Ep.12 : The Polite Perfectionist: A Journey into Audio Production w/ Paula Gammon Wilson
In this episode of Beyond the Threshold, host Sidney Evans interviews Jamie Albright, an advocate, forensic interview and true crime producer.
In this episode we discuss:
- Her family's personal experience with a rare genetic kidney disease
- Transitioning from forensic interviewer to working on true crime podcasts.
- The importance of checking sources and ensuring accuracy in storytelling.
- Technical and narrative aspects of podcasting and its evolving landscape.
Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review!
How to support & connect with Paula
Website
Linkedin
Instagram
Love the Show? Please consider a donation to help us keep the podcast going.
-
[00:00:00] Paula: Diversify, diversify, diversify, diversify. Take an improv class, take a scene, study class, take a writing class, take a basic Pro Tools course. Have another job until you're making enough money that [00:00:15] you can leave it and the other stuff will come. It will. It just might take a while.
[00:00:20] Sidney: Tune in as we give flowers to black men and women making waves in the audio industry.
[00:00:26] I'm your host, Sidney Evans, and this is Beyond the Threshold.[00:00:30]
[00:00:42] Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to another episode of Beyond the [00:00:45] Threshold. I'm your host, Sydnee Evans, an award-winning audio editor and producer. For those of you who don't know on this show, I interview black men and women working in the audio industry. Highlighting the lessons and experience it takes to achieve success in the field.[00:01:00]
[00:01:00] Of course, we have another amazingly talented and well-rounded guest on the pod for today. But before, uh, I introduce her and, and jump into the meat and potatoes, I just want to acknowledge like the listeners and supporters because I'm a good amount of [00:01:15] episodes in as far as, um, like getting the ball rolling.
[00:01:19] And you can sometimes get caught up in just scheduling recordings and keeping in contact with people and managing your calendar and making sure all your [00:01:30] equipment works and marketing the podcast, you're doing all these things that you kind of forget to, uh. Acknowledge what's actually important, but just divide itself in the support, uh, whether you, uh, actually listen in to full length episodes where you're just like in [00:01:45] eclipse and everything in between.
[00:01:46] So I appreciate everyone that has listened so far. These things take time to build and develop. We haven't gotten to thousands and millions of listeners yet, but we definitely are in the hundreds and, uh, that's how you get to the thousands and the millions and beyond. [00:02:00] So I just wanted to, uh, acknowledge and show my appreciation for that.
[00:02:05] As far as I guess today, like I said, she's immensely talented. Uh, she's the owner and director of Pep Schooly VO and Sound Design, um, both here in the [00:02:15] United States and overseas. Uh, she's an award-winning casting director, voiceover performance director and audio producer for cartoons narrative podcast and advertising.
[00:02:26] Um, she's also a production manager, dancer and voiceover [00:02:30] artist. Yeah. So, uh, without further ado, I like to introduce today's guest, um, also known as the Polite perfectionist. Um, yes, I do my research. Uh, Paula Gamma Wilson. Welcome to the show. Paula. Hello. Thank you for [00:02:45] that lovely intro. I appreciate it.
[00:02:47] Thank you. Um, so yeah, I just wanted, I already gave a bbr background, like I just want to jump into things. So can you really just share a bit about your background, um, your interests early on, and what kind of was the [00:03:00] first, your first love, the thing that you decided to pursue, and what kind of set you on the path of, uh, doing the things that you're doing today?
[00:03:08] Paula: Uh, so this was not the original plan, being a voiceover director, uh, I've had a kind of para work [00:03:15] life. Um, I started out interested, I actually started out interested in. Backstage work, but I didn't really know what it was. So I went into performance first and I was accepted to a performing visual arts high school in Massachusetts called Walnut [00:03:30] Hill.
[00:03:30] And I entered that school as a theater major with voice concentration, basically musical theater. And I was in the musical theater program for a year and then I decided this is not quite what I wanna do. And I'd been watching the design and production [00:03:45] majors do their thing. I thought that was really cool.
[00:03:47] So I used like, sort of the back half of my freshman year to build up my portfolio and then I was accepted into the production program and that's where I really sort of found myself. Uh, I [00:04:00] really loved running shows. I worked as a scenic artist in Boston, in California and New York. Um, and I also stage managed and I got my union card by the time I was 21 and I was working off off Broadway, off Broadway, one show on Broadway.
[00:04:14] I worked all [00:04:15] over. I also danced and the dance was not because I wanted to dance or have a dance career, it was because I really wanted to manage dance productions. I really liked working with dancers. So I took dance class to better understand how to speak with choreographers. And one of my dance [00:04:30] teachers, my junior year of college said, you should try auditioning for something from a non managerial standpoint.
[00:04:35] Put the number on your chest. Go see what that's like. So, um, when I was home from college, I took a bus down to New York. I'm originally from [00:04:45] Maine. Um, I took a bus down to New York and, uh, auditioned for the Alban Ailey schools professional division. 'cause I basically opened Dance magazine and sort of like closed my eyes and put my finger on a page.
[00:04:59] And it was [00:05:00] that audition. And I was like, well, that's big and anonymous. Great. So I went, I auditioned. They accepted 10 dancers that day and I was the ninth name called. So I left college and went and danced professionally for about five years and then went back and finished school, but, um, changed my [00:05:15] major
[00:05:15] Sidney: before you, before you keep going.
[00:05:16] I'm curious 'cause I, I, um, I kind of, I, I don't know too many people who, uh, like lived that life. Um, but you kind of see it more like in like movies and TV shows, little glimpses of it here and there. So, quick [00:05:30] question, like what is that lifestyle actually like? Like it's one thing to like have a passion to work for, but I would assume that, um.
[00:05:37] It's kind of a lifestyle, a hustle that may be different from others.
[00:05:41] Paula: Um, yeah, I, my rule was I want to eat [00:05:45] and pay my rent fairly on the regular. That was kind of my rule. So I would do a show as a stage manager, and while I was doing the show as a stage manager, I was also auditioning for stuff as a performer.
[00:05:55] And so I was always just going back and forth. Um, so whatever came [00:06:00] next, whether it was a contract as a production manager or a contract as a dancer, I would do that. And it sort of took me all over the world. It was kind of a mess, to be perfectly honest. My, my family didn't often know where I was. Um, I lived in like, between 2000 and [00:06:15] 2008.
[00:06:15] I lived in the 11 different apartments because I would leave on a contract and then come back and have to live somewhere else. So you, you do have to get really accustomed to uncertainty and, and you have to decide. Whether, [00:06:30] whether it's cool to, to not, to not know. It's, it's, it's the uncertainty thing.
[00:06:35] You actually just have to sort of kiss it up to whatever higher duty you pray to and, and hope it works out. And sometimes it did, sometimes it didn't. I got stranded in Italy [00:06:45] once, 'cause the show that I was in, they, they canceled it while I was on the airplane to work there, you know, and then I didn't have enough money to come back, so I had to wait until my flight back, but I was just sleeping on a beach.
[00:06:55] So it's actually harder to live that way now than it was when I was doing it. I'm, I'm [00:07:00] older and I was doing this in the nineties when they had paid internships where you would go and you'd work for somebody for four months and your housing and your food were paid for. And then you work for free or your [00:07:15] housing, your food were paid for and you got a stipend.
[00:07:16] Those were the best ones. 'cause you'd walk away with like 600 a month for those four months, but you'd actually walk away with that because your housing and food had been paid for and the rest of the time you'd just been working. So I learned a lot in those internships and those aren't very common anymore.
[00:07:29] And now it's unpaid [00:07:30] and, but you do enough of those and then you get hired. And that was what happened to me. I did a bunch of those between the ages of 15 and 19. And then I was just working, I was just hired and hired and hired. So, um, after I danced and went back to school, [00:07:45] um, finished school and then I moved to South Korea, uh, because I was offered a job directing musicals for an English as a, um, second language musical theater pilot program where we used musical theater games to teach children.
[00:07:59] And I directed a [00:08:00] bunch of productions there. And that led to work in Argentina and then Dubai. And then I came back to the US full-time in 2000. 12, I think. Um, and I needed a job and [00:08:15] I was looking for work and there was this, uh, small dubbing house that needed a, an associate producer, basically a production manager for their shows.
[00:08:23] And I was hired pretty much on the spot. 'cause I had a lot of experience in working in different countries and with different [00:08:30] languages and, and I had production management experience and like, it was just a super easy fit. I was a little bit too experienced for there. So I actually left there to go back to work for a dance company after about eight months.
[00:08:40] And one of the clients tracked me down a few months later [00:08:45] and said, Hey, after you left that business, things got a little bit weird. We really liked working with you. Can you find a studio? And I said, uh, I can try. And so I had like, I had four days to find a, a recording studio to work in. And I was directed to a [00:09:00] wonderful man named Quest r Welsh, who became my mentor.
[00:09:02] Um, and a, a really like a staunch supporter of my work. And they gave me one show that was. Spring of 2014.
[00:09:12] Sidney: So was this your first like, foray into like [00:09:15] audio exclusively?
[00:09:16] Paula: It was my first time working in audio exclusively. Yeah. Until then it had always been audio for theater and as part of, as part of my work as a production stage manager.
[00:09:24] But, um, I'd not worked in audio exclusively. I'd worked, I'd done a lot of voiceover as a performer, but not as, [00:09:30] not as an audio producer myself and, um, or as a director.
[00:09:33] Sidney: So. Okay. So, so talk, so talk a little bit, uh, touch a little bit on about your experience, uh, doing it as a performer and then I guess what you were able to take from that and apply it [00:09:45] to, uh, as a director and like what were the, I guess, biggest, dif big differences from doing it from a theater perspective and kind of your process for learning this, that particular, uh, industry or medium.
[00:09:58] Paula: So [00:10:00] since I'd already been directing a lot of musicals and theater, working with actors wasn't particularly difficult and I already had experience. Working as a voiceover performer. So I knew how to handle myself in the booth. I knew microphones, I knew, um, basics of [00:10:15] technical things. It was more logistics, how to estimate time, how to, how to decide whether I was gonna ensemble record or record individually.
[00:10:26] It was, it was lots of things like that where I, I had to figure [00:10:30] out how the, the dubbing and pre relay, the nat pause space worked. Um, and that eight months at the dubbing house was hugely informative in that way. Um, so I was able to take what I'd learned there and, and then add my [00:10:45] experience working with actors, both as a production manager and as a director to how I interacted with the people who were working for me, and then how to speak concretely with engineers.
[00:10:55] Uh, that was, I discovered it was quite a bit like talking to my [00:11:00] production team when I was working on stage. Um. And I was working backstage, I was like, oh, this is actually really applicable. So, uh, I kind of gained a reputation as being an actor's director. Like lots of Asians would say to [00:11:15] me, are you working on such and such a project?
[00:11:16] Because we love it when you work with kids because then the kids A, get better and B, aren't scared of voiceover after working with you. Because I was just accustomed to working with a variety of ages with, um, how to pace a rehearsal process [00:11:30] and pacing a rehearsal process in theater is directly applicable to pacing a recording process in voiceover.
[00:11:36] So it was actually a a lot less difficult transition than I expected it to be. It was more working with clients that I had to [00:11:45] learn and, and how to, and how to estimate budgets, um, in a way that I hadn't had to as a production manager for theater. So yeah, they gave me a show and. That show went well. So they gave me another one, and that show went well.
[00:11:58] So they gave me two [00:12:00] more. Is this all
[00:12:00] Sidney: kids
[00:12:01] Paula: stuff? It was all kids, it was all, it was kids, tweens. And then it started to be ads and then some adult stuff, um, around 2016. And then I added a podcast to that around 2016 as well. And so [00:12:15] by 2018 I'd been recording in Quest Star Studio and by 2018 I was his only client.
[00:12:20] We had so much work that he couldn't actually accommodate anybody else. Um, so uh, I went from that one show [00:12:30] with seven actors and that rented studio space in Quest Star. So now I have to now, and I have four engineers in the two studios, US and Europe, and roughly a hundred and. 25 actors working for me at any one [00:12:45] time and eight writers, because we dub into eight languages.
[00:12:48] Um, so we're busy now.
[00:12:50] Sidney: We're busier. So, so your first, so your introduction was basically doing dubbing is like doing a voiceover into a, into a new language basically, right? Yeah,
[00:12:58] Paula: yeah. But we were going from, [00:13:00] we were going from another, we were going from Italian into English with that first show, and now I go, yeah.
[00:13:05] And now I go both ways. So, um, English into other languages or other languages in English. Yeah.
[00:13:11] Sidney: So, yeah. Okay. So that's, uh, that's interesting because when I think of [00:13:15] voiceover, I just think of like commercials and, I don't know, film or like a DR, which is like dubbing, but it's just in the same, you know, same language or whatever.
[00:13:22] But, um, so when you did that, like. Did you think [00:13:30] like, okay, I just want to kind of stay in this lane. So like the majority of what you do for your company, which we we'll get into in how you, you kind of briefly touched on it, but we'll get into more details. Is the majority of what you do still dubbing, like from, like translates from different languages or is just like a broad spectrum?[00:13:45]
[00:13:45] Paula: Dubbing? Dubbing was how I started. Um, but the majority of my work is actually directing pre relay. So I direct the audio before it goes to the animators. 'cause the scripts are recorded before it goes out to the animators. So I'm hired to do that primarily for [00:14:00] English. At any one time I might be directing four different shows because I'm directing the not pause for everybody and then it goes off.
[00:14:08] And then if the show does well, they will often bring it back to me to then localize it into other languages because they know that I have [00:14:15] a clear understanding of the show since I directed the original and I can. Cast it and then direct it from within my roster of artists.
[00:14:22] Sidney: Okay. That's cool. So you, so you, uh, technical, technical, technical wise, directing wise, you had that skill.
[00:14:28] I, I, uh, and [00:14:30] upon doing my research for, uh, for, for this as well. So you went to school for screenwriting too?
[00:14:36] Paula: Yeah, that was when I went back to school after dancing. I, I went to school for liberal arts with a focus on screenwriting and third world cinema. [00:14:45] 'cause that was the part I didn't have a lot of experience in.
[00:14:47] So I wanted to make sure I had that.
[00:14:50] Sidney: What was that experience like? Because I always, I, I, I, a lot of times, and I've done it, and I'm sure other people have done it too, like, um, I guess audio purist, which I, I ain't gonna, I'm not gonna [00:15:00] necessarily call myself a purist. This is not something that I fell in love with when I was, you know, eight or eight years older, do whatever.
[00:15:05] Like, I come from an athletic background, um, and I developed this passion mm-hmm. Later on in light. So I don't want to, I know there's, there can be some debate between people who come from [00:15:15] like the old music, um, you know, uh, using tape and doing things and they not moving to the digital age. And there, there can be kind of these debates within the community of like who's, you know, who's been true to it, who's new, [00:15:30] who's just trying to jump on the podcast bandwagon and all this, the business side of it and all these things in between.
[00:15:37] But, um, I said, said all that to say that I think writing for people in audio, especially with the state of the industry [00:15:45] we're in now, which if you can do multiple things, it would be advantageous for you in, you know, um, in, in regards to getting roles. So I think having that skill is very important. But what, what was your, uh, what was that experience like for you in [00:16:00] school and then like how did you translate that to what you were doing, whether it was the, um, stage production theater thing, or once you got into, uh, like doing audio exclusively?
[00:16:11] Paula: So when I was doing the, [00:16:15] the, the degree in screenwriting, it was, it was after my production management for theater career had, was sort of like beginning to Twilight. I was really moving more into directing, um, and for theater at that point. [00:16:30] And I just, I was actually considering. Did I wanna go to direct for film?
[00:16:36] From there, I was actually like, do I wanna do the writer director thing? I was really just trying to figure myself out. 'cause I knew I wasn't gonna dance full-time anymore. My body just couldn't take it anymore. [00:16:45] I'd started dancing late and then I'd had a really intense, crazy career, and then my body was like, eh, we're done.
[00:16:50] So, um, I actually used my screenwriting more, uh, once I became a dubbing director [00:17:00] and then a pre relay director because, uh, it's, it's interesting when you're working in the dubbing space, you're often helping to shape the cultural life of a show because someone will do a translation of it, but culturally it won't always work.
[00:17:14] Sidney: [00:17:15] Like, oh, so so you're like, so like it's a word in English, but it's not, this is not how, how people talk.
[00:17:20] Paula: Yeah. Yeah. Like, not how people talk or even how, how a situation is framed or how a relationship would, would. Work in that [00:17:30] socioeconomic background in a different country, you know? So, I mean, it's even simple things like someone's animated a, a sequence about Christmas, but your show's in China, you know, and like, uh, we gotta rework that.
[00:17:42] So it became, um, [00:17:45] I ended up using my writing skills quite a lot to reframe scenes so that they would work culturally or emotionally, uh, in the copywriting space for, [00:18:00] um, ads. First, I actually would write copy for people when I was first directing. They would be like, can you just make something for us? And then, um, as I got further along, was just serving as the director.
[00:18:12] Sometimes something just isn't landing. When you're [00:18:15] working with the artist and the producers and the ad team in the session, 'cause ads, my gosh, directing for ads. There'd be like 18 people in that session. And one poor actor being told to like, put a little more, eh, on the, eh, you know, um, they can be really [00:18:30] painstaking.
[00:18:30] And sometimes I would just say, Hey, can I make a creative suggestion? Just, you're welcome to ignore this, please. 'cause you don't wanna step on anybody's toes. And I would just be like me. Uh, here's a suggestion. And about 85% of the time [00:18:45] my suggestion was taken because A, I knew what was, could be easily said.
[00:18:49] But b, I also had this experience as a working writer, um, as a copywriter. Um, and copywriting actually was a great [00:19:00] fallback when I was first starting the voiceover company because I would do it in between a. My voiceover directing gigs. 'cause they didn't come like all immediately. I had to, you know, build up like any other career, but it really taught me how to work with [00:19:15] copy in a way that I hadn't had to think about when I was a voiceover performer.
[00:19:19] So, um, it was a really useful skill to have. I'm glad I did it.
[00:19:25] Sidney: Yeah, that's, um, that's great and interesting because I've [00:19:30] got, I've, so when I got into audio, I, the technical part of it was, was kind of the draw for me, um, as I would assume it would be for a lot of people. But like, once you start trying to make a career and, and be business [00:19:45] minded about things, like, you kind of gotta start delving into these other, um, avenues.
[00:19:51] And I feel like, I don't know, I just feel like anybody doing media like. The writing thing obviously is, is a great skill to have. And I've [00:20:00] like growing up and being, um, from like my schooling and all that stuff, like, I've always had teachers like, you know, like, you're a good writer. Like, I'm the type of person that like, I'm like, I'm good with grammar.
[00:20:10] Like I know how to structure sentences mm-hmm. And things like that. I can write, but I, I'm not [00:20:15] necessarily, and, and I don't know how to, I haven't perfected writing in a, a, a realistic way. That's like a conversation I don't like, I feel like writing dialogue or things like that would be really hard for me.
[00:20:27] I feel like writing copy or something like that may be a little [00:20:30] easier 'cause it's kind of more of in between, of like, you gotta try to relate to the person reading it all, but also we gotta satisfy like the person, um, like you're basically selling your writing to sell something. So I feel like I could probably do that a little bit better, but there's, [00:20:45] there are like all these nuances.
[00:20:47] Within writing, and I actually really appreciate people who have like, heavy writing backgrounds. 'cause like I said, like it's, it's, it's a great skill to have. So, so I'm glad you were able to kind of, uh, kind of use [00:21:00] all of your experience to kind of figure out the best ways to do things. But you, you had something to pull from as far as a writing background.
[00:21:06] Some people may be trying to start from scratch, where I feel like could be, uh, much for, much more difficult. But I, I also wanna jump back a little bit because [00:21:15] obviously you have a lot of experience. You're coming to these spaces, a lot of experience from your theater background, and it looks like it wasn't, you know, uh, too difficult of a task for you to get hired and, um, you know, make that transition.
[00:21:27] But at that time, um, or [00:21:30] even now, like where did you see a lot of, uh, like black people in the, like, not, maybe not mostly in theater, but like, just like the audio, when we started doing the dubbing and voiceover things. Did you see a lot of black people in those spaces?
[00:21:41] Paula: Um, I. N not really. [00:21:45] Uh, I, I sort of actively hired brown and black performers, but that was largely because a lot of the people that I knew in the theater community in New York were brown and brown and black performers because of coming from alien and having [00:22:00] connections to the, the dance half of the world.
[00:22:03] Um, and a lot of brown dancers. So brown dancers would invite me to their productions, which featured other brown performers. Um, it was mostly voiceover artists, but not directors, not [00:22:15] producers. Um, it wasn't until I actually started working in the narrative podcast space that I started meeting a lot of brown and black producers and, and directors, which I thought was really fascinating.
[00:22:26] In the commercial world, no, in the [00:22:30] animation world, lots of performers, but not many producers or directors. And then, then I got to the podcast world and, and the narrative podcast world, it was. Everything all over the place. You never knew It was great. I felt like I was in this interesting [00:22:45] fraternity of people making theater and, and audio movies, and we were all, we were like all the misfit kids and we were brown and black and yellow and orange and like everyone was just kind of doing their own thing.
[00:22:58] And that was very, very, very [00:23:00] cool. It was something that I really liked about the podcast space. Um, that's still very, very true.
[00:23:05] Sidney: Well, I. I'm actually very appreciative. I'm glad you said that, of the podcast space. We'll, and we'll get more into that as well. But, um, that has kind of opened up [00:23:15] and diversified, uh, the audio industry tremendously.
[00:23:18] Um, depending on who you ask, that could be in their eyes, that could be a great thing or it could not be so great. But obviously for, uh, people like you and me, we think, we think it's a great thing. And I've worked with, [00:23:30] well, the, a lot of my connections in, in, in podcasting are actually from black women producers.
[00:23:34] I just feel like they have figured out the formula. They're, they're just amazing at doing that. And a lot of the early guests, well, my first guest was a, a. Black woman producer, and the people that I have [00:23:45] stayed in touch with have, have kind of fa uh, f fallen within that realm as well. So I guess it's kind of a natural transition.
[00:23:51] Can you talk about, like, just going from, I, you're getting a lot of work. You briefly touched on it to forming, uh, pep Schooly and what that process [00:24:00] was like and kind of come to the realization like, okay, I want to do this as my own business, and some of the challenges and then also how you, uh, kind of got into the narrative podcast space.
[00:24:11] What were the, like first couple things that you worked on, um, that were presented [00:24:15] to you, to where you saw that this is like, okay, this is something that, you know, uh, a offering or something that I can continue to do with my business over time as podcasting becomes more sophisticated, um, it has that narrative element to it as [00:24:30] well.
[00:24:31] Paula: So the trigger for that was that I was handed a show and I needed to pay actors and, and pay the engineer. So it was not like, people are always like, how did you raise your first whatever, get your series A and all, like, I didn't, I was handed a show and I had to make [00:24:45] it, and I needed an to form a business to do that, and then people gave me more shows, so I'm still here, you know?
[00:24:50] So it wasn't actually, um, any sort of big decision or there wasn't any planning behind it. I was handed a show and I had [00:25:00] six months to deliver it, and that was that. So it was one of those, when preparedness and opportunity meet you, get luck, you know, like, so I had an opportunity. I was prepared except for this one thing, which is I needed a business.
[00:25:13] I started the business. There you [00:25:15] go. Um, and then I just kept making things under the banner of that business. So PEPs quality was not a, was not a, a massive plan or any sort of, um. The formation was simply because I was making shows and I had to be able to [00:25:30] pay people.
[00:25:31] Sidney: That's a good place to be in though, because a lot of, a lot of times people start the business and then they like kind of gotta start digging to, whereas you, you, you look at all, you know, alternative, you look at all the opportunities in front of you and you're like, [00:25:45] I, I, I have this responsibility, I have a lot of responsibilities and I don't have a lot of time to do it, like, on my own, like, or I don't have this, the, the skillset for this particular thing.
[00:25:54] So you just start hiring people and you know, it, it, it evolves into a company and that becomes a thing. [00:26:00] So even though that's probably not the sexiest way to the sexiest way is to come up with this idea, like you said, get funding and you're, you're basically doing everything but business, like making money, turning a profit.
[00:26:13] Those, like those, those things kind [00:26:15] of get lost. So, um, I did want, I did wanna acknowledge that. And just as a refresher, the second part of the question, or there's actually a whole different question. Um. You're, you're, you're, uh, jumping into like narrative podcasting [00:26:30] and, I don't know, just seeing, you know, the, the evolution of it.
[00:26:34] Um, it becoming kind of this thing that nobody really knew about maybe 15, 20 years ago, and now seeing what it has become.
[00:26:44] Paula: So, [00:26:45] uh, I was at kid screen in 2017 and actually the producer that first in that first gave me a show said, Hey, there's this company that's looking for someone to direct this audio drama thing.
[00:26:59] They should talk to [00:27:00] you. And he introduced the two of us. Um, and I, I was hired like two days later, I think. Uh, and it was this huge production, it was called Season Aisle. It was about two kids [00:27:15] in a fantasy world that basically each quadrant of the world is a season. And the two kids and, and their spirit tree like unite the, the different [00:27:30] realms.
[00:27:30] Um, this is very eclectic. Yeah, it was really cool. It was, it was really cool. Yeah, it was very mad. The kids were great. The kids were one of the two actors. Um, and it was called season is, and, and it was super fun and we worked super hard on it and just sort of [00:27:45] had to figure it out because there was nobody making anything like that at the time, like kid driven fantasy.
[00:27:52] Like there really wasn't any, anything for us to go on. This was, you know, nine years ago [00:28:00] really, but, um, eight years ago. But, uh, but it was varied. That kind of like scope of show was kind of new in the space, uh, and. Kudos, kudos. [00:28:15] Kudos to the team. 'cause we were just making, we were just making stuff up as we went along.
[00:28:20] It was very much like directing theater. I directed, I ensemble directed. So I had the whole cast together to record, which was great. Um, yeah, it was, it was fun. Uh, [00:28:30] it was really fun. And that show led to another show and another show, and another show and another show, et cetera and so forth. By the time I'd done like my third show with that team, a company had been launched and that company was called Pinna, which was a podcast company for children's content.[00:28:45]
[00:28:45] Big, like big sweeping audio projects. Um,
[00:28:51] Sidney: is this, uh, so I'm, I'm gonna jump in there real quick. 'cause the, for I usually, I address this at the beginning of the episode, but it kind of slipped my mind. But, so how I was, uh, [00:29:00] connected with, with, uh, Paula was because of Torin, who I had on the show. Um, so is it, what did you all work on together?
[00:29:10] Paula: Torin and I did. Uh, gosh, word of the Day, [00:29:15] joke of the day. Um, fact of the day. I feel like we did one other show together. Yeah, we did multiple shows together. Um, torn was Tour's The Man, we had a great time working together. Um,
[00:29:28] Sidney: that's cool. I, uh, [00:29:30] just, yeah, I'll let, I'll let you get back to it. But yeah, I just, I wanted to, to make that connection point because that's kind of what I had in mind with the show.
[00:29:37] Like, it's easy to just like, oh, I'm just have people on and talk about their, uh, their experience and audio and just having them be on their way, but [00:29:45] to, you know, ask, I guess like, is there anybody else in this space who you have worked with has been a great experience or that you know of that think would be great for the show, um, to kind of bring everything back together.
[00:29:57] So, and that's how I like starting off. Obviously I had to [00:30:00] kind of outside of the network that I already have and I didn't just want to stay in a podcast space I wanted to address, I. All the different rims of audio. So that was what I was relying on. The first guest that I had that maybe did, uh, music composition or a [00:30:15] scoring.
[00:30:15] Okay. I had them on who do you know in this space, around this space that I could, um, have on next? That way I can have a, I a di, I'm sorry, a diverse, uh, group of guests within audio. Um, so I wanted to point that out and I'm [00:30:30] glad, uh, he was able to make that connection. I'm glad you were willing to, you know, obviously it helps to, when somebody connects you, it's, it is a little, it's a little bit easier.
[00:30:38] There's a, there's a point of reference, there's, there's something that you have in common. Um, but that's not to say that you, [00:30:45] you still had to agree, uh, to come on the show. So I was just curious about, uh, what you all had worked on together. So that's, so that's pretty cool.
[00:30:53] Paula: Yeah. Yeah, it was super fun working with him.
[00:30:55] Um, so yeah, the narrative podcast space has grown a lot. I [00:31:00] think some people don't understand what it is, like you say, podcasts and they think Talking Heads, which is, you know, basically what we're doing right now. Um, but there's this whole other world of like true audio drama, that they're basically movies without pictures.
[00:31:13] Fully sound designed, fully [00:31:15] scored, um, excellent actors in them. Um, lots of ancillary content for popular shows. Like there're just a great X-Files podcast. There's a great, uh, there's a series called the Missile Tone Murders that Colby Smolders did that's now been turned into [00:31:30] a TV show. Like there's some, some like really cool, cool things in both the children's and adult audio space that, um, that should be heard.
[00:31:41] 'cause they're fun.
[00:31:42] Sidney: It's, it, it is fun. So, so, [00:31:45] uh. Ba in reference to some of the stuff that I wrote on the production that I've, that I've done. So I worked with, used to work with this company called Frequency Media, and one of the podcasts we did, uh, it was called Once Upon A Playtime. It was basically about, like, about the [00:32:00] development of children and how, um, giving them space to play and express their creativity.
[00:32:05] It's good for their, like, development and things like that. So I worked on that. That was, I think that's the only one. It is the only kids podcast or, or, or project production that I've [00:32:15] worked on. I don't know whether it's just something about like the innocence of producing something that's like geared towards kids or their parents.
[00:32:23] Um, and you know, I worked in post-production, so a lot of the times like. It would be a [00:32:30] long process to make the show, but it's like, I don't really get my hands on it and, and touch it until the end. Mm-hmm. Um, so I was able to do that and then like once we, uh, as a dialogue editor and once the show was done and, and it was just something, it was just a [00:32:45] feeling while I was working on it.
[00:32:46] I was just like, I felt like this is, we gonna be really impactful. Like, we worked on some great things, but it was just something about that kids content. The doing the original music, the, the. I guess the, the, the music part of it is probably [00:33:00] where you feel like the innocence comes in, um, with the different sounds selection.
[00:33:04] I don't think that decide to choose, but also in comparison, uh, the company that I worked for after Frequency was 10 Foot tv, which is true Prime True Crime podcast. So the, the two [00:33:15] subjects or genres that you just mentioned, which, um, it's a lot edgier. Mm-hmm. Uh, obviously it's a way different dynamic than kids related content.
[00:33:24] And sometimes it could be heavy, sometimes it could be, uh, gruesome and you know, all these things [00:33:30] in between. And even though I enjoying it because of how edgy and I guess kind of cool it was like I can kind of mentally, I started to realize that it was like weighing on me as, as far as because of the subject matter and you don't ever want to get Desi [00:33:45] sensitized to, you know.
[00:33:47] The unfortunate things that happen to people or the people that, uh, are affected, like the families and people who are, who are still living. So I just did want to point out that there's a contrast between doing those two types of content, but, [00:34:00] uh, I guess the question for you is like, do you, um, before you move on to other things as far as the children's content, like do you, I guess this is a refreshing, in a sense to kind of work on that stuff.
[00:34:13] Um, because a lot of people in the [00:34:15] world, like there, they, you know, I always tell like, people who work in the medical field, like you're dealing with like real life everyday stuff, you know, if you're a police officer or you work, I don't know, uh, sanitation department, like these are like things that you [00:34:30] have to do to like, continue to, that are essential to the function of, of a society.
[00:34:35] But kind of what we do is kind of more from an entertainment storytelling standpoint. Mm-hmm. Um, but even within that thing, you can do it within subject matters that [00:34:45] are heavy or more light. So. Or was it refreshing to you to, to work on kids' content? 'cause it seems like you have a lot of experience in that.
[00:34:52] Paula: Um, yeah. I mean, I think, I think because I'd come from musical theater and then directly from Musical [00:35:00] Theater for Children, I'd written a series of textbooks. I taught my methodology with, um, for the English as a second language sort of foundation. Um, briefly, my head was already [00:35:15] in the kids space, like the idea of educating children, speaking to children concretely was already there.
[00:35:20] So, uh, I gravitated towards that kind of work 'cause it just felt fun for me. I didn't wanna teach anymore, but I did wanna be involved in the development of children [00:35:30] and so I actively sought that kind of work.
[00:35:33] Sidney: Um, and how big of a market, like I would assume, like, because I know, um, I. Like social media accounts, like, you know, gears towards kids, like the development of their kids.
[00:35:44] Like there's a [00:35:45] huge audience surrounding these things. So, um, outside of like that one project that I worked on, I don't have any kids, so I don't live in that world of like things that are catered towards kids. But is there a, as big of a audience in that is [00:36:00] what I feel like I've seen Or maybe it's just 'cause I'm on the outside looking in, like, is it a kind of a hot, hot genre right now?
[00:36:07] Paula: Um, it's not a hot genre right now. Uh, unfortunately there's no genre that's particularly hot right now. The industry is as a [00:36:15] content machine is struggling at the moment. Um. But up until about 20, 21, yeah, children's content was actually king. That's where the most money is, uh, or was not anymore. Um, the way you make money on a cartoon is not by the [00:36:30] cartoon itself.
[00:36:30] Cartoons are basically just big money pits. They're really expensive to make. They take a long, long, long time, take a million people, uh, they make no money in and of themselves. The way they make money is when. You [00:36:45] merchandise them. So you want to license them to as many different places as possible, which is why localizing a cartoon is so important.
[00:36:51] And then you want to license the swag that goes with those cartoons, as many, in as many different places as possible. So, uh, [00:37:00] cartoons are basically just hour long, half an hour long, 15 minute long, six minute long, 11 minute long commercials for toys, right? Toys and backpacks and coloring books and hats and whatever else.
[00:37:12] Cereal box. Cereal. Cereal box. Yeah, exactly. It's whatever [00:37:15] licensing deal you can make, that's how you make your money. And so, um, cartoons and children's content of that type is monetizable in a way that a network show isn't. [00:37:30] Um, it's not so reliant on commercial ad spend. It's not so reliant on
[00:37:40] subscriptions. Though, those things all help. You [00:37:45] want your show to get in front of as many eyes as possible so that you can sell as much stuff. That's not the show as possible. Yeah. Uh, and so in that way, kids content has been popular [00:38:00] fray long, long time. Uh, podcasts were interesting because there was nothing to see.
[00:38:06] So when you, when Children's Podcast began to explode it suddenly parents were like, oh, these are more educational, kind of, because there's [00:38:15] nothing, the kids aren't gonna be sold anything. They aren't gonna be, um, advertised to in the way that visual cartoons do. But then podcasters working in the kid space had to figure out, well, how do we monetize then?
[00:38:27] Because we can't. There's no visual for them to [00:38:30] tie themselves to. And then it became about, well, if you wanna see the visuals come to our show, if you wanna see the, what the character looks like. And, and so they ended up creating visual representations of the podcast in order to make money. So, [00:38:45] um, yeah, it's a, it's a, it's an odd world, the kids content world.
[00:38:51] Uh, it's really interesting too, the difference between North American kids content and everywhere else. 'cause I work in Europe and I work [00:39:00] in the US and the content in Europe is way more experimental, way more intellectually challenging. Um, sorry, my stomach is like growling a lot. Hopefully microphone's not picking it up.
[00:39:10] Um, and rock on. And, uh, [00:39:15] in the US it's a little more. Mm, especially the us, Canada, not so much, but in the US it's, it's a little more like spoonfeed the kid and always surprises me when e even sometimes I'll direct the European version of a show and the American version of a [00:39:30] show, and they're actually different scripts for the same character and the situations are different and the, um, the character arcs are different.
[00:39:39] Um, and it's really fascinating to me that there's like a way an American cartoon has to be, whereas in other [00:39:45] places it's a little bit slower sometimes it's edited differently. It's, it's really interesting.
[00:39:52] Sidney: I think, uh, before we go on the next topic, I think it's interesting because like, I feel like in other places the kids' [00:40:00] content is more like, actually I think it's actually, uh, more so about the, the development and the long-term result for the kids to where it's here it's is.
[00:40:08] It is more about money and, and all the other type of stuff that we just went into. So, um, based on what you, what [00:40:15] on what you just said, that would make sense. Um, but I also want to jump back a little bit to where you, um, where you briefly mentioned in passing that it is from a content perspective, like things are kind of struggling here on, on all ends in all types [00:40:30] of media and you've, you know, you've been in it for a long time, so you, you've seen the, like, the peaks and valleys of it.
[00:40:36] But what, what would you like attribute to, uh, like the state of industry, um, of the media industry in general, which also [00:40:45] encompasses, uh, what you do in audio and, and things that I do in audio as well?
[00:40:49] Paula: Well, there are two things happening. Um, one, during the pandemic, everyone discovered that animation was about the only thing you could make safely because everyone could work [00:41:00] separately.
[00:41:01] So studios spent a ton of money making animated projects. And they somehow forgot or didn't get the memo or just, I have ever quite figured it out. They forgot that the only way you make money on animation is [00:41:15] merchandising. So most of them didn't make any money back on all of this animated content that they turned out and, and I.
[00:41:23] The end result was that some people went under, some companies went under, some companies, laid off a bunch of people, some people merged and then laid off a [00:41:30] bunch of people. They basically just went, they just poured their money into churning out stuff that they couldn't figure out how to monetize. So now there's no money.
[00:41:37] So that precipitated it, or necessitated, excuse me, a, a sort of immediate put on the brakes. Holy crap. We don't have any [00:41:45] money from pretty much everyone. And they also made so much that there was this glut of content kind of hanging out that no one knew what to do. It I with it was just, it's all just like a pile of wild mismanagement from the top.
[00:41:57] And then, and then ai, [00:42:00] AI came along and a lot of people went, oh, well we can use this instead. And AI is such an interesting thing in, in that it's, they, they wanted the, the skill without having to pay for it. So, [00:42:15] you know, so they basically, like generatively borrow from everyone who has a. Has the skill so they don't have to pay for the skill.
[00:42:25] Like ai, AI should be making my life easier, not, [00:42:30] not an executive's life easier, but it's gone the other way around, you know? So, so now everyone's testing the waters of not using people, using our, using our skills, but not us. Yeah. So, so [00:42:45] I'm seeing that begin to affect dubbing, especially, I hate hearing it because someone who's not into, who's not in the sound world, doesn't hear it.
[00:42:56] They don't hear the difference. They actually don't. If you're in the [00:43:00] sound world for any length of time, like my whole body does this, as soon as an AI voice happens, even if the AI voice is good, 'cause it's missing some key components of what makes a voice human. And so, even if it [00:43:15] sounds like a real person talking.
[00:43:17] It doesn't feel like a real person talking. So it's easier for me to sound like AI just pretending to be Ai AI than it is for AI to sound like me. Yeah. And so I can feel the [00:43:30] like, ugh. It's like nails on the chalkboard of my soul. You know? Like, it's just like, ugh. Well, um, and sometimes I'll notice in a production when they'll switch, like they'll switch to an, uh, an, an auto voice, either because they couldn't get the actor back or [00:43:45] because they just needed some reacts or whatever, and it, and it's just like, woo.
[00:43:50] Yeah.
[00:43:50] Sidney: Maybe they're trying to trick you. It's like we're starting 'em off with the, the feeling and they will just slowly transition to the, the soulless voice, which we can always, well, people like you and [00:44:00] me, we can always hear it like you said.
[00:44:01] Paula: Yeah. So, but the average person isn't as savvy about that. And so I am aware that I might have to pivot in under five years, you know, just because a portion of [00:44:15] my work is going to.
[00:44:16] Disappear into the ether that is some upper level executive deciding they only wanna spend 8 cents an hour instead of our real fees. So, um, is that [00:44:30] combination of too much content without a plan, plus the golden ticket of not having to pay people for skill [00:44:45] has, has meant that a lot of us in the kids space especially, are suddenly without work.
[00:44:52] Like 2024 was my worst year since my first year of the company, my 10 year anniversary was my [00:45:00] worst year. And it's just because so many of the projects that I've been working on for years ended just suddenly. And, and when I say suddenly, like Cast is ready to go an episode in the can. And [00:45:15] then, sorry, we're not gonna make any war kind of suddenly just like yanked out.
[00:45:19] Um, and then companies restructured, and then people merged, and then people, like everyone got let go. And then I had this producer, and then another producer, and then another producer, and another producer because people kept merging and switching roles. And like [00:45:30] 20, 24 was just basically like doing this upstream because the, the industry was in such flux.
[00:45:39] Sidney: So having said all that, but if, if someone is bitten by the audio [00:45:45] bug, whether they're like eight years old, whether they had another career and they wanna transition into it, whether it's people like Torin who interested in media and somebody's like, you know, this, this voiceover thing, like, I feel like you might be good at.
[00:45:59] And [00:46:00] on all the in-betweens, like if they actually do make a decision, they say, okay, I want to pursue getting in this field. Like, how would you. What would you think would be the best practice for them to approach it? Or would you tell them? Like, don't, don't, don't, don't go down this road. Like [00:46:15] kind of take a different route to where there's some overlap?
[00:46:17] Uh, I feel like there's a lot of different scenarios where you can um, kind of get your feet wet and, and explore and see if it is, it's something that's not only you're interested in, but sustainable. I think seeing if it's sustainable is an important part [00:46:30] now because of, of where we're at with things. Uh, what advice would you have people, um, who may be interested in getting the audio?
[00:46:36] Paula: Diversify. Diversify, diversify, diversify. So take an improv class, take a scene, study [00:46:45] class, take a writing class, take, take a basic mixing class. Take a basic pro tools course. You can even find 'em online, you know, like, um, audition for stuff. Find a [00:47:00] studio near you and ask you if you can sit in on sessions.
[00:47:02] Basically create an internship for yourself. 'cause that's what I got, I got. Five years of internships before I started working in the space. And so I was actually quite experienced before by the time I started working. It's not like I was [00:47:15] handed stuff 'cause I wasn't good. I was already, I'd already proven that I was good.
[00:47:19] Since that system doesn't exist anymore, you have to actually make it for yourself, have another job until you're making enough money that you can leave it. Do not just decide you're [00:47:30] going to be a voiceover director or a voiceover artist or an engineer and then stop what you're doing and be like, I need a job.
[00:47:38] No. Keep working at whatever there are, are none. Yeah. Keep, keep working at whatever you're doing. Mm-hmm. Um, because your [00:47:45] first goal is to eat and pay your rent fairly on the regular and the other stuff will come. It will, it just might take a while. I'm, I'm just shy of 50 and I started this career, this career pivot happened 10 years ago.
[00:47:57] You know what I mean? So you do have to [00:48:00] give yourself enough of a safety net that you can. Four letter word and find out, you know what I mean? You know, you know, you gotta, you gotta give yourself a little space to, to screw around a bit and figure out where, where your best fit is in [00:48:15] this space. But that may require quite literally having a survival job for a while.
[00:48:20] Um, and then it gets easier and then you can transition. So I didn't, I wasn't doing voiceover fully until 2016. Even though my company [00:48:30] started in 2014. I was still copywriting, I was still stage managing, I was still performing sometimes. Um, so 2016 was the first year that I really was able to shift to full-time directing.
[00:48:40] So give yourself the time to, to get to where you want and [00:48:45] ask questions. Um, listen, oh, for pity's sake, listen and listen to all the opinions. 'cause not all of them are right. But you can sort of figure out what works for you. I was really lucky. I had five or six people who were [00:49:00] really very kind and let me.
[00:49:03] Asked them questions and gave me guidance and were just like, good people around me. So that as I made the transition, it was a much easier transition than some other people might have had. Look for [00:49:15] the folks who were just kind and who aren't assholes, pardon my language. Um, and are willing to answer your questions.
[00:49:22] Uh, 'cause they're gold.
[00:49:24] Sidney: All great advice. One, one thing I would like to throw in there, um, for maybe those, maybe not who are [00:49:30] beginning, but um, maybe it has some success industry within the last, I don't know, so 10 or so years and maybe have come with it, is been a little bit of a struggle these last couple years, which I, I can, uh, honestly say, um, I fall into this category.
[00:49:44] [00:49:45] But, um, like these, some people have like, are, are really talented. They have the skills, but they're constantly just like, I, you know, I, I want a job, I want a contract, I want this, I want that. And I feel like this is a, a time for you to really like if the, if, if. The work isn't [00:50:00] there? Like create something on your own.
[00:50:01] Like that's why, that's why I started the podcast. Like I got laid off and I was like, I, I need a creative outlet. I need to still be, I don't wanna lose, I don't wanna let the business out of this made me lose my, my zest and my, and my passion for it. So I started [00:50:15] this podcast. Yes, it's, it is not the narrative, uh, high level storytelling stuff that I am, um, that I was accustomed doing to in the productions that I was working on, but it, it's allowed me to develop those other skills that you just mentioned.
[00:50:29] I'm [00:50:30] learning, learning how to write, bro. I did a trailer for this episode. I was like, I learned a lot within that process. I, it's, it's helping me with, uh, staying organized, um, which is a key component of anything you're doing. Um, obviously I already had the technical [00:50:45] ability, but if somebody who's in audio and they were a writer and it was like, I wanna start a podcast, then you start to learn a little more about the technical.
[00:50:51] No matter, uh, I feel like there's, there's only a benefit can come from it. Like, even if your podcast doesn't blow up and you don't get a deal or do this or [00:51:00] do whatever, like just you're more professionally, you're more well-rounded than than you were when you started off. Yeah. And if you wanna do something more creative, who says you can't do that as well, like, you don't maybe have to do this forever.
[00:51:11] Like, I'm doing this podcast now. I'm in the process of like, [00:51:15] uh, concepting and writing my own like narrative podcast, which. Surrounded, um, not, well, I'm not narrative, I'm sorry. Uh, documentary style podcast because I come from a sports rock background and that's what I know. So if you want to write something, if you wanna create something, they think about the things that you live.
[00:51:29] [00:51:30] Like, I'm a diehard Duke fan. Sports was basically my life for the first 25 years of my life. So I'm not gonna just set that to the side and try to do these things. I'm trying to combine 'em. So you have to be more creative and, and try to navigate and re and have some success, uh, within doing [00:51:45] this. So I appreciate you telling your story, sharing your, your stories, giving advice, and, and your take on, on, on where we're, as far as audio and media in general.
[00:51:55] Um, but we've learned a lot about you professionally. But I wanna know a little bit about, uh, [00:52:00] Paula Moore as a person and your taste. So this is the last segment of the show, which is always interesting just to see, uh, if I have some similarities as far as taste with guests or if their taste is, uh. Way outside in left field away from mine, so.
[00:52:13] Mm-hmm. [00:52:15] Um, so the first question is, uh, well I've, I've, I've adapted a little bit 'cause some people may not be able to hone in on one, but what is your favorite album of all time? If you have one that's just like, this is the one, um, share that. But if just like, I don't know, it's a couple. You can't decide.
[00:52:29] Just share those. I'm, [00:52:30] I'm, I'm interested to know,
[00:52:31] Paula: um, Afro Kelt Sound System. I think the album was called Release, um, that Ma Ma, uh, which, which of the, that Ma ma albums [00:52:45] one Rafiki, I can't remember the of it. Um, the Wake of the Wind by David Aen. Stone and Tears For [00:53:00] Fear's Greatest Hits.
[00:53:02] Sidney: So I'm, so I, I'm gonna be honest, I I, I'm not familiar with any of this.
[00:53:06] So what, what genre do these fall into? Gimme like a, a, a brief education.
[00:53:10] Paula: Oh God. Um, Africa Celt Sound System is a, like a fusion [00:53:15] band. Uh, it was a, a group of Celtic artists, 'cause artists from, uh, Ireland and a group of artists from West Africa got together and jammed. It was a really cool album. Um, they put, they, they were together for a while and then like different people came in and [00:53:30] out, and I think it's only one person now sort of joing folks in.
[00:53:32] But, um,
[00:53:34] Sidney: so you said Celtic like, like Celtic?
[00:53:37] Paula: Yeah, like I was Oh, okay. Oh, okay. I gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. Yeah. Um, wake of the Wind, it was [00:53:45] David Arkansas is like a, a new age composer, but he also scores a lot of films and he did this, um, album that was actually, basically, he told a story with the songs, but there's no dialogue.
[00:53:59] It's all, it's, [00:54:00] he scored it like a movie, but each song is, is a part of the movie and it came with a book. It was really cool. Um, and then, uh, tears for Fears is Tears for Fears. Like Tears For Fears. You don't know. Tears For Fierce. We must be like [00:54:15] super different ages. Um, tears for Fears was a super popular band in the eighties.
[00:54:20] Yeah. I'm not gonna sing any of the songs that you, if I, if I hummed, if I sang any of that, you would know who they are, but Okay. Uh, sort of like British New Wave. Um, and [00:54:30] then
[00:54:30] Sidney: I'm, when we hop off, I'm a, I'm gonna do my, I'm gonna do a little research. Yeah. Although
[00:54:32] Paula: I don't actually think they're from the, they might be Scottish.
[00:54:36] I can't remember. Um, and then the fourth album I named was, oh gosh, I'm blanking now. Uh, it was David Arkansas [00:54:45] Quel Sound System, chase Fear's Greatest Hits, and Oh, um, that Ma, ma is. She's Belgian and Zi, I think she's from Ziaire and Belgium. [00:55:00] Um, and it's kind of like funk, rap, pop stuff. Uh, I don't know how to describe that.
[00:55:10] My mom. Okay. Um, I can't remember.
[00:55:13] Sidney: How do you spell it? How do you spell it?
[00:55:14] Paula: [00:55:15] Zap Mama. Yeah. Zap Mama. Um, and the album that I love. Amazon. Amazon. That album is freaking amazing. Um, yeah. So those [00:55:30] were, those are my favorites.
[00:55:31] Sidney: Okay. Um, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do my research on all of these. Um, I'm gonna see if it checks out or not, but, um, next, uh, favorite music producer or producers?
[00:55:41] Paula: Uh, I mean, I feel like these answers are kind [00:55:45] of trite. Timberland and Phineas. I really like what Phiz is doing. Like his choices are interesting.
[00:55:55] Sidney: Okay. I'm not familiar with Phiz, but I'll add that to my research list. Do you listen to Billie Eilish? [00:56:00] No, I don't. Oh, is that a no. Okay. I don't, but Okay. I, I feel like, okay.
[00:56:04] I'm a, I'm a little more tapped into that world than the, the do work with the album, so some point of reference there. Okay, cool. Um, favorite film score? I know you kind of mentioned this [00:56:15] in the first one, but is there a particular score from, uh, a particular movie or movie,
[00:56:19] Paula: um,
[00:56:20] Sidney: or soundtrack?
[00:56:21] Paula: Anything that Han Zimmer does is gold.
[00:56:23] Um, a Neo morone, the score from, uh, is it name of the [00:56:30] Rose or what is his super famous score? I can hum all of it to you, but I can't remember what movie it's from. Um, he did that amazing score, um, for, it's [00:56:45] not the one for Chino's List. It's the one for. And I'm totally pronouncing his name poorly, so apologies to everybody.
[00:56:52] Italian. Um, the mission, it was the score for the mission. Ah, his score for the mission is like [00:57:00] phenomenal. Um,
[00:57:01] Sidney: oh, you put me up on Game Today,
[00:57:04] Paula: work on, and anything by Han Zimmer. Um, pretty much anything by Han Zimmer. He actually, Han Zimmer did a score for a movie called The Power of One. [00:57:15] And that the movie wasn't massively popular, but my God, was that score amazing.
[00:57:20] The movie is gorgeous. Um, but I, I listened to that score on freaking and repeat, uh, uh, like [00:57:30] when I was younger, I was glued to that score. Um, yeah.
[00:57:35] Sidney: Okay. Those are cool. I got, I got tabs over for all these, so I'm not, I'm not just talking. I'm really gonna, I'm really gonna,
[00:57:39] Paula: I'm actually, I'm trying to make sure that diligence.
[00:57:42] I just wanna make sure that I'm right, that he did the score for [00:57:45] Power of One, that it wasn't Yeah, I, I,
[00:57:46] Sidney: I got it pulled up. It is music behind Zimmer. Yes. Yeah. Okay.
[00:57:49] Paula: Great. Good. Yeah.
[00:57:51] Sidney: Okay. And, uh, last one. Favorite tv? Favorite TV theme song?
[00:57:59] Paula: [00:58:00] Um, I'm like, I'm flipping through them in my head, like, what are ones that I remember? Um, good Times because that's my childhood. Good times. Um, reading Rainbow, the theme song for Reading Rainbow. Ah, that's
[00:58:13] Sidney: a good one. God, I haven't heard, haven't gotten that one [00:58:15] yet.
[00:58:15] Paula: Yeah. The theme song, reading Rainbow is always amazing.
[00:58:17] And then, um, showing the breadth of my viewing, um, the theme song, theme song for the original Silk stockings series. I don't know if you, you're probably like, probably like two when Silk Stockings aired. [00:58:30] Um. So Silk Stockings was a series on USA back in the day, and they had the coolest, like it was just a base brown.
[00:58:42] Um, it was like super cool. [00:58:45] Uh, yeah.
[00:58:47] Sidney: Yeah. And USA you taking me back? The only show I ever watched on USA was Wings. Remember the show Wings? Yeah. Wings used to be on
[00:58:53] Paula: NBC and then it got moved. Um, yeah. Uh, so yeah, so the, the theme song for Silk [00:59:00] stockings was, was kind of kinda awesome.
[00:59:04] Sidney: Alright, um, thank you the, for the d the diverse, uh, diversity in your answers.
[00:59:12] Um, hopefully some of it'll rub off on me. Yeah, you [00:59:15] probably had the widest range of, of answers that I've had on the show so far. Um, but yeah, I think that's, uh, that's pretty much it. Paula. Uh, thank you so much. Um, but before we do end, uh, if people would like to connect with you, uh, support what you're doing, [00:59:30] um, check out some of the shows and things that you have worked on, all that type of stuff.
[00:59:35] Uh, where can they find you online?
[00:59:38] Paula: Um, you can go to Instagram at, at p Dubs 2020. You can also visit, uh, PEPs quality.com. [00:59:45] Uh, if you're an actor and you have a reel and resume, you're welcome to submit on the Contact us page as a place to submit. Um, for actors who wanna be added to my roster, um, please know that I get submissions.
[00:59:59] Pretty [01:00:00] much all day long, every day. So it may be several months before you hear back from me. It's not because I don't like you, it's just 'cause we're busy and I might not need you or be interested in hearing you yet. Um, and then it does take a bit to get added to my roster more permanently. [01:00:15] So, uh, just any actors out there hearing this, it's not that I don't love you, it's, it's that I, it takes me a while to wait through everything because I have to do it in between projects.
[01:00:25] Um, and I am on Facebook pep Quality, VO and Sound [01:00:30] Design. Um, a lot of the sort of meta things I'm slowly moving away from. So, uh, just emailing me, emailing me via the website is probably the easiest way to stay on my roster because the other things are slowly being [01:00:45] phased out.
[01:00:45] Sidney: Yes.
[01:00:46] Paula: Yeah.
[01:00:46] Sidney: Um, okay. Well, sounds good.
[01:00:48] I appreciate it. Uh, it was a pleasure having you on, Paula. Thank you so much. Thank you for the invitation.
[01:00:54] Paula: I appreciate it.
[01:00:55] Sidney: Yes, ma'am. And, uh, for those listening, uh, thank you for tuning in and we'll catch you on the next [01:01:00] episode. Thank you for joining us on today's episode. Please don't forget to subscribe to the show and leave us a review.
[01:01:09] If you'd like to work with me or connect, please go to sound by said.com and schedule a [01:01:15] call there. You can also check out the full list of productions I've worked on. If you'd like to connect on social media, my handle of sound by said.com, on Twitter and Instagram. And I'm Sydney Evans on LinkedIn.
[01:01:28] Don't forget to follow beyond the [01:01:30] threshold on Instagram as well. I'll catch you on the next episode.