GTT Spotlight: Narration Voice Coach and Voice Actor Thom Pinto

Voiceover veteran Thom Pinto joins George the Tech for a trip through more than four decades of VO—from cutting quarter-inch tape in radio to voicing trailers for The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Uncle Buck, Planes, Trains and Automobiles and more.

Thom shares stories from the golden age of LA voiceover, explains how he’s stayed relevant as the industry has changed, and talks about his current focus coaching documentary and docuseries narration. George and Thom also dig into what today’s talent needs to succeed: versatility, self-direction, a dependable home studio, and auditions that sound polished without sounding overproduced.

Timeline

00:00 Zoom, Tech Changes, and Old-School Stories 13:00 Meet Thom Pinto 19:00 From Radio DJ to Production Director 21:30 Discovering Ernie Anderson 22:00 Working with a Voiceover Legend 27:00 The Golden Age of LA Voiceover 28:30 Getting Signed and the “Bean” Nickname 30:00 How Casting and Auditions Have Changed 35:00 Versatility, Longevity, and Staying in the Game 39:00 Bill Ratner and the Art of Working Fast 42:00 Thom’s Brief On-Camera Career 44:00 How Thom Became a Voiceover Coach 46:30 Buzzy’s and the Classic LA Studio Era 48:00 Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and the Movie Trailer Years 50:30 Filling In for Bill Ratner 53:00 What Today’s Successful Voice Actors Have in Common 54:30 Why Voiceover Is Harder Today 56:00 Why a Professional Home Studio Matters 57:00 Don LaFontaine and the Home Studio Revolution 58:15 Bo Weaver: Remote VO Before It Was Normal 1:00:00 ISDN, ipDTL, Source-Connect, and Adapting to New Tech 1:03:00 Coaching Becomes a Bigger Part of Thom’s Career 1:06:00 Finding His Lane in Documentary Narration 1:07:30 Voice vs. Interpretation 1:10:45 Coaching “Primetime Narrators” 1:13:25 What Thom Hears in Audition Audio 1:15:00 When Processing Makes an Audition Sound Too Polished 1:18:15 Stop Editing the Life Out of Your Read 1:20:00 How Much Comping Is Too Much? 1:21:55 Where to Find Thom 1:22:15 Final Wrap and Thanks