/ Voice over training news and company news for Voice Overs. en-us Copyright 2006 CVDG / Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:43:47 EST Pictured left to right: Producer Anthony Vertucci (Talon Films), Voice Over Supervisor David Bourgeois (Voice Coaches), Director Chris Stearns (Talon Films), and actor Peter O'Meara. Voice Coaches was extremely pleased to welcome New York-based Talon Films to our main recording studios for dialogue re-recording and editing for their historical miniseries, American General. Slated for a national television run this summer, the film details historically accurate events in the life of Benedict Arnold. American General stars Peter O'Meara, pictured above right, who was in from Los Angeles for the two-day session. O'Meara's previous work includes appearances in Band of Brothers, He's Just Not That Into You, Resident Evil: Extinction, Without A Trace, Alias, CSI: NY, and many other film and TV projects! Voice Over Supervisor David Bourgeois (you might also recognize him as the President/Creative Director of Voice Coaches) will next lead a casting effort to fill nearly 40 available voice over parts for the film. "We are looking for real variety in voices," said Bourgeois. "The film is very emotionally charged, beautifully shot, and there is significant range in character and emotion playing out on the screen that must be complemented when it comes to our voice actors." All primary voice overs will be recorded at Voice Coaches' main studios. The team will then travel to Los Angeles to record the film's narrator who is yet to be announced. "Though the primary narrator has not been officially cast, the level of people considering the role is incredible and is a reflection of the quality and importance of the project," added Bourgeois. All of us here at Voice Coaches are extremely proud to be a part of this amazing film project and to contribute to the ongoing journey of documenting American history. /news.cfm/id/85826 Creative Voice Development Group Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST Voice Coaches’ own Kristen Neary spearheaded a fundraising event recently that raised money for the American Cancer Society Relay For Life. On Saturday, December 12, Voice Coaches Administrative Director Kristen Neary spearheaded the Maple Ski Ridge Holiday Craft Fair, raising over $500 for Relay For Life, a charity that works to “celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease.” In previous years, the craft fair had been a for-profit event, but this year Kristen developed it into a charity event with proceeds going directly to Relay for Life. At the fair, visitors could purchase handmade gifts, candles, ornaments, holiday decorations, and jewelry. Kristen sold her own variety of homemade jams, jellies and dip mixes (and she sold out of her delicious dip mixes, folks!) In addition, children at the event were able to eat lunch with Santa and have their pictures taken with him. Since it was the first day of open ski season, skiers at Maple Ridge were on hand to participate in the event as well. In addition to shopping, there were raffles for donated items from crafters. In total, Kristen raised $500 in just one day for the local American Cancer Society Relay For Life chapter. Her fundraising team, The Vivacious Vixens, has a total goal this year of $10,000. Last year, Kristen herself raised $2,500 through a variety of programs, including a one-woman bake sale, a celebrity ice cream event, raffles for prizes from local businesses and a car wash. For her fundraising efforts she was awarded All-Star Status and received special recognition at the regional American Cancer Society conference. Great job, Kristen, on raising money for such a worthy and important charity! /news.cfm/id/84613 Creative Voice Development Group Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST (l to r: Warren Garling, John Gallogly, Mike Spring, and David Bourgeois of Voice Coaches) Voice Coaches was very excited to sponsor an exciting and worthwhile charity event on Sunday, November 22nd. The Hamilton Hill Arts Center, an organization that promotes cultural art, music, and dancing among at-risk children and families, held its annual Charity Gala at the Glen Sanders Mansion in Scotia, NY, and we couldn't be more proud to be the evening's top sponsor. Voice Coaches President David Bourgeois, Vice President Anna Bourgeois, Creative Director John Gallogly and his wife, Director of Marketing Warren Garling and his wife, and Director of Communications Mike Spring attended the event, which featured an evening filled with African drumming, dancing and music. Voice Coaches President and Creative Director David Bourgeois said of the event, "We had a terrific time, and we're delighted to provide support to Hamilton Hill Arts Center. It is our sincere hope that the programs and opportunities the center provides will continue to promote creativity, pride, and positive self-image for children in our community. Voice Coaches is dedicated to preserving music and arts education, and we were very pleased to contribute to this wonderful event." The Hamilton Hill Arts Center was founded over 40 years ago, and its mission is "to promote the knowledge, awareness, and appreciation of the arts and culture of African and African-Americans, thereby enriching the community and the Capital Region. The Hamilton Hill Arts Center blends African and African-American arts and culture with educational and character-building activities, and offers a safe and creative haven with positive role models. Youth who come to the Arts Center are encouraged to develop their artistic potential, learning many important life lessons in the process." All of us here at Voice Coaches are extremely proud to contribute to such a wonderful organization! /news.cfm/id/84426 Creative Voice Development Group Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST L to R: Actor & Voice Actor Casey Biggs, Voice Over & Sound Supervisor David Bourgeois, and Director Jonathan Donald in Voice Coaches' Studio One. Television actor Casey Biggs beamed down to Voice Coaches' studios for three voice over sessions in the month of October to provide the voice over narration for an upcoming PBS documentary! Biggs is a prolific television actor, best known for his recurring role as Cardassian Commander Damar in several seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He's also starred in numerous hit television shows such as CSI, ER, The X-Files, Medium, Without a Trace, Touched by an Angel, Melrose Place, and Star Trek: Enterprise, as well as having featured roles in films such as The Pelican Brief, Broken Arrow, Dragonfly, Shadow Conspiracy and InSearchOf. Voice Coaches President and Creative Director David Bourgeois was tapped to supervise voice overs and audio production for the documentary, produced by Emmy-award winning director Jonathan Donald. "Casey is a true professional, he's very aware of his own delivery, and he is very collaborative in the process," said David Bourgeois. "It is always a pleasure to work with a true pro, and the result is always tremendous." Look for the PBS documentary on the history of New York's Catskill Region on PBS in late October! And stay tuned... our studios are about to start working on another major documentary project in early 2010! /news.cfm/id/83735 Creative Voice Development Group Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST Success Story Becomes Part Of The Team When David Rodwell followed through on his goal to use his voice professionally and trained with us two years ago, he was certainly confident in building success. But despite his confidence, we were all still impressed by how rapidly and dramatically David excelled. By his second year, he was already on pace to earn a six-figure income doing voice overs primarily from his home! This week, we are excited to announce that David has begun a new chapter in his success. Everyone in the Voice Coaches family is proud to welcome David to our professional training and development team. "This is an incredible opportunity to give our students access to an individual who began in this field with no background in voice overs, and in two years, built absolutely incredible success," commented Voice Coaches CEO David Bourgeois. "David Rodwell is a clear example of how continued effort and positivity can make goals very achievable," added Bourgeois. Beginning in late September, Rodwell will represent Voice Coaches as a trainer and lecturer throughout the US and Canada. Welcome, David! /news.cfm/id/82761 Creative Voice Development Group Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EST A New Voice... (and person to go along with it) After considering more than 30 applicants, Voice Coaches is delighted to welcome radio, voice over, and marketing expert Brooke Wacha to our executive support team. Brooke, who will be relocating from New York City to work with us, has an extensive background in broadcast and media. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast and Communications from SUNY at Oswego, with a minor in creative writing. Professionally, Brooke has worked on air and in a marketing capacity for broadcast facilities and organizations including WRVO and Pulse 87 in Brooklyn, as well as Triton Digital. Brooke will join our team as Administrative Director, handling day to day studio and production business, as well as strategy and organizational development. She will also, no doubt, spend some time on both sides of the microphone as a producer, voice over trainer, and as a voice actor. The entire Voice Coaches team welcomes Brooke! /news.cfm/id/82494 Creative Voice Development Group Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST It's been a busy summer for the Voice Coaches Team. In addition to training our clients from across the US and Canada, our team is keeping busy with multiple Voice Over projects and achievements in the pipeline! (Note the fact that the beach chairs are EMPTY!) Senior Creative Director John Gallogly recently completed a Voice Over recording for UVP, a company that manufactures Bio-Imaging Equipment. In this 5-minute narrative voice over, John had to call on his pugilist skills and perform the entire narrative as Rocky Balboa! “Playing Rocky for a Voice Over - that was a completely new experience for me,” John said. Voice Coaches Director of Marketing Warren Garling is currently in the middle of a project of gargantuan proportions: recording the Voice Over for a 343-page script for the Law Enforcement and Security Training Academy of Canada. This online training class is part of the 40-hour course that people take in Canada to be trained as a security guard. “What a fun challenge. This is the longest voice over script I've worked on in my 40 years in the industry and I'm loving every minute of it!” Warren said. Voice Coaches President David Bourgeois and Producing Engineer Bobby Chase are completing audio and video production for a New York State Lawyers Educational Program while our studio is also readying to produce extensive high school education material for McGraw Hill. The duo is also preparing to handle all audio post production for a full length PBS documentary that will be completed at our studios in September and October. Finally, Voice Coaches is proud to announce that Warren Garling has also been promoted on the board of the Albany Ad Club. Warren’s been working with the Ad Club for several years now; he previously served as chair of the Education Committee and has been a presenter at two of the organization’s annual NORI Awards shows. “I hope to continue to serve the Albany Ad Club to the best of my ability and keep members of this terrific organization informed about the good work we do in our industry and our community,” said Warren. “The Ad Club is a great networking opportunity for anyone involved in marketing, advertising, and public relations and for those who want to engage the local leaders of these professions.” Voice Coaches has long suggested to students that Ad Clubs and similar organizations are terrific places to market themselves as Voice Actors. The Albany Ad Club is an organization that strives to promote legitimate and truthful advertising. As a local communications association, the Ad Club recognizes those who have made significant contributions to the profession of advertising, public relations and marketing. It provides education for those seeking careers in communications. Congratulations on your accomplishments, all! /news.cfm/id/82293 Creative Voice Development Group Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST Voice Coaches Supports The X Squad! On Saturday August 8th, Voice Coaches welcomed the X Squad to White Lake New York. The X Squad is an exhibition water skiing show team comprised of elementary, middle, high school, and college students. To ski on the team, members must maintain a positive grade average in school, and demonstrate positive behavior and responsibility. This year, the team showed off an all pirate theme, complete with their new 40 foot pirate ship. Barefooting, doubles, kneeboarding, and pyramid formations were all part of the show. Perhaps the audience favorite however, was the four member X Squad jump Team. The four performed a set of increasingly challenging jumps that led to the teams final three-level pyramid. Everyone at Voice Coaches is delighted to support this tremendous group and we look forward to seeing the whole gang next year! Arrrrrrr! /news.cfm/id/82212 Creative Voice Development Group Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST NBC's The Apprentice Showcases VO When the final five players on NBC's Celebrity Apprentice were tasked 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