| spikizi – the first global community-led accent app for the creative industries launching 1 January 2021 Available for advanced previews from 1 December @spikiziapp | #spikizi | https://spikizi.co “I believe this app will introduce us to authentic, diverse and multicultural voices for us to use as creatives in training and performance, as artists and story-tellers.” Tess Dignan, Head of Voice at Shakespeare’s Globe, member of the spikizi advisory board. |
spikizi is a new app which gives performers thousands of authentic accents immediately, wherever they are, using the phone in their pocket. Almost every actor in the entertainment industry has had to quickly pick up an accent; for an audition, a showcase, an ad, a self-tape. Social media is littered with callouts for friends to read a few lines in a desired accent, whether they’re native or not. However, until now, a highly specific and on-demand database of accents was not available; the industry norm has been scouring youtube, apps with 1 male and 1 female voice for limited accents, or dialect coaches, for the very fortunate.
Extending the network and building a community across the world, spikizi will create an ever-growing database of voices and mutual support. This database is unique in its ability to be specific to the nearest neighbourhood, with searchable criteria including age, education, schooling, ethnicity – all aspects that are the building blocks to a person’s voice. Performers will be able to search for accents appropriate to their specific need – constructing the character’s voice with depth and pinpoint accuracy.
spikizi is supported by an incredible advisory board of accent experts ranging from Hollywood to The Globe, who have been a guiding hand in the development and will be sharing articles and video content regularly to help everyone further develop their skills. Performers will also be able to spend and earn additional ‘karma’ within the app community by seeking people with specific accents to read a passage of text, or by responding and recording themselves for others.
Upon joining the app actors will be asked to complete a detailed onboarding process about themselves to highlight their voice history, before moving on to recording a series of words, texts and passions that exemplify all the vowel and consonant sounds they naturally use. This will form the basis of their contribution to the community, adding their voice to the database. From there they can search, request and assist other members as well as create private, public or cast playlists all with the ability to download them and listen offline.
Once the database has reached 3000 people (there are already over a thousand signed up for advanced previews), spikizi will begin to identify areas where more voices are needed and take road trips to source clips from local people, really deepening the diversity of the accents available and extending beyond the industry to make this resource truly exceptional.
Founders Henry Regan and Samuel Lawrence are the team behind spikizi. As actors, who also run a creative agency together, the duo was acutely aware of a gap in the market for access to affordable and reliable accent resources, and when dividends were available from the business they decided to reinvest profits into developing spikizi. Using their contacts and reaching out to others they put together a team that combines the best in app development and design with the leading voices in accent and dialect work they’ve created an app that both accurately and appropriately serves the acting community, without compromising the User Experience.
Henry & Samuel said, “We’ve got a team of some of the best designers, experts, developers and agencies in the world, all working together to make something truly invaluable for the creative industry. As actors ourselves, we know how incredibly unique and diverse the arts community is and so we were keenly aware that this app needed to reflect this. In order to truly commit to this community philosophy, we knew that we needed to keep the price incredibly affordable for it to be accessible to everyone.”
Advisory board:
Rick Lipton (Chair) – Hollywood voice coach for Tom Holland, Taron Egerton, Margot Robbie & Noel Clarke.
Samara Bay – Hollywood voice coach for Gal Godot, Pierce Brosnan, Rachel McAdams.
Tess Dignan – Head of Voice at Shakespeare’s Globe
Elspeth Morrison – BBC & Channel 4 Voice Expert
Lottie Williams-Burrell – Joint Head of Voice at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts
Sterre Maier – Joint Head of Voice at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts
Dr Hannah Leach – Lecturer in Phonetics and Phonology at the University of Newcastle
Matthew Reeve – Musical Director and Master Estill Voice Coach
Nic Redman – Accent and Dialect hub founder
App information
Created by Henry Regan and Samuel Lawrence
Graphic Designed by Seesaw – Visual Studio
App development by Appetite Creative
Appetite Creative are a multi-award-winning technology company. Their other clients include Disney, Lego, Coca-Cola, Chanel, Apple, Audi.
Launch information
Advanced previews for actors begin 1st December 2020
spikizi will be fully launched for mobile download on 1st January 2021 on iOS & Google play
Subscriptions cost £19.99 per annum or £9.99 for three months
Actors can sign up for advanced previews here: https://spikizi.co before 30th November