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A Great Year For Our Bilingual Voiceovers! 2018 In Review

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Voice Arts Awards Logo
Rosi Amador won the 2018 Voice Arts Award® from the Society of Voice Arts & Sciences

Thanks to all our fabulous clients and staff, Amador Bilingual Voiceovers has grown so much! 2018 was our best year yet, and we would like to take a moment to reflect on some of the highlights.

1) 2018 “Best Commercial Demo” Award From The Society Of Voice Arts And Sciences

We were thrilled that Rosi won in the category of “Best Commercial Demo” from the Society of Voice Arts & Sciences! This is her first voiceover award since becoming a full time bilingual voiceover actor eight years ago. The SOVAS Awards are frequently referred to as the “Oscars” of voice acting. Click to hear the prize-winning bilingual political voiceover demo.

Voice Arts Awards Logo

Society Of Voice Arts And Sciences

2) Yo Te Apoyo – Brian & Alisa on-camera

Usually when you hear us, you don’t see us. But this year Brian was cast in an on-camera spot for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, and Alisa got a non-speaking part as…wait for it…his daughter! We were fortunate this year to be able to lend our voices to many causes we believe in.

 

3) Alisa – Amazon Prime Spotify Ad

What can we say? We’re a wee bit proud of our little bundle of joy. In 2018, she

  • graduated from Bates College
  • got a lot of well-earned recognition for her beautiful music, including winning the first annual Rock the Hall talent competition at Tarrytown (NY) Music Hall
  • kicked her voice over career up a notch, recording several high profile VO jobs, and getting on the rosters of some great agencies, including the Umberger Agency, DiSanti Talents, and TAG Talent.

4) One Heart – all three of our voices

It’s always a joy when we get to work together on a project, especially when we get to play using our character voices and overdubbing into our neutral Latin American Spanish.  Here’s one the three of us did for The Hospitals of Providence. Yes, the voices are all us!

 

5) The Debut of the Revolutionary Accent-o-Meter!

Accent-o-Meter
Amador Bilingual Voiceovers’ Accent-o-Meter

2018 saw the launch of an idea that had been percolating for a long time – The Revolutionary Accent-o-Meter™!

Much of our work is in Hispanic-accented English, but we often found that our clients didn’t know exactly how much accent they wanted until they heard some examples. This little gadget allows them to hear our voices with varying levels of accent and choose what they’re looking for, saving a great deal of back-and-forth and streamlining the production process.

 

Best Wishes to You for 2019!

We hope that 2018 has brought you many successes and beautiful memories, and that 2019 brings you and yours even more! ¡Feliz año! Ojalá que el 2018 haya sido un buen año y que el 2019 traiga aún más felicidad y éxitos para usted y sus seres queridos.

Voice Acting and Songwriting – All About Discourse, by Alisa Amador

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Musician and voice actor Alisa Amador
She’s joined the family biz full-time!

I have a confession to make. I am 22 years old and just graduated from Bates College, but it wasn’t until last week that I completed my driver’s ed certification. (Which made it all the more comical when we all got hired for voice acting in English and Spanish radio ads for the Massachusetts Registry of motor vehicles by MORE Advertising. I played the beginning driver and my dad played the slightly nervous father. It didn’t require much acting on either part, LOL, but I digress.) I passed my license exam a year ago, but then had to go back to college. As it turns out, passing your license exam does NOT equal a discount on insurance! Only completing driver’s ed does! So, it was back to driving school for me during the first month out of college.

Driving Lessons, Prying Questions

Those of you for whom driving lessons are a distant memory may not recall that they can be a very social, kind of intimate experience. You sit in a car with a stranger for an hour or so. You drive them around and try your hardest not to run any red lights or generally make the passenger feel unsafe. When the instructor is not telling you where to turn, they tend to ask you questions. I was an older student who had just graduated college with a degree in Gender and Sexuality Studies. So the constant question was, “So, what do you do with a degree in that?”

At first, I’d break into a sweat as I searched my brain for a respectful, yet firm response about the importance of a GSS degree while also keeping my eyes on the road. After many driving lessons, and many of the same questions asked, the answer now flows more easily.

Voice Acting and Songwriting: It’s All About Discourse

To the friendly driving instructor, and well-meaning question-asker I say: I am a musician and voice actor. My degree in Gender and Sexuality Studies pushes me to point out where power and oppression are. It helps me see how individual and collective discourse (written and spoken thought) resists or reinforces these injustices.

My work in voice acting and songwriting goes straight to the source: discourse. Expressing yourself in order to shift people’s ways of thinking about a subject. In the last few weeks alone, I’ve been able to voice some great projects:

  • combating childhood obesity
  • teaching kids good heart health habits
  • being the voice of an ACLU call to protest against Trump’s horrendous actions towards immigrant families (see the compelling video below)

That’s not all! I recorded an original song about toxic masculinity and rape culture with Loïca, a fantastic Chilean feminist-environmental activist songwriter. Stay tuned for the video! I also performed live alongside my band, Loïca, and my parents (a/k/a Sol y Canto). The performance included Brian originals like, “Olor a chiles,” about respecting and honoring immigrants, and “Love Wins,” about marriage equality and the power of love.

Breathe In, Speak Out

As I learn to (quite literally) navigate adult life, I feel so blessed. I have incredible parents who raised me to believe in the power of the human voice to open hearts and minds, to break down barriers, and to catalyze a community that cares.

In the words of Chilean rapper Ana Tijoux,

“Sacar la voz que estaba muerta/y hacerla orquesta/caminar, seguro, libre, sin temor/ Respirar y sacar la voz” To project the voice that was dead/and transform it into an orchestra/to walk, secure, free, without fear/to breathe in and speak out. (Ana Tijoux, Sacar la voz)

I love voice acting, and I am proud to be able to do it professionally. And I am so grateful for the caring community of e-learning producers, medical and health writers, animators, activists, and non-profits who have chosen my voice to carry their transformative messages.

For more about using voice acting and music for a better world, check out these links:

https://amadorbilingualvoiceovers.com/puerto-rico-voiceover-music/

https://amadorbilingualvoiceovers.com/amador-family-la-familia-verde/

And if you like music, perhaps you’ll enjoy my submission to this year’s NPR “Tiny Desk Concert” contest and a beautiful song by my father, Brian Amador, “Olor a chiles”.

Sol y Canto – Olor a chiles

Producer’s Guide to PSAs for the Hispanic Market

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Watch this charming animated PSA for the El Paso Streetcar, voiced  by our daughter Alisa Amador. Produced by Pilgrim Animation

PSAs ImageProducers of public service announcements (PSAs) for the Hispanic market know that skilled bilingual voiceover talent is a powerful weapon in their arsenal when it comes to creating PSAs that resonate with their intended audienc

ABCs of PSAs

PSAs are used to inform the general public and promote government programs, services, or activities or those of non-profit organizations. To be effective, they need to engage the audience with a relatable message and delivery.

Over the years, Rosi and I have had the honor of voicing bilingual PSAs for causes that we wholeheartedly support. We recorded English and Spanish versions of the  “Ask MOVA” spots, produced for the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance.  These PSAs were created to inform survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing of the services available to them.

Working with ChavoBart Digital Media, our whole family recorded the environmentally themed PSA “La Familia Verde/The Verde Family”.  And in the wake of Hurricane María, Amador Bilingual Voiceovers partnered with MORE Advertising to create PSAs for the Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico Fund. We produced and voiced the spots, in addition to providing original music.

What Makes a Great PSA Voiceover?

Whether targeting the Hispanic population or a general market, producers who create powerful calls to action are looking for a specific skill set from voiceover talent. Being able to meet this need has allowed us to put our voices to work where they are most useful.

Here are some important qualities to look for in bilingual voice talent for PSAs:

1. Perfect command of both English and neutral Latin American Spanish.

Often the same campaign will be produced for both English- and Spanish-speaking media. Having voice actors who can speak both languages can streamline the process and save the producer money. Neutral Latin American Spanish, which avoids regional dialects and accents, is useful in reaching Spanish-speaking audiences of all backgrounds.

You can learn more about neutral Latin American Spanish in this post from our archive.

2. Ability to offer varying degrees of Hispanic-accented English.

Like advertising, PSAs are often most effective when the listener feels an affinity with the person talking. In Hispanic markets, this means there’s a demand for Hispanic-accented English. Finding the right degree of accent can be a challenge, and for that purpose we created The Revolutionary Accent-O-Meter.

3. Experience and an ability to take direction quickly and accurately.

The goal of many PSAs is to make an emotional appeal to the listener. To do that successfully, the voice actor has to be able to take direction, and to offer different interpretations of the same copy.

4. An understanding of the PSA’s purpose and the ability to convey it powerfully and emotionally.

Voice acting is acting. And acting depends on the ability to analyze the script and interepret it through the lens of one’s own experiences. This is a skill developed over time, and it’s painfully obvious when it’s lacking.

5. A topnotch recording studio that can deliver consistently good audio.

While many PSA producers choose to work in commercial studios, a professional quality home studio can save money and streamline the creative process. Internet-based audio platforms offer producers the ability to hear and direct the voice talent, or even to record remotely. Some of the most popular are ip-DTL, Session Link Pro, and Source-Connect.

6. BONUS! Music

The capacity to add an audience-appropriate original music bed and to fully produce the spots. This can save the producer time and money and enhance the consistency of the spot.

7. EXTRA BONUS! Translation and Script Supervision

The best way to create a PSA targeted to a Spanish-speaking audience is to create it from scratch in Spanish. But that’s not always possible. If a producer wants to create a Spanish spot based on preexisting English copy, it’s vital that the translation be accurate, idiomatic, and culturally relevant. It’s no exaggeration to say that a bad translation can ruin a PSA. We’re often called upon to translate spots or to tweak them so the Spanish sounds more natural.

Raising our Voices for Puerto Rico – Voiceover & Music

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Puerto Rico hurricane mariaAfter Hurricane María hit, my family and I decided to use our voices for Puerto Rico, to help in any way possible, as soon as possible. I believe, as do many of my closest friends who’ve chosen to remain on the island, that as devastating as this experience has been, what’s next for Puerto Rico represents a huge opportunity.

Through creativity, open-heartedness, and hard work, my fellow Puerto Ricans can create a just recovery, one that doesn’t enrich the privileged and ignore the rest. And we on the mainland have a historic opportunity to help our brothers and sisters in ways that our government has failed to do. Here are some of the things we chose to do to support Puerto Rico’s recovery:

Voces Pa’ La Isla: Singing For Puerto Rico

While I no longer have relatives on the island since my parents and abuelita passed away, I still have many dear friends that I consider my extended family in Puerto Rico. My friends are all doing okay considering the devastation on the island. Their work as creatives allows them to work globally. Many others are not so lucky, and hundreds of thousands of people have left the island for economic reasons. I felt so incredibly sad and angry for all my Puerto Rican compatriots who are still struggling, many of them sick and without resources during this crisis.

Hoping to help my island, my husband, fellow voice actor and musician, Brian and I produced two fundraising concerts with our Latin music ensemble Sol y Canto, along with special guests including our daughter Alisa. The first concert was on October 20th of last year, and the second happened just recently on February 18th. Between the two fundraisers, we raised over $12,000 thanks to the remarkable generosity of those who attended and others who sent a donation anyway. We sang our hearts out and people gave in kind! Photos and videos of the concerts (if you’re curious) are on our Sol y Canto Facebook page. (Incidentally, here’s the story of how we transitioned from music to full-time voiceover.)

PSA’s Promoting Vetted Recovery Funds for Puerto Rico

While planning our first fundraising concert, I also wanted to put my voiceover talents to work for Puerto Rico. I approached my friends and longtime clients, the award-winning Boston-based agency MORE ADVERTISING, an expert cause-oriented business whose mission aligned with ours. I asked them if they would partner with me in producing a bilingual public service announcement to raise awareness and funds for my Puerto Rico. MORE came through with flying colors, writing copy, setting up the media buy, and working with me through several iterations until we nailed the PSA’s – all pro-bono! On our end, our fabulous engineer Steven Hopkins then produced the spots, I voiced in English and Spanish, and Brian added beautiful music (yes, he’s also a talented composer).

The PSAs we created highlight the Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico Fund (MA United for PR) and aired throughout Massachusetts over many months. The fund was created under the umbrella of the Boston Foundation, and it has raised over three million dollars and counting for grassroots community organizations in Puerto Rico. While Puerto Rico has slowly been rebuilding since the hurricane first hit, funds are still desperately needed. If you’re interested in donating to help Puerto Rico, you can give to MA United for PR easily by clicking on this link. More donation options are listed below.

Sí Se Puede: How To Continue Supporting Puerto Rico

In addition to raising money at our Sol y Canto concerts (join us – concert schedule here!), we encourage everyone to donate online to continue helping the people of Puerto Rico. Sadly, thousands remain without access to electricity, food or proper medical care.
You can help by supporting NGOs such as Grassroots International’s “Just Recovery” Fund, which supports the “Comedores Sociales” (soup kitchens) and other community-based projects in Puerto Rico. You can also send a check to Grassroots International, 179 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02130 with “Just Recovery Puerto Rico” in the subject line. Your donations make a difference, we promise!

A third option is our good friend cultural promoter Benjamín Muñiz’s Saravá Foundation, which brings live and recorded music to Puerto Rico’s children as a badly needed source of healing and joy. Go Fund Me: Música Para Niños Campaign

Yet a fourth option was brought to us by our close friend in San Juan, Emmy Award-winning public television and documentary producer Caridad Sorondo, who is helping the non-profit, Puertorriqueños con Morovis, (Puerto Ricans with Morovis (town), to help with the town’s reconstruction. Caridad is producing a documentary honoring the town’s bicentennial (1818-2018). Still, only 49% have electricity and potable water is intermittently available. A check can be mailed to: Puertorriqueños con Morovis at Condominio El Centro I,  500 Ave. Muñoz Rivera, Suite 216, San Juan, PR 00918.

Through Grassroots International, the Massachusetts for Puerto Rico Fund at the Boston Foundation, the Saravá Foundation and Puertorriqueños con Morovis, donations bypass the bureaucracy and get to the people who need them.

Favor de regar la voz.  Please feel free to share widely. ¡Y gracias, de todo corazón! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Using Our Voice Overs to Make a Difference

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The Amador family, Brian, Alisa, Sonia, and I, have always enjoyed doing work geared toward making the world a better place. That’s why we were thrilled to provide voice overs for both the English and Spanish versions of La Familia Verde, an environmentally-themed PSA campaign.

Amador Bilingual Voiceovers - The Green Family - La Familia Verde PSAWant to find out how to save money on your energy bills? Want to learn how to stay healthy in a changing climate? Meet the Familia Verde, The Green Family! Their enthusiasm for saving energy may seem a little exaggerated, but they’d love to be your guides to a green, healthy lifestyle.

On this project, we had the pleasure of working for the first time with ChavoBart Digital Media. They’re a media production and distribution company specializing in short-form environmental and educational content. ChavoBart created the delightful Familia Verde segments as part of a campaign sponsored by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.

Hear La Familia Verde in English:

Hear La Familia Verde in Spanish:

All in the Family

As a family of bilingual voiceover artists, we love being able to work together. This is especially true when we get to record meaningful content in both English and Spanish. We hope to be able to lend our voices to many more projects like this – projects that connect our skills with our values. Given the current tendency to ignore science and promote environmentally-damaging energy policies, it’s especially important that we do all we can to protect our planet.

One-Stop Voiceovers

As a family business, we pride ourselves on providing our clients with a one-stop shop for a wide range of voices and languages. Improving the voiceover experience for our clients is something we always strive for! Producers often need to search far and wide to cast their commercials or PSA’s. Not when they come to us! At Amador Bilingual Voiceovers, we can provide all the voices they need in one location. Let our avatars tell you all about it!

To learn more about La Familia Verde, please visit: http://theverdefamily.org

Our NEW Voiceover Website for Producers of Hispanic Content!

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Meaningful Content For the Hispanic Market

¡Bienvenidos a Locuciones Bilingües Amador! Our brand new Spanish voiceover website, www.locucionesbilinguesamador.com, created for producers of Hispanic content, is now online! ¡Estamos encantados de anunciar que finalmente hemos lanzado nuestra nueva página web completamente en español, www.locucionesbilinguesamador.com!

Various flags of Latin American hispanic countries

 

Honoring our Mission

Amador Bilingual Voiceovers‘ mission is to be the foremost provider of Spanish and English voiceover services for clients who create content related to Hispanics and the Spanish language, and who serve Spanish-speaking markets. Being a one-stop voiceover shop for commercials and narrations in perfect neutral Latin American Spanish or North American English, our goal has always been to make our clients’ lives easier through every aspect of our business.

Getting the Word Out – Twice!

One of the most important pieces in building a voiceover business is making yourself known to the people who are looking for your particular skill set. Our new Spanish site enables us to connect with Spanish-speaking content producers in the language in which they’re most comfortable.

Paired with our new whimsical animated, 90-second explainer video, “Somos los Amador – La Familia Latina de Locutores Bilingües” (gracias to the talented team at the Boston University AdLab!), the new site lets us introduce our family of voices to anyone in the U.S. or Latin America looking for voiceover services in North American English, Hispanic-accented English, or neutral Latin American Spanish.

We’re also excited to announce that we’ll be posting the same informative articles you find here on our bilingual voiceover blog in Spanish on the new site moving forward.

It’s All About the Client

Having a wide range of services, languages, and voices to meet our clients’ needs is our raison d’être. Our fully bilingual staff (our studio manager, engineer and social media director are all bilingual, too) are always happy to help make your customer experience a pleasant one.

Let us know what you think of the new Locuciones Bilingües Amador website! Whether in English or Spanish, we invite you to read the latest blog post by Brian, Making Lemons into Limonada.

Haz clic aquí para leer este artículo en español.

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