hola friend.

Glad you're here. Versatility is my thing. You can hear me in English & Spanish commercials, games, animated series, movie & show dubs, promos, sometimes even broody trailers. Who doesn't love to brood?If you're looking for a distinctive voice with character, a voice that cuts through the noise with badassery, heart, & humor - I'm your person.Check out the links below for more info.

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melissamedinavo@gmail.com

repped by: acm talent & sbv talent

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© Melissa Medina. All rights reserved.

about me.

I'm often described as tough-as-nails with a soft squishy center.

I'm known for being a connector of creatives, from actors to game developers, writers to visual artists - probably because I'm aggressively supportive (emphasis on aggressive), and a world-class tweeter of wry jokes. I'm told I have "tall energy" but jokes on you, I'm basically a chihuahua.

Born and raised in South Texas to a Mexican-American military family, I've lived all over Texas - from Corpus Christi to McAllen, Brownsville to San Antonio to Austin. What can I say I'm a wanderer. I left Texas to live in the heart of Seattle to work in tech and thanks to an algorithm I wrote, I ended up in Minneapolis/Saint Paul & then finally in beautiful Duluth Minnesota!

I was raised with Spanish-speaking and Deaf & HoH family so communication, assistive technology, & accessibility are important to me. Family gatherings were basically the funkiest game of translation telephone, trust me. But I think celebrating what makes us unique makes us who we are. And as a survivor of decades long S.A. & abuse, I have worked hard for my mental health & strength, and have now become a passionate advocate & speaker for survivor organizations, PTSD/CPTSD support, and creative outlets for children like education in the arts - which quite literally saved my life.

I've lived a lot of life in my years. I had to move out of the house & support myself since my teens, so I've always had to have 2-3 jobs. Because of that I have a hefty collection of jobs I've had - from being a professional international guest artist opera singer to a call center technical support manager to fetal Echocardiographer to an IT Program Manager at a Fortune 100 & even weirder ones than that! Basically this just means I have a lot to pull from for my acting.

When I’m not voice acting, I am a professional klutz, dancer, and lover of Horror & Sci-Fi movies - I even guest on Horror Podcasts & talk shows! I have a soft spot for cheesy bad movies too (hello MST3K). In my spare time (who has enough of that these days?) I volunteer at a local musical non-profit for kids, which is always an adventre. I also love travel and I will try any food (ask me about the weirdest thing I’ve tried).

Most importantly I don't advertise like a business or slick salesperson. I tried selling random consumer goods business to business once - I'm terrible at it. I don't do branding or marketing pushes - I am just authentically me; and I think that speaks to people because 99% of my work has been done remotely. Major studios in LA & NY as well as clients from all over the world have made a special effort to work with me from Minnesota & I think that's pretty amazing! My goal is to bring projects to life in the friendliest most efficient way. I love what I do & I've earned what I do, so I take pride in it & strive to make whatever I am working on the most important thing to me in the moment. There's no greater honor than to see you & treat you as the creative human being you are. So say hi. I like it when people say hi.

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Latino / Indigenous
Spanish
Scottish

Bilingual (Spanish MX)

LGBT+ & Non-Binary

microphone.

Sennheiser MKH 416

interface.

MOTU M4
Solid State Logic SSL2

daw.

Adobe Audition 2023

connections.

Source Connect Standard • Source Nexus • SessionLink Pro • AudioMovers • Connection Open • Zoom • Skype • ipDTL + more

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take a look under the hood.

I have recorded national commercials, animated series, various AAA games, & more, all from my funky little home studio.

personality-branded demo prep.

This is a consultation meant for BEFORE your animation or interactive scripts are written, to drill down on personality-branding demos. I believe a demo should show who you are, not just be a checklist of common character types. I will help you show what makes you unique. We will discuss you, your personality, what character types you do well, what markets you want to target, and create new, interesting, & uniquely YOU takes on characters. And as a POC I can sensitively talk about if & how you want to represent your culture fairly & authentically. Then I will send detailed notes to whoever your demo writer is with goals and ideas for them to run with!

vocal technique.

My main area of expertise. As a former professional opera singer I know how to keep your voice healthy & in top athletic shape. Did you know you're an athlete? I will teach how to take care of your instrument, breathe properly, stretch your vocal range, & use your voice not only effectively but safely.

getting unstuck.

Are you stuck in the dreaded "vo plateau"? I can help get you unstuck, brainstorm ideas to move your career forward, guide you through goal-setting, help you organize the many plates you've got spinning, manage your time and inbox better, or just get a second pair of ears on your situation. We've all been where you are & you will not be stuck forever.

social marketing.

Social media may be awful, but it is the single greatest FREE tool we have to reach our audience. I believe in "Personality Branding" aka being yourself. Are you optimizing your socials to show who you are and catch the eye of the people who will get you work? How do you get to know who you are? I can help you hone that and network honestly & authentically.

script analysis.

Characters are empty vessels for you to fill with yourself. I will teach you to climb into the head of your character & engage psychologically, form opinions, ideas, and backstory, all while understanding your place in time & setting. Did you know commercial copy requires a similar level of analysis & marketing knowledge? I will teach you to analyze a company's message so you can convey it with your unique flavor.

industry trends.

As a new or growing VA it's hard to pick up on existing "tribal knowledge" as to what is expected of you. We will discuss what is generally accepted as "industry standard" so that you can proceed with confidence. As someone who has worked in just about every facet of VO, I am able to communicate generally accepted practices, live direction best practices, audition techniques, industry standard pay & more. We will also discuss the ever-changing trends in the commercial or character VO space.

project analysis.

In order to help steer the ship I have to first figure out where the ship is going. Are these nautical references doing anything for ya? This is what I call the "info dump stage". It happens when I first come aboard & includes everyone currently guiding the project helping me understand what the project is. For example, whether this is a team with ongoing work done in multiple sprints or a one-time project. This is the 10,000 foot view of the project or the "explain it to me like I'm five" portion, before we hop into all the nitty gritty details.

roles & responsibilities.

To keep people on-task I have to know what the roles & responsibilities are of everyone involved in the project. This is the first stage where we can discover gaps in understanding. "Oh I didn't know I was expected to do that" comes up a lot. In order to meet expectations we have to know what they are. We also have to balance responsibility, so if you are loading up one role with tons of responsibility & other roles are sitting around twiddling their thumbs, this is where we can find those gaps and address them - it saves you money. This is also where the people on your project can express what is and isn't realistic expectations for them. Trust me, it may seem uncomfortable, but it will save you a lot of resentment, future headaches, & keep people from quitting your project. Quitting causes delays. Clear marching orders that are agreed-upon by everyone means happy people. And who wants to work with angry stressed people? Not me.

project scope.

This is where we look at the finish line & figure out two things: what we are going to do to get there, and what we're not going to do to get there. What end-goal needs to be accomplished & by when? These are the "big ideas" not the tiny little tasks. This is important because of a thing called "scope creep". It's when you start with an itty bitty little idea & it becomes a monster with a bazillion tendrils and you lose control over what you were trying to accomplish in the first place. Let me slay that monster. A common example is deciding what needs to be done for a video game demo & what can be put off for the final game. This keeps you from spending time doing unnecessary tasks that won't help you meet your deadline, & keep you from spending money on those tasks that won't help you get where you're trying to go. Consider it "goal & task prioritization".

deliverables & milestones.

Now that we know where we're going, we have to figure out how to get there. To cut this giant project-steak into smaller bite-sized pieces that are both effective and realistic, we assess everything - and I mean everything - that has to be done on the project, and then categorize them into big and small deliverables, or tasks. Then we decide which tasks need to be done in which order. This is also where we assign those tasks to specific people on the team. This works together with roles & responsibilities, so we make sure the right tasks are going to the right people, and then allow them to quote when they can realistically be completed. Think of it like a negotiation phase & an auction, where your team members bid on tasks & tell you how long those tasks will take. Deliverable timelines work hand-in hand with "milestones", which are different than deliverables. Milestones represent big pieces of the overall project being done. Milestones are the end-goal of a specific set of tasks. This is what we call defining "success criteria" and knowing when we're done with a big chunk - and celebrating it!

progress tracking & communication.

Meetings. Who actually likes meetings? Not me. But they're a necessary evil. I keep track of progress made on all deliverables on a weekly basis where I meet with every person on the project, talk about the progress they've made, measure whether that progress will mean deliverables will be completed on time, and talk about what issues they're facing - basically being a therapist and taskmaster. This is an important step & a necessary one to catch & communicate about small issues & delays before they become BIG issues & delays. Generally, I recommend weekly "check-ins" that are half an hour with each person on the project to track progress & issues. I am very big on "this could have been an email", so if all is right with the project, I will compile progress & update project owners in a "status update" email. If there are issues or delays, I will facilitate a Team Meeting where you can have a back-and-forth with people on the project, so we can address issues or make adjustments to the plan. I will also handle basic scheduling, communication of changes you make, & updates.

risk management.

Every project runs into issues. A good Project Manager tries to steer the ship away from icebergs by looking far enough ahead to see them coming with enough time to pull away to safety. No floating on doors here. So we create a "disaster plan", what we're going to do if someone leaves the project, if deliverables are delayed, or if we are not able to hit a milestone & will likely miss a deadline. All necessary so that if one link in the chain breaks, the whole thing doesn't come crashing down. I've got your back.

efficiency.

Technology is your friend. With creatives there is a certain hesitation or inexperience with technology sometimes, but I help remove that by helping people use technology to save them time. It's kinda my specialty. With my particular background in IT, I am uniquely qualified to use my knowledge of technology to make life more efficient for everybody. Team Meetings can be scheduled way easier by using a scheduling app where everyone can list their own availability so we can find a time that works for everyone without 25,000 emails back and forth about dates & times. I even know some apps that integrate with your calendar so you don't even have to list your availability - and some of them are even FREE! Aside from scheduling efficiency, I use 100% cloud-based documents to track progress, so you don't have to worry about what version of a document you're looking at and whether it's up to date or not. This also helps keep people up to date on changes, and I can even sign people up to get updates when documents change. Sweet, right? I will use whatever tools necessary to make life more efficient for everyone, using free tools if I can. Efficiency = saving money. Always.

limitations.

nobody likes those

It's easy to want PMs to handle all aspects of a project, we are pretty awesome, unfortunately that's just not realistic. The "project owners" or "people in charge" cannot be hands-off, and must be involved in regular decision-making. PMs are generally hourly employees, and are paid for their time & specialized training.

✘ Make decisions that affect the project
I am here to make sure things get done, not decide what gets done. You don't want someone who doesn't know your job telling you how to do it, right? However I do need to be "in the room" when decisions are made so that I can advise how those changes will make an impact.

✘ Management tasks
I do not hire people or train people, provide marketing or social media management, or provide services beyond basic scheduling & the duties detailed above.✘ Make myself available at all times
When you enlist my services we will talk about how much of my time falls within your budget, and what hours I will be available for contact.✘ Allow changes to the Project Plan without my involvement
One small change has a cascading effect that can cause damage to your timeline & cause delays. All changes to roles, tasks, timelines, milestones, & other parts of this process must be discussed with me as soon as possible. This is so that I can advise whether the change conflicts with something else, and communicate those changes to everyone on the team.

one-time projects.

$200 per week

Indies - up to 10 hours per week

Can you put a budget on meeting your deadlines?? Well, yes, but it's valuable stuff! Payments made on a weekly basis. I meticulously keep track of all time spent & share this information with you to keep you informed. If you do not need the full 10 hours per week, the rate will be prorated hourly.

ongoing or cyclical projects.

$20 per hour

companies with regular projects

Discounted rate for ongoing & regular work. Exact hours will be adjusted to meet your budget. I meticulously keep track of all time spent & share this information with you to keep you informed. You and I will establish basic work hours & how many hours I am able to devote to your project per week.