For my Christmas gift to you this year, I'd like to share a true story from my childhood. Remembering the days when my brothers and I made it our mission to listen for Santa... and my dad made it his mission to catch us peeking!As we in America head into our Thanksgiving weekend, I want to express my thanks to God for family, friends and the talent He bestowed upon me.
America’s Thanksgiving is a tradition that began with the father of our country, George Washington. Here are the words of President Washington that started it all:
“Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"
Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.”
Thank you, Mr. President. And thank you God for all of our blessings. Happy Thanksgiving!
ave I been lately? Extremely busy and somewhat under the weather. The one thing a voice-over talent tries hardest to avoid is a cold, because it can bring business to a standstill. Ugh.
Here is what I told Jan. First, let me say that it didn't happen right away for me either. I had been getting most of my voiceover jobs locally or regionally up until late 2006. Then, a friend suggested I join the online sites to increase my business.
I started with two of them in January 2007, and didn't get my first job until May. When I won that first one, I went back and studied what I had written in that proposal, and how I produced the audition.
Then, I started browsing other talents' pages and I listened to their demos. I "borrowed" several ideas from the people who seemed to be most successful on the site, and the more I polished my audition process, the more jobs I booked.
I definitely do not believe that it is a numbers game. I have often heard others say that you shouldn't audition if there are already over 25 or 50 auditions submitted. Baloney. More than once, I have had a client say, "We listened to over 180 auditions, and you were the best of them" or something like that. Point is, if you feel you are right for the gig, you owe it to yourself to audition - no matter what that number says.
Also, download some of the demos of the top players, and compare them to your demos. Are they comparable to your demos? Get a friend to listen, and get unbiased opinions. Demand honesty. Flattery will truly get YOU nowhere.
Just hang in there, Jan. It will happen. Case in point, another VO friend of mine hasn't scored a job on the “pay-to-plays” since he signed up a year ago. So he started examining things more closely. Not to pat myself on the back (but don't mind if I do - heh-heh), I directed him and produced 3 new demos for him. A couple of weeks ago, he got his first job, and it may go national! Also, he has been in contact with someone who may use him in movie trailers. Pretty cool to see someone make so much progress in such a short amount of time - but only after he struggled for a year.
Again, ignore the numbers and the naysayers. You can do this, and you've got to go through some minefields to win the battle!
Here’s to Jan’s future in the VO world!
The only downside to it all is that most of those leaves eventually fall. Before we bought our home seven years ago, we had no idea that the house was in the “direct line of fire.” It sits at the end of a cul-de-sac, and every year the wind seems to conspire to blow all of the neighborhood leaves up the street and settle in our yard… our gutters… our window wells… you get the idea. One year, I told the next door neighbor that I noticed that the people up the street never seem to get around to raking their leaves; I said, “I think they know that eventually those leaves will end up in our yards anyway. So why bother?”
Every year, I’m like a tired, old general crouched in a foxhole. On windy autumn days, I take my seat by my living room window and wait. Then the invasion begins. The leaves slowly march up my street. There is no escape. I raise my binoculars to see what my leaf 
By the time the wind settles down, we are surrounded by a sea of red, yellow and brown leaves. Several times in the season, nature seems to laugh in our faces as little whirlwinds appear out of nowhere and toss those leaves – this usually happens shortly after I have raked the leaves into several neat piles. It’s as though Mother Nature has bratty kids who play practical jokes on me each year.
In the end, I get the last laugh. Raising my binoculars to my weary eyes, I scan the neighborhood looking for any conniving leaves that might be planning a last minute, surprise attack. After determining that the coast is clear, and the enemy has settled in to their positions surrounding my home, I move in.
Those dastardly gutter cloggers are about to feel the wrath of my leaf-sucking, mulching machine!* Slowly I attack them, luring them in with the promise of another dance in a whirlwind. Little do they know that this whirlwind will be their last.
The next day, after the completion of yet another autumn conquest, I spread the remains in the yards of my neighbors down the street.
Muhwahaha!
Okay. Maybe not. However, it sure seems like the perfect ending, doesn’t it.
*No actual leaves were harmed in the making of this story.
I love the English language. My interest in language is so great that sometimes I have to resist the urge to correct others. Ask my wife, and she’ll probably say that I am obsessed with the English language.
Here’s a free tip for you young guys: “Never correct your wife’s grammar unless you are wearing protective gear.”
Come back here. I am not going to lecture you about grammar. Quick! What is the object of the preposition in that last sentence?
Just kidding.
What is most fascinating to me about language is the power it packs. The words we choose can make others happy, sad, glad, angry, calm or violent. With words we can make others smile, frown, laugh, cry or even sleep.
Consider these examples and notice how you feel towards the individual based on their statements:
So I am thinking the first guy needs to have a long chat with his friend Jack Daniels and sleep it off; you probably don’t want to talk about the high taxes with him unless you are wearing that protective gear I mentioned earlier. The second person is probably going to cut you off in traffic, flip the bird at the mailman, and kick the dog. However, person number three seems approachable, although his statement might make you secretly giggle.
What if you introduced me to your sister and later asked me what I thought of her? What if I said, “Man, she is butt ugly!” Uh-oh, protective gear time. Okay, how about, “Your sister is okay, but she’s not very attractive.” Well, sometimes honesty is not the best policy, is it? Instead, what if I answered, “You know, your sister is a good person, but she’s not my type.” Enough said.
Have you ever heard that commercial claiming a product can improve your English? The announcer says, “People judge you by the way you speak.” That is so true. People will also react to you according to the way you choose words.
I think American Southerners are among the best at wise word choice. Take for example what a friend’s wife once said to me:
“Scooter, you have a face that only a mother could love.”
Huh?
My reaction to her words was a smile. The next morning, I woke up and realized what she said. I remember blurting out, “She called me ugly!” Of course, she never used the word ‘ugly,’ and she said it with 
Nah, I was just a bit peeved.
Read these words without speaking: "I am a super hero."
I suppose the best place to start a blog is with an introduction. My name is Scott Fortney; however, my friends call me Scooter. Why Scooter, you ask? Well, I wish I could give you a funny story, but it's really quite simple. One day one of my radio bosses passed me in a hallway and said in his smooth, Southern accent, "Hey Scott-- no, no... Scooter. Why don't you call yourself Scooter?" My reply was, "Okay, I'll do that." After all, he was the boss, right? So that day I began using that name on the air. At the time, I was known as Scott Alan (my middle name), so I became Scooter Alan, and later Scooter Alan Fortney. So you see, quite boring, huh?
Well, here we go. I'm finally going to join the blogging community. Most of my blogs will be about the voice-over world. Every now and then, I'll throw in some family news... because my family is my biggest pride and joy. ;-)
