Rudy Gaskins
Founder and creator of SOVAS™, That’s Voiceover!™, the Voice Arts® Awards, and The James Earl Jones Prize™. Emmy-winning producer and branding executive with deep roots in film, PBS, ABC News, Food Network, and the Olympic Games, leading brand strategy, operations, and programs with global cultural impact.
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Rudy Gaskins is the founder and creator of SOVAS™, That’s Voiceover!™ Career Expo, the Voice Arts® Awards, and The James Earl Jones Prize™, and serves as Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences™. A multi-faceted branding executive, Rudy is known for building influential platforms that sit at the intersection of culture, media, education, and social impact.
Under his leadership, That’s Voiceover! Career Expo™ has grown into the longest-running voiceover conference in the world, producing globally recognized programs that provide professional training, education, scholarships, and career advancement for voice actors. Through its awards and honors, SOVAS™ has celebrated some of the most iconic voices and cultural leaders of our time, including James Earl Jones, Lily Tomlin, Muhammad Ali, Viola Davis, Nancy Cartwright, Laurence Fishburne, Sigourney Weaver, Phil LaMarr, Mahershala Ali, Ken Burns, Erin Brockovich, and many others.
An Emmy-winning producer, Rudy won his first Emmy Award as a producer on the Olympic Games. He began his career after graduating from New York University’s Film and Television program, directing and producing award-winning short films before apprenticing as a film editor on Francis Ford Coppola’s The Cotton Club. His creative career includes collaborations with visionary filmmakers such as Jonathan Demme, Brian De Palma, Milos Forman, Spike Lee, and Alan J. Pakula.
Rudy later joined PBS as a director, producing more than twelve hours of documentary programming, before moving into broadcast branding and promotion at ABC News. There, he oversaw the creative direction for flagship programs including World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, 20/20 with Barbara Walters, and Primetime Live with Diane Sawyer.
As Vice President of Creative Services at Court TV, Rudy led the network’s on-air branding strategy during some of the most watched trials in television history and played a central role in its successful transformation from a legal news outlet into a news and entertainment brand, laying the groundwork for its eventual evolution into truTV.
Today, Rudy is recognized as a visionary builder of institutions and brands that challenge convention, elevate underrepresented voices, and create lasting cultural value. He resides in Weehawken, New Jersey with his wife and business partner, Joan Baker.
