DAY 4 [07/23/22]

Reality isn’t for the naive and innocent.

MIC CHECK. MIC CHECK. MyrVox here. I can’t believe it’s the last day and a week away from graduation.

To be honest, I might have underestimated what CVAP will ask from me. This only means that I still have a naive side which may become a detrimental weakness to me in the future.

Today’s session was definitely a wake up call for me as it introduced me to the realities of the voice industry.

Realization #1: Introducing one’s self to the voice industry

First impressions last. And in any industry, your introduction is important.

Demo Reels. A Voice Artist’s Resume.

Yeah, these are pretty much new knowledge to me. From what is a voice or demo reel and the format and content of a voice artist’s resume.

Demo Reel Highlights: Showcase only the best or at least the best first. Make sure to capture their attention in the first 20 seconds. Keep it below a minute and fifteen seconds.

That is definitely quite the challenge already but I’ll take it on.

As for the resume, to be honest, as someone new to the field, I don’t have much I can put in it for now. I can only hope I can fill my future voice artist resume up with rich experience, one of which will be my CVAP journey.

Realization #2: Know the rules of the industry.

Being innocent is not a pro in this dog-eat-dog world. You will only get taken advantage of if you know nothing of the what’s and what-not’s in the industry.

There were quite a lot of surprising red flags and yellow flags to take note of and I sure am glad that early on I got to know about it though I would need more time to study on each of it carefully and get advised on it.

Some of the red and yellow flags in the industry that I really took note of were:

• Overly Restrictive NDAs (Though I do need to research more on this to know what is considered reasonably restrictive and overly restrictive)

• Prohibition of using a similar voice for other projects (I took note of this because wow, that would definitely put a limit to future projects one can do if they carelessly agreed to this)

• No payment unless work is used etc. (I definitely would have been fooled with this reasoning as a newbie to the industry)

• Making grandiose promises of future projects (Letting others make you work for them for free sure is a pushover move)

• The right to sell or reuse the voice work (A yellow flag which I am still a bit confused about and will research more into)

Of course, these aren't everything but if I didn't know better, I definitely would have been taken advantage for my work as a rookie

.

Now that I know I should avoid it, I only need to learn to grow a backbone to defend myself and handle it like a professional.

Realization #3: Know the man behind a thousand voices.

Throughout the past weeks, I have definitely read and got to know about the story of the VoiceMaster, Sir Pocholo De Leon Gonzales. He may not be the man of a thousand voices but it is a fact that he is the man behind a thousand voices. A thousand and more voice artists have been raised by him. I’d like to believe that I will be one of them too.

I am truly thankful to know that there is someone out there who is willing to give opportunities to many, even if they may be strangers. Having that opportunity available to them may just change their life and that in itself is amazing.

CVAP has taught me a lot of things, many of which I will definitely keep in mind as I journey on through as a voice artist and as a person.

Once again, this is MyrVox, making the most of the opportunity given to me.