I have been a fan of the Documentary format since I was a kid watching National Geographic specials on TV. Growing up, some of the films that have impressed me the most were documentaries from such filmmakers as Errol Morris, Albert Maysles, and Les Blank. I have watched with wonder and pleasure at the explosion of Documentaries as a popular film form in recent years. Just last week, for example, I actually paid to watch a new documentary all about mushrooms, called Fantastic Fungi– It was fascinating!

In the world of docs, the purpose of a Voice Artist is to guide the viewer through the images they see, to tell the story in a way that’s clear, engaging, and informative. The balancing act comes when they realize that they are NOT the star of the film—the subject is! It’s also important to measure the tone of the film, and to adjust the read–and maybe even the voice artist altogether–to fit the footage. Peter Coyote, as amazing a narrator as he is, would likely sound out of place narrating a biography of Tupac! Also: a professional Voice Artist is trained to see the visuals, and gauge the speed and cadence of their speech to match what they see.

Last year, I had the pleasure to narrate a terrific documentary about Science Fiction shows that came about in the era of Old Time Radio!