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Official publication of the Philadelphia Local of The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

AFTRA PHILADELPHIA ANNUAL MEETING

Smokin’ Joe Frazier and well-known philanthropist and publisher Kal Rudman were

some of the AFTRA members who mixed and mingled at this year’s membership

meeting and raffle held on April 27 at Paddy Whacks Pub 2nd & South Street in

Philadelphia. Other special guests included Nick Alpers, Mobilization Coordinator, Phila-

delphia Council, AFL-CIO, and newly franchised agent Pat Yorks of Agency Connects.

The Bill Evans Award was presented to Helen and Tom McNutt in appre-

ciation of their combined 35 years of tireless advocacy on behalf of televi-

sion and radio artists in Philadelphia and across the country. Joe Conklin kicked

off the event with his own brand of comedy and the evening was more than

adequately emceed by Board Member Chuck Varesko. President Catherine

Brown and Executive Director Stephen Leshinski delivered annual reports as well.

Among the raffle prizes were a signed boxing glove donated by Joe Frazier and

personalized wine from Pierre Robert. Both Joe and Pierre pulled the winning tickets for

their donated prizes. Money from the profitable raffle will go towards The Bill Bransome

and Ed Sciaky Scholarship Funds. These funds honor Bill Bransome, KYW newscaster,

long-time Local President and Board member, shop steward and driving force behind

the establishment of our Philadelphia Local, and Ed Sciaky, longtime Board member, shop

steward and well-known Philadelphia radio personality. The Funds will provide scholar-

ships to student enrolled in broadcast and entertainment programs in area colleges.

Donations to the Scholarship Funds are still being accepted. Please send

checks or money orders payable to “AFTRA” directly to the AFTRA office.

(L-R) Tom McNutt, Helen McNutt and Catherine Brown.

Smokin’ Joe Frazier with glove winner Victoria Dalton.

(L-R) 1st VP Chuck Varesko; author and KYW reporter Paul Kurtz, and Metro Traffic reporter Sam Clover.

(Back row L-R) Victoria Dalton, Sandee Clark Bengel (Front row L-R) Carol Anne Mueller, Jennifer Butler, Sara

Jane Blazo, Cyndy Drue. (Photo by Cecil Parker.)

“Good Wife actress Helen Chongwith Rob Charry of WIP.

Photos by Cyndy Drue unless oth-erwise credited.

2

CAST & CREWEditor

Shelley FiguresContributing Editors

Stephen LeshinskiChuck Varesko

STAFFExecutive Director

Stephen LeshinskiAssociate Executive Director

Shelley FiguresContracts/Signatory Admin.

Lynn KoenigsbergBenefits & Membership Admin

Michele Dooley

LOCAL BOARD OF DIRECTORSPresident , National VP

Catherine Brown1st Vice President

Chuck Varesko2nd Vice President

Dick Sheeran Secretary

Cyndy Drue Treasurer

Ed FischerBoard MembersRob Charry, Sam Clover, John De Domenico, Paul Kurtz, Sylvia Kauders, Volieda Webb, Susan Moses, M.J. Myers, Bill Shusta, Christy Springfield

NATIONAL BOARD MEMBERSSusan Moses, Bill Shusta

SESSIONSOfficial publication of the Philadelphia American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.www.aftra.com/philadelphia.htm

AFTRA PHILADELPHIA

230 South Broad St., Suite 500 Philadelphia215.732.0507Download Sessions at:

www.aftraphiladelphia.com/sessions

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

In Memoriam — Don Lancer

Don Lancer, 68, of King of Prussia, a news anchor and

business reporter at KYW NewsRadio from 1970 to

2008 died of lung cancer Monday, April 25, at his home.

Mr. Lancer was born in Auburn, N.Y. where he gradu-

ated from Central High School. Before he started at KYW

Lancer was news director in Buffalo for WKBW radio.

Lancer briefly left KYW for a talk-show host position

on sister station WPHT (1210 AM) but returned to KYW

a month later to do business reports. In comments on the

station’s website, Harry Donahue, (a longtime Lancer colleague) stated that Mr. Lancer “loved

putting together an entertaining show, an informative show, and he could do it with style.”

Bill Roswell, director of digital news and media at KYW, said he had seen Mr. Lanc-

er’s daily effort since he joined the station in 1980. When he was a daytime news anchor,

Roswell said, Mr. Lancer “was on the air for a total of three hours, with five hours” of prep-

aration. Roswell said Mr. Lancer took his last name “from a car in the parking lot of a radio

station” where a boss required him to change his name. His given name was Donald E. Kelsh Jr.

Call and response is a traditional form of spontaneous communi-

cation that dates back hundreds of years. In these modern times

it comes to mind as AFTRA launches the process that could

mean a revolutionary change for our union. That would be AFTRA and

SAG moving to form a new successor union. To be sure, AFTRA is call-

ing on you to be part of this critical process. AFTRA National President

Roberta Reardon long ago made the commitment that every sector of

AFTRA membership must have a voice and a place in a successor union.

So it’s only right that we all respond to the call to be active in its creation.

Learn more by reading your AFTRA magazine and checking out the One Union updates online at

aftra.com. I’m honored that President Reardon appointed me to the AFTRA New Union Committee.

We’ll be getting to work very soon, and I hope you will too. That’s the Call. Awaiting Your Response!

AFTRA-thought:

Insurance or weight loss? You pay for an insurance policy and hope nothing bad happens. If

something bad happens, your insurance policy is there to handle it. You pay to join a weight loss

program and you hope you can reach your goal. But the only way to reach your goal is for

you to work at it. Sweat equity! AFTRA, your union is not your insurance policy. AFTRA is your

weight loss program. You get the most out of it only when you invest some sweat equity! It’s

the ultimate interactive experience. Join. Commit. Work. And let’s reap the rewards, together!

In Solidarity,

Catherine

By Catherine Brown, Philadelphia AFTRA President, National Vice President

Have something to share with Philadelphia AFTRA members? Maybe a comment or an

article? An op-ed piece or a how-to? Contact Sessions via email:

sessions@aftraphiladelphia.com

3

THE DIRECTOR’S CHAIR By Stephen Leshinski

AFTRA Philadelphia Executive Director

It’s a Small World

Maybe it’s because my daughter just turned four and wants to go

back to Disney World (never) but this has been on my mind

lately when I think about AFTRA: who we are and what we do.

We have had three tri-union workshops since we started the program

last fall and at each event I was struck by how many people already knew

each other and how many dual and tri-union members we already had.

I was also struck by how many people wear so many different hats, wheth-

er it was television reporters attending an audio-books seminar, or radio DJs

who had significant freelance earnings as part of their tax return statements,

or stage actors who supplemented their income with radio commercials.

The point is that our members are part of a larger community and

we are all only two or three degrees from each other even though

the Philadelphia area market is one of the biggest in the country.

This has been on my mind as the discussions for a New Union enter

a new phase and the nuts and bolts of the planning start to take shape.

Watching Comcast purchase NBC reminds us that the companies we deal

with figured out a long time ago that there is power in numbers, or in their

case, dollars. And as the total number of these employers shrink into a hand-

ful of mega-entities, our own power becomes diminished unless we can

grow in similar ways. Technological developments have also made it a “small-

er world” as more and more people have access to the type of work that

we’ve always considered “AFTRA jurisdiction.”

The vision of a New Union is not just to

make things more convenient or to stream-

line contract negotiations. The vision of a New

Union is for there to be an organization of radio, television, screen, and

new media actors who can continue to be a voice in the industry that

will secure decent wages, benefits, and working conditions for the profes-

sional men and women who make it possible for the industry to exist at all.

In addition to attending Tri-Union workshops and planning meetings

as a way to stay involved, you can have an impact on this New Union

movement right from home! Members are beginning to organize house

parties with AFTRA staff and board members as invited guests to discuss

all the moving parts of a New Union and keep the lines of communica-

tion open as we spend the next 6-9 months planning this new chapter.

If you are interested in more information on the New Union move-

ment and have friends and colleagues equally interested, please sched-

ule a house party at your house or in your neighborhood and get the

conversation going. If we can do this the right away and create a

new organization for AFTRA and SAG members whether the world

feels big or small our New Union will have a new LOUD VOICE.

Local Board News

New Board Member Volieda Webb.

Tom McNutt’s exit from the Local Board of Directors left an opening which has been

filled by Volieda Webb. Ms. Webb brings a fresh face to the AFTRA Board and has hit

the ground running with ideas for more outreach into the performing community.

Ms. Webb has an oncology nursing background and is employed at Fox Chase Cancer Center.

Her long time interest in the performing arts lead her to take acting lessons with The Freedom

Theater while she was a teenager. She has appeared in several films in recent years with both back-

ground and principal roles.

Catherine Brown — President WCAU-TV

Chuck Varesko — 1st Vice-PresidentFreelance

Richard Sheeran — 2nd Vice-PresidentStaff Announcer/News

Cyndy Drue — SecretaryFreelance

Ed Fischer — Treasurer Staff Announcer/News KYW-AM

Susan MosesNational BoardFreelance

Bill ShustaNational BoardStaff Announcer/News

Current Members of The Philadephia BoardRob CharryStaff Announcer/NewsWIP

Sam Clover Staff Announcer/News Metro

John DiDomenicoFreelance

Sylvia KaudersFreelance

Paul KurtzStaff Announcer/News (KYW-AM)

M.J. MyersFreelance

Christy SpringfieldFreelance

Volieda WebbFreelance

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BROADCAST BEAT — News From our Shop StewardsMETROBy Sam Clover and Randy Chepigan

The Philadelphia Metro Traffic shop continues to welcome new members as we work

with management toward expanding on a gradual improvement in staffing already achieved. We suddenly find ourselves guiding each other through countless logistics involved in a recent ownership change! (Westwood One sold its Metro Traffic unit to Clear Channel at the end of April 2011.) We look forward to successful and mutually beneficial negotiations with management and our new ownership to improve on our current contract, which expires in September.

WXTU By Andie Summers

Hey, there! Andie Summers here from XTU. I’m happy to report that since my last report our CBA has been signed, sealed and deliv-

ered! YAY! Just in time to start work on the next one. We’ve had a lot of staff and managerial changes over the past year and a half. Shelly Easton, formerly of Allentown and Harrisburg, is our new PD. I said good-bye to Kris Stevens in mornings and am now joined by Wllkes-Barre/Scranton’s former PD and morning genius Doc Medek. Leigh Richards exited middays which are now split by the greatest pipes in the market — Brian McKay and Shelly Easton. Music Director Razz continues to master afternoons drive and Ken Anderson’s Pirate Radio has taken over nights. It was a tough year adjusting to the changes and working our tails off to get ratings back on track, but I’m happy to report that our XTU air family has never been so tight — both on and off the air.

WPHTBy Clinton Petty

Joe Gaines and Ian Cohen have returned to WPHT for baseball season to produce Phillies games. Eric Strain, in addition to his duties for the

Dom Giordano Show, has also added Phillies produc-tion to his repertoire. Nikki Marra attended the NAB convention in Las Vegas. And finally, the entire WPHT producer staff came together to coor-dinate coverage of the raid and killing of Osama bin Laden. Radio listeners throughout the entire region are grateful for their effort.

CBS 3 NewsBy Neil Rattigan

AFTRAns at KYW-TV now have four shop stewards. Anchor Dave Huddleston and Sports Producer Andy Wheeler now

cover shifts that give all members access to a shop steward in the newsroom. Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan and I still cover day shifts and graveyard shifts respectively. With Oprah Winfrey calling it quits, CBS 3 Eyewitness News moves from 4 p.m. to 5 p. m., switching places with Dr. Phil. Management is hoping Oprah’s viewers will also make the switch. New AFTRAn Vince DeFrus-cio leaves the assignment desk to become a writer/producer. He has been at the station for seven years. The Radio Television Digital News Associa-

tion has given three Murrow Awards to CBS 3. The Eyewitness News team shares one for breaking news coverage of the Duck Boat Collision. Andy Wheeler shares one for a story of Phillies Pitcher Roy Halladay’s no-hitter. The third goes to cbsphilly.com for its online news operation. The Catho-lic Academy of Communications Arts Professionals has awarded a Gabriel Award for Alex Scott: A Stand for Hope to Anchor Pat Ciarrocchi and Producer Jonelle Fabian for the documentary on the little girl’s battle with pediatric cancer.

KYW-1060By Jim Melwert

KYW Newsradio’s newsroom features sever-al new AFTRAns. Tim Jimenez, Danny Majka, and Tim McLaughlin recently

joined the AFTRA roster. The three are no strang-ers to the KYW newsroom as they’ve worked their ways up from nonunion positions. In addition, there are two new faces in the newsroom, as KYW welcomes reporter Cher-ri Gregg along with reporter and anchor Dan Wing. KYW Newsra-dio also has a new shop steward. Reporter Jim Melwert takes over for Paul Kurtz. Kurtz stepped down to put the finishing touches on his book, 162-0: Imagine a Phillies Perfect Season (in bookstores now). Melw-ert has been a reporter with KYW since 2007, and started his broadcast career in the KYW newsroom as a production assistant back in 2001. He says he’s looking forward to working with AFTRA over the next several years to ensure KYW can continue to recruit the best talent in the business.

WIP By Rob Charry

Special kudos to former AFTRA office staffer Rose Cunningham, who was invaluable in helping WIP pull off a fundraiser for one of our

cherished listeners and first rate callers, Linda from Mayfair, who is battling breast cancer. As everybody in the AFTRA office and those of us in the sports media know, Rose knows how to run an event, and this one was — from the comedy of Joe Conklin to guest bartenders including WIP’s Big Daddy Graham, Ray Didinger, Paul Jolovitz, Jason Myrtetus, Eytan Shander and Brian Startare — to the event co-hosts, the midday show’s Anthony Gargano and Glen Macnow. Special thanks to Pete Ciarocchi who gave us one of his restaurants — Chickie’s and Pete’s on the Boulevard — for the night, and to all individuals and organizations who donated their financial support to help our friend Linda. Seth Everett, who has been a special contributor to the WIP morning show as a baseball insider, now hosts the Baseball Show, Saturday morn-ing from 8-10 a.m. on WIP.

NBC10By Catherine Brown

The deal is done! The long-awaited AFTRA-WCAU agreement was just ratified. It was two years in the making, with the AFTRA-WCAU team standing strong throughout and never losing sight of the goal.

Comcastic? The “new” partnership is ever so slowly revealing its conse-quences at our workplace. Meanwhile, we bid “welcome” to Cydney Long and Jenna Yoder. And say “good luck and safe travels” to Barry Dima as

he heads to Thailand.

5

Audio Demo Seminar

Presenters Scott “Waz” Wasienko of Philadelphia-Post (L) and Rob Holt of Mike Lemon Casting (R).

On March 28, 2011 it was standing room only at a Center City

Philadelphia hotel for a seminar on how to create a voiceover

demo. Produced as part of the on-going Tri-Union effort

with SAG and AEA the seminar brought one of the partners from local

voiceover studio Philadelphia Post, Scott Wasienko, and the

voicover casting director from Mike Lemon Casting, Rob Holt, to the

crowded meeting room with their advice on how to make and distrib-

ute a voiceover artist’s most effective marketing tool, the audio demo.

Seminar attendees learned tips on how to create and distribute audio

demos directly from Wasienki and Holt, two of the people who are respon-

sible for casting voices in spots and industrial productions in Philadelphia.

Scot Waseinko expounded many points from an article he has written for

Philly Ad Club magazine and website. We bring you that article below.

Several years ago I wrote a Big Ideas article for Philly Ad Club News

entitled “Voice-Over: Great work if you can get it!” By the looks of the

picture of me, I’m figuring it was about seven years ago. I’ve grayed up

pretty good since then. Google it, you’ll find it. Over the last several years,

I know many have read it because I still get emails from voice talent on a

regular basis telling me they just read it and now want to know how to

break into the business. Some tell me that, “yes”, they are

the next great voice to come out of Philadelphia. Really

nice people. Most are quite sincere and are hoping for

more good advice. But I stopped responding to these

requests a few years ago because not one of the voices

I traded emails with actually became a marketable voice

in Philadelphia. Frustrating indeed to say the least. Today, I’m going to explore

some of the reasons why I think it’s hard to break into the voice over busi-

ness and even harder still to make a living doing it. Sit down and strap your-

self in. This may hurt a bit.

Talent. There’s no avoiding it. You are either very talented or marginally

talented. And those without enough talent don’t see or I should say, hear,

the difference between being average and being very good. Do you need to

be great to make a living at this? No. But you do need to be very talented.

So how do you know? Like anything else, if you’ve got it, enough people will

tell you and encourage you. But who is telling you? Know your audience.

Voice-Over: Great work! Did you get it?By Scott “Waz” Wasienko, partner Philadelphia Post (Formerly AudioPost/Maja.)

Consider your sources. Industry expert or your Aunt Kathy? It should be a

natural extension of your personality. Does it require the deepest register

voice? Must I sound sexy? No. And no. Most people are born to do some-

thing that can be difficult for others. For example, very few actors come

from nowhere. It’s extremely rare to be picked from a crowd and placed

in front of a camera or mic with high expectations. I think it’s easy to get

your first gig. Heck, it’s easy to do one job a year. It’s the

30th gig of that year that makes you feel like voice work

might be a nice way to make some real good extra

income. You have a full time job already? Ok. Are you

readily available tomorrow at 11am for an hour if I call

you later today? Wait. Sorry. The client just called and

they don’t have script approval. Let’s go with tomorrow afternoon at 2 then,

but hold the day after just in case. That’s right; it’s a real commitment.

But, I’ve been told that I have a very nice voice and that I should be

on the radio or in a TV ad. Uh huh. Ok, That’s nice. What’s the difference

between being a busy on-screen actor and just another pretty face? Lots of

beautiful people in this world, how many of them do you want to watch act

for 22 or 43 minutes once a week, week after week? 90-120 minutes at $12

a pop for the big screen? My client has $500 for this ten-page narration. Are

you worth it? What is it about you that would make me want to listen to

Continued on page 6

“Today, I’m going to explore some of the reasons why I think it’s hard to break into the voice over business and even harder still to make a living doing it.”

6

you for 30 seconds straight? 60 seconds? A fifteen-minute corporate narra-

tion? Sound easy? 30 seconds can be an eternity.

Can you act? Bat your eyes, show me your biceps, trip and fall on cue and

I might have a part for you in my no budget indie film, but can you emote

with just your voice in an interesting manner for 30 solid seconds without

forcing a listener to change the channel or surf to the next internet soup du

jour site. Seriously. Can you control the timbre of your voice, inflect in just

the right way and read the words like they were only formed in your brain

at that moment without making listeners eyebrows crunch? Can you do this

take after take so that when the engineer pieces

together the best of you from various takes it all

sounds like the same person?

Not many can. Heck, I do about 20-30 voice

jobs a year now, and I can’t stand listening to myself

for more than 30 seconds. I can only do what I’m

capable of because I’ve edited millions of takes and

I know how to work the voice system. I don’t know

how many times I’ve voiced a spot for a client and

thought I nailed it pretty good only to hear my

playback in the context of what is actually need-

ed and said, “Oh crap! That’s not good.” Thankfully,

my listening skills are such that I can hear it out

loud and switch to plan B before my client says,

“Umm, we can live with that.” That’s code for let’s

just get this done because I’m not using you again.

Ha! As engineer/owner, I have the luxury of calling

a do-over to my voice-over. I can record myself, grab a few syllables here, a

sentence from there, kill some breaths, chop out an annoying lipsmack I was

unaware of, add some cool plugins and after a few minutes, I sound like the

real deal. But again, I know how to work the system and fool my audience

into thinking I have a better than average voice. Don’t worry, as your engi-

neer, I’ve got your back. You’ll get the same heroic treatment if necessary. But

it takes time. Time is money. Clients’ money.

I also know my limitations. I can be Mr. Sincere. I can be Mr. Smart. And

I can be Mr. Insinuating. All of that works incredibly well for political spots,

healthcare and the occasional combination that adds up to a smart aleck

with good timing. But, you’ll never hear me be smiley guy or promo guy or

goofy guy or man of authority. You wouldn’t believe me. I’m narrow scoped.

I can’t be all things to all people. And neither can you. There’s only a very

small handful that graduate to that level. Very small. Meaning I can count

them on my hand. My voice changed just enough three years ago at age 40

to pull off the above with some success. So it begs the question, where are

you in life? What do you know about yourself? Some people always sound

happy. Some can sound ominous. Some sound like the guy next door that

you always like hanging out with. Most don’t. Ever. Most people have incred-

ibly non-descript voices. Most people have no idea what it means to turn a

phrase; to be engaging and interesting instead of annoying and boring.

Can you be consistent for an hour or two behind a mic? Are you fun

to work with? Do you understand the process of spot making? I nearly fall

out of my chair when I hear any voice actors say they don’t watch TV or

listen to the radio. Really? Are you aware of advertising trends? Directorial

references? Are you in the game or are you out? When you read a book,

do you occasionally read a few pages out loud? At full voice? It’s hard to do.

It’s tiring. It’s necessary. Do you record yourself? There’s no excuse now not

too. A simple iMac and QuickTime and you could record for hours. Not

professionally, of course, but have you actually listened to yourself speak on

a digital playback? Would you hire you? Do you have talent? It’s a real craft,

voice acting. You have to continually work at it as if you are only talented

and not very talented.

How do you handle mistakes? Do you have trouble reading? Out loud?

Do you speed read so the words carry no weight

or meaning? Are words images to you? Or are

they just words? Do you start every pick up

with so much variation that you don’t sound like

the same person from paragraph to paragraph?

What’s a pick up? When you make mistakes do

you know right away or do they always have

to be pointed out to you? Do you giggle, make

excuses, blank stare or worse, start cracking jokes

and carry on a self-conversation after every

blown take? Can you self medicate? Meaning, as

you are reading through copy or a script, do you

hear yourself enough to stop and start over at

an earlier sentence or paragraph because you

know the engineer and producer are hoping not

to have to chime in on every misstep? Can you

do this without drawing even more attention to

yourself? Do you have the confidence to read a phrase a certain way and

without skipping a beat go back, hit it again, twist it slightly, yet do it in such a

way that the engineer will have no trouble dropping that alternate read into

the body of the spot so that we don’t all have to labor over the process?

Can you hear volume? Too loud, too soft from sentence to sentence? Start

strong end weak? Trouble breathing? Do you argue for 5 minutes or ques-

tion why you’ve been asked to read something a certain way, instead of just

taking the 15 seconds to read it the way the producer wants to hear it, thus

giving them an opportunity to say how wrong that sounds, apologize, and

defer to you?

And there’s more! Do you know how close you are to the microphone?

Do you realize how close or far away you are 5 minutes later? Do you know

what your voice sounds like when you read the top of a page compared to

the bottom of the page? Do you know how much noise you make when

you are reaching for the script before you have actually finished reading

that page and then subsequently how much noise the paper makes when

you are removing it from the stand and trying to read the next page in one

clumsy swoop? Does every script have logical page breaks so that this does

not happen? No. Do you know how to position the pages so that when this

problem arises, you’ve bent the preceding page over the stand and off to the

left but you haven’t moved one inch from the microphone in the process?

A,B,C, please. Three in a row please. I’m just going to leave it open, give us

VOICE-OVER From page 5

This guy isn’t getting that much work these days.

7

some alts. Watch those P’s. What does that all mean? Do you have a quieter

shirt? Your pants are brushing every time you bounce your knees. Stop play-

ing with the headphone cord, it’s banging against the stand. And yes, I know

the stand has dropped 6 inches because you are leaning on it, just put your

foot on one of the legs and raise it back up. Lowering your headphones

doesn’t mean you pull the headphones down past your ears. You are listen-

ing too loud and the sound is leaking back into the microphone so that I’m

hearing your voice full and hearing your voice like it’s coming out of iPod

earbuds. “Rolling” means we are recording and you should start speaking, no

need to look at the engineer and say, “should I go?” It’s not actually warm in

the booth. You are sweating because you are nervous. Did you know you

have a Philly accent too? Uh oh!

Phew! There’s some stuff to think about, huh? Still feeling talented? Great.

Let’s move to business. Who hired you? Did the studio call you and book

you and tell you how much the gig was? Or did the ad agency? Your agent?

When it comes to money, remember who your source was and speak

about dollars only to them, in private, after the session if you have a question

about billing. Nine times out of ten, the whole session should go off without

a hitch. You read. Client was happy. Sometime in the next 20-45 days, you

should expect payment. Of course, that’s only if you get your billing in on

time. The worst are talent that email two months later and say, “Hey, should

I send a bill to you or the client?” Or 10 moths later, email and say, “I don’t

think I ever got paid for that session we did.” Well, you were supposed to bill

the client and since it’s nearly an eternity since that job existed, good luck

getting paid since everyone’s books are closed on what we all did last year.

Run your business like a business.

At this point in Philadelphia, I’m working under the assumption of a non-

union pay structure agreement. Meaning, you worked, check’s in the mail,

we got what we needed, and my client owns it. Forever. Unless something

has been prearranged, unless it’s a union (AFTRA/SAG) situation, it’s a done

deal. On to the next. There’s a studio with a lot of “locations” in this coun-

try that believes that after 3 months they can ask for a “re-up” fee for their

non-union talent if the spot continues airing. That is highly unusual. Almost

suspect.

And no, your parking tab is not part of the deal. That’s a cost of doing

business line item. Oh, but in the session you ended up reading more than

what was originally agreed upon. Now what? That can be a sticky situation

for sure. Out loud, you can say, “Hey, so this is more stuff, should we have a

conversation about what that costs?” See who sits up straight and addresses

it. They own you for an hour per spot on average, unless it’s narration. But

it’s not “how many spots can you read in an hour for one price” world either.

Some alternate phrasing is really just that. Kind of like saying the same thing

in a different way. Clients want options if they need to resort to a shorter

line reading you did in case their spot balloons to 32 seconds. Options. Price

points, location changes, sometimes it’s hard to figure it out. But a cut down

30 from a 60 that you have to reread for timing even though “the words

are pretty much the same” is another spot. How much? The going rate.

How long does all this take? It varies. If you’re out in 15, cool, if you take the

hour, that’s normal. If the client keeps you for three hours for a 30 second

spot because they don’t have their act together and the spot keeps getting

rewritten or the approval process is taking forever, then that’s a real issue.

Again, they don’t own you for the whole day. Refer back to who hired you

and strike up a conversation. An agreement needs to be reached.

Want to know why most of the same people continue working? Because

they completely get the process I’ve illustrated and they have a lot of talent.

Meaning, everything I’ve described above is perfectly normal to them. It’s

how business gets done. Even on their worst day, talented voice actors give

you a very solid performance. Do you get better over the years? Most do.

The voice changes and their skill level get better. Do some just dial it in? Of

course. Doesn’t everyone once in awhile? You’ve got to find your motivation

deep down inside. Your passion for the craft will come through those vocal

chords loud and clear. Don’t smoke. Don’t drink whiskey the night before.

Don’t come in and announce that you have such a cold that you hope it

won’t show up in the recording. Too late. It does. More client money wasted.

Listeners can hear a person with a cold a mile away.

I could have done that spot. I’m better than that voice. No, you’re not.

You’re just different. And on the day that was all decided, the client wasn’t

feeling your audition. Why? Because. That’s why. Next week, your voice is

perfect for something else. It’s just life. Or maybe your audition was record-

ed in your living room through the iMac microphone into Garage Band and

the woman who got the gig did hers with a $1000 mic in the quietest room

of her house and edited her audition together giving herself the best possi-

ble chance to succeed? Or maybe you read it twice, fired it off and then

went on vacation and became unavailable. Who knows?

Who is directing? These days, I find that I’m doing more and more. I

love it. It’s my passion. I’ve been in love with the human voice since I was a

young kid. Today I have the distinct pleasure to give feedback and encour-

agement to actors on The Good Wife and Blue Bloods each week and a

host of other films as an ADR mixer. It took 20 years of working in Philly to

be entrusted with that responsibility I have now. I’m very grateful to all that

have allowed me to put my two cents into their recording sessions over the

years. That kind of collaboration has afforded me great opportunities. These

days, an engineer with really good ears and a knack for saying the right thing

at the right time is still a good value. Clients know this. Do you? Oh, but

you’re getting conflicting direction from a few people in the room? That’s

annoying for sure. The engineer is usually the first to bow out of that scenar-

io and should always defer to the folks paying the time at the studio.

It’s their baby. It’s not your baby. When someone comes in with very

definitive ideas, that’s great. Once voice, one vision. It doesn’t happen enough

these days because there are less people involved in the overall process. It’s

fun when it’s collaborative and it’s fun when the client says to the engineer,

“I’m cool with you running the show.” And that’s a great way to get going.

Once the session gets up on two legs and we start making real progress,

clients will usually take over because they see the players in action. They see

what you are capable of doing as a voice, they see the relationship you may

have with the engineer and then they see themselves bringing it all together

in order to cross the finish line at the same time. Win, win, win.

So I ask of you, do you get it? Do you? Are you really the next great

voice to come out of Philadelphia? Great. And cut! I’ll save some for another

article 5-7 years from now.

Learn more about Philadelphia Post at http://www.phillypost.tv/

8

Read Nat Wright’s History of AFTRA Philadelphia at:www.aftraphiladelphia.com/convention/history.html

PRESIDENT’S LISTENING TOUR LANDS IN PHILLY

In Memoriam — Chuck Williams

May 23rd, 45 AFTRA, Equity & SAG members joined Temple Univer-

sity students at a Tri-Union-sponsored “Presentation Skills

Workshop” held at Temple University’s Center City Campus.

Although the original presenter had to cancel at the last minute, Frank

Traynor, SAG’s North Regional Executive Director, stepped up to the task.

Using his extensive background in TV news and programming, Frank

offered simple steps for developing good presenta-

tion skills as he shared behind-the-scenes stories of

his experiences in the industry. He demonstrated

how a performer should stand, eye contact tech-

niques and encouraged everyone to “have fun”

as part of the process. Several members joined

Temple University students to participate in a on-

camera exercises under Frank’s expert direction.

If you missed this workshop, stay tuned to next

year’s schedule for a repeat of this very valuable

presentation.

Traynor Steps In For Presentation Skills Seminar

Seminar attendees had the chance to work out on camera.

Frank Traynor in command of the podium.

More seminars are set for the rest of the year. Get more information from The AFTRA office or online at The Local’s page at aftra.com.

Charles Fricker, 52, who worked as an

insurance salesman, disc jockey and as

a part-time traffic reporter for Metro

Traffic under the pseudonym Chuck Williams,

was getting out of his car to visit insurance

clients when he was approached by a man on

a bicycle.

Police said the bicyclist, a man in his 20s, stabbed

Fricker twice in the chest with a butcher’s knife during the course of a robbery.

Fricker, of Waterford, N.J., was pronounced dead at the scene. A witness who

saw the attack followed the assailant for five blocks until he saw him enter a house

on Mascher Street near Grange Avenue, police said.

Officers responded and found the suspect in the basement of the house, Evers

said.

The man was still holding the massive butcher knife and threat-

ening police, so they shot him three times with a Taser, Evers said.

When that failed to stop him from lunging at police, officers shot

him in the chest, Evers said. He was pronounced dead on scene at

10:10 a.m. Police withheld his name, pending family notification.

Charles Ficker’s funeral was May 26, 2011.The family asks that

contributions be made in Fricker’s name to Alex’s Lemonade Stand

Foundation 333 E. Lancaster Ave., #414 Wynnewood, PA 19096.

On May 5th AFTRA President Roberta Reardon and SAG President Ken Howard

came to the City of Brotherly Love to listen to what Local members of both

unions had to say about the One Union concept. Thirty members of AFTRA

and SAG meet at Temple University’s Center City campus to ask questions and give opin-

ions. They wanted to know how the Health and Retirement Funds would be merged, what

would happen to staff members made redundant by the merging of staffs, what would

happen to office space currently in use by AFTRA and SAG, and, they wanted to know

what the new union would be called.

The answers to most of the questions asked was that until the process has been

completed and the union’s members have voted to proceed a lot of the questions can’t be

answered. President Reardon did say that the creation of one union will require all of the

staff currently employed by the unions so no one will be let go. And, she said the name of

the new union would be the last thing to be considered.

Local President/National VP Catherine Brown with National AFTRA President Roberta Reardon before the Listening Tour.

The AFTRA Online Talent GuideAre you showcasing yourself in The Talent Guide?www.aftraphiladelphia.com