What does it mean to be a promo voice?
In the most basic terms, the promo voice is the voice you hear at the end of spots for a given show, series, or network. The script is often a short end tag, maybe no more than a few words. You are the voice that tells the audience what the show is, and when and where they can watch it.
Pretty simple, right?
But it goes deeper than that.
Being the promo voice means you are tasked with creating a signature vocal tone for the show, one that will stick in the listener’s memory. Whether they’re watching the promo on TV, scrolling through social media, or just have it on in the background while making dinner, that voice will help cement a show in an audience’s mind.
In the case of THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT, I was lucky enough to have been the promo voice of the first Star Wars live-action series, THE MANDALORIAN on Disney+. Thanks to the tireless work of my promo manager Andrew Atkin at ACM Talent, I was still on the radar of Kyle Rodri (VP of Creative Advertising at The Walt Disney Studios and an old college pal) as well as Buddha Jones and BOND, the trailer houses creating the promo campaign for BOBA. But I had to audition just like everyone else!
When you audition for a campaign, you don’t often get to see any footage of the show, so you can only go off any direction casting gives you. We were told this was a gangster story, with a sense of mystery to it, and they wanted a different feel than we had acheived for THE MANDALORIAN.
A Season 2 promo for THE MANDALORIAN
I gave casting a few different takes, but the one that stuck was a slightly lighter, more mysterious read. I imagined the VO was a character lurking in the shadows of Tatooine, a peddler of intriguing wares who was offering passers-by a sneak peek into something they wouldn’t want to miss. After a few rounds of callbacks, and slight adjustments to the read, I learned I had the job, and the fun began.
VO for promos is fast-paced. The spots are created very quickly, and the VO is one of the last pieces of the puzzle to be dropped into place. When I’m working on a campaign, I know I could get a text at any moment from my manager saying, “Hop into the booth, I’ve got a script coming your way!” Sometimes I’ll record a script in the afternoon, and see it on TV that evening. My job is to be ready to go, and have my home studio in order so I can lay down whatever script they’ve sent as soon as possible.
These days, home studio technology has enabled both voice actors and producers to collaborate at a much faster pace, and in addition to their trust in me as a performer, I take pride in being able to provide high-quality audio to clients who trust me to get the job done when they need it done.
These seven episodes of THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT dazzled as they further expanded the Star Wars universe, and I loved how Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni consistently make their own rules, break those rules, and then make new ones. This is daring, innovative TV, and I couldn’t be more honored to have been the promo voice for their show.
THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT Season 1 promo
All episodes of THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT are now streaming on Disney+.
