HISTORY
Mage Productions was formed in 1990 as a high-end corporate Computer Graphics (aimed towards video games) house that specialized in animation using the latest hardware and software of the day. It was to be part of a larger virtual reality gaming center called Event Horizons. Mage was based on the the Magi or wise men that followed a star to Bethlehem. As it eventually came down to just one person, it went to the singular of Mage for the name.
As time went on, it became MagePro and put its first website up a few years later (MagePro.com and MagePro.net). The year, 1999 brought great promise as it became involved with a project known as Optical Storm that failed in 2001 when the originators appeared to have skipped town with the investment monies. Just prior to that failure of Optical Storm (that didn’t dissolve until forced to in 2005), Mage Productions had incorporated – Mage Productions, Inc.
In 2000, the company decided to change direction and cover the wide range of computer consulting with hardware and software sales while the CGI business hovered in the background. By 2003, the consulting business began to focus more on Computer Network Security than on CGI and hardware, software sales.
2008 brought drastic changes in the business world and many companies that had seen growth, suddenly closed their doors. The loss of many clients put a world of hurt on the now one-man-company and Thomas Machin worked nearly 20 hours a day for nearly two years to make up the loss.
Around 2009, Thomas spent most of his time with Keith C. Bradbury of Who North America (www.WhoNA.com) where he setup their computer systems, worked the day-to-day of planning out a convention schedules and making the computer systems work under various difficulties through the years. (Who North America is a retail business located in Camby, Indiana that sells British Science Fiction collector items, toys and memorabilia, specializing in Doctor Who.)
The year 2010 rolled around and when Mage Productions, Inc. was solvent again, it was decided that the computer consulting side of Mage Productions, Inc. was done. The corporation was dissolved, but Thomas Machin continued to consult (and still does rarely) on his own. This strategy worked well until he was diagnosed with CML (a blood disorder) in 2013. The good news is that it is more manageable than some diabetic inconveniences and is currently undetectable. However, it did create a unique issue with fatigue and some aches and pains that were associated with the medication.
Thomas has not stopped his work for Who North America as it is more of a labor of love because of his admiration of the BBC programme, Doctor Who. This time period allowed Thomas to read and listen to books. He posted his reviews and got to know some of his favorite authors and audiobook narrators. At some point in late 2015, it was proposed that Thomas begin doing Voice Over work, but money and self-doubt nearly killed it. Then, Thomas found out about Bill DeWees (his YouTube channel) who explained how he had gotten started and the research of how to go about it began. With the encouragement of his wife and family, Thomas began putting together.
October 21, 2016, Marcia & Thomas Machin reformed Mage Productions as MagePro, LLC (DBA MagePro) with the intention of going back to Thomas’ roots. Thomas has a Bachelors Degree in Radio-Television and Advertising that was inspired by his parents who both worked in the radio and television industry. With the encouragement of his author and narrator friends and the staff at Sweetwater and WhisperRoom, Thomas used his ‘retirement’ funds to pull all the equipment together and get it setup. Now, Thomas is a full-time Voice Talent Professional and is currently working on his 4th audiobook.
2017 was a year of learning more and growing with no little appreciation to Mike DelGaudio as a wonderful inspiration through his YouTube channel. Mike was instrumental in not only being encouraging, but getting to the “why’s” “how’s” and “what-for’s” that hadn’t been considered. He was also instrumental in allowing so many in the VO industry to become proficient with Reaper, a Digital Audio Workstation software or DAW.
Special thanks also goes out to The Dave Fennoy! His experience, class and straight-forwardness is continuing to guide our decisions and actions. (Also thanks to Fred Gleek for putting it all together for us and Jarrod Talemadge to get us starting on marketing.)
June 12, 2017, MagePro Audio had it’s first audiobook go on sale with Thomas Machin as the narrator. There were nearly 50 sales in the first 2 months! As it was part of a series, Thomas was given the series to do.
June 13, 2017, MagePro, LLC legally registered multiple DBA’s for different functions of the company. They are as follows:
- Mage Productions – Script and Novel Manuscript Editing
- MagePro – Marketing/Reviews
- MagePro Audio – For Audio Production (VO/VA/Narration, etc.)
- MagePro Studios – For booth rental and recording
- MagePro Entertainment – Special Projects (GStQ)
June 14, 2017, MagePro Audio was assigned 2 more audiobooks with Thomas as the narrator. However, illness (re: CML) has delayed their completion until September or early October.
September 16, 2017, MagePro forms an affiliation with ipDTL. 
October 2017, Bill Reusch joins the team as a part-time Voice Talent and engineer. He will be in charge of the Heir of Katan audiobook series project.
A special project called GStQ has been in progress since late 2016. We are hoping that a presentable portion of the project can be announced by this November!
THE FUTURE
As other types of jobs come in and production ramps up, MagePro looks forward to the purchase of another Studio that will be available for audio work. This recording studio is not intended to be for bands or large orchestras, but for voice over talent that need a place to do their thing at a low cost.