PANA Year in Review 2024
It’s been a fantastic year for PANA and we’ve collected some numbers and stats to give a fun overview of the year: let’s take a look at PANA by the numbers!
People
40% increase in membership
PANA completed it’s first successful membership drive this year and welcomed in a series of stellar narrators, all committed to their craft and narrator community!
118 new member welcome letters
The PANA New Member Committee welcomed new co-leads Jess Moran and Danielle Cohen this year, as they greeted 118 new PANA members and held 2 New Member Socials.
166 election votes
PANA elected 12 board members into office this past October, and 166 PANA members helped usher them in with the requisite 30% majority.
100% increase in size of our Board of Directors
PANA went from 6 board members this past year to 12, doubling our PANA power!
PANAcademy
433 PANAcademy attendees
14 PANAcademy instructors
12 hours of free educational programming
Members showed up in droves to learn more about their craft, business, and tech this year. PANAcademy Director Veronica Giguere led us through three PANAcademy sessions in 2024, with 2x the amount of free classes and a demo workshop led by Tanya Eby that sold out in 30 minutes!
Programming
600 PANArama lottery submissions
PANArama had 8 fantastic sessions this year helmed by Hillary Huber and Robin Eller. 24 narrators got to read for producers from 8 different publishers and production companies.
15 featured narrators
Andrea Emmes and the Recognitions team launched their Narrator Spotlight program this year, where PANA Members and their multifaceted, talented selves are celebrated for their work inside and outside the booth!
68 Narrator Database producer requests
178 narrators in the DEI Narrator Database
Helmed by Jennifer Aquino and André Santana, our DEI team launched the spectacularly popular DEI Narrator Database in March, an inclusive casting tool that supports diverse voices and thoughtful representation in the audiobook industry.
75 Virtual Social registrations
In 2024, the Board Programming committee brought back PANA socials, and 75 PANA members signed up to connect with each other over Zoom in 4 different themed rooms.
Advocacy
5+ meetings and conferences advocating for AI protections
- 1 In-person round table discussion at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the grounds of the White House hosted by Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technologies
- 1 virtual meeting on voice cloning hosted by the Executive Office of the President National Security Council
- 3 virtual meetings with National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee of the National Institutes of Standards and Technology,
- PANA Co-Chairs Stacey and Erin attended a 2 day virtual conference on AI in Entertainment hosted by Digital Hollywood
- Applied to present at the Name, Image, Likeness discussion hosted by the US Patent and Trademark Office.
- Attended virtual meeting on NIL hosted by the US Patent and Trademark Office,
- Wrote a blurb for the Human Artistry Campaign press release in support of the NO FAKES act, applied to be a participant in the White House Office of Digital Strategy Creator Conference,
29 Ukraine Project volunteers
24 audio files
1 SOVAS Award Nomination
This project sure took a village and a half, and we couldn’t have done it without any of these wonderful volunteers: Producers Janet Metzger and David Swerdloff, 21 PANA narrators, proofer Anne Marie Lewis , Graphic Designer Mark Jason Royce, and Cat-herder Extraordinaire Erin deWard, to name a few. Let’s not forget the 4 musicians who donated their compositions, Rinn Kraus from Spotify who helped with organizing the sound files, and Tiffany Williams who handled the charity communications. You can learn more about A Word is Not a Sparrow and purchase a copy on this page
4 Co-Narration Standards
PANA Board member André Santana and the DEI team led the charge to create established shared guidelines for co-narrating that any narrator, member or not, can use in their work. It’s the first of it’s kind in this industry, and PANA is so proud to be a part of this important standard-setting.
Collaboration
7 PANA partnerships
PANA developed relationships with Copyright Alliance, The National Association of Voice Actors (NAVA), The Author’s Guild, Human Artistry Campaign, Dr. Ning Zhan (Washington University St. Louis), Dr. Visar Berisha (University of Arizona), and Dr. Elie Khoury (Pindrop).
3 PANAriffic sponsors
PANA was thrilled to welcome three partners in 2024: Spotify, Skywire Paymaster Services, and Libro.fm.