When directing Bill in sessions, I always felt that he and I were on the same wavelength. After a take, I could start to make a suggestion, and Bill would frequently complete my sentence, somehow knowing exactly what I was looking for. We would hear things the same way. Subtle things like points of emphasis that could change the meaning of a sentence. I could ask Bill to “shave a half second,” and he could literally shave a half second. Or I could say, “Go faster but don’t sound like it.” While clients would chuckle at that direction, Bill could really do it. Directing him was like steering an expensive sports car. He responded so well to whatever was asked of him.

Clients almost always raved about Bill’s talent. But I loved one of Bill’s comebacks when a client would give him a less than stellar comment following a read. The client might say, “That’s pretty good, Bill. At least we’re getting there.” To which Bill would reply, “Damned again by faint praise.”

We discovered Bill in 1989. In those pre-Internet, pre-ISDN days, we often added new voices to the roster by phoning studios in the region and swapping names of recently discovered talent. Our office manager at the time was Barbara Gray. She had been talking to Grace Cantrell who worked for Sundown Sound in Greenville, SC, about an hour from ProComm. Barbara gave Grace a couple of names, and Grace did likewise. Then, as an afterthought, Grace added, “Oh, there is another guy you MIGHT be able to use. His name is Bill Thomas. But he doesn’t have a demo. Here’s his number.”

Barbara called and told Bill we’d like to hear what he could do. So he agreed to drive up to ProComm and do a live audition for us. He arrived the next day, a bit scruffy looking, in an old Crown Vic. We handed him three or four scripts to read on mic. Our jaws dropped as Barbara and I turned to each other in disbelief. Grace had said that we MIGHT want to use this guy. Really? He was incredible!

I used those reads to create Bill’s first ProComm demo which got him a tremendous amount of work. We started booking him that very day. Bill drove up from Greenville daily for the next five days. Then he called me aside and asked, “Is this volume of work normal? Can I expect this to continue?” Bill Thomas rapidly became one of our most popular voices, a distinction he maintained for 22 years.

Bill loved cars. Especially Ford Crown Victoria’s and VWs. Unfortunately, he didn’t always have one in good working order in the early days. He repeatedly explained that he was “building a car” in his front yard. I occasionally suggested he might want to just buy a good used car instead so he could have reliable transportation. Somehow that would set him off, and he’d respond, “John, don’t be ridiculous!!”

Once, when Bill’s car was on the blink, he called a cab to drive him from Greenville to Asheville. When I arrived at the studio that morning, I spotted a yellow taxi sitting in the grass of the park across the street. The driver was squatting by the cab having a smoke while Bill was inside voicing commercials. Turns out that Bill had asked the driver to wait there for four hours as he completed his sessions. Hey, you had to appreciate Bill’s determination to come through for us. No matter how quirky he was, I believe he was on time for almost every session.

In those days, we had a studio cat. One that had wandered up to the back door and never left. For a couple years, we just called him, “Kitty”. One day, I got the idea to name Kitty, and gave him the rather formal name, “Mike Burke” (inspired by one of our corporate clients). We wrote the name Mike Burke on Kitty’s food dish. Bill had become quite close to the cat by then and was furious that we had changed its name. And he let me know it. Seeing the new name on the dish only made Bill madder. One of the engineers said, “Bill, you can take the letters off the dish, but you can’t take the name off the cat.” Bill slowly accepted Kitty’s new name, and his relationship with Mike Burke became legendary at ProComm.

When I first met Bill, ProComm had several pieces of studio gear that had been modified by Lee Furr, a renowned engineer in Tucson. But as Bill learned our ambitions for growing the company, he told me something that was crucial to accomplishing our vision. “John, if you want to have  several studios and crank out lots of jobs, you need to standardize your equipment. Everything must be ‘off the shelf’ with redundancy from room to room.” I think he had learned this when working at TM Productions in Dallas, the revered jingle and music company known for their assembly line productions for hundreds of radio station clients. Bill introduced us to David Rochester and Alan Brooks, two outstanding technical guys, who totally transformed the wiring and acoustics of our early operation. (Alan is now our full time technical director, and David continues to keep in touch with ProComm from his base in Nashville.) I’ll always be grateful to Bill for connecting us with those guys.

If you ever worked with Bill in a session, you’ll remember how, in between takes, he’d switch into his spot-on impersonation of Harry Morgan as Colonel Potter on MASH. Not sure why, but it was a Bill Thomas trademark. Sometimes I thought I heard a faint trace of Colonel Potter on subsequent reads, and I’d ask him to quit impersonating Harry for the rest of the session. Strangely, I don’t think he was ever asked by a client to do that particular voice on a spot. But it would have been perfect if he had.

A first-time female client once told Bill after her session, “You just sound so ‘huggable’.” And he did. Although a bit of a curmudgeon outside of sessions, he was also gracious and kind. He ended every job with honest, sincere appreciation to all involved. Bill was a freelance voice talent, but he came across as a member of the ProComm family telling clients things like, “That’s how we do it here at ProComm.” And I like to think that “how we do it here” is to aspire to the professionalism and grace of Bill Thomas for every client. Actually, Bill once said to me that “our clients know that ProComm’s worst job will at least be acceptable.” Uh, ok. I know what he meant.

Bill, we’ll miss you and think of you often. Thanks for being a part of our lives.

People who aren’t in the voice over business often wonder how professional voice talent get to where they are. For a little insight, we sat down with ProComm Voices talent Grace Cantrell…

Grace, how long have you been in the voice over business and what got you started?

I did my first voiceover in 1985.

When I graduated from college I really didn’t know what to do with my life. As a singer, I began hitting up the local studios for jingle work. By ’84 I was working for several studios fairly regularly. One day one of the producers asked if I had ever considered doing voice work. I didn’t really even know what he meant. He explained and later that day I made my first demo on a jam box I had at home, reading ad copy from several magazines. I submitted my homemade cassette demo to the producer the next day and got my first VO gig as Snow White in a spot for an athletic shoe store. The commercial even won a local Addy award later that year.

Have you noticed any trends in the types of voices you get calls for or the direction you get in sessions?

Although I do a smattering of characters, I’ve noticed that most everything I voice these days is written for announcer/spokesperson types. Years ago, character voice sessions were much more common. Luckily, being Japanese-American has enabled me to at least be the go to girl when someone needs an authentic Asian-American accent.

How would you characterize your style, sound, or signature read?

I supposed if pressed, I would call my “signature” read one that’s natural and friendly with a hidden element of persuasion. I get a lot of hospital jobs so I’m assuming people feel I have a soothing, reassuring voice. I’m pretty busy during political season and I suppose that’s because I can sound fairly authoritative (for a girl!). I have no background in broadcast announcing which I believe gives me an advantage when clients want a voice talent with a more “natural” sound.

Have you had any interesting, unique, funny or scary experiences while voicing that you can recall?

Once during a session the entire lighting apparatus in the top of the booth fell on my head. I just said, “Sorry for the noise” and kept right on voicing. I also did 2 radio spots for a presidential candidate in my pajamas once because the agency didn’t get script approval until almost midnight.

Do you have any heroes, mentors or others in the business that you look up to or have influenced you?

I’ve worked with so many great people it’s hard to single anyone out. Back in the very beginning though, I learned a lot about the art of the performance and the benefits of being ultra-prepared for the session from Joe Van Riper. I was struck by his ability to read the script as if he wrote it and realized it must be in the preparation. Because of that influence, I always try and read through every script 3 times before the session starts, even if it’s a 25-page narration!

What is the best advice you can offer people who are just getting started?

Hmmm…that’s a toughie. Because of the easy availability of hundreds and hundreds of talents across the country to every studio, I tend to warn those thinking of “getting into” the business these days that it’s considerably more competitive than it used to be. But I would tell them that if they can get their foot in the door, confirm session requests quickly, study scripts ahead of time whenever possible, don’t be late for sessions and during the session listen more than you talk, except of course when you’re reading the script.

You mentioned that the business is more competitive now than it was when you began, what other changes have you noticed in the voice over industry since then?

The “no driving” aspect is awesome! It amazes me when I think back on all the hours I spent on the road ONLY voicing for studios that were within driving distance. That seems like a lifetime ago. I’ve also noticed that as I’m getting older, my directors and producers are getting younger, which of course presents the challenge of reminding myself that even though the person calling the shots may have been in diapers when I did my first voiceover, they are ultimately in charge and therefore I should always try my best to listen thoughtfully and comply.

Of the thousands of commercials you’ve voiced and the many clients you’ve worked with, do any stick out in your mind as being special?

I’ve been fortunate enough in all these years to have voiced for many interesting and impressive (if I might say) clients, truly far too many from which to choose one or even a few as special. I DID have a client propose marriage during a session once. There was of course, no follow-through. And one of my most interesting “blocks” of work would probably have been when I shifted gears from voicing a 5-minute narration as a Chinese woman for a large global company to playing the parts of the grandmother AND the granddaughter on a single radio spot, all within the same hour.

What would you be doing if you were not a voiceover talent?

Since I really love doing voice overs and after 25 years still think it’s pretty cool, it would take something major like winning 115 million dollars in the lottery for me to give it up. I DO buy Powerball tickets every now and again when I’m feeling lucky. If I ever win, I would like to buy a big ol’ piece of land somewhere and start an animal sanctuary.

What is the most important thing you’ve learned since you started in this industry?

A positive attitude is the key to a good session experience for everyone. It’s not always easy and I’m not always completely successful, but when I leave the session knowing that the client was not only happy with what they got but how they got it, I believe it’s a job well done.

Grace Cantrell can be heard on voice overs nationwide with a client list that includes Disney, IBM, Meineke, the PGA Tour, Mattel, Merck, Caterpillar, CarMax, Garmin, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Rockwell Collins, Time Magazine, Kraft, The Hartford, QVC, CNBC, State Farm, and more.

The hospital read. It requires compassion, confidence, caring, and empathy.

For any voice over to be effective there needs to be an emotional connection between the words and the listener, but when representing a hospital or medical institution it’s especially important for the voice talent to bring these emotions to the read without becoming melodramatic.  In this installment of ‘Who’s that Voice?’, hear how some of the professional voice talent from the ProComm Voices talent roster approach this type of delivery for our clients.

One of ProComm’s most in-demand voices for hospital voice overs,  James K Flynn can be heard in markets from coast to coast. Here’s a sample spot for Fox Chase Cancer Center…

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLnSmtE1buc

Grace Cantrell is another ProComm Voices talent who does a lot of medical voice overs. Hear her on this spot for Baptist Healthcare:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLKe4BD_RZo

Dave White provides the voice for cancer care at Brookwood Medical Center:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WVhhOt-Mbc

Check out Mare Carmody’s read on this TV commercial for Hospital for Special Care:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QtNfhehMnA

Listen to how Meredith Love’s read, combined with a rhythmic music bed, adds an edge to this hospital spot for Sacred Heart Hospital:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8oNrfpJ_Co

Another ProComm Voices talent who frequently gets called for his hospital read is Bob Jump. Here he is on a spot for Memorial Regional Heart Center.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtiWux9RF4s

When the subject is newborn intensive care, a more delicate approach is required. Listen to Anne Lalley on this spot for SMDC Healthsystem:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KjbXWDQUP8

Jacqui Fehl provides a compassionate voice for St. Thomas Heart Hospital.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1JovpaQMp8

You can hear more examples of hospital and medical voice overs in the hospital/medical business specific demo on the ProComm Voices site.

ProComm recently had the pleasure of working with a client on voice overs for a new video game that has just been released. ‘G.H.O.S.T. Chronicles: Phantom of the Renassaince Faire’ includes voice over work from Kiley Ayliffe, Grace Cantrell, Judy Corcoran, Saundra Cuyler, Rowell Gormon, Mike Harrison, Jason Jones, Bob Jump, Jim Kincaid, Anne Lalley, Chandler Smith, and Angel Tolentino.

Wanted to thank you again for the help with vocals for our game. During the testing phase of the game, the feedback was really positive about the character voices. The whole process went extremely smooth and we will definitely use your studio for future voice over projects.

- Mike/ Aisle 5 Games

The game is also getting nice reviews in the gaming community…

….Rounding out a solid package is the story telling. As you make your way through the park, you’ll meet a host of characters, alive and otherwise, that stitch together the animosity riddled strife that hangs over the renaissance faire. The ghosts genuinely feel put off by the new mischief making spirit, whilst the living inhabitants gossip with an almost morbid glee about the melodramatic plot regarding the park’s ownership. Strong writing and good voice acting seal the deal here.

- Kyle E. Moore/ www.jayisgames.com

Hats off to everyone involved and happy gaming!