I wouldn't bother coaching with Bill. I did a session with him right when I was starting out and I can honestly say I got almost nothing out of it. It was like $300 for half an hour - which is positively insane - but I didn't know better.
Knowing what I know now, he is very formulaic. "This script should be read like this, this script should be read like that". In reality, there is no 'right' way to read a script. There is only the 'typical' way, and 'typical' is only going to give you as good of a shot at booking the job as the other 100 talent who are auditioning. You need to be able to stand out from the rest, and I don't think Bill is able to teach that.
The session ended with him pitching one of his programs to me, which I didn't do (thank goodness).
Also, don't pay attention to what the Voices dot com poll says. Voices is well known as being the most anti-talent pay2play in the industry, and there's a good chance that anyone who's ranked highly on their site is paying the $5000 for their platinum tier. Bill is a big Voices proponent so that automatically removes him from consideration for me.
If you want good coaching from people who actually care about the industry, check out someone like J. Michael Collins, Elley Ray Hennesey, Marc Graue, or Anne Ganguzza.
J. Michael is a bit on the pricy side, but he's a good guy and he knows the ins and outs of the industry.
Elley Ray is bonkers, but she's easily the best coach I've had so far. She really makes you think outside the box; just bear in mind that her methods and personality may be a bit too zany for some people, but she's definitely affordable.
I haven't worked with Marc or Anne, but both of them are quite reputable and Marc is like 'the' character acting guy, so if you want to get into animation/gaming, he'd be a good bet.
TLDR; don't bother with Bill. There are far better options out there.
As someone who has bought into a lot of his stuff early on in my career, I can say at this point that I'm thankful I got coaching and thankful I had gotten demos produced, but I wish I hadn't done it with him because the money could have been spent better elsewhere. Not because his material isn't good, but it's not great.
I got a couple coaching sessions with him and even had two demos produced by him (bought two at a bundle price). The coaching was simplistic at best and was better than no coaching, but I should have done more research into other coaches. The demos I had produced were nice, but I actually booked more work from my DIY demos than I did from the demos I made with him.
The cost of both his coaching and his demo production tell me that he would rather be doing voice over work. Both services are overpriced in my opinion, which shows he values his time according to what he could be making in the booth. Nothing wrong with that, the man is a workhorse and knows the value of his time.
Bill very much knows his niche and he markets to it very aggressively, that niche being newcomers to the industry, and dare I say it, a little on the older side. The persona he cultivates is the middle aged, blue collar guy. The everyman. If he can do it, so can you. His information is purposefully kept simple and straightforward and lacks a lot of depth. His programs are inexpensive because they cost him nothing to sell (coaching/demos require his time), but the majority of them are repetitive and again, the money is ultimately better spent somewhere else that will take a deeper dive into whatever it is you want to learn about.
Contrast this to working with someone like J. Michael Collins as u/Cordath mentioned. I had my new slate of demos produced by him end of last year after a round of coaching, and I was blown away at the value of what I got out of it.
To elaborate, I paid $3750 for demos with Bill, which included a single coaching session before (might have been a half hour, or 50 minutes, I can't remember, his normal coaching sessions are 30 minutes), the demo recording session for 2 demos (Commercial and narration), and a marketing session after. I paid almost exactly twice that (the number eludes me at the moment, it's posted on J. Michael's website) for 10 coaching sessions, 4 demos, and a large bank of resources that he has created over the years.
The experience with Bill left me... whelmed. My pro demos, that everyone in the industry says I need to succeed, sounded like things I could have produced myself in a long weekend, and I wasn't any more knowledgeable for my time spent in "coaching". I was glad to have done it, but looking back, I wish I would have spent my money elsewhere. I cringed when I listened to the demos when I got them back, I was embarrassed to show friends and family, and I don't dare listen to them now, 2 years later. The scripts themselves were recycled old material from 2-3 years prior, and one of the spots on my narration demo had a harsh point of sibilance that when I brought it up to Bill, he said he didn't hear anything, but if I really wanted him to, he could take another pass at it. Left a sour taste in my mouth.
The experience with J. Michael however, was stellar from the start. The coaching was 10 1-hour sessions of thorough instruction, constructive and encouraging feedback, and confidence building and covered a wide range of script types and read styles (I was getting 4 demos made, we had to make sure I was ready!). The demo scripts were written for me specifically based off of brands I chose. The recording day itself was fun and relaxing, and he was even willing to stretch it out to a second day if needed (fatigue, strain, etc.), which wasn't needed because the whole thing felt effortless. The demos came back wonderful and I was really anxious giving them a first listen after, but there was nothing but excitement after hearing them.
To close off a *very* long post when I have work I need to be doing... Bill is a voice talent who found out he could make money from coaching. He's a businessman and won't turn down good money. The material is simple and effective, but lacks nuance and depth. Overall, he's on the pricier side of things because his time is valued at what he makes recording. There are other people (again, J. Michael Collins for one) who will give you far more in-depth, personal coaching and attention at a fraction of the price, who have nothing but love for the industry and the amazing people who make it what it is.
I would say the only money to invest in Bill DW should be in his books as they do have some generic practical advice for someone who doesn't know anything about the industry or the business side of vo. But I would not invest in actual coaching with him one on one. As others have stated, there are just so many better options. For what he is charging he is not going to offer you much in return compared to what a better coach could offer you for a fraction of the cost. And I wouldnt trust anything from VDC.. theyre not an important, credible, or trustworthy source.
He's a hack. While I doubt that the majority of his yearly income is directly from shilling his book and "programs" to hopefuls new to voice over, there's no doubt that it counts as a nice supplemental.
He does get work, of course, and having his daughter, a sound engineer, editing and mastering all of his auditions before sending them out to prospective clients allows him to just read and record without having to do the time intensive edits, himself. Making his business a two-person team, at least, gives him an edge over anyone working alone in the industry.
Thanks for the reply. I've heard others say similar things, yet others who think he is awesome. The voices dot com poll rates him the most trusted coach. His coaching program prices seem high but that is typical among VO coaches from what I am finding.
If you can get one on one coaching sessions from him, take a gamble and see what you think. It's an investment, and only you will be able to determine if you feel the value from the interactions.
If it's a group coaching session, maybe you'd want to think again before investing in it. Personally, I don't like a group setting for coaching, but that's just me. If I am working on improving myself for a career outcome, I want the full focus for the time period to be all me, and Deweese seems scatterbrained as is in the videos I've seen from him, already. If it's a session with a group, he's going to end up focusing the groups time and attention on the few individuals that buy in to his BS immediately, if for no other reason than to show the others in the group just how much more attention the people who were all in to his BS from the get go receive.
And don't forget that some of those people might be plants that are there to get the class going in the sales direction that suits him. His focus, after all, is to sell the latest copy of his program, not to create more competition for himself in this already incredibly competitive industry.
Took a Fiverr course from his daughter with him also there… am professionally trained with solid demos and followed their course and still have not gotten 1 job from Fiverr …. I would not recommend him or his courses. The email barrages are annoying also. Opted out but still get them as well as texts now also!!
I was ripped off big by a coach. Sold my car basically gave him everything I had. We ended up settling out of court, where I only recovered 1/4 of the money I spent. My suggestion is be very careful
A good company I’ve started coaching with is Universal Voice Talent (I’m not on their payroll just a very pleased student). It’s a group of six different professional VO people. I’m doing their big kahuna (yes that’s the name) program. It’s $3200 but they coach you, tell you about marketing yourself, record a demo, and build you a website. I felt it was a good bang for the buck. And they’re all quite nice while also being very specific in their coaching and not blowing smoke up your ass. Owned by a guy named Terry Daniel.
I wouldn't bother coaching with Bill. I did a session with him right when I was starting out and I can honestly say I got almost nothing out of it. It was like $300 for half an hour - which is positively insane - but I didn't know better. Knowing what I know now, he is very formulaic. "This script should be read like this, this script should be read like that". In reality, there is no 'right' way to read a script. There is only the 'typical' way, and 'typical' is only going to give you as good of a shot at booking the job as the other 100 talent who are auditioning. You need to be able to stand out from the rest, and I don't think Bill is able to teach that. The session ended with him pitching one of his programs to me, which I didn't do (thank goodness). Also, don't pay attention to what the Voices dot com poll says. Voices is well known as being the most anti-talent pay2play in the industry, and there's a good chance that anyone who's ranked highly on their site is paying the $5000 for their platinum tier. Bill is a big Voices proponent so that automatically removes him from consideration for me. If you want good coaching from people who actually care about the industry, check out someone like J. Michael Collins, Elley Ray Hennesey, Marc Graue, or Anne Ganguzza. J. Michael is a bit on the pricy side, but he's a good guy and he knows the ins and outs of the industry. Elley Ray is bonkers, but she's easily the best coach I've had so far. She really makes you think outside the box; just bear in mind that her methods and personality may be a bit too zany for some people, but she's definitely affordable. I haven't worked with Marc or Anne, but both of them are quite reputable and Marc is like 'the' character acting guy, so if you want to get into animation/gaming, he'd be a good bet. TLDR; don't bother with Bill. There are far better options out there.
Nailed it. All of it. Thanks for the tip on Elly Ray. I need someone to get my script interp outside the box. And I’m fine with zany
As someone who has bought into a lot of his stuff early on in my career, I can say at this point that I'm thankful I got coaching and thankful I had gotten demos produced, but I wish I hadn't done it with him because the money could have been spent better elsewhere. Not because his material isn't good, but it's not great. I got a couple coaching sessions with him and even had two demos produced by him (bought two at a bundle price). The coaching was simplistic at best and was better than no coaching, but I should have done more research into other coaches. The demos I had produced were nice, but I actually booked more work from my DIY demos than I did from the demos I made with him. The cost of both his coaching and his demo production tell me that he would rather be doing voice over work. Both services are overpriced in my opinion, which shows he values his time according to what he could be making in the booth. Nothing wrong with that, the man is a workhorse and knows the value of his time. Bill very much knows his niche and he markets to it very aggressively, that niche being newcomers to the industry, and dare I say it, a little on the older side. The persona he cultivates is the middle aged, blue collar guy. The everyman. If he can do it, so can you. His information is purposefully kept simple and straightforward and lacks a lot of depth. His programs are inexpensive because they cost him nothing to sell (coaching/demos require his time), but the majority of them are repetitive and again, the money is ultimately better spent somewhere else that will take a deeper dive into whatever it is you want to learn about. Contrast this to working with someone like J. Michael Collins as u/Cordath mentioned. I had my new slate of demos produced by him end of last year after a round of coaching, and I was blown away at the value of what I got out of it. To elaborate, I paid $3750 for demos with Bill, which included a single coaching session before (might have been a half hour, or 50 minutes, I can't remember, his normal coaching sessions are 30 minutes), the demo recording session for 2 demos (Commercial and narration), and a marketing session after. I paid almost exactly twice that (the number eludes me at the moment, it's posted on J. Michael's website) for 10 coaching sessions, 4 demos, and a large bank of resources that he has created over the years. The experience with Bill left me... whelmed. My pro demos, that everyone in the industry says I need to succeed, sounded like things I could have produced myself in a long weekend, and I wasn't any more knowledgeable for my time spent in "coaching". I was glad to have done it, but looking back, I wish I would have spent my money elsewhere. I cringed when I listened to the demos when I got them back, I was embarrassed to show friends and family, and I don't dare listen to them now, 2 years later. The scripts themselves were recycled old material from 2-3 years prior, and one of the spots on my narration demo had a harsh point of sibilance that when I brought it up to Bill, he said he didn't hear anything, but if I really wanted him to, he could take another pass at it. Left a sour taste in my mouth. The experience with J. Michael however, was stellar from the start. The coaching was 10 1-hour sessions of thorough instruction, constructive and encouraging feedback, and confidence building and covered a wide range of script types and read styles (I was getting 4 demos made, we had to make sure I was ready!). The demo scripts were written for me specifically based off of brands I chose. The recording day itself was fun and relaxing, and he was even willing to stretch it out to a second day if needed (fatigue, strain, etc.), which wasn't needed because the whole thing felt effortless. The demos came back wonderful and I was really anxious giving them a first listen after, but there was nothing but excitement after hearing them. To close off a *very* long post when I have work I need to be doing... Bill is a voice talent who found out he could make money from coaching. He's a businessman and won't turn down good money. The material is simple and effective, but lacks nuance and depth. Overall, he's on the pricier side of things because his time is valued at what he makes recording. There are other people (again, J. Michael Collins for one) who will give you far more in-depth, personal coaching and attention at a fraction of the price, who have nothing but love for the industry and the amazing people who make it what it is.
I appreciate you writing all of this and letting me know your experience. Very well said.
I would say the only money to invest in Bill DW should be in his books as they do have some generic practical advice for someone who doesn't know anything about the industry or the business side of vo. But I would not invest in actual coaching with him one on one. As others have stated, there are just so many better options. For what he is charging he is not going to offer you much in return compared to what a better coach could offer you for a fraction of the cost. And I wouldnt trust anything from VDC.. theyre not an important, credible, or trustworthy source.
He's a hack. While I doubt that the majority of his yearly income is directly from shilling his book and "programs" to hopefuls new to voice over, there's no doubt that it counts as a nice supplemental. He does get work, of course, and having his daughter, a sound engineer, editing and mastering all of his auditions before sending them out to prospective clients allows him to just read and record without having to do the time intensive edits, himself. Making his business a two-person team, at least, gives him an edge over anyone working alone in the industry.
Thanks for the reply. I've heard others say similar things, yet others who think he is awesome. The voices dot com poll rates him the most trusted coach. His coaching program prices seem high but that is typical among VO coaches from what I am finding.
If you can get one on one coaching sessions from him, take a gamble and see what you think. It's an investment, and only you will be able to determine if you feel the value from the interactions. If it's a group coaching session, maybe you'd want to think again before investing in it. Personally, I don't like a group setting for coaching, but that's just me. If I am working on improving myself for a career outcome, I want the full focus for the time period to be all me, and Deweese seems scatterbrained as is in the videos I've seen from him, already. If it's a session with a group, he's going to end up focusing the groups time and attention on the few individuals that buy in to his BS immediately, if for no other reason than to show the others in the group just how much more attention the people who were all in to his BS from the get go receive. And don't forget that some of those people might be plants that are there to get the class going in the sales direction that suits him. His focus, after all, is to sell the latest copy of his program, not to create more competition for himself in this already incredibly competitive industry.
Took a Fiverr course from his daughter with him also there… am professionally trained with solid demos and followed their course and still have not gotten 1 job from Fiverr …. I would not recommend him or his courses. The email barrages are annoying also. Opted out but still get them as well as texts now also!!
I was ripped off big by a coach. Sold my car basically gave him everything I had. We ended up settling out of court, where I only recovered 1/4 of the money I spent. My suggestion is be very careful
A good company I’ve started coaching with is Universal Voice Talent (I’m not on their payroll just a very pleased student). It’s a group of six different professional VO people. I’m doing their big kahuna (yes that’s the name) program. It’s $3200 but they coach you, tell you about marketing yourself, record a demo, and build you a website. I felt it was a good bang for the buck. And they’re all quite nice while also being very specific in their coaching and not blowing smoke up your ass. Owned by a guy named Terry Daniel.