Social Media

Black Panther Sounding Voice Actors

May 2, 2024 by Maria Pendolino

There is no denying Black Panther’s power in diversity and representation for POC as a force in mainstream pop culture. Our diverse voiceover talent roster at Blue Wave includes professional Black Panther Sounding Voice Actors.

Never before was Black culture so proudly and positively celebrated on such a large cinematic scale than in Black Panther and its sequel Wakanda Forever. The word groundbreaking is used a lot but the Black Panther films created a wave of never-before-seen African culture that cinema historically demeaned by showing it as backward and savage. From costume to hair to showing a technologically advanced AfroFuturistic society, the films challenged these stereotypes and broke box office records. By embracing its identity and harnessing its natural resources, the nation of Wakanda was seen as a culturally rich and wealthy African society which was entirely new for audiences.

Although Hollywood repeatedly said that Black focused big budget movies weren’t financially successful, the films earned over $2 billion globally. The franchise won four Academy Awards, two of which were for Best Costume Design, and it earned Angela Bassett an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress as the grieving but still powerful Queen Ramonda in Wakanda Forever.

As a genre film whose lead character was a Black African superhero with a cast and director representing both African and African Americans, its impact was felt by fans all over the world.

Black Panthers Rock the Vote: #WakandaTheVote

An action superhero film inspiring voter registration? In 2018, when Black Panther opened, it helped spawn a movement to register black voters via text at movie theaters across the country. Even Kamala Harris praised the movement in a tweet. The organization’s founders saw that if waves of Black filmgoers would come out to see the film then why not seize the moment and register them to vote? Tying the film into politics is not a big stretch because amidst car flips and gravity-defying jumps, the film’s themes are political too. According to Vox, the movement’s efforts to mobilize Black voter registration was representative of the Black Panther film itself as “the strength of black communities and the political and cultural power of art.”

The Power of Representation and Diverse Story-telling

In an age where the pulse of pop culture trends are dictated by social media, Black Panther’s cultural impact on representation, specifically for young Black kids, was bolstered by #WhatBlackPantherMeansToMe in 2018. Kids were excited to see characters who looked like them in a positive way on the big screen. Not only kids but women of color who “geeked” over science and technology saw themselves in Shuri, the young genius inventor (and eventual Black Panther) of Wakanda’s technology. Dark-skinned Black women saw themselves too in powerful warrior women like Ayo and Okoye, the highly skilled bodyguards of Wakanda. In Wakanda Forever, the film’s producers widened the cultural scope by casting a Mexican actor whose villain comes from an indigenous and Mayan-influenced society.

When the first film premiered, Black Panther himself Chadwick Boseman was well on his way to a career-defining change on a global scale with audiences already deeply connected to his character. Although he died before the sequel, the Black Panther films secure his legacy as a positive and powerful Black superhero who broke barriers and left an indelible mark in fans’ hearts.

Hiring More Black and African American Voiceover Talent

Although Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was released in 2022, the franchise’s impact is still felt with a wider range of narratives from Black creators and audiences seeing more diverse superheroes on the screen. The cast in both Black Panther films represent an array of Black talent whether it’s powerful mature actors like Angela Bassett or Forest Whitaker or younger talent like Letitia Wright or Lupita N’Yongo who are paving the way for more nuanced Black narratives on screen.

If you’re looking to hire more professional Black and African American voiceover talent or searching for a voice that sounds like an actor from Black Panther, Blue Wave is proud to feature our roster. Whether you’re looking for someone who represents Millennial, Baby Boomer, Gen Z or Gen X voices or you need a certain regional accent or a neutral sounding dialect, our talent will amplify your message!

You’ll find professional voiceover artists at Blue Wave Voiceover who can help you build your powerful and impactful message. You can search through our Black and African American talent or see our list below for a voice that sounds like a character from the Black Panther movies.

Looking for Black Panther Sounding Voice Actors?

Voiceover like Angela Bassett “Queen Ramonda”
powerful, conversational, authoritative, warm
Cenophia Mitchell

Voiceover like Chad Boseman “T’Challa and Black Panther” / Michael B. Jordan “Killmonger”/ Sterling K. Brown “N’Jobu”
conversational, millennial, resonant, cool, relatable, professional
Zippy Kaufman
Andrew Lander
André Santana

Voiceover like Lupita N’Yongo “Nakia”/ Danai Gurira “Okoye” / Letitia Wright “Shuri”
confident, compelling, sassy, authentic, warm, friendly, millennial
Erikka J
Danielle Famble
Kesha Monk
Carolina Hoyos

Voiceover like Forest Whitaker “Zuri”
resonant, memorable, authoritative, convincing
George Washington III

Just to put a pin in it, Blue Wave Voiceover does not provide celebrity impressionists, tribute acts, spot-on voice matches, or synthetic copies of celebrity voices.

Diverse Gen Z Voiceover Talents

August 30, 2023 by Maria Pendolino

Wondering Why Hiring Diverse Gen Z Voiceover Talents For Your Political Spots Is Important?

Let’s See Who Gen Z Is And What They Care About!

Diverse Voiceover Talent! But, Who Is Gen Z?

Born between the 1990’s and 2010s and coming after the Millennial generation and before Generation Alpha, Generation Z (also known as Gen Z) has become an influential demographic in the political landscape of the United States. Gen Z is considered to be one of the most diverse generations in US history, largely due to increased immigration and increased birth rates among non-majority groups. A Gallup survey noted that about 21% of Gen Z’ers who have reached adulthood identify as LGBT.

What Matters to Gen Z?

Andre Santana image for diverse gen z voiceover talents article — André Santana, Hispanic & Latino Bilingual Voiceover

An estimated 24 million Gen Zers were eligible to vote in 2020, making up 10% of the total voting population. An article by The Hill attributes the strong young voter turnout to a number of factors that include “racial injustice, global climate change, and voter suppression, as well as increased efforts by educators to reach students and connect them to the issues and to voting resources.” The Gen Z voter turnout will only continue to grow with coming elections.

As the most racially and ethnically diverse voters, Gen Z has shown over the past few elections to favor progressive policies and candidates, including Democratic positions on topics such as abortion and reproductive justice, and inclusion. Having grown up with limitless access to information and news through social media and the internet, Gen Z has developed a heightened sense of social responsibility and concern about issues such as climate change, racial justice, and LGBTQ+ rights. It will be critical to understand and address the key issues that matter to Gen Z who not only care about societal and cultural issues but are engaged and want to see change happen.

Authenticity in Social Media Captures Gen Z Votes

By 2028, Gen Z and Millennials will make up the largest voting demographic, with Gen Z becoming the voting majority in the next five or so years. As Gen Z continues to become a strong voting demographic, it will be important for candidates to reach this younger audience through non-terrestrial media channels such as TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube with compelling campaigns, messaging, and positioning in order to secure the Gen Z votes not only in the near future but over their lifetime.

As the generation that has grown up deeply surrounded by technology, social media, and the internet, Gen Z are often referred to as “digital natives,” easily navigating digital platforms and online communications, and becoming early adopters of new apps and social media trends.

An estim

ated 60% of Gen Z voters leaned Democrat compared to 33% who leaned Republican, highlighting a generational divide in political ideologies as compared to previous generations. According to this article, Gen Z’s voting influence led to Democratic victories in battleground statewide contests, secured majority seats in the United States Senate, and President Biden’s 2020 victory.

For progressive and Democratic candidates, this momentum offers an opportunity to secure long-term support and a strong voter base for years to come from Gen Z. Actively engaging with this population and advocating for policies that align with their values while effectively communicating stances on issues that resonate with this population will make the difference in future election cycles. Gen Z is known for valuing authenticity in all aspects, including content they consume.

Work with Diverse Gen Z Voiceover Talent for Your Next Campaign

Amplifying this message by working with a Gen Z voiceover actor who is a part of this target audience establishes credibility and builds trust in campaigns and television or radio spots. When it comes to campaign content, working with Gen Z voiceover actors who can convey genuine emotions, relatability, and sincere passion for a range of social issues that are important to this audience can enhance your campaign’s impact.

With Gen Z at the forefront of the latest trends, memes, and cultural references, the professional Gen Z voiceover artists at Blue Wave Voiceover understand and incorporate these elements to add relevance and connect with this influential audience.

The wide range of Diverse Gen Z Voiceover Talents at Blue Wave Voiceover includes a diverse group of male, female, and non-binary professionals ensuring that your campaign has the authenticity that this demographic wants. Explore demos or request samples from the experienced roster of talent including, but not limited to, Allegra Verlezza, Cherie B. Tay, Sura Siu, Javier Prusky, and André Santana.

Blue Wave Voiceover Featured on ProductionHub!

October 4, 2020 by Maria Pendolino

We are thrilled to share that Blue Wave Voiceover was featured this week on ProductionHub’s blog! ProductionHub is a global network of local crew and vendors that serves the film and video production industry. You can find and hire anything you need, whether it’s voiceover artists like those here at Blue Wave Voiceover, a cameraman for one day, a video editor for one month or a full-time producer. Since launching in 1999, ProductionHub has grown beyond a simple directory into the most trusted resource for finding qualified and experienced crew, vendors and employees. ProductionHub is truly your film and video production partner.

Here’s an excerpt from the blog article, but you can read the whole thing on ProductionHub here!

The 2020 election cycle has seen record ad spending as candidates vie for the attention of voters who have spent the last six months home consuming content on every device imaginable. But even before the COVID-19 pandemic began, the Democratic primary was the most expensive in history, with $1 billion in campaign media spend.

Is all that political ad money being well spent? Only if it reaches the ever-changing American electorate. If candidates want to appeal to a diverse group of voters, they need to use authentic voiceovers in their ads. That’s why we launched Blue Wave Voiceover in January, a collective of Democratic and progressive voiceover talents who look and sound like America in 2020. And, why we joined ProductionHub – to meet other professionals in the political media production chain.

We are diverse, full-time voiceover artists working from state-of-the-art home recording studios, with microphones from brands like Sennheiser and Neumann and sound isolation booths like the StudioBricks One and OnePlus, and Whisper Rooms. Every day we connect to studios and production facilities around the world using remote connectivity options like SourceConnect, ISDN, ipDTL, Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, or a good, ol’ fashioned analog phone patch.

Because the political advertising and news cycle moves so quickly, we made broadcast-quality home studios a requirement. We’re ready to turn spots around at a moment’s notice. It’s not uncommon to get a request at the end of the day on Friday so it can traffic over the weekend. It made us unbelievably well-positioned to continue working uninterrupted through the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve always known that acting isn’t a 9-5 job.

Thanks again to ProductionHub for featuring us on their blog!

The Generational Divide of Social Media

January 18, 2020 by Maria Pendolino

Spoiler Alert: Gen Z isn’t hanging out on Facebook with your Aunt Diane and her six cats.

Blue Wave Voiceover Social Media Images on iPhone — So many chat apps, so little time.

Kids these days, amirite? Every day there’s another social media platform. Another app. Another place to find content. Create content. Put content. You name it – it’s happening in the digital ecosystem. But what’s interesting is that the generational divide of social media is beginning to appear across the different content platforms. And perhaps the mighty titans that seemingly built Silicon Valley into the buzzword it is today are beginning to show some cracks in their foundations. Some signs of aging. Does Olay have a cream for that, too?

Competing for Attention

Advertisers are competing for eyeballs. (And earballs? If that’s a thing? Ok, maybe we’ll just stick with eyes and ears.) And they’re competing every second of every day. And in 2020, that goes doubly for political campaigns and advertisers that have a very short runway to work with in launching their message. Whether that’s with live action commercials with actors, national voiceover talents and a full production budget or quick and dirty animated videos with freelance VO artists under an ultra low budget. In order to gain market share, attention, visibility and more – answer this first question: where are those eyes and ears that everyone is so desperately trying to reach? The answer isn’t simple because we’re not all hanging out in the same place.

A Media for Each in the Generational Divide

It used to be easy to reach people on a Thursday night with a powerful brand campaign, product launch, candidate ad, or a water-cooler conversation- funny spot. (Paging, Geico!) When you only had a handful of television stations to choose from, and the internet was just homemade Geocities fan pages dedicated to Tickle Me Elmo and Michael Jordan. But now, a primetime television show on network TV might only pull in a few million viewers, while a viral cat video on YouTube could rack up more than 100 million views.

So – which generations are hanging out where? Gen Z and Millennials can be found on fledgling video networks TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram as their primary social media platforms. And they use and access multiple platforms per day. They’re also huge consumers of video content on YouTube and were at the forefront of the cord-cutting movement – leaving cable in the dust for platforms like Hulu, Pluto, YouTube TV, Sling, and the new Disney+.

Is Facebook Losing Steam?

According to a social media study published on TheManifest.com, Facebook’s popularity is steeply declining with Gen Z, with only 36% surveyed using the platform regularly. A huge difference compared to surveyed Baby Boomers – 96% and Gen Xers – 90% who reported using Facebook regularly.

And when it comes to political advertising buys, you have the added difficulty of some platforms drawing lines in the sand. We’ve recently seen Google, Twitter, and Spotify say that they don’t want to play in the political commercials game. Or at least, they’re getting very picky about it. Getting content in front of the right people on the right platforms is not only crucial, but it’s also getting harder by the day.

Key Considerations in the Generational Divide of Social Media

So, before making your ad buy decisions – consider some key questions:

Who are you targeting – what are the age ranges/generations of your primary targets?
What social media platforms are you more likely to find your targets on? Do those platforms allow political advertising messages?
What type of advertising (video, audio) is most effective on your target platforms?

Blue Wave Voiceover Elderly people on swing — It’s OK boomers – we all love you. Just check Snopes next time before you post that chain letter on Facebook.

This can help ensure your ad dollars go further and you reach the buyers – and voters – that you most want to communicate with and influence.

Maria Pendolino is the powerhouse talent behind Voice By Maria and is the founder of MillennialVoiceover.com, a website dedicated to help brands and companies “Speak Millennial.” She’s a nationally repped voice talent that regularly works on television, radio and social media advertising campaigns. If you’re looking to hire a freelance female voiceover talent, you can check out her portfolio of work at www.voicebymaria.com. Maria is also proud to be the Voiceover Talent Coordinator for Blue Wave Voiceover. She can be reached via email at casting@bluewavevoiceover.com.

The FTC Has A New Disclosure 101 Guide for Social Media Influencers

January 18, 2020 by Maria Pendolino

The digital media ecosystem is murky – at best – when it comes to advertising regulations, so the FTC has made a handy-dandy guide to help!

Blue Wave Voiceover Influencers — If you don’t take a picture of your food, did you even eat it?

As social media channels grow in number, so too grows the number of influencers in the marketplace. By definition, an influencer is a person who has grown a following and has the ability or power to actually influence the decisions of those who read their posts. And, in some cases, hang on every word they say. Gen Z, Millennials and heck, even Baby Boomers follow influencers. According to a report published by Morning Consult, 72% of Gen Z and Millennials surveyed said they at least follow some influencers. It’s not surprising that brands, advertisers and even candidates are turning to these social media mavens to get their message across.

Hello, Elizabeth Warren and Jonathan Van Ness!

Celebrity vs. Influencers vs. Kid With Good Camera

Now, not every influencer is created equal. An influencer can be a legitimate and talented celebrity (and multi-hyphenate) – the Jonas Brothers (musical group), Ellen DeGeneres (television host, philanthropist, LGBTQ+ icon) and Reese Witherspoon (actor, producer, designer) come to mind under this category. An influencer can also be a personality – the entire Kardashian and Jenner clan come to mind here. Under momager Kris Jenner’s watchful eye and incredible business acumen, it seems like they are famous just for being famous. There are YouTube celebrities, like JoJo Siwa, who have amassed millions of adoring fans outside of the realm of the traditional Hollywood and media machines. And finally we reach: the rest of them. People who are actively trying to amass followers on Instagram or YouTube by taking pictures of their food until it gets cold, begging hotels to give them free nights in exchange for “exposure or coverage” and sometimes the people we read about who fall off of cliffs in pursuit of the most amazing selfie.

Enter: The FTC

But, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) doesn’t care if you have one follower or one hundred million followers. Rules and regulations for traditional media (things like false advertising and claims) have been pretty clear and well-policed, with a formal mechanism for complaints and actions. To help influencers understand the rules they must adhere to, the FTC recently released a document called Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers.

“The FTC works to stop deceptive ads, and its Endorsement Guides go into detail about how advertisers and endorsers can stay on the right side of the law.”

Most homegrown content producers probably weren’t thinking about advertising regulations when they went out and asked for products to review or crafted creative giveaways to gain followers. But, as the monetizing revolution started, it was clear that posting pictures, notes and videos on social media was beyond just communicating with your inner circle. It was a way to gain a following and make money. The largest talent agencies now have divisions that are dedicated to influencers and brokering relationships between “the talent” and brands and products.

So, if you want to engage an influencer to promote your brand, product, cause, candidate or issue – what do you need to know?

When To Disclose

On page 3 of the guide, the FTC says to “disclose when you have any financial, employment, personal or family relationship with a brand.” And the FTC makes the distinction that a financial relationship doesn’t have to be just money. Hello: free products have real value.

Blue Wave Voiceover Millennial putting on makeup and perfume — Hey guys, so many of you have asked about my skin care routine. Here are the 37 products I use!

How To Disclose

On page 4 of the guide, the FTC says “Make sure people will see and understand the disclosure.” They recommend placing it front and center so that it’s hard to miss. They also go into recommendations on how to accomplish disclosures in picture posts, video posts and live streams. The FTC also calls out using simple language – while Gen Z and Millennials are all about the abbrevs. LOL, JK, lmao, brb – just using the hashtag #spon isn’t good enough. Stay away from abbreviations or anything that could be construed as confusing or having a second meaning.

What Else To Know About Influencers

The FTC calls out that you can’t “talk about your experience with a product you haven’t tried.” If you want to be the authentic spokesman for the Hair Club for Men, and tell people how well the product worked for you – you actually do need to be a club member. They also call out on page 6 of the guide that “you can’t make up claims about a product that would require proof the advertiser doesn’t have…” Claims like this have been particularly challenging in the herbal supplement space, the fitness and weight loss space and the skin care space. (The Kardashians have been flagged a few times.)

If you want any more information about staying above board with influencers, endorsements and ads on social media and beyond, checkout the FTC’s microsite here at: FTC.gov/influencers.

Maria Pendolino is the founder and voiceover coordinator for talent at BlueWaveVoiceover.com. In addition to her freelance political voiceover work for democrats and progressives, Maria founded MillennialVoiceover.com, a website that focuses on helping brands and companies “Speak Millennial.” Maria is repped by talent agencies internationally and her voice can be heard on TV, terrestrial & satellite radio and in pre-roll campaigns on social media platforms. Maria’s portfolio of work and demos can be found at: www.voicebymaria.com. She is a two-time Voice Arts Award winner and was also named to Buffalo’s 40 Under 40 for 2019. She lives in Buffalo, New York with her husband Eric, The Map Nerd, and their three rescue cats Two Scoops, Nellie and Mozzie. Feel free to reach out at casting@bluewavevoiceover.com with comments/questions.