Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tom Antonellis. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Tom, thanks for joining us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
Rosemary and Tommy Antonellis, both creative artists in their own rights, told us (my sister, Julee and I) that we could do anything we wanted to. I know that’s a message that good parents send regularly though it must be followed up by the parent(s) with action. There is not one single time in my entire life from picking up my first crayon to putting instrument to paper to my most recent decisions (and coming decisions) in my voiceover career behind which my parents have not thrown their entire support. They have a completely flawless record of support.
Tom, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My creative inspirations were/are storytellers, communicators and, many of them, artists who use their voices. I made a critical decision to pursue the performance arts in college at Syracuse University (over the traditional visual arts) which cemented my trajectory in show business. Difficulties with feelings surrounding my appearance (many of which resided solely in my own head) made the move away from on-camera acting to voice acting make sense. Now you’d previously asked about a great number of critical aspects to a successful career: business / discipline / craft / products / services. There are SO many aspects I could name though maybe the first-one-that-comes-to-my-mind in each will suffice?
– Business: I feel some critical lessons I learned in sales and in management have greatly contributed to my business success and in communicating with clients.
– Discipline: my mother and my second-grade teacher taught me a critical lesson in delaying gratification and that led to a lifetime quest to be a disciplined person and artist. There are some areas in my personal life where I maybe come up short though, in art, I feel I’ve learned the importance of discipline.
– Craft: I have made an effort to study with great craftspeople. After college, my first teacher in Los Angeles was Kim Darby (she was in ‘True Grit’ with John Wayne). For me, she cut through all the haze in acting. She made it all make sense and allowed me to access the messages as widely varied as Stanislavski to Mamet. I’ll always be grateful to her and to each subsequent teacher and coach who’ve helped shepherd me so far.
– Products: GOTTA give it up to my Røde mic.
– Services: The Society of Voice Arts and Sciences, Gravy for the Brain, Real Voice LA, Sound Trax West and so many other great providers of classes and resources
Among the creative works I provide are voiceover for: commercials, animation, video games, TV, film, audiobooks, voicematching, dubbing, ADR, narrative & non-narrative podcasts, anime, looping, apps, narration, radio, comedy, improv, legalese, trailers, live event announcing and yes — even singing. As a dialect coach for actors and for productions, I teach: General American, Bostonian, New England, New York, American Southern (as in KY/TN), Deep South (as in AL/MS), Midwestern (as in MN), US Farm & Ranch Belt (rural IL, IN, MO, KS), Standard British (aka RP), Cockney, Irish, Scottish, French accent, Italian accent, TransAtlantic/MidAtlantic.
As to what problems I solve for my clients: number one, if they come to me with a problem, I will recontextualize the problem into a challenge and proceed to meet that challenge with and for them. And how I would do that is tied in to your excellent question of what I feel sets me apart from others. For the modern VO artist in 2023, that is the big question isn’t it? What is our brand? As a lifelong creative, I bring decades of full-heart and deep intellectual consideration, put through the prism of my 5 Core Values for my VO business, to offer a choice voice solution (anywhere from erudite to silly) and above the noise to be sure my client’s message is clearly heard.
I feel, perhaps, I’m most proud of a combination of three things: 1) taking the message instilled in me so early on by my parents and sister and; 2) honoring my education and all the teachers who cared enough to invest in me and; 3) sticking to my vision to become a creative artist despite those who would seek to discourage me, to arrive where I am. For example, that young boy who watched Disney cartoons on one of his first toys: a Fisher Price Movie Viewer Theater booked a Disney film recently! You’ll find me in the cast of “Chip n Dale: Rescue Rangers”. Those inspiration roots: companies like Disney and toy companies like Fisher Price are at the heart of my Voice Arts Awards-nominated podcast, “Back Through The Basement” which I have co-created with (and co-host) with my sister Julee. We’re working on our seventh season now.
I want to say, also, that I’m extremely grateful to the broad voiceover community which has embraced me so openly and warmly and whom I love right back. My colleagues call me the “Resident Encapsulator” (I enjoy sharing about what I’ve learned from the #virtualnotebookanddeskoftomantonellis which folks can find on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn) and I make an effort to give back to the community when I can.
Whew. Was that everything you asked?! :)
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I have gone through patches in life where I felt very, very lonely. Not accepted. (I’ve always felt loved by my family so I’ve never experienced a love-less patch). But CERTAINLY I’ve felt not accepted. Definitely misunderstood and underestimated. This goes all the way back to my childhood as a young boy up to as recently as a few years ago. AT ALL THOSE TIMES, I could still be creative though. All I’ll ever need is a pad of illustration paper and a full set of colored pencils. All I’ll ever need is a Mac and a microphone. All I’ll ever need is my voice. No one can ever take away from me the fact that I am an artist and, because of that, I will never be completely alone. What a beautiful gift it is to be an artist.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
I’d like to answer that from a perspective wider than my journey to the journeys of all creatives. As far back as the Renaissance, non-creative patrons have conscripted artists to create art for them. For their collections; for them to display in some manner. And, on a case-by-case basis, those artists either were or were not compensated adequately. Many were not, hence the trope of the “starving artist”. For centuries, it seems, a huge percentage of active artists have always had to claw to make a living doing what they love –and, may I add, all the while, providing what the population was clamoring for. Since the earliest cave paintings to the present wave of nostalgia films in a very trying social chapter, the human population has always craved art — art for the individuals or for the masses to enjoy. So, when I see the creative union strikes of the WGA, SAG-AFTRA, and various other unions engaged with the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers), and I see, AGAIN, resistance on behalf of patrons to fairly compensate artists, I’m forced to question just how far we’ve come. I can’t count how many times a client has engaged with me in negotiation over my rate. We don’t do this with a plumber copper repiping our house. They come over, they check out the house, they give us a rate. Conversation is over. But with artists, the statement of a rate seems to still be considered the beginning of a negotiation. I think this is because art has been, is, and will always be subjective and, on some level, the non-creative patron asking for the painting, the book, the script, the performance, for whatever the usage, will continue to fundamentally not understand what’s involved in bringing it to fruition. I make an effort to love my clients through that fundamental lack of understanding and do all that I can not to take it personally — though on some days it ain’t easy. And that’s BEFORE we discuss whether that patron will continue to value a human’s art over something generated by AI — a can of worms I’m sure there isn’t enough real estate in your article for me to address.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tomantonellisvo.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tomantonellis/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TomAntonellisVoiceoverActor
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomantonellis/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/tom_antonellis
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@thickskincreations
- Other: Podcast: https://bit.ly/BTTBpod Go down a Tom Antonellis rabbit-hole: https://bit.ly/TA_linktree
Image Credits
Tom Antonellis; Podcast art: Ron Yavnieli