/ Voice over training news and company news for Voice Overs. en-us Copyright 2006 CVDG / Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:58:09 EST NBC's The Apprentice Showcases VO When the final five palyers on NBC's Celebrity Apprentice were taksed with creating new audio commercial branding for Chicken Of The Sea tuna, three players put their Voice Acting skill to the test. Team Athena, featuring Poker legend Annie Duke and model Brande Roderick stepped into New York's Lodge Recording Studios, and Brande, paired with a professional Voice Actor, recorded a 30 second commercial script written to depict two mothers conveying their concerns about finding good, natural food for their kids. The commercial was designed to be presented in a conversational, genuine manner and Brande and her professional counterpart did an incredible job. Team KOTU, with entertainment legend Joan Rivers, country music star Clint Black, and custom motorcycle mogul Jesse James, entered New York's Quad Recording and paired up odd-couple Joan and Jesse in a comedic, high-energy performance that parodies a game show. The team began with two talented professional voice actors, but with Rivers' comedic experience and Jesse's willingness to throw caution to the wind, they opted to perform the piece themselves with wonderful reviews from both sides. The show was entertaining and the celebrities involved stepped up to the microphone and knocked it out of the park! See for yourself on The Celebrity Apprentice! /news.cfm/id/79466 Creative Voice Development Group Sun, 03 May 2009 00:00:00 EST OK, almost everyone likes Ice Cream. But Voice Coaches Administrative Director Kristen Neary and a group of friends and local celebrities took a love for scooping sweets to the extreme this week as they presented a charity event for the American Cancer Society. The team worked with gourmet ice cream parlor Cold Stone Creamery and spent the evening serving an endless line of delighted children and adults. We applaud Kristen and her efforts for a very good cause... but because we are a voice over company, I suppose we do have to remind all voice actors that even though ice cream is great... stay away from dairy products prior to a recording session!! Great work Kristen!... hope you saved us some leftovers! /news.cfm/id/79071 Creative Voice Development Group Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EST When former corporate executive Betsy Sherer went through the evaluation process with Voice Coaches at Voice Coaches, her goal was simple... qualify for training and go for it! Well that was about a year ago! Today Betsy continues to build a roster of professional voice work by applying a combination of genuine communication skills and effective self marketing. Following the advice from her Marketing Training with our team, Betsy followed up with possible clients by sending holiday cards... not emails! A week later... Two Jobs! Her most recent success, narrating a video for The Transition Network can be viewed with the link below. Hear Betsy At Work! We are honored to have Betsy join us for our 2009 Advanced Marketing Expo as part of our Student To Pro Panel Discussion. Keep it up Betsy! /news.cfm/id/78866 Creative Voice Development Group Wed, 08 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EST Voice Coaches' Senior Creative Director generally keeps busy enough in his role with our team. But just to keep his hand, or voice as the case may be, in the field, John was recently selected to provide the voice of Caddy The Cat in an extensive series of television and web commercials for Catseye Pest Control. John was chosen after the company completed an extensive search for the right voice via Voices.com. I addition to Caddy The Cat, John has also provided announcer-style image tags for the company as well as a recent recording that will run repeatedly during NY Yankee Baseball games. "It's great work and a lot of fun" commented Gallogly from his hotel in Washington DC where he was busy preparing for a lecture on Voice Acting. "The company has really called on me for a lot of material. Yesterday they called me for a two line radio spot while i was in my car near Philadelphia. I pulled off the road at a rest stop, hooked up my USB microphone to my portable Pro Tools system, and recorded the spot right there in the car. They were able to direct me through the speaker phone on my cel, then I just emailed them the finished spot." added Gallogly. See and hear John's spot on Voice Coaches TV. /news.cfm/id/78840 Creative Voice Development Group Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EST Voice Coaches' Bourgeois Becomes Official AXA Member On January 5th, 2009, Voice Coaches President David Bourgeois was inducted into the Albany Executive Association. The organization, organized in 1955, is the longest running professional corporate networking and leads organization in New York's Capital Region. The group's members are key players in some of the most successful, reputable, and long standing businesses in the area. Organization rules mandate that members be of good moral and business character. Members must also refrain from representing any business activity that conflicts with that of another member. "This was a long process" explained Bourgeois. "The group is very serious about researching their prospective members and determining that member's potential contributions to the group and to the business community." "I am absolutely delighted and honored to be affiliated with the individuals in AXA and I look forward to introducing them to Voice Coaches" added Bourgeois. Because David travels as part of his role in his television production partnership with Evan Farmer, Voice Coaches Marketing Director Warren Garling has been designated to attend AXA meetings in David's absence. Everyone at Voice Coaches congratulates David on this honor! /news.cfm/id/75888 Creative Voice Development Group Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST Television Star John James Chooses Voice Coaches Every once in a while the phone will ring in our offices and the caller at the other end will ask about making a voice over demo. We quickly explain that we don't offer a demo only option as we feel training is a critical component of success. Next comes something along the lines... "well, you see, I don't really need training... I've done some community theater and been in a bunch of commercials." For those who are thinking along these lines consider this... when professional actor John James contacted us and explained his goal to build success as a voice actor, the first thing he insisted on was simple... he wanted to learn. James, who among many other career roles is probably best known for staring in the prime time series Dynasty and the latter spin-off The Colbys throughout the 1980s and 90s, cut his teeth staring in daytime television's As The World Turns, All My Children, and Search For Tomorrow. Despite major success in television and theatrical acting, John recognized the unique differences and challenges in bringing his skill as an actor across when limited to communicating with his voice. "It was an enormous honor to work with Mr. James" commented Voice Coaches' David Bourgeois. "Perhaps the best part of the process was the enormous value he placed in education." "It's been my experience when working with enormously successful people, that there is usually a very good reason they have been able to build their success." "For Mr James, part of that is never missing an opportunity to learn" added Bourgeois. Look for John James in an interview with David coming up soon on Voices.com. And look for a surprise from Mr James on our web site coming soon!! /news.cfm/id/75759 Creative Voice Development Group Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST Voice Over Training Expert Joins Our Executive Team! We are pleased to announce the addition of Mike Spring to the Executive Team here at Voice Coaches. Friends of Voice Coaches may recognize Mike as a former lead producer and voice over training adviser who was part of our team for two years, beginning in 2004. In addition to audio production, Mike presented voice over classes and lectures for Voice Coaches across the US. Mike, who has since completed college in journalism, will be re-joining our team as Director of Communication. Some of his responsibilities will include continued web and training program development, contributing to voice over community blogs, and development of new training resources. Mike will also work with our sister companies Bourgeois Farmer Productions and White Lake Music & Post, in television and media concept development. Mike brings years of experience as an actor, voice actor, model, musician, and audio engineer to our team. We are delighted to have Mike back on board! /news.cfm/id/72554 Creative Voice Development Group Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST South Carolina gears up for a series of introductory voice over classes by interviewing Voice Coaches Producer and Director of Marketing Warren Garling. Listen to the interview here! /news.cfm/id/72122 Creative Voice Development Group Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Ok, Ok, Here is some info! For about the past 6 months there have been some rumors in the air related to Voice Coaches possibly relocating our main offices and state of the art studios. Many folks were absolutely sure they would soon find us in Saratoga, while more than a few thought they had our plans pegged with a soon to be new address in Silver Spring MD. I even heard from a former client who thought we were moving to New York City. Well. it is true. We are finalizing plans for a move that will dramatically expand our facilities. How dramatically? We will be expanding to a new facility that is more than 7 times the size of our current location. Why? We love a challenge! Actually we have several new business opportunities that have created the opportunity to expand. When? Hmmmmmm, we are working on that! Suffice to say the project is about to begin and will be announced publicly in detail in the coming 6 weeks. Where? Sorry, we cannot comment on that at this point. I will say this however, we are absolutely delighted with the growth and emphasis in the arts community in our home base of Schenectady NY. Schenectady's new resurgence coupled with it's prestigious broadcasting history certainly have served to make it an ideal home so far... I will absolutely keep everyone posted! Enjoy What You Do! David at Voice Coaches /news.cfm/id/71684 Creative Voice Development Group Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Voice Over Training & Pro Work Make For a Busy Fall. To begin with, we have had a very interesting 2008 thus far. We have experienced a significant upsurge in the number of students training with us. Part of this seems to be people beginning to look for ways to control their own income. Regardless of motivation, we have been fortunate to meet some wonderful people this year, and we are looking forward to more through fall. On the other side of things, many of you are aware that our studio does a great deal of professional production work. The projects we worked on this month were, well let's just say, all over the spectrum! It began with Voice Coaches" Senior Creative Director John Gallogly being selected to provide the voice for a novelty doll that will soon be sold at places like Spencers Gifts. We have produced several VOs for the doll, with lead engineer Chris Scharling providing recording and post production. Next up, Creative Matrials, a company specializing in tile for contruction of major chains like Dunkin Donuts and Marriott, came to us for lengthy voice over recording for their phone and web systems. Former Voice Coaches student Bean Maier ws selected to voice the project largely because of her ultra professional style of delivery. Next, Working Pictures, a major visual production company came to us for a range of VO production to compliment a project they are working on for New York State. Several voice actors were used including Voice Coaches Producer Chris Laurenzo, former student Iain Bopp, and Tyler West, the daughter of Voice Coaches Premeir Producer Kevin West. And... A deluxe matress manufacturer from downstate New York brought our team in to develop 18 videos showcasing the company's new product line. We shot most of the footage at a photo studio in Kentucky, then returned to our studios to record voice overs for the project with formr student Marie Taszycki. Last but not least, we continued work to support the development of five television concepts for Bourgeois Farmer Productions, a company started by Voice Coaches president David Bourgeois and Televesion Host Evan Farmer. The company is currently finalizing a concept in partnership with media giant Hearst Entertainment. We will always keep you posted of anything exciting that we are up to! Be Well! Anna at Voice Coaches /news.cfm/id/70997 Creative Voice Development Group Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Another Country Heard From What’s a retired military man, now working for a private contractor in a war-torn country, to do with his down time? If he’s Pensacola resident Don Madison, currently residing in Baghdad Iraq, he begins voice over training with Voice Coaches. Would it be easier to wait until he’s done with his work overseas to take on a new challenge like voice over training, after all many people put their dreams on the back burner for reasons far less substantial than being half a world away? Madison says, “I’m a big believer in not putting things off until later. I tell my kids ‘there’s no time like the present.’ What kind of father would I be if I didn’t set the example?” Madison’s works as a professional trainer and is currently based in Iraq. The company he represents encourages all their employees to occupy their personal time with new challenges that keep them out of harm’s way while living in the unstable region. So the former military member decided to begin training with us here at Voice Coaches. Madison began his training with voice over training last month. Voice Coaches utilizes their phone link system to connect their producers one on one to clients anywhere in the world. "This is the same equipment we use during our studio's professional production work for entities like Discovery Networks and HGTV " commented Voice Coaches president and Creative Director David Bourgeois. "The equipment has not only extended our reach as a professional training company, it has made the educational process much more convenient to our students" added Bourgeois. After a successful initial voice evaluation, required by Voice Coaches, Madison will spend the next three months studying both the creative and business aspects of the professional voice over field. His training will combine both one on one instruction via phone link, and extensive web training resources. Once complete, Voice Coaches will work with Don to develop both commercial and narrative voice over demos, showcasing his specific voice strengths. "We have the capability to work with studios all over the world through a high speed ISDN connection and thus we were excited to record Don in Iraq, but he has optioned to travel to our main studios to meet our team and complete his demos in person. I am pretty sure this will be the longest anyone has ever traveled to finish their demo with us!" Commented Voice Coaches' Bourgeois. “The great thing about the Voice Coaches course is that I can take it from right here in Iraq.” “But I am really looking forward to meeting my instructors in-person,” he says. Don is scheduled to travel to the US to record his demos with us later this year. We will post an audio interview with Don later this week. Written by: Warren Garling /news.cfm/id/70759 Creative Voice Development Group Sat, 09 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Fountainhead Pictures in association with Future Media made our studios home recently during extensive Voice Over Production for their new film "Against The Wind". The film is a 10 minute short that reflects on the aging process through the eyes of "Ned", a seventy year old man. The role of Ned is played by professional actor Michael Hayes. Hayes is a familiar face and voice here at our facilities as we were fortunate to train him in Voice Acting six years ago. "This is the most heavily voiced film I have ever worked on" commented Voice Coaches Producer David Bourgeois who produced Hayes through the marathon sessions along side director Dan Masucci. "The film features narration nearly start to finish, and it is some very very emotional stuff" added Bourgeois. Learn more about Against The Wind at www.againstthewindshort.com. Look for Against The Wind at major family film festivals beginning in April. /news.cfm/id/60954 Creative Voice Development Group Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST Voice Coaches Producer Chris Scharling had a unique opportunity on January 24th when he was invited to New York City to record successful businessman Donald Trump. The recording Chris was responsible for took place at Trump Towers in New York City, and will appear as part of a major sporting and entertainment event coming up in Arizona in early February. "As with every project, we knew the client's time was important" commented the video's director. "Bringing in Chris from Voice Coaches helped us insure that our client's voice was recorded clearly and seamlessly and further demonstrated our commitment to professionalism to our client and his executive team." To insure quality, Chris used two computer systems to record several channels of audio from microphones placed throughout the room and attached to the client's jacket. "When he walked into the room with his assistants, we got down to business immediately" commented Scharling. "The recording process went very well, although I did have to be careful not to clip the mic to his tie" Chris remembers. "All in all it was a very surreal experience being there in the board room with him" Scharling added. Congratulations to our Chris Scharling and everyone else involved in the production! This story is another example of Voice Coaches Team Members in action in real world voice work and production. /news.cfm/id/58808 Creative Voice Development Group Thu, 10 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST BFP Launch First Productions During Voice Over Production sessions for TLC-Discovery's While You Were Out, WE Networks Bride Versus Bride and HGTV's Freestyle, Voice Coaches President David Bourgeois and Television Host Evan Farmer began to realize that they had some very similar goals related to media and the entertainment industry. After some time collaborating, the pair announced the formation of Bourgeois Farmer Productions LLC in late October. The organization is dedicated to developing unique concepts in television programming and peripheral content delivery. BFP currently has four concepts in development and have recently contracted to develop two additional concepts, one for a successful television celebrity. "This is a labor intensive process, but it is an absolute blast" commented David Bourgeois. "We've shot everywhere from the Northern Adirondacks in three feet of snow to Hawaii, and met some great people along the way". To date, Bravo, Discovery, Travel Channel, Tru TV, NBC, Spike, Nat Geo, and TLC have taken meetings regarding BFP Projects. "One of the real kicks for me is that I have been able to use three Voice Actors on our projects who we trained at Voice Coaches, that's always a great feeling!" said Bourgeois. "Next week we will use former VC student Bill Dunn on our latest concept." Learn more about Bourgeois Farmer Productions at www.bourgeoisfarmerproductions.com /news.cfm/id/58739 Creative Voice Development Group Thu, 15 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EST Voice Coaches Goes To Work! In early 2007, Voice Coaches created a new human resources policy that offers employees the opportunity to trade 2 days per year of their regular work at our studios for time volunteering for a charitable organization. In early August, our entire team, joined by several former and current clients, took a break from vice over training and spent the day working with Habitat For Humanity. The group left our studios by bus at 7:15am and, once on the job site, were split into two groups. One group worked on the interior of a home under construction and the other group worked to clear a vacant lot. "With temperatures in the high 90's and very high humidity, it was a tough day" commented Voice Coaches' Vice President Anna Bourgeois. "It's very impressive that the folks at Habitat do this every day" Voice Coaches hosted a cookout after the event, and while there was a lot of different food... the most popular item was ice cold water! For more information about Habitat, visit www.habitat.org /news.cfm/id/39999 Creative Voice Development Group Sun, 07 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EST