Wazzup Pilipinas!The great Abraham Lincoln said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four hours sharpening the axe.”
Every skill, easy or difficult, can be mastered through TRAINING. Whether you’re an athlete, a performer, painter, movie director… the skills you need to learn in order to be great in your respective field must be learned, rehearsed and applied with discipline and consistency. And voice acting is no different.
Voice artists are the anonymous people whose voice you hear in radio and TV commercials, dubbed films and telenovela, audiobooks, video games, radio drama, corporate videos, e-learning materials, and even in the train stations reminding you to take care of your belongings. Many people have a misconception that anyone who has a “good voice” can become voice artists… but it’s like saying, “you have nice, long legs, you should join Miss Universe!”
Even I had to train and practice in order to develop the many voices I have done for voiceovers, dubbing, commercials, radio drama and many more. I started as a self-taught voice artist, then eventually trained through books, videos, and mentors from the local and international voice acting scene. When I began working as a Voice Director, that’s when I realized that even those who have been in the industry for some time could use some formal training to learn the principles and the vocal mechanism behind voice acting.
That was the main reason I started my company, Creativoices Productions, in 2005. I didn’t build Creativoices just to become another audio production house. I built it in order to establish the very first voice acting school in the country, the Philippine Center for Voice Acting. Since then, I was on a mission to promote voice acting as an art and to professionalize the voice acting industry by honing aspiring voice artists with the knowledge and tools they need to ACT with the their voice. Creativoices became the venue to help our graduates to get their foot in the door of the voice acting world. I am proud to say that 10 years and 36 batches later, our school has produced more than 1,000 graduates, and many of them have built a successful career as voice artists, hosts, broadcasters, and even public speakers.
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| Alexx Agcaoili |
So what happens in our voice acting class?
Voiceworx – our basic voice acting and dubbing workshop – is taught by the best voice directors and voiceover artists in the country – Danny Mandia, Alexx Agcaoili and Neil Tolentino, who are veteran voice artists and dubbing directors in ABS CBN and Hero TV; Brian Ligsay, one of the most sought-after voice artists, events host and voiceover (TRIVIA: he’s the voice behind the safety reminders of LRT Line 2); and me, the VoiceMaster of the Philippines. You can read all about my voice acting credentials at
www.voicemaster.me.
With the instructors’ credentials and experience, you already have an idea that you will be learning a lot from the workshop. Our classes are intensive and highly participatory. Students are exposed to real-life radio broadcasting, dubbing and recording sessions.
Another thing worth mentioning is that in Voiceworx, we teach students how to ACT with their voice, and not just alter it. Sure, imitating voices is a nice talent to have, if all you want to do is impress (or annoy) friends and family at a dinner party. But when it comes to being a voice artist, it’s not all about how many characters you can imitate, but how many you can CREATE.
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| Danny Mandia |
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| DJ Big Brian |
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| Majestic Prince dubbing with Voiceworx students in ABS CBN |
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| Papa Neil Tolentino |
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| The VoiceMaster teaching in Voiceworx |
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| Voiceworx Students Dubbing 1911 Movie in ABS CBN |
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| Voiceworx Students Dubbing in ABS CBN |
Voiceworx runs for 8 Saturdays, with 4 batches of workshops happening every year. You may visit
www.voiceworxshop.com to find out the schedules and details on how to register.
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| Voiceworx Graduation |
I have a vision, and that is to make the Philippines the center of voiceover excellence in Asia. I believe that Filipinos have voice acting prowess that can be competitive in the international market, as we have already proven with clients such as Sega, Itruemart and TAG 91.1 in Dubai. Through Voiceworx, I am confident that this vision has already become a reality.
Contributed by Pocholo “The VoiceMaster” Gonzales
