Last week I landed my first voiceover gig from Pakistan.
They found me online and asked me to narrate a video for a new education initiative. I gave them a quote and they couldn’t afford that rate. I was about to turn them down but then I watched the video. It was fascinating!
This program allows instructors to go villages in Pakistan and train people to teach elementary school. Pakistan’s Minister of Education was in the video as well as many instructors and teachers talking about the importance of this program.
I noticed a couple of interesting things about the video. Some of the people interviewed spoke English and others spoke what I assume is Urdu. In the classroom, males taught males and females taught females. All of the females interviewed had their heads covered but their faces were exposed except for one. She wore a black burka that covered everything but her eyes and she was the only person whose name was not displayed as a graphic.
After I finished watching the video, I gave them a discount and happily narrated the video.
TIP OF THE WEEK
Why did I give them a discount?
Did I just undermine the integrity of the voiceover industry?
No.
Many of my fellow professional voice talents give discounts for a charitable orgnization or cause they believe in, voice some pro bono work every year (I do, too), or we do it just for fun. I narrated it because I wanted to be a part of something important.
NEWS AND NOTES!
The free preview for my comic book Agent 1.22 is here! Click here to download it.
I was able to record my interview on Movie Talk Show but I’m still waiting for permission to post it. I will as soon as I can!
HAPPY HAPPYS!
Happy Toasted Marshmallows Day and Emma M. Nutt Day! We should have smore holidays like that. Yup, I went there.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Rock and roll is ridiculous. It’s funny. Four jerks and a police escort. That’s funny. Bono
From my village to yours; this is Tom Dheere, GKN News…
Tom Dheere is a 19-year veteran of the voice over industry who has narrated thousands of projects for clients in over a dozen countries. He is also a coach at Edge Studio, voiceover business consultant known as the Voice Over Strategist, and is currently writing & producing the comic book “Agent 1.22”.