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The Hobsons Prize

2010

After a successful second year in 2009, we are looking forward to this year's competition. Once again it is open to graduating students from all 22 members of the Conference of Drama Schools (CDS).

We received 44 entries from 11 schools and we thank all those who entered. Given the graduates can rightfully be considered 'raw talent' at this stage, the standard of material submitted was high, high enough for the judges to nominate 7 entries as Highly Commended.

The Judging Panel


Pam Myers (Producer and MD of Rorschach)

Ben Leeves (Sound Engineer at Grand Central)

Elizabeth Conboy (Hobsons Voice Artist)

Ann Dawson (Hobsons Voice Agent)

David Hodge (Chairman of Judges)

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The Final

Each entrant was asked to submit two commercials and one minute of factual narration. Four finalists were short-listed by the panel of five judges and then invited to perform in the final at Grand Central Studios in September. This simulated a typical, professional voice-over session, with the judges acting as clients. They were each given two commercial scripts to record in a 90 minute sesion.

Given that none of the finalists had ever experienced recording under such pressure, they all performed remarkably well, each exhibiting many of the attributes sought by the judging panel.
 
After much deliberation and a very closely fought contest, Benjamin O'Mahony, a graduate from Drama Centre London, was declared the eventual winner.
 

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Thoughts from the Judges.

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David

As we announce the winner of this year’s Prize I thought it worth reporting that Bethan James, our first Prize winner, is enjoying great success. Clients like working with her and email us to say as much - quite an achievement. Amongst other projects, she is regularly heard on the Nickelodeon channel.

So, we come to our third year. We received 44 entries from 11 schools - a rewarding turnout. 

At the outset of judging we reminded ourselves that the entries were those of ‘raw, young talent’ and therefore not to expect the levels of performance that we are all used to hearing as we go about our various jobs in the industry. What struck us though, after the initial run through, was the almost ‘chalk and cheese’ nature of what we were hearing; two quite distinct levels of performance. Although surprising and disappointing in equal measure, it also confirmed that the teaching of voice work, other than radio drama, is still being developed. That development fulfils a crucial function of The Prize. One of the schools I spoke to confirmed it as a long overdue incentive.

Of course there has to be a winner, it’s the nature of the competition but crucially, and without being trite, though there were no losers. As Ben pointed out during the Final, any of his clients would have been satisfied with the performance the finalists gave. And, such was the standard of those that didn’t quite make the final, that we were moved to highly commend seven other entrants and offer them encouraging feedback. It seems the Prize has fulfilled another of its primary functions and awakened in the young actors a skill that given time and application can be honed into a rewarding and valuable asset.

All in all a great Prize and improving with every year. We raise a glass to this year's winner and finalists and eagerly await 2011.

 

What a fascinating process this Prize has been! From sitting down as a group to listen through to all the raw entries, to our lively discussions about who should or shouldn’t make the shortlists and then meeting our finalists, I’ve been delighted to
be involved.

Our first run shortlist from the huge number of entries pretty much picked itself and the reason for this was simple – we all warmed to the actors who dared to show us a little of themselves. It’s all too easy to slip into ‘adspeak’ and some of the students we heard were concentrating hard on giving us the kind of read and style they thought we might want. Which is odd because a brief listen to a random selection of radio or TV spots, or narrations, or even continuity announcers, reveals a tremendous range of character. This character can reveal itself through an accent, an attitude or even an idiosyncratic imperfection within the vocal quality. But it’s something which engages and holds attention, and I felt that some of our students pigeon-holed themselves in the ‘I’ve-got-a-lovely-voice’ category. The actors we picked for further consideration all had a level of energy and life about them which differentiated them from the pack.

Our finalists all delivered excellent performances in the studio. I was keen that they should get a chance to show off their acting skills but also be required to deal with technically tricky copy including finance offers, web addresses and legal terms & conditions. To be able to act one’s heart out and still deliver the nuts and bolts as required by a clients legal department is a valuable (if unglamourous) skill!

I think with the right advice and encouragement, plus a bit of experience, all our finalists have the potential to be successful voice artists. They are obviously committed and hard-working so I can only wish them huge amounts of well-deserved good luck too!

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Ann

Being involved in The Hobson’s Prize this year was a really exciting journey!

Being an agent you are of course always being approached by a huge range of actors hoping to be represented for voice work – but to be involved in the process of choosing brand new voice talent  from a pool of already very talented young actors was exciting – it’s the not knowing what you are likely to find that is fun!
I think that this year we ended up with finalists with great vocal gifts – but for me as an agent a successful voice artist is more than his or her vocal talent – it’s a combination of many more elements.   Most of these additional elements were only experienced when we met the actors in person on the day of the final and saw how they worked in the studio, took direction from Pam, and responded to our many comments.
A voice artist always arrives in good time for a session, and above all is personable and professional. The studio environment can be very demanding with a mix of clients/creatives with varying goals to be managed.   We always say of our artists that they have to have the ‘whole package’ to be successful in this very competitive part of the media industry.
Without doubt I feel that all our finalists this year have the ability to be very successful voice artists should they choose to pursue it. They all showed passion, skill and intuitive ability along with personable yet professional personalities – a real must have in my books! 

I wish them all great success and look forward to saying that I met them at the very start of their, what I hope will be, long and fruitful careers.

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