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studio dog

The Joys of Studio Dogs in a VO Booth

September 12, 2021 by Laura Schreiber

Me with girls on sofa

My Dreams Come True

Laura Schreiber with Studio DogsHaving studio dogs is a luxury. As a working mom, I have blogged about this before, but I never knew if I would be able to have children. When I was 22 and I got my first Cavalier King Charles Spaniel of blessed memory, I was not sure if this fur baby would be my only child. While I have been blessed with human children too, they never changed the status of my dogs, who have meant the world to me. My dogs have been there for me and by my side on my best and worst days. For my greatest celebrations and for my worst sorrow. I believe that Barclay, Violet, and Daisy understand and connect with me in a unique and special way, and having them in my life is as much a dream come true as my professional voice over career is. I very much view having these precious fur babies by my side in my home studio as a luxury. Everything about my career, from my studio set up to being able to be present for my children is icing on the cake to being able to live the dream of life as a full-time voiceover actor. If you are thinking of getting a studio dog, I urge you to move forward without hesitation. If you are thinking about it, let me share the traits that have made my dogs ideal to be in the studio daily and give you some  ideas of what traits work, what does not, and what to look for when having a voice over studio dog.

Violet

Violet the Blenheim CavalierViolet has always been a wonderful studio dog. Violet is a Blenheim cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Her temperament is calm, quiet, and she is eager to please. She rarely barks and sleeps a lot. Despite her angelic personality, there are several challenges to having this love muffing in the booth. When Violet sleeps, she often snores. Despite her tiny size of only 15 lbs, her snore sounds like a local train coming through town. The next challenge is that Violet, who was bred to be a lap dog, very much wants to sit on my lap. While she will sometimes settle down and snuggle with her sister, she will more often beg to be on my lap. Imagine that I am doing a long form narration or eLearning project and she is on my lab. If she exhales or shakes and her collar rattles, the mic will pic this up. While Violet is pretty close to being perfect, there are some hiccups sometimes and as human as she seems she still has no idea that I am doing actual work or that she can interrupt it.

Daisy

Daisy the Silver LabDaisy is a Labrador Retriever puppy. As a silver Lab, she is just precious. She is goofy and sweet and has a lot of energy. Let’s just say when she first came to the voice over booth, she had no idea it was a place of work. She literally tried to eat the aurelex acoustic foam off of the walls! Well, that could not go on. Outside the studio, Daisy had a number of behavior issues ranging from jumping to counter surfing to pulling while walking that also needed to be addressed. So, we sent her to the Monks of New Skete for some dog training. They taught Daisy to go to her place. It was amazing. After 17 days at the monastery, when she returned, she understood to lay by my feet quietly when given the command “place.” This was life changing and Daisy is now a wonderful and enjoyable companion in the studio.

When They are Not There

Regardless of how amazing Violet and Daisy are, I do not have the girls in the booth for live sessions. Whether I am doing a Source Connect of Zoom session, my feeling is that when clients are paying a premium for m services, the dos should not be there. Ever. I do a lot of commercial work and also have live sessions for video game work and sometimes even eLearning, and there is not a circumstance in which the dog’s behavior interfering with the audio would every be acceptable. In a business where there are a lot of people who do what we do, and we as talents are very replaceable, we need to be mindful of what is ideal for our clients and put their needs above all elese. Are there times I would prefer to have my pups in the booth? Of course there are, but it is more important to have clients return again and again.

So, if you are a voice actor and you are getting a pup, here are some things to keep in mind:

  • You want a dog that is not a barker. They either are or they aren’t, and if they are that will never change.
  • You want a dog who is not anxious. They need to be ok by themselves when you have live sessions. If you put them somewhere else in your house, whether it is a crate, a den, a gated kitchen, you need to be able to count on them to be quiet for the duration of your session.
  • You want a dog who can stay calm and rest for upwards of an hour, even at a young age. As voice actors, it’s an endurance game. We are often in our studio for hours on end. You want a dog who can tolerate being indoors and does not demand walks or outdoor play on their schedule.

I am so thankful for my girls. I hope you find a studio dog to make your voiceover life complete!

Filed Under: About Me, Client Relationships, Live Sessions, Studio/booth Tagged With: Aurelex acoustic foam, Blenheim Cavalier, cavalier king charles spaniel, Companion, Custom Booth, elearning, fur baby, Home Studio, Labrador Retriever, live session, Monks of New Skete, narration, Professional Home Studio, Silver Lab, Source Connect, studio dog, VO, voice over, Voice over booth, voiceover, working mom, Zoom

Macaroons and Voiceovers: It’s What We Love

February 10, 2019 by Laura Schreiber

https://youtu.be/fWXhMnY9fEI

Passions do Matter

It’s that time of year again when flash cards come out and multiple trips to the library and books stores all over town are a must: it’s term paper season. My twins are fortunate, the History teacher this year and the teacher the had in Middle school are both outstanding, so the kids have learned how to do research. Still, as the mom of two dyslexic kids, they need help. Time management, sorting through the material, and making sure they are on the right track are not skills that come easily to most teenagers, and especially to kids with learning differences.

As a full-time working mom, I spend a lot of time at nights and on the weekends doing work with the kids and I look forward to our time together. My daughter Emma is much more a math and science kid, so when a huge research project came her way in History this year she was less than thrilled. One Sunday in the den with my sister, Emma had a tearful outburst and said “I just want to write about macaroons!” We got it. She spends hours a day doing homework and she wants to work on something she loves, and you know what, Emma LOVES eating macaroons. Smart girl, right?

So, we began searching on line, and learned that Catherine de Medici, the Italian Queen of France, brought Macaroons to France! She also brought the fork, cigarettes, and the side saddle, along with numerous other significant cultural contributions, but this is not about the Medici Queen, it’s about my sweet and smart daughter Emma pursuing her passions. Once we focussed on a subject that Emma loved and cared about, the term paper became a joy and something she was happy and proud to work on.

So, what on earth does this have to do with my professional voiceover career? Everything! Just as pursuing her passions academically makes all the difference for Emma, pursuing my passion for voiceover all day every day is extremely meaningful and fulfilling for me. I had been home with my twins when they were young, and the only way I could go back to work full time was to go after something as wonderful as, well, macaroons!

Creative Outlet

I think one of the reasons I love working in voiceover so much is that it provides such a creative outlet. Between the auditions and my bookings, every day’s work is very different in that regard. I love having fun with the reads and trying to think of an approach that others won’t come up with. I am enthusiastic and passionate and voiceover work is upbeat and happy most of the time. I am really thankful that I spend so much of my time doing something so creative.

Sometimes clients are not sure what they are looking for. I love helping make suggestions and providing alternate reads so that they have options for their project. It is extremely rewarding to bring something to life.

Working From Home is a Gift

Before I had my kids I taught Middle and Upper School History at an all girls school in New York City. The thought of commuting now and being so far from my kids makes my stomach turn. I want to be the one who is here when they are home sick. I want to attend the school science fair and parent teacher conferences. I want to pick them up in the afternoon and hear all about their day. I can still work an 8 hour day and do all of these things. One of the benefits of being a solopreneur is that I create and manage my schedule. I lose no time commuting and my studio life is a delight. My studio dog Violet is by my side every minute and she is a love. Her presence is calming and fuels my joy.

Being a Working Mom Ain’t Easy

My voiceover tasks don’t vary much day to day. On a daily basis, I work on my bookings, try to always do at least 20 auditions, work in marketing outreach and client correspondance, and do bookkeeping. I also have to maintain my social media content. It fills the day and the work day goes by in the blink of an eye.

While I am preoccupied with my voiceover work, all of my tasks as a wife and mom sit. When my sister and I were little we loved the old fable The Elves and the Shoemaker. Oh how I wish there were elves that would sneak into my house to tidy up and do the laundry or the dishes! I find tasks like cooking dinner and preparing lunch for the kids to be the most challenging because I try so hard to make our food healthy and well-balanced and it is hard to do that quickly and last minute. If I were not spending my day doing what I love, it would be quite frustrating to feel so challenged all the time.

Learning from my kids

My kids are young enough still that they do not keep their feelings bottled up. Instead, we know just how they feel in the moment. The blessing of that, though, is that the kids don’t ignore their passions. They pursue them whole-heartedly. This is a wonderful example to live by. Our lives go by so quickly. As Plato said, “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”

Filed Under: About Me, Voiceover Tagged With: Catherine de Medici, dyslexia, learning differences, macaroons, passions, solopreneur, studio dog, studio life, working mom, working women

A Girl’s Best Friend: Blessings of the Voiceover Studio Dog

September 12, 2018 by Laura Schreiber

My Fur Baby

Years ago, when I was early in my pregnancy with my twins, I remember my aunt pulling me aside and saying that as much as I loved my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Barclay, I would love my children so much more. Well, once they were born I realized that I loved my precious Barclay the same way that I loved Emma and Jack. Barclay, and now Violet, have brought such joy and love to my life and they are part of the family. When the twins were little and in their stroller, Barclay was extremely protective and would go off like an alarm to keep strangers away from them. When we lived in our Upper West Side apartment, if the twins went anywhere near the kitchen, Barclay always barked to let me know. As they got older, his protective instincts continued to sharpen and from snuggling when they were upset to loving and training our precious Violet, living with dogs is one of my greatest joys. Over the years, I have watched my elderly grandparents smile with joy as they held my dogs. I have savored every second watching Violet and Barclay gently kiss and play with my nieces and nephews, always careful not to be too rough. My own twins have such a special bond with their “doggy brother and sister.” There is a reason why so many folks, from producers to professional voiceover actors have animals in our studios: our furry friends enhance the quality of our day and because we, as artists are happy, these animals ultimately ensure a quality finished product.

The Snuggles Help

As a solopreneur, full-time professional voiceover actor, I can get lost in my work. Having such a precious, happy, calm girl by my side is a blessing as Violet, a now five year-old Blenheim Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, is always with me in my studio. There has been a lot of scientific research about the calming effect of canines. A great article in Frontiers in Psychology in 2014 they explain“Dogs are known to have stress and anxiety reducing effects. Several studies have shown that dogs are able to calm people during cognitive and performance stressors.” For me, by having Violet by my side in my recording booth, I can leave my every day stress outside my booth, and concentrate on the script in front of me. Whether I am working on a new audition or a booking, it is a benefit to be calm and composed so that I can be present in the moment. The only time that I do not have Violet in the booth is when I have a live session via ipDTL, Source Connect, or ISDN. It would be terrible to have the audio ruined because she yawns or shakes her collar!

I Work In a Padded Foam Booth…

I LOVE my work, but spending hours a day working in a padded foam booth may not be as fun as it sounds, so having a precious furry friend inside is really nice. I have made my booth as pleasant and comfortable as a gal can make a booth, but it is so nice to have Violet with me. She has a double layer cozy bed and a fe quiet toys. She occasionally kisses my leg at random. She also sporadically gets up and rearranges all of her belongings. It is very precious. I always record standing up because it is really important for the sound quality. I regularly have very long eLearning sessions. Every now in then, if I am editing a lengthy eLearning project, I sit on the stool in my booth. The very second I sit down, Violet wants to sit on my lap. She is, after all, a lap dog.

Violet is Part of My Healthy Life Plan

As a working voiceover actor, leading a healthy lifestyle is extremely important to my success. My voice is my instrument, so fitness and food choices very much effect my voice. In addition to pilates, I love taking walks with Violet. In fact, Violet is a great wellness companion, she does it all with me. Apparently this is extremely common. In Science Direct, in an article called “ Understanding dog–human companionship”, “pet owners, particularly dog owners, are more physically active than non-pet owners.” I also want to do as much as I can for Violet so that she lives a long and happy life, so that is incentive for me as well.

The Benefits

My dog, my precious Violet, keeps me happy and calm. Having this special girl to share my days with is not a gift that goes unappreciated. Her gestures, her adorable sounds, her sweet snuggles- all are noticed and loved and adored. They also all feed my soul as both Violet and Barclay are a childhood dream come true. Vi, in turn, fuels the success of my voiceover career, another dream, and I know that so much of the success is because of the happiness that she brings. As the great Elizabeth Taylor said: “Some of my best leading men have been dogs and horses.”

Filed Under: About Me, Voiceover Tagged With: cavalier king charles spaniel, recording studio, solopreneur, studio dog, voiceover, voiceover life, voiceover studio, working mom

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