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TMNT: Every Voice Actor Who Has Played The Turtles — Cowabunga that’s a big cast of TMNT actors!

From the article – Every Voice Actor Who Has Played The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (thegamer.com)

Aside from Marvel and DC, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is another comic book property with many adaptations across films, television, and games. There’s been animated TV show after animated TV show, along with many animated and live-action movies that stretch across each decade since the 1980s. And with 2023’s Seth Rogen-produced TMNT: Mutant Mayhem, a new set of actors now voice the iconic group.

With each new TMNT project, there’s always a fresh cast giving their own unique take on the characters, with some standouts being the 1990s films and the Nickelodeon animated series. You’ll see all these and more, including the young cast of Mutant Mayhem.

Raphael – Nolan North, Sean Astin, Alan Ritchson, Greg Abbey, Brady Noon, And More

The sternest and most down-to-business of the Ninja Turtles, red-masked Raphael is voiced by Rob Paulsen in the original 1987 animated series, who’s been the voice of many characters across cartoons like Animaniacs, Curious George, and Danny Phantom. Josh Pais, Laurie Faso, and Tim Kelleher voiced the character in the 90s films, and Greg Abbey, or Tristan Taylor from the Yu-Gi Yoh! series, took over for the 2003 animated show.

Then, in 2007 for the new animated TMNT film from Warner Bros., you had none other than Nolan North portraying Raphael. Nolan North is the voice of Nathan Drake in Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series, Desmond Miles in Assassin’s Creed, and Deadpool in the video game and other animated projects. And you can see him in live-action in Pretty Little Liars as Peter Hastings.

Stranger Things and The Lord of the Rings star Sean Astin voiced Raphael in the 2012 Nickelodeon series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which ran for five seasons. Besides being Frodo’s friend Samwise Gamgee and Joyce’s boyfriend Bob, Astin was also in FX’s The Strain, The Goonies, Rudy, and countless other Hollywood roles.

TMNT shifted to a live-action Nickelodeon production in 2014, followed by a 2016 sequel called Out of the Shadows, and television star Alan Ritchson played the CG Raphael in both films. Ritchson was Aquaman in Smallville, Thad Castle in Blue Mountain State, Hank of duo Hawk and Dove in Titans, as well as Jack Reacher in Prime Video’s Reacher. Omar Benson Miller from 8 Mile, Ballers, and CSI: Miami was Raph in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

In Paramount’s latest TMNT outing, Mutant Mayhem, Boardwalk Empire child star Brady Noon becomes the new voice of Raphael. No stranger to working with Seth Rogen in the past, you may remember Brady Noon as Thor from the R-rated comedy Good Boys. He’s also the voice of Greg Heffley in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid films on Disney+ and plays Evan in The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers.

Other voice actors for Raphael include:

Darren Criss (Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).
Ben Rausch ( Injustice 2 ).
Mick Wingert (TMNT: Mutants in Manhattan video game).
Roy Samuelson (2014 TMNT video game and Brothers Unite).
Mark Whitten (Smite video game).
Carlos Alazraqui (TMNT: Out of the Shadows 2013 video game).
Al Fritsch, Eric Anzalone (Turtle Tunes).
Matt Hill (The Next Mutation TV series).
Kim Strauss (Power Rangers In Space Crossover).

Donatello – Josh Brener, Corey Feldman, Barry Gordon, Rob Paulsen, Micah Abbey, And More

The debut of the purple-masked and bo-staff-wielding Turtle Donatello in the 1987 animated series was done by Barry Gordon, who’s since reprised the voice in the video games Shredder’s Revenge and Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3 Slime Speedway. Rob Paulsen, who co-starred with Gordon as Raphael in the original series, went on to voice Donatello in Nickelodeon’s 2012 TMNT animated series.

In other Nickelodeon shows, Rob Paulsen is Carl from Jimmy Neutron and Mark Chang from The Fairly OddParents. In the 90s live-action trilogy, this Turtle was voiced by Corey Feldman in the first and last film and Adam Carl in 1991’s The Secret of the Ooze. Corey is a musician and actor who starred in the 80s hits Stand by Me, The Goonies, and The Lost Boys, and later returned to the TMNT universe as Slash in 2012’s TMNT show.

Silicon Valley’s Nelson Bighetti actor Josh Brener, or as his friends on the series call him Big Head, portrayed the character in Nickelodeon’s 2018 series Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Brener was also in the Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn tech comedy film The Internship and the voice of Neeku Vozo in Star Wars Resistance.

Mitchell Whitfield of My Cousin Vinny and Friends provided the voice in the 2007 film, and Jeremy Howard from Malibu Rescue and Mighty Med voiced in the 2014 and 2016 live-action films.TMNT: Mutant Mayhem enlists young star Micah Abbey for Donnie, who’s guest starred on shows like Grey’s Anatomy and Bunk’d and is best known for his character Leaf in Nickelodeon’s Cousins for Life.

Other voice actors for Donatello include:

Sam Reigel (2003 animated show and various video games).
Yuri Lowenthal (TMNT: Out of the Shadows 2013 video game).
Baron Vaughn (Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).
Oliver Vaquer (2014 TMNT video game and Brothers Unite).
Gavin Hammon (TMNT: Mutants in Manhattan video game).
Joe Brogie (Injustice 2).
Landon McDonald (Smite video game).
Richard Berg, Eric Anzalone (Turtle Tunes).
Jason Gray Stanford (The Nexy Mutation).
Ezra Weisz (Power Rangers in Space Crossover).

Leonardo – Seth Green, Johnny Knoxville, Michael Sinterniklaas, Brian Tochi, Nicolas Cantu, And More

Named after Leonardo da Vinci, the dual-wielding katana Turtle with a blue mask had many comedian actors voicing him throughout projects. In the 2012 TMNT show, the first two seasons saw Jason Biggs as the voice before comedian Seth Green took over for the rest of its run. Biggs is most notable for playing Jim Levenstein in the American Pie franchise, Larry Bloom in Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black, and a slew of 2000s romantic comedies like Wedding Daze and Saving Silverman.

Seth Green was Oz in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, young Richie Tozier in the original It miniseries, Dr. Evil’s son Scott in Austin Powers, and is most well-known for voicing Chris Griffin in Family Guy and various characters in the stop-motion Robot Chicken, a show he also created. The trend of comedians for Leonardo continued with Jackass and Bad Grandpa star Johnny Knoxville voicing in Nickelodeon’s 2014 live-action adaptation.

Before playing Leonardo in all three of the 90s live-action TMNT films, actor Brian Tochi was Takashi in the 1984 comedy Revenge of the Nerds and Nogata in Police Academy 3 and 4. He also reprised Takashi in Revenge of the Nerds 3 and 4 and voiced Liu Kang in the animated Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm show. Tochi’s video game credits include Xenogears and True Crime: Streets of LA.

Legendary voice actor Cam Clarke was the original 1987 voice of Leonardo, but that’s not the only character from your childhood he’s voiced. Clarke has also been the alternate voice of Simba in various Lion King projects, including Disney Dreamlight Valley. In addition to reprising Leo in the TMNT video games, he also voiced Liquid Snake opposite David Hayter’s Solid Snake in Sons of Liberty.

Michael Sinterniklaas would be Leonardo in the follow-up animated show in 2003, and you may know him as Dean Venture from Adult Swim’s The Venture Bros. and Caprikid from Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir. Sonic the Hedgehog voice and Space Force actor Ben Schwartz was Leo in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And 2023’s Mutant Mayhem sees The Walking Dead: World Beyond and The Amazing World of Gumball actor Nicolas Cantu assuming the role of the blue mask.

Other voice actors for Leonardo include:

Dominic Catrambone (Nickelodeon’s 2012 TMNT animated series and games).
Scott Whyte (TMNT: Out of the Shadows 2013 video game).
Eric Bauza (Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).
Corey Kreuger (Injustice 2).
Peter Ploszek (Out of the Shadows 2016 film).
Matthew Curtis (Smite video game).
James Arnold Taylor (TMNT 2007 movie).
Michael Dobson (The Next Mutation).
Alfredo Miller, Johnny Kemp (Turtle Tunes).

Michelangelo – Townsend Coleman, Greg Cipes, Noel Fisher, Brandon Mychal Smith, Shamon Brown Jr., And More

News

Brian Gehbart – 3play interview (2023)

https://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/27650667

Roy:

Welcome to the ADNA Presents. This is Roy Samuelson. Today we have a very special guest. Brian Gehart is joining us again, he is the director of audio description at Three Play Media. Thanks for joining us, Brian.

Brian:

Thanks for having me back. Good to be here. <laugh>, it’s

Roy:

Great to see you again. How would you feel about that? First question we always ask, what do you love about audio description?

Brian:

Yeah, the things that I love about audio description haven’t changed. I still love helping tell stories. I’ve always been interested in that. I think we provide a service that people really value and I enjoy being a part of it, being a part of doing whatever we can in our own small way to make the world a little bit better, more accessible, helping people have a good time, get information, be entertained. So that’s where I come at it. I think one other thing that I enjoy beyond the work itself is you get to meet a lot of really interesting people. I’ve met some of the most creative and passionate and just fun people in the work I’ve done in audio description in the last 10 to 12 years. So yeah, I think all of those things have remained the same, and that’s been true really since the very beginning. Even with all the changes that we’ve seen throughout the industry and in the ways that content is being described, we’re still helping tell stories, we’re still helping provide an accessibility service and we’re still having fun and getting to work on interesting content.

Roy:

That’s great and it’s so great to hear that connection. It’s always been important to me personally and also professionally to have that connection, not only between the audiences and the films that we’re providing the audio description work to, but also to be able to have that internal connections like, uh, whoever we talk to on here. It’s always fascinating and I, I feel this extra connection that makes it more exciting and at the end of these interviews I always feel like, oh yeah, let’s, it renews me. There’s a, there’s an energy there and I’m hearing the same thing in your experience too.

Brian:

Yeah, for sure. Yeah. What

Roy:

Are some of the, uh, opportunities or challenges that you could talk about that have changed since the last time we talked? It was during the pandemic, I believe, or right after the pandemic that we last talked. So you know, especially with 9,800 ad titles, at least for film and TV and also some changes in the actual name of the company, <laugh>. So maybe we could get into that.

Brian:

Sure. Yeah, it’s definitely been an interesting and action packed year for me and for everyone I work with. I think the last time we talked was pretty much right at the same time or right after caption. Max was acquired by Three Play Media and I’d been in audio description for eight or nine years to that point at Caption Max and it’s been a fascinating process. You asked about opportunities and challenges. I think those are often the same thing. I think the process has been both or I think it’s been a grand opportunity. I think there are innumerable challenges kind of nestled within that, but you know, the two companies were complimentary in many, many ways and so it really did make sense at that level three play has long experience, particularly in the educational and corporate spaces. And in fact the company was founded with the idea, with the concept of trying to find a way to provide accessibility for university lectures and videos and that was kind of the founding idea and it just really took off from there.

Brian:

Starting with captioning and then moving into audio description and other services, that’s really the core of three plays. Background. The core of caption, Max’s background was in the entertainment industry and so those are very different worlds. There’s some overlap, but the processes and the people are a little bit different. And so in those ways, the acquisition made sense because we each had knowledge that we could bring to the table that maybe the other part of the entity didn’t have. So, you know, just as an example, three plays always been driven by technology. They have a huge team of developers and engineers and finding ways to use technology to make accessibility better and to make the services better, easier to produce, produce it faster and at great volumes to meet those challenges that their customers and their users were bringing to them. Caption Max previously was always much more of a kind of manual process driven organization dealing with, for instance, if you’re working on a feature film, there are some things that you’ve gotta get in and tinker with in a very kind of a much slower and more refined way.

Brian:

And so I think finding ways that we can utilize both sides of the spectrum there and be flexible to switch between different modes, between different processes, between different elements of the workforce. As another example, as a combined organization now we have at our disposal some amazing technology that is continually being improved that allows us to utilize a huge pool of script writers and we also have studios and experts who can get in the studios and do the recording and do the mixing at a very granular level to the extent that we need to. For me, I think that flexibility has really been key and it’s been a way that we can add value to the organization as a whole and add value to the user base and the customer base that we are serving.

Roy:

One of the things I remember years ago is calling up three play in my audio description, narration, prideful exuberance, <laugh>, and saying You should do human voices. And I look back at that with an embarrassment, not because I’m not proud of the work I do, but because I think I misunderstood this opportunity that you’re talking about, that I as a voice talent have never had any interest to read a blind person’s text messages or calendar appointments or email addresses At the very top, you said three play came from the information and the corporate and the educational side. And you have clearly from caption max come from the entertainment side of, you know, storytelling that I think I missed that. And I see the opportunity there of distinguishing that nuance so much more clearly now. And again, that example of I got no interest in reading a blind person’s email, that’s not my gig.

Roy:

But telling a story, there is an element there that makes it distinguished and to see how that acquisition of Caption Max has incorporated the careful work that you and your team have done on the entertainment side and have that integrated into the technology. It’s really exciting. I was laughing when you said about the challenges and the opportunities being the same. It is the same coin. It’s like how do you look at it? And I find it fascinating, particularly in audio description where the expression, the wild west, I’ve been using that for a while and it does feel like that in so many different ways that there are a lot of opportunities that can be carved out. And I’m curious if, you know, I’m not looking for behind the scenes, uh, stories that you can’t share, but are there any elements, uh, that you could specifically share that really did resonate with you that maybe our audiences would appreciate hearing?

Brian:

Yeah, I think one thing I thought about recently, because it’s part of the ecosystem of audio description that’s been growing really, really fast is extended audio description. That’s an element that that’s been around for a long time and a variety of different providers have been doing that for a while. Three play has a really, really slick process to handle it that makes it easy on the customer and makes it a great seamless experience for the user as well. That’s the type of product that when audio description was 10, 15 years ago when it was limited to just some TV networks, just a few feature films, nobody had really thought that through. As you start to see more and more videos come through that need to be described, whether that’s product, videos, advertising, whether that’s training videos, webinars, all that kind of content that really should be described.

Brian:

And those are the types of videos where there’s usually not a lot of room, you know, not a lot of space to insert some audio description. There’s not your grand panning shot of the landscape or there’s not the character kind of brutally looking out a window that I think everybody who’s written audio description from a media and entertainment background would recognize those instances. And so finding, okay, how do we take, maybe it’s a one minute video, maybe it’s a two minute video, but it needs to be made accessible so it needs to have audio description, finding ways to do that using technology as well as the human expertise of where do you pause the video, where’s the most important but maybe least obtrusive place to place that description, even if it’s just five seconds to explain, you know exactly what’s happening here. And trying to find a balance there too.

Brian:

You know, you don’t wanna take a two minute video, you could extend it to make it 10 minutes long if you really wanted to. There’s always more you can describe, but finding that right balance that probably a 10 minute long version of that video is not going to be a great experience or certainly not an equal experience to the original. So making it three minutes long instead, and just adding the right details at the right moment, that’s something I’ve been really impressed by. As an example of how you can leverage technology, you can leverage human expertise to make a better product overall and to serve a far bigger slice of the kind of overall media and video marketplace.

Roy:

That message is really clear in this entire conversation that it’s not one or the other. This isn’t one or the other. This is a collaboration I hear you say about the balance that’s, that’s needed with technology and the human touch. That context matters. There’s all sorts of other factors that really do impact and your and your team’s experience I’m sure have contributed to the, uh, the process here. So it’s, it’s very exciting to hear that focus. What about the direction that AD is headed? You’ve already addressed the level of description will not end anything that’s video and it’s pretty much everything is video is just gonna keep going. Those numbers just on the film and TV side, I guess you should say, the streaming and theatrical side of just exploded. Where do you see things are headed?

Brian:

I think about that a lot. I’ve been doing this for a little over 10 years now and to see how far we’ve come is incredible, but also to see how far we have left to go. I think we’re at a really interesting point in that sense where there is vastly more media described today than there was 10 years ago. I think 10 years from now we will have taken an equally sized jump across all facets of the landscape. Obviously video just keeps becoming a more important and more central part of our culture and so I think audio description is gonna continue to grow. Alongside that, I think that one thing I’ve started to see that I really, really loved is just more recognition across different parts of the industry. Different parts of all the related industries from on the entertainment side, working with production teams and post-production teams that now are much more familiar with audio description, what our workflows look like, what kinds of files we need, what the timelines are, whereas 10 years ago everything was starting over from scratch.

Brian:

Now many, many more people just understand that this is part of the process. Now I think the same is true at a lot of corporate and educational institutions. I talk with a lot of people at a variety of companies or universities and I often get to deal with a person in an accessibility department who’s really a champion for trying to make sure that all of their videos are described, that all of the content that needs to reach an audience. You know, people who are blind or low vision that that’s being planned for, budgeted for that they understand the processes. That’s one big change is just more and more people are familiar with what it is. More and more people in the general public I think are familiar with what it is too. Occasionally read a story in the media about it or see a clip from a news program or something.

Brian:

When I first started out, you’d Google audio description and one of the first things that would pop up, maybe the first hit was how do I turn it off? And I’m sure that still appears, but these days more and more people are interested in joining the discussion. Obviously audiences who are blind and low vision who have been part of that discussion for many, many years, but cited people too who are just interested in, Hey, this is a cool thing, or even I like to turn this on while I’m making dinner or folding the laundry or any number of ways that they see the value in it as well. So I think those are all exciting developments. We as a company, three players started to see a lot more interest and inquiry from a wide range of different kinds of clients. We’ve started providing audio description for film festivals.

Brian:

We’ve started providing more audio description in Spanish. We’ve started doing a few projects where it’s a foreign language original that’s perhaps being brought to the US for a streaming platform and we’re actually using multiple narrators to both localize and audio describe that project. So I think the reach kind of continues to broaden in that direction. One last example there, I know I’m kind of really coming at you, but I think live audio description is something that people have been interested in for years. I think it’s finally starting to happen. It’s finally starting to get some traction. I’m starting to see a lot more awards shows, sporting events, live reality shows or contests, all that kind of stuff. Corporate events on site or offsite. Those are all examples of where something just basically didn’t exist 10 years ago and now it’s really starting to get a foothold and grow from there.

Roy:

That’s wonderful. It’s uh, I’m thinking about that last mention of the live ad that a few years back the performers with disabilities committee and myself worked with the SAG awards to bring AD to the screeners and we wanted to publicize it and to the credit of SAG awards, they said it’s not going to be enough if we just publicize our screeners have it, we should have live ad for our show. Let’s go across the board. That was their suggestion. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And with that we crafted a lot of different ideas and as it’s continued each year it’s gotten better and better and each time they find a new way to do things a little bit better and maybe try this approach versus that there’s a real growth. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, it’s not this perfect thing and it’s always going to be an opportunity to get something more. I’m also thinking about our A D N A wishlist. It’s got films and TV shows that the audience wanted ad for and we’re removing titles left and right Every time it’s like, hey, this title already has ad so we take it off the list, let’s kill the wishlist. That would be wonderful.

Brian:

<laugh>. That’s awesome. It’s,

Roy:

And you know, you think about the audio description project that lists nearly 10,000 films, it’s, I said 9,800, so let’s round up 10,000 films in series and now what would happen if that list was so inclusive and expansive that it had to flip to the ED that isn’t available. So that becomes the wishlist, you know, it’s like, oh, everything has it except for these, you know? Right. It’s, that would be a shorter list. And that seems like what I’m hearing from you, the film festivals, the Spanish, the dubbing with non-English films and live ad in coordination, all of these things, it’s making this work less of a checkbox to be checked after the film’s done. That integration, that goes back to what you said at the very beginning that the connection that you have with your team that you work with and also now with three play, that those connections are evolving and growing in such a way that audiences are gonna win and the experience that you provide for the audiences brings your company to even greater levels. And I’m, I obviously I’m very excited about all this.

Brian:

Yeah, I mean I think that, just to reiterate the point that I made, there really are people embedded in every major company, every major university, every major media organization that are championing the work that we do and they’re fighting to help get as many titles as many videos as possible made accessible. Obviously there’s always a give and take. There’s always going to be a push and pull, uh, at some level, but that’s something I’ve seen in the last several years that I think is the beginning of a major sea change from where we were 10, 12, 15 years ago. I can remember hearing from ad users 10 years ago that if they tried to access something that was supposed to be described and they were having trouble finding it or figuring out how to turn it on or maybe it, they did everything correctly and and it just wasn’t there, they might have to contact somebody who kind of only was vaguely familiar with what ad is, or maybe they had to contact the closed captioning representative or something. I think that’s something that has definitely changed over the years, that there are people embedded in all these organizations that understand audio description, that understand its importance and that are absolutely pushing to try to make everything as accessible as possible.

Roy:

And also with that everything accessible. There’s a message that I’m hearing and I’m wondering if we can vocalize it underneath all of this, is that it’s not simply about checking the box, that the you address the enemy of time is what I like to call it when it comes to film and tv, that with extended audio description, it’s not just slapping on an extra six minutes to a two minute video or whatever, that there’s consideration made. There’s decisions that are being made, there’s choices that are organic that are strategically useful and practical, that there’s a lot of thought and even more to it. Is there a way that we could kind of break away from the flight path of every single ad project does this and this and this and this and this, that there’s those extra things. We alluded to it earlier about the human element. Could you expand a little bit about that and and the creativity or, or quality of audio description beyond just, Hey, it’s got it.

Brian:

Yeah, I think we are starting to see more and more producers, people involved in the production process wanting to hear about that quality control, wanting to hear voiceover samples, wanting to give feedback on the script that we wrote. I think that’s another one of those things that we saw a little bit in previous years, but that’s really increased more and more feedback coming from our customers saying, yeah, this description I think could be better. Or saying, well, this wasn’t really the intent. And I love seeing those things because it means that they’re reviewing our work, they’re listening to it and taking it seriously. I think that’s been a big thing. I think also absolutely just staying engaged with our audience and that’s something that obviously you’ve been working on for a long time. I think having recognition through various awards, having the Facebook ad discussion group that I know everybody involved in the industry keeps an eye on and follows up on, you get a little thrill when you see a title mentioned that you worked on. I think all those things are incredibly important.

Roy:

That’s great to hear that. I’d imagine if someone is new to audio description, whether they’re in the entertainment industry or outside, that they come with a lot of assumptions of what audio description could be or should be, that might not be exactly useful or aligned. And I know that that happens in my experience with my own ignorance that when I’m starting something new, I think it’s this one thing, but it’s actually something else. And by listening I can adapt. Without naming names and without pointing any fingers, I’m curious about that general experience of guiding the entertainment industry specifically to, Hey, you know what, I hear you, but when it comes to ad, it’s a little more like this, and how receptive they are to maybe undoing some of those assumptions so that they themselves can also grow into audience. And it sounds like they’ve helped you a lot too, that their feedback is absolutely essential. But I’m curious if it’s a two-way street where you can give feedback and say, this is what ad is, and they’re like, oh, okay. I don’t have to say he shoots the gun if he is the only person in the scene and we hear the gunshot

Brian:

<laugh>. Yeah, that’s a great point. And it’s kind of a nuanced one, right? Because there are cases where there may be onscreen text in a scene, but there may be other things happening in that scene and you have to make a judgment call, right? Uh, do I read the text or do I describe the action that’s happening? And it could be a different choice depending on what’s the most relevant. And from the perspective of an audio describer, from training, from experience, from listening to and talking to ad users, you sort of start to get those instincts built up over time to make that determination. Sometimes we do get feedback that maybe says, you didn’t read this bit of text, or, you know, perhaps you didn’t read this subtitle. There’s a subtitle on screen here. And we say, well, the subtitle might be on screen, but the person’s voice is also perfectly understandable as is.

Brian:

And all things being equal, we would much rather let the character or the interview subject or whatever it is, speak in their own voice. Uh, we don’t want to cover over them with narration to read the subtitle unless it’s unclear and is necessary. There’s definitely notes like that where there is a bit of a give and take. There’s questions of when do you cover certain sound effects, when do you cover lyrics in a song that’s playing in the soundtrack? Obviously the song has importance in and of itself, so all things being equal, we’d like to let that song play through, but songs often cover important visual action as well. So you know, we wanna describe all the important visual things that are happening. So maybe we choose to cover some number of lyrics but not others. And so some of those nuances that does become a back and forth often. And the thing that I’ve seen is that usually on those kind of content-based decisions, creative decisions, most of the people we deal with are very receptive to at least hearing and having that discussion. I’ve really only very, very rarely, I mean, hardly ever do we get just a hard no that shuts that down. That really hardly ever happens because I do think most people understand that ad is a creative process that runs in parallel to the creative process of creating the content itself.

Roy:

I think we just found our money quote for the entire episode here. <laugh>

Brian:

Only took us half an hour to get there, so that’s, that’s pretty good.

Roy:

It’s the buildup that’s all necessary the whole way through. Is there anything else you’d like to cover that uh, we haven’t addressed yet?

Brian:

I guess I would just finish by saying that we love to hear feedback. I follow the ad discussion group on Facebook. I definitely try to keep abreast of any stories and things that percolate up, and so I just hope that audience members and people involved in creating the original content itself are all kind of participating and contributing and hearing from one another. Because I think it should be a conversation, it should be a dialogue. I do think it’s developing in that direction.

Roy:

Oh, that’s great. How can we follow you or your company on social media websites?

Brian:

Three play media.com, that’s the company’s website. Go there to learn more about the things that we do, all the services we can provide. I am always happy to hear any feedback you can email me at be BGebhart@3playmedia.com and that’s three. The number three. I’m on LinkedIn. I’m not super active on social media, but I do check LinkedIn and try to keep up with things as best I can.

Roy:

Oh, thanks so much for joining us. Brian.

News

San Diego 2023 Comic Con Panel

Comic Con Panels Presenter

Roy Samuelson, with permission from SAG-AFTRA, presented at two panels at Comic-Con 2023. Joshua Loya and Scott Brick titled “Comic and Other Geek Items For The Visually Impaired” (I am a geek item), and a game show to a packed house, joining Tom Kenny, Maurice LaMarche, Cissy Jones, Laura Post, Lindsay Rousseau, George Ackles, and hosted by Bill Homes, and Shane Salk assembling a multi-camera A/V big screen extravaganza in less than 7 minutes.

Roy also signed his headshots, which included transparent braille, for a website with expanded image description of the headshot. Braille provided by GetBraille.com

Comics and Other Geek Items for the Vision Impaired

Blind and visually impaired people love comics, gaming, TV, movies, and all sorts of science fiction/fantasy/horror artforms just as much as their sighted counterparts. How do they enjoy such things with little or no eyesight? Blind adventurer and unashamed geek Joshua Loya (52 Masters, Miracle in Malibu) and actor/writer Scott Brick (audiobook narration, Dune, Shannara series) are joined by actor and audio description advocate Roy Samuelson (Star Trek Discovery, Westworld) to share what options exist for nonvisual entertainment.

Live Celebrity Gameshow: ITATYWOCYCTSATATIWOMC

“Is The Answer That You Wrote On Your Card The Same As The Answer That I Wrote On My Card” pays homage to the original Hollywood game show, The Match Game. Watch two contestants try to win by matching wits with celebrated talent including some of the most iconic voice-over artists in the industry. Panelists: Maurice LaMarche (Pinky & The Brain, Futurama), Tom Kenny (Sponge Bob Square Pants), Cissy Jones (Owl House), Linsay Rousseau (Transformers), Laura Post (Persona 5), and Roy Samuelson( audio description legend).

News

The Power Of The Voice featuring Satauna Howery & Roy Samuelson

Brief summary of the show: In today’s episode of Bold Blind Beauty On A.I.R., we continue our series on the senses by talking with two voice experts. Both of these extremely gifted individuals are award-winning voice artists who are also adept at audio description. While technically the voice isn’t a sense, it is an intrinsic, powerful representation of who we are as humans. Even those of us who cannot physically speak, we still have a voice.

The Power Of The Voice

Steph: Welcome back to another edition of Bold Blind Beauty On A.I.R. Podcast, the show that’s clearing the air for more A.I.R. (Access, Inclusion, and Representation). I’m Stephanae McCoy, and with me are my co-hosts,

Nasreen: I’m Nasreen Bhutta

Sylvia: Sylvia Stinson Perez,

Dana: and I’m Dana Hinnant.

Steph: “The voice is a human sound, which nothing inanimate can perfectly imitate. It has an authority and an insinuating property which writing lacks. It is not merely so much air, but air modulated and impregnated with life.” ~Joseph Joubert

While technically the voice isn’t a sense, it is an intrinsic, powerful representation of who we are as humans. Even those of us who cannot physically speak, we still have a voice.

In today’s episode of Bold Blind Beauty On A.I.R., we will be talking with two voice experts. Both of these extremely gifted individuals are award-winning voice artists who are also adept at audio description.

It is my pleasure to introduce you to Roy Samuelson and Satauna Howery.

Hi Roy and Satauna.

Roy: Hey there.

Satauna: Hi.

Steph: It’s so wonderful to have you both on the show. So before we get into the meat of our discussion, can we first just ask you guys to tell us a little bit about yourselves? Satauna, let’s begin with you.

Satauna: Well, hi everybody. I’m Satana Howery. I live in upstate New York.

Um, so yes, I’m a voice actor it’s a ton of fun. I love this job. I tell people I get paid to sit in a, a small room and get paid to record myself talking to myself, which I think is pretty awesome.

I was born blind, so I read my scripts using a braille display. And I have a retired guide dog. I have two cats. I have uh, we have not retired this guy yet the husband, the wonderful husband. And, um, life is good.

I like the, we, we have a new development across the street. We love to walk on the brand new beautiful road that we claim is our road cuz nobody’s living on it yet. And, uh, it’s just, uh, it’s good to be here. Thanks for having me.

Roy: Hey, this is uh, Roy. Um, I’m gonna do some bullet points cuz it’s for my time I’m in Pacific Time, which is a little different than other people, so I’m still, I’m just getting my day started.

So, um, I take cold showers. I’ve been to all 50 states and, oh, I know someone who’s featured on Google Maps Street View, which I feel like is some sort of claim to fame. And right now I’m wearing a custom braille t-shirt that says “Sometimes the rainbow is sharp.” And that’s by Aille Design.

Steph: Thank you both so much. Nasreen?

Nasreen: Roy and Satana, you are both involved in voice acting. Tell us a little about what you do and about audio description itself. Roy?

Roy: First of all, I love audio description, and when it comes to audio description, there’s a, there’s a canned answer that I like to give. I’d like somebody to interrupt me cuz if I, you know, let’s, let’s keep it as brief as possible.

And so in the world of audio description, it’s also called video description or descriptive video or descriptive narration. A describer who might be the writer or narrator, and maybe it’s both the writer and the narrator, or maybe it’s the company, but not the production company nor the distributor. But a special other company gives creation of a split track or a mix track of a narrator.

If the film or TV show even has it, which is depending on the distribution channel like streaming, theatrical, broadcast, physical like Blu-Ray or DVD or downloadable to your iTunes or Google Play, or even YouTube with any of these, which offers varying levels of access of the audio description, either on an app or a TV or a cable box or a Chrome browser with a special plugin or with YouTube, maybe it’s a separate YouTube video with audio description, but maybe the audio description separately downloadable that syncs up.

And then you can listen to a narrator or a synth voice so it sounds like a conversational robot, or maybe it’s a narrator that sounds like a synth voice, but you don’t even know if the audio description is there until you hear it, which might be a few minutes into the show.

So you wait and wait, wait and hope, and then. You don’t hear it, so you have to decide to either stop and complain or just put up with it. But who do you decide to complain to? Who is it? The local broadcast affiliate or the movie theater manager who’s dealing with Karen’s complaint about her unpopped popcorn kernel, or do you complain to one of the 47 plus streaming services by email, message, fax, Facebook, tweet by phone?

But to find that phone you have to hunt down a number. And when you find that number go through a press one. Press three, sorry your call cannot be completed as dialed or try a different number. Is that the main line? Oh great press four, press zero, Holding. Oh, good. You can talk to a real person.

It goes something like this. You answer their questions. Um, yes. My speakers are working. No audio description isn’t closed captioning. Sure I’ll hold. Or is it better to go through an accessibility web link buried so deep it feels like they don’t want to talk to you. And even when the audio description is there, is it, it’s bad?

What does that even mean? Is the writing indicating things that the visual doesn’t have? Does the narrator of a scary suspenseful movie talk to you like you’re a baby toddler? Does a kid show have an uninterested adult narrating who sounds as tasteless as cereal too long in the milk? Or is it just that form mentioned synth voice, like my friend Melody calls a puppet, or even kind of creepy, like a horror monster made to describe the lighthearted comedy, romance film to you.

And who chose that voice, and why does that voice get in the way of your experience? And you have to keep fiddling with the volume up and down and down and down and up to try to hear it depending on what’s going on in the background or maybe the production audio ducks outta the way so you can hear the narrator, but all the other audio disappears outta the way and it’s jarring and it takes you outta the story and does this work that’s created by blind people for blind people even include blind people in the process?

So the answer is maybe,

Sylvia: Oh my gosh, Roy, I just have to, to jump in here and say, I think Roy must record those things at the end of TV ads where it says,

Make a pain. I love how you were able to say all that so quickly. Roy just wanted to say all the questions. Awesome.

Nasreen: Oh, cracking up here.

Dana: I, I’m great. I was like, oh, I’m glad I’m on mute cuz this is, he did such a fantastic job, but I’m over here laughing.

Steph: But guys, more importantly, we all know what audio description is now.

Nasreen: Definitely. Satauna, how about you?

Satauna: Well, how does one follow that? And remember it’s three hours earlier where he is too. So what we also know from that explanation is what audio description is not. It is not often done by blind people. It is not often quality checked. It is not even often done by people who really understand the value of it and what it brings to the table, and how much of, it’s not just the technical craft of I know how to use a mixing board. I’m gonna mix, or a laptop, I’m gonna mix my description.

But that art of putting it all together, of creating something that really helps and contributes to audiences falling into the story and being sort of swept away by the mood of it. And those are all things that audio description should be. We want description that is quality, and we absolutely want description that is done as much as possible by blind professionals.

Back in the days of audiobooks, the technology was not there for blind people to read those books. But that’s not the case anymore. The technology is absolutely available. People who are blind or low vision can play such significant powerful roles in all aspects of description. So that’s, that’s what I would say about it.

Dana: There is a Chinese proverb that says, “The tongue paints a picture, what the eyes cannot see.” Can you share with us how we can paint a picture with our voices? Satana?

Satauna: Well, we call it voice acting, and I would say we call it voice acting because it is acting. It is connecting with those words and finding one’s own truth within them.

And that truth can look different for different people because all of us come to it with our own experiences. It’s why Romeo and Juliet or other plays and things that have been around for a long time get redone, or movies get rebooted and shows get redone in the modern era with sort of modern characterizations and things like that. Because things change, our experiences change, our world changes, and so everybody comes at it in a different way.

So think about whatever it is that you are trying to convey and speak your truth about it and be authentic in it. And also, I would say that time pausing is, a part of it, but some people think that it’s just about being big and loud and bold, and it’s not.

I get a ton of these gigs where I’m this calm, quiet narrator because sometimes the voice is the mix with not just music and sound effects but with visuals. So it’s a piece of the story. It’s this big puzzle. When you put it all together, it’s this collage of stuff that comes together and makes the whole picture.

Roy: I love this question and uh, to join Satauna on the Romeo and Juliet factor, you can imagine going to see a play of Romeo and Juliet and in one version during the intermission, you’re just moved to tears. There’s such a connection with what’s happening with the Shakespeare scripts, and then in another scene of a different theater where you go see Romeo and Juliet at the intermission, you’re crying because you just wanna leave and never want to come back and not come back for the next act because it’s so terrible.

That in all seriousness, that’s addressing that kind of connection that when the characters on the stage are connected with each other, that there, there’s a, there’s a communication using the words to, to propel something forward. And joining Satauna here that there’s the intent that we bring to those scripts.

That there are so many different ways that a husband and wife can say, I love you, depending on what the husband screwed up just before the wife says it. In the same sense that there could be a, a truly loving moment when the children are playing in the backyard and there’s a, there’s a nice breeze blowing and it’s just this, this casual moment.

That intent means everything. And when voice actors are able to take that page of scripted words, regardless of it being audio description or anything, and bring it out into a connection, that I think that’s what we as audiences respond to. And I just love it. I know when I hear a, solid read of, a voice talent, it’s, it, it brings me in and I’m not even thinking about them.

I’m really paying attention to the story being told. And that’s the that’s the, the mark of a genius like Satauna.

Sylvia: That’s beautiful. And I love what you said about intent and making the connection. I, I know that many people they do not like realize how important knowing, those visuals are what really connects you to something. So thank you for that. Thank you for your work.

Maya Angelou said “Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning.” Share with us please how we can use our voice more effectively to get the message across.

So let’s start with, um, Satauna.

Satauna: There was one day where I was really mad about some accessibility or rather inaccessibility thing. I was just so mad and suddenly this voice just came to my head and I thought, well, I just called customer service and I said,

Hello. Just like to talk to you. And it just made me laugh so hard, just the goofiness of this and kind of slowing down my words and I’m absolutely over articulating. I got a big smile on my face and every time I say like a “B”, it’s, I’m almost like my cheeks are puffing out just.

It just cracked me up, and so it changed my mood from that furious. How come somebody doesn’t care about how inaccessible to this, to something where, okay, I can call these people and I can have a reasonable diplomatic conversation because now I’ve shifted my mindset and I think that sometimes we have to begin with those words transforming us.

The message has to transform within us to be effective to somebody else. Who’s our audience? Who are we talking to, what is it that we’re trying to convey, and what’s the best way to convey that that’s going to connect with them?

In voice acting often, it’s not about us, and the best thing we can do is find a way to get out of our way. And I think that there are so many spaces in life where this is, this is true. It’s not just voice acting, but in that context, it really is about just getting out of your own way and finding a way to convey your message that will resonate with whomever you’re talking to.

I mean, if you think about audio description, think about if you’ve got a children’s show and the writer is using all these giant words that the second grader just isn’t going to know. It doesn’t really make any sense to the second-grader. Right?

So everything changes depending on who your audience is and what, outcome do you want. What are you trying to do?

Sylvia: Such great advice there. Oh, that’s so true, Satauna. Roy, what about you?

Roy: That’s such a great quote from Maya and mm-hmm. I, I was really thinking a lot about the.

You know, setting it down on paper and then the human voice and, and what happens there. I think about the difference between going to, uh, a graduation ceremony where there’s an orator that’s prepared, a script that they’re reading out to all of us, and that there’s a big wide audience there and it’s, it can have all sorts of impacts.

I’m, I’m gonna take a different tack on this, that when I get a script, I don’t care what version of the script it is. I am speaking, I get that. I’m using my voice to bring those words through my body and into a mic, and then it processes and it goes out. I feel like there’s a part of that that’s listening in the sense that it sounds kind of, kind of intuitive, counterintuitive.

So let me try to see if I can make this work that when I’m speaking a script, for me to take that script and, and really listen to not only what the script is saying. But also to take, uh, the advantage of Satauna’s audience, who I’m speaking to, and, and to make that script, those words that I’m using, become a dialogue that I’m, I’m actually engaged in a conversation with the person I’m talking to and to make that as specific as possible, because that’s how it feels like those words can become alive.

I know I’m getting kind of into the, into the weeds here, but the important thing that I’m, when I, when I’ve. I’ve been able to take a script and bring it to life. It’s because I’ve been listening to not only the script, but also the person I’m talking to and, to be able to use those words to share an exchange, uh, meaning.

So, uh, when I read deeper, meaning that goes back to the word connection again. That, that, that, that really resonates with me deeply. And, I believe that when you’re in really good hands with a voice, talent, With a voice actor that it’s because they’re engaging with that kind of deep connection, that deeper meaning is coming through them, actually listening.

Sylvia: What do you think about the authenticity factor? And I ask my Bold Blind Beauty girls this too.

Roy: I’d love to jump in on, this and then hear what Satauna says. Cause I, I, I hear that authentic selves, and the first word that comes to mind is vulnerability in the sense of Brene Brown’s definition. That that kind of, uh, opening up something that might be a little outside of the comfort zone might be a little uncomfortable.

I remember a story of, of voice talent, voice actor that goes into a booth to read and it so happens that they were in the adult entertainment industry. Uh, it’s relevant for the story, I’m not gonna get graphic here. But at the end of this typical, let’s say it was a commercial read, it was just a typical voiceover script that had nothing to do with what they were familiar with.

They come out of this, out of the booth, and say, oh my gosh, that’s the most intimate thing that I’ve ever done. It’s, there is something that happens when, when they’re speaking, even whether it’s using your own words or reading a script of somebody else’s words, that there is a vulnerability here. And by finding a way to embrace that while still telling the story, there’s a, there’s a high wire act here.

By being able to be vulnerable, that authenticity comes out. And I believe that that’s how that connection happens with the audience. But I’d love to hear what Satauna has to say about this.

Sylvia: Yeah. That I think that’s so true. Satana, what do you think?

Satauna: I think that’s really true, and I think that vulnerability requires trust and not just trust of the party that you’re speaking to, but it really starts from within.

It’s really trusting yourself, and that’s the thing I think that often causes people to get in their own way is we get imposter syndrome and we think we’re not good enough. Or, okay, this is, you know, if I’m reading a script, this might be something that I’m reading that I don’t necessarily believe. So how do I find what’s true and authentic within me that would be true and authentic for the character that’s in this script?

So finding that trust within and being okay with myself in that space contributes to vulnerability and being able to be as intimate as the story that Roy was talking about with the voice actor who came out of the booth a couple of minutes ago.

Sylvia: And that’s true in every situation in life. So that’s so true. Satauna, Steph, Nasreen, Dana, anything to add to that?

Steph: Well, I was thinking when Satana gave the example of how angry she was, and then, the funny voice came to her head and how she was able to shift her mindset. I was thinking about that as it relates to advocacy and a personal situation that I was in years ago when I had to advocate on behalf of my mother just how angry I was at this situation.

I remember driving home that evening thinking I have to do something. This is just so unfair. But what I did almost similar to what Satana said, was I took a step back. And I began thinking about the next steps. And I did think about my audience, these people that I needed to write this letter to cause I went on a letter-writing campaign.

And what I did was I did a day in a life. So I invited people into my mother’s life to tell her story. And I guess that was the vulnerable piece because I really had to put myself into that story to be able to tell her story, to get what we needed to get. And we did have a great outcome.

But I think, you know, when we’re advocating, while I believe there really is no right or wrong way to advocate for something that you truly believe in. I think when you want to get other people to listen to you, you have to do it in a way that is connection. And the way to connect, as you guys said here, is through that vulnerability, that authenticity.

Sylvia: And stories are powerful. They are way more powerful than facts and figures and all of that. They’re powerful.

Steph: Exactly. Because we are all humans and mm-hmm. Humans connect, with other humans.

Sylvia: But we do have to be vulnerable to tell those stories. You know, Steph, you made me think of a really important question I have. We’re, you know, I know we’re talking about the power of the voice, but today so much of our voice is heard through the written word, set down on paper, set down on a text, an email, et cetera.

How do we ensure that the power of our voice is also heard, or the power of our message is also heard through our written word? I mean, I’m asking this to all of you. How can we make sure, what are some tips we can follow that will make sure that the written word we have is also effective through that power of our voice?

Satauna: This is Satauna. Can I jump in here? Yes. Yes. Yeah. Oh, there are so many angles to go. I’m so excited. Okay, so Steph, when you were talking about that voice that you reached for, the thing that came to my mind was the voice of authority and calm. It’s clarity. It’s sort of this authoritative clarity. You know what you’re asking for, you know what you want and you’re confident in your message.

Yes. So you can really deliver it with clarity and authority because you believe it. So that doesn’t negate passion, it just means as some, I mean, sometimes when I get passionate, I just get over the top. I get so excited, I get louder, and my hands start waving around. I’m it’s doing it right now, doing that kinda thing, right?

So in terms of advocacy, that authoritative calm can be so powerful. And when it comes to the written word, just read your writing out loud or have somebody else who’s got some authoritative calm, read what you’ve written out loud to you or back to you and see does it resonate with you? Does it connect the way you want it to?

The other thing I wanted to say about advocacy is when I came up with that funny voice, the picture, the visual picture in my mind is of a giant elephant. And if you’ve ever heard the story of the blind people with the elephant, and one blind person feels the tail, and one blind person feels a foot and one blind person feels an ear, and then they all argue with each other about what this thing was because they were all at different pieces of it.

For me that suggested blind people aren’t smart enough to connect with each other and understand that they’re looking at something bigger. Or that, you know, like who doesn’t walk along the thing that they’re feeling and see what else is down the road or down the line. You know what I mean? So the elephant has so much symbolism for me in terms of advocacy and it’s this big sort of OIE giant animal, and yet it’s an animal that is commanding in a lot of ways just because of its very size. It has a presence.

So that authoritative, and calm makes me feel bigger, taller, more impactful, and more confident. My shoulders go back and I just have sort of a quiet, uh, belief in what I’m saying if that makes any sense.

Roy: I love how Satauna talks about that, that confidence and that clarity, that presence. I, I’m, I myself have imposter syndrome when it comes to reading scripts.

Sometimes I get stuck and when I fall into that, that trap where I’m not sure if you’ve ever ex anyone has ever experienced this, where it’s like you kind of keep stumbling and stumbling and there’s a, there’s a rut that seems like it’s inescapable and that just makes it spiral worse. That in those, in those cases, it’s, it’s time for me to take a deep breath and, and just step away a little bit and get a different perspective.

In emails, I’ve found some recently some really challenging emails that were almost impossible. It, I, I did feel painted into a corner and I wrote out the email fully, just letting it all out. Everything that, every angle, every emotion, everything. And I did not send it, it was a draft, so I didn’t even put the address in.

But when I edited it down I did read it out loud and what I did was I read it wrong. And by wrong, I mean I read it angrily or I read it with, with, uh, a childish victim sadness of whininess entitlement. I tried reading it with, uh, condescending air and then I tried reading it with what my intent was.

And I saw where those abilities of reading it poorly, bad, that’s a judgment. Reading it, not in the way that I intended it let’s say it like that. When I read it in a way that I didn’t intend, I saw those spaces, those words that were coming out on the paper in ways that I did not mean when I wrote it on paper. So Satauna’s point about speaking it out loud can actually influence the way that that message can be written.

Sylvia: That’s a fabulous idea. Dana, Nasreen, do you have anything else to ask?

Dana: I was just thinking about the tone of things and how we can convey a message, but the tone of it can make the message come across very differently. If somebody has written something for y uh, something that you have to choose to read from, you can put your own tone or heart into it as if you wrote it.

Or if you’re advocating for something, you know, you may come off a little bit more friendly, but when you get to the, the meat and the potatoes of what you’re advocating for, the tone switches to could switch to something that might be a little bit more aggressive or just make people take notice.

So I think tone can play a lot into it, as well as putting your heart into something that you didn’t even write.

Nasreen: I think there’s a lot of great information here shared by everybody from authenticity to connection, tone, to saying it out loud and hearing yourselves in different situations. As you know what they say, it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it that leaves an impact and it makes a difference with people. What they’ll remember of your message of you.

And I think that’s a strong statement because that’s generally how it is. Words matter. You have to be careful what you say, how you say it. So being mindful of what you say and how you say it I think is really key as well.

I just feel like what you Satauna and Roy do are doing here as voice actors and audio description is it’s an art that you have developed and perfected and cultivated over the years that I think not many of us can do, but certainly we admire a lot. I know I do. Uh, just hearing both of you with strong, vivid voices, painting the images with your voice is just amazing to hear.

And I think, uh, as professionals, you guys have really captured that art. So, uh, thank you for, you know, kudos to you and thank you for sharing that with us because it makes us realize that word has power, has meaning.

I would like to ask both of you, if somebody wanted to get started in voice acting audio description, how would they get started?

Roy: I like to refer people to, I want to be a voice actor.com, and I’m not kidding. I use this website frequently. It’s a treasure trove and a deep dive into all sorts of things that have to do with voice acting. I want to be a voice actor.com. It’s a great starting place for anybody interested, in learning more about the business, finding coaches, learning about different approaches, and the different myriad of types, of focuses.

Satauna: And I would say that both Roy and I are coaches, and so of course you can reach out to us. And also remember that the voice acting is a piece of it. It is a business. So what everybody, when people come to me, they’re all excited about reading the copy, but there’s the hustling of getting the job. There’s the administration of invoicing for the job and keeping track of what’s going on on the pay side.

There’s the technology side of knowing how to record yourself. This is 2023 here. Home studios are a thing. Online casting is definitely a thing, and while there are certainly some gigs where you go into somebody else’s studio, for the majority of what you do, you’re gonna be recording yourself at home.

Or you’re going to be on a session where somebody’s recording you, but you gotta log in. So you gotta be able to use the web and or certain cases, certain kinds of not-so-great accessible software. So knowing your technology, knowing how to troubleshoot, and knowing how to use the tools of the trade is just as important as being able to read the copy.

Nasreen: Thank you for sharing that on that, uh, Satauna and Roy, how can people find you? Can you guys share your socials?

Satauna: Well, this is Satauna. I have such a unique name that it’s pretty impossible not to find me. That’s so true. My name S A T A U N A, and you’ll find me. I’m on Twitter at satauna h. I’m on Facebook, I’m on LinkedIn. My email is satauna@gmail.com and that’s me.

Roy: I’m on uh, roysamuelson.com and theadna.org, uh, T H E A D N A.org for a database of audio description professionals of all kinds. And the podcast.

Sylvia: What a fabulous conversation. The voice is truly powerful.

Steph: Thank you both so much once again for joining us here on Bold Blind Beauty On A.I.R. This was such an enlightening discussion and uh, I think I can speak for all of us here. We, we so appreciate the work that you do.

Satauna: Thank you for having us on. This is so much fun.

Nasreen: Thanks for listening to Bold Blind Beauty On A.I.R. with your hosts, Stephanae McCoy, Nasreen Bhutta, Sylvia Stinson-Perez, and Dana Hinnant. If you enjoyed this episode and you would like to help support the podcast, please share it with others, post it on your socials, or leave a rating and review. Catch all the latest on Bold Blind Beauty.

You can follow us on Instagram, and Facebook, and check our YouTube channel, Bold Blind Beauty. Thanks again for listening, and we will see you next time on another edition of Bold Blind Beauty On A.I.R.

News

Twenty Thousand Hertz – A Thousand Words

https://megaphone.link/TTH9289029465

Audio description allows you to enjoy a movie or TV show without the need for any visuals. But how do these narrators strike the right tone for a scene? How do the writers decide what needs to be described? And what’s in store for the future of described audio? In honor of Blindness Awareness Month, this is a brand new story about the world of Audio Description. Featuring AD Narrator Roy Samuleson and AD experts Thomas Reid and Melody Goodspeed.

Audio Description, Featured Client, News