Who knew? I sure didn’t. I signed with the Charles Stern Agency
in 1971 as a know-it-all voice actor and I’ve found I still don’t
know it all. In this almost 30-year growth spurt I found a need for
a listing reference. In the beginning, I attended workshops, privates
and workout groups. I then moved on to changing VO Agents. I’m
up to number 6. All this time learning the names of Ad Agencies, Recording
Studios, Agents and the abbreviations of all the above. They’ll
never stay the same. After taking classes from our industry’s
top professionals and working a good deal of the time, I started teaching
my own workshops from 1980 – 1998.
It was in ’88 while in the waiting room of the Voicecaster when
I reached into my back pocket and took out a folded up listing of studios
and casting houses to plan how I was going to get to where I was going
next. A few of the actors in the Voicecaster waiting room noticed my
tattered list and asked me for a copy. It was that night when reflecting
over the days events that I decided to go to press with the Voice Over
Guide. I expanded my back pocket list with free listings and added categories.
I had a few thousand Voice Over Guides printed at my own expense and
started handing them out wherever I went. The response was always positive.
Many people gave insight as to how they used my six panel, two fold
handout and far more asked me to expand the listings, which I did. By
late 1993 the VOG expanded to a six panel, three fold and I was printing
and distributing 5-7000 each quarter. Over the first ten years many
recording studios, production companies, workshops and duplicators called
and wanted to buy Ad space and after much research I decided to launch
the FULL COLOR, Advertiser Supported, Voice Over Resource Guide.
Whatever the personal cost, humanitarianism aside, it was time to expand
not only the listings, but the categories as well. If I were booking
as many sessions in a day as ONE VO actor I can think of, I would publish
bullish-ly at my own expense and not take Advertising. The VORG accepts
display advertising, which is necessary for survival. I sometimes feel
that more importantly the Ads provide as much information about our
industry as the free listings do. This issue’s 48 pages has grown
from our 36 page, Oct ’98 Premiere. With your support we’ll
continue to expand. With hundreds of changes per quarter, I feel proud
of all the additions we’ve made along the way. I hope you enjoy
our service and growth as much as we thrive to bring it to you.
- Dave Sebastian Williams
Editor-In-Chief
VORG
issues #6 & #30
