A message from South Africa was the genesis for today’s blog post.
I had just made FaceBook contact with Marinda Botha — a voice actor who lives in Centurion, in the Gauteng province of South Africa. She had wanted to join my FaceBook Friends VO group, and in chatting with her online, I found out about VOHEAVANWORKOUTS.COM.
Larry Hudson
VOHeavenworkouts.com is the brain child of LA-based Voice Actor and friend Larry Hudson. When I called him to find out more about his baby, he was excited and a maybe a little bit apprehensive.
GREAT PLAN, GREAT EXECUTION
Why apprehensive? Because he knows he has a great idea, an efficient plan of implementation and a couple of years of experience under his belt. That means he’s maybe a little afraid the runaway success of his idea will swamp him…and he’s already pretty busy!
Such an eventuality is actually part of Larry’s plan to “pay it forward”, and a way of contributing to the VO community that’s been so good to him. I love Larry’s giving spirit, and I appreciate the careful thought he’s put into this idea.
What Larry has brilliantly devised is a way for voice talent anywhere to participate in a live workout session (on Skype) once a week, with other peers, and come away with (a) better reads; (b) a sense of community; and (c) sharing of information.
YOU GET TO DIRECT
There’s a small investment if you want to participate, but Larry’s not even getting rich on this idea. In fact, he could care less. He’s probably lost money when you consider all the time and effort he’s put into this.
At the heart of his idea is that anybody can direct…wants to direct…and is good at directing. During the sessions, everybody participating (no more than 5) gets a chance to read copy, and direct copy.
The idea keeps bringing dividends. Now, once a month, there’s a more business-goal-driven group that meets (much like the MasterMind or Stand-up groups that are popular in VO circles). Larry also hopes to grow beyond the 40-or-so people now participating…to make it global, which brings me back to Marinda…and others from Italy, Paris, and more. This thing’s got legs!
JOINING IN
I’ll stop explaining, now, and point you to THIS PAGE, which, in turn, points you to THIS PAGE, and lots more answers.
In addition, I did a brief podcast-style interview with Larry yesterday, who convincingly explains in his own words how his idea has taken hold and helped careers (see SoundCloud player below).
Larry is open to new people coming on board, and you’ll see the links to get hold of him on the pages I referenced above. If you don’t have a group like this in your city, now you have it on your computer! Join in and grow.
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CourVO
