At a young age, I learned the power of the human voice to engage, motivate and inspire.
I grew up listening to classic children’s literature and poetry read aloud by my master storyteller dad, who also introduced me to the radio greats of the 1940s and ’50s — George Burns and Gracie Allen, Fannie Brice as Baby Snooks, Fibber McGee and Molly and others. Those voices can bring back a flood of feelings and memories to this day. I have formal training and experience acting in professional and community theaters, as well as a long, separate career as a newspaper reporter, editor and freelance features writer. My lifelong love of both written and oral language also makes me uniquely suited to voice-over work. I’m open to many types of projects but am especially interested in:
- audiobooks, particularly books for children
- documentaries
- animation and video games
- movie trailers
- corporate training videos
- e-learning courses
- interactive kiosks and audio tours
Voice Description
- senior
- grandmotherly
- warm, sincere
- folksy, down-to-earth
- intelligent, serious
- dark, evil and powerful
- sophisticated
- authoritative
- accessible, informative
- dramatic, comic
Experience and Training
- Actor at theaters throughout Northern California, including Capital Stage, Sacramento Theatre Company, Sierra Repertory Theatre, Resurrection Theatre, California Stage, Ovation Stage, B Street Theatre, Woodland Opera House, Columbia Actors Theatre, Stockton Civic Theatre, Manteca Community Theater
- Voice-over coaching and professional mentoring from Ray Nakamoto, Nakamoto Productions, Sacramento
- Workshops with VO professionals, including Donna Christie, Bill Whitman, Stan Lemkuil, Susan Hayward, Charlie Holliday and others
- B Street Theatre Conservatory, Michael Stevenson and Jamie Jones, Sacramento
- Summer Training Congress, American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco: improvisation (Rafe Chase), Shakespeare (Drew Khalouf), speech evaluation and dialects (Lynn Soffer), Meissner technique (Francine Landes)
- Bachelor of arts, theater, California State University, Fresno
- Associate of arts, theater and journalism, San Joaquin Delta College, Stockton
- Acting classes, Mountview Drama School, London, England
- Training-video scriptwriter and actor, UC Davis Medical Center, Sacramento
- Singer/business manager, Merry Measure, professional a cappella quartet, Sacramento
- Annual Sacramento Elly Awards: Supporting Actress in a Drama, 2016; Leading Actress in a Musical, 2015; Leading Actress in a Comedy, 2014
- Veteran writer and editor for newspapers, magazines, corporate communications
Email: janet@janetmotenko.com
Also find me at www.voice123.com/janetmotenko
