“Everyone needs a mentor to grow as a voice actor and be successful. I am so proud of the training and mentoring we offer at Voicetrax, and I am thrilled with each of my student’s successes.”
Voicetrax San Francisco Founder SAMANTHA PARIS is a multiple award-winning voice actor, educator, entrepreneur and author of “Finding the Bunny: The secrets of America’s most influential and invisible art revealed through the struggles of one woman’s journey” (Voice Haven Productions, 2018). She has successfully run the most respected, comprehensive and unique voice over training academy in the nation since 1988. Proudly in March of this year, she handed over the reins of her company to her three most deserving employees of nearly twenty years: Chuck Kourouklis, Vicki Baum and Roni Gallimore.
For the past 35 years, Samantha has trained more than 15,000 aspiring and working voice actors in the San Francisco Bay Area, Southern California, and now, from all over the nation and the world, thanks to video conferencing.
Among her peers and the VO community at-large, her contributions to the industry are legendary.
How it began…
Samantha began performing at the age of five under her given name, Bobbi Block and landed an agent as a teen. Over the next twelve years, Samantha enjoyed a career in Los Angeles that included over 1,000 national and regional commercials, roles in nearly 200 half-hour animated television cartoon shows, including the mega-hit cult series, Jem and the Holograms. She landed several leading appearances in episodic television and a starring role in the ABC After School Special, I Think I’m Having A Baby. She also starred with Michael Landon in a two-episode story line on Highway To Heaven. Samantha enjoyed tremendous success as a voice actor, including three Clio Awards.
In 1988, she moved to the Bay Area. While continuing her voice over career, she began giving VO lessons to budding voice actors and formed Voicetrax San Francisco. The media world quickly caught on to Samantha’s groundbreaking work and widely featured her in media outlets throughout Northern California, including all major newspapers, the then hugely popular Ronn Owens radio show (several appearances) and local television programs.
By the time the San Francisco Chronicle deemed her “the most successful voice over coach and casting director in the Bay Area,” Voicetrax had become a haven for people from all walks of life to “find their voice” through voice acting. Voicetrax was also the “go-to” for fresh up and coming voice actors and top voice over professionals, as it was the number one casting house for 15 years. Producers from the Bay Area and beyond were confident that through Voicetrax, they could find top notch talent for their projects.
Three and a half decades later, Voicetrax continues to stand out as the premier voice over training center in the country due in part to Samantha’s fierce belief that “talent can be taught!” That and the fact that she is equally as passionate about mentoring each of her students as well as coaching them. To learn more about Samantha, read her acclaimed memoir!