On Wednesday, December 21st, Gina Scarpa had the pleasure of being a guest on the morning news program, Good Day Northern Michigan. Anchors Sid Simone and Adam Bartelmay interviewed Gina about both her voiceover career and her affinity for competitive video games on “Women Do Wednesday,” a weekly program in which Simone and Bartelmay interview influential women about their unique jobs and hobbies.
Bartelmay expressed that when he pictures competitive video gamers, Gina is not the first person that comes to mind. Although more and more women are starting to enter the world of competitive gaming, they are still vastly outnumbered by men. About her gaming history, Gina explained, “I just kind of fell in love with competitive games, so I started playing Call of Duty, and League of Legends, and Fortnight, and Overwatch, and I’m definitely a rare type of gamer that plays these kinds of games. It’s hard to find people that are my age and my gender playing.”
In response to a question about the various types of games available to the public, Gina said, “There’s an infinite amount. And I feel because of the pandemic, there’s been an increase in game output because people started being able to work remotely. We’re all home more, so we’re looking for more types of entertainment.”
Gina acknowledged that although men still outnumber women in gaming, the numbers are starting to shift. She explained, “There’s a lot of women on TikTok recently who are playing…women who are starting Discord servers so that all women can come in and play together and feel that they have either a safe space to play or a place where they can connect with other women because it can be rare to find them.”
Gina also explained the misconception that in the male-dominated world of gaming, all men exclude or harass female players: “I definitely have had guys say a lot of really inappropriate, rude, mean things to me just from hearing my voice, but I’ve also had a lot of male gamers stand up for me. I have a lot of friends who are male gamers who make it feel like a place where I feel like I can play, so those types of male gamers that I feel are setting great examples hopefully can continue to turn the tides so that more females feel comfortable playing.”
As the conversation with Simone and Bartelmay shifted to her voiceover career, Gina had the opportunity to discuss not only the major brands and games she has voiced, but also her overall experience of voiceover which is a true passion for her: “I spend a lot of my day auditioning, and if I’m not auditioning then I’m direct marketing to clients and recording jobs. It is nonstop. Voiceover never stops 365 days a year, and I absolutely love it.”
Gina thanks Sid Simone and Adam Bartelmay for having her and looks forward to staying connected with the Good Day Northern Michigan community.