Entries Tagged as 'voice over workshop'

october animation voiceover workshops with stevie vallance

Animation Voice Director Stevie Vallance may or may not have purple hair

Animation Voice Director and Emmy Award winner Stevie Vallance has two October “Tooned In!” workshops on ‘Animation Voice-over Acting”. I know her to be a patient teacher cause she taught me.

In New York City, her Tooned In! 1-Day Original Workshop will take place on Sunday October 17, 2010 from 12:00pm to 5pm at the Edge Studios.

Crossing over in to her native Canada, Stevie’s Ottawa, Ontario Tooned In! 1-Day Original Workshop will take place on Sunday October 24, 2010 from 12:00pm to 5pm at the Raven Street Studios.

For more details or to sign up, click here.

unexpected long distance call

Depending on your point of view, technology is either a help or a hindrance. For me it is mostly a help.

It’s also a help now for my voice over friend Mahmoud Taji who called me all the way from Cairo on a new low cost internet phone service he found.

Smartly, he’s expanding his contacts in the US so they know him as a person and not just a web presence.

It was a nice surprise and I appreciated his kindness.

“I’ve been told many times that I should be involved in voice over services.”

That is just one quote from one of the many ‘can I be in voice overs too?’ emails I get each week. All of them sincere.

I’m honored that these folks think I’m somehow worthy of the note, thinking that I may be able hand over the magic keys to the voice over kingdom. I’ve not the heart to tell them that no one has yet told me where the bathroom is in this kingdom let alone handed me the kingdom’s keys.

What I always do is direct them to my free e-book “The Voice Over Entrance Exam” which discusses what I believe are the real keys to beginning a career in voice over. It is rarely a fast turnaround career and it is mostly not a highly lucrative business for the thousand who practice it in earnest…it takes time and patience and that erases most of the newer contestants early on.

If today, this is you…you think you’d like to try your hand at voice over…OK.

1. Read my e-book, read other people’s books (there’s a list of some in my book) then decide.

2. If you are serious (and please read and think about those words again) you have options. One of many options is this one.

3. If you’re not serious about being in voice overs, now is the perfect time to realize and admit that – you are obviously an honest and courageous person if you can.

If you are currently a voice talent, feel free to reference this book and share the link with those who inquire to you if you feel the book is worthwhile.

If you would like to become a fan of the book on Facebook, click here and thanks.

As always, I hope this helps.

marice tobias voiceover workshop in atlanta

<em>FRONT ROW: Jill Perry, Pam Tierney, Kara Edwards MIDDLE ROW: Peter K. O'Connell, Caryn Clark, Melissa Exelberth BACK ROW: Bob Souer, Rowell Gorman, Alexander Vishniakoff, Debra Webb, Beth Whistler, Robert John Hughes CUT OFF ONLY DUE TO PHOTOGRAPHER ERROR: Mike Stoudt</em>

FRONT ROW: Jill Perry, Pam Tierney, Kara Edwards MIDDLE ROW: Peter K. O'Connell, Caryn Clark, Melissa Exelberth BACK ROW: Bob Souer, Rowell Gorman, Alexander Vishniakoff, Debra Webb, Beth Whistler, Robert John Hughes CUT OFF ONLY DUE TO PHOTOGRAPHER ERROR: Mike Stoudt

So I packed a bag on Friday and flew down to Atlanta for the Marice Tobias workshop on Commercial and Narration voice over at the very nice Captive Sound Studios. My friend Bob Souer has been singing her praises for a long time; Kara Edwards and I were talking about maybe attending about 6 weeks ago and since I could see some family while I was there, I decided to pull the trigger.

<em>Kara Edwards, Bob Souer and Melissa Exelberth</em>

Kara Edwards, Bob Souer and Melissa Exelberth

It was completely different than ANY other voice over workshop I have ever been to and I have been to many.

I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and learned much. And while I participated in the workshop, I am at a bit of a loss as to how to effectively summarize it because I think unless you’ve been through it, it’s very difficult to understand it. So my first piece of advice would be to take a workshop with Marice.

<em> Rowell Gorman</em>

Rowell Gorman

A lot of internal performer analysis (as it relates to vocal performance) for each student went on during her seminar. I think we all came away with a specific understanding of how effective personal analysis greatly affects the performance a voice talent gives. That kind of analysis helps performers to get out of their own way. The performance improvement was immediately evident and we (each workshop participant) all witnessed it and experienced it time and time again.

Now, you’ve likely just read that and had no understanding of what it meant. Well, some things must be personally experienced, not just read about. I’m not being coy or mean but instead honest.

<em>Kara Edwards, Caryn Clark, Melissa Exelberth, Robert John Hughes</em>

Kara Edwards, Caryn Clark, Melissa Exelberth, Robert John Hughes

Each voice over talent (as does everyone) learns in different ways and her seminar needs to be personally experienced, not read about. I would recommend you look at Marice’s schedule and if it’s possible for you, take the seminar.

And if you are especially lucky, you’ll get into a class with as many incredibly talented voice over performers as I did. This might be a record because we had 6 of us – about ½ the class – who’ve been long time friends from the VO-BB. There was an immediate and invaluable comfort level learning, working and performing among friends.

<em>Jill Perry and Pam Tierney</em>

Jill Perry and Pam Tierney

When I signed up for Marice’s workshop, I knew Bob was going and I knew there was a chance my friends Kara Edwards and Caryn Clark were coming (they did attend) but what I didn’t know for sure until I saw the list just before I came that the great character voice actor Rowell Gorman would be there, my pal Melissa Exelberth from New York would be there as well as the lovely and talent Pam Tierney from the toddlin’ town of Chicago. What a gift to have my friends there!

<em>Mike Stoudt, Debra Webb and Beth Whistler</em>

Mike Stoudt, Debra Webb and Beth Whistler

The voice talents whom I had never met previous to the workshop really capped off the experience for me and I am so grateful to have been included among them for a few days: Robert John Hughes, Alexander Vishniakoff, Beth Whistler (thank you for driving to the airport!), Debra Webb (who, I found out in setting up this link shares the same agent as me), Jill Perry and Mike Stoudt (who also shares mine and Debra’s agent).

Two VO folks who couldn’t make the seminar but who kindly came out to join our group at various times throughout the weekend were Smith Harrison and Craig Crumpton.

Not to put too strong a point on it, but there were certain voice over suspects who shall remain nameless (Karen Commins (complete with brand new web site), Lance Blair, September Day Leach) who call Atlanta home but had something (anything better) to do than visit with Team Tobias Atlanta after hours at our various pubs, taverns and dives (sometimes known as the mini-bar)! Hurmph! 😉

And finally, my most special thanks to my family in Atlanta who were so kind to let me stay with (or near) them. They had fresh hay in the stable for me to sleep on and let me borrow the mule’s blanket to avoid frostbite. 😉

I hope you get to enjoy a training experience at least once in your career a unique as the one I just enjoyed.

If you’ve trained with Marice, I would love to hear your general impression of the experience. And if you have already with any professional voice over teacher, tell us about it here.

PS. Here is a shot of the WHOLE group, (including and ESPECIALLY Mike Stoudt) courtesy of Bob Souer’s camera:

<em>FRONT ROW: Jill Perry, Pam Tierney, Kara Edwards MIDDLE ROW: Peter K. O'Connell, Caryn Clark, Melissa Exelberth BACK ROW: Mike Stoudt, Bob Souer, Rowell Gorman, Alexander Vishniakoff, Debra Webb, Beth Whistler, Robert John Hughes</em>

FRONT ROW: Jill Perry, Pam Tierney, Kara Edwards MIDDLE ROW: Peter K. O'Connell, Caryn Clark, Melissa Exelberth BACK ROW: Mike Stoudt, Bob Souer, Rowell Gorman, Alexander Vishniakoff, Debra Webb, Beth Whistler, Robert John Hughes

deb monro in toronto november 7th & 8th

<em>Female Voice Talent and Voice Over Coach Deb Munro</em>

Female Voice Talent and Voice Over Coach Deb Munro

Just got pinged by Deb Monro following her high seas voice over adventure that she’ll be in Toronto on November 7th and 8th with Dave McRae (voice talent and coach I’m told) and Roger King from PN Agency (Roger wasn’t able to make it to our class when I studied with Deb a few years ago).

The two days will cover Selecting Styles & Talking Audio Voice Workshops. The weekend will cost you $395 but she’s told me that you’ll get a discount if you tell her I referred you AND she told me I’ll get $25 for every person I refer who registers for the event until October 23rd.

BUT because I am a nice guy, ask Deb to please credit MY $25 to your tuition on top of the discount she gives you. I do not want price to be a barrier to your training opportunity. Contact Deb via email (workshops@micnme.com), phone (604-459-5559) or web (www.MicnMe.com).

Enjoy your training with Deb, I know I did. And tell Roger I said hi.

voice over consigliere

consigliere

Two words that have popped up in my on-line reading during the past twenty-four hours are motivation and inspiration. I don’t know why they showed up either…in my web reading, on my social media networks, I have just seen those words so often in the past day I feel like it’s a theme I should address presently.

Possibly I am more attuned to those words having just come off of Pat Fraley’s event on Saturday. There was great insight there, new approaches to auditioning and performing as well as critical reminders that I find so valuable. I put those tools to work right away in my Monday auditions. I was pumped (i.e. motivated and inspired) about that.

My “pumpedness” could be because I made my payment for Marice Tobias’ Commercial / Narration Weekend Workshop in October in Atlanta (in addition to training with Marice, I’m looking forward to seeing friends and fellow voice talents Bob Souer, Rowell Gorman, Kara Edwards and Caryn Clark there as well new friends I’m sure). Bob, Mary McKitrick and Bobbin Beam are just a few of the voices I respect who truly adore Marice; however Marice may quit training altogether after trying to work with me for a weekend, lesser teachers have tried and cried.

Finally, I got to thinking over the weekend about the Voice Over Workshops I hold for voice talents. From the beginning, I have been bugged by me using the words “teacher” or “coach” for what I do with other voice talents. They are great key words (mine is primarily an internet business after all) but I kept feeling they do a disservice to the work that more true and more accomplished teachers like Pat and Marice execute.

The Voice Over Workshop is very informal…the students who work with me decide a session’s agenda, I don’t. They pick a topic or topics and off we go. I offer insight, history, perspective, evaluations, critiques, direction and advice….but not a formal, structured curriculum like a true teacher would (at least in my experience). So I thought about it some more and I think I came up with a better description for what I do that also better respects what true voice over teachers do.

Best described: I am a voice over consigliere, a voice over counselor. I talk, I prod, I cajole, I direct, I motivate and I teach a little bit. The consigliere part is more about marketing, being memorable but I think the counselor is pretty spot on and feel much better about that moniker than coach or teacher…there are folks more worthy of those titles than me.