Learn The Art of Voice Over
If you want to learn a skill, best to learn from a proven consistent pro. Someone who has played the game, at its highest level, and took himself from the bottom to top. VO University is a Collegiate style teaching system where you learn from a professional in the field. The professional not only has the skill to teach this subject matter, but also with 30 years of work history in the Industry. That’s a Home run in the classroom, because learning goes hand in hand with understanding the Industry you want to enter.
Sandy Thomas has spent over 2 decades teaching students the skill of Voice Over. Author of the book “So You Want To Be a VOICE-OVER STAR”.
From youth talent to adults. His students have gone on to sign with A list Union Voice Over talent agencies in NYC, and going on to book big Union VO jobs. Other talent, non-union status, have left his teaching systems going on to do something professionally engaging, and others take classes to have fun, meet others. Voice Over is a Potent talent and great skill set to own.
Sandy Thomas has 3 decades consistently working in the Voice-Over Industry. He is SAG-AFTRA affiliated with 29 union vested years of VO earnings, esteemed credentials, performing on over 40 Union National Network commercial Voice Over Campaigns. He was the voice of Fear Factor, one of the most successful reality based TV shows in the history of network TV.
A signed working Union Voice Actor for 25 years since signing in 1993 to the prestigious Union affiliated CESD talent agency in NYC. He was signed by famed agent Angela Dipine.
Since 2000 Thomas has taught Voice Over instruction. His teaching system “VO University” has helped youth talent to adults learn the skill of Voice over.
Thomas say's, regarding learning the Skill of Voice Over...
“Everyone’s clock for learning the skill of Voice Over varies. We could motivate a student to spend $1,200 on classes, another $1,200 or more on producing demos. We don’t do that.
Our teaching system is built on a class to class basis. You attend one class, if you feel you enjoy it, you’re learning, and building… you book your 2nd class. You invest what you want to invest, and go as far as you want to go. We ensure that your talent development keeps pace.
Our teaching philosophy is engaging you right into reading copy and recording from the 1st class forward. You read pro copy, animation, commercials, promo copy, learning how to read all of it. Copy that is currently circulating in NY, LA, and Chicago to real working pros.
You are also recording on mic, being directed, and receiving your audio takes at the end of each class. Those takes can be integrated possibly down the line into building your own demo, or we re-record new takes as your talent develops. ONLY we will decide if a demo is to be built for yourself if your progress is moving forward.
Think of the learning process as a semester, or just under. That is the average learning curve with a Voice Over skill.
We won’t allow you to waste money building a demo if your talent isn’t ready. In closing, it’s about learning how to get a piece of a copy, how to interpret it, then getting on mic to deliver it. Like a Pro.
If you’re an experienced actor, great. Do you need prior experience to do this? No
KAREN VOICE OVER STORY
Karen is a unique and very uplifting Voice Over teaching story. And one of the most memorable of my teaching career. I have had a lot of success with students, over the years, watching them go on to achieve some great things, getting signed to the Top Union Talent agencies in the world. Watching talent book National VO jobs, major consistent accomplishments on all levels.
Karens Voice Over story has such a positive twist that my heart smiles when i think of what happened to her professionally. All she wanted to do, was fill in some spaces.
Karen came into our studio fall of 2018 with no Voice Over experience, no prior credits and just a stage actor voice tone that was a little too refined, to projected. However, Karen possessed a major ability to learn, and as a person just wanted to keep busy and have some fun. She’s an example of, if your prepared to focus, and work hard, you can get somewhere.
Retired, and recently loosing her husband Karen always wanted to do Voice Overs, life just got in the way. Finally with some free time, I met Karen at Church, she expressed she always wanted to take a Voice Over class. i obviously said, “fabulous contact me.” It took several months but Karen finally put her plan in motion. She came into our studio over several months weekly reading scripts, recording, learning, being critiqued, listening back, re-recording and just enjoying and evolving within the academic process. Voice Over like anything else in life ..it senses where your emotions lie in that moment. If you are inspired, your performance will reflect that, if your mood is joyful ..you Voice Over reads will reflect that. Karen could care less where this agenda would go. She didn’t need the money, she has a pension, she was taking this class cause she always wanted to, she was bored and wanted to fill some time doing something fun, and she was inspired by acting. So she came into the studio, reading, recording, and just improving week to week. She got busy.
We slowed her down, taught her some things, she absorbed the teachings made adjustments, improved week to week.
Impressed with Karens progress and Voice Quality, a radio program director was launching a NEW country radio station in the Augusta Maine radio market called Cruisin Country and was searching for a station Voice. After I concluded our teaching period, and impressed with Karens voice and progress i advised her to audition. She read some lines, our studio produced them and we presented them to the radio station Program Director. Karen booked the job, was extended a contract, even paid her more money than she paid to take our classes, and the irony, she could care less about the money, it was more about the Joy of enjoying what she was doing, having fun with it, and the MAJOR feeling of accomplishment. Don’t get me wrong, working is the goal, so Karen is happy about getting paid for her talents.
I invite you to take a listen to Karen’s various Voice Over demos that we produced from the audio she recorded while taking VO classes with us. Also listen to the Cruisin Country demo, samples of audio that is now airing on the radio station which launched 1 day after Christmas on December 26th, 2018.
Karen texted me 12/26/18 in the am, from her home saying this after listening to the radio station in Maine by way of an internet stream. She said …
“Wow I just heard myself on the radio quite amazing! Thanks so much. God bless you and your family”
Talk about a gift of the holiday, one of my greatest teaching memories as a teacher and leader in this subject matter. Im not saying YOU will book a job like that, no one knows where your next moment will go. I will guarantee that you will enjoy yourself, feel a sense of accomplishment due to our class curriculum and who knows where life will go from there.
Stormy Barbara-Youth
Stormy was a youth talent who studied in our studio system. Listen to her demo below that we wrote and produced for her. She had no experience when she arrived. That demo ended up getting Stormy signed to CESD, one of the world’s Top Youth talent agencies. She joined SAG and became an A-List Youth Voice Actor for 3 straight years, booking work for Campbells, ESPN, Build a Bear, Justin Bieber, and more.
Teen
Teens looking to build their acting abilities should understand voice-over, and build that skillset. Agents look for actors with Voice Over abilities.
Below, some of Stormy's work, including the animation demo we produced, that got her signed to CESD, NY- she become one the agencies signed A-List Youth Voice Actors
AUDIO BELOW FROM TALENT WE TRAINED
Another youth VO talent we trained. After several VO classes Diana was asked by a Louieville radio station to Voice an on air promo
This youth talent studied in our system, demo below we produced
Will was a Jr. in HS when he came to us for VO training. He had no experience. After 10 weeks, of classes, we wrote and produced 3 demos for Will. A commercial, character and video game vo reel. Some of those demos
This student wanted to enter the area of POP radio VO imaging
Rebecca is an adult VO actress that came into our studio in early 2000 with zero credits and never have acted professionally or had a Voice Over credit. Since, she has voiced 1000’s of radio promos, sweepers, and positioning statements, Voiced countless VO jobs, commercials, Industrials We specifically train in niche areas of VO
Class Info
We recommend an average of 4 to 10 VO classes before looking to the next stage of building a demo. We take it class to class, with class sizes remaining small, 7 to 12 students per class, 2 hour minimum per class. We can run over some.
Pricing
$150 PER CLASS, all payments via Paypal
Class Schedule
We hold classes at various locations/times, and market cities. See below for locations, dates and times.
