VOICE-OVER COACH

Classes are semi-private, with a maximum of three students in each.  They are conducted at the Ripley-Grier Rehearsal Studios, 520 8th Avenue, between 36th and 37th Streets, in Manhattan, and are given once per week.  Occasionally they are given at another Ripley-Grier location (there are three, all on Manhattan’s west side).

Classes are given on various weekday evenings and occasionally on Saturdays throughout the year.  

Private Classes

In certain cases, private classes can be arranged.  Each one-on-one class lasts for one-hour and costs $140.00.  

Students must enter into a written agreement with Mr. Flowers for the classes.  The agreement must be signed by or before the first class.  A deposit equaling 20 percent (20%) of the total cost is required before the first class.  The deposit is applied to classes nine and ten.  Students pay as they go for classes one through eight.  The Final Exam is paid for at the time it is given. 

Prices

$100 per one-hour class, per person.  (Deposit: $200)  Total: $1,000.

Optional Final Exam: $100.

Payment  

Credit cards are not accepted for the classes or the final exam.  Neither are personal checks.  Only corporate checks, cash, money orders, bank issued checks, and email money transfers (such as Chase Quick Pay and PayPal) are accepted.  Receipts are provided. However, personal checks may be used for up-front payment in-full for the classes, and for the deposit, along with a signed agreement, unless the payment is made at the first class session. 

At the conclusion of this program of study, each student receives a Certificate of Completion indicating that he or she successfully completed the required course work.

1)  Course workbook (required).  Price: $20.00.  This is supplied by Mr. Flowers. 

2)  Audio recorder: This need not be elaborate, but the better it sounds, the better you'll sound when you are practicing.  While some people opt to just record onto their phone, which is fine as long as you can clearly hear the playback of your practice reads, others prefer to purchase additional equipment.  B&H, Staples, Best Buy and other retailers sell perfectly fine digital and some analogue machines.  Home units are fine, as long as you can use an external microphone.  Do not use the condenser mics that came with the old cassette machines.  They won't sound good, so you won't sound good.  Computer recording is fine, too.  Free audio recording software is available online.  Take your pick. 

3)  Microphone:  A uni- or omni-directional mic from B&H, for a cost of around 50 dollars, is quite serviceable.  Remember, the better the mic, the better the signal that is sent to the recording device.  You will also need a mic cable and perhaps a jack adapter to interface with the recorder, phone or computer, and possibly a mic pre-amp.  Consult with the salesperson at the store.

Optional but highly recommended: a desktop mic stand, with the holder.  Cost: about 30 dollars.

4) Audio cassettes (if you use an audio cassette machine): It’s old technology, but still very usable.  Do not skimp here.  Cheap cassettes (e.g., no-name cassettes and store house brands) generate a lot of tape hiss.  Go for Sony or Maxell.  

5) Another thing you might want to get is a stopwatch, preferably one that doesn't chirp or click when you start or stop it (Modell’s is a good source).  The speaker on some stopwatches can be disabled; clicks, however, cannot be silenced.  Your phone may have a stopwatch function, so there may be no additional expense there.

Breaking In

As is the case with all areas of show business, the voice-over field is highly competitive and difficult to break into. 

You will likely not have an agent at the outset of your voice-over career and will therefore have to make your own marketing calls.  Starting from scratch, you should be prepared for a lengthy start-up period.  During the first year, you will probably earn very little; no one knows you yet and you have to establish rapport with producers and other prospective clients.  By about the end of the third year, you should be seasoned enough to start approaching talent agents and casting directors.  This is not something you can or should rush; you have to PAY YOUR DUES!

State of the Business

The marketplace remains tight and unpredictable; although the economy is far from perfect, there are definite signs of improvement in this industry, and it’s a very good time to learn to do voice-overs.  It’s also a pretty good time to start a voice-over career; as I said, it takes a few years to get it going, and with any luck, the economy will have fully righted itself at around the same time you hit your professional stride. 

Attitude and tenacity are going to make the difference as you approach your career. Many people are going to drop out before the start-up period is over.  Those who survive with a true commitment to doing voice-overs have a good chance of succeeding over the long term.  In this case, you’ve gotta STAY in it, to win it!

Income Potential

Short of a crystal ball, there is no way of knowing how much you’re going to earn in this business – somewhere between zero and millions of dollars is all that can be honestly said.  Some people make enormous sums, but common sense dictates that the big money earners are few and far between.  I advise my students to be realistic and develop their career in stages. First try to just make a living (whatever that means to you); once you achieve that, strive to make a good living; and once you make that happen, work as hard as you can to make a really good living. It’s entirely up to you.