LEAD TUTOR: Toby Ricketts - Toby ran the first NZ Voice Academy in 2005. He's been a sound engineer - recording his own and others' voices - for over 25 years and is working full-time exclusively as a voice over for the last 10 years working with clients all over the world such as Facebook, Samsung, BMW, Nike, Intel, Audi, Cisco, Spotify, Pandora, and Microsoft to name a few. Working locally from his remote Northland studio with a global market in British, Australian, New Zealand and American accents, Toby has learned a great deal about the ins and outs of the industry, and is now a specialist voice recording professional with a great deal of experience in online voice overs. He is a worldwide top100 voice with both Voices.com and voice123.com, as well as being a successful voice with both Bodalgo.com, and VoiceArchive.com and through his website tobyrickettsvoiceover.com

Toby has won 7 awards at the One Voice Awards in London in 2018 and 2019, including ‘Male Voice Over of the Year’ both years! He has also been nominated for 7 of the US-based SOVAS Awards.

Andie Spargo - Andie is one of the founding members of The Court Jesters, the improvisation and corporate entertainment arm of the Court Theatre. He is also a member of The Outwits, who have been labelled “the best MC’s in NZ” more than once. He has been a professional entertainer for over 20 years, as well as being an accomplished copywriter, voice over artist and smarty pants. Happiest wearing a false moustache and adopting a ridiculous accent, he has created bespoke characters for Coca Cola, Air New Zealand, Vero, Apple, Vodafone, Yellow and Uno Loco. He knows how to work a crowd, adopt a brand voice and be an unforgettable ambassador for your business, product or cause.

Bronnie Howells - Born in England and moving to New Zealand as a young girl, Bronnie’s parents are London drama school graduates, and her father is a professional actor and director. Bronnie spent many years on stage in theatre productions and also studied speech and drama, singing and performance privately. She completed the South Seas Diploma in Film & Television in 2006, majoring in video editing and minoring in on-screen presenting. Having worked as a professional voice artist for the last 20 years, Bronnie has much experience in radio and television commercials, documentary and informative reads, scientific and instructional reads, and computer gaming videos, and she also has a love of audiobooks, radio plays, and long-form character scripts.

John Sweetman - Some say he is the invisible TV star. His voice was ever present on TV3's transmission but you never saw his face on screen. John was the corporate voice for TV3 for 2 decades. When the channel needs to say something without reverting to a talking head on screen, John delivers the message. Whether its a promo for an upcoming program, a sponsors mention, a warning of adult content or announcing who will be presenting the news, it will be John's voice you will hear. He has performed a similar role on radio for the Classic Hits radio network and Solid Gold. He coaches other voices in effortless expression and specializes in techniques to get messages into listeners' hearts so that they are moved by them. 

Tessa Livingston - Tessa Livingston is the In-House Vocal Coach and a Bookings Agent at BigMouth Voices. Working with Demo Reel Production, Audition Management, and providing Accent and Voice Coaching for the talent on the books. Her working background is as a speech pathologist, vocal coach, voice over artist, actress, podcaster and content creator.