Guest Coach, Director of Audio Production - Sourcebooks Audio

Almeda Beynon is an award–winning audiobook producer and Director of Audio Production at Sourcebooks Audio. Beyond production, she is active in the audiobook community—advocating for creative excellence and collaboration between authors, narrators, and production teams. She came to publishing from a background in sound design and education for theatre and live events, so aural storytelling has always been at the heart of her work. Outside of work, Almeda is normally finding new ways to keep the world whimsical for her toddler, overplanning relatives’ surprise parties, or answering to the name “Goldie Prawn” in her shrimp-themed Mardi Gras dance krewe.

Guest Coach

Bahni Turpin is a Los Angeles based actress working in film, television, onstage and in audiobook narration. As a narrator Bahni has received many accolades including being one of the first inductees into the Audible Hall of Fame in 2018. And was Audible’s Narrator of the Year for 2015. In 2017 Bahni was named Booklist’s Voice of Choice. She is the recipient of more than 7 Audie Awards for audiobook narration, including one for Audiobook of the Year for Children of Blood and Bone in 2019, and 2026’s Audie for Middle Grade title, All the Blues in the Sky. Bahni has received two Odyssey Awards , conferred by the American Library Association, has been named a Golden Voice by AudioFile Magazine, (now Kirkus Reviews) and is the recipient of more than 60 Earphones Awards. To date she has narrated close to 500 titles. In addition to audiobook narration, Bahni has lent her voice to two films: “Sapelo”, and “Zora Neale Hurston , Claiming a Space”.

Guest Coach, Senior Audio Producer - Blackstone Audio

Grover Gardner is an audiobook narrator, producer and director with over 40 years' experience in the industry.  He's narrated over 1500 titles, been named an Audiofile Magazine "Golden Voice" and Publisher's Weekly "Best Narrator of the Year," and garnered over 30 Earphones Awards and 4 Audie Awards.  Working in a wide variety of genres, he's won praise for recordings as diverse as Stephen King's The Stand and Will and Ariel Durant's The Story of Civilization.  He is currently a Senior Audio Producer for Blackstone Publishing in Ashland, Oregon.

Guest Coach, Casting Director - Podium Entertainment

Philip Miller is a veteran audiobook casting director with over 13 years of industry experience, having built a comprehensive foundation in audiobook production through roles as an editor, engineer, producer and director before specializing in casting. Throughout his career, he has cast hundreds of productions for major publishers including PRH, Hachette, HarperCollins, Scholastic, and others, with many titles going on to win prestigious industry recognition including Earphones Awards, SOVAS Awards, and Audies.

Philip is currently proud to serve as a Casting Director at Podium Entertainment, working with exceptional narrators to bring the company's dynamic roster of Fantasy, Romance, and Science Fiction titles to life in audio. An artist himself, Philip finds profound fulfillment in fostering connections within the audiobook community and creating meaningful opportunities for fellow artists, approaching each casting decision with both professional expertise and genuine care for the creative process.

(Fun Fact: As a Greek and Latin major, Philip has had the unique and profound honor of directing one of his all-time favorite works of literature, Homer’s Iliad.)

Guest Coach

Sean Pratt has been a working actor for over 30 years. He has been an audiobook narrator for 25 years (aka – Lloyd James), recording over 1,100 books in almost every genre and has received nine AudioFile Magazine “Earphones” awards, five SOVAS nominations, and five “Audie” nominations from the Audio Publishers Association.  

Sean is also the author of “To Be or Wanna Be – The Top Ten Differences between a Successful Actor and a Starving Artist.”

Currently, Sean coaches performers on audiobook narration technique, as well as teaching classes on and writing articles about the business of “The Biz”. 

seanprattpresents.com 

Host, Head Coach, and Creator

Joel is an Audie nominated, eleven-time Earphones Award-Winning narrator of over 450 titles. He was the recipient of the 2020 Best Male Narrator Award at the Independent Audio Book Awards and the 2020 Best Humor Narration recipient at the Society of Voice Arts Awards (in addition to his five other SOVAS nominations). He is the recipient of two Audiobook Reviewer awards and was named the first member of the Narrator Hall of Fame and All-Time Favorite Narrator in the Goodreads M/M Reader’s Choice Awards.  

With an MFA in theatre from USC, he has served as Director of Drama at Manchester University and taught accents at NYU. He is the creator of Acting for Audio, a zoom-based acting course focused on the art of narration. He is a sucker for Disney and dachshunds.

www.joelfroomkinaudio.com‍ ‍www.actingforaudio.com

Producer, Admin, and Creator

Rich is the one you will be emailing, phoning, or texting with! All cabin arrangements and workshop bookings will be handled by him.

In 2023 Rich was awarded the distinction of “Partner of the Year” from Celebrity Cruises as well as being inducted a member of Celebrity’s Iconic Advisor Club - a club featuring their 100 most successful partner agents.

Rich is an Accredited Cruise Counselor and member of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). He is familiar with planning and executing events through his work as Executive Producer at The New Huntington Theater for 10 years, as Executive Assistant to the Dean of Columbia Business School, and a lifetime in the theater. When not booking cruise adventures for his guests, Rich is often working at a sewing or embroidery machine.

www.cruisingwithrich.com