In August 2021, our School Director, Danny Scott, chatted with Cissy Jones, Melissa Hutchison, and Gavin Hammon — three incredible voice actors who are not only friends in real life but also starred together in Telltale's The Walking Dead Series! Danny asked the fantastic trio about their careers, experience, and day to day life as working voice actors. Then, they shared advice for aspiring and professional voice actors.
In the Q&A video, they discuss topics like their first VO jobs, imposter syndrome, and live recording sessions. Listening to them talk about these insanely relatable topics is refreshing and encouraging. Advocating for yourself is a key topic of importance. Cissy shared a lesson learned from a challenging session where the director kept pushing until she heard something in her voice pop. Melissa shared a lesson from when she was doing a lot of battle cries for a video game and it impacted her voice for weeks after that. Both echoed the important reminder for voice actors to always advocate for themselves. If you need water or if you need to take a vocal rest, find a way to make it happen.
On specific advice for voice actors in the industry, Melissa encouraged voice actors to stay positive, visualize, and manifest. Cissy explained that our job is to create theatre of the mind and to relax and have fun! And Gavin reminded us we're only competing against ourselves; being your authentic self and building relationships truly is key. We couldn't agree more!
Cissy is an incredibly talented voice actor and she's also a sought-after teacher. She's an award-winning actress whose voiceover career spans the gamut from animation to video games and everything in between. Aside from winning a BAFTA for her performance in the 2017 Indie videogame FIREWATCH, you can hear her as Lilith Clawthorne in Disney’s The Owl House and nine separate characters in Telltale’s The Walking Dead: The Game series, including Katjaa, Jolene, and Norma. At Voice One, Cissy teaches Video Game Finesse, where students add complexity and individuality to training and layer emotions, attributes, and idiosyncrasies into creating multiple characters.
Award winning voice actor and two time BAFTA nominee, Melissa Hutchison grew up with an acting background in theater. She swapped the stage for the studio and took her talents to pursue a career in voice over and she's been in the VO industry for 20 years! Melissa's body of work ranges from television and radio commercials, children's interactive toys, video games, and animation. She is best known for her role as Clementine in the award winning game series, The Walking Dead. Melissa is a core instructor here at Voice One and teaches classes regularly such as Character Styles, Characters in Action, Character Deep Dives, and Turn it Up to Eleven.
Gavin Hammon has lent voices to video game characters, educational toys (and super uneducational toys), commercials, animation, narration, promo and plenty of stuff too weird to classify. He’s been a working voice actor for 17 years and has been teaching toy vo, concatenation, and gibberish classes for over 5 years. He was born, raised, and lives in the SF Bay Area. Gavin is a guest instructor at Voice One and teaches classes including Characters in Action, Two Takes on Toys, and Double Your Chances.
Be sure to watch the whole video for all of their words of wisdom! What advice stands out to you?
Creating Characters with Danny Scott
Double Your Chances with Gavin Hammon
Character Styles Deep Dive: Animation with Melissa Hutchison
The Youth VO Program returns this Summer! And it's better than EVER!
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Mar 27-Apr 2) and what's coming your way next week.
Sarah Natochenny voiced Pokémon’s Ash Ketchum for 17 years. Q&A.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Mar 20-26) and what's coming your way next week.
Warning -- spoilers ahead! Click to read about voice actor cameos in The Last of Us.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Mar 13-19) and what's coming your way next week.
Everyone can embrace and actively support equity.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Mar 6-12) and what's coming your way next week.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Feb 27 - Mar 5) and what's coming your way next week.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Feb 20-26) and what's coming your way next week.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Feb 13-19) and what's coming your way next week.
We've created a guide you can use for your Super Bowl watching party!
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Feb 6-12) and what's coming your way next week.
From Robin Williams to Tina Fey, here are 25 reasons why improv will not only make you a better actor, but will change your life!
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Jan 30-Feb 5) and what's coming your way next week.
Words of wisdom on the video game industry from Voice over veterans.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Jan 23-29) and what's coming your way next week.
Erika sits down with Marvin Greene to discuss the importance of studying the craft, his favorite breakthroughs, and more!
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Jan 16-22) and what's coming your way next week.
Guest post: Overcoming audition anxiety with improv!
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Jan 9-15) and what's coming your way next week.
Get out of your own way and own your year in VO by applying this advice. Here are four simple steps to help you reach your goals!
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Jan 2-8) and what's coming your way next week.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Dec 12-18) and what's coming your way next week.
Check out these gift ideas for the voice actors in your life
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Dec 5-11) and what's coming your way next week.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Nov 28-Dec 4) and what's coming your way next week.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Nov 21-27) and what's coming your way next week.
We wish you happiness, success, and good company this Thanksgiving
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Nov 14-22) and what's coming your way next week.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Nov 7-13) and what's coming your way next week.
Cissy Jones, Melissa Hutchison, and Gavin Hammon share advice, discuss their careers, experience, and day to day life as working voice actors.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Oct 31-Nov 6) and what's coming your way next week.
Expert Voice123 tips from Natasha Marchewka and Katherine Tole
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Oct 24-30) and what's coming your way next week.
What are the "right" settings for voiceover recording?
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Oct 17-23) and what's coming your way next week.
Many actors are affected by dyslexia, but it isn't talked about enough.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Oct 10-16) and what's coming your way next week.
Celebrating Hispanic Voice Actors for Hispanic Heritage Month
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Oct 3-9) and what's coming your way next week.
Spotlight on a phenomenal voice actor, composer, singer, and teacher.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Sep 26-Oct 2) and what's coming your way next week.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Sep 19-25) and what's coming your way next week.
Insight and advice from Kaitlyn Robrock, the voice Of Minnie Mouse, for voice actors
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Sep 12-18) and what's coming your way next week.
Interviews with this phenomenal voice actor and teacher
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Sep 6-11) and what's coming your way next week.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Aug 29-Sep 4) and what's coming your way next week.
Helpful Insights from Working Voice Over Actors and Creatives
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Aug 22-28) and what's coming your way next week.
Check out our highlight reel of the 2022 Summer Fast Track program!
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Aug 15-21) and what's coming your way next week.
Erika sits down with Shelley and Angeli to discuss marketing tips on how to grow your voice-over career and their upcoming classes focused on LinkedIn Marketing for Voiceover and Booking International Work.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Aug 8-14) and what's coming your way next week.
We're three weeks into Summer Fast Track 2022! Take a peek at how things are going so far.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (Aug 1-7) and what's coming your way next week.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (July 25-31) and what's coming your way next week.
It's week one of Summer Fast Track 2022! Take a peek at how things are going so far.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (July 18-24) and what's coming your way next week.
**Spoiler Alert** This article discusses a pivotal character from Stranger Things season 4.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (July 11 - 17) and what's coming your way next week.
Don't miss these three classes to keep your skills (and your audio) sharp this summer!
Curious as to what an average workday for a voice actor looks like? Well, look no further!
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (July 4 - July 10) and what's coming your way next week.
The 2022 Fall Schedule is Here!!! Get it while it's hot!
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (June 27 - July 3) and what's coming your way next week.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (June 20 - 26) and what's coming your way next week.
21 Things You Never Knew About Being A Professional Voice Actor, According to Austin Tindle
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (June 13 - 19) and what's coming your way next week.
How Kristen Schaal became the queen of quirky voice acting
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (June 6 - 12) and what's coming your way next week.
Jennifer Sun Bell of The PGM VO List has an enlightening conversation with Voice One's Danny Scott about global majority voices in the voiceover industry.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (May 31-June 5) and what's coming your way next week.
Hear advice from Anjali Bhimani, Cissy Jones, and Jennifer Hale as they discuss voice acting for video games from the feminine perspective in this panel from GamesBeat Summit.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (May 23-29) and what's coming your way next week.
Explore the role dubbing plays at Netflix, with interesting nuggets from the dubbing and subtitling team at Netflix themselves!
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (May 16-22) and what's coming your way next week.
Seventeen's Leah Campano asks Rosalie Chiang questions about the VO industry, her career and more!
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (May 9-15) and what's coming your way next week.
The students of Voice One show their appreciation for #Teacherappreciationweek.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (May 2-8) and what's coming your way next week.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (April 25-May 1) and what's coming your way next week.
Elley Ray Hennessy shares her wisdom regarding voicing animated characters.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (April 18-24) and what's coming your way next week.
Part four of our four part series of what you can do outside the booth to find greater success in voice over.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (April 11-17) and what's coming your way next week.
Let’s tackle big, old, ugly fear. Here are five ways to conquer your fear of trying improv, or anything new.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (April 4-10) and what's coming your way next week.
A quick look at what's new, what's here this week (March 28-April 3) and what's coming your way next week.
Aaron sits down with Lori Alan to discuss a voice actor's role in animation and up coming class, Talk to the Booth Lady.
If you are a future VO superstar, join our youth Summer program coming up in June 2022! Classes available for students 4th-12th grade!
