Can't Stop, Won't Stop

I've done a lot this month that I'm proud of.  I've done a character voice a day for the Talktober 2019 challenge, put together in three YouTube videos.  I've finished the recording on my new character demo, which hopefully will be out by Halloween.  And episode 21 of Exoplanetary, where I had probably the second largest role behind the protagonist/narrator, was just released and it sounds amazing.  I submitted my entry for round one of the Evil Idol 2019 competition and I'm eagerly awaiting when it's time for it to go live. (11/22!)  I've worked with fantastic voice actors, script writers, directors, and sound people, and I've also gotten a slew of auditions out, probably more than I have any given month to this point.

Unfortunately, with very few exceptions people don't really see it.  As of writing this post I've got something like fourteen views and four upvotes on my Talktober "Day 1-4" video.  The others are about the same.  It really seems like the only people that actually listen to my stuff is my mom and a lovely core group of her close friends.  I think that not even my entire immediate family has taken the time to listen to everything, and hey you know they all lead busy lives.  But I can't even be sure if I'm reaching close friends who I interact with on a daily basis.  Certainly not more than a couple of them.  I don't even know if a tiny percentage of my 350-ish Twitter followers even slow down scrolling when I post something.

But I'm not going to stop.  People underestimate how hard it is to break through at all doing this.  You have to be screaming really loud (metaphorically) to get anyone to stop and take notice.  And it takes time.  It takes effort.  It takes commitment.  People have a lot going on.  Most of my friends and contacts are creatives just like me who are trying to get their stuff noticed as well and just have no time or spoons to give you a leg up.  I've got to do the climbing myself.

From what I've gathered, it takes bare minimum five years to even break into this industry in a minor way.  Some people are lucky and shoot straight to the top on a combination of talent and timing, but I don't believe in miracles.  It's been two, two and half, very good years training and working and practicing and experimenting and building and it's going to take at least two or three more.  I'm in it for the long haul.  I may not believe in miracles but I do believe that hard work and commitment leads to mastery and eventually someone will pick up what I've been putting down.

Let's be clear, I do not expect to be nor at all want to be a celebrity.  I just want to do what I love full time and make a decent career out of it.  This is something I'm good at, but more importantly it's something I can't NOT do.  It took me over thirty years to find that thing that feeds my soul, and for better or for worse I've locked myself into it wearing a shit-eating grin the whole way.

For all my rambling, the reason I have been going on about this is to say two things:  One, I'm not going to stop.  Not now, not ever.  And two, for those of you who do come here and read these or who stop by and leave a Like on my YouTube channel or give me a Retweet on Twitter.  I fucking appreciate the hell out of you.  Every one of you five or six astonishing, beautiful people.  And I won't let you down.

"Ever tried.

Ever failed.

No matter.

Try again.

Fail again.

Fail better."

--Samuel Beckett

Hello, Evil Idol 2019 and Talktober 2019!

Okay, so uh...wow.  I have been surprisingly busy.  I'm starting to get the idea that this is the new normal for me and instead of waiting for a chance to come up for air I should just plan to bring a SCUBA tank.  Scheduling and planning my time, especially with my ADD, is crucial for me or else everything falls apart and uh...explodes.

Real quick, here's a summary of what I've been up to before we get into some major
 updates.

AUDITIONS: They continue.
CLASSES: I had my ADR class with Tony Oliver and Bang Zoom!  We worked with actual, professional material and I have never felt more confident in my dubbing ability.  It was an absolutely amazing class and I learned a ton.
NEW DEMO: In progress. Voice actors and producers are incredibly busy and it is a bit of chore to schedule out the time needed for recording.  I hope to have the live direction with my director done by the end of the month.
RELEASES: The monster voices I did for The Protectors game mod for Warlords Battlecry 3 are now available, and I'm recording even more!  The episode of the Exoplanetary podcast I co-starred in should be out very soon as well!  Also, Existential Chris, where I play Grandpa Joe, is reaching its season finale!

(Art by Thunderb0lt)

Now, what I really want to mention is that I have been accepted into round one of the Evil Idol 2019 horror narration competition!  If you've come here from Chilling Tales for Dark Nights, the official contestants page, or links from YouTube, welcome to my little slice of the internet.  I've submitted my entry, but since only one contestant is going to be featured per day you won't get to hear my story until November 22nd!  Closer to that date I will remind everyone about it, and encourage you to vote for me if you liked it.  Audience opinion is super important and I appreciate everyone who stops by to read this.

Next, I'm also participating in the daily Talktober 2019 challenge this month!  I've already posted the first four days on my YouTube channel and Twitter.  I hope you enjoy it, especially as we get closer and closer to 31 unique character voices!  I'll most likely keep posting them in batches of four or five as I go.

Finally, I just wanted to touch on something else I'm really excited about -- I'm dipping my toes into the wonderful world of making audiodramas!  I've completed a draft script for a short, five to ten minute "episode" that I'm going to produce with some collaborating voice actors I know from Discord and/or Twitter.  I don't want to go into too much detail yet, but it's going to be real metal.  Just wait!