Jeff Ornstein 0:01

Hi everyone, and welcome to Next Act with Jeff Orenstein. I am Jeff, and on this show we celebrate people on the cusp of greatness. Those building on past successes in some of the curious and inventive and sometimes unexpected ways they have achieved those, and stepping into moments that could define their legacy. We'll talk about current projects, lessons learned, and the extraordinary opportunities ahead. So the best is yet to come. An award-winning voice actor, actor, and writer known for her work in commercials, cinematic brand stories, animation, and live drum chorus competitions. With over two decades of experience, she brings a natural, relatable, and emotional connection to every project from national campaigns to international performances. Welcome, Michelle.

Michelle Falanga 0:50

Thank you, Jeff. So nice to be here. Thanks for having me.

Jeff Ornstein 0:53

So I was able to listen to a bunch of your voiceovers, get online and track them down. And I have to say, this description of natural and relatable really sort of summarizes your voice. It's it's like familiar without being it sounds like someone you've known and trusted.

Michelle Falanga 1:12

Yeah.

Jeff Ornstein 1:13

Which I'm sure is why sponsors love you. Can you tell me a little bit about that? Is that your natural voice?

Michelle Falanga 1:19

No, no, I know. A lot of people get into voiceover because they were told they have a great voice. That was not my situation. And it's not that my voice is great, it's that the ability to connect to a script, to what you're saying. But um, yeah, I I I get a lot of feedback that you sound credible, but like real and relatable, like someone I might like.

Jeff Ornstein 1:38

Precisely. Precisely my impression when I was listening to yours. All right. So we want to start a little bit at the beginning. So that you started as an actor, is my understanding, and somehow that morphed into voice up. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Michelle Falanga 1:51

Well, that the acting be was an accident. Everything was like this is where you know it was meant to be, because uh it was all accidental. Um, I was working in my 20s, gosh, this was I'm gonna date myself, 1996 at a an insurance company. I was like an administrative assistant or something, and um this improv troop came in to do a um, like one of the the you know, the higher-ups was get retiring. So they came in to do like a little sketch, you know, little party, and they did a little improv sketch to, you know, for fun for him. And I guess the day before, one of the actors fell sick. So they called my HR manager and said, Is there anyone in your company that's funny? And apparently I stood out as funny in in insurance. I mean, it was clearly not the job for me to be in the insurance, but anyway, so she like nominated me. I was like, I had never performed, I was mortified. She nominated me to help them with their sketch. Now keep in mind, I I'm like, what? Like, I I guess I didn't feel like I could say no. And they came in, they did the sketch, they you know, they briefed me. I was like a little side character, I was like a had a powder puff and I was like a makeup artist or something. I don't know how I had the guts to do that in front of my all my bosses and all my like coworkers. Honestly, like today I'm like, I don't think I would do that. Like, you know what I mean? Oh, but I did. Yeah, right. I don't, I don't know. I was in my 20s, I think. Yeah. And then one of the heads was there that day, and he afterward, I got a big laugh. And afterwards he was like, You were hilarious. Would you consider performing in one of our public shows? And I was like, what is happening here? Like, you know what I mean? Like I had no, I wasn't really a performer. You know, as a child, I performed with people on the street, you know, little silly things. And yeah, I guess I was like a performer in the sense of that, but I was never, I never went to schooling for it or anything like that. So next thing I know, I'm like an understudy in one of their public shows. And that started like 25 years of every Friday and Saturday night performing in murder mysteries and improv shows and in all these different characters and stuff like that. So that kind of again happened by accident. And then the voiceover, a few years in, I was like, oh, I'd like to do animation. I want to do like care all the characters, all these voices I do. That would be kind of fun to do. But I mean, again, I live in Boston, and that was not in 2003 that you couldn't be in animation if you were in Boston. That's just not a thing. You had to be in LA. It was like a whole thing. So I kind of accidentally I did a reel, I think, and then I ended up starting to get hired, you know, just a few jobs a year for my regular voice. So I would never even try to be a VO for my regular voice. And then so again, I feel like that happened by accident too. Yeah. And it just kind of grew from there.

Jeff Ornstein 4:38

Well, you know, what's interesting is it's like you said, well, you you you were surprised when you got asked to join, and surprised when you could you participate. Yet you participated every weekend. So clearly, you know, something was ignited within you and said, Yeah, this is fun. I'm gonna, you know, do this in my personal time.

Michelle Falanga 4:56

Yeah.

Jeff Ornstein 4:56

And the same for the voices. I mean, basically, something got stirred in within you and said, Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna keep doing this because especially in your 20s, you know, young people don't have super long attention spans for things that require a while a while to get better and better and better at it.

Michelle Falanga 5:10

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I I definitely I remember the first night doing the improv show, like being the understudy, and I remember I got a big laugh. There's just something very fulfilling. It was interactive, like, you know, murder mysteries and and like, you know, the actors are also your wait staff. You know, we waited on them and we sang and danced and did everything. But um, there was something very like um tangible about getting that instant like see, and that happened over the years so many times. People would come on like one of the shows and they would come up to me afterwards and they would be like, you know, you know, we just my sister just had breast cancer, and my, you know, what someone else just passed away, or husband passed away. And, you know, I just want to thank you because you made our night like we really just needed a night out to just feel like like carefree. And like to me, that's like the biggest gift that I could make them, you know, forget what was going on in life and make them laugh and it makes me cry. Like I was still friends with some of those people that had like reached out to me and said how much it meant to them to have a night. You know, not that I didn't do it, but like they were came out and that that whole environment made them for a while. It impacted them.

Jeff Ornstein 6:14

You know, it impacted them. Yeah. So you are I have in my notes here that you're a storyteller also, so that you're a writer, a storyteller, and was that and you've actually written this children's book, The Amazing Monster. Can you tell us a little bit about that? It's a very cool title.

Michelle Falanga 6:31

Yeah, when I write, it literally just kind of comes into my brain, and then I like I have to get it on paper. Like it's it's like uncontrollable. You know, that came to me like while I was at one of my jobs that I was working full-time before I went full-time as a voice talent. And I remember like just kind of writing it in like in an email draft, the whole book, like in one like on my lunch break. Of course, it took many years to like facilitate and get it to the point where it was ready to publish. So it was inspired by meeting people in life that had been kind of hardened by life and kind of were going down kind of a I don't know, like a yucky road, like weren't like the best, like you know, people and who put on armor because they were protecting themselves. I feel like I've always had the ability to see through that, to see through the armor, to see through masks people put on and kind of see who their true selves are. And that's what the story is about. It's it's about this person who became a monster, but this little tiny bunny with magic eyes who's able to see the true self. And you know, so it's kind of about like being true to who you are and like seeing the good underneath, you know, to in people. Right. Yeah.

Jeff Ornstein 7:38

Yeah. Give g giving people the benefit of the doubt. Because you can say you might you might be a monster on the outside, but I can see something.

Michelle Falanga 7:44

It's not everything. Yeah, and then that's very like hard. Like when somebody's like, you know, they put this this facade up and then someone can see through it. That can be amazing, and it's also like scary, you know, but it's amazing too.

Jeff Ornstein 7:56

Right. Cathartic and scary. Okay, so you slowly started making this transition from acting to the voiceovers, and they were equally rewarding for you to do them. How did you find that work? Because you uh I was looking through your CV. I mean, you've got so many different varieties of voiceover jobs. I mean, how did those all come to you or did you find them? How does that go down?

Michelle Falanga 8:17

Yeah, it was a mixture of things. Well, first of all, I always had a full-time job and I kind of did, you know, a few voiceovers a year where at the at that point in time I was going into a studio. I didn't have like a whole setup. And then in uh, I think it was 2013, I was laid off from that job. And my husband, you know, he encouraged me to try this full time. I don't think I would have had the guts to do that. Like I I don't know how I did, to be honest. I'm like, I need health insurance, I need, you know, I need a regular paycheck. Like, I'm I'm not, I didn't never thought of myself as like the freelance kind of girl or like, you know, self-employed kind of girl. But because I had that support, which is such a blessing, he had a job and he had insurance. Because honestly, the first five years, it took me five years building a business, doing it full time to start making what I was making as a manager at my job. No, because that's what they say.

Jeff Ornstein 9:10

Building business takes five years any business. It takes five years before you know if it's gonna succeed or fail.

Michelle Falanga 9:16

Yeah. I mean, I always had a I never had a loss, so that was good. But I, you know, because some people, what do they say? Like the IRS is like, if for three years you have a loss, maybe it's a hobby. It's not really a job. I'm like, that's fair. But no, I never had a loss. But I but I didn't, you know, it built like it first year and then was like scary. The second year I doubled that and you know, kind of it was incremental. But then, yeah, I mean, honestly, after I was started making what I made at my full-time job before, before I got laid off, that next year was like crazy. Like it just like it like snowballed. And then I ended up um, I think that was the year that I won the Emmy. I think that was the year I hit like like a goal I never thought I would ever make. I ended up paying off my house. Like it was such a blessing. I know.

Jeff Ornstein 10:05

Wait, wait, wait. We got we we can't just mention Emmy and move on. So tell tell everybody about the Emmy. I'm dying to know because I don't know very much about it.

Michelle Falanga 10:13

Well, it was like, honestly, in voiceover, it's it's kind of rare because generally speaking, you know, producers and writer, they, you know, they're all listed on the the people when they when they submit for an Emmy, they're all kind of listed. And the voiceover is generally not part of that creative team, which is kind of crazy because they are, you know, I would think they're just as much as the writer and the you know video, you know, all that. But a lot of times they're not listed. And this particular client, he he, I guess the year before he won one and it was my voice, and he was like, I don't know why I didn't list you. Like, so I couldn't get the statue, but he still says, like, I still won it. So, like, theory, I won two, but let's just say, but I have the one the next year, I think it was the next year or two years later, he submitted and one of the pieces that we did won. I remember because it was during COVID, so I didn't go to the ceremony, but we I watched it online, and I remember they nay they said my name, they played a little clip from it, and it filled the room. So that was pretty surreal and yeah, very cool. Such a blessing. Yeah, yeah.

Jeff Ornstein 11:18

Just briefly, like what was the story and what was your role?

Michelle Falanga 11:21

I'm trying to think. It was a commercial. I I have it here because I never can remember. I usually have it out there, but um, not in my studio. There's nowhere to hang anything here. But um, it was for a commercial called The Legend. And um, you know, it has my name on it and everything because I was very cool. I'm very heavy. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it was a bucket list. I actually I'm such a dork. I actually put a picture of myself, I should say a picture of an Emmy winner. I think it was Kate Winslett, and I put a picture of my head on her body where she's holding the Emmy, and I put it up on my dream board. Good and good.

Jeff Ornstein 11:57

Yeah. Motivation. Well, what's nice also about it is your your director felt strongly about it, and the people who were reviewed and awarded the Emmy felt strongly about it. So congratulations.

Michelle Falanga 12:08

Yeah. I mean, he was so kind. He was just like, I don't know why I didn't do that the two years before. He's like, Your your voice is part of why we won. So I mean, I'm still very friendly with him. He's wonderful. He's a great producer that I work with.

Jeff Ornstein 12:20

So well, as I mentioned, I was really struck on how compelling your voice was. And I heard very different kinds of commercials or voiceovers that you had done in a little bit of my lead up to the research years. And I was really struck on how they they're they're a very vital component of the story, the visual and acoustical story.

Michelle Falanga 12:36

Yeah. So when it all comes together, that's the magic, the music, the writing, the Exactly.

Jeff Ornstein 12:41

That's the magic.

Michelle Falanga 12:42

Yeah.

Jeff Ornstein 12:43

So you gotta explain to the listeners about the drum core.

Michelle Falanga 12:48

Okay. That was such a cool genre genre that a lot of voice talent don't know about. It's not like mainstream like commercial and you know, narration or explainer videos or promo or whatever. It's lesser known and it, you know, doesn't pay a ton, but it's the coolest thing in the world. And I've become a huge fan of drumcore. So it's basically, and again, people that know drumcore know it. And I've become like a big fan of drumcore, but before that, I didn't know what that was. I mean, I wasn't even in band or anything like that. I couldn't, I tried to play the clarinet. It was a disaster. I should not do that. But I like people that I do want to be a drummer though, that would be cool. But they, you know, they have like the multiple drums and the, you know, the whole thing, and then they do choreography, and there's a mu usually a musical director, and it's like a whole thing. Apparently, it's a whole there's like a whole subculture of people that like are obsessed with drum core, and they have these competitions and some big ones. Like there's different levels. I think it's WGI. I'm gonna say that wrong. I'm so bad at names, but um, it's like uh it's like this huge competition. And the first one I did, I remember it was 2014, so it was like a year in to to doing this. And to this day, I still get work from that one. People reach out and they're like, I knew you were the voice of that one. And it was with a group called, yeah, group called the Blue Knights. It was like uh, they're always like a story, and there's original music always made and original choreography, and then you're you know, the voice again, all the things coming together. But that one was called That One Second, I think. And it was, I think it won, or it was definitely in the top three, and it it was so cool because you could see like it was at a world competition. It was in a s like a football stadium, and you could at one point you could see they panned out to an audience member, and he had like tears in his eyes. Oh wow. It was like an emo like goosebumps. Like I remember feeling like I got goosebumps just like watching this like very emotional. It was about it's it's the monologue from I think the movie American Beauty, which is at the end, he talks about the last second of his life.

Jeff Ornstein 14:51

Right, I agree.

Michelle Falanga 14:52

And like what flashes in front of him. And it's you know, it ends with you probably don't know what I'm talking about, but don't worry, you will someday. You know, just this like, you know, but like all you can feel is gratitude for every moment. Like you could feel everything about that was just perfect. And so that was the first one I did. And then over the years, I've done like 30 of them, or maybe more than that. Just different troops, like higher level and then lower level, more like high school, you know, college, and then like professional, different, yeah.

Jeff Ornstein 15:21

I saw the one the aliens learning how to be earthlings. That was very cool.

Michelle Falanga 15:25

Yeah, and that's kind of where I got my like robotic voice that I can do for things. Right. Not AI, which is a whole nother story, but like actually modulating your voice to sound like you are uh like AI.

Jeff Ornstein 15:37

Well, we got to talk about AI, especially with all the voices coming out, how this is gonna jeopardize actors' careers and such. So, do you have an opportunity to protect your voice and your sound? How does that work?

Michelle Falanga 15:50

I don't know, Jeff. It's like, I mean, it's definitely hitting our industry. That's obviously a big fear of myself and colleagues. And I know a lot of people that hire me, a lot of videographers, a lot of you know, producers there. I notice a lot of them are looking for work. And I know it's infiltrating in our industry and all the creative industries, which is really sad to me, because to me the whole beauty is like the real human story. But and I know there's definitely value in using it for I'd like to use it for the things we don't want to do, like our laundry, you know, versus like taking away a creative storyteller, right? Right. But I don't know. I have had a few clients who I used to work with um like on a regular, and I've reached out, you know, hey, I haven't we haven't worked together in a while. Like, is everything okay? Because I, you know, my clients, I have a lot of repeat clients because I take really good care of my clients. I mean, they're everything to me. And they said, Oh yeah, Michelle, we if we could hire human, we would immediately call you. But we've actually switched over to all AI voices for all of our projects.

Jeff Ornstein 16:51

Wow. So yeah, you know, that's interesting. It's it's very uh candid and honest, yet it's also like you said, it's disappointing. You know, or it's one thing if you want to get the whitest laundry on the block, like you say. But if it's the pointed story of like uh the blue wave marching band, you know, telling this poetic, you know.

Michelle Falanga 17:10

Blue nights, yeah.

Jeff Ornstein 17:11

Yeah. So wow.

Michelle Falanga 17:13

Yeah. I mean, I I I'd like to think that and I and who knows, AI has gotten really good, but that AI cannot cause an emotional response to people yet. And that's what I'm the best at is like affecting people on an emotional level, on a vulnerable and real, authentic level. But I don't know. They're definitely getting better and better. So I mean I don't know.

Jeff Ornstein 17:34

You know what? Stick to your craft. There'll be changes in the industry, but there's I think there's always room for a true talent. And clearly you've built a pretty solid career.

Michelle Falanga 17:43

Fingers crossed on that.

Jeff Ornstein 17:44

We are at our time limit, but I just I want also, I always like to give a guess is there's something that we didn't talk about that you would want to share with folks about voiceovers or about your interesting path to get to where you are, where you built a career really from happenstance, you know?

Michelle Falanga 17:59

From like accident, yeah. Um no, I mean, I guess I would say that I get reached out to a lot, and I I believe in paying it forward. People helped me along the way when I was first starting out, and so I'll meet with people. And I think a lot of people think, oh, it's just talking into a microphone. And it's so not that. And in fact, you are everything. What people don't realize is for like 10% of the time you're recording, 90% of the time you're doing everything else. You know what I mean? It's so much you're an audio engineer, you're, you know, marketing, your, you know, your sales. You have to do everything. Right. Your accounting, your, you know what I mean? You you literally are running an entire business, and it's not just like this glamorous.

Jeff Ornstein 18:41

You're an actor too. Yeah.

Michelle Falanga 18:42

You're you're a self-director. Yeah, you're all the things. Right. And people, I think there's a lot of misconception that it's just you know, how hard could it be? Turn it on. Just talking to a microphone.

Jeff Ornstein 18:53

So, Michelle, it was a joy and a pleasure meeting you and having you on. And I I did get to hear several of your projects, but I I I did not get to the blue line yet, only because there's so much marketing material online. I think that's why it took me a while. I I couldn't navigate to it. But I am gonna want to get down and hear what you do for foreign culture too. I think that's fascinating.

Michelle Falanga 19:17

Oh, yeah, yeah. I do a lot of international work, which is really cool too.

Jeff Ornstein 19:21

Well, that's fantastic. Thanks again for joining us. Have a wonderful day and evening, and I can't wait to get this uh online for our listeners.

Michelle Falanga 19:29

Thank you for having me. Really nice to be here.

Jeff Ornstein 19:32

Thanks for tuning in to Next Act with Jeff Orenstein. Follow, subscribe, and stay connected to your favorite socials at www.nextdackpodcast.com. Keep chasing your next act. The best is yet to come.