Useful site for those aiming pro...

[Tamika]

This is a website I just found that's run by Tara Strong who played Gwen in "Sabrina Goes to Rome"/"Sabrina Down Under" and Rikku in FFX-2 and a few other voice studs. It's supposed to help amateur voice actors train/get in touch with talent scouts. If you're interested, give it a click.

http://www.voicestarz.com/

[Ishtar]

it's actually got a lot of really good services...
if you've got the money to join, I hear its worth it.

[Lucien]

It's Ok. Deffinetly good as a birthday present. But don't expect it to be the thing which teaches you everything you need to know. Certainly provides a good amount of information on the business though.

[Deiji]

It looks like a really good site! But i suppose it doesn't do anything for ppl living outside of America, like in the UK, does it? xD I think its impossible to find voice acting jobs over here unless its commercial or radio related ._. Oh well xD great site though!

[ClymAngus]

I don't know, I managed to get the odd gig in the UK.

for $199 you get:
A double cd.
Criticised.
A monthy magazine with "all the news on animation" (and other peoples comments who are also paying $199 as well)
Oh and maybe a demo reel (but not yet) stored on their site. Which you have to send to producers yourself. Great. Couldn't you just put your audio clips on your own website and save yourself $100?

and I quote;
"Once posted, you can send out VOICESTARZ postcards to inform people where they can find your DEMO and reply. You never know who or what they might be looking for as a client or for a project. VOICESTARZ is not an agency just a vehicle to help and guide you into the world of animation."

Being fairly cagey.... aren't they? Wait it gets better...

Their members demoZ section consists of 2 people, Not encouraging.

Their links are mostly sales connections of the three informative links, one of them is bust. Doesn't say much for the upkeep of the site.

Do what you will, the idea is a good one but I'm dubious. To quote Mr Craig Strong's own press "Craig Strong declined to give details of the business relationship between Voicestarz and its professional contributors". Again this rings alarm bells. However if anyone does have $199 burning a hole in their back pocket then I would be interested to hear a critique of the CD. There may yet be a silver lining to this particular black cloud.