Sunday, October 24, 2021

It's Nice Work If You Can Get It

Chapter Three
It's "Nice Work If You Can Get It"
Billie Holiday - Nice Work If You Can Get It
        While I try never to dodge a question, this is the kind of inquiry that demands an insertion of my personal disclaimer: I have been around this business for enough years to provide me with substantial knowledge of what I don’t know to be a certainty. It helps me to acknowledge when asked for my opinion, most of the time, the person asking the question has as much chance of being accurate with their answer as I might be with mine.
        I choose to deal with the question: “How will I continue with voiceover?” as opposed to “How do I get started?” You’re in a beginning state, true. But your fire has already been ignited. You are started. Reading this offering will hopefully be of help with most of what your voiceover intentions happen to be.
        In my opinion, voiceover is not a business but another in a long line of subjective art forms. I refer to it as a condition of the heart. We always ask our students the same question that most coaches ask their athletes: “How badly do you want it”? That’s what it all boils down to. Don’t waste your time trying to figure it out.
        Like I said, it isn’t a business. It isn’t a friendly nurturing relationship shared by two lovers. You may love it, but if you expend too much of your energies trying to figure out why it doesn’t return your love, then you're fostering the same form of deceit rendered to all who have devoted their lives fighting an endless uphill battle. 
        From the least of paydays (radio) to the best (TV) voiceover has to offer… it really doesn’t matter. Each and every time an actor works or takes an audition, I advise the actor to think of it as an opportunity that may provide a life-changing adventure.
        Appreciate the fact: It's not just another audition. Think for a moment about how many people will be listening to what you do during “just an audition.” I could easily cite many cases where an actor was requested by an advertising agency because they had experienced that actor’s work while listening to a totally unrelated audition that might have been conducted months earlier. 

HK -

Sunday, October 17, 2021

From Then to Now

From Then to Now

        In the earliest days of radio, a big basso voice would come on the air telling you where he was emanating from. That was common fare in the early forties when this young man was introduced to the true marvel of conviction that could be sent over the airwaves by the human voice. Those experiences were in truth, the beginning of this book.
        Commercials, as we know them today, didn’t really take hold until the late fifties. As an aside… the very first dedicated commercial talent agencies didn’t open offices until the early 1960s. Before the sixties, actors didn’t have a need for a commercial talent agent to represent them. Today, of course almost all the union casting goes through an agent.

        Agents and casting companies are two completely different entities. The agent is the employee of the actor. Agents earn their income on a commission basis, determined by the relationship that exists between the agent and the actor. The agent, dependent on the state labor boards, may charge various commissions. As an example, the state of California allows an agent to charge up to an amount not to exceed twenty-five percent of the actors' gross from any one job. If said agent operates under the auspices of a guild (or union) affiliation, then said commissions may not exceed the parameters of the guild or union contract. As an example, the Screen Actors Guild permits a commission to be paid by the actor to the agent, not to exceed ten percent. Most of the time, a check for the actor’s services comes directly to that actor’s agent’s office. The agent, who has the actor's “power of attorney”, deposits the check into their own trust account and then issues a check to the actor in an amount that is compiled by subtracting ten percent from the actors' gross and forwarding the balance (90%) to the actor. 
        In actuality, the situation that exists between the actor, the union, and the advertising agencies is unique in that they all are supposedly tied together by the Screen Actors Guild (in one way or another). The actor as a member of the guild; the producer as a signatory of the guild. These participants have agreed, in theory, to only perform services that are governed by the ruling guild. A similar situation applies under the guidelines of the American Federation of Television, and Radio Artists (AFTRA). 
 
Note: At the time of this writing, the two aforementioned unions had not yet joined forces.
 
        On our side of the fence as a casting company, there is the buyer who elects to use our paid services. And the actors we choose to call in, to either audition or perform as a talent on the commercial we happen to be contracted to provide talent for. We are recognized as an independent entity. We are not governed by any union or guild affiliation.
        Simply stated, an advertising agency hires us for a pre-established fee to bring actors into our studios and lay down (record) a voice track of the actors reading the sponsor's commercial script. This of course is called an audition. We cast union and non-union jobs, and are not under contract to any entity other than the company that hires us to perform our casting service.
        So, with all that said, here I sit, the co-owner of Kalmenson & Kalmenson, arguably the most prominent voice casting service in the country, most likely the world. Couple that assertion with our unchallenged leadership in the field of Voice Over education and your sharing with an author rendering from close to fifty years of working experience in every venue known under the guise of voice-over.
        Try this on for size, our company has done just about everything having to do with selling product, vocally that is. Additionally, in just about every foreign language our planet communicates in. From beer-selling talking frogs to singing and dancing germs being readied for a toxic spray killer. If it speaks, sings, belches, or makes any form of sound, no matter what the requested language may be, there’s a good chance Kalmenson & Kalmenson has cast the voices for it through the years.
        What follows will be my compilation of gatherings referencing just about every aspect the professional voice actor may face. In the event that a human being portending to be an actor happens on, or into the pages of this documentary, and that person doesn’t know what the term “voice over” means, then hear this: If you are able to hear the voice, regardless from whence it may come; radio, TV, curbside announcements at the airport, voices in animation, or whatever you can name. If you can hear it, just refer to it as a voice-over. No one out there is going to correct you.

- HK -

Sunday, October 10, 2021

The Kalmenson Story

"Our Story: How We Met"
As told by Cathy Kalmenson
        “Lookin’ for Love” was a top pop hit. Back in 1980, I was fresh out of college, and a newly born “career girl” (as we were called back then) fortunate enough to learn the world of advertising at one of the top ad agencies in America: Leo Burnett Advertising, in Chicago (my hometown).
        In the Broadcast Business department, in my entry-level position, I went from learning how to type scripts the “Leo Burnett way” on my IBM Selectric typewriter, to being promoted to being a talent payment coordinator. I learned the SAG-AFTRA rules and formulas for paying talent sessions and residuals, and I authorized a payroll service to pay talent in commercials, such as: Thurl Ravenscroft, as the voice of Tony the Tiger for our client Kelloggs, Herschel Bernardi as the voice of Charlie the Tuna for Starkist, Paul Frees as the voice of the Pillsbury Dough Boy, and many others. My destiny was being carved—this would be brilliant and perfect preparation for all that would come next in my professional life.
        One day—actually, it was in the evening—after hours, I was the only one left in the department working late, and the only one there to answer a ringing phone. I chose to answer it. That call changed my life. It was part of the wheels in motion (or as I like to say: God’s plan) that would bring me one step closer to meeting the man I would marry, and with whom I’d co-found a business: Harvey Kalmenson. 
        The call was from the bookkeeper at Abrams Rubaloff & Associates, in Los Angeles, who was inquiring about a talent payment for an actor. I was able to brief her and enlighten her about the residuals formula. With her question answered, she lamented that she was a straight bookkeeper, and had no background in talent payment SAG-AFTRA residual protocols, and wished she had someone on staff who did. Well, that would be me! 
        After a (for me) fairytale interview—the company flew me out to LA to meet with them within a week!—I remembered the overwhelming experience of being interviewed in a gorgeous Tudor mansion in Los Feliz in a library with stained glass windows, and oriental rugs, overlooking a beautiful, terraced garden with roses, and a dog run. I heard myself saying “yes” to the proposal of the job offer, and after changing my life with that one word, moments later, I was about to meet the man whom I’d ask to marry me - 11 years later: Harvey Kalmenson, who conducted the voiceover auditions in a wine-cellar in this unconventional workplace (a residence right next door to AFI in Los Feliz)
        Love at first sight? Let’s just say I was a sucker for a mustache (thank you, Tom Selleck). And for wisdom. And charm. And confidence. And he drove a silver 280-Z. That day, though, he was just a handsome, outgoing, witty, playful guy in the kitchen of this mansion, who was part of the Abrams Rubaloff team. They were all gathered (and they included me) to sing happy birthday to the housekeeper in a large, glorious kitchen in a mansion that would soon be my destination each working day… and a rendezvous point for bumping into Harvey, daily, on breaks… for lovely, charming moments of getting to know each other.
        Harvey took me to breakfast (at Norm’s) on my first day on the job, frequently gave me a ride home, and over time, introduced me to bike rides along the beach, along with many other LA adventures. It was fun for this kid from Chicago. Almost every day or so, da harv had a major celebrity star sharing stories with him in the kitchen. It was actually a flattering experience, although most of the time I just listened in. Oh, and this ex-baseball player (a pitcher) inspired my increasing love of baseball.
"Our Story: Joining Forces"
Fate brought us together in 1981, and ELEVEN YEARS LATER…
        February 1992 was in a leap year… and that year Harvey and I celebrated my February 20th birthday weekend in Central California wine country. On this getaway, at age 34 and 11 years into this relationship, I was ready to move forward and tie the knot. But alas, my romantic vision for that weekend did not manifest… no proposal of marriage. When pointing this out to Harvey, as we drove home down the 101 Freeway, he just kept his eyes on the road and his hands glued to the wheel. With just the hint of a smile. Hmmm….
        Taking matters into my own hands… on Saturday, February 29, 1992 (also known as “Sadie Hawkins Day” the day that was traditionally considered the 1 day a year when the lady can propose)… at my apartment after a lovely candlelit steak dinner, Harvey playfully asked: “Cathy, what do you want from me?”
        My answer: “It’s time for dessert!” I then presented him with a giant fortune cookie, custom-made… wrapped in festive cellophane and ribbon. “What is that?” he asked. “Open it”, I said. He said: “You open it”. “No, YOU open it” was my emphatic final demand. He unwrapped it, cracked it open, and read to himself the fortune inside:

“The beautiful blond woman who loves you... cannot imagine her life without you in it. Will you marry her Harvey?”  

Our eyes met across the flickering candles, I smiled and nodded with a hopeful expression. His answer:

“Unequivocally YES!”
        We hugged with tears of joy, before we dashed out to attend the closing night of a play at the Matrix Theater on Melrose, to see an actress friend perform. Afterward, backstage, I whispered to our friend “we just got engaged during dinner!” And she beckoned all the closing night revelers, already sipping champaign: “Everyone… they just got engaged!!!!” And we were surrounded by applause, cheers, and clinks!
        We were officially married on September 26, 1992, on the 96th floor of the John Hancock building on Michigan Avenue in Chicago…honeymooning on a fall foliage odyssey in New England (from Boston up the coast to Maine). One year later, now running side-by-side on track as a true team together, we launched “Kalmenson & Kalmenson” the business of voice casting. On October 6, 1993, we got our first voice casting job. 
        Twenty-nine years and many adventures later, including thousands of casting jobs and thousands of students, we find ourselves in the new world of Zoom and online education, as we adapt and refine our casting and classes, and continue to grow with new challenges daily. We still enjoy knowing we’ve contributed to many career successes over the years. And many more to come. God willing!

Sunday, October 3, 2021

Our Voice Over World

Our Voice Over World
        And with magic on my mind: I recall a day from a distant time in my life very many years in my past when from out of nowhere things began to enter my mind with regularity unsought—not asked for—or with expectancy. They were mine alone, for I possessed at the time little of intrinsic nature other than nature itself. Yet, without loneliness, I began to prosper as a man. 
        A man I knew little about stepped forward, and free from my solicitation, offered me his personal observance. “You know, Harvey, they all respect you so much for what you give them.” “Thank you”, was all I could muster at the moment. That man was Mike Road and Harvey Kalmenson was taken aback. (I became his agent and friend, and ultimately we collaborated in the theater.) And with a wink, and with his jocular “Shakespearean” delivery, shook my hand and pronounced, “perhaps we can chat on the morrow?” And so we did… and my life was to immediately change.
The Voice Actor
Not nurturing any humans bigoted ways
Not helping, or encouraging to cipher
Who I am, or what regions were the origin
For my start
For when you are in a listening mode
I’ve found your ear
Perhaps betraying fear
I am a voice, bearing no skin color with my sound
My frame is both short and tall
My gender reflects all
Age becomes ageless
Messages abound
I grow stronger as in all populace 
I’ve become 
Free from those who may choose by my nature or color 
I am race-less in all I profess or say
I am 
A voice actor
Among many
The world would be a better place if they did it my way
Truth being told
May I be so bold

Jan 2000
da harv 
I thought you’d like to know where we were, where we are, and God willing, where we plan on going.

Stay tuned in… next week, Cathy is going to chime in, explaining how we met, how she explained how we got married, and how we formed our baby:
Kalmenson & Kalmenson