How One Modern Millennial Thrives as an Award-Winning Working Actor in Buffalo, NY
*BUFFALO, NY / ACCESSWIRE / June 12, 2023 /* On the wall of Maria Pendolino's home recording studio hangs a custom sound panel adorned with a watercolor of a familiar character. Each brush stroke contributes to the iconic image of Ursula, the villain from The Little Mermaid, in all of her tentacled glory.
"You could say that voicing a character like Ursula would be my ultimate voice acting goal," Maria says with a smile much less mischievous than one you'd expect from a fan of a conniving sea witch. "I have way too much fun playing a villain. Add in singing like a villain and it's a dream come true."
It was this love of theatrics that first set Maria on the long path to a career in voice acting. A lifelong performer, her acting chops were first refined in the same way as so many others in community theatre productions of beloved plays and musicals. "I remember dragging my Mom along to an audition for The Sound of Music when I was 11 years old - trying out for the role of Brigitta," said Maria. "There were a hundred kids there singing and screaming in a church basement with their parents in various stages of duress and/or annoyance. I was in heaven."
Throughout her 20s, Pendolino worked as an actor in New York City, winning roles in TV and film productions. She appeared as Eunice, the evil lunch lady, on a kids' show called Team Toon. She had a recurring role as MaryAnn on Lifetime's hit drama series, Army Wives. It was a multi-platform, multi-genre journey that took her physically as far as Colombia for three weeks to film a dramatic reenactment of an episode of National Geographic's very bingeable Locked Up Abroad series. "I was auditioning for everything from summerstock theatre in a barn for $150 a week to recurring characters on HBO dramas. It was all of the extremes." Metaphorically, it took her even further, into a world where she could envision herself actually making something out of this whole "acting" thing.
In addition to theatre, television and films, Pendolino began exploring the world of voice acting. After securing an agent, she was auditioning for national commercials, animated cartoons, video games, and corporate & industrial content. She had some big wins, voicing spots for Google, American Express and Dannon, among others. It was a serious income boost, alongside her theatrical pursuits.
"I think so many kids who grow up wanting to do creative endeavors envision their names in lights one day," Maria says. "I never wanted to be ‘famous.' I just wanted to be a working actor - someone who could support themselves with their acting pursuits and not have to be working 12 additional odd jobs to make rent. And for a time during those New York years, it was really happening."
But not all that glitters is gold. Living in New York City proved difficult financially. At first, Maria made ends meet by working a high-pressure job in banking, a career that paid the bills but left little energy or inspiration behind for the talented actor who wanted to share her craft with the world. Later, she worked as a director of a mentoring non-profit.
"You can dream dreams, but then reality hits. The fact that artists thrive in dense urban areas is a catch-22. Sure, we get to network and bounce ideas off of other artists, but most of us are working more than 40 hours a week at day jobs or restaurants to make ends meet in the city, where the cost of things is outrageous. We don't want to live up to the narrative of the ‘starving artist'. But hyper-capitalistic society makes it hard to not end up in this position."
Maria had another important part of her life to consider. Maria lives with psoriatic arthritis, an autoimmune condition that causes swelling of the joints, stiffness, and joint degeneration that can lead to reduced range of motion and mobility. Maria's psoriatic arthritis got so severe that, at the age of 32, she had a bilateral knee replacement.
As psoriatic arthritis can offer a "mixed bag" of symptoms, depending on the day, Maria sometimes relies on a mobility aid like a wheelchair or walker to get her where she needs to go. She also has a mobility scooter that she lovingly named "Scoot Bakula" after Quantum Leap actor, Scott Bakula.
New York City, in all of her multi-story glory, is a lot of things. But it's absolutely not accessible.
"You don't even think about how many steps or stories you have to walk on a daily basis until you're in constant pain," Maria said. "Subway stations with no elevators or escalators, waiting for the bus, walk-up apartments - it's a pedestrian wonderland, but it's an accessibility nightmare."
In 2014, Maria made the very difficult, but necessary decision to leave NYC and return to her hometown of Buffalo, NY where she found a much easier way of life and the support of her family, but had to leave the bright lights behind.
"Buffalo has a small, but mighty arts scene, but of course it's nowhere near the number of opportunities in NYC," she said. "But it's easier to move around for people like me who live with decreased mobility."
While pounding the pavement in New York, Maria never thought that a move back to Buffalo was in the works. And what could that mean for her acting career, that was chugging at an all-time high? At that time, working from home was still something reserved for a subset of highly-technical positions and not really something that a working actor could entertain. After all, most roles were still given to the talent pools of NYC and Los Angeles-people who were local hires who could physically attend auditions and report to sets and studios.
But, voiceover work - that was something she could continue to do from Buffalo.
Maria got to work setting up a professional home studio that could produce broadcast-quality recordings thanks to a StudioBicks OnePlus sound isolation booth - Maria laughed as she recounted how challenging it was for her husband and friend to move the modular pieces of the booth into her office after it was delivered only as far as their driveway).
She submitted auditions via e-mail, was able to do recording sessions at home being directed over subscription services like SourceConnect and Zoom and even assured her agents in NYC that she was willing to report to the city for a booking if the client demanded it.
Before long, Maria started to land gigs with representatives and clients from the east coast, west coast, and beyond, sometimes working odd hours to match their scheduling needs like when she was requested by a brand in Sweden. The flawless quality that she could produce from her at-home studio, along with a high-speed internet connection, began to impress folks who didn't need to factor in the expense of booking a studio or flying out talent in order to get a commercial or other recording done.
Of course, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit North America in early 2020, it rattled the entertainment industry. Sets, lots and studios closed down. A-list Hollywood actors shared pictures of "pillow forts" they had created on social media when they had to perform at home to help projects meet deadlines.
But, Maria was settled and ready to record from home at a time when the rest of the industry was struggling to adapt to a totally new paradigm. 2020 marked the beginning of what is shaping up to be the best decade of Maria's career as a full-time professional voice actor.
"I wish I could go back in time and tell my younger self that she can absolutely make a living as an actor," Maria pauses. "Or, better yet, I'd like to just play her one of my national television commercials and wait for her to notice that it's me. I bet she'd freak out."
Today, Maria works with brands and clients around the world as a top national voice talent. She can be heard on campaigns for Geico, Glad, McDonald's, Xfinity and more. She's appearing as the lead character in an upcoming video game called Prim Adventure Game. She narrates pop culture documentaries about celebrities like Mariah Carey, Brad Pitt, Ariana Grande and Britain's Royal Family. You've heard her voice on game-opening promos for Monday Night Football. She might be interrupting your playlists on Spotify or Pandora with :15 second commercials. If you call a customer service line and you're screaming that you want to speak to a REPRESENTATIVE, Maria might be the helpful, if disembodied voice, that says "I'm sorry, I didn't get that. Please try again." She's won prestigious awards for her voice acting, guested on podcasts and serves as a mentor and coach for up and coming voice talents. Maria was named to Business First's "40 Under 40." She also helped launch a database of disabled voice actors. And it's all from her home recording studio, in Buffalo, NY, where she is a successful working actor. Dream come true.
At the prestigious Reed Awards this year, it was Maria Pendolino who came out with top honors for voiceover in the television category. The winning spot, produced by The New Media Firm, titled "One of Us", highlighted the dedication to the community and career of Rhode Island's lieutenant governor, Sabina Matos. In a genre full of booming, mature male voices, Maria's signature friendly, millennial sound cuts through in a crowded election advertising season.
This was Maria's third win at The Reed Awards, having previously won two statues for her voiceover contributions to Judge Jill Karofsky's successful 2021 TV & online campaign for Wisconsin State Supreme Court.
Time and again, Maria has shown that her voice gets your message heard by your intended audiences. That's why she's one of the most successful and sought-after millennial voice actors working in the industry today.
Voice By Maria Inc. provides voiceover recording, audio editing, copywriting, post production, and live announcing services to clients around the globe. All projects are led by company president, Maria Pendolino. Voice By Maria was founded in 2010 and is proud to be certified as a Women-Owned Small Business by the Small Business Administration.
*Contact Information:*
Maria Pendolino
Phone: 607-222-1401
Email: maria@voicebymaria.com
*SOURCE: *Voice By Maria Inc
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