ERIN FITZGERALD

So I thought I’d share a little about what I’m learning in my life journey right now.  I’m grateful that I’m at a place where I don’t feel too embarrassed to share this so publicly.  I felt moved this morning to write it out and own up to it, so here it is.

There are interesting occasions in my life when someone who is a friend strangely becomes someone I am uncomfortable with.  I don’t know how it happens, it seems so gradual and natural that I’m generally quite surprised when I find myself avoiding contact with them at some point.

Usually it’s one person at a time with breaks in between.  Right now I’m on a break.  Thank Goodness. But this break has given me an opportunity to reflect on the cycle that occurs with humans I love and respect.

When the cycle starts I use it as an opportunity to look at the areas of myself that I’m not in love with. (don’t get me wrong, I don’t do it with a happy smiley face of “oh great, now i can work on myself”  usually i’m pissy and grumbling)

I have found that if there is something in someone else that I don’t like that it is because it is an aspect of myself that I don’t like. In other words, usually I’m doing that exact thing but I don’t recognize it in myself yet but BOY do I ever see it in others.

So then this must be the time to look at that aspect, forgive it and own it and love it.  Practicing giving that person love in my imagination and blessing them and wishing them all their dreams, as hard as that can be at times (i generally do it through gritted teeth), always helps the feeling of avoiding them subside and the distaste I developed towards them disappear.  Then the love between us is able to flow once more.

I never tell the person what’s going on, for I feel they didn’t really do anything that THEY need to change, it’s me that needs to be worked on.  I generally let them know I’m busy working on something at this time and am unable to connect with them as I have in the past.  I also have to keep myself heavily in check when speaking to others lest that distasteful side of myself says something I will regret about someone I ultimately love.

This is not an easy process.  I find it incredibly painful actually because there is a side of myself that wants to vilify the person, blame them and tell the world how horrible they are for absolutely no reason, when it is absolutely untrue.

I have done this enough to know that in time and with the imaginative technique I use, that it will pass and in the end I will love myself more and let go of hating areas of my personality.

Interestingly enough, on this break I have been amazingly aware of how many people are having this experience with me.  Quite a few actually.  I have been able to recognize it upon eye contact.  That if they could have avoided me, they would have.  Of course, for some people in my work world I have felt this from them for years now.  I don’t judge it, because I understand it.  I don’t take it personally because I realize it’s from them since they don’t really know me at all.

The strange thing I’ve noticed with some new people to join the ranks  of being annoyed by my presence recently, is that I feel sad about it.  Sad because in all cases I adore and respect them.  I want to share my love and celebration of their awesomeness but they can’t receive it because they have a distaste for me.  For many of these people this will not change for I am completely aware that they feel it has nothing to do with them, I am simply someone to be avoided and annoyed by.

So fascinating to be aware of it from this perspective… so for the people who I have had this experience with, I now understand how it must feel to have me resist their love and respect.  It feels sad and I apologize.

It also saddens me that is has to do with people I work with.  People who it would be so fun to work beside if the feelings were different. But as it stands, I try to respect their feelings and keep my distance as much as possible.  But sometimes I can’t help but let the love and respect for their artistry slip out.  I apologize for annoying them further LOL! (i know how that feels)

The gift of getting through this experience is the reconnection with that person.  Feeling the love flow freely and being able to have fun together again, or for the first time if it was someone that rubbed me the wrong way before I even knew who they were.

As challenging as these experiences are, from both sides of the coin, I have to say how grateful I am that the work I’m putting in to develop my awareness around it is really paying off.  I am grateful to my spiritual exercises and singing the HU where most of my ‘Aha’ moments come from.  I can see myself detaching more in a loving way to handle these things with balance.

I am not a humble person, humility seems to be an impossible state of being to me. And I am grateful everytime I am put in check by life, reminding me we are all having this human experience, we are all experiencing these challenges in our own ways and we are simply Humans Being, so let us be.

Thanks for taking the time to read. May the Blessings Be.

This is gonna be a long one,  so i’m not gonna bother editing it really.  forgive the non capitalizations which is my biggest bad habit.

I generally make the pilgrimage to SDCC every year if I can,  whether I have something to promote or not.  Why? because I can get in as a pro and there is SO MUCH TO SEE!  It’s really the only time I get to hang out with the artists and talk with them and hang out and learn from them.  For me its a Mecca for Artists of the Comic and animation genre.

When I’m not ‘working’  I usually go to panels that are totally unrelated to VO.  I like to sit in on how artists create their stories, their character development… actual drawing.  That world seems so removed from mine during the regular working week, that I LOVE to dive in at Comic Con and see the other side of the planet.

My boyfriend Mel and his Fave Marvel Character

But for Comic Con 2012  I did not get to play at all really.  This was a working convention for me, mostly for Monster High, which I loved!  It all started wednesday night when we arrived and went straight to the con.  I’m used to Wednesdays being mostly for professionals and expected it to be relatively empty for preview night.

Things have CHANGED.  It was now preview night for anyone who bought their tickets last year.  I went this early because I was on a mission to by some Scarah Scream dolls for some of my loved ones. (Since I play Scarah, it seemed like a big deal to secure the dolls for my sister and nieces etc…)  I was shocked to learn after waiting in LINE for a half hour that PROFESSIONALS were forbidden to buy the dolls on preview night!   WHAT?!!!  I had driven all that way and waited in countless lines and its even the doll I voice and it seemed it was not going to happen for all my loved ones!

Found these guys on the way to the Con

Luckily, the universe stepped in and provided generous and kind Souls who all volunteered to get the dolls for me!  So one woman joined me in line and together we secured the dolls!  YAY!  I have forgotten her name but I remember her face, so Thank you to you again if

you ever read this!

Then it was off to the hotel and get settled in.  I always stay in Chula Vista away from the craziness of the crowds.  I like it cause I get to take the train in, which is really fun to me.  We went to bed early because I had thursday off and it was going to be my only day to play around.

Thursday morning I get all dressed and ready,  I sang HU like I do every morning and put out to the universe that I would love to see cosplayers of my characters… especially Parasoul or Chie because I didn’t expect to see them.  I left my boyfriend in the hotel to get some work done from his computer and set off for my own adventure.

Waiting at the station I admired the cosplay costumes of the folks standing around also heading to the Con.  Very creative stuff even if I didn’t recognize them.  Then the train pulled up with its 6 or 7 long cars.  I stood around the middle so probably was going to  get on the 3rd car.

As it slowed to a stop with the glass doors in front of me, I could see all the bodies filling the car inside.  I got a quick flash of a particular shade of green that both got me excited and made me think “Nahhhh” at the same time.  The car door opens and to my shock and amazement THERE WAS CHIE STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!!!!

*sidenote*  I took over the role of Chie at the beginning of 2012 and have spent the majority of this year working on the Persona 4 franchise.  She has quickly become one of my favorite characters of all time because her part is so large and there was so much to get to do with her.

Needless to say I freaked out!  I ran into the train and started fangirling all over Chie and her friend dressed as Yukiko!  I just couldn’t believe this miracle on my first official day at Comic con!  We went over all the amazing things that had to happen in order for this to manifest!  I love LIFE!

We chatted and took pictures and then parted ways.  I rushed into the Con heading directly to PCB Productions booth (I recorded the majority of P4 stuff with them) waving my phone and the pic on it screaming like a highschool girl.  YAY!

www.hyperactivemonkey.com/

Once the excitement died down a little.  I was able to refocus and take the time to visit with Val and Julia Arem then off to Hyperactive Monkey’s booth to visit Jerome Lu who Mel and I are huge fans of!  Then I got word that fellow Monster High cast member America Young was going to be on Stan Lee’s panel so I hurried off to secure my place in line for that event.

I stood in line for over an hour but it was SO worth it!  I got a great seat near the front and out walked Stan Lee, Mark Hamill, the model that won season 1 of ATM, another woman i’m not familiar with who builds amazing crafts and props and stuff and of course, MY GIRL, AMERICA YOUNG!!!!  Who immediately walked over to the mic and said “i can’t believe i’m on this panel”.

The panel was terrific.  It was about Stan Lee launching his new channel -  Stan Lee’s World of Heroes – and they showed clips from all the BRILLIANT shows that are going to be on it.  I have to say, I went to support America but was immediately enthralled with the content I was seeing and plan on tuning in regularly to the channel to see more!  My favorite part was when Stan introduced America Young’s series Geek Therapy.    I got to see America on the big screen being hilarious and then talk about her show along with Stan Lee.   BEST DAY EVER!  I even cried… i did.  It felt like I was witnessing something immense.  so everyone please tune in and support America’s show.  I know you’ll love the other stuff on the channel too!

At the end of the panel I got to run and hug America and then I headed out.  I actually can’t remember what I did after that because i was so high of the experience.  Oh wait!  I found Debi Derryberry signing autographs and sat with her for a bit.  I do remember a little later getting back on the train and heading back to the hotel to rest up because Friday was going to be a big day for me.

Friday morning at the con started with an interview at the Mattel booth along side Ashley Lotecki who was cosplaying as CA Cupid.  I know the interview was ridiculous because I was so busy fangirling over Ashley I’m sure I looked ridiculous!  But it was sooo exciting!!! I had never seen a cupid cosplayer before!!! I expected to see Abbey’s! and Spectra’s!

Next I grabbed Monster High’s #1 fan Julia Arem and along with Mel we went for lunch to prepare for my panel that afternoon. We wandered the con a bit, visited Jerome together to buy some Monkey Kung Fu items and take a pic. Then headed to the panel.  We had to wait outside for a while and there was a little line waiting to get in.

I remember thinking,  “oh, it’s a little line the room probably won’t fill up then”  There were some great cosplayers so I took some pics, I got the run down from PR about what I could and could not talk about.  America Young and Debi Derryberry with the rest of the Mattel Monster High team all gathered together to enter the panel.  Garrett Sanders the creator was of course among them.

When it was time to go in we were all gob smacked to learn that the room was already full.  Apparently fans had been sitting through panels all morning holding their seats for OUR panel!  Little kids all cosplayed up, sat through hours of other panels just to see us!

**I felt bad for the other panels and people who wanted to see them… Note to comic con- There has got to be a better system**

Regardless,  we were ushered in and the room was PACKED!!!!!  Mel and Julia didn’t even get VIP seats we were hoping to give them, they had to stand at the side!  America Young didn’t get to sit with us on the panel because the Con had some sort of rule of only having a certain amount of people on a panel.  Ours was made up of Garrett Sanders (the creator),  Designers Rebecca Shipman and Natalie Villegas, Eric Hardie copywriter (and the reason behind Abbey’s awesomeness), Ira Singerman who produces the entertainment part of MH and Debi and me.   It seemed silly we couldn’t get America up with us.  But Con rules.  Audu Paden was the officiator and he directs and produces the shows as well as voices Manny Taur and Ghoulia.

The panel was FANGTASTIC!  We got to hear from the creators and designers,  they showed previews of Ghouls Rule which comes out on DVD in the fall and looks AMAZING!  I couldn’t stop gazing over the crowd and the amazing costumes and just ALL THE LOVE!!!!  It really moved me.  I felt so grateful that I got to represent our team in the VO field there.  We have such a huge cast and I am only a small part of all the talent involved in Monster High.

Debi and I yukked it up doing our character voices.  Fans asked brilliantly poignant questions to the Mattel team. And most importantly asked why don’t we have a proper TV series!!!!  Not that they got a great response.  But It felt momentus that the fans were all in a room in agreement about what they wanted to see!  Where they want MH to go!  I mean, the folks working the con had never even heard of Monster High and were blown away by the panel and the turnout!

Ira, Natalie and Garrett

Baby steps.   Although the dolls are popular the show is still growing and building its fanbase.  We aren’t anywhere near the recognition of My Little Pony.  And I got to really see that.  I got to feel how many people haven’t heard of us.  and how we are still the little show that could.  So I want to give a huge Thank you to every Soul that showed up to the panel.  And ALL THE PEEPS WHO DIDN’T GET IN!!!  There was a huge number of folks who never got in!  Monster High’s first panel at a Convention was a huge success.  Hopefully next year we will keep on growing and get an even BIGGER ROOM!

It was there that it was officially announced that I play Scarah Scream.  It wasn’t until Saturday that I could announce I also play Rochelle Goyle too.

I finished off friday by attending Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platts panel on their amazing live action webseries Shelf Life!  Then Mel and I attended Spike and Mike’s twisted animation festival because a couple of shorts I was in were possibly going to be screened.   We watched for about an hour before one of the shorts aired,  and I got to see my name flash on the screen.  It felt epic,  even if our short was one of the many that got booed. LOL!  That’s Spike and Mike’s for ya!

Back at the hotel I planned on sleeping in late because the autograph signing for Monster High wasn’t going to start until 3pm on saturday.  But I got a message from Frankie Washburn saying there was some sort of SKULLGIRL event going on somewhere in the con.  So up I got, dressed i did and back to the con I went.

It turned out in the bowels of the con there are rooms where gamers unite and play tournaments of games.  Apparently, if enough people turned up the event was going to be a tournament of Skullgirls.    I told the folks running the room that I played one of the characters in the game and I came to crash the party and yell out lines at the players.  But not enough people showed up to do a tournament really.  So the volunteers signed up,  they signed me up and with the few gamers that joined in we had ourselves a Skullgirls tournament!!!   That was a blast!  I had so much fun.  I even managed to remember some of the stuff Mike Z and Kaiji had taught me and made it to the 2nd round!!!  But eventually I got bested by Andy who knocked me out of the tournament just in time!  I had to run to the Mattel booth for the autograph signing.

This is one of my favorite parts of the Convention.  Not the actual signing of stuff,  but the getting to meet face to face with fans of the show and share our appreciation for each other.  The love that is exchanged fills my heart tremendously.  Looking into the eyes of people who support your passion is such a gift.  It seems so special that we should meet, since the majority of people watch the show anonymously usually and many never learn who it is that voices the characters they love.

I loved sitting next to Eric and America listening to them talk to the fans.  I wish I could have a doll of Eric.  He cracks me up!  I adore him! Anyways it was great.  and afterwards I was pooped.  I don’t quite understand why I was so exhausted because I really only worked for 2 days and it was work I love to do.  But I was absolutely wiped out. So Mel and I went off to eat dinner and head back to the hotel to relax and process all the events that occurred.

There were a myriad of other experiences I had as well, but they are more private for me and the Souls who shared them.  You know who you are and what happened.  Those experiences were amazing and magical and I will never forget them.  Thank you for playing with me.

Wild Grinders above Tara Strong’s head. LOL!

Unfortunately there was nothing organized for Wild Grinders this year, but I think it might have to do with the fact that the creator just had triplets a month ago and has his hands mighty full.   (hopefully we’ll get a second season and make it to the Con Next year)  But I did see flashes of WG clips above the Nickelodeon booth which made me very happy!!

That’s all I can recount from SDCC this year.  I hope it made sense.  It’s hard to write about it seriously.  I’m still absorbing everything I learned.  But needless to say,  this adventure only renewed my mission to get to more conventions and to keep meeting more of the fans who support what I do.  I could really feel that cons are a great opportunity to give back to you, in a small way, the love you are always sending to me.  It feels important to me and sacred.

I promise to always do my best in my job and to get to conventions. and keeping in touch via Social Media.  I don’t know what it is exactly but I think the agreement is for all of us to support and give encouragement to each other so that we can all reach our full potential in this life through creative means and sharing.

Thank you Mattel for making this con a positive experience.  Thank you Julia Arem for inspiring me and playing with Mel and I. Thank you to all the fans who stood in line for any amount of time to support the shows you love.

Baraka Bashad -  May the Blessings Be

Every voice artist is constantly bombarded with the question ‘How did you get into voice acting? I wanna be a Voice actor? How do I do it?’… Which is really 3 questions but they come out so fast it feels like one.

I loathe answering this.  Because who am I to tell you your path to a career.  Mine is so unique to me that I’m positive no one will be able to do it the same way.  I am also pretty sure that could be said for every voice actor.  So, what do I tell you?

Let me start off by saying that everything I type from this point on is coming from my beliefs that were formed based on my personal experiences.  It doesn’t mean I’m right, or that what I say in any way would apply to you.  It just means I’m a little stuck in a particular perspective due to these beliefs.  And any or all my beliefs could change in an instant.

I’m a Voice Actor because at the age of 3 I started acting.  I have been acting so long, that I have explored every form of acting there is. When I was a kid  it never mattered if I was paid or if I became a professional,  I never really thought about it.  I just knew I had to act.  So much so, I created tons of stuff for me to act out. I re-enacted all my favorite movies.  I made up skits, plays, sketches, movies, vaudeville acts etc….

I have been acting so long that I know there is no mastery of the craft really.  Only constant improvement and learning and experimenting.  So when someone in their 20′s asks me how do they do what I do,  the honest response in my head is always “you can’t”  but that’s because I always assume, that if you are asking me,  then you haven’t been working at it as long as I have.

Not to say you have to, but of course I have an opinion on that based on my experience.

So my opinion aside,  to become a voice actor it takes many, many, many hours of practicing acting.  That’s it. However you go about getting that practice is up to you.  Classes, joining a theater, acting school, VO training, singing lessons.  I can’t be the judge of what will get you there, but that’s what you have to do.

Buying a ton of equipment will not book you work.  Being in the union will not get you work.  Knowing every successful voice actor on a personal basis will not get you work.

Being an amazing actor WILL GET YOU WORK.

So, don’t rush it.  Don’t force it.  Don’t get all crazy with it if you haven’t put in the hours of practice yet.  If you are at the beginning or middle of your hours of practice then DO get together with other aspiring VA’s and practice even more!  Do join voices.com or voices123.com  and apply for the low paying  non union VO jobs and get a little money while you practice.

The Voice Over talent pool on this planet who are the top performers are AMAZING ACTORS.  Mind blowingly brilliant.  Please keep that in mind.  This is your competition.  If you are still in any way green, why would you join the union to compete directly with these people?

Spend your time getting so good that the transition is effortless.  When the time is right the Union will knock on your door.  Let life happen naturally.  Booking something before you are ready will only shorten your career.  Voice over is a long term career if you go at it right.

When I booked Ed, Edd and Eddy it was my first VO audition but I had been acting since I was 3.  I mean ACTING. Millions of hours were spent honing my ability to create characters.  Thousands of hours were spent on vocal classes and learning my instrument and that was even before I thought about doing VOICE acting.  I was already using my entire body to create unique and wacky toon like characters.  So all that preparation met with opportunity and EEnE happened for me.

It wasn’t luck.  It was preparation.

That’s what I’m telling you to do.  And think outside the box.    THERE ARE A MYRIAD OF FACETS TO VOICE OVER.  I only represent a smidgeon.  You don’t have to book a series, or get on an popular shooting game to have a career.   Have the courage to create your own path.  Create your own work.

All anybody really wants is to work on something they love with people they love.  So be sure to include the people you love on your journey.  Especially if they have a similar dream to you.  Helping others manifest their dreams helps get your mind off of yourself and lets “LIFE” do what it does, which is plot for your ultimate good.

It is so much easier when we get out of our own way.  Ordinary things done consistently produce extra-ordinary results.  So do your vocal warm-up daily.  Learn the CRAFT of acting.  Get inspired and create things that helps showcase someone else.

This is all I have to offer.  Take what you like and leave the rest.

May the Blessings Be.

Hi Guys,

I am in the process of amazing changes in my life.  I have always been an adventurous Soul, always welcomed change and I think this feeling towards it has helped me develop the belief that the UNIVERSE IS PLOTTING FOR MY ULTIMATE GOOD!  (and yours too!)

The first part of 2012 was spent, for me, healing.  There was a whole lot of unsupportive energies that needed to leave my universe and that required a quietness and time to heal.  Luckily, I broke my foot!  So I had no choice but to sit back, relax and let go so I could heal.   It gave me time to spend time with my Loved one, Mel, my puppy and myself.

I started getting back to the basics of living without getting caught up in the busyness of work.  WHAT A GIFT!  But as of this week, it has all shifted.  I’m back into the busyness HEAD ON!  at least for the next 4 weeks.  I feel ready, and strong and INSPIRED!

I can’t express how much I love what I do.  I have been doing it since I was 3yrs old and I can’t get enough of it.  When things slowed down at the beginning of this year, I was kicking and screaming like a kid being told they have to go to bed so their body can get some rest.    But like my Mother, the Universe is always right.  I feel like it’s morning and I’m rested and ready.

One of my favorite events that is going on right now is the whole taking over of the role of CHIE for Personna 4.  I can’t believe how perfect a character she is for me!  It blows my mind every time I record something for her.

The deepest part is that my boyfriend Mel is a HUGE Classic Kung Fu Movie fan.  So much so he built a website for other fans www.kungfu-movie-madness.com During the building process of the site, we watched tons of movies together.  He taught me as much as he could about the whole Kung Fu movie scene.  I even wrote pages for his site having developed my own appreciation for these movies.

AND NOW I PLAY A CHARACTER WHO LOVES KUNG FU!!!  Crazy!  I even knew which Kung Fu artist would be her favorites!  Hwang Jan Lee and Tao Tang Liang from  “The Hot, the Cool and the Vicious”  cause he has amazing Kicking Kung Fu!  The brilliance of this preparation for playing Chie reminded me of another classic film “The Karate Kid” when Mr. Miyagi kept telling Daniel “Wax on, wax off”

My whole life has been Wax on, wax off.  I end up doing things that don’t make any sense at all but then life continues and it makes PERFECT SENSE in the grand scheme of things, that I never get to look at.  This makes my life a HUGE ADVENTURE, that I love living.  I am so grateful that I get to play everyday, with the most Shining and amazing Souls!  And I don’t just mean at my job.

I love that the folks who dig my work actually take the time to find out who I am and THEN go so far as to create art of the characters!  What an amazing thing! It is the BEST side effect of my job EVER!  It’s amazing to think about  the immense creativity starting with the individual who came up with the idea of a video game or cartoon then all the talent it takes to make it from animators, programmers, QA testers, Voice talent etc…  THEN for it to trigger even MORE creativity in the witnesses of these creations…. so inspirational.  The gift that keeps on giving. AMAZING.

I don’t know if I’ll still be busy after the next 4 weeks, but I do know that whatever happens, it will be filled with Love and Contentment because of the people who are in my life.  The best change is all the new Souls I get to meet.  Thank you so much for your time and support.  Thank you for even coming to this site.  That blows my mind that you would take your valuable time to do so.

Here’s to the Future and More Change!!!!

Baraka Bashad