VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

carma · Guest

Hi,
I'm very new. very green Smile

I attended a class through "Such a Voice" and they want me to join thier "masters program" I have talked to a few people that have worked with them in the past and so far the feedback has been good.
Anyone else on here have any experience with them or suggestions on where I should start in this industry? I need coaching and a good demo created and am in Santa Cruz CA (Northern Cali)

Any advice would be appriciated.

Thanks,
Carma

bobsouer · Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 11:15 am Post subject:

Hi Carma,

Welcome to the VO-BB. I think you'll find some information about this question in the archives. (Lots of gold buried there.)
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Deirdre · Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 11:22 am Post subject:

Carma, this question comes up all the time.

There was a time when I said there would be no talk of any kind about this company on this board.

On the other hand, I deal with this question so often, I have a crafted answer.

These are from actual correspondence.

carma · Guest

Thanks guys. This felt like a scam untill I talked to clients of thier from years past that I dug up. I heard from 2 of them that raved about thier coaching abilities and the demo they got out of the end.

However, my gut was telling me scam scam scam so I haven't done anything yet.

With that said, can anyone reccomend a good vo coaching talent and demo producer? I've searched the web and thre is almost too much data out there.

I'm in Northern California/San Jose area

thanks!

Lizden · Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 11:50 am Post subject:

Hi Carma!
Welcome to the VO-BB!

Listen to DB...she knows of what she speaks!

Harlan Hogan has a list of coaches you can check out.
There is no implicit approval of any of these coaches, it's just a list for you to check out & research.

http://www.harlanhogan.com/coachList.php

Best of luck!
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Liz de Nesnera O.A.V. ~ Livin' The VO Dream!
English/French Bilingual VO w/ ISDN
HireLiz.com / liz@hireliz.com

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 11:54 am Post subject:

I think a lot of people will recommend Nancy Wolfson who does coaching over the phone.
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carma · Guest

Thank you everyone for the replies!

Philip Banks · Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 12:57 pm Post subject:

A quick question. Do you want coaching to become a Voice Over or do you have the basic skills and need help in launching a career as a Voice Over?

NO ONE IS ABLE TO TEACH YOU HOW TO BECOME A VOICE OVER. There a some who will be able to fill in gaps in your knowledge a give you the skills needed to offer yourself to the market as a pro.

carma · Guest

Philip,

I think I have the basic skills. I've done some work but really want to take this to the next level. I'd like to refine my skill, train in technique and get a good demo produced, and learn more about marketing myself. Those are my areas of interest.

Philip Banks · Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 1:19 pm Post subject:

Talk to Nancy Wolfson. She will not be your best friend, that's not to say that you may not become friends, but she will be your Coach and take you to places you may find difficult to go on your own.

You've already found a place that will make a difference - VO-BB and the next step is to find a person who will make a difference, that's Nancy.

Needless to say there are people here who can help too should you have any questions.

Deirdre · Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 2:48 pm Post subject:

And there are many many MANY people who are all too willing to part you from your money.

Keep your radar on— it sounds like you've got a keen sense of things already.
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IMDB

Philip Banks · Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 3:34 pm Post subject:

When it comes to gear, coaching, marketing or any other Voice Over bits and pieces only spend money that you can genuinely afford to lose as there is a 95% chance that's exactly what's going to happen.

Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

Beware of anything that smacks of a free lunch, quick fix or a get-rich-quick promise.

If you're one of the few who have extraordinary talent you might rise quickly.

But if not, you'll have to work at it, and you'd better really want it.

In other words, you may be the exception but be ready for the possibility that you're not.

Mel · Joined: 16 Dec 2009 Posts: 11 Location: Vermont

Congratulations on making the decision to enter Voice-Overs - Carma! I also want to clear up some misconceptions about Such A Voice and our training. For the sake of transparency, in addition to the voice-overs and production I do on my own, I do voice evaluations at Such A Voice.

I completely agree that you cannot become a voice-over artist in one weekend. There is no way to learn all the ins and outs of voice-overs, technique and what it takes to create a demo that will represent your skills in that amount of time. However, we're inviting people who have shown some skills and a basic foundation necessary to perform voice-overs - though everyone invited to train with us does require some technique work.

It was mentioned in this thread that you can't tell if someone is right for voice-overs after one class. However, every one of us in voice-overs knows that producers, clients (and I myself) have made hiring decisions by listening to mere seconds of demos. As a Producer in Radio and Television, if I listened to more than 15 seconds of a demo to cull the finalists for a job, it was a rarity.

At Such A Voice - I can't recall one of our coaches inviting everyone from an introductory course to our MasterClass. People who walk into our classes are also there because they believe, correctly or not, that voice-overs may be a good fit for them - and some of them are right. There's no percentage or number we aim for, we invite people to train with us who sound ready for our program, by having some of the basic foundation skills needed. If people don't, we even let them know, and often tell people what they need to get those skills if they're really driven to. As part of our process we also help finesse the niche that individual is likely to do well in - based on their skills, knowledge and vocal qualities. We all know that the market, ultimately, determines each voice-over artists niche - but having a jump start on where to focus efforts has proven very successful for our talent.

The MasterClass program at Such A Voice takes months, not days. The average course length is just shy of three months. At the core of the MasterClass is an on-site weekend workshop which will be followed up with studio time for more coaching, followed by demo recording. At that point you will have worked on your own with training materials for at least a few weeks, and with multiple Such A Voice coaches for over a month. By the time the students come on site we will have selected some scripts for their demos, though some are exchanged after we get to know the talent's voice better. After the on-site portion of training we focus on teaching effective marketing, so that when production of the demo is complete, and it's in the talent's hands, they have a plan for marketing it to the right people, businesses and organizations that make sense for your niche so you can generate an income. In no way do we invite people into a 'get rich quick' scenario. This is something your heart and head have to be in, and we make it clear that this is a process that happens over time.

Such A Voice also offers lifetime support to our clients and has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. We've worked hard for that rating. The staff who train talent are also registered/accredited with SaVoa.org.

As a company largely made up of people actively working in voice-overs, we each represent ourselves and Such A Voice with our actions - including who we invite to our training. No one at Such A Voice wants to tarnish their own name and career by inviting people our program who aren't ready for it. Our programs are focused on getting people started *successfully* in voice-overs. I also state to talent that, not only should they consider more training further on in their career, they should plan on it.

If you have any questions about our training, feel free to contact me mel@suchavoice.com

asnively · Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 1:28 pm Post subject:

Attention in the terminal: This is a 6-month old dead thread.

But it looks like the VO-BB search engine works great!
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