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Everyday VOpreneur® with Marc Scott
Audio Description: A Niche Many VO's Haven't Considered with Cynthia De Pando
00:51:41
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- [00:00]
A
How am I going to be able to tell the story without interrupting the story? You have to talk when the character is quiet. So it's like a soap opera or something like. Or an audiobook. And then you are narrating everything in between. I would act as much as possible and as less as possible. I know I'm contradicting myself. Don't say no if you really, really love this profession.
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B
You're a voice actor. You're an entreprene, a veopreneur. Welcome to the Everyday Veopreneur podcast, your guide through the business of voiceover.
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C
As we head towards a new year, I hope you're thinking about what your goals are going to be for 2026 and all of the amazing things that you want to accomplish in your voiceover business. And if one of those is leveling up, then that probably means that you're going to need to spend some time marketing voice over marketing. Playbook is going to be back early in January. A step by step, easy to follow marketing course that will teach you how to find your own leads, build your own client base, and become the consistently working voice actor that you want to be. Head there now. Get yourself on the waitlist and be the first to be notified when Playbook is available.
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B
Are you on the edge of your seat yet? You should be.
- [01:11]
C
Commercial, corporate, video, Video games. There are certain genres that every voice actor talks about, dreams about, focuses on, but. But every so often, a voice actor will say, what is a niche the whole rest of the industry isn't thinking about or trying to do. Enter my guest today, who of course does all of the genres that everybody else is doing. But she also happens to have carved out a niche for herself in one of the, we'll call it less traveled genres, which is described video. Welcome to the show. Cynthia Depando.
- [01:42]
A
Hello. Thank you for having me.
- [01:45]
C
So you are the living embodiment of one of my phrases, which is success is in the follow up. Because we met originally at VO Atlanta, right? And that was in March. And then we crossed paths again when I was in Vancouver back in May and we talked about a podcast. And then, you know, I didn't do anything about it because I'm terrible. And then a couple of weeks ago, you sent me an email and was like, hey, what about the describe podcast or Describe video podcast? I'm like, yes, we should definitely do that. So see, success is in the follow up.
- [02:22]
A
Totally. No. And I've been implementing a lot of your techniques. Um, it's interesting, the follow up part. I would say 90% of the, the replies I've been getting, it's because of the follow up. It's crazy.
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C
But hey, that's why we're here today.
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A
Yep, that's right. And that's the VO world. And you have to be consistent, you have to be persistent and looking for opportunities, I think for sure.
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C
So I've got a four year old daughter who started kindergarten in September and a few weeks ago, a few weeks ago she came home very excited to tell me about this thing that she learned at school. And ever since then our entire world has revolved around trying to avoid saying 6 7. Oh yeah, I saw your Instagram video and was like, oh, so you're in on the trend too?
- [03:20]
A
Well, not me, my daughters. I have a 10 year old and a 12 year old and of course I just, I went for a walk with them and the dog and suddenly I was like, hey, wait a second, Our address is 167-8-16th street and it happens that I was walking with my friend who had a phone. It was perfect. And my daughter was at the back and yeah, it was like a perfect moment for us.
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C
She was just mortified, right?
- [03:48]
A
Oh, she was screaming all cringy moment.
- [03:53]
C
It's funny because for my four year old, she thinks it's hilarious for her sisters, her older sisters who are 13 and 17, they're like, seriously, seriously we're doing this. And so I just think then that just makes me want to do it just to make them, you know, that make the older girls totally cringe. And so I just laughed when I was doing a little bit of research for the episode and saw that and I was like, oh yes, look, somebody else who got in on the trend to humiliate their children and mortify them.
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A
Of course. What? That's the fun of life.
- [04:24]
C
What is the Internet for if we can't do that? Right?
- [04:26]
A
True, true. But yeah, it's fun, it's fine.
- [04:32]
C
I was wondering before we get too deep into this, I was wondering if you would mind letting somebody else win an award for a change. Because as I was going through your website, I think I counted like 21 different wins and nominations and I was like, my gosh, does she give everybody else a chance or is she just.
- [04:51]
A
You know. Well, I don't know, maybe you already talked about someone about the awards universe. It's more the ego universe. It's nice to have them. But does that change who am I? Or as a voice actor? I wouldn't say so. I mean, it doesn't have any impact when I'm auditioning. But it's nice when I'm feeling a little bit down and I've done a couple of things here and there and makes me feel better. And it's a reassurance to myself, like, everything's gonna be fine. Not because I won the award, mostly because I don't know if you like people that are listening to us. Most of the awards, you submit yourself to the awards. So I said to myself one time, I saw the Voice, one of the awards, and I was like, I want to do that. I want to. I want an award. So it took me a while of, you know, doing a research of the awards, the policies, what do you need to do? Then I submitted the first year, and then I was. I didn't win. And it was like, okay, I have to pay attention. What do they want? Blah, blah, blah. Long story short, then you have your award, and it's, again, something that you have to work for it and study the rules and be patient, pretty much. So, yeah, that's my life with the awards.
- [06:28]
C
You've done all right, judging by your website. I mean, if nothing else, it gives you some serious credibility. If I was a client that was on your website and I was looking and I was trying to decide whether or not I was going to hire you for a job, and then I see this lengthy list of awards and nominations and wins and whatnot, I'm like, okay, well, she's clearly legit. So I would. I would certainly keep that in mind.
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A
Oh, thank you.
- [06:49]
C
I know the reason why you're here today is to talk about described video, which, admittedly is a genre that I know next to nothing about, but it is a genre that I mention to people when there are. There are voice actors who are saying, look, the whole entire world is out there trying to do commercial or the whole entire world is out there trying to do video games. Is there a place where I can go where the whole entire world isn't out there and trying to do the thing? And described video is one that. That has come up a few different times as a. One of those genres that not everybody is talking about and not everybody is competing in. So let's start at the very beginning with what is described video for people who may not understand it.
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A
So describe video. Description is how we call it, like VD or ad. Yeah, ad. Audio Description. It was originally made for people who couldn't see, like blind or visually impaired people. And it all started, as far as I know, here in Canada. Yay, Canada. So there was this company, they were doing all that for Canadian shows or even US shows from here. Then Netflix came and they started to produce content in Spanish. So I was happening to be around. I was the Spanish VO here in Vancouver. And this company, they invited me to be in charge of video description in Spanish for Netflix. And they wanted me to. To be able to hire people to write for them. Although that's a different story because it's super hard. But I was trained into how to describe. So all the rules, what you are allowed to say or not, pretty much is them. We are storytellers while being invisible.
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C
Right.
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A
And because you can't be, you can beat the actors or the music. You have to blend in. So. But that means you. You have to listen to what's going on and not. And not being a distractor to whoever is listening or experiencing this. And it's the opposite. I did a lot of dubbing when I was in Mexico. I'm originally from Mexico, as you may notice from my accent.
- [09:35]
C
Oh, do you assume that's not the Vancouver accent?
- [09:38]
A
This is not the Vancouver accent, eh, Vancouver? Nope. Well, now, nowadays, who knows, right, what the Vancouver accent is, But I did a lot of dubbing where this descriptive video is the opposite. Because you have to talk when the character is quiet. When they are not saying anything, you have to squeeze all the information that you can without being. Without interrupting or distracting or being on top of the dialogue as possible.
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C
Right?
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A
That's the art of audio description. How am I going to be able to tell the story without interrupting the story or the dialogues? So it's like a soap opera or something like. Or an audiobook. And then you are narrating everything in between.
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C
The next few weeks is typically a time when a lot of voice actors close up shop. No more marketing. What's the point? Shut down for the holidays. And I think that is a really big missed opportunity, but not for the enterprising VO who's willing to hustle a little. I think the holidays present an incredible opportunity for marketing yourself in a lot of fun and unique ways. And you're doing it at a time when there's less noise because so many others have given up. Book for the Holidays is my latest workshop where I give you literally a couple of dozen different ideas for how to market yourself this holiday season. How to stand out, how to have some fun, how to play into the themes of the holiday to make yourself look really unique and cut through all of that noise. The class is available for instant viewing@veopreneur.com Click on the store button, look for Booked for the holidays. Go to veopreneur.com, click on the store button, look for booked for the holidays. Now back to our show. So it sounds like this is not a genre that you went out to actively pursue, but more like this is a genre that kind of found you and opportunity presented itself. Is that. Is that true?
- [11:47]
A
Yes, But I did my research to tell people because I've. Yeah, a lot of people had come to me and say, hey, I want to do this. How can I do it? So here's my little nugget. If you are trying to do this. What I found is that a lot of dubbing studios are doing it for the same reason I was found. Like, they're like, okay, you have all the infrastructure. You need actors for this. So they can have the idea to speed things up or slow it down, listen, you have to be present in the moment, tell the story. So a lot of dubbing studios are doing audio description. And yes, that's something that actors have to express their interest. You can talk to the studio managers or directors and say, hey, if you ever have this opportunity, I would love to do it. And there's something else. It's super fun to know. Now, I know that a lot of people that are sighted, they are doing. They are multitasking, and they are listening to podcasts or they are doing other stuff, and sometimes they play the audio description, so they can be doing other things or to practice their Spanish. I've met people here in Vancouver and they are like, oh, yeah, I heard your voice. Because I started Spanish when I was in high school and I wanted to refresh my Spanish. So the way I'm doing it is I know a show, it's my favorite show. So I know what's going on. I know the dialogues and all that. And I just put the Spanish version when I'm doing something else. And the description, I'm telling all the actions and the verbs so they can practice different. Not just dialogues or the speaking part, but also something else.
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C
That's something I would have never thought about. So what was the first project that you had the opportunity to do this for? Was it a Canadian television show then?
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A
No, no, it was Club de Cuervos.
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C
Okay.
- [14:02]
A
This was Spanish show. That was for Netflix. That was the first one where I was also supervising the script. I didn't do it because, again, it requires a lot of training and a lot of precision and different type of person. Someone who loves being in front of the computer and thinking and writing. Creatively and all that. But for example. But I knew the rules. So, for example, if I was telling the story well, I was in the booth. And then there's something, for example, that at the beginning, when you see a character for the first time and we don't know her. His. Well, their names, we call them. A person with short hair or blue jacket or, you know, something like that, you refer to that person like that until they reveal their name.
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C
Lot of nuance to it then.
- [15:05]
A
Yes. And you, you will never say if, for example, someone is grabbing a gun, but you don't. If you see it, then you say the character is grabbing a gun. Right. So. But if you just like it's not revealed, then you say he's grabbing something from a pocket or. Because even if you already know because you already watched the show, you can't say that because that's not the way the director is trying to tell the story.
- [15:38]
C
So talk about one of these sessions. Is this something that you're doing? Like, are you recording these at home or do you go into a studio to. To do this? Are you. Is it a directed session that you're working through? How does it work?
- [15:50]
A
Well, in my case in particular, because I was one of the pioneers in Spanish, I do it myself. I work from home. But that being said, I always need an audio engineer with me because it's a lot of things that need to be compressed and this has to be faster. And even though I can do it faster, it's nice to have another pair of eyes.
- [16:18]
C
Yeah, sure.
- [16:19]
A
To help me with that. And especially because, yeah, they are faster than me to do all those things. Especially they are dubbing people, which they are in front of a computer all day and they know, in terms of, you know, technical, technical requirements for them, it's easier. But I do it from home through session link.
- [16:44]
C
Okay, so you are dialed into a studio then.
- [16:47]
A
Yes.
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C
Now, are you recording to video?
- [16:50]
A
Yes.
- [16:51]
C
Okay, so you have a. Like, if you're in your booth, you've got a monitor or you've got a screen that is playing the video, so you're going with it basically.
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A
Totally.
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C
Okay.
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A
Because also the rhythm, sometimes you have plenty of time. Of course, it depends on the movie or whatever you are doing, but sometimes you have plenty of time and it wouldn't make sense if you just rush things up, like, and then you're like, but you had all the time in the world, what would you do that And. Or sometimes this is an interesting thing. People, visually impaired people, they watch this content with sighted People, but they are a couple. They are, you know, mom, dad, the whole family. And they can enjoy the show together. The show together. So you can't give away things again. Or you can, you can't say in a very long scene, for example, and you can say this is going on and the other people is actually watching and they are like, no, not yet. Oh, now they are doing that action or. And of course a lot of timing in this. Then yes, you work with time codes. But again the writer can do until certain point just so much. Right. And then when you are recording, they can't predict if it's going to look nice or if it's going to sound accurate until you are actually doing it. So that's part of what I do as well when I'm directing myself. Like, no, no, no, you know what, let's do this. Or oh, here is an, an action scene, then I will speak faster. And this to help the experience for the people who is enjoying the show.
- [18:56]
C
So it really is a specialized genre. And I mean, I guess part of that's part of the reason why not a lot of people are doing it. Like I'm listening to you talk about it and I find it fas. But at the same time I'm thinking, oh my gosh, I would never do this.
- [19:06]
A
Oh, come on. Well, it's, it's like telling a story.
- [19:11]
C
Yeah.
- [19:11]
A
And you already have the music and the, the rhythm, the pace, everything. It's already done by that director. You have the final cut. Sometimes it's challenging because again, maybe especially I did Fast and Furious, for example. So they were like. And you have to be narrating all that and sometimes you don't have the time so you need to sacrifice what's more important, the dialogue of Run, Run, Run or me saying he's grabbing the keys and trying to start the car. Well, that is more important. Right. So I'm so sorry, but I have to be on top of the dialogue. Some other times it's like, no, we need to hear the sound effect.
- [19:59]
C
So what's the most challenging that you've done? Is that those high intensity action films that have like just non stop sequences or is it something that's just more story based but there's like vast amounts of time in between dialogue and you're trying to fill an empty space or what's the hardest ones?
- [20:19]
A
Okay. Because I've done a lot of like horror movies are easy because they have a lot of time. So you can be like, ooh, let me tell you, he has that suspense and the thrilling part. But I've done cartoons like the Minions, Unspeakable Me and stuff like that where it's for kids. They have a lot of things going on. Trolls, for example. The Trolls, I would say, is one of the hardest because they have. It's a cartoon. You have one scene after another and everybody's talking and sometimes they are even singing. So it's like a musical where you have to be on top of the song trying to explain what's going on.
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C
Okay.
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A
So I would say Trolls is one of the hardest I've seen.
- [21:16]
C
And you're trying to keep the attention span of, like, kids while you're. While you're in the process of doing something like that. So I could definitely see where that would be challenging. Okay, man. It's so interesting to hear because there's so many. There's so much to it that you don't really think about, like the nuances and the technical side of how it works behind the scene. So now you mentioned that for most people, if they're. If they're going to do this, a script is going to be provided. But you do writing now. You're at a. You're at a point where you're. You're doing some of the writing or.
- [21:46]
A
No, because that was my decision. I just supervise a script. And usually they work with people that by now they know what they are doing.
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C
Okay.
- [22:01]
A
So it's easier. It depends on the company. Some companies, they. They've done it in English first, so the writers get to translate and kind of tweaks things. Took things here and there just to make it. Because Spanish is way longer than English. So they have to adapt, not just translate what they. They get. And sometimes I have the freedom of changing things. Oh, this is just redundant. We don't need to say this. Or sometimes they. They skip things. Oh, that was important. This is the first time I am actually looking at this. Why I don't have a description for this. And it's really important. So I have that freedom. But usually I work from an already created script that I get.
- [22:58]
C
So I've had one other conversation with a voice actor who has done a little bit of work in this space, and they have actually had part of their requirement was to do some of their own script writing as well. But I'm guessing it probably depends on the type of project that you're working on too, like a major motion picture versus a smaller television series or something like that. But there are scenarios, it sounds like, where voice actors, if you wanted to get into this. If you had the ability to do the creative writing, that might actually play to your favor. Is that fair to say?
- [23:26]
A
I would say you need to know the rules. Again, like I just mentioned an example of you can't introduce you, you can't give away things or say about, like talk about a character with their names, blah, blah. So those are little things that you need to know. Other thing, it depends on the clients. For example, some clients, they don't like to, to use. And I think that's pretty fair not to say we have, you know, like cinematic words, like we have a take like it looks like or. Or use the word it looks like we see. Blah, blah. Yeah. Thank you for saying that to my face. That you can see and we can't. So you have to be very careful on the language you're using.
- [24:22]
C
Yeah.
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A
So.
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C
So let's talk about. You mentioned rules. You said that there are rules that go into this. Now you also said that you were one of the pioneers of doing some of this. So I'm guessing that there you didn't find a descriptive video or described video, audio description workshop or something like that that you were able to attend. It sounds like part of this was for you anyway, was just kind of learning on the fly.
- [24:48]
A
Yes. But I did get a big, like, I don't know, a bible of how to do audio description because I was a pioneer for the Latin American market. But they were doing audio description for years here in Canada or for the English market before. But of course it went bigger with the streaming services. So much content when they were trying to, to reach to those people who were doing it before and get more subscribers, like, hey, Netflix now offers this. And Netflix was, as far as I know, one of the first that did it. But now a lot of companies do it, which is great. You can, some of them even have in theaters they release a movie and have that option, of course, in few, just few theaters. But I think it's amazing they can go and experience that now. Right.
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C
So one of the things that I discovered while I was trying to research this a little bit is that there are actual legal mandates that outline, I guess, certain criteria or certain requirements for described video, like studios have to be able to provide or whatever. And I'm sure that varies from country to country, region to region. But because of the fact that it's legally mandated to me, I guess that makes it maybe a little bit more of a secure genre. Right. Like, you know that the opportunities are going to be there because studios have to be able to provide the service. Is that, is that fair?
- [26:33]
A
A lot of people are like, oh yeah, they're gonna replace us with AI. I would say yes, like in other genre. But at the same time, as I said, it's something very artistic and you have to be there and it makes a huge difference. And if now by law big studios are required to provide these services, then I think it's a, a good chance that we will be there for a while.
- [27:00]
C
Yeah, it's not like a, you know, you just take Elearning for example, just to pick a random genre. Right. You could just feed AI a script and it can just spit out audio and it doesn't matter if it's timed or you know, if it's this long or that long or if this segment was this many minutes or whatever. Whereas with what you're doing, I mean recording the video, that's totally different kind of, kind of ball game. So it makes sense that it's a. And I mean there's a lot of. It sounds like there's, there's a level of acting that is involved in that too. Right. You're not just straight up just saying there's a blue wall with a window and a door and like you're, you're actually acting out and telling a story like you said.
- [27:35]
A
Right, exactly. And something very interesting at the beginning. And again, it depends on the company. But they were like, you have to be. Of course if it's for kids, you will be doing like. Well, you have to match the tone of the cartoon or the animation. And if you are doing a suspense, you will be like this. It doesn't make sense that you're like, oh my God, it's something behind the couch. Right.
- [27:59]
C
Kind of spoils the moment in the horror movie, right?
- [28:01]
A
Yeah, exactly. So. Well, that's common sense I would say. So now the studios are doing focus groups with blind people and something that we were asked before, it was like you just say she rolls her eyes for example. And so when they came back with the results, people were saying, we want to hear more. Please put a little bit more of an interpretation. Interpretation, but not just in your tone, but also in what you are saying. So now we're allowed to say she looks frustrated, you know, like it.
- [28:45]
C
Because is my 17 year old daughter rolling her eyes sarcastically or is she rolling her eyes in disgust?
- [28:51]
A
Exactly. And we weren't allowed to say that at the beginning because that, that was our interpretation. Is she. You know, but now they were like, you know what, like the actual people the blind people, they were like, please, we need more context. Do it. So yes, I would say now I feel very happy artistically and creatively because now I can see again the video and I'm like, oh, she looks like. So I'm trying to act like the actor or like the actress or whatever on screen. And if she's like, ugh, I'm like, she looks frustrated a little bit. Not too much because again, we have to be invisible.
- [29:35]
C
Right?
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A
But you are trying to, you're still.
- [29:38]
C
Trying to tell a story.
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A
Immersive universe.
- [29:40]
C
So let's talk about where the work is coming from. Is this, is it, is it at the studio level or is it like, are there specialized production studios that do this type of thing? Or for the voice actor who's interested in trying to find this, is it like, do you have to have the right agent or do you just have to have the right people in your network? You got to know the right company to reach out to. How does that side of it work?
- [30:03]
A
I would say it works like any other genre. When you are like, okay, I want to do this. You have to let people know, hey, I would love to do this. Or I'm an expert in this. If you are like, if you are already an actor, you can kind of, you know, at certain point you can just switch to this and it could be randomly, like, it doesn't have to be every day because we don't know if this is going to be forever or if they have enough work. But that could be in your pocket, right? Like you can have another skill and just let them know, hey, I'm interested in this. If you've done dubbing in English, for example, then you can do this because it's about timing and syncing kind of. So then you, that means you know how to, to work with your pacing, right? And then it will be easier for someone who does dubbing. And again, as I mentioned before, it's. You have to reach to the dubbing studios. But also if you have an agent, tell them. Because sometimes people are like, oh, I have this. I've done for corporate things like Google, they were doing a campaign and they wanted to have everything in descriptive video. Okay, you will never know. And it was a one time thing. So you never know when or where this type of job is going to be needed. So let everyone around you know, hey, I do this. And again, because it's something very specific that again, if you are an actor, you can do it. Just let them express your interest and one day they, that person will be like, oh, I remember this person. Showed her their interest in this. Okay, I'm gonna call them.
- [32:06]
C
So is this a genre that's growing then? Because I look at. And maybe you touched on this a little bit. But I look at. First of all, there's 400 different streaming services and platforms now. And every one of those streaming services and platforms is trying to create content, whether and trying to source content. And so a couple years ago you open up your Netflix and there's almost nothing foreign on Netflix. Now I open up my Netflix and there's half the movie recommendations are foreign films that have been dubbed. And so if you're somebody who's working in dubbing right now, like there's plenty of opportunity out there. That is a booming and growing industry. So is that, do they go hand in hand then? Because all of these videos or all of these films or whatever also have to have the described video again, maybe depending on where they're being broadcast?
- [32:55]
A
Yes, I would say so, because they already have the infrastructure. The infrastructure for that. So they need an audio engineering, an expert in syncing actors, you know. So that's why I would say the safest bet is going to the dubbing studios. That being said again, whomever has experience with syncing video and acting and common sense, pretty much as long as you get the script, you can become the voice actor for that. I wouldn't say a writer. A writer, different story.
- [33:33]
C
So if you're doing a feature film, we're talking what, 90 minute film, a two hour film, something like that? Ballpark. What is the session average for you to sit down and do? You know, Fast and the Furious or something like that?
- [33:48]
A
I would say for a two hour movie, like seven hours.
- [33:57]
C
And that's playing at the level that you're playing at, right? Somebody who's done it over and over again, you've got a level of expertise. So for somebody who's maybe not quite as experienced, it could be a little bit longer. So are you doing that in one session or is it spread out over a couple of days?
- [34:13]
A
Well, it's just because I work like that and I get tired. Well, I don't know. For me four hours is more than enough. So I would rather have two or three sessions of three hours or four hours. But a huge difference is the audio engineer. If they know what they are doing, then it's super easy and you can go like super fast. But if it's someone that their first time doing it, it could take forever. So I've experienced that a Lot like, oh, I've worked with this person. It's going to be super fast and easy. And if you have to explain to the other person who's editing with you what is this all about, it will take them some time to. Oh, okay, so do you want me to move this here or there? And it's just. It takes forever, but it's a learning process.
- [35:12]
C
So, I mean, I admitted that I don't really know anything about the genre, although I feel much more educated now after the last 30 minutes. You've definitely dove deeply into this and explained a lot of it. But what are some of the things for somebody who's thinking, maybe I'm interested in this, what are some of the things that they need to know that we haven't talked about yet? Because I'm not smart enough to know, to ask the question, what am I missing? What are those little secret sauce things or those little nuanced things of. Well, it would be really helpful if you did this, or you really should know this. You want to understand this. What were some of those things?
- [35:47]
A
Okay. As an interpreter, I would say you need to be very strong with your diction articulation, first of all. So it has to be very, very clear. Everything. Then you have to move to pacing. You need to control your pacing. Very, very good. Like sometimes we break the ideas and you are like, he runs. Then something happened, either a sound effect or a dialogue. And then. And grab his keys, you know, so you have to be very aware of what is going on on screen. What else can I say? Yes, I would act with. Now that we have that freedom, I would act as much as possible and as less as possible. I know I'm contradicting myself, but to express what's going on on screen. So, for example, I just did a movie that they. They have two scenes going on at the same time. They have the dark scene and. Okay, can we talk about Wicked now?
- [37:09]
C
Would this be easier to explain if you had the opportunity to tell us about the movie that you're discussing?
- [37:15]
A
Okay, I just did Wicked for good. I had the pleasure of doing the first one, so they called me for the second one.
- [37:25]
C
Nice.
- [37:25]
A
And if. Well, I can talk about it because now it's there in theaters. So they have these. This scene where Elphaba goes into a dark place. I don't want to spoil. If you haven't watched the movie, but she goes. Because she's Elphaba and she is living this dark scene in a cave or, you know, very dark and animals and all that at the same time, Glinda is experiencing something very pinky and nice. So that director put one and one, like one scene after another and again and again, you know, so he's going back and forth both worlds.
- [38:08]
C
Wow, okay.
- [38:09]
A
And I had to be there to say, hey, how can I help the story? To tell the story in a better way. Instead of saying, glinda is looking at the flowers, let's say, I don't want to say anything. So she is very happy and with dreamy eyes. And Elphaba is realizing the worst thing is happening here. So you have to change the tone. So I was trying to help the story by Glinda. It's very subtle, but Glinda is walking. I mean, she is looking at all the guests. Elphaba is walking here. Blah, blah, blah. The animals are glean that. La, la, la, la. You know what I'm doing here. But that was my creative decision because I wanted to make it more enjoyable. And I think that's what the director is trying to say, like here with the music, with the visuals, with everything. So I am trying to, you know, give that.
- [39:11]
C
Are you watching these films ahead of time for, like, research purposes or to, you know, to take some notes or to kind of. I mean, it feels like it would be a lot if you just were seeing some of this stuff for the first time while you're trying to read a script and describe the scene and whatever. So how does that work, particularly with a new release movie like that? Do you get. Can you. Do you get advanced copies, directed copies or something? Like, how does that work?
- [39:36]
A
Yes, I do. Although the colors are not the best. We have a time code and they are super, super protected. But, yes, I definitely have to watch the movie because that makes my life easier when I'm in the booth. So, yeah, to those seven hours. I mean, Wicked is a very long movie. So, yeah, it took me like seven hours or a little bit more. Oh. Because also, we all the creators deserve their credit. And, you know, proper names are sometimes hard to pronounce, especially if they are made in the US and you are a Spanish speaker like me. And sometimes you're like, that doesn't even.
- [40:19]
C
Mean with a Vancouver accent.
- [40:20]
A
And the Vancouver accent, you're like, no, hold on. And me, I am a little bit geek or nerd or whatever you want to call it. I really want to pronounce the names as they should be pronounced. Some of the names are in Korean, Chinese, I don't know. So doing the credits, it takes me like an at Least an hour of doing a lot of research. But that's just me, probably.
- [40:49]
C
Wow. So you got like. You're talking end credits on the film or are you talking like open credits?
- [40:54]
A
No, the end credits.
- [40:56]
C
Oh, my gosh, those go on for days sometimes.
- [41:00]
A
Well, well, to be fair, we don't say all the credits. We just say whatever the. The company, like in this case Universal, they are like, we really need to have these credits.
- [41:13]
C
Something.
- [41:14]
A
Yeah, dobbing credits. Because if we say Ariana Grande and Cynthia Eribo and blah, blah, blah. But also we say the names in Spanish, Dana, which is the Alphabet in Spanish, or Ceci de la Cueva, Glinda, you know, so we have to say all those. Because at the end, at least what I am working. I am working with the dubbing, obviously, because it's in Spanish. So the people, the consumers, they are listening to the movie in Spanish. I think they want to hear who was the voice in Spanish, because they are not looking at Cynthia Erivo or Ariana Grande. They are listening to the Spanish actresses. Right. But we have to say both.
- [42:04]
C
Yeah.
- [42:05]
A
So, yeah, it's. It's interesting. I'm pretty sure they are not staying to. To listen to all the credit, the end credits. But I have to do it. It's part of my job.
- [42:15]
C
It's a really interesting genre. I honestly, I've never really thought much of it before other than, you know, you hear this program is presented with described video. Like, that's like a disclaimer that you see on every TV show in Canada, right? It's like, obviously there's. There's certain rules around it never actually stopped and thought, well, I wonder what that's. You know, turn on the track just to hear what it's going on like, or whatever. But have you ever done anything live? Because I've had a conversation with somebody who does like an award. He does describe video for award shows. And I'm like, I can't even imagine. Like, have you ever had to do anything live, Major League baseball game or something?
- [42:50]
A
No, that's a very good question. No, never.
- [42:54]
C
Would you.
- [42:56]
A
I think you would need to be an expert. I'm gonna tell you, I've done a lot of things. So here in Vancouver, I am the voice for the matches sometimes for the Whitecaps, when they are against, you know, like Spanish, like Mexico or some Latin American teams. I am there to announce everything in Spanish after the English announcer.
- [43:22]
C
Okay.
- [43:23]
A
And let me tell you, I am not soccer person at all. And so I wouldn't. I have a script for that. So I'm saying, okay, but it's just insane for me. It's what's going on. Why? And I guess more than an actor for live events, I would say you need to be more like the expert on the topic because you need to know the rules and what's going on and the names of all the team members or players.
- [43:53]
C
And you're not reading a script at that point. You're just whatever's happening is what's happening, and you're just trying to make it up as you go on the fly. That would be a whole different ball game.
- [44:02]
A
Yeah. For example, in that case, I am pretty good because I'm an actress. I'm not an announcer, like live soccer announcer. So I was pretty good at. When the Mexican team scores, you just yell, go, right? And I'm going to tell you the length. So I was like, go. Just looking at the producer, I couldn't care less about the scoring or anything, but I was just go. And then he was like, okay. And I was like, that's it. I can follow that. That's acting.
- [44:34]
C
That is a soccer thing. I think it's like, you know, 10 or 15 seconds to say the word goal sometimes. I've noticed that every once in a while. But that's funny. There's somebody actually there telling you, no, a little longer, no longer. Okay, wrap it up.
- [44:44]
A
Now. I guess they don't do that to the other guy, that he's there all the time. But for me, that it's just once in a while, I have no idea. So I need to be directed.
- [44:58]
C
This is one of the things that fascinates me the most about voiceover in general, though, is some of the opportunities that present that are things that you would never traditionally think of. Right. Like, I think for so many of us, our view of voiceover is so small in the grand scheme of things. It's so small. It's like, oh, we'll get an agent, we'll get some online casting, we'll book some commercials, we'll do some corporate videos, whatever. Right. All the things that are standard things that everybody wants to go after. And we'll dream about AAA games and Pixar animation or whatever. But there's all these million other little things and you never know how. Who would have thought that you would go from doing dubbing to described video to now doing live soccer games? That's not a transition that anybody sits down and thinks, oh, that's the natural progression of where my career will go. But if you're open to it, right? You never know where you're going to end up.
- [45:53]
A
Yeah, why not? You know, I've been doing here in Vancouver. I'm a Spanish dialect coach on set. And the reason was like, because when I came here, my English was very. From school, from Mexico. And I was like, whenever I went to an audition, I was like, be seat, blah, blah, blah, you know, like very strong accent. And the directors were like, okay, your acting is good, but can you have it with less accent? And I was blind. I have no idea what I'm doing. So I went with a dialect coach and he was like, hey, you know a lot about pronunciation and stuff. He invited me to be part of his team. And now I go, I've been doing this for 10 years. Whenever here they need like, like Spanish actors on set, but they don't have either the same, the same accent in Spanish or they. It's not. Or Spanish is not their first language. I just go and teach them how to pronounce because I'm an expert in pronunciation in Spanish. So yeah, that was out of the blue. But again, that's what I'm saying. You have to go and say, I'm interested in this. You have to go out and do things, be seen. Because we all live very alone in our booths, so we don't go out. It's hard.
- [47:27]
C
Well, Cynthia, this has been a very interesting and enlightening conversation. It's a really cool genre. It still scares the crap out of me. Not gonna lie the idea of it, but it is a really cool genre. And I mean, I know there are voice actors who they're willing to put in the work to carve out niches for themselves in some of these other areas where there's not, you know, you go and do a commercial audition and there's a thousand people submitting for that commercial audition. I'm guessing there's not a thousand people knocking down the doors to be the descriptive video voice of whatever the thing is. And so if you can do it really well and just by the sheer volume of content that's being created now, it feels like there's a lot of opportunity there.
- [48:09]
A
And you know what? It's not just about the work. I always see this as nice work because you are the link between the content and people that usually weren't able to get this content and now they can. And so I feel good. It's a feel good work type of work.
- [48:34]
C
I love that. I love that. I'm guessing that you probably get to build some pretty cool Relationships, too, because when you're working at that level, at the studio level and major motion pictures and stuff like that, I mean, part of that, too, is just growing your network. And yeah, you may be there for dubbing or you may be there for describe video, but who's to say one day that they're not like, oh, well, we need. We need a thing for this and why don't we call Cynthia? Or like, you never know how the. How those doors open later on down the road. So that's really cool, too.
- [49:03]
A
Yes. It's nice to put yourself out there. That's what I'm saying. And don't say no. If you really, really love this profession, don't say no. Just get better. Go to workshops, listen to podcasts, because you can get ideas from anywhere. Right? And, yeah, I think this is a good chance for a lot of actors. Just tell people, I want to do this if you like to. It's like audiobooks. People are like, it's super hard to do audiobooks. But creatively, you have all that freedom of being a bunch of characters and the narrator. And here pretty much it's similar. You can with the music with all that. It's a different experience as an artist. So totally worth it.
- [49:51]
C
I love that. I mean, I think that's solid advice. Right? Just don't say no to things. Stay open, try new things, experiment. See what else is out there. I love that. Cynthia, this has been fantastic. Thank you so much for coming on the show and giving us your time and sharing your wisdom and expertise. And now we all know that if we go out and we watch Wicked now, you said it's in theaters right now, right?
- [50:14]
A
Yes.
- [50:15]
C
Okay, so in theaters, but when we're ready to watch, you know, when it comes out, it's going to release on streaming platforms and all of that sort of stuff. If we click over to the Spanish described video track or audio description track, then we'll all know that we get to listen to you and we can hear a little bit about what it is that you do when you're actually in the booth and really doing the thing there.
- [50:35]
A
Yeah, you can. You can hear me in on that. A bunch of Netflix shows as well, so.
- [50:41]
C
Nice. Awesome.
- [50:43]
A
I guess that's easier than waiting for Wicked to be summoned.
- [50:47]
C
A lot of people are really excited about that movie. They're gonna be ready to see it when it comes out. But it's a cool credit to have on your. On your resume, no doubt.
- [50:54]
A
Yeah. Well, thank you very much, Mark. Thank you for the opportunity. Of being on your podcast and explain about this part of our industry.
- [51:04]
B
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- [51:11]
C
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- [51:32]
B
Thanks for hanging in. Thanks for hanging out. Want more Veopreneur goodness? Jump online@veopreneur.com.