Class Descriptions

THE BEGINNING SEMINAR

Director: Vicki Baum

Length: 7-hour one-day seminar

Class Notes: None

If you are ready to begin your adventure into voice-over training, THIS IS THE PLACE TO START! Launch into a full-day hybrid (both online and in-person) seminar packed full of information, performance exercises and FUN. You’ll explore basic voice acting fundamentals including detailed acting choices and script interpretation – including playback and feedback of recorded performances, making this class a unique experience in online training choices. As Vicki takes you through commercial and character scripts, by the end of the day you’ll have a much clearer understanding of the voice acting craft, and an awareness of the particular set of skills and techniques you’ll need to succeed in the current voice-over marketplace.

 

Directors: Chuck Kourouklis, Brian Sommer

Length: 10-hour weekend seminar

Class Notes: None

Whether or not you think you “do characters”, we’re here to tell you that you DO! Why? Because you’ve been six years old, when playing wasn’t about pretending to be a character, but about being the character, letting go and using your imagination. And with that mindset, you can learn to do anything, even characters. This daring duo will share their insights, tricks and techniques that have led to their remarkable success in the character genre. Gain an enhanced understanding of the character creation process and realize just how freeing and exhilarating it is as an adult to simply let go and play. After this weekend, you will possess an increased confidence in your ability to invent colorful and memorable, yet realistic characters. With Chuck and Brian’s expertise and encouragement, get ready to unleash the characters that live within you that you never knew existed.

 

INTRODUCTION TO DIRECTING

Director: Samantha Paris

Length: 7-hour one-day seminar

Class Notes: None

There is no time like the present to start your expedition into one of the most important skills for working voice actors: self-direction. And there is literally no one better on the planet than our intrepid Founder, Samantha Paris, to help you take those first steps. Learning the basics of self-direction including figuring out who you are talking to, and really WHY you are saying the words on the paper (and btw it’s not because you are selling a product,) will not only give insight into what is ultimately going to be expected of you in those more advanced classes, but it will add value to any class you take in the meantime, as you will hopefully be silently directing your fellow students along with the instructor. A class within a class. Neat.

 

INTRODUCTION TO NARRATION

Director: Vicki Baum

Length: 11-hour weekend seminar

Class Notes:  None

We live in a world where communication is way beyond the written word. Companies brand their innovative products through videos, employers train their employees through videos, medical professionals learn about new treatments through videos and on and on and on. And what do all those videos around the world need? You guessed it… narrators! The different genres of narration are endless including audio tours, audio books, tutorials, medical narration, television shows and documentary narration amongst many others. During this class, you’ll explore some of those narration styles and techniques as you work with a wide variety of copy including the always growing field of narration for the populous tech companies. Learn not only the technical elements of narration, but also how to engage the listener and weave an engaging story that takes your audience along for the ride, without overpowering the visuals. You’ll acquire a clear perspective on the storytelling skills required to deliver strong, connected, narration performances.

 

THE WORLD OF VOICE-OVER: AN INTRODUCTION

Directors: Vicki Baum, Chuck Kourouklis

Length: 3-hour overview (with performance participation!)

Class Notes: None

Ever dreamed of what it would be like to voice a commercial, a cartoon or a video game? Is it time you dipped your toe into the pool known as the voice-over industry? There is no better place to start than right here. The morning will start off with a hybrid format (students in-person AND online), where you’ll learn to voice actual commercial and character scripts that are simple in nature but packed with fun! Then Vicki & Chuck will offer a straightforward outlook regarding the financial realities of the business, the commitment and training required to become a successful, working voice actor, the advantages and pitfalls of online casting, and how you’ll know when you’re really ready for a demo and a talent agent. You’ll get to ask all your burning voice-over questions. What a fun way to spend a Saturday morning!

Director: Chuck Kourouklis

Length: 9-hour three-week workshop

Class Notes: None

What color is love…Orange? Trust…Blue? Excitement…Red? The Colors method has helped thousands of actors including your instructor, construct a richer, more vibrant voice-over foundation by assigning different emotions to a specific color. As Chuck leads you through an exploration of your full vocal and emotional spectrum and associates it with colors, you’ll uncover a multitude of voices and interpretations that you’ve never before considered or realized you were capable of delivering. Not to mention you’ll now possess a tool that is so relevant and effective, it is used every single day by busy, working voice actors.

 

Director: Samantha Paris, Vicki Baum 

Length: 10-hour weekend seminar

Class Notes: None

Join our founder, Samantha Paris, as she takes you on a whirlwind journey into strengthening your voice actor skills. Through comedy-driven commercial monologues and dialogues, Samantha will take you through “real world” audition exercises focusing on script analysis, just like the pros do it. And for good measure, Vicki will crash the party on the second day to work you out on some cool animation copy. Samantha takes great pride in the fact that she personally guides each student through every step their voice-over voyage, whether your personal path lasts a day, a couple of years or a career lifetime. Working one-on-one with our Founder will not only develop your acting and script analysis skills exponentially but working directly with you will allow Samantha (past working with you in the Beginning Seminar) to continue to get to know you on a deeper level, as she personally mentors you through your voice-over adventure.

 

WHAT A CHARACTER

Director: Brian Sommer

Length: 9-hour three-week workshop

Class Notes: This course includes a pre-class and weekly homework assignments.

Explore the cornucopia of characters that perhaps you don’t even realize are lurking inside you. How might your dastardly villain sell earthquake insurance? Or what about your best superhero on a first date? Find out as you perform an ambiguous script and examine how a character would act in different situations and surroundings. You’ll gain practical experience as you are challenged to dig deeper into the psyche of your character making it more authentic, well-rounded and easier to sustain, a must-have skill when it comes to video games, animation and narration recording sessions.

INSIDE THE VOICE ACTOR’S STUDIO

Moderator: Vicki Baum

Special Guest: Chloe Schneider

Length: 3-hour interview

Class Notes: None

Welp, we’ve done it again, if we do say so ourselves. Hee hee hee… Usually at this point we talk about all the credits our amazing guest has. But alas, not this time.  What we can say is this: Chloe Schneider works in the casting department (meaning she is listens to auditions all day long) of such a huge animation company, we aren’t allowed to say which one it is in print.  But seriously, who cares which monolithic animation company she works for?  What’s important is she is a casting agent with the best behind the scenes experience to share. When we announce her company at the actual interview, not only will you of heard of it (everybody on the planet has), but you’ll be nodding in excited agreement that Voicetrax has once again delivered The Best of The Best!

 

Director: YOU and your fellow students (and perhaps a Guest Director will pop in!)

Length: 3-hour lab, monthly

Class Notes: None

There’s seriously never been something so “for everyone” in the 35-year history of Voicetrax. We really mean it: Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced/Working Professional students, even Alumni! E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E. is invited. This special lab was born from our desire to give back to our Voicetrax family and provides the virtual “bricks-and-mortar” for a FREE monthly workout group. For one day each month we are opening one of our Zoom channels for you to remotely drop in and work on whatever kind of script you choose including dialogues as we utilize breakout rooms for partners to practice in private. You’ll get the opportunity to receive performance feedback from your fellow students as well as providing constructive critiques of your own, which we all know very specifically helps with the ever-important self-direction skills necessary for success. Learn and have fun in a casual environment. And did we mention there could just maaaybe be a surprise pop-in by an elite Voicetrax Guest Director? Guess you’ll just have to show up to find out!

 

SUNDAY SIT-DOWN WITH SAMANTHA

Speaker: Samantha Paris

Length: 3-hour lab

Class Notes: None

Imagine a cozy Sunday morning… you’ve lit a fire… poured your first cup of coffee or tea while you’re still in your comfiest pajamas, and your brain whimsically wanders over to your voice-over training, and suddenly, all these questions start to pop-up! Well, we have figured out a beautiful way to allow all the burning Samantha questions to be answered! From training to business questions and everything in between, Samantha will sit-down (get it?) and answer them all. Are you feeling discouraged or have you hit a plateau? Sam will talk you through it. Sam will even open up if asked about her own journey, her high and lows, struggles and frustrations, to help shepherd you to a positive place. And what’s super cool about this format where you’ll share the space with other Voicetrax students, is that there will most definitely be questions asked that you never knew you needed the answer to. That’s what we call the power of the collective.

!ANIMANIA!

Director: LA Agent

Length: 10-hour weekend seminar

Class Notes: None

Would you like to bolster your confidence, test your creativity, sharpen your technical abilities and strengthen your auditioning techniques? Of course you would! Delve into cartoon and game scripts with one of the best-known animation agents in the business whose clients have voiced some of the most famous animation characters in history including Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, The Joker, the Tick, Wakko from the Animaniacs, both Ren and Stimpy, two of the three Powerpuff Girls and half the characters from Futurama. Not to mention hundreds of characters in blockbuster video games like World of Warcraft, The Last of Us, Mass Effect and Transformers. We’re pretty sure at this point, you get our drift… And that’s just scratching the surface of her credits. With her trademark straightforward style, this unparalleled authority in the animation field will provide succinct feedback and direction, while still maintaining the fun, spontaneity and inventiveness that character work is all about.

 

                                               

Director: Vicki Baum

Length: 12-hour four-week workshop

Class Notes: Students must have home recording capabilities. This course includes a pre-class and weekly homework assignments.

Tired of spending time auditioning online with few positive results? News Flash: It may not be your performances that are holding you back. Gasp! Yes, you absolutely need to apply your training and submit a creative, organic performance, but when it comes to online casting sites there is so much more to it. It can be intimidating when you hear that only 3% of the thousands of registered “actors” on Voice123 actually book a job. But have no fear! The good news is a majority of the Voicetrax student body who’ve trained to a competitive level are within that 3%! And one of the major reasons for that is this comprehensive, A-Z class that reveals not only how Vicki books in the top 10% nationwide on Voice123, but how she consistently books through various other audition resources as a result of her networking and hustle. She’ll cover her entire online auditioning strategy including which auditions to choose, how to build your profile and professionally communicate with potential clients as well as how she keeps track of her finances, bills clients… basically how she acts as CEO running her voice-over business.

 

COMMERCIAL TO CHARACTER AND BACK AGAIN

Director: Chuck Kourouklis, Vicki Baum

Length: 9-hour three-week workshop

Class Notes: This course includes homework assignments. Students must have home recording capabilities.

Animation and video game characters are usually written in a way that tends to force a performer into more specificity in motivations and the “beats” somehow become clearer. So why not apply that charactery approach to commercial scripts? The truth you can discover when you put a character skin on your commercial performance (don’t get creeped out, we are speaking metaphorically, people), turns the light to a different angle bringing about more fluid and spontaneous commercial performances.

 

DEPTH OF CHARACTER 

Director: Samantha Paris

Length: 10-hour weekend seminar

Class Notes: This course includes homework assignments. Students must have home recording capabilities.

What really grabs the audience and gets them invested in your characters and the stories they inhabit? Psstt… look at the title of this class… If they don’t care about your character or have seen similar character types before, they’ll disengage, and you’ll lose them. Join Samantha as she guides you through an extensive exploration of character scripts to get to the true heart of the matter and probe the soul of your character. You’ll go beyond archetypes, reveal their motivation, understand their emotional landscape, explore their flaws and ultimately go beyond what’s on the paper to construct a dynamic, relatable and thought-provoking character that casting professionals, directors and producers won’t soon forget.

 

DIGGING DEEPER

Director: Chopper Bernet

Length: 18-hour six-week workshop

Class Notes: This course includes homework assignments.  Students must have home-recording capabilities.

The idea of this class has been burning deep in Chopper’s soul for some time now, and for those of you who don’t know Chopper – who is one of the original ‘Traxers – yes, that’s deeeeep. This Voicetrax Alum has worked in the voice over world for twenty-five plus years doing animation (Spirit), commercial (Charles Schwab) and promo (NBC, MSNBC), but he has also been on-camera in television shows, as well as acting in films (Terminator 3). He is an actor through and through, and he is ready to “burrow into the work” and share his hard-earned experience with our students. Chopper will utilize monologues and scenes from film, stage and television, as well as some improv exercises and memory work, to allow you to keep digging deeper into the motivation and behavior of your characters. Chopper’s knack of bringing out of you a profound depth of acting you didn’t know your soul was capable of, will certainly keep you riveted all six weeks.

 

DIRECT THYSELF II 

Director: Samantha Paris 

Length: 10-hour weekend seminar

Class Notes: Prerequisite: Direct Thyself I or prior approval from Voicetrax.

Why do you need Direct Thyself II or the more than a dozen other self-directing classes we offer? Because learning this tricky-but-totally-crucial-to-your-success thing called self-direction takes tons of practice. It’s a process that takes patience and evolves over time. We like to call it “time in the saddle”. The twist this time around is working on scripts you should do well, but whatever reason you don’t. It’s uncanny how directing another person allows you to see more clearly what the script actually needs therefore clearing the way for you to perform it well. At the end of this weekend you will be a better performer having sat in the director’s chair again. Aaaaaand ACTION!

 

 

Directors: Chuck Kourouklis, Brian Sommer 

Length: 12-hour 4-week workshop

Class Notes: None

How lucky are we that we have two of the most accomplished & prolific video game actors in the Bay Area in our back pocket: Chuck Kourouklis and Brian Sommer! This powerful pair have put their heads together and created quite the curriculum. Because of Chuck & Brian’s extensive experience, both having appeared in League of Legends, The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us (seeing a pattern perhaps?), they are in a unique position to give you advice, guidance and direction from BOTH sides of the sound booth glass. Not only can they speak expertly on what a producer is looking for since they’ve booked once or twice or, oh that’s right… hundreds of times, but they are also in a position, being actors themselves, to delve deep into the actor’s process and teach you what it takes to create a memorable audition that gets you cast. Needless to say, this class is intensive, involving and relevant – so come ready to play!

 

Director: Vicki Baum

Length: 12-hour four-week workshop

Class Notes: This course includes a pre-class and weekly homework assignments.

Have you ever looked at a long list of specs on the script and been confused as to what to focus on? Naaaahhh… that NEVER happens… Or have you been auditioning online and you’re not sure how to choose amongst the dozens of scripts you receive each day that represents your best odds on booking the job? Truly knowing yourself, what you naturally bring to the table both vocally and personality-wise is a critical piece of the puzzle when it comes to choosing what to add into the recipe to create an outstanding, yet uniquely YOU performance. You’ll work on quintessentially you scripts, as Vicki and the rest of the class will assist each student in ascertaining what makes you, well… YOU. If history tells us anything, we’re betting you just might be surprised at what you learn about yourself, as well as astounded and enlightened by how others perceive you on the very personal and exhilarating journey you’ll take in this workshop.

 

 

LESS IS MORE, BUT NOTHING IS NOTHING

Director: SF Agent 

Length: 10-hour weekend seminar

Class Notes: None

You know that saying, “less is more”? Well, this is an entire seminar focusing on that exact premise. With the preponderance of real and conversational requests from producers and casting directors, the phrase “not over the top” is showing up all the time in copy specs. What does that mean? How far is too far? Most importantly, how do you stop from going too far in the opposite direction and delivering a boring, flat performance? Join this revered San Francisco agent whose been at the top of this industry for decades (and continues to be) to get an insider’s view on this very popular current trend and learn the balance between going for it and leaving your audience wanting more.

 

 

ONE NIGHT WONDER: IVR

Director: Vicki Baum

Length: 3-hour lab

Class Notes: None

Please hold… Your class description is very important to us… We will be with you in just a moment… In this workshop, Vicki will help you develop the skills and techniques necessary to work on voice activated response systems (automated phone prompts also known as Interactive Voice Response), including appropriate style, clarity, maintaining consistency and energy and techniques such as “concatenation”. And why should you be interested in IVR? Well, not only are the initial sessions usually very long (long = well paid), but when a bank needs to add a few prompts to their phone tree, who are they gonna call? (pleeeease don’t say Ghostbusters, that joke is sooo 1984, you know who’ll they’ll call… YOU! again and again and again) You’ll finish this lab with a greater understanding of what it takes to be the “voice of a company”.

 

Directors: Samantha Paris, Chuck Kourouklis, Sirenetta Leoni

Length: 18-hour six-week workshop

Class Notes: This course includes weekly homework assignments.

Simply put… if you don’t get the script, you don’t get the gig! This tantalizing triad of teachers will help you unravel the mysteries of script interpretation as you analyze a variety of TV and radio commercials, animation, video game and narration scripts while discovering how to dissect copy intelligently to give you a leg up on the competition. You’ll learn to look for hidden clues (aka “bunnies”) and not just the ones buried in the body of the copy, but the ones you can glean from the sound effects, visuals, directions, music, length, even the agency name. Strengthen and broaden one of the most important foundational skills necessary for voice-over success.

 

Director: Ned Lott 

Length: 10-hour weekend seminar

Class Notes: A professional sounding singing voice is not required. Seriously! 😉 This course includes a pre-class homework assignment.

Over the last several years the demand for characters that sing in feature films, television series and apps has greatly increased, and that will be the focus of this super unique class. Now before you say “Nope. Not me. I can’t sing!”, pleeeease remember that not every nutty, silly animated character sounds like Mariah Carey, Barbra Streisand or The Candlestick from Beauty And The Beast, so you don’t have to either! And if singing is totally comfortable for you, then it’s time to bring that “shower superstar” into the light. Get out of your comfort zone, let loose, remember why you started in voice-over in the first place and have some fun. And we haven’t even mentioned how singing your copy can bring about a freer you – oh wait… we just mentioned it… Whether singing scares you or you’re eager and ready to get your singing groove on, we know you’ll leave this class with an expanded fearlessness to audition singing characters.

 

 

TAKING ON THE PROTOTYPES

Director: Thom Pinto

Length: 10-hour weekend seminar

Class Notes: This course includes a pre-class homework assignment.

Producers frequently (what’s a word that’s more frequent than frequent? Oh yeah, always…) cast voices or write character specs using “prototypes” as a frame of reference. Whether they’re looking for someone who sounds like the hot “celebrity du jour” or a veteran voice actor who is highly regarded within the industry but not a household name, this seminar will give you a chance to immerse yourself in a wide variety of styles while listening, duplicating, and broadening your own vocal range by “borrowing” from the most sought-after spokespeople and character actors. By mimicking another actor’s syncopation, tone or attitude it will not only widen your interpretation possibilities, but it can open the door, inspire creativity and be the foundation of a whole new character for you to develop. This is a “must have” skill for any working voice actor.

 

 

TAKING SIDES

Directors: Vicki Baum, Chuck Kourouklis

Length: 9-hour three-week workshop

Class Notes: This course includes homework assignments. Students must have home recording capabilities.

The profound effect of working with a live acting partner on your ability to realistically and competitively “wildline” (performing one side of a dialogue on your own), is immeasurable. Wait a minute, come to think if it, it IS measurable and that’s just what Vicki & Chuck aim to do as they dive into the action with the students. Each week your teachers will initially act alongside you on a dialogue, and then slowly but surely ween you until you are performing your one side of the dialogue as if someone was there, actively responding to the other character. Why is this particular skill important you might ask? Because it permeates all angles of the business from auditioning to session work. Wildlining is a vital skill all competitive voice actors must have.

 

Directors: Aaron Miner, Rhiannon Brogan

Length: 10-hour weekend seminar

Class Notes: This course includes pre-class as well as weekly homework. Students must have home recording capabilities.

Let loose in the playground of educational toys and apps! Aaron & Rhiannon will visit multiple sectors in the voice-over toy industry where the FUN is baked right in, and review the specific skills toys demand including consistency, diction and, of course, acting! The opportunities in this genre continue to grow and once a toy producer knows you can handle the session, they call you back time and time again, without auditioning! That’s the dream now, isn’t it?

 

THE ACTOR NARRATOR

Director: Melissa Gray

Length: 12-hour four-week workshop

Class Notes: This course includes homework assignments.

How many times have you heard, it’s not about your voice, it’s all about the acting? All the time, we’d guess, but with narration, too? You better believe it. Approach different forms of narrative copy from a true actor’s perspective, through various acting techniques including content, themes, emotional subtext, energy, variety and pace. Learn to investigate the given circumstances of your narration copy from the standpoint of performing it, not just vocally, but with your whole being. Work to create a strong pre-life that brings the story off the page while recalling real-life experiences to enhance emotional resonance. Heighten your awareness of phrasing and connecting more on a sensory and emotional level resulting in an increased “vocal presence.”

 

Director: Brian Sommer 

Length: 12-hour four-week workshop

Class Notes: None

In this workshop you’ll traverse down the track through the multi-faceted land of characters from good to bad and all the way to the wacky world of weird. Stretch yourself from week to week as each class focuses on a different category. Team up with Brian, your character conductor, as you make stops at Goodville (princes, maidens, superheroes), Bad Harbor (mad scientists, thieves, assassins) and Weirdburg (zombies, aliens, robots, oh my!) characters. The last week will culminate in a free-for-all, as you bring all your diverse characters to life challenging your ability to pivot from one to the other to the other on queue.

 

 

 

Director: Chuck Kourouklis

Length: 9-hour three-week workshop

Class Notes: This course includes homework assignments. Students must have home recording capabilities.

If you want to be a musician you need to learn to play the instrument, so if you want to be a rock star voice actor you need to be able to do the exact same thing with the microphone. It’s more than the technical things that include minimizing “p”-pops and distortion. It’s about establishing a scene, the script analysis necessary to figure out that scene and then using proximity effect (your closeness to the mic) to leverage your authority, warmth or conversational quality. And then, oh yeah, lo and behold remembering to implement everything you’ve learned. Your mic technique skills should be continually developing right along with your self-direction, script analysis and acting skills.

 

TO EACH THEIR OM

Director: Erik Braa

Length: 10-hour weekend seminar

Class Notes: This course includes a pre-class homework assignment.

Take a moment to get into an extra comfortable position, preferably lying down if that’s possible, as you take in the information of this class description. That’s right… breath in… and out…wonderful. The meditation app industry is set to hit a billion dollars revenue in 2023. Keep that breathing slow and steady, but yes, we did say billion with a B. That kind of snuck up on all of us, didn’t it? We have manifested the unlikeliest of instructors to take you on this “guided” tour (see what we did there?) of what it takes to be a competitive meditation narrator. Erik Braa, more famously known for his burly, Viking-like characters in a zillion video games, just happens to have the delicate touch for meditation. He’ll let you in on the techniques necessary for this burgeoning slice of the voice-over pie. And hey, at the end of the day, who else will be able to say they’ve been taught how to narrate a meditation app by a Viking?

 

YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN: THE ART OF SELF-DIRECTION

Director: Thom Pinto

Length: 10-hour weekend seminar

Class Notes: This course includes a pre-class homework assignment.  Students must have home-recording capabilities.

A world-class authority on the intricacies of home auditioning, Thom will guide you through developing a critical ear on playbacks, examining your initial tendencies (good or bad) when left on your own, covering the bases for an audition with no outside direction (minus some likely confusing and unhelpful specs) and finding the best rhythm for auditioning amid demanding day jobs and all the responsibilities that stem from that little thing called life. After class is finished, Thom will provide each student with a customized analysis, a cheat-sheet if you will, based on what he observed in class to keep you on the right path as you record at home and enable you to produce consistently impressive home auditions all on your own. Now that home auditioning is here to stay, this course is more relevant than ever.

 

 

 

Director: Samantha Paris

Class Length: 7-hour one-day seminar

Class Notes: This course includes a pre-class homework assignment. Students must have home recording capabilities.

Have you submitted an audition that you thought was great but didn’t book it? How about submitting one that seemed to feel just a bit flat, but you were at a loss as to what was wrong with it? Bring ‘em in and let the ears of your fellow auditioning ‘Traxers guide you to the answer. Your classmates can’t figure it out either? Well, guess who can and will? Yeppers… that’s riiiight! The idea for this class was based on all of you who have done “Audition review” private lessons with Samantha. This one-day class will be a fun, fast paced, informative, love/tough (but still supportive!) love class with the goal being to bring you one step closer in more consistently submitting stellar, competitive auditions that book the job. The “so much more”? Hmmmm… this is Samantha’s deepest dive yet into the script analysis process and producing bookable auditions, so guess you’ll have to show-up to find out.

 

AM I MISSING SOMETHING?  NARRATION

Director: Dave Fennoy, Vicki Baum

Length: 10-hour weekend seminar

Class Notes: This course includes a pre-class homework assignment.  Students must have home-recording capabilities.

Ditto the class description above, just substitute narration for commercial, Dave & Vicki for Samantha (indeed it does take two), and a full weekend for one-day. You could be missing something in both genres, right?

 

ANIMATION DOMINATION  

Director: Matt Moy

Length: 10-hour weekend seminar

Class Notes: This course includes a pre-class homework assignment. Students must have home recording capabilities.

From his time on prime-time television or his character credits, Matt is stoked to guide you through a variety of animation scripts. It’s time for you to work with this very special Voicetrax alum rock star! From home recording performances that will receive feedback in class, to fun and exciting animated characters performed live in class, you’ll get an opportunity to pick his brain and learn how Matt’s experienced, comedic timing applies to dissecting scripts. How does he bring variety to his individual reads? How do you create different reads for the same script? With Matt at the helm, all those questions will be answered, and a wondrous time is sure to be had by all.

 

BRITISH-ISH: A JOURNEY TO MID-ATLANTIC & BEYOND

Director: PJ Ochlan

Length: 10-hour weekend seminar

Class Notes: None

Descend into the amorphous Mid-Atlantic accent without clear lines of distinction and no true right vs. wrong architecture. The ambiguity of this accent limits the “rule book”. Get ready as PJ – Dr. Dialect himself – demystifies the robustly requested (and by robustly we mean all.the.damn.time.) Mid-Atlantic accent. If you want to be competitive and book video games, this accent must be in your arsenal… FULL STOP. And what about the Beyond? We actually mean this literally and geographically this time around as PJ will incorporate aspects of English and other Euro accents to give everyone a bigger Trans-Atlantic toolbox to work with. This ups the challenge and gives you a lot more to play with as you rid yourself of that rudderless Mid-Atlantic boat in the middle of the ocean, sun beating down on your forehead, lips chapping, and focus in on a true Mid-Atlantic accent.

 

CHARACTER LAYER CAKE

Director: Roni Gallimore, Vicki Baum, Chuck Kourouklis

Length: 9-hour three-week workshop

Class Notes: This course includes a pre-class and weekly homework assignments. Prerequisite: Imagination Revisited or prior approval of Voicetrax.

As we continue deeper into the Imagination Revisited universe, we’ve upped the stakes. In the level one course, Roni, Vicki and Chuck worked with you to maintain consistency in your character. Remember it wasn’t you taking that voice-over class, it was your character taking the class. In this second level, not only will maintaining your character from the moment you login until the moment class is done still be key, but now you will be asked to perform certain tasks in that character. Directing other students? Yep! Spontaneously adding new layers to your character? Uh-huh! Other fun twists? You can count on it. Learn to spin multiple plates as you ground yourself in your self-created character.

 

DIRECT UNTO OTHERS

Director: Samantha Paris

Length: 15-hour five-week workshop

Class Notes: Prerequisite: Best Damn Demo: Commercial or prior approval from Voicetrax

If you consider the first level of Best Damn Demo: Commercial a benchmark that illuminated exactly where your self-direction and acting readiness were at that moment, this workshop will clearly show you just how far you have come since then. And because this is a level two class, we, of course, had to revamp the curriculum to make it challenging. This time around you will be paired with another student, one of you being deemed The Performer and the other The Director. So, as you go through the five-week process of pulling appropriate commercial scripts and recording elements to create a mock demo, you will have a partner in crime, someone to bounce ideas off of, and most importantly someone to grow with. No matter if you’re the performer or the director, this class will help you expand and explode into a world-class self-director.

 

FINDING THE BUNNY

Director: Samantha Paris

Length: 10-hour weekend seminar

Class Notes: This course includes a pre-class homework assignment. Students must have home recording capabilities.

Ah yes, the infamous bunny, hopping around with his mischievous smile, wreaking havoc and trampling all over your script analysis confidence. How many times have you found yourself in class or auditioning at home, screaming to yourself, “Where is that f#cking bunny?!?” Well here’s an interesting fact for you to ponder: sometimes in scripts there isn’t a bunny at all. Wait… what?!? Auuugh! To help you traverse this panorama is none other than the originator of the whole bunny concept herself, Miss Samantha Paris. C’mon, who else was going to teach a class called Finding The Bunny, for reals? Utilizing scripts from Sam and some you pick yourself, the class will include really digging deep into scripts, staring at them to figure out if there truly is a bunny there or not and then performing or directing them. Basically, it’s a Sam class so be ready for anything. But lest you forget that finding the bunny in a script will put you ahead of 99% of the rest of the actors you’re competing against, giving you an amazing advantage to book the gig!

 

Directors: Samantha Paris, Brian Sommer, Vicki Baum

Length: 12-hour four-week workshop

Class Notes: This course includes homework assignments. Students must have home recording capabilities.

The specs on a piece of voice-over copy have long stirred epic debates on how much or how little to pay attention to them. Are the specs a barren wasteland that say, “friendly and conversational”? On the other end of the spectrum, are the specs verbose (longer than the actual script even) and conflicting, making it easy to get caught up in them, getting in the way of a truly connected (translation: bookable) performance? So, what do you do? Every time you look at a new script the FIRST THING you should be asking yourself BEFORE you look at the specs is “what are the words in the script telling me?” In this workshop, you’ll get the answer to that all-important question. Samantha, Brian and Vicki will take you through various spec-centric exercises with commercial, character and narration scripts (oh my!) including reading the script without benefit of the specs to see if you naturally SEE the specs in the script. Find out what happens if you let the words on the page tell you what to do instead of relying on the specs. Take your script analysis skills to the highest level by making strong acting choices that result in a SPEC-tacular performance. See what we did there?

 

IT TAKES TWO 

Director: Samantha Paris

Length: 10-hour weekend seminar

Class Notes: This course has a pre-class homework assignment that includes memorizing an assigned scene prior to class which mean this course has a drop deadline that is one month (not two weeks) before class starts. Class may be repeated.

Dive into the invigorating world of partner work using scene scripts from plays and movies. Explore the true, honest, human connections that allow the craft of acting to truly awaken in your soul and lead you to a riveting or hilarious or poignant performance. Your time with Samantha will strengthen your overall acting skills including being more authentic, “in the moment” and letting the character speak through you. Ultimately this experience will absolutely, positively make you a better voice actor.

 

 

 

 

Director: NY Agent, ummm… duh.

Length: 9-hour three-week workshop

Class Notes: None

One of our favorite NY Agents decided to get away (not really), take a holiday from her neighborhood (not so much) and is hopping on a flight (virtually via online conferencing platform) and coming west and she’s bringing a whole lotta wisdom and East Coast confidence in her carry-on (and by carry-on we mean her big, beautiful brain). From script analysis to learning what an agent is actually listening for in a winning audition and everything in between, this New York dynamo will take you through a series of scripts that will test your abilities. She’ll keep the pace moving, so you may be sweating your you-know-what off by the end of the class, but will it be totally worth it? Of course it will… Fuhgeddaboutit! Sorry, we had to…she doesn’t really talk that way, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

 

NO LAUGHING MATTER

Director: Frank Coppola

Length: 12-hour four-week workshop

Class Notes:  This course includes a pre-class and weekly homework assignments.

You’ve likely heard it said comedy is a serious business. Learning how to get the laugh is the foremost goal in this ridiculously FUN (and funny!) exploration into what makes comedy tick. Its use of language, which ranges from vernacular speech to puns and wordplay, its use of taboo subjects, and its use of incongruence and juxtaposition.  Through physicality, comedic timing, distractions and more, Frank will help you to “get over yourself”, and just let the comedy and laughter rip! Working on comedic scripts from plays, television and movies will most definitely help your overall confidence when behind the microphone.

 

REMOTELY SPEAKING: CHARACTERS   

Directors: Samantha Paris, Dave Fennoy, LA Agent

Length: 9-hour three-week workshop

Class Notes: This course will include a pre-class homework assignment. Students must have home recording capabilities.

The Founder, a voice-over character icon and a Los Angeles agent that listens to character auditions every day digitally walk into a bar… ahem… classroom. Who better to give you direct, no-nonsense feedback to your pre-recorded performances? We’re pulling out all the stops, adding a character twist to one of the most popular class formats in Voicetrax history, so you can hear what the best in the business think of your character acting chops. In this densely populated self-direction class, these accomplished professionals will offer tips to better enhance your homebound, self-direction skills, and will ultimately illuminate different approaches or angles for you to explore in your character home auditions.

 

SAY NO TO THE “GO-TO”

Director: LA Agent

Length: 10-hour weekend seminar

Class Notes: None

You know that go-to animation voice that you… well… go to that’s earned you praise in class and may have even booked you a job or two? As good as that voice has been to you, it just might be time to put that go-to voice down and slowly back away. Why? Because the times they are always a changin’, and the world of animation is not immune. While there will always be the need for cute, outrageous animated voices, the current trend is tracking away from the traditional and moving toward a more natural delivery with a greater emphasis on character development. With one of the country’s top animation agents, you’ll work on your character’s intentions and not worry so much about vocal placement. So next time when the peer pressure is mounting, and you feel compelled to go to that safe place and get all “cartoony” with your voice, remember what you’ve learned here and just say no.

 

SELF-DIRECTION TRIFECTA

Director: Vicki Baum, Brian Sommer, LA Agent

Length: 10-hour weekend seminar

Class Notes: This course includes a pre-class homework assignment. Students must have home recording capabilities.

There’s that pesky term AGAIN… Self-Direction. If only there was a magic pill, and POOF, every script you saw was crystal clear… (ahhh, but not all of can be Samantha!) And by every script, we mean characters, narration and commercial. But wait! This seminar just happens to have that very triad of teachers to help you with your self-direction aptitude across the board. With Brian helping you let loose with characters, Vicki steadying your engaging storyteller with narration and our very special Agent B from the City of Angels taking on the authenticity of commercials, your self-direction skills are sure to soar, making your first take out of the gate count, leading your home auditions to a whole new level.

 

(ON A TUESDAY) 

Directors: Tina Morasco, Carli Silver

Length: 2-week six-hour workshop

Class Notes: None

Join the ladies from casting juggernaut Sound & Fury, as they tell you everything they know about what casting professionals are looking for in a winning audition. Tina & Carli will focus on character pre-life, speaking from your gut and bringing a unique point of view to your performance. They might even get you to stop making each word so friggin’ special and just give it to them straight. With each script being so unique, these experienced casting experts will help you bring the honesty and truth to tags and commercial scripts while translating the specs into actionable direction. By the end of the jam-packed day you’ll come to realize it’s your inner voice not your outer voice that counts.

 

T.G.I.F.! 

Director: Samantha Paris

Length: 20-hour five-week workshop

Class Notes: This course includes a pre-class and weekly homework assignment. Students must have home recording capabilities.

Samantha is locked and loaded… ready to bring the FUN to Fridays and give you exactly what you need. As is the tradition, this class can be repeated because the lesson plan ALWAYS changes! Because Samantha re-creates her lesson plan every time, this class is uniquely based on the needs of the 12 participants that sign up, meaning this class can be repeated… repeatedly. Could the curriculum be commercials or characters? Maybe a dramatic monologue? Might it be exploring famous prototypes? Or writing your own commercial? Perhaps a name draw where you will secretly observe your fellow ‘Traxer over the duration of the 5 weeks and perform as that person on the last Friday? We know it will be self-direction, oh and a contest! Well, of course, a contest… And, well, whatever it is, it will have you saying, “I’ve never worked so hard and played so much at the same time!” Yep, fun abounds on TGIF.

 

THE COLOR OF ACTING

Director: Thom Pinto

Length: 10-hour weekend seminar

Class Notes: Prerequisite: Colors Of Your Voice or prior approval from Voicetrax.

Okay, so you’ve mastered the primary colors including blue, you’re feeling good about green. And you’re confident when it comes to their close cousin as your performances are being vaulted by violet. But how’s your aqua? Or your beige? Join the creator of the Colors acting system, Thom Pinto, where you’ll continue to examine the subtleties and nuances of using an expanded color palette when you create interesting and unique acting choices, including incorporating this technique to differentiate reads when tasked to do more than one interpretation. Experiment with longer monologues, funny partner reads, and some exercises designed specifically to help you be more visual with your performance.

 

THE POWER OF PERSUASION 

Director: Thom Pinto

Length: 10-hour weekend seminar

Class notes: None

As another election cycle comes around in the Fall of 2024, the number of political ads that need voices will explode. And although we are all painfully aware of the timbre of most national political ads, luckily that is not what this class is about (phew!). Instead Thom will bring it back home to focus on local and regional candidates as well as issue-oriented ads that are incredibly lucrative and news flash: not always negative. Some even have hope and humor! And ladies, there is tremendous opportunity for you, too. And because conviction is more important than ever in these types of ads, committing to an acting choice is paramount (we’re sure there is somewhere else that could be applied, like everywhere). Join Thom for an informative weekend but please leave your politics and political debate hat at the door. Seriously.

 

– LA EDITION

Director: Samantha Paris, LA Agent

Length: 12-hour four-week workshop

Class Notes: This course includes weekly homework assignments.  Students must have home recording capabilities.

A shell game of another flavor, this class will ask you to keep your eye on “The Lady”, namely a feedback-eligible script from an industry veteran. To play, your “dealer”, the lovely Samantha Paris, will offer three scripts each night, one of which is a recent audition script that will be eligible for feedback from a top LA agent that works in the trenches every day listening to hundreds of auditions. The twist? You won’t know which of the three scripts the feedback-eligible audition is. Will it be the scripts you record live in class or will it be the one you will record at home? Only the dealer knows for sure. Guess you’ll have to bring your best stuff each night, script after script after script. The engineer will send the recordings of the selected script to the LA agent for straight-forward, get-to-the-point, professional-standard feedback. Learn exactly where you stack up compared with working voice actors, or if you are a working voice actor get that precious audition feedback you long for. Get used to handling your nerves while you focus in on a brilliant performance when it’s truly all on the line.

 

TRAILERS AND PROMOS AND $$, OH MY!

Director: Richard Redfield, Chopper Bernet

Length: 10-hour weekend seminar

Class Notes: This course includes a pre-class homework assignment.

Any class that has dollar signs in its title is not being subtle in the least. Hey you! Yeah, you! Money over here! Follow Richard Redfield, a prolific producer in this realm, down the yellow brick road to voice-over riches in the movie trailer and promo branches of the voice-over industry. Both deceptively challenging, trailers and promos definitely have a melody all their own and Richard is here to be your conductor in this snappy, one-day lab. You’ll dig into this world that requires booming voices AND the girl/guy next door read. Do you know how hard it is to write a trailer class description without saying “in a world”? Oh snap, we just said it.

 

TRIPLE THREAT: YOU CHOOSE THE GENRE

Director: Samantha Paris, SF Agent

Length: 10-hour weekend seminar

Class Notes: This course includes a pre-class and weekly homework assignment. Students must have home recording capabilities.

What genre of voice-over is your Wheelhouse? Your Go-To? Your Zero? All that training has come to this: a weekend seminar where YOU choose which voice-over genre (commercial, video games, promos, etc.) allows you to strut your stuff at the highest level. Throughout the weekend you will work with your directors on multiple sub-genre scripts (i.e., narration sub-genre = audio tours, tutorials, industrial, etc.), some recorded at home, some performed live in class. Our experts will offer precise feedback to make you your go-to slam-dunk bookable. Finally, whomever in the eyes of Samantha and the savvy San Francisco Agent T is the most competitive across all their sub-genre performances, will be crowned the Triple Threat and will win a free private lesson from Samantha!

 

UNMASKING YOUR INFINITE POTENTIAL: NARRATION

Director: Peter Coyote

Length: 7-hour one-day seminar

Join the one and only Peter Coyote as he masterfully guides you through exercise after exercise including wearing masks to shift your paradigm before spontaneously creating a character, that will open your mind and welcome in all the inexhaustible possibilities your existence offers. He’ll also challenge you to identify the negative thoughts that your psyche categorizes as self-truths, that are merely self-imposed obstacles that are strangling your creativity and stopping you from living a rich, full life. In the afternoon, you’ll take all that new-found, mind-blowing awareness and apply it to narration scripts. This Emmy-winning ® narrator (The Ken Burns’ produced documentary The Roosevelts) and on-camera actor with over 100 movie and television credits including E.T. The Extraterrestrial, Erin Brockovich and The Comey Rule just to name a few, will give you the tools to discover the ability to focus that enlightened state and funnel it into extraordinary acting choices, bringing about a true transformational performance.

 

UTILITY PLAYER UNIVERSITY

Director: LA Agent

Length: 9-hour three-week workshop

Class Notes: This course includes weekly homework assignments. Students must have home recording capabilities.

Just like any career, the more versatile your skill set is, the more attractive you are to agents, producers, casting agents and ultimately… clients. School is in session and Agent B is locked and loaded and ready to knock your socks off with her “cornucopia of variety” lesson plan. Each night the focus will be on a different genre of voice-over, so not only will you receive feedback and script analysis ideas, techniques and approaches from one of the hardest working agents in the business, you’ll be strengthening your ability to create momentum in your booking rate by being the ultimate utility player.