these areas — with voice actors who look and sound like the people moving into and living in these regions — will be the key to reaching voters for decades to come.

George Washington III is an 18 year veteran of the voice over industry based in Charlotte, NC. His voice has supported many national and local brands in television and radio, on the web, and on Internet radio like Spotify and Pandora. He has called Charlotte home for 22 years. You can find samples of his work at voevolution.com.

 

Stacy Abrams’ Fight Against Voter Suppression

Representation, Democratic Platform Issues

Legal attempts at voter suppression are nothing new, and thousands of voters have been purged from the voter rolls in two key 2020 election states; Georgia and Wisconsin. Judge Paul Malloy in Wisconsin ordered the removal of 234,000 names from the state’s voter rolls claiming an attempt to remove inactive voters, or ones that have not responded to address confirmations from election officials. To put it into perspective, that is roughly 7 percent of the electorate in the state. Donald Trump won Wisconsin in the 2016 presidential election by just 23,000 votes. According to the Wisconsin Election Commission, the removal of these voters was not planned to happen until 2021, but in response to a lawsuit from a conservative group, Judge Paul Malloy had ordered that the voters be removed 30 days after they fail to respond to election officials. In battleground states, Democrats and progressives cannot afford to lose votes through forced partisan bureaucracy.

An Ordered Purge

Four days after the judge’s ruling, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger ordered the removal of 309,000 names from the state’s voter rolls. That makes up about 4 percent of the electorate. In the state’s gubernatorial race between Stacy Abrams and Brian Kemp in 2018, Stacy Abrams failed to qualify for the runoff by 21,000 votes. The purge will remove the names of at least 100,000 who have chosen not to vote in previous elections. This is happening shortly before the state’s primary election. And, unfortunately – there isn’t enough political advertising or political voiceovers in the world to cut through the noise if people simply aren’t permitted to cast their votes.

The fear from voter advocates is that this purge is meant to affect those who are younger, and poor or disenfranchised people of color who move often and who predominantly lean democratic. The “use it or lose it” mentality will revoke Georgian residents’ right to vote simply because some couldn’t or chose not to vote in past elections. This all stems back to an Ohio Supreme Court ruling in 2018, split 5-4 along partisan lines, that allows Ohio election officials to remove names from the voter rolls they deem outdated, and requires those voters to re-register.

What It Means for the 2020 Election Season

As we get closer to the 2020 presidential election it is expected that we see even more types of voter suppression beyond closed polling stations, long lines at the polls, broken polling booths, and new identification laws. The challenge here is that even if you are able to get your political spots in front of the voters you need, they may not be able to cast their vote. This is why Stacy Abrams has started her own advocacy group called Fair Fight, in an effort to put voter advocates on the ground in 20 swing states to help combat efforts to suppress an American’s right to vote. The group has created programs with the aim to educate voters about their rights, advocating for election reform and assisting in voter registration.

So far, Fair Fight has assisted in filing lawsuits against the Georgia voter purge and has proposed a fine of $300,000 for the state’s failure to turn over paper ballots for recounts.

With Fair Fight, Stacy Abrams is working hard to ensure that all voters have the chance to cast a vote and have their voices heard in the upcoming general election. She has started a campaign to raise enough money so Fair Fight representatives can assist voters in fighting suppression in all 20 battleground states. As of now the group has raised nearly 15 million dollars towards this goal. More information can be found on the group’s website, https://fairfight.com/.

Sources:

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/474754-stacey-abrams-group-files-emergency-motion-to-stop-georgia-voting

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/12/gop-led-voter-purges-in-wisconsin-and-georgia-could-tip-2020-elections/

https://fairfight.com/latest-news/

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/6/11/17448742/ohio-voter-purge-supreme-court-ruling

Debbie Irwin is a Blue Wave voice talent and co-founder. To hear more of her work, visit DebbieIrwin.com.

Representation Matters in Political Commercials, Too

Advertising, Representation

The #RepresentationMatters conversation came to a head for film and TV casting, but it’s just as important in political advertising.

As we enter 2020, the Democratic primary field remains quite wide. Candidates and organizers are trying to gain traction in anyway they can. And in early caucus or primary states and battleground states, the candidates and ramping up their spending to entice voters to the polls in their favor. 

As campaigns and organizations purchase ad space on TV, radio and social media, many consultants and directors are putting representation at the center of their candidate introduction and image ads. 

Casting Controversies in Hollywood and Beyond

The #RepresentationMatters conversation has been coming to a head in Hollywood in recent years. Stories have emerged about gender equity, white washing, blackface and

Woman in a wheelchair on a date
Diversity doesn’t just mean including people of color in your advertising. Inclusion is about real inclusivity: different abled people, the LGBTQ+ community, age diversity, gender diversity and more.

yellowface from questionable past casting decisions. (Like, really – could anyone buy Emma Stone as being Asian American?)

And it’s flooding over into the world of advertising, too. During Advertising Week 2019, executives from media and analytics powerhouse Nielsen spoke about the importance of representation – in all forms – in advertising mediums.

“It’s imperative for media companies to include people from all walks of life in their efforts toward true representation. In addition to racial and ethnic diversity, representation in media must also include same gender couples, women, children, elders and people with disabilities both on and off the screen…”

Advertisers Who Are Doing It Right

David’s Bridal recently ran a campaign entitled “Rewrite The Rules” featuring a same-sex couple with two brides and a couple that had already started their family, pre-marriage. 

Coca-Cola’s 2018 Super Bowl commercial was focused mainly on diversity and inclusion. 

It’s been refreshing to see some brands smashing gender stereotypes, too. I really loved the Dad in the Tide commercial talking about laundry and attending his daughter’s tea party, among many others. 

Invite Folx To The Table

Diverse group of friends
People are empowered when they see themselves represented.

One way that creatives and advertisers are addressing the call for diversity and inclusion in advertising is involving diverse voices in the creative process. Laverne Cox, star of Orange Is The New Black, spoke with AdAge about having diversity in the writer’s rooms and at the table with decision makers. 

We know that Democrats need to build strength in diverse communities and with women in order to gain momentum and win the 2020 election, so what can political advertisers do to take on this challenge?

Three Ways Political Advertisers Can Avoid Missing The Mark

African American man recording
Look for different voice talents than those that sound like the way “it’s always been done.”
  1. Cast actors that look like America, TODAY. Look for on-camera actors that represent the diversity of the country. People of color. Americans with disabilities. Non-binary and transgender individuals. LGBTQ+ couples. Men and women of different shapes and sizes. Veterans. Think beyond the “standard” nuclear American family on milquetoast Main Street, USA.
  2. Find someone else besides Donald Sutherland and Morgan Freeman-types do read your voiceover copy. Engage freelance millennial talents. Seek out and hire voice actors from diverse backgrounds. Include women in a spec and don’t default to a male voice. Step outside of the booming “announcer” box and get your copy read by some talents that sound like real people. 
  3. Bring diverse voices and perspectives to the table. You’d be surprised what a different set of eyes might recognize. We digest things based on our backgrounds and you can’t possibly imagine how every single person will receive your message. Go beyond a traditional focus group and include outside perspectives earlier in the process. If you don’t, you might end up like South Dakota with a half million dollar joke on your hands. 

Maria Pendolino is a professional freelance voiceover actor and the talent coordinator for BlueWaveVoiceover.com. She is proudly dedicated to voicing for Democrats and progressives in the 2020 election cycle.  In her not-so-spare time, Maria created MillennialVoiceover.com, a hub that focuses on helping brands and companies “Speak Millennial.” You can find Maria’s voice on television, radio, streaming media platforms and on social media. Check out more of Maria’s work at www.voicebymaria.com. Maria was proud to be named to the 2019 class of 40 Under 40 in the Buffalo-Niagara region. She has also won two Voice Arts Awards for her voiceover work. Maria and her husband Eric, The Map Nerd, live in Buffalo. She is a member of the Buffalo Broadcasters Association, the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) and is active with the Ten Lives Club cat rescue organization. You can hit her up via email: maria@bluewavevoiceover.com or on Instagram @mariapendo.