Workshops
Put your voice to work in this complex and lucrative business. Learn how to build a career as a voice actor for audiobooks, films, commercials, and video games.
Dates:
Oct 7, 2024 - Oct 11, 2024
Levels:
All
Workshop Fee: $1395
Workshop Duration: 1-week (Monday-Friday)
Workshop Location: On-campus
Class Size: 14
The number of voiceover (VO) jobs is growing as the market demands ever more content production. And it’s possible for both union and non-union talent to find and win lucrative jobs. But like other creative industries, VO is experiencing an influx of AI, with artificially generated voices a poor and cheap substitute for the real thing.
So how do you ensure your VO performance stands out? How do you build a VO career that’s sustainable and rewarding even as AI production ramps up?
Together we’ll identify and strengthen YOUR distinctive, irreplaceable voice during this week-long course, through:
- Extensive practice working on mic while receiving constructive feedback;
- Analyzing copy for critical clues on read and performance;
- Discovering the surprising choice that distinguishes your work;
- Learning to self-direct (a huge component of VO work these days);
- Making sense (and use) of external direction, and learning to make powerful choices even when the provided direction is murky.
Classroom discussions and daily practice sessions will cover a range of disciplines including Commercial and Promo, Audiobook, Industrial, Character/Animation & Video Games, IVR/Looping, Film Trailers, and eLearning. While they’re all VO, they require different approaches and different skill sets.
We’ll also cover the practical and business aspects of a VO career in 2024:
- The logistics of setting up a home studio and using software editing programs;
- Creating your audio profile for online platforms;
- Where and how to find voiceover work;
- What to expect in working with producers, casting directors and agents;
- Positioning yourself to adapt and remain current in a rapidly changing industry.
This class is suited for both beginning VO performers interested in breaking in, as well as experienced VO artists eager to take greater control over their careers and expand into new areas of the VO market.
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Instructor: Vivienne Leheny
Vivienne Leheny has narrated over 200 audiobooks for Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and Audible Studio Originals, along with many other publishers. She has rapidly built a successful, self-sustaining audiobook narration business. Her narrations have been nominated for Audie and SOVAS (Society for Voice Arts) awards, and her commercial narrations have also received SOVAS nominations.
As a voiceover artist, she’s recorded over a thousand promotions for NBC (Saturday Night Live, Nightly News, Days of our Lives, Late Night with Conan O’Brien), including over a decade announcing for The Today Show. She’s also done promotional spots for HBO, Showtime, and Bravo. Vivienne has voiced numerous national commercial campaigns, including Coca-Cola, Fruit of the Loom, Florida Orange Juice, Bristol Meyers Squibb, Maxwell House, and Revlon.