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 Stories13:00 Meet Thom Pinto19:00 From Radio DJ to Production Director21:30 Discovering Ernie Anderson22:00 Working with a Voiceover Legend27:00 The Golden Age of LA Voiceover28:30 Getting Signed and the “Bean” Nickname30:00 How Casting and Auditions Have Changed35:00 Versatility, Longevity, and Staying in the Game39:00 Bill Ratner and the Art of Working Fast42:00 Thom’s Brief On-Camera Career44:00 How Thom Became a Voiceover Coach46:30 Buzzy’s and the Classic LA Studio Era48:00 Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and the Movie Trailer Years50:30 Filling In for Bill Ratner53:00 What Today’s Successful Voice Actors Have in Common54:30 Why Voiceover Is Harder Today56:00 Why a Professional Home Studio Matters57:00 Don LaFontaine and the Home Studio Revolution58:15 Bo Weaver: Remote VO Before It Was Normal1:00:00 ISDN, ipDTL, Source-Connect, and Adapting to New Tech1:03:00 Coaching Becomes a Bigger Part of Thom’s Career1:06:00 Finding His Lane in Documentary Narration1:07:30 Voice vs. Interpretation1:10:45 Coaching “Primetime Narrators”1:13:25 What Thom Hears in Audition Audio1:15:00 When Processing Makes an Audition Sound Too Polished1:18:15 Stop Editing the Life Out of Your Read1:20:00 How Much Comping Is Too Much?1:21:55 Where to Find Thom1:22:15 Final Wrap and Thanks