Christy & Will have big news!

say that officially. Um they I'm so grown up. They came and spent the holiday with us, and I experienced what it was like to have two children, kind of because they brought their puppy and we have our puppy. So the two of them bonded and became best friends, and it was just a restly, run around crazy Now. I don't know much about children, but I imagine it's

kind of the same. You let him run around all day, you throw him a treat, and you throw them in a crate, so that it's just like kids, right him in what I know what you're saying, because during Thanksgiving my brother came and brought his puppy and his three sons, and then I had two daughters. But that was Thanksgiving chaos and that was next level. But did you cook? Uh? Not for Thanksgiving and also Christmas? So that's the right there. Don't do that. Just hosts and then figure out how

to clean it all up. Okay, fair enough. Two dogs, I'm going to say equal one toddler, So imagine what you experienced times too. That's just I'm not even going to imagine that. I'm not even going to take the time to imagine that horrifying event. And I'm sure there's love and joy and imagine in it as well somewhere, but yeah, it's just not for everyone. You live and you learn will did you did you make it till midnight on New Year's I always like, well, it's my anniversary.

So actually Christmas Eve is my oldest daughter's birthday. She turned six, um, and so you know, we had a little fun with that, but overall New Year's was the big night and we celebrated nine years, me and Brendan nine years. Congratulations. Crazy. It is crazy because Sue and I were just talking about that today because this year will be our seventh and we're yeah, if you can believe that? Wait? What Yeah, Sue and I this year will have been married seven years already, Like I knew you,

we like reconnected with comic cons. How long have we been what? Yeah, so we've been She and I have been dating since what we still say we're dating um since Okay, so we've been together that long. But we've been married for seven years already. That's crazy so fast, that doesn't because I remember when we we we you and I like started touching basse and reconnecting because we started doing comic cons and it was really wonderful to see you and then you're like, oh, yeah, this is

my fiance. We're about to get married in Connecticut, and we reconnected about living being from Connecticut, and so it's what we reconnected. Then it was next I got married in Son. If she was my fianci already, which by the way, is the proper and she if she was my fianchi by that point, then yeah, I want to be saying things wrong. No, you want to pronounce them correctly.

Everyone knows that, Christie. Okay, So we've been now shooting it around and just talking fun, but really we're both bubbling under the surface here because we can finally explode. So for listeners out there, this is incredibly special for us. And when we became, you know, started a partner with I Heart, we went to them and said, look, we've had this dream kind of from the beginning where we

want to make an interactive podcast. We're not only are we going to be interviewing these amazing people, but we want to bring on amateurs that are going to be able to have the opportunity to showcase their talent and to work with some of the best in the business. And our ultimate goal is to do a nationwide contest to find a legitimate voice over actor that is an amateur that hasn't had an opportunity yet give that person.

I'm gonna use I'm gonna say it, Christie. You've been trying to get me to say it forever, but I'm gonna say, I'm gonna give that person their big break. You did win, and it's true because the more I'm thinking about it, I'm like, once again, don't argue with Christie. She knows what she's talking about. And I Heart to

their amazing joy and credit thankfully went great idea. Let's do it and they've been working with us ever since um to American Idol, this thing to where we are going to blanket the country to find the next big voice over actor. And the reason that we have yet to say and hey, who's here with us today, Christie, who's here with us today Will is because we don't have anyone with us today. It is the two of us just talk in the contest because we finally can

and we're gonna it's so much fun. We're gonna be able to tell everybody about what is going on, what we're planning, all the prizes, like I can't. I want to go like live and then like rightful, I want to like I just shout out on a rooftop. Well, we're gonna be able to do that because we're also gonna be doing a major press press push. Try to say that five times, fast press push, press, push, press push.

That's pretty there, you go nice. Uh. So everyone's gonna gonna be able to to join us on this ride because we at the end of the day, I was and we'll get into where I said this because I'm allowed to finally say this, but I was I was somewhere big announcing this, which you couldn't come out for because again, you live in Texas and I live here. Um, but I was somewhere and what I said was, we're

looking for a colleague. We are looking for somebody who can day one step into a booth and read promo copy, read animation copy, can be start their career. Uh. So this is and we can talk about it. Christie, I'm so exciting. This is crazy. Um uh wow, I'm almost speechless. Yeah. This isn't like charity. This is like, this is the real deal, big break, you know, like we're doing. So let's get into it now. We can finally announce, Christie, what's our contest called? Oh you did it again, didn't you?

You just had to do it? Super awesome Contest to find the next Big Voice Actor. I was pretty close. I think I think that's close to Superstomme Contest to discover It to become the supersom to become the next big voice actor is going live. People. We are getting there. So let's just jump right into this. And I'd like to to start with talking about the contest a little bit and then we'll get into the prizes. Does that work work for you? Christie? Okay, let's do that. Yeah.

So the contest is going to be multi tiered, as they would say, like an American Idol style contest, where we are going to start with sixteen lucky contestants and every week we are gonna weed it down and it is going to be two week until we get down to the final pisode. Do you mean a week? Will meaning? I mean we are going to have two contestants come on every week and we are going to play some

voiceover games with a special guest every week. We are still going to be this is the joy as while we were still gonna be talking to some of the best voiceover actors, directors, producers, writers in the industry, and

they are now going to help to judge. But also as we we get down to the nitty gritty and we get down to say the final four, everyone of the last contestants will get a mentor where they will have some kind of a zoom conference and they they're going to be able to be helped by some of the best actors directors in the industry. So I'm gonna be saying this and Christie is gonna be saying this over and over and over again, because this is going

to be very important. You're gonna be uh, we're gonna be going live with submissions on the ninth of January, and starting on the ninth of January, you're gonna be entering at I Hear Voices at I Heart Radio dot com. Once again, I Hear Voices at I Heart Radio dot com. So we want to make sure that we get as many entries as we can. UM. You cannot have an agent coming in. You've got to be purely an amateur.

It is u s. Residents over the age of eighteen will be sending a no more than two minute audio or video to us at I Hear Voices at I Heart Radio dot com. UM, which is very very cool. So we want to make sure we get as many submissions as we possibly can. And again that's a two minute audio or video that you're gonna send to I Hear Voices at I Heart Radio dot com. So, yes, January nine to February nine, it is live. I think we start talking about the prizes because the prizes are phenomenal. Yeah,

I'm so excited. So the first one, uh, is you get flown to l A. You're gonna get flown to Los Angeles to have lunch with Christy and I, which I think is pretty cool. I don't know that's a good question. I say, know, it's fun. I think not only are you flown to l A, but I think it's left up to you to also make the reservations and pay. Over real, I think you'll pick the cuisine and then I'll pick the place. Okay, okay, that works.

You're good at that. You're good at that stuff. So I'll be like, I really want to try like a fancy sushi spot. And then we'll be like, okay, we'll go to yeah, yeah, yeah, that's a good call. A Montana, which is like this old school Italian place in West Hollywood. Will go there. We will figure something out. But that's a great idea, you get. Yeah, you pick that, you pick the genre of food, and we will pick the place.

That's a that's a good way to do it. Um. So yes, flown out to a lot that's that's number one on the hit parade. Flown out to Los Angeles to have a incredible lunch with both Christie and I where we are going to be gushing over the fact that you are going to be our colleague and our new winner. But it's not just going to be us at that lunch. And this is huge. This is where we talk big break stuff because the other person you're going to meet at your lunch is your new agent

from C E. S D, which is my agency. So we were talking about putting yourselves on the line. I called my agency, which is arguably the biggest best voiceover agency in the industry, and I said, Christy and I are doing this contest and we want to, uh, will you sign the winner? And they said, oh, jeez, you know that we've got the best in the business here. I said, I know, but we're going to do this.

They said, hey, will Christie, if you can go and find us the next big voice actor, we will sign them. Those are the first two prizes that we've talked about, Christie. But there's a third prize that we've also mentioned a couple of times that my heart is very generous about. So on your trip to Los Angeles, you're also getting a thousand dollars um, which is good because the lunch I'm gonna want you to buy for me is nine and dollar No, I'm kidding, the lunch is on us.

So those are the count Those are the the the prizes we've been able to talk about, but now we can actually talk about the next cool thing. So I got in touch with my friends a critical role and my friends have their season two of the Legend of Oxmachina, which is premiering January. I'm very excited. It's already been announced so I can say that I'm also on the second season. I'm really excited about this. I learned how to play Dungeon Dragons with my friends over a critical role.

Their show has exploded. It is a hundred percent fresh on on Rotten Tomatoes, the first season of Oxmachina. It is a worldwide phenomenon that they built my friends from the ground up by themselves playing D and D together. It is so inspiring every time I go there and I watch what they're doing. They are still such a family. They have built it together and it is incredible. So I went over to them and I said, Hey, I'm doing this contest. Christy and I are doing this together.

I hear voices, is there anything you guys can do for us? And they said, oh man, we would love to. So, in addition to all the other prizes we've given you, Sam Regal, Emmy Award winning director Sam Regal and Mary McGlenn, who is the director of the Legend of Ooxmachina, are going to be taking the winner under their wing and giving them h a tutoring session, and they're going to teach you everything you're gonna need to know about being a voice over actor. But Sam and Mary they don't

actually do coaching. Like that's not like they're no thing, but like that's insane. That's once in a lifetime, like I've not even worked with No, it's gonna be working with Sam, which I've gotten. I've actually gotten a chance to work with both of them again because because of the Legend of Voxmachina Um. Sam also put me on DC Superhero Girls and and Future Worm and some other stuff. Sam is verifiably like he can also I mean, you know if he likes your voice, well, I mean yeah,

I mean this is this is again. So man, there's such a funny joke that my mother used to always say to me as a kid when I was growing up auditioning for everything. I would walk out and I would say I didn't get it, and I'd hang my head low and I take the bus back to Connecticut and my mom would would always say to me, Hey, you never know if they're going to remember you for something in the future, and that's such it's so true

in our industry. Well not to mention, I think that someone's going to remember somebody that wanted the contest, and like, is this unique? I mean, this is a very cool backstory for like like a hero origin story that we're like, right, talk about a great origin story. It's you know you you then get into a booth with Sam with Mary um so it's yeah, you get one coaching session with

with Sam and Mary. It's going to be phenomenal. We have um not been able to talk about that aspect of the show yet, the critical role aspect of the show. I don't know about you. I've been I've been ecstatic. I've been better. Do you feel better talking about it now that it's out the secrets? I do? I do?

I think they should instantly, Christie, turn into an episode of Vulnerable where I just tell you how happy I am and excited and relieved I am should be talking about finally doing the contest, and you know, glad for you. I'm getting vulnerable, Christie. You have trauma from holding this inside of yourself, I do I have it from No, it's not have to walk back what your mom said when you were a kid not getting those auditions. Then we got out from my head was going instantly going

back to U two. We're going to go right from an episode of A Vulnerable to an episode of pod Meats World. We're gonna be looking at looking at season three. No, very different tones. Yeah, all of our of our people want to shout out to all the folks that were tagging us on socials as um, you know, being one

of their top listen to podcasts. There was this thing, um you know on Instagram where people were showcasing from Spotify Wrapped, which is like what they do every year, like towards the and it's like, these were my top five top ten podcasts and I hear voices, Vulnerable, um, pod Meats World. They were all groups together. So we have a really great fan base. That's awesome. No, I'm really excited to meet you guys. As I know Will is to he we both love our fans and we

love you. Yeah, it's huge. You know, you just made me think of one of my favorite quotes of all time that I live by fortune favors the bold, so you know, make sure that you are once again. So I'm gonna say it, I'm gonna keep saying it. I'm gonna keep saying it, but we're gonna run through it one more time, very very quickly. You're going to be sending a two minute up to two minutes. It doesn't have to be two minutes. You don't have to fill it, but don't go over two minutes. P g rated in

the US residents over eighteen eighteen over. You're gonna be sending your entries to I Hear Voices at I heart radio dot com. The contest is going to be open from January nine to February nine. The whole reason we started this podcast was because every time we were at a comic con, there's at least ten to twenty people that are like, how do I get into the business. I love I'm so passionate about it. So we we

see you, we know you're out there. This is your moment, this is this is it for all of our loyal listeners out there, and we know there are a lot of you, and we've been so so thankful for all the listeners we have, and hopefully you're all going to enter the contest. But I'm guessing you also know somebody a friend, a coworker, somebody in your family, your funny uncle, you're funny aunt, somebody who does voices who hasn't heard about this contest, and we are are dragooning you into

going and saying to them enter this context. Dragooning. What is that word dragooning? So, uh, dragooning was It's a It's an old military term of like enlisting you. Yeah, we're we're we're enlisting you, dragooning you to thank you uh to I yeah to to go and spread the word, you know, get oh. I know this is gonna sound crazy, but the person that that's the bank teller at my bank every time I'm there, always says goodbye in a Mickey Mouse voice. Man, you never know on TikTok there's

tons of voice actors on TikTok tons. There's a lot of talented people. And if you know people that you love, even if they're social media folks, they may not know about this contest. We want you to tag them and let them know, Hey, I heard about that. I hear voices. Um, you know contest. Please go and submit yourself because I

think you'd be great. So yeah, absolutely, you know, yeah, we are going to find We're going to blank at this country and we are going to find the next I mean I always go back to like Kelly Clarkson was was a waitress, um, you know in Texas. I think where it's just you know. She then all you need some people, they just need their break, and that is what we were trying to give you. Christy has not wanted me to say this at all, but this could be your big break. She has been fighting me like,

don't say it will don't that's it. That's what I said, don't say that. That is a total lie. By the way, like why aren't we calling it a big break? It's a big break? And I was like, I don't want to hopes up. But she's right, Chris. Once again, Christie has proven herself a hundred percent right and it can be your big break. So, um, this is huge. I mean, that's it, right, Like that's all it is that we've

talked about passionately for quite a long time. And also just one more shout out, um, because this is really important, the legend of Ox not just because I'm on it, but mostly because I'm on it, Um the Legend of Ox Making. This Season two will premiere January weekly on Prime Video in more than two hundred and forty countries and territories worldwide. Again, if you have not seen the show, it is phenomenally well written, acted directed. The first season

is a hundred percent fresh certified on Rotten Tomatoes. I'm sure the second season will be as well. It's actually gonna go up to a hundred five percent because again, I'm on. You're gonna do that, right because you're on. But can you give me some spoilers? Like do you die? I'm telling you nothing. You're gonna have to watch me after you die. Okay, I'm not. I'm not going to tell you anything. It's going to be awesome. But yeah, so check out season two. Uh jan Prime Video. How

that's that's terrible? Terrible. We are so excited though, so yes, that's why we didn't have a guest on this week because we are just so excited to do this. Um and that's it. That's what we're gonna leave you with. I hear voices at I heart radio dot com. This is your big break, yes and not only that. Again, we want you to go and blanket around your teacher, your the janitor, the local bank. Tell whoever you go, you know what, that person is actually really funny and

does some funny voices. Let them know about this contest, because this is the one maybe you could get a split on the thousand. You know what I told you about that contest. Yes, this is going to be great and a ton of fun. And again this is this is not lip service. We are not doing this as some kind of oh you know, this is a gimmick. We are looking for a colleague. We are trying to find another big voice over actor. Uh, we're you know.

I'm telling you this is your big break. And it's what you say every time we close one of our episodes, right, yeah, it is, And I think it's the perfect way to close that. So again. January nine, February nine, I Hear Voices at our Heart Radio dot com. I want you all to enter and don't forget if you think you have what it takes to be one of us, and

put your voices where your mouth is. Thanks everybody. I Hear Voices as hosted by Wilfrid l and Christy Carlson Romano Executive produced by will Fredell, Brendan Rooney, Amy Sugarman and Vicky Ernst Chang. Our executive in charge of production is Danielle Romo. Our producer is Lorraine Vera Wez and our editor slash engineer is Brian Burton. And that was

my announcer voice. Some side effects of listening to I Hear Voices are sore abs from hilarity falling down the Coco melon rabbit hole, sneezing due to mass nostalgia, and hugs. Follow I Hear Voices wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss any of the amazing voices. Be sure to follow us on Instagram and TikTok at I Hear Voices podcast. You can also check us out on my Space, omigal Vine, Lime Wire. Hey I'm a napster. Okay, well, let's teach you about the Internet. The who