Society of Voice Arts & Sciences (SOVAS™) hosted the 2017 Voice Arts® Awards at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Fredrick P. Rose Hall this past Sunday (11/5). Critically acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns was in attendance to accept the prestigious Muhammad Ali Voice of Humanity Honor. This special segment of the Awards featured a tribute to Burns by three time Emmy® winner Keith David, who is currently starring in Oprah Winfrey’s hit show “Greenleaf” on OWN. Burns’ attendance was a highly anticipated highlight at this year’s show, where he received a standing ovation.
“What is so extraordinary about this evening is the name of this award for Muhammad Ali is one of the people who took this world and widened it so that everyone in the world could see, that he spoke his voice even when he no longer had one,” Burns said during his inspiring acceptance.
“This award was created in collaboration with the Champ himself before his passing and has the full support of the Ali Center. We were truly honored to present this award to the Ken Burns this year,” said Emmy® Award-winning producer and SOVAS™ CEO Rudy Gaskins.
Actress Lily Tomlin also took the stage at this year’s event to accept the Voice Arts® Icon Award. Bob Bergen, also known as the voice of Porky Pig, introduced a video of Tomlin’s lifetime achievement in film and television before she was presented with the Award by SOVAS™ founders, Gaskins and Joan Baker. “I am floored by the caliber of talent and competition tonight,” said Tomlin when she took the stage to accept the award.
Music, and stage superstar Deborah Cox brought glamour to this year’s red carpet. She was on hand as a presenter as were Inside Edition’s sr. correspondent Les Trent, and legendary voiceover star Nancy Cartwright, best known as the voice of Bart Simpson on Fox’s hit show “The Simpsons.”
The 2017 Voice Arts® Awards featured more than 50 winners across multiple media genres. Previous award winners include Jon Hamm, Kate Winslet, James Earl Jones, Lena Dunham, and William Shatner. Good Morning America called the Voice Arts® Awards, “The Oscars of voiceover acting.”
Click here for a list of the 2017 Voice Arts® Awards winners.
California governor signs law to protect children from social media addiction
California will make it illegal for social media platforms to knowingly provide addictive feeds to children without parental consent beginning in 2027 under a new law Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Friday.
California follows New York state, which passed a law earlier this year allowing parents to block their kids from getting social media posts suggested by a platform's algorithm. Utah has passed laws in recent years aimed at limiting children's access to social media, but they have faced challenges in court.
The California law will take effect in a state home to some of the largest technology companies in the world. Similar proposals have failed to pass in recent years, but Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation law in 2022 barring online platforms from using users' personal information in ways that could harm children. It is part of a growing push in states across the country to try to address the impacts of social media on the well-being of children.
"Every parent knows the harm social media addiction can inflict on their children — isolation from human contact, stress and anxiety, and endless hours wasted late into the night," Newsom said in a statement. "With this bill, California is helping protect children and teenagers from purposely designed features that feed these destructive habits."
The law bans platforms from sending notifications without permission from parents to minors between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., and between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays from September through May, when children are typically in school. The legislation also makes platforms set children's accounts to private by default.
Opponents of the legislation say it could inadvertently prevent adults from accessing content if they cannot verify their... Read More