Hitting the Wall

Part of my deal with the agency that represents me for voice work is that I’ll no longer travel for an in-studio session. If someone wants to hire me, they can do what’s called a Directed Session over Skype while I stay in my home studio. It’s how I remain sane while doing VO on the side while starting my day around 3 am to cohost the CJBK morning show. It’s a hard and fast rule. So, why did I break it last week? 

The producer of a series of video ads for Walmart wouldn’t take no for an answer. When I balked at driving to downtown Toronto from London after doing the radio show, he kept increasing the incentives; the fee, travel expenses. Live in-studio is how we used to voice work in the old days before we could record at home and send high-quality audio via email. This session involved a Walmart rep, the video editor, the director and two audio engineers. Oh, and me. Add a gorgeous studio and top-of-the-line equipment and you can see why they preferred to do it the “proper recording session” way.

When I finally agreed to the drive, we were all meeting at 1 pm. That left a generous window of time for me to get back to London and have my evening routine, which actually falls in the afternoon, since I go to bed so early. When the meeting was changed to 2:30 I bristled a bit. That 90-minute difference makes Toronto traffic a whole different world. But the client wasn’t available earlier. I bit my lip and told myself to suck it up. 

The first part of the day went great. The drive in was no big whoop, I found parking in an area where very little parking exists and didn’t have to take out a second mortgage to pay for it. All was going according to plan.

A voice-over session is so satisfying when the director can explain what he wants and you can deliver it. The finished spots look terrific and I imagine they’ll show up online in markets where this particular Walmart service – grocery ordering online and pickup – is available. (Not in my city. Pity.)  

Fifty-five minutes later I was back in my car and heading for home. I used to live in Toronto and know the city well, but I made one rookie turn that cost me just enough time land me in the bowels of traffic hell and that’s where it all unravelled. By the time I hit the 401 an accident had happened, and I sat in a dead stop for at least 30 minutes before crawling about one kilometre during the next 45 minutes. It’s everything outsiders dread about driving near Toronto. It’s also the type of back-up I never experienced as a GTA or Toronto resident, only as a commuter or visitor. What can you do? I stayed in my happy place, cranked up the radio and settled in for a long afternoon. Hubby called and I was so tired that I jokingly said I was considering pulling over to the side of the road and starting a new life there.

I walked into my house exactly four hours after I left the studio on John St. and went straight to bed, drained and disappointed with how the day ended. Sure, the credit will look good on my record and it was a great gig I’m glad I got. But the agonizing trip home is why I never travel for voice-over sessions. Did I mention that it’s a hard and fast rule?