Hey there from the Clubhouse!

Welcome to the Joe Cipriano Career Consulting Newsletter

First of all, thank you for joining me in this new venture. I’m happy to report that the response has been very generous and truly wonderful. I really enjoy meeting new people who have a passion for voice over.

For me, this is just another way to continue that joy and at the same time, I look forward to helping you further your career. Together I hope we can add something new to our small community of actors in creating happy, healthy vo folks.

Listen, in whatever we do, it just doesn’t make sense to put in the effort unless you’re also enjoying the process and having great fun. It’s that enthusiasm that brings so much to your performance and ultimately towards moving your career forward.

We’ve chosen to work in a business that is fraught with rejection and disappointment so keeping a positive attitude is crucial. That’s part of my job in this process, to help you stay focused. It’s that “lightness” that can help us float above the disappointments and challenges.

It’s important to surround yourself with people who love and support your efforts and it’s helpful and recommended to immerse yourself in the community of voice over artists.

You may not be aware how unusual it is to have the support of your fellow voice over artists. Much has been said and written about how generous we are towards one another. It’s not often you see that kind of support and camaraderie in a creative field.

I’d like to give you just one example. When my fellow co-founders of the Don LaFontaine Voice Over Lab, Paul Pape, George Whittam, and I, first went out to the voice over community to gain support for the studio, the response was immediate. We had partnered with the SAG Foundation to build the Lab, but they made it clear at the outset that they couldn’t build it alone. They needed support, both monetarily and physically, to make this dream happen. The SAG Foundation has created many programs to benefit actors, but never before had they gone out to actors themselves to assist in the creation. Frankly I think there may have been a little doubt in their minds as to whether people would step up.

One of the first fundraisers we held was at my house. We called it the Don LaFontaine Garden Party. I’ll never forget the Executive Director of the Foundation and her staff standing in my living room watching a stream of voice over actors coming up the front walk, all of them people who had made a donation towards making this dream come true, and they came in droves.

We had close to 200 people in my backyard that day, enjoying great food, entertainment, conversation, and they were simply there to help make the Lab happen. The director at the time looked at me in awe as she said, “I’ve never seen anything like this with any other project we’ve worked on to benefit actors.” She was blown away by the giving nature, the feeling of community and the determination of a large group of actors to come together as one.

We’re in a very unique segment of the acting community. Competition is fierce for jobs, yet we rise above that to come together for something that is for the greater good for all of us.

I’m proud to be a part of this community and I hope you feel the same way. I’m looking forward to this new opportunity to get to know you better and for me to get even more involved with helping people who are just getting into this business. For those of you who have already found your way as a voice over actor and for those who have gained success, we can work together to help move your career to even greater new heights.

Thanks for your support and let’s have some fun.

Joe Cipriano