Boses ng Pag-asa: Paano Binuhay ni Pocholo 'The VoiceMaster' Gonzales ang Industriya sa Panahon ng Pandemya

POCHOLO DE LEON GONZALES

A story of rising from the storm and tagging people along

During the peak of the pandemic, he taught and created a new and young breed of new voice over artists and honed them to be the game-changers in the industry through free online classes.

• HE IS A DUBBER and has dubbed many Tagalized TV series and Japanese anime
• HE IS A VOICE ARTIST and is the voice behind many famous TV commercials
• MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER
• AUTHOR of Gusto Kong Maging Voice Talent and Voice Acting 101
• Dubbed as THE VOICEMASTER of the Philippines
• FOUNDER of VOICE OF THE YOUTH NETWORK – A youth advocacy group that encourages the youth to believe in themselves and create a positive social change while recognizing the power of the internet in achieving their advocacy.
• User information: Pocholo is a Globe user. Globe At Home WIFI both in his house and his office. He also uses Globe for his handphone and landline.

What is Pocholo’s HOPE BANK story?

At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the voice-over industry was directly hit and is continually affected. Studio recordings have been put to a complete halt – no voice over projects and no recordings were done in his studio. As a motivational speaker, all his speaking engagements have been canceled.

Instead of succumbing to the adverse effects of the pandemic, he thought of ways to help people while helping himself, by refocusing on what can be done to adapt to the drastic changes and thrive in the new normal.

In April this year, he started giving free online classes on VOICE ACTING, SOUND EDITING and SETTING UP HOME STUDIOS. His goal is to create a new and young breed of voice actors and give them opportunities to enter the industry of voice acting; and to create a new normal in the voice acting process wherein voice artists can record and submit audio recordings to the clients without having to visit a studio recording because they are taught to have their own smaller versions at home.

People from all walks of life and different ages and backgrounds have gathered to his free online classes, most of them, being young people who dream of being professional voice artists one day. His students include:

1. A SPED teacher who lost her job who now has her own online show.
2. Event hosts who lost their gigs and want to start a career in online hosting
3. Millennials (some still in college) who took early steps in realizing their dreams of becoming voice artists
4. Young professionals who are looking for something worth-while to do during the quarantine
5. OFWs in Bahrain and other Middle East countries stuck at home because of the pandemic and is now getting voice projects from the Philippines
6. A female model who now struts her voice behind the microphone
7. To further his students’ training and taking advantage of the online world, he started VG8 radio, an ‘online station’ that houses different shows. He uses this a platform for his students to showcase their talents and strengths and at the same time serve as a training ground to better their skills and develop their personality.

Today, many of his students who also experienced loss one way or another due to COVID-19, have found a new passion and direction.