Yvonne Viner: Bio

Yvonne Viner has been working in and around the Los Angeles VO industry for decades; first entering the industry as a precocious three-year old on the commercial circuit, then as a young actor performing in local theater productions, and later attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and performing with a variety of local L.A. improv troupes. She very quickly discovered the field of voiceover, and she explored and delighted in the expanded scope and nature of the roles and styles of acting that were available in the VO universe. She embarked upon a course of study with the specific focus of learning from as many of the best coaches available in as many various voiceover disciplines as possible. As a voiceover performer, she went on to voice a variety of projects while repped by former L.A. agency Talent Group, Inc., and also received three Telly awards for corporate narration during that time.

The next step in Yvonne’s VO growth was to step behind the glass at Kalmenson & Kalmenson, a well-known Los Angeles based voiceover casting and education company, where she produced and administrated classes while also learning the mechanics of VO casting and getting an overview of the industry. She got to know the players – the buyers at the advertising agencies and animation houses, the talent that booked consistently from the different talent agencies, and the strengths and skills that the winning talent demonstrated which made them stand out from the rest. Days spent at the casting offices and evenings attending and participating in classes in the studio sharpened her ear, her instincts, and her ability to direct and communicate with voice actors.

Her voiceover career evolution continued with employment at Sutton, Barth & Vennari (AKA SBV Talent), a highly regarded top L.A. voiceover talent agency with a busy working clientele. As a booth director, the job was a perfect fit for her innate abilities and acquired skills. She worked day in and day out with some of the most talented performers in the industry, legendary veterans and newcomers alike, offering her thoughts and direction when requested by the actors or buyers, and helping the clients to lock in the reads that got them hired.

Soon Yvonne had built a reputation among talent for having a critical ear and a directorial style rooted in her time as an actor, utilizing her common language with the performer to ask the right questions to help each actor to find their own best possible performance. In roughly a decade and a half with the agency, she has helped talent book countless commercials and campaigns, videogames, animation roles, dubbing jobs, voice matches, toys, promos, ADRs, theme park characters, live show announcers, and more. Yvonne also had the opportunity to engineer many directed work sessions in which the buyer, who was often an ad agency writer or producer, had difficulties expressing or communicating their ideas to the talent. She found that she could often serve as an interpreter between the actor and the creative, making sessions run more smoothly for all concerned.

With the vast majority of auditions and work now taking place in home studios, Yvonne is providing her services remotely as a VO coach, director and consultant to actors who may find it difficult to work in the vacuum of isolation, or for anyone who can benefit from her experience, her discerning and critical ear coupled with direction borne of educated and informed script analysis, an actor’s understanding and sensitivities, the specific demands of various different genres, and a deep understanding of the industry as a whole.