Tru TV: Caught My Attention
On Saturday Morning I came into the kitchen and Harlan had this on the tv:
As a working mom, a full-time professional voice over actor, and a functioning human being, I was blown away. Like most of you, I never in my worst night mares thought I would have to talk about code yellows or drills with my kids where they practice being locked in closets by their teachers. So when those in charge of our policies choose not to create legislation that will protect those most precious to us, and instead publicly speak out again video games, I have a problem with that. Many in my industry will not ever speak of politics or publicly take a side, and I understand their valid concerns. In this moment, my hope is that whatever side of the political spectrum you are on, as artists and creatives we can stand together and say the gun control problem is out of hand. This is not on us as creatives fulfilling our life-ling dreams and providing for our families; instead, this is the government’s weak effort to punt and fail to come up with a reasonable solution to a problem that is growing disproportionately. And while I do not hide that I am liberal at present, I grew up in a conservative state and loved shooting rifles at camp, so I do not have a limited perspective. I will try, as both a mom and a working voice actor, and someone who enjoys and supports video games, to flesh this out a little more.
In the above TruTV clip, Adam and his team chronicles the history of violent games since before I was born! Adam mentions mortal combat. The funny thing is, I have really happy memories of this game. Long before my career in voiceovers, growing up in Philly, my friends and I used to hang out in an arcade and pool hall called Pete Fusco’s. I have no idea if it is still there. The boys in my peer group loved this game. I stood around and watched them play. How did I turn out? I’m super liberal, do not own a gun, and went to an ivy league school for college and graduate school. The countless hours I spent around the video games in no way corrupted me or anyone else in my social circle. My friends went on to become doctors, lawyers, and financial advisors. All of us are non-violent, and if we represent a microcosm of our generation, we were just normal kids, hanging out, playing games.
Jack and WWII
As a parent, my husband and I never thought our son would play with guns. Even though I enjoyed the sport of shooting them, the world has changed and I wanted something different for my own children. Well I will say there was a lot that I did not anticipate.
First, I did not anticipate that my son would love military History, especially that of World War II. Since he was quite young, he made set ups all over our playroom with army miniatures. Where the guns and weapons? Yes. Did he pretend they were firing and shooting? Yes. How else can you re-enact D-Day? Is Jack a violent person who has or wants a real gun now? No.
Next, he loves video games. He has a PS4 and he lays on the sofa under cozy blankets. He LOVES to play “Call of Duty.” There is a lot of shooting. When I am in my studio he has to put it on mute. But, the flip side is that as a mom who works from home, if he is playing games, he is about four feet from me while I work, and frankly I love that. So yes, he is playing a violent game, but he is right near me and he is relaxed and de-funking from his very over-scheduled life, so it is really quite pleasant. If you had asked me when he was a toddler if I would want him to play such a game I’m sure I would have been horrified, but in truth at almost 17 I don’t mind. And again, is Jack violent? No.
President Trump’s Remarks
Instead of leading our country towards legislative initiatives that would end gun violence, and speaking out against the sale of automatic and semi automatic weapons, President Trump made these remarks: “We must stop the glorification of violence in our society. This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now common place. It is too easy today for troubled youth to surround themselves with a culture that celebrates violence.”
This speech was made after the tragic shooting in El Paso. As a mother and a working creative, I strongly feel that this as a vast over-simplification of the present scenario. In lieu of taking responsibility for a failure to regulate guns, it is easier to blame the work of creatives. Are the games violent? Yes. Do they portray women in ways that I do not like? Yes. If we put the video games aside, I feel that politicians, the President included, are making a huge leap when they skip over all of the legislative and educational opportunities and focus on video games. It is an absurd travesty.
Let’s look at some hard facts to better understand what is going on:
- According to game shift, there are 1181019 video games.
- The top 50 selling games contain violence according to videogames.procon.com
- According to the Pew Center, violent crime rates are falling
- Even though over-all crime is down, mass shootings increase in last 20 years
US Mass Shootings, 1982–2023: Data From Mother Jones’ Investigation
Conclusions:
As the amount of video games increase exponentially, and the industry as a whole booms, the overall crime rates has plummeted. In the United States, we have a specific problem with mass shootings that has gotten markedly worse.
I am proud to thrive in a creative industry, and I celebrate every single booking. The amazing talents who act in our video games are doing an incredible job. To place the blame of this huge problem on the creatives who work in the gaming industry is lunacy.
Let’s take this a step further. When I think about this as a mom in the entertainment industry and I consider who hard I work to help support my family and set a good example for my kids, it would be like saying that for every role I voice I am limiting what other women, including my daughter, can be instead of raising their potential. If I voice a mermaid, am I telling my daughter this is the height of what she can be or am I fulfilling my creative ambitions as a working artist? I believe it is the latter and I am extremely proud of the roles I have booked. I very much resent the President’s
over-simplifications so he doesn’t have to deal with the real issues that are extremely dangerous for all of us today.
As a voice over artist, I have the privilege of voicing projects for the brands we know, love, and use in our daily lives! While every single job is exciting, when a brand name that my family uses all the time, like Dove or Gap or Kind Bar, books me I am ecstatic because those brand names have such huge brand recognition. Why, then, does it matter if I, as a voiceover actor, have a brand associated with my name? What I learned as soon as I began my VO journey years ago is that I am not just voicing projects for these brands. Instead, I myself am also a small business owner and need to create and maintain a brand that my clients can identify with and connect to in order to understand the service that I provide. Branding is essential to success in voiceover.
Now let’s enter the folks at 
As a working mom I try hard to exhibit good coping for my twins Emma and Jack, so laying curled up in a ball on the sofa all day is not a good longterm strategy for a chronic problem. When I’m “lucky,” and believe me I am using that word loosely, my migraines will come on a weekend and I can sleep them off. Often they come as they like as they are triggered by all sorts of things: stress, lack of sleep, my cycle, the weather, so in short- life triggers them. When they come on a week day I try to take the medicine as early as I can. I tend to be a heavy sleeper and wake up confused, but if I can actually get the medication in me early, that helps. I try to always have both coffee and ginger ale in the house as they help. My strategy then changes. Daily routines will be completed, but anything extra gets pushed to another day. Nothing fun will happen on a migraine day. I try to give myself a break and only do what is essential. Booked work will be recorded. Auditions will likely be skipped. All emails will be replied to. I will likely defer any direct marketing. In terms of mom tasks, if I can ask Harlan to help with anything, I do!
Yes, I wish my migraines would stop and never come back. But, I do think they have changed me. I have so much more understanding of what people with much more serious chronic illnesses go through. I am much more patient. I am genuinely thankful for every non-migraine day. I am very sympathetic when others have to reschedule and are under the weather.
Every one starts somewhere. When I started, I spent a lot of time working on my goals and my business plan, which I reflected on in last week’s blog. You don’t reach your goals over night. Very few people start in life at the top. In an industry like voice over, the first booking, and each and every booking after that, is to be celebrated. As a business owner, building client relationships is essential to building a sustainable business, and relationships don’t happen from one email or from one phone call. It takes time, hard work, and perseverance. Sometimes there are setbacks. Sometimes mistakes are made on either side. But just because it is hard to reach your goals, reach for the stars and don’t be discouraged! According to both Fresh Books and the Houston Chronicle, “In conventional terms it can take two to three years, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing poorly.” If you have a dream and a goal, don’t give up. If I had gotten discouraged easily, my voiceover business would never have been possible.
When you have a job, everyone will have an opinion about it. Your friends will. Industry friends will. Random neighbors on the street will. Frankly the only voice that matters is your inner voice, the feeling in your gut. You have to decide whose guidance you value and filter out the rest. Once you start letting these voices in, they don’t stop. You have to have an inner compass that is stronger than all of these people who think they know what is right for you. It is almost mind-blowing how many people have opinions on subjects they know nothing about. Decide what is right for you and go for it. I spent a really long time deciding what I wanted to do before I decided to pursue voiceover. Some people thought it was great and were encouraging. Others’ comments ranged from skeptical to 
cruel. I had to turn a deaf ear to all of it and follow my gut. It felt right and I went for it. It was actually not that complicated. I had a well-researched plan and I was ready. If you are well-educated I know you will make good choices.
And that’s ok, the dog will fill that void. The love that we have gotten from Barclay and Violet has been a great joy, and working in my studio with Violet by my side is a true gift every single day. Dogs are a blessing in this world. When humans have let me down, the dogs have always made everything better. There has never been a time in my adult life when the dog has not been there. You can trust them emotionally completely. Conversely, I would not trust a human who does not want a dog by his or her side. There must be something lacking in their soul.
If you work hard you can have everything you want and need in this world. Dreams do come true, and as a mom I know that to be true! Everything else that has happened in my life aside from the birth of my children is gravy, but knowing the small miracle 
that they both exist, I was blessed to be Barclay’s mom and that we have our precious Violet, if that can all happen then the jobs and the client relationships, all of that are possible.
A beautiful spot in the middle of Barnard’s campus that I loved so much.As a full-time voice over actor, I have the joy of working as a creative all day every day in an industry that I love. You have no idea how many times people have said to me, in my family and in passing, “It’s a shame you aren’t using your degrees.” This always leaves me scratching my head. I am so appreciative that I had the opportunity to go to attend Barnard College, the undergraduate women’s college at Columbia University if you don’t know it, and to go to graduate school at Columbia University. As a small business owner I use all that I learned in my years at Columbia throughout the day every single day. When something becomes part of the fiber of your soul, part of your identity, and shapes the way you approach all that you do, it’s sort of hard to think of how you could exist without it. But still, because this has come up A LOT, let me try to flesh this out a little more specifically.
