Houston Coaches

[Scoot]

There is a rather strange phenomenom here in Houston, TX. We are the fourth largest city in the country yet there seems to be a dearth of qualified VO coaches in this city. I know I am not alone in this perception. Last time I took a class with Betty Zoller in Dallas, there were three other Houstonians in attendance. Perhaps we simply do not know where to look. Perhaps the good ones are hiding. Perhaps the only coaches this city has is VO talent trying to make ends meet by teaching because they are not getting enough work. Whatever.
Now to the point. Perhaps one of the people who visit Julies site can make a recommendation. Personally I look forward to attending a workshop with Julie, perhaps with Pat Fraley, in the near future. But in the meantime, I'd love to be able to get some regular coaching from someone who can actually guide me through some bumps along the way....

So, to quote from Ferris Bueller, "Anyone? Anyone? Anyone???"

Thanks for any tips, help, suggestions and guidance....

[Jon Robbins]

This might be the best place (http://www.voiceoverresourceguide.com/index.html) to start. Good Luck

[Julie Williams]

Scoot... you HAVE to come here in Sept!

BUT... if you can't . I worked the Houston market for a long time and don't know anyone who is good at coaching. One of my students has a coach she works with there... but from her level of her improvement, I don't think I would recommend him.

Bob Magruder used to do workshops there on occasion. He's in Dallas, and would travel to Houston every 3 months. Denise, and Actors Etc. would host him, and he'd work with Jerry Houston.

I've worked with them and even taught with Magruder. They're both very good.

Bob just had surgery on his knee, so he probably won't be doing anyting real soon... but I believe his website is magrudermedia.com? You can look him up... Bob Magruder, on Lemmon Dr. in Dallas.

Sorry I can't recommend someone who actually lives in Houston! It's same in San Antonio and Austin. There are people teaching because they can't work. There are people teaching who have never had a VO job. If there are good VO teachers there--and I'm not saying there aren't--I don't know about them.

[Jon Morss]

Hey Scoot,

My daughter, the huge Anime fan that she is, told me that John Swasey does provide VO training in the Houston area. John Swasey has voiced a number of Anime series and is a great VO talent. I don't have a contact for you, but I'll ask my daughter if she can track it down. One thing though, John Swasey works primarily for ADV films located in Houston and which could be a good place to get started and get great ADR experience.
http://www.advfilms.com/

One big suggestion I would have for you with regards to working at a place like ADV or FUNimation in Dallas is to get some Theater experience. They primarily get folks from the local Theater groups based on their acting skills, but it is not unheard of for someone to land a job without Theater.

And check out the listing at Actor's in Houston.
http://www.actorsetc.net/classws.htm
EXIPHEN INSTITUTE: The Houston School of Film and TV Acting seems to be a popular place for some of the Anime VO talent to get training.

Harlan Hogan's site has a couple listed in Dallas including Bettye, but there are others listed in other parts of the country:
http://www.harlanhogan.com/coachList.php#Midwest


Oh yeah, of course as Julie mentioned you could join Julie and Pat Fraley in Sacramento next month. I'll be there and we could talk some more. You'll love the Warm Dry weather here.

Good luck and Stay dry dude.

Jon