The upcoming New York Anime Festival (NYAF) has announced a contest for attendees: “Who Wants to be a Voice Actor?” The voice acting contest will be produced by New York recording studios NYAV Post and TripWire Productions, and hosted by NYAV Post founder Michael Sinterniklaas and TripWire Productions founder Tom Wayland. In the contest, attendees will run through a series of contests, testing their vocal skills and range, narrowing voice actor hopefuls down until only one remains. The winner “will get the chance of a lifetime to be cast in an upcoming animated series.”
NYAF will be 26-28 September in New York City’s Jacob Javits Convention Center. The contest will run from 11:15AM to 1:15PM on Sunday the 28th. Attendees who want to enter (amateurs only; no union members allowed) should review the full details and fill out the entry form on this page. Some pre-contest preparation is required.
NYAF Show Manager Lance Fensterman remarked that this was the second year in a row for the contest. “We’re very pleased to be working with Tom and Mike again this year. Not only are they giving anime fans an amazing opportunity, but they’re both from New York City, and it’s very important to us to foster and celebrate the professional anime community right here in NYC.”
Michael Sinterniklaas is a voice actor, dubbing director, and the founder of NYAV Post, a dubbing studio based in New York City. He was born in the Netherlands and moved to the United States at the age of 10. Sinterniklaas graduated from the High School of the Performing Arts in New York City and attended college in North Carolina where he did work at both Southwynde and Coastal Carolina Studios. He’s currently the voice of Dean Venture in Adult Swim’s The Venture Bros. and Leonardo in the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Mike’s also the voice of Leo in Fullmetal Alchemist, Mikey Simon in Kappa Mikey, and Mahad in Yu-Gi-Oh! In the past, Sinterniklaas has dubbed shows including Twin Signal, Weiss Kreuz, Magic User’s Club, and Berserk.
Tom Wayland graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in acting and performed in theatrical productions ranging from Hamlet to Stomp to Jesus Christ Superstar. He then spent some time as a rock star roaming the East Coast until his money ran out. Instead of getting a real job, Tom started work at NYC-based anime company Central Park Media and then founded his own dubbing studio, TripWire Productions. He has produced and directed more than 200 shows including Alien Nine, The World of Narue, Animation Runner Kuromi, and Kakurenbo. Also a voice actor, he is Jammerjaw in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Stormshadow in GI Joe: Sigma 6, Reggie in Pokemon, Sena in Weiss Kreuz, Daiki in Genshiken, and Ryuichi in Joe vs. Joe. His current projects include voicing and directing several audio books for Audible.com as well as directing and audio post production on Joe vs. Joe.