english voice actor

Rosi Amador’s Pro Theater Debut in “In The Heights”

November 16, 2017 by Rosi Amador

From the voiceover studio to the acclaimed Wheelock Family Theater stage in Boston, I’m thrilled to share that I’ve made my live theater premiere in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s (of Hamilton fame) first Broadway musical, In The Heights, playing Camila, one of the principal roles. This is a dream come true!

With "Vanessa" (actress Iliana García, my "husband, Kevin" (actor Luis Negrón) and "Nina" (actress Laura Lebrón) — With “Vanessa” (actress Iliana García), my “husband, Kevin” (actor Luis Negrón) and “Nina” (actress Laura Lebrón)

This 2008 Tony Award-winner for Best Musical centers on an ensemble of characters in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. My character is a strong Puerto Rican mother – kind’a, sort’a who I am! This extraordinary play addresses themes of immigration, Latin culture, connection, love, unity, community and home. It ranges from poignant to hilarious, and the songs (all in great Latin rhythms) and choreography serve the story line faithfully.

Rosi Amador with "Daniela"(Yewande Odetoyinbo in) in "In the Heights" at Wheelock Family Theater. — With “Daniela,” actress Yewande Odetoyinbo.

I haven’t performed in a musical since my days at Bryn Mawr College. During my adolescence it was one of my passions, so you can imagine how honored I am to have been given this opportunity by the award-winning Wheelock Family Theater, where our family saw so many fabulous topnotch musicals when our twins were little, and where they studied theater in the summer.

I cried when I was offered the role and I’m very happy to say that it has been a wonderful experience! We’ve had responsive full houses in the gorgeous 660 seat theater since the show opened. The 16 show run (plus 6 packed shows for middle and high school students) turned into an 18-show run and the last 6 shows have completely sold out! That coupled with a string of standing ovations has made this experience something I will never, ever forget.

Rosi Amador and Johanna Carlisle Zepeda, "In the Heights", Wheelock Family Theater — With “Abuela Claudia,” actress Johanna Carlisle Zepeda

What am I most grateful for? How much this stretched me as an actor, of course! As a voice actor I have continuously studied to improve my skills with fantastic casting directors and coaches. But add in the blocking, the interaction with other actors and the way the audience responds differently each night, and it’s a whole other ball of wax. I have had to continuously respond to the stimuli in the moment. Fun!

With my husband on stage, "Kevin Rosario", actor Luis Negrón — With my husband on stage, “Kevin Rosario”, actor Luis Negrón

I’m reminded of how much I’ve grown since studying with my talented friend Rebecca Haugh’s “Love That Improv” online voiceover improvisation classes, which have helped me become a more creative voice actor.

Of course, I feel tremendous gratitude toward the other talented actor/singers and dancers in the show for their inspiration and patience as I learned all about the theater world and lingo.

The experience has challenged me, but I believe I rose to the occasion thanks to good direction and stewardship from those around me. Gracias de nuevo – thanks again to the Wheelock Family Theater, for choosing me. Lastly, I’m also deeply grateful to all the friends who traveled from all parts of the country to see me perform. I’m so blessed.

I’m reminded of how fortunate I am to make my living from my voice and creativity. From music, to voiceover, to singing and acting on the stage, this experience reminds me of how we transitioned from our full-time music career into voiceover, years ago. I’ve loved every minute of it, but I so look forward to helping my clients once again at my voiceover studio, once we take that final bow on Sunday night!

Hispanic-Accented English Voiceover: Turning Lemons Into Limonada

May 10, 2017 by Brian Amador

“What? I have an accent?”

My name is Brian Amador. I was born in the great state of New Mexico, and until I moved away, I never thought I had an accent in English. I spoke like most of the people around me.

It wasn’t until I moved to the East Coast that I discovered that yes, I do in fact speak with a slight Hispanic accent when I’m not thinking about it.

After having this pointed out to me by too many people to ignore, I concluded that my accented English might be affecting my ability to land voiceover jobs. I decided to try some accent-reduction coaching.

My coach gave me specific feedback about which letter sounds gave me away, and I worked on being able to neutralize my accent. But one of the things she told me, which I’m glad I heeded, was “DON’T lose your accent! It will come in handy sometimes.”

How right she was! As we broke down last year’s voiceover work by genre and language, it became clear that Hispanic-Accented English voiceover represented a small but significant share of my work.

Work with what you’ve got.

It turns out that there is a market for Hispanic-accented voiceover, and it’s quite broad. We’ve been hired for accented English VO for Commercials, eLearning, medical and corporate projects. There’s never been a greater demand for voiceover that reflects the diversity that is the U.S.A.

About the time that I decided to learn to neutralize my Hispanic Accent, I also decided it would also be a good idea to learn to emphasize it, or to vary it. There are many types of Hispanic accents, and someone born in the U.S. won’t speak like someone who immigrated.

How much accent, and which?

While being able to faithfully reproduce all the Hispanic accents in this country would be impossible, it made sense to study certain characteristics of a few of the more common ones. I listen to the differences in speech patterns between East Coast Hispanics of Caribbean descent and Chicanos from California, and how those are both quite different from the accent that I heard growing up in New Mexico.

It’s an ongoing study that’s become kind of a game. When I get an audition or job request in Hispanic-accented English, I consider whether to use my Rubén Blades, my Cheech Marín, my Grandma, or something else.

Meanwhile, my wife Rosi and my daughter Alisa have also been able to parlay accented English into profitable work. Rosi’s big discovery was how just a touch of British accent can make a Hispanic accent sound more Chilean, and for Argentine, she just channels her Papi.

The Payoff

While Hispanic-accented English voiceover doesn’t represent a huge percentage of my work, I have to say that it has brought some of my most fun jobs, and even some recognition in the Industry.

I recently got to do a commercial for a major sandwich chain in the style of a soap opera, playing a Latin lover type. Then a colleague notified me that I had won a prestigious Earphones Award from AudioFile Magazine for an accented read of the beloved children’s book THE STORY OF FERDINAND. These are two really fun, rewarding projects that never would have come my way if I had lost my accent!

Guest Blogger – Allison Schneider of StudySync

November 4, 2016 by Brian Amador

allison schneider guest blogger It’s our great pleasure this month to feature a guest blog by one of our favorite clients, Allison Schneider of StudySync, developers of digital Language Arts curriculum. The entire ABVO family (Rosi, Brian, Sonia and Alisa Amador, plus our honorary Amador, engineer Camilo) have had the pleasure of recording a LOT of wonderful literature for Allison and her team in English and Spanish.

About StudySync

Allison here with StudySync. It’s a joy to share a bit about the work that StudySync and the Amadors do together. As a digital English Language Arts/English Language Development curriculum, StudySync engages students with media and technology. One of the foundations of our product is a growing library of over 1,200 text selections, many of which include voiceover readings to help students better access and understand the text. That’s where the Amadors fit into the StudySync picture, and it’s where they’ve made a lasting impact on students across the country. I’d like to share a couple of particulars about what makes our collaboration with them so rewarding.

Engaging Students Through Literature

In their work with StudySync, the Amadors engage and inspire students through great works of literature in English and in Spanish, exposing them to the works of prominent multicultural authors including Sandra Cisneros and others. The voiceovers provided by the Amadors help bring Spanish-speaking students along on Tom Sawyer’s adventures by voicing a Spanish translation of Mark Twain’s beloved work. They’ve contributed several dozen voiceovers to StudySync, and with each one, they strengthen our ability to inspire students of diverse backgrounds.

A Shared Passion

StudySync’s work with the Amadors is especially strong because they share our passion for education. That shared commitment shows in every voiceover that they create for StudySync. It makes every project that we work on together meaningful.

A Family Affair

When you work with the Amadors, you’re working with family. Working with the Amadors and their team is a true family experience. First, you don’t get just one talented voiceover artist—you get five! Second—and most importantly—they make you feel like you’re a part of the family. The Amadors don’t just bring talent to the table. They bring friendship and a collaborative spirit.

As StudySync’s curriculum continues to grow, we look forward to having the Amadors along for the journey. Gracias, Amadors, for sharing your talents with us!

Open Source Voiceover

December 15, 2015 by Brian Amador

What do the World Wide Web, LINUX and a voiceover trade association have in common?

open source penguin w:mic I recently heard a very interesting TED Radio Hour (is there any other kind?) about the Open Source concept.

Sharing vs. Hoarding Information

One speaker traced the roots of Open Source back to the publication of the first scientific journal, Philosophical Transactions, created in the mid-1600’s by the precursors of today’s scientists. The revolutionary idea of sharing and discussing scientific methods and discoveries rather than guarding them jealously led to unprecedented scientific advancement.

The World Wide Web is Born

Fast-forward to 1989. Tim Berners-Lee, a programmer at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, figured out another way to expedite the sharing of information, and the World Wide Web was born.

At that time, a similar system was being developed at the University of Minnesota, dubbed Gopher. Never heard of it? Here’s why: The University decided to charge money for access to Gopher, while CERN put the World Wide Web software in the Public Domain, making it available to everyone for free.

LINUX: You May Not Know It, But You Probably Use It

devices Meanwhile, a young programmer named Linus Torvalds was working on his own Open Source project – the LINUX computer operating system. Unlike the feudal model used by commercial software developers – one owner, many workers – LINUX was created collaboratively.

While Torvalds maintains control of which changes are incorporated, the operating system is not “owned” by anyone, and the source code is free to all. As a result, it became the basis for the operating systems of every Android device, Kindle, and Nook, as well as for the Chrome browser and the Cloud. Instead of starting from scratch to build their own OS’s, developers can begin with LINUX, which is good enough, and it’s free.

What Open Source has shown us is that when you create something that’s free and open to everyone, it sometimes leads to results that no one would have thought possible.

World Voices: Open Source VO

A similar phenomenon is happening in the world of voiceover, an industry that has undergone revolutionary changes in the last couple of decades.

Digital recording technology has made high quality audio recording vastly more affordable and accessible than before, and as a result many more aspiring voice actors have gotten into the game. Those with little experience can now compete with seasoned professionals.

Pay-to-play casting sites stepped in to provide producers with a large pool of talent, and voice actors with audition opportunities. Unfortunately, the owners of these sites are sometimes more interested in squeezing money out of both the voice talent and the voice seekers than in cultivating an industry in which professional work is compensated professionally.

Voiceover.biz: a Win-Win for Voice Actors and Clients

In the midst of this democratic and somewhat chaotic scenario, World Voices (WoVo) www.world-voices.org was born, an international trade association dedicated to representing the interests of voiceover professionals. These include maintaining high performance and technical standards, as well as establishing an audition platform where vetted, professional voice actors can connect with producers willing to pay fair rates for quality work. In keeping with the Open Source model, this platform, hosted at www.voiceover.biz, is free to both voice seekers and WoVo members, and is an invaluable new resource for producers seeking seasoned voice talent.

The voiceover community includes a lot of entrepreneurial, collaborative and practical people. It was only a matter of time before they created something together that they couldn’t have separately. Our Open Source project belongs to all its members, it’s open and transparent, and while it’s still quite new, it may well produce results that no one would have thought possible!

Our Best Business Tool Ever? – Batchbook, our CRM!

July 15, 2015 by Rosi Amador

The Best Business Tool We’ve Ever Adopted? Batchbook, Our CRM!

Several years ago, after many years of touring the country with our Latin band, Sol y Canto and then officially launching Amador Bilingual Voiceovers, we just couldn’t keep our growing contact list and details for each job organized efficiently. It was nuts! We struggled along until we learned about CRM’s, or “Customer Relationship Management”.

We began our research of all the CRM’s available at that time and chose BATCHBOOK. We are SO glad we did. It was a game changer for us.

Here’s a snippet of their explainer video (click below) which I’m thrilled to have voiced. I was so tickled their super friendly staff asked me to do this. Hope you like it.

“We’re stepping up our marketing efforts and really needed a professional, quality voiceover… A deep part of our philosophy is authenticity, so we needed our voice to convey real warmth from a person we know to have a strong character. Rosi to the rescue! We are so happy with and grateful for her artful work. Apparently our customers are too, as we’re seeing remarkable engagement from the video. The impression it leaves with our customers is priceless.”

– Pamela O’Hara, CEO Batchbook

Gracias to Pamela O’Hara for this kind testimonial. I’m telling you *everyone* they are incredibly nice! They all feel like friends to us.

Batchbook promises “organized bliss” and you know what? It’s TRUE! New clients send us inquiries that pop right into their record, as do our “Letters of Agreement” and we now easily keep track of our voiceover jobs no matter how many come in. Plus it’s integrated with social media and so much more.

And it’s so easy to generate reports to help us know if we’re making progress or to contact folks. It’s rather miraculous to be honest. It helps our team to work together better than ever.

The best part is their customer service! The folks at Batchbook really care about us and have come to know us personally, after helping us with our slow learning curve. We’ve been running smoothly for years now. It’s a joy to use Batchbook for both of our businesses and I couldn’t recommend it more highly to anyone reading this.

Brian and I and our fabulous staff all LOVE working with Batchbook. Check out what they have to say:

“Batchbook streamlines every job so we can go to one place to meet our clients’ wishes and it enables us to work as a team seamlessly.”

– Brian Amador, Bilingual Voice Actor/ Principal/ Guitarist/ Composer & Chef Extraordinaire

CRM Batchbook Testimonial “I like how the list functionality allows me to analyze and sort data about our clients and allows me to easily generate reports.”

– Camilo Gómez, Senior Engineer/ Mr. Analytics/ Granola-lover

“Batchbook is able to keep track of all my communication with our clients with a click of the send button!”

– Leslie Rivera, Operations/ Studio Manager/ Ms. Organization/Ms. Friendly to the Max

By the way, after you click on their 2-minute tour you can sign up FREE for a 30 day trial. Incidentally, I am not getting any commissions on this. I just like sharing a good thing with fellow entrepreneurs who could be reading this. It ain’t easy. This helps!

– Me, Rosi Amador, Bilingual Voice Actor/ Principal/ Latin Vocalist & Percussionist/ Idea Lady /Twin Mami

Let me know what great business tool you’ve implemented if you’re so moved in the comments section! I’d love to hear from you. And of course, if you’d be so kind as to share this post I’d be very grateful. Have a great summer!

How Bilingual Voice Actor Rosi Amador Achieves the Ultimate Work-Life Balance

March 27, 2014 by Brian Amador

Interview with Voiceover Actor Rosi Amador by Lin Parkin

If there’s one thing that most working mothers share in common, it’s the desire to balance work life and home life. Achieving that elusive goal of fulfilling your calling as a parent as well following your passions and career choices can feel like the Holy Grail.
[Read more…] about How Bilingual Voice Actor Rosi Amador Achieves the Ultimate Work-Life Balance