MANILA -- Ever hear an ad on TV or one of the different streaming platforms, or listen to the English or Tagalog dubs of anime and K-dramas, and say to yourself, “I could do that!”

If you’ve ever seen (or heard) yourself as a voice actor, then the VocAlliance VO Pro Foundational workshop may be one of the best ways to get your voice heard.

VocAlliance is the non-profit organization that was organized by voice artists as an initiative by Manila’s top recording studios and production houses to professionalize the industry back in 2016. Founded by established artists in the voice industry, their goal is to help starting voice artist by sharing what they know about the business and craft of voice acting.

One of VocAlliance’s main contributions to protecting voice acting as a sustainable livelihood is the publication and regular update of an industry benchmark rate card that covers types of jobs as well as usage rights. It was a way to stem the “race to the bottom” because of the prevalent practice of undercutting that plagued the creative sector and devalued the craft.

The consequences of undercutting have already wreaked havoc on the dubbing sub-industry where local studios have found it difficult to justify globally competitive rates with foreign clients, thinking that the bargain basement prices were the norm.

As many of voice actors are part of the gig economy, the organization has also let its voice heard as one of the consulting parties in House Bill 8817, or the proposed Freelance Workers Protection Act.

In terms of propagating the craft of voice acting, VocAlliance is developing a complete voice acting program that begins with the upcoming VO Pro Foundational Acting Workshop

The five-week program has gone through several iterations since the first one was held in 2018 as a fund-raising activity for one of the legends of Philippine voice acting, the late Lily Ann Nichols. Since then, the core group has continued to refine the course’s content and method of delivery.

The course will be held online over Zoom. In the past, this enabled students from all over the country, some from abroad to join over the internet.

The VO Pro workshops will be mentored by prominent names with a combined 90 years’ experience in voiceover industry with: VocAlliance founder Robi Joseph, Hit Productions head of localization Rudolf Baldonado Jr., veteran theater actor Jeremy Domingo, and musician Jona Paculan. They bring a combined 90 years in the industry to give participants a look into the world of voice acting by, interesting enough, getting to know themselves.

The group gave a quick preview as to what students can expect from the course:

VOICE ACTING IS… ACTING

A lot of people think that doing voiceovers is easy, thinking that it’s just reading something out loud and that’s it. In truth, to do it well, there’s an involved process behind sharpening one's craft. Today’s casters look for authenticity and flexibility.

Joseph, the voice behind Nickelodeon Asia for the past 18 years, knows this all too well as he has done everything from commercial reads to full-length AVPs.

“It’s about storytelling and talking about the human condition that is rooted in personal experience that draws from your own life. In the end, it’s a voice actor’s humanity moves people,” said Joseph.

KNOW THYSELF

In the VO-Pro Workshop, the mentors shine the spotlight on the student. While there are some technical aspects of voice acting in the lectures as well as valuable behind-the-scenes stories and insights from the mentors’ experiences in the industry, a large part of the foundational workshop is about self-awareness and discovering authenticity, and how to put oneself into a performance.

Perhaps the most recognizable face among the mentors is stage actor Domingo, who’s got 30 years of voiceover work tucked away under his belt. Domingo is no stranger to putting oneself into a role as seen from the memorable characters he’s lent that distinctive booming voice on the stage.

“A script can be interpreted completely differently by two voice artists yet come up with something completely valid. It’s about knowing oneself, knowing your comfort zone, and turning weaknesses into strengths later on,” said Domingo.

EVERY VOICE HAS A MARKET

A common misconception is that one has to have a “golden voice” to get VO jobs. While there is still a lot of work for the booming resonant movie trailer voice, media and material have changed to highlight stories of ordinary characters becoming extraordinary. Hence the demand for the “man/woman on the street” voice.

How one of the mentors, Rudolf Baldonado Jr., got his most iconic part is an example of this. Nickelodeon spent a lot of time and effort trying to cast the Filipino voice of SpongeBob SquarePants. After 4 weeks of auditioning the most established voice actors trying out, they still couldn’t get find Filipino SpongeBob. Baldonado reluctantly agreed to audition as the casters were begging everyone they knew to audition. His edge was that he was a fan of SpongeBob, and he knew how to dissect a character due to his theater experience.

“I know I knew how he sounded when he was happy, when he was sad. And I read the Filipino lines how I thought he would read this. And a week later, Nickelodeon emailed and said, ‘We found SpongeBob. Please cast Rudolf Baldonado Jr.’” reminisced Baldonado, who is pretty good at his job as a director and head of localization at Hit Productions, one of the biggest local studios that handle projects from the biggest global media companies and streaming platforms for both Filipino and English dubbing projects.

A BIG RESET BUTTON

New to the team is musician Jona Paculan, the narrator behind the iconic “Vow” Jollibee Studios commercial and the voice behind many Jollibee and Chowking ads. Paculan was already one of the most sought-after voice actors with 10 years in the voice over industry when he attended the first workshop.

“I wish I had this class when I was starting out. This was a big reset button. I was going, ‘This is what I don’t have. This is what I’m doing wrong,’” said Paculan, stressing that even experienced voice actors will get something out of the VO Pro workshops.

Paculan noted that proper objective feedback he got from the workshop was worth the price of admission.

“The only feedback I got during my early years was from clients. But when they give feedback, it’s for their benefit, it’s for their ad, it’s for what THEY want. When I took this course, the feedback was for me and my improvement. In the same way, the feedback you will get from this course is for YOUR benefit. When you improve, we’re happy!” said Paculan.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE…

“We agreed that there can’t be one blanket definition for voiceovers.,” said Baldonado, acknowledging that the voiceover spans a broad range of disciplines from advertising, dubbing, radio, narration, audiobooks, and even live VOs for events, and one course just couldn’t address all of these needs.

The foundational workshop is just a part of the full program that VocAlliance will be rolling out later this year. This will include advanced masterclasses for different specializations leveraging on the depth of talent and expertise in the VocAlliance Community.

Besides this, the mentors encourage voice-over artists to freely explore, and look for coaches to learn as much as they can.

COMMUNITY AND FAMILY

Voice artists of all levels are also invited to join the VocAlliance Community on Facebook. It isn’t a requirement to have gone through the VO Pro workshop to be a member. New members are welcomed with access to the VO Pro Survival Kit, which includes the VocAlliance rate card for reference.

The community is made up of voice artists and professionals from all levels and corners of the industry. In the group are casters, sound engineers, dubbers, scriptwriters, and even technical people who sell and setup equipment and studios.

The community regularly holds special events like afternoon workshops given by brand partners, and VO workouts where anyone can sign up for a slot to practice and read and are freely given valuable feedback, advice and support. Getting to see the faces behind the voices from favorite ads, videos, movies, TV shows, an even video games, is an added bonus.

There are even subgroups that maintain 24/7 always open Zoom sessions and Discord servers for those who have the sudden urge to practice and read in the middle of the night.

Likewise, there are also sister communities like Voice Actors at Home-PH that is a support group for voice actors who have their own set of challenges while doing voice work at home.

The 5-week VO Pro Foundational Acting Course proper will begin on April 23 and priced at P12,000 per student. Each applicant will go through an evaluation process prior to booking a slot.

For interested parties, VocAlliance will be holding a primer from 3-5 p.m. on Saturday, March 19, over Zoom for those who are interested to know more. Slots for this session are very limited. Interested parties may check out the event page or e-mail VocAlliance.FAC@gmail.coml to sign up for a Primer slot.