Professional Home Studio 100% Remote-Ready Listen/Direct in Real Time

Amador Bilingual Voiceovers Source Connect
Book Now!

EN | ES

  • About
    • About the Amadors
    • Rosi Amador
    • Brian Amador
    • Zia Amador
    • Awards and Recognition
    • Faq
  • Demos
    • Audio Demos
    • Video Demos
    • Accent-o-meter
  • Services
    • Museum & Travel Audio Tours
    • eLearning Narration
    • Public Broadcasting Narration and Voiceover Services
    • Voiceover for Social Causes
    • Corporate Narration
    • Commercial Voiceovers
      • Commercial Voiceovers
      • Retail Commercials
      • Restaurant Commercials
      • Health/Medical Commercials
      • Public Service Announcements
      • Political Commercials
    • Music and Production
  • Our Studio
  • Clients
  • Blog
  • Contact
    • Get in Touch
    • Newsletter Signup

politics

Bilingual Voice Actor Trapped in the Internet

September 3, 2015 by Brian Amador

B in bowlHelp! I’ve fallen into the Internet and I can’t get out!

My wife and business partner Rosi will tell you I’m addicted to my devices. And much as I recoil from that accusation, I have to admit there’s a grain of truth to it. Maybe a big grain. Maybe that’s why I’ve resisted every new step into “connectedness”. I resisted getting a cell phone. I resisted getting a smart phone. I resisted texting. I resisted social media.

Until I didn’t.

It’s so easy for me to fall right through whatever screen I’m looking at, just like Alice into the looking glass, into a magical world where anything is possible, where mutually-exclusive absolutes can both be true, where you can “like” someone without liking them, and where people feel joyfully free to say disgusting, hateful things to each other that they would never say in person. It’s all so interesting!

Especially during our interminable election season, when we have around 54 people competing for America’s Biggest Demagogue. And because the outcome matters to me, because I care what happens to my country and to the world, I get sucked in, whirling around in a vortex of procrastination, and to what end? No matter how much I learn about politicians ignoring real problems, devising solutions to make-believe problems, and creating altogether new problems, there’s precious little I can do about it!

The problem for me is that all that temptation exists in a medium that we need to use to do business. The Internet is like a huge, open-air market. As a voice actor, I have to go to that market to connect to potential and actual clients, to contract jobs, and to deliver the goods. But hanging around all the entrances to the market are a bunch of ne’er-do-wells, sniffing glue, talking too loudly, making rude comments, and insisting I look at pictures of their pets. I’m not saying I suffer from ADD, but…Hey, look! a big truck just drove by!

I get distracted.

More than distracted. I get dismayed. I see the vitriol being spewed at immigrants, especially Hispanics, as has happened so many times before, and I can’t help but feel deeply disappointed that people are still falling for that stuff. Especially given that the people most vilified are often those who work the hardest.

Finally, a solution comes to me. The dog needs a walk, and I can’t walk him online! I put his leash on him and we go out into the real world. My head starts to clear immediately. I look around. No red-faced bloviators. No repuglicans, libtards or Mexican murderers and rapists anywhere to be seen. Just people. When I look at them, I don’t see my most negative prejudices. If we talk, we don’t scream at each other in capital letters.

When we get home, the dog’s happy, I’m relaxed, I’m no longer a voice actor trapped in the Internet, and I can focus on the task at hand. It’s ironic: I always knew the Internet was a great way of escaping from real life. What I didn’t realize is that real life is a great way of escaping from the Internet.

Filed Under: English Blog, Information, News, Voiceover Tagged With: culture, distraction, dog, election, Hispanic, Hispanic heritage, information, internet, News, peace, politics, real life, voiceover, walks

Voice Actors for Congress!

April 15, 2015 by Brian Amador

I’ve often said that one of the most pleasant surprises for Rosi and me when we shifted from full-time music to full-time voiceover was the amazingly supportive community we discovered. Largely as a result of the Faffcon un-conferences we’ve attended almost yearly for several years, we’ve been welcomed into a tribe of professional voice actors who constantly go out of their way to help each other.

We’ve also seen how friendships seem to transcend differences of background and political orientation. In fact, our community of people who work with their voices is one of the only places I’ve seen that kind of comity lately. Of course one of the reasons for this is that we don’t talk politics much! But I can’t help but feel that I could have a vigorous political discussion with any number of my colleagues whose views differ drastically from my own without us screaming, cursing, insulting or yelling at each other, the types of political “communication” that seem to be most common these days on the Internet and in our culture at large. And unlike our government, this community is actually capable of coming together to work toward common goals. We’ve seen the birth and growth of networks such as World Voices, Voxy Ladies, and Faffcon itself, which promote the development of their members and uphold the standards and recognition of the value of professional voice work, while also giving back to their communities in the form of generous support and promotion of the work of charitable organizations.

I know this conviviality is not universal in the voiceover world. I’ve been told that in the world of commercial voiceover, especially at the national level, there’s plenty of backstabbing, and colleagues in other countries have expressed envy of how supportive our community is. Nor do I want to paint too rosy a picture of our slice of the VO world. We have disagreements, sometimes heated ones. There are jealousies and animosities. But we can talk to each other, and that’s a big deal.

Very recently I had the honor of voicing the Spanish version of the introductory video for Boston’s Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate. The Institute’s inauguration early this month featured a “Who’s who” of Democratic politicians: Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Elizabeth Warren, to name a few; but John McCain and Trent Lott were also there to pay tribute to their old adversary and friend. And that tribute was heartfelt. When John McCain said “I miss my friend,” it was clear that he meant it. The contrast with today’s Congress could hardly have been more stark. There used to be politicians on both sides of the aisle capable of putting aside deep differences to work toward common goals. Today they don’t seem to be interested in finding any common goals.

Perhaps someday our politics will move away from fear, blame, hatred, resentment, and putting up obstacles to anything that could allow the other side to claim an achievement. In the meantime, I take inspiration from my VO colleagues. Maybe we CAN reach out and try to understand those who disagree with us. And maybe we can lead from the bottom up.

Filed Under: English Blog, Information, News, Videos, Voiceover Tagged With: agreement, Commercial Voiceovers, compromise, debate, differences, friendships, information, McCain, News, Obama, peace, polite disagreement, political, political discourse, politics, similarities, Ted Kennedy, U.S. Senate, videos, voiceover

Primary Sidebar

Rosi Amador

Commercial – English
6282
https://amadorbilingualvoiceovers.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Rosi-Amador-English-Commercial_2020.mp3

Corporate Narration – English
6289
https://amadorbilingualvoiceovers.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/RosiAmador_CorpNarration_English.mp3

Brian Amador

Commercial – English
6299
https://amadorbilingualvoiceovers.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/BrianAmador_EnglishDemo-1.mp3

Narration – English
6307
https://amadorbilingualvoiceovers.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Brian-Amador-Narration-English.mp3

Zia Amador

Commercial
6318
https://amadorbilingualvoiceovers.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Zia-Amador_Commercial_Demo-1.mp3

Political – Bilingual
6317
https://amadorbilingualvoiceovers.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Zia_Amador_Bilingual_Political-Demo-1.mp3

Listen More

Categories

Recent Posts

  • Two Sides to “Bilingual”
  • Compelling Narration For Effective Educational Content
  • Voiceover For Educational Awareness
  • Corporate Narration: Communicating Within, Without, and About Your Organization
  • Words That Matter

Connect with Us!

Love this? Get all our posts via email!

Join us below and get new blog posts sent to you when they are published.

Agree(Required)
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

  • GLOBAL VOICE ACADEMY
  • VOICE OVER XTRA
  • WORLD-VOICES
  • EB TRANSLATIONS
  • BLUE STORM CREATIVE WEBSITES

SourceConnect

Amador Bilingual Voiceovers Source Connect
Amador Bilingual Voiceovers Worldvoices Pro Logo
Request a quote!
(617) 492-1515

The latest from our blog…

Recent Posts

  • Two Sides to “Bilingual” September 14, 2023
  • Compelling Narration For Effective Educational Content June 27, 2023
  • Voiceover For Educational Awareness June 20, 2023
  • Corporate Narration: Communicating Within, Without, and About Your Organization July 12, 2021
  • Words That Matter April 27, 2021
  • Latinx Power: Bilingual Political Voiceover for Inclusive Government January 26, 2021

Connect with the Amadors

Sign Up for Our Blog / Latest | Greatest News
Check Availability

(617) 492-1515

info (at) amadorbilingualvoiceovers.com

©2023 Amador Bilingual // Voice Over Site by Voice Actor Websites | Privacy Policy