Pocholo "The VoiceMaster" Gonzales: Bringing Voices to Life

Pocholo "The VoiceMaster" Gonzales: Bringing Voices to Life Filipinos, in general, love teleseryes. In fact, a craze that had ilipinos hooked in the early 00s were locally dubbed foreign shows aka the influx of Koreanovelas while Filipinos belonging to the younger set also enjoyed cartoons and movies dubbed in the local vernacular. Dubbing the shows in Tagalog has made it more relatable and exciting to the masses. Bringing life to these voices is Pocholo "The VoiceMaster" Gonzales. 

Pocholo, who grew up without a television, turned to radio dramas for entertainment and that was where he honed his talent of imitating voices. At the age of 16, he joined and won a voice acting contest for local radio station DZMM and soon became an anchor, scriptwriter, and co-director for one of its shows. A graduate of BA Communication from the University of the Philippines, Pocholo always believed in the power of using one’s voice, “Our voice is the missing link in the art of communication, and this is what made me fall in love with voice acting. Imagine a world without voice-overs. Imagine a radio program, a television show, a computer game, or an animation without voice, it’s like there’s something missing in the puzzle. You need to finish the puzzle to see the whole image.” While most people would overlook the importance of voices in our day-to-day lives, Pocholo sees the beauty of it and translates this into his life’s mission, “I have a vision, and that is to make the Philippines the center of voice-over excellence in Asia. I believe that Filipinos are really good when it comes to voice acting.” It is this vision that has inspired him to establish his own company, 

Creativoices Productions. He also aims to fulfill this mission through Voiceworx, the first and only voice acting and dubbing workshop in the country. Now, inspiring voice actors have a home they can call their own. Voiceworx has then produced a new breed of voice artists who share the same visions and goals. Instead of letting technology intimidate Pocholo, he uses it to propel his cause further. As a founder of the Voice of Youth Network (VOTY), an advocacy organization committed to promoting youth participation and development through education and support, he makes use of both traditional media (radio) and new age media to get his message across. 

VOTY utilizes the Internet in order to make his radio programs accessible anytime. The radio program is also captured in all formats – audio, videos, photos and uploaded through social media. It is this mix that encourages youth to not just tune in but get involved as well. He also sees new age media as an opportunity for voice talents everywhere making the loved radio dramas available for anyone, anywhere, “Through technology, I revolutionized the radio drama industry in our country. For several decades, radio dramas have the same sound, the same feel, the same voices. But now, through VOTY, I was able to create a new breed of radio drama talents and produce a series of radio drama episodes that are more relevant and caught up with the modern times.” For an optimist like Pocholo, the opportunities are endless. He says, “I only have two goals in life, to make people happy and to make people better. 

I see myself as a modern day Jose Rizal, and because of that, I strongly believe that the youth is the hope of our nation.” He capitalizes on this by using his greatest talent, his voice, to encourage others by being a youth advocate and a motivational speaker through the Voice of the Youth Network. As one of the most sought after speakers in the country, he shares his knowledge in Voice Acting, Communication, Personal Branding, Guerilla Marketing, and Youth Empowerment and Development. His latest advocacy is the Voice Care for Teachers program. This program gives teachers tips on how to take better care of their voices and how to use voice acting techniques in making their classes more fun and effective. As previously mentioned, 

VOTY has encouraged young members of society to believe in themselves enough to create positive social change. This has also garnered him international recognition such as YouthActionNet Award from the International Youth Foundation in Washington and the Global Youth in Action Award in New York City. For Pocholo, his talent has evolved over the years, not just bringing life to the characters on screen but also lending a voice to the issues that ultimately matter the most. Check out Pocholo's profile at http://raket.ph/VoiceMaster Authored by our very own Carla Bianca V. Ravanes! Check out her profile! source