WEtransfer Pitch
See? I told you. I’m on the cover.
Hit the play button. Thanks.
Welcome to Funny Voices in Small Padded Rooms
It’s based around an idea I came up with in 1998; to sell my digitally-recorded voice on the internet. That ideation ultimately led to the creation of the on-line voiceover industry that exists today. This book offers a glimpse into the real truth behind the VO industry; the inventor’s perspective if you will.
With respect to WePresent’s criteria for submission:
“We are looking for unexpected stories about creativity. We don’t want to tell the same sorts of stories everyone else is telling…..”
This is – literally – an unexpected story about creativity.
In the late 1990’s, I had to get really creative to make a living with my voice outside of radio broadcasting; the career just wasn’t viable, I was making barely enough to afford a used car and an apartment…..
By way of my creative drive, I unwittingly invented a digital industry which thousands of people around the globe now make their living; creating and selling voiceover content from home. Sadly, many are still recording from their closet at home…
I’m working on that…..
The subject matter is incredibly unique……including how the information is presented. Using sound effects, voiceover actors, images, text and pure madness the book weaves comedy, drama and sound design to tell the story of the modern-day voiceover industry….
If this book serves its true purpose, the reader won’t be interested in buying subsequent books in the series; it’s intended to provide the reader with the honest truth about an industry where the sale of dreams is a primary commodity…..
“We like pushing the definition of “creativity” as far as possible….”
Go ahead. Download an audiobook/ebook from Audible, Apple, Amazon….whatever. You’ll be hard pressed to find this type of book, quality of narration and sound design anywhere. From anyone.
Why? Good question!
It’s too expensive to produce this kind of product for the average author. I wrote, narrated, recorded and produced everything myself and of course, shot all the images; including this big, bad boy at the end of my driveway….
There’s an epic story behind that picture.
I created a type of publication that I don’t think anyone has ever done. It’s a game-changer in the ebook/audiobook industry the way I see it…..
“We are always interested in work-in-progress and behind-the-scenes stuff that adds real insight.”
This book has been a six-year work-in-progress and will be released shortly; the first in a series. I’m currently formatting it for publication while working on this website. The second book in the series is in development and should be released in the Spring/Summer of 2022.
An interesting story about the cover art…..
The boys in the black and white shot in the middle are the guys I grew up with in Winnipeg; circa late 1970’s. Ernie Sousae, who is at the front of the picture, set up the shot with his camera. It was taken at Don’s farm (the guy with the shotgun) during a boy’s weekend.
I’m pretty sure it didn’t occur to Ernie that:
One, this black and white photograph would make the cover of my book 40 years later and…
Two, his yet-to-be-born daughter, Kiana, would design the cover; inspired by this very photo, which I had simply tossed into the mix with the rest of the visuals.
I mean c’mon, putting a cool picture of your Dad in his teens on the cover of a book…that’s a no-brainer. I love her choice and her work.
With the color scheme of the website, the thought occurred to me that my parrot Buddy has all the colors I’ll ever need. So, I snapped a few HD shots of his plumage to create digital color swatches.
Hey, Buddy’s voice is in the book, he’s on the cover…. why not have the colors of his feathers all over the website too? I never would have thought a parrot could make such a significant contribution….
Behind the scenes stuff…..? Hmmmm…..what do you need? Sky is the limit over here…..I’ve got ten stories for every sound effect 😉.
“We know the creative process is not always straightforward. We want to tell those stories too…”
Six years. Many curves…..a lot of cliffs. The creative process was anything but straightforward.
For every edit to text, there was a corresponding edit to audio…..or SFX, or mix. Then there’s the creation of SFX elements – recording somebody being whacked in the head by pounding on a bag of limestone screening with a cane hand made in Cuba…..
The SFX of an “icepick in the forehead” using eggshells and a butter knife…..walking around with a microphone/recorder strapped to my head…..
Then, a cast of 11 unique vocal actors (many professional colleagues) contributing to the madness…..
My parrot introduces chapters….the sounds of nature that surrounds me everyday recorded using high-end (and low end) audio gear. Then, I had to figure out a way to use the sound in a way that was engaging, informative or funny…..like talking to a dead fish on the shoreline….
Most people type words using their imagination. I went with a different approach, using sound for imagination and inspiration; leveraging the feelings/emotions/memories the audio brought to the creative process. In many cases, the sound wrote the story; I was just the conductor….
No…….not straightforward. Ever. It couldn’t be, otherwise it would not have been created.
You have to hear it to fully understand just how unique this piece of work is. It has a run time of two hours.
BTW, this website is a WIP, so please accept my apologies if things look a little funky here and there. You can view my professional website here.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this presentation. Buddy and I thank you for listening….and for your professional consideration.
Kind regards,
Todd Schick & Buddy The Bird