2015 NEABO Winners

Best Commercial Voice Demo

Male

• Tom Glynn

"...starts strong, industry standard (timing, bytes, transitions), a cool mixture of corporate, natural, and humorous qualities."

Female

• Michelle Falanga 

"...hands down Michelle Falanga! Her voice is fun, relatable, credible and the demo has vast variety-and these are her actual jobs!"

Best Hosting/Spokesperson Reel

Male

• Tim Estiloz 

"...Great energy combination of affable and relatable to professional announcer, variety of stars he has worked with impressive, polished on camera appearance, performs with ease of technique without looking like he's "Trying too hard"….a Latin natural! Rico Suave!"

Female

• Portland Helmich

"... a beautiful woman, slick, polished, smooth transitions, exciting to view visually and sound wise, fun to watch stylistic changes! Looks like a pro!"

Best Modeling Portfolio*

Male

• Nicholas Villamizar

(See comments below Julie)

Female

• Julie Dawson

"I think that attention spans are short and you have to get noticed in the first one to few photographs otherwise it’s a pass. Head shot and variety card are what I’d look for. that’s 4 photos, 6 tops..  Very important to a) Keep photos current so you look like the photos and they are not stale and b) only show the best as you are as good as your worst example. So cull (remove) old and lesser photos as your portfolio grows and improves."

Best Voice in a Commercial Spot

Male

• Cory Scott - Middlesex Bank: Roots

Female

• Jessica Baade:  - Pepto Bismal

"She definitely is a niche player but I can sense the fun in her delivery so that definitely helped. Christine Power was a close 2nd. I actually recorded that spot. It was a performance as opposed to a VO read. But, Jessica gets my vote."

Best Dramatic Acting Clips

Male

• Ian Gatheca

"...for his good performance, compelling presence and she Loves his intensity!"

Female

• Maria Natapov

"...Maria plays to subtext and maintains her eyeline she has a raw sensuality but we can see she's the smartest in the room. She has a good sense of using her light in a scene and great pacing and you feel she is really interacting with the other actors not just playing it for herself which is rare."

Best Comedic Acting Clips

Male

• Rob DiNinni

"...for his comic energy, good timing, and strong presence on camera!"

Female

• Kate Jurdi

"...keeps control of her comedy. She knows that something can be funnier when it is played more understated. She has a really funny delivery and is obviously a keen observer which makes her characters hysterical and riveting."

Best Dramatic Monologue**

Male

• Robert La Tremouille

"...he chose a role he would be cast for and executed it well. Knows his type. Well shot. Natural and used the space"

Female

• Anna Rizzo

"Kept it simple. Was connected and focused. Chose something with emotion, but was also natural in her delivery. She showed she could do film without over acting. I suggest getting edgier and more worn to really nail it!"

Best Comedic Monologue**

Male

• Not enough videos

Female

• Francesca Shipsey

"She is just very talented. Camera loves her. She was natural, didn't feel rehearsed, showed natural emotion and was focused and honest, didn't push, great for a film audition, it wasn't as "comedic" as the others, but it was the best.

I think she could push the comedy a little more and go a little further in the Irene stuff but better understated than over in my opinion."

Best Commercial+ Reel

Male

• Tony Ramos Wright

"When I am looking at reels I want to see: a warm and friendly real person delivery--a variety of characters, some real  and some that are caricatures.  I want the actor to be present in all deliveries. This reel showed that . And it was an appropriate length."

Female 

• Kate Avallone

"All of the reels were great, but Kate’s reel demonstrates great variety in her acting ability. As a producer her reel makes me believe she would be very good in any role I casted her in. I would not hesitate to forward her reel to a client."

Best Film/TV Reels

Male

• Erik Bloomquist

"...It's a series of strong clips focusing on Erik's abilities and versatility. Each piece is audible and shot with professional level production values. The piece is just long enough to get information and enjoy."

Female

• Monica Saviolakis

"...she has the most diverse clips that show her range very well.  The most important things that I look for in a reel are an actor’s honesty and connectedness to the material and their fellow actors, next is production value.  Clips that don’t have these two criterion detract from a reel for me"

* 2015 will be the last year for this category unless we obtain more members who are also print models and join this group.

** 2015 will be the last year for this category. Why? generally it is not a popular medium for IPs to review an actor unless it's for the stage and even then its popularity is waning. If we receive at least 20 approved monologues from both men and women (total = 40) by June 30, 2016 we'll keep this category for 2016.