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The workshops and seminars presented by Voicetrax are unique in the industry. Why? Because the instructors are selected from among the top voice actors, producers, writers, creative directors, agents, casting directors and industry experts from Los Angeles and the Bay Area. These gifted individuals are eager to share their years of experience and, in so doing, give something back to the industry they love.
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AL BEDROSIAN
Current Job – Voice actor/On-camera actor; teacher
Previous Job – Supervising Special Agent, California Department of Justice
Training and Education – BA, MA Political Science/Criminology; Teaching Credential, San Jose State University; Voicetrax SF; Improvworks; ComedySportz Improv; Full Circle Productions
Credits – Client list includes: Commercials (voiceover): “Voice” of the Fremont Automall (two-year campaign), 24-Hour Fitness, San Francisco Ballet, Kodak (IMAX) Stone Mountain Georgia. Television (on-camera): ProAim Infomercial, Sunsweet Prunes, HIV/AIDS Media Campaign. Industrials: Charles Schwab, Hewlett Packard, Safeway, Seagate, Credit Suisse-First
Boston Bank, American Pharmaceutical, Novellus, Meta TV, EDS Financial Services, Round Table Pizza, Advanced Micro Devices, Robert Mondavi Wines, Rockwell Collins, McKesson, Medtronics, Delicato Wines, Proposition 86, numerous
medical education videos. Video Games: “Virtua Cop 3,” “Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu” and “serious” games for the Department of Justice and Pacific Gas and Electric. Website: www.albedrosian.com
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ANNA MATHIAS
Current Job – Actress, singer, screenwriter and coach
Previous Jobs – Acting coach in L.A for The Voiceover Connection, The Spolin Players and Richard Klein
Training and Education – BA in Dramatic Arts from U.C. Berkeley; studied with Del Close and Viola Spolin, two legends
in the world of improv
Credits – Most recent credits include: ADR for film and TV: “Evan Almighty,” “21,” “Talladega Nights,” “World Trade Center,” “Beerfest,” “Borat,” “24.” Animation: “Alice Mitchell” on the “Dennis the Menace” TV series. Commercials: University
Hospital, McDonalds, Delta, Farmer’s Insurance, Associated Bank, and Dish Antenna. Theatre: currently performing improv with the Spolin Players, and the likes of Dan Castellaneta and Ryan Styles at the Second City Alumni Jam. On camera: “Irene” in “Domestic Import,” “Saint Anne” in “Mary, Mother of Jesus” and “Sister Stephanie” in “Mother Teresa.”
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BOB BERGEN
Current Jobs – Voice actor; on-camera host; nationally-renowned lecturer; and voice acting coach
Previous Jobs – Professional voice actor since the age of 18; Universal Studios tour guide
Training and Education – “The Groundlings,” John Ruskin, Daws Butler, Michael Bell, Brian Cummings and Dave Madden.
Credits – Best known for puh-portraying puh-p-“Porky Pig” (as well as other classic Warner Brothers characters). Bob is also widely recognized as the voice of “Luke Skywalker” in Lucasarts “Star Wars” games. Some of Bob’s other recent notable
voice work includes “Bucky” in Disney’s animated series “The Emperor’s New School,” “Comet” in “The Santa Clause 3,” and “Tweety,” “Speedy,” and “Porky,” in the animated holiday feature “Bah, Humduck!”
Commercial campaigns include: Sprint, H&R Block, promos for The Cartoon Network, Albertson’s, Red Bull, Armed Forces Radio, PG&E, Publix, and Diet Pepsi. Bob returned to the LA stage in 2007 with his one-man show “Bob Bergen: So Here’s The Deal!” and plans to take it on the road in 2008. Additionally, he completed his book on voice-over agents and signed with the literary department of Abrams Artists in NYC. Publication date is still pending. (Bob has hundreds of additional animation, game, commercial credits, on-camera and emceeing credits that can be found on his website.) Website: www.bobbergen.com
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BOB SYMONS
Current Job – Full-time voice actor/part-time golfer
Previous Job – 25 years as high-tech corporate legal counsel, including 17 years as VP & General Counsel at DIALOG Information Services, Palo Alto and Mountain View
Training and Education – JD, Loyola University School of Law; BS, Communications, Southern Illinois University;
Voicetrax SF and Full Circle Productions
Credits – Narration: Mariah Vineyards, UCSF Children’s Hospital, Stratosphere Hotel. Audio Tours: American Beauty Museum, Southeast Asian Art Museum; “400 Years of Tsarist Russia.” TV Documentary: “The True Believers.” Interactive Books: “The Human Body,” and “Day in the City” for Leapfrog Toys. Commercials: Concannon Chardonnay, MTV Music Awards, Quokka, Levis, Oak Tree Mazda, Frontier Infiniti, Adidas, Heald Business College and Match.com. |
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BRIAN SOMMER
Current Job – Voice actor; instructor
Training and Education – Voicetrax SF
Credits – Recent voiceover credits include: TV - Comcast, Best Buy, PineSol, SF Opera. Radio - Comcast, University of Notre Dame, “Bay to Breakers,” Yahoo, Slingbox, WAMU, Subway, Food Maxx, First Republic Bank. Video Games – Sony’s, “SOCOM;” Ubisoft’s “America’s Army: Rise of a Soldiers;” Sega’s “Phantasy Star Universe,” “Chrome Hounds,” “Armored Core: Last Raven,” “Alien Syndrome,” “Too Spicy,” and “Race TV;” Microsoft’s “Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends;” Flagship Studios’ “Hellgate:London;” Backbone Entertainment’s “Death Jr. 2: Root of Evil;” Telltale Games’ “Sam and Max,” and “Out from Boneville;” Autumn Moon’s “A Vampyre Story.” Narration – Visa, Adobe, Sun Micro, Sprint, EBay, and the LA Angels of Anaheim. Brian is also the voice of the “Edge” electronic voting machine, Hewlett Packard’s Circle Awards Ceremony and the Disney Gallery and “Disneyana” shop at Disneyland.
Website: www.briansommer.com |
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CHOPPER BERNET
Current and Previous Jobs – Actor; voice actor; writer; director; construction worker; waiter
Training and Education – BA in Theatre, Colorado College; Voicetrax SF; ACT Summer Training Congress; Richard Seyd; Mark Monroe; Full Circle Productions
Credits – Promos: MSNBC (ongoing); NBC (“Olympics,” “Las Vegas,” “America’s Got Talent,” “The Apprentice”);
The Science Channel; Fox SportsNet; ESPN Major League Soccer; Discovery Channel; Fine Living Network. Commercial campaigns: Verizon, Coors, Janus Mutual Funds, McDonalds, Safeway, PUC’s “Flex Your Power,” Pacific Bell, Comp USA,
Starbucks, Clawson Pickles. Film Roles: “Terminator 3,” “The Twenty,” “Belief,” “Gambling,” “Coffee and Language,” “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (voiceover).” |
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CYNTHIA SONGÉ
Current Jobs – Voiceover actor and teacher; voice director and producer; casting director
Previous Jobs – Actor
Training and Education – BA in Theater Arts from UCLA; voiceover training with Susan Blu; acting with Uta Hagen, Mary Carver, Milton Katselas and Peggy Furey
Credits – Recent casting assignments include the feature-length animated film, “Curious George 2,” and the “Handy Manny,” “Transformers,” “Veggie Tales,” and “Land Before Time” animated series. Cynthia has lent her voice to an array of animated characters and commercial campaigns including Ford Mercury, Nationwide Insurance, DePaul University and Zion’s Bank. She has also appeared on-camera in television and feature film roles, and on-stage in numerous performances. A frequent guest instructor at UCLA and AFI (American Film Institute), Cynthia recently co-wrote the new and completely overhauled, “Word of Mouth: A Guide to Commercial Voice-over Excellence, 3rd Edition, Completely Revised and Updated” with Susan Blu.
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FRANK COPPOLA
Current Jobs – Director; actor; teacher; coach
Previous Jobs – Director, actor, teacher
Training and Education – Kent State University and John Carroll University, Ohio; Acting & Directing training in New York and Los Angeles with David Le Grant, Paul Richards, Viola Spolin and Stella Adler
Credits – Event Production: Created & directed “The Power of a Promise: Ninety Years of Girl Scouting,” ARCO Arena, Sacramento. Theatre Directing: Over 50 productions around the country including the Paper Mill Playhouse, New Jersey; Theatre Under the Stars, Houston; 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle; San Jose Stage Company, The Magic Theatre, 42nd Street Moon, Lamplighters and Theatre Artists of Marin in the Bay Area. Television Directing: Staff director at WCTV-Los
Angeles. Acting: (Film) “The Buddy System.” (TV) “Nash Bridges,” “America’s Most Wanted,” “The Newhart Show,” “Soap,” “The Judge,” “Jake and the Fatman.” (Broadway and Off-Broadway) “Fiddler on the Roof,” “No Place To Be Somebody,” “Wanted.” (Regional Theatre) “A Look At The Fifties,” “Love’s Labour’s Lost.” Current coaching clients include on-air news anchors, corporate executives and professional actors.
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GREG DEBEER
Current Job – Dialog Manager, Sony Computer Entertainment America
Previous Jobs – Dialog Coordinator, Senior Sound Designer
Training and Education – BA, Film Studies, Colorado University
Credits – Game credits include: “Lair,” “God of War II,” “SOCOM,” “Eye of Judgment,” “Hot Shots Golf,” “Pixel Junk: Racers,” “Pain,” “Pursuit Force,” “ATV Offroad Fury,” “Warhawk,” “Anti-Grav,” “Twisted Metal: Head On,” “Rise of the Kasai,” “Rise To Honor,” “Syphon Filter,” “My Street,” “Extermination,” “The Con,” “Sly Cooper,” “Jak X,” “Delta Force,” “Tachyon: The Fringe.” A Mix magazine interview featuring Greg, “Game Characters Speak Up!” can be found at: www.mixonline.com/mag/audio_game_characters_speak/
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JEFF HOWELL
Current Job – Vice-President, Production, World Wide Wadio
Previous Jobs – Casting Director, Bert Berdis & Company, Talent Agent, Abrams-Rubaloff & Lawrence.
Training and Education – BS, Broadcasting and Film, Boston University; Directing Actors for TV and Film, UCLA
Credits – While at Bert Berdis & Company, served as the casting director for thousands of radio commercial productions. Produced audio novels for Leonard Nimoy and John de Lancie’s Sci-fi company, including “The Invisible Man,” “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” “The Time Machine,” and “The Lost World.” “Extras” casting director for “Moonlighting,” “Cagney and Lacey,” “The Wonder Years,” “Matlock,” “Robo-Cop,” and “The Running Man.” Website: www.Wadio.com
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JOHN BARON
Current Jobs – Co-director Alexander Educational Center in Berkeley, a teacher-training facility for The Alexander Technique
Previous Jobs – Alexander teacher in Europe and US; professional actor in the United Kingdom for over ten years
Training and Education – Studied with some of Europe’s finest voice teachers, including National Theatre voice coach,
Kate Fleming, and Florence Norburg (voice teacher to both actors and singers, including Rex Harrison, Vanessa Redgrave and Kiri Te Kanawa).
Credits – Acting credits include leading roles in TV plays, series and film, and performances with many regional, touring and national theater companies, including England’s National Theatre. An Alexander teacher specializing in work with performing
artists, John has taught extensively in Europe and in the U.S. He developed his own course “Tension and Performance” which became an accredited credit class at Cal State University East Bay. John works with the San Francisco Ballet and Sundance Institute, and also recently presented his “The Actor In You” workshop at the Esalen Institute.
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KEVIN ADLER
Current Job – Promotion/Creative Services Director, KRON 4 TV
Previous Jobs – Promotion Manager, KSEE 24, Fresno; Public Relations Manager, Fresno Metropolitan Museum; Reporter, KMJ Radio, Fresno
Training and Education – California State University Fresno, BA, Journalism
Credits – Kevin is the proud recipient of 2006 Northern California Emmy and Telly awards for his writing and winner of the 1983 California State Fair Goat-Milking Championship.
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KEVIN REHER
Current Jobs – Development Producer for Pixar Animation Studios; responsibilities include heading up the company’s voice casting process; managing and directing other formative stages of their feature film productions (budgeting, staffing, research, visual development.)
Previous Jobs – Finance and production representative for Walt Disney Pictures on “Toy Story” and Co-Producer of
“A Bug’s Life;” Production Accountant on Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “The Gumby Movie;”
Associate Producer on the Gumby television series.
Training and Education – California State University San Luis Obispo, BA in Urban Design and Planning
Credits – Casting credits include such critically-acclaimed Pixar blockbusters as “Finding Nemo,” “The Incredibles,”
and “Ratatouille,” as well as several of their upcoming highly-anticipated feature-length releases, “Wall-E,” “Up” and“Toy Story 3.” Kevin has also overseen the “incubation period” of numerous productions for Pixar since 1999 –
from “Monsters, Inc.” through their currently slated 2013 project. |
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LISA BANEY
Current Jobs – Audiobook producer and director; sound editor; teacher; musician
Previous Jobs – Audio post-production engineer, “sound-for-film” mixer, seamstress, bartender
Training and Education – BA degrees in English and Music; undergraduate degrees in Radio and Television production
and operations
Credits – Recent audiobook titles include Naomi Klein’s SHOCK DOCTRINE, L. Jon Wertheim’s RUNNING THE TABLE, Naomi Novik’s EMPIRE OF IVORY, and many others.
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MADDY BASCOM
Current Jobs – Freelance casting and voiceover director for animation and multimedia; Voiceover instructor in LA and Santa Barbara
Previous Job – Voice director at DIC Entertainment
Training and Education – University education in Theater; nine years at DIC Entertainment
Credits – Directed hundreds of episodes for DIC including “Dennis the Menace,” “Super Mario Brothers,” “Sonic the Hedgehog,” “Madeleine,” “Camp Candy,” and “Captain Planet.” Also directed feature-length animated films, “Jack and the Beanstalk,” and “Lapitch, the Little Shoemaker.” Maddy has cast and directed many interactive games including “The Legacy of Kain,” “Schoolhouse Rock,” and “Disney’s Haunted Mansion.” Her multimedia clients include Disney, EA Entertainment, Southpeak, and Education Planet.
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MARCI GALEA
Current Job – Manager, Talent, EA Entertainment: casts talent, negotiates and coordinates upwards of 25 projects annually for the Electronic Arts global properties.
Previous Jobs – Has spent over 18 years in the video game industry in jobs ranging from creative services to business relations.
Training – Marci began her video game career in public relations and marketing. After many years of distribution management
and business affairs, she felt a strong pull to return to the creative side of the industry. Her current Talent Management
position blends the creative juices and business skills she has honed over 18 years.
Credits – Among her numerous credits, Marci has worked on hiring announcers, celebrities and day players for “Command and Conquer 3” and “Army of Two,” as well as “The Sims,” “Madden NFL,” and “Need for Speed” franchises.
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NANCY CARTWRIGHT
Current Job – Voice and on-camera actor; author of best-selling memoir, “My Life As A 10-Year-Old Boy.”
Previous Jobs – Scooped ice cream; waited tables at a Greek restaurant; and worked on an assembly line, at a radio
station and the UCLA Theater Arts Library.
Training and Education – Daws Butler (vocal characterizations); Tamara Wilcox-Smith and Jonathan Winters
(improvisation); and Milton Katselas (Master Acting Class).
Credits – “The Simpsons” TV series and feature-length film where in addition to Bart, she also plays Nelson, Ralph, Tom and various other Springfield citizens; “Chuckie” on “Rugrats;” “Rufus, the Naked Mole Rat” on “Kim Possible;” “Todd” on Disney’s “The Replacements.” Past voiceover credits include “Richie Rich,” “God, the Devil and Bob;” “Mike, Lu and Og;” “Animaniacs!” “Pinky and the Brain;” and “The Critic.” On-camera credits include roles on the TV series, “Cheers,” “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” and “Fame,” as well as the lead in a TV movie, “Marian Rose White.” Has received multiple Emmys, a People’s Choice Award, and an Annie Award for her portrayal of Bart Simpson. Has also received Emmys for work on “Animaniacs” and “Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain,” and a DramaLogue Award for her one-woman play, “In Search
of Fellini.” Website: www.nancycartwright.com |
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NED LOTT
Current Job – Executive Producer, Denison Entertainment; Freelance voice director and casting director
Previous Jobs – Senior Manager, Disney Character Voices; Voice Talent Director, The Learning Company
Training and Education – BA in Radio/TV/Film from Biola University
Credits – Producer and casting director on eight Studio Ghibli titles, including Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar™ nominated
theatrical release “Howl’s Moving Castle.” Also directed the loop groups for six of those films on the Walt Disney Studios ADR stage. Other notable accomplishments include casting the voice of “Aslan” for “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” and directing numerous voiceover projects for the Walt Disney Company, Pixar and
Square Enix.
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ROGER VOSBURG
Current Job – Voice Actor, voiceover teacher, corporate trainer, Business Attorney (nobody’s perfect)
Previous Job – Business Attorney
Training and Education – JD, Southwestern University; BA, Political Science, Long Beach State University; Voicetrax, SF
Credits – Clients include: Adobe, AXA Financial, Mechanics Bank, Boston Gas and Electric, Allegheny Energy, AAA, Borders, Chevron, Ford, Levi Strauss, Wells Fargo, ETrade, Leapfrog, Logitech, Hewlett Packard, Genentech, Avaya Communications, Cisco, San Francisco Opera, UC Davis Medical Center, Pacific Laser Eye Center, Portland State University, Bay Area Jobs.com, National Presidential Portrait Gallery, Producer’s Guild Awards, SamTrans, and numerous political radio spots,
documentaries and audiobooks.
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SIRENETTA LEONI
Current Jobs – Voice and on-camera actor; voiceover director, casting director, producer and coach; marketing consultant
Previous Jobs – Merrill Lynch, Financial Consultant; VISA, Department Head
Training and Education – Voicetrax; Cliff Osmond’s Actors’ Studio; Full Circle Productions; CSU, East Bay, BA in Political
Science; Università di Firenze (Florence) Law School.
Credits – Voice and on-camera credits include: EA Games’ “The Godfather” series, TeleNav GPS, “Gondolier of Love” video game, Sun Micro, Intel, Wal-Mart, NIH, Clorox, Union Bank, C & H Sugar, C/NET, Lexmark, Papa Murphy’s Pizza, museum tours and educational games. Other recent credits include creating and developing the on-line casting site Voiceyenta.com; casting for the “Hellgate: London” game and HGTV’s “Sleep On It” series; and casting, directing and producing for Amegy Bank and The Focal Point LLC.
Website: www.iSirenetta.com
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SUSAN BLU
Current Jobs – Emmy-nominated animation director; actor; teacher; author
Credits – Countless… Animation directing credits include animated full-length feature films – “Brer Rabbit,” “Stuart Little 3,” “Clifford the Movie,” “Balto II & III,” and “Land Before Time VI-XI;” more than a thousand episodes of recognizable and successful cartoon series including: “Juniper Lee,” “The Misadventures of Maya & Miguel,” “Curious George,“ “Shanna,” “Dragon Booster,” “Clifford: Puppy Days,” “Clifford, the Big Red Dog,” “Spiderman,” “The Mummy,” “Jackie Chan,” “Men In Black,” “Land Before Time,” “The Magic School Bus,” “The Tick,” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” Voiceover credits include the “Pillsbury Dough Girl,” Astro Girl on “Astro Boy” series, “Granny Smurf,” “Flimflam” on “Scooby Doo,” “Transformers,” “Flintstone Kids,” “Ghostbusters” and hundreds of commercials. On-camera appearances include guest
starring roles on “Three’s Company,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” and “Knight Rider.” Also co-authored, “Word of Mouth:
A Guide to Voiceover Excellence;” the newest edition of which can be found in most major bookstores, both on and off line. |
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TED GRIGGS
Current Job – Vice President of Programming & Operations, Executive Producer, Fox SportsNet Bay Area
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Previous Jobs – Producer; director; on-air talent; reporter; voice talent
Training and Education – California State University East Bay, Theatre Arts; San Francisco State University, Broadcasting.
Credits – Voiceover directing credits include nationally-syndicated documentaries narrated by actors such as Martin Sheen, Cicely Tyson, Ted Danson, Danny Glover, Ed Begley Jr., Dennis Franz and Teri Garr; and sports documentaries narrated by renowned sports personalities including John Madden, Dick Enberg, Brent Musberger, Tim Ryan, Pat O’Brien, Greg Gumbel, and Al Trautwig. On-air experience includes stints as a reporter and anchor, and Ted was widely acclaimed for his college football reporting on ABC’s syndicated “Race for #1: College Football Report.” Voiceover credits include narration for Time Magazine documentaries, ESPN, NBC “Sports Olympic Previews” and other various syndicated television programming.
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THOM PINTO
Current and Previous Jobs – Voice actor; voiceover coach
Training and Education – UCLA, BA in Psychology. Thom credits Bill Bell, Kiva Lawrence and Sonny Mathias for the rest of his training
Credits – Recent commercial campaigns include: Pacific Life, DirecTV, McDonalds, Norton 360 Software and Sutter Health. Promos: CBS Evening News, The CW, HBO, Fine Living Network and numerous television stations across the country including KRON-TV, since 1995. Documentaries: Travel Channel, History Channel, Court TV, and yes, the Jewelry Channel. Audiobooks: “The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book,” and “The Little Book of Common Sense Investing.” Fun Stuff:
Recurring roles on “Harvey Birdman,” HP podcasts, and commercial spoofs for “Real Time With Bill Maher.” Website: www.thompinto.com
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WILL BECKMAN
Current Job – Voice Director, Lucasarts
Previous Jobs – Producer, Red Sky Interactive; Voice Editor, Lucasarts; Stormfront Studios, Sound Designer
Training and Education – BA, Film Studies, Colorado University
Credits – Recent credits include producing, directing and casting voiceovers for “Thrillville,” “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic,” “Star Wars: Empire at War, Mercenaries,” “Star Wars: Battlefront, Clone Wars,” and “Star Wars: Rebel Strike.”
Will has also produced multimedia projects for Miller Brewing, Absolut Vodka, and NASCAR, and directed top sports announcers such as John Madden, Pat Summerall and Mel Allen for interactive games.
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