Debi Derryberry and Rodger Bumpass, voices of Jimmy Neutron and Squidward, are coming to the Valdez Theatre Conference

by Dawson Moore  |   

Renowned voice talents Debi Derryberry (Jimmy Neutron, from Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, full bio below) and Rodger Bumpass (Squidward, from SpongeBob SquarePants, full bio below) are coming to the Valdez Theatre Conference to run voice-over workshops. 

They will have a two-hour discussion, Voice Over: How to Do It and What Does the Business Look Like, at 1:15 p.m. on Sunday, June 11. This is open to everyone and will be moderated by Stephen Rothman. Twenty to twenty-four other attending actors will participate in smaller two-hour working sessions with Debi and Rodger. 

picture of Rodger and cartoon character side by sideRodger Bumpass was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on November 20, 1951. He attended Little Rock Central High, where he first trained in Theatre. He then attended Arkansas State University, majoring in Radio-TV and minoring in Theatre. He worked at the campus radio station and the local ABC TV Affiliate, KAIT-TV, where he was an announcer and creator of a late-night comedy show, Mid-Century Nonsense Festival Featuring Kumquat Theatre. He set out for New York in 1977, where he won a role in the National Lampoon's music and comedy roadshow, That's Not Funny, That's Sick, followed by the HBO Special Disco Beaver from Outer Space. For the next thirty years, he appeared in film and on stage, including several plays directed by Steve Rothman. Bumpass is best known as the voice of Squidward Tentacles and other characters on SpongeBob SquarePants. He also voiced the Chief on Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego, Dr. Light on Teen Titans, Professor Membrane on Invader Zim, Toxie and Dr. Killemoff on Toxic Crusaders, and Hanover Fiste in the movie Heavy Metal. Bumpass has over 693 film credits, as per IMDB. He recently received a daytime TV Emmy nomination for his work as Squidward. He was recently honored by his home state, getting inducted into the Arkansas Walk of Fame in Hot Springs, and the Arkansas State Legislature sponsored a resolution honoring his career. He can currently be seen wandering aimlessly in the halls of this building. Be sure to say hi.

picture of Debi surrounded by cartoon charactersDebi Derryberry is best known for voicing Jimmy Neutron in the Academy Award-nominated film Jimmy Neutron-Boy Genius. In Netflix's Emmy Nominated F is For Family, Debi voices Maureen, Philip, Bridget, Scott, Nurse, and Kenny. Other voice-over work includes Taime in Guild Wars 2, Tubby in Genshin ImpactWorld of WarcraftThe LoudhouseCasagrandesBugs Bunny Builders, Draculaura in Monster High, an Alien in Toy StoryFinal Fantasy (Fayth-Bahamut)Zatch Bell, and many others. The new 2nd Edition of her popular book "Voice Over 101: How to Succeed as a Voice Actor" is available on her website and Amazon. She was also voted LA's #1 Voice-over coach by Backstage West. Her TikTok page has over 1.2M followers and over 25.1M likes! Raised in Indio, California, she participated in a plethora of community theatre; she graduated from UCLA as a pre-med student. After three years in Nashville as a country music singer/jingle singer/writer/musician, she returned to Los Angeles to launch her voice-over career. Debi has written and recorded three award-winning preschool music albums. Her song "Baby Banana" hit #1 on Sirius/XM Kid. She sings and plays guitar with her female trio, "Honey Pig." All her music is available on Spotify, Pandora, Apple, etc. Debi supports spaying and neutering your dogs and cats and adopting your pets instead of getting a "purebred." She is also a supporter of organizations that help the plight of the Orangutan. Don't use Palm Oil! After almost 30 years and over 300 Imdb credits, Debi is one of Hollywood's most active and sought-after voice-over artists and coaches.