Pacific Premier Bank - "Hockey Talk"

You can take the girl out of Minnesota, but you can't take the Minnesota out of the girl... I spent 20 years living in Minneapolis/St. Paul, defending my voice from the inadvertent acquisition of a Minnesota accent.  Granted, it's less pervasive in the cities - but the further you drive out of the cities in any direction, the stronger it gets.  That includes you, Wisconsin.  And especially you, North and South Dakotas.  And Canada.  Iowa, for some unknown reason, not so much.  

And so to audition for and book a gig my first week back in L.A. that calls for a heavy MN accent was trickier than it seems at first glance.  Here's hoping I did my home state proud.  

Land O' Lakes - "Three"

The Land O' Lakes spot I voiced a few weeks ago is now airing on national TV, and so I'm able to share it here, now, with you.  Enjoy!

Client: Land O' Lakes Title: "Three" Agency: Campbell Mithun Recording Studio: Todd Syring/Campbell Mithun, Minneapolis Voice-over Talent: Leigha Horton Role: Announcer

Big G Cereals

A quickie session this morning for General Mills with Campbell Mithun in Pixel Farm's brand spakin' new space.   I think we were done within five minutes of starting (my kind of session - whee!), so I got the 5-cent tour of the new studios. They went from a hugely whimsical setup in the old digs to hugely classy in these new ones...either way, they know how to do it right.

New Headshots

Goofing off between shots during yesterday's headshot session at The Walker Art Center with photographer Craig VanDerSchaegen.  Levity is a must when having to pose in public places.  I don't know how models do this for a living.  Yeeeech.  Anyway, we're hugely happy with the results - looking forward to sharing them once they're ready!

Dragonfly

On set last night for Dragonfly, a feature film shooting in Minneapolis/St. Paul over the next few months.  I spent a fair bit of time getting primped in hair & makeup prior to the evening's shoot, and then ultimately a shot was cut that would have actually showed my head.  So, I have a name, some hands, and a classy watch, but that's likely all you'll see of me in this puppy...unless, of course, I end up back on set in another role in the next block of filming.  One never can tell...

Land O' Lakes

Today I was in the studios at Campbell Mithun voicing the new national TV commercial for Land O' Lakes' Spreadable Butter with Canola Oil.  I was delighted to voice this national spot the first time around a couple of years ago, and am thrilled to again work with Land O' Lakes and Campbell Mithun.  I've seen the full spot and it's really quite sweet - very much looking forward to sharing once it's airing.  Until then...

Ready for College?

From the inside of the booth looking out; from the outside of the booth looking in. Recording voiceover this afternoon for ACT (yep, the college entrance exams) at Audio Ruckus in Minneapolis.

McDonald's

So when you have a VO session in the morning and you're in L.A., but you're patched through to one of your favorite recording studios in Minneapolis, you send a happy waving picture to your engineer because he is also one of your favorites.  

I'll be sure to share the commercial when I can - until then, keep an ear out for a very helpful McDonald's drive-thru employee (*raises hand*) letting a customer know that if she buys a breakfast sandwich and any McCafe coffee, she'll get another breakfast sandwich free, and then recommending she come inside (because, unspoken, she's holding up the line. BEEP-BEEP!)

THRIVE

I've had the joy and honor of announcing for a couple of live shows in the past - most recently for the National Donor Marrow Program's Be The Match annual awards ceremony, and The General Mills GIMMEE Awards.  

This week, however, the event was just a little bigger.  Thrive, held over two days in New York, brought the pleasure of announcing great talent - grammy-award winning violinist, Miri Ben-Ari, for example, and many others.  And now, please welcome your hosts Arianna Huffington and Mika Brzezinski...

brrrrrring, brrrrrrring....

When was the last time you called a company and a real-live person answered?  It's becoming less and less the norm these days, and so, of course, somebody has to be the voice recording for the times you're put on hold or work your way through the voicemail options or call after business hours.  I'm just proud to say that for this particular event, it's me and not Rhonda from accounting (sorry, Rhonda - to be fair, you didn't sound like you were really all that "into it" anyway).

So!  If you find yourself calling the offices over at Cosmo's Fun Fearless Life weekend, well, you just might find yourself hearing a friendly voice, too.

Playing in the Big Leagues

Promos, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, are the quickie commercials played on a single network for that network's own programming - sometimes it's station-identification stuff, sometimes they're teasers for the next hot episode...you know, you've heard it: "When a stranger arrives, everyone talks...The Vampire Diaries, tonight at 9/8 central, only on The CW."  

As a rule, promos are notoriously difficult to break into, and are heavily male-dominated.  So when I recently booked a slew of promos for the MLB Network (yes, that's Major League Baseball)...well, let's just say that there was much "rejoicing" around here and leave it at that. Ahem.

Here's one to get you started: 

You can view a couple of the others here, here, and here.

Ameristar Casinos

I've never been much of a gambling person myself, but it's never too late to start, right?  As promised, this here is the result of session I wrote about in The Best Kind of Patch.  Behold, the TV version of the spots I did for Ameristar Casinos' MyChoice rewards program:

And if you find yourself thinking - wait, didn't I just hear that on Pandora? - the answer is probably yes; yes you did:

The Best Kind of Patch

Patches can be tricky beasts. In a nutshell, a patch is just like a regular voiceover session except that the people you're used to seeing on the other side of the glass -  the director, producers, clients, session engineer - are all sitting together in a studio thousands of miles away, talking to you through your headphones.  In your studio? - it's just you and the kindly local engineer who sets everything up and then hangs out to make sure nothing goes horribly awry while you're working.

While patches have become more and more of a regular occurrence in my working life, I still prefer to see the people I'm working with so I can gauge my progress and finesse the read (and the room) accordingly.  But sometimes I'm surprised.  Like today.  Today's session with the fellas in St. Louis for the nationwide chain of Ameristar Casinos was not only wildly productive, but fun. And funny.  No small feat.  Perhaps I've finally cracked the patch code.  Or perhaps the guys in St. Louis were just extra-chill and extra-engaging.  Regardless, it made me extra-happy.

I'll be sure to share the TV and radio spots here once they're airing...

American Hustle

Today was a day of mind-blowingly delightful "firsts."  First time on a studio lot (Sony Pictures), first time hired to perform on a studio lot, first time hired to do ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement or Alternative Dialogue Recording), first time working on a blockbuster feature film, first time doing voice-match for an actress who was nominated for an Oscar for the role.

I was brought in to replace all of Amy Adams' naughty words in American Hustle  so that they can show the movie on airplanes without offending anyone with the blue language.  You'll likely hear it, provided Ms. Adams didn't have time to make it in and do all the ADR herself.  If she did, well, then, that was an amazing experience and fantastic practice all the same.

The Caper

I spent the past weekend in Minneapolis and was delighted to work with MetaSynthesis Films - the people who brought you Theater People - on their latest project, The Caper.  The writing of this live action short is whipsmart and real - from the dialogue to the strong female friendship at the story's center.  It was an absolute joy to be a part of this production (I play Sydney, one part of a well-meaning but cluelessly-smug married couple at a dinner party), and I can't wait to see it and share it here when it's released! 

The Caper production still, courtesy MetaSynthesis Films.

What Do Bikers and Grandmas Have in Common?

Oh, you know, presenting a giant bowl of mashed potatoes with the most adorable smiles in all the land.  And sleeve tattoos.  Somebody's grandma's gotta have them, right?  

It was a joy to step in to a new-to-me studio, Token Media, last month to voice this bad boy for Gabriel deGrood Bendt.  I've been told that it's playing rather frequently on Hulu streams these days, so keep a watchful ear out!  Oooooooh, mixed metaphor.  Naughty.

Kellogg's

Spent a little time yesterday at DG Entertainment, patched in to a session at Post Modern in Denver for the beginning stages of a new Kellogg's cereal spot. Ahhhhh, technology.

The New Kid

The drive into William Morris Endeavor this morning for my first day of voiceover auditions - a fire to the south making for a fascinating sky.

Making the Holidays *POP*

Chocolate + Crescent Rolls = just add some wine and raspberries and I'll never leave the house again.  Behold - the result of yet another delightful recording session over at Campbell Mithun.

Sweater Party

You know who writes really fun spots?  Lynda Crotty.  Know who produces really fun spots?  Babble-On Recording Studios.  Put them together, and...ta-DAAAAA! 

Yep, a sexy, fun spot for a department store selling sweaters at Christmastime.  Who knew it was possible?  Well, clearly they did.  And it was an absolute delight getting all girly in the booth with Sue Scott and Jennifer Edwards.  Alas, I have no idea who the adorably-voiced lead sweater is, as she was patched in from L.A. and I happened to be in Minneapolis at the time, but seriously - adorable, right?  Right.