Behind The Mic with the America’s Favorite Voiceover Family
Jessica Gee-George and Grant George are known in the industry as the Voiceover Dynamic Duo and we’d have to totally agree. Their chemistry shows through their work and apparently it even shows through their award winning Halloween costumes. They love doing what they do so much even their kids are joining in on the family biz.
1) What radio VO work have you done in the past (stations/markets)? KVIL Dallas, Fort Worth, KZMG Boise, Hot 103, WXMC, Mix 96.9 – Huntsville, Westwood One Radio, Country 105.
2) What are you up to presently (freelance/on-staff at a station)? Imaging voices at various stations.
3) What do you love about your job? Above all, we love working together. We have branded ourselves as the Voiceover Dynamic Duo, and are known as “America’s Favorite Husband and Wife Voiceover Team.” We love when we can do imaging together and use our great chemistry to make things real, so they don’t fly by on air, but are really heard. We love doing voiceovers, and as cartoon voice people, we both have tons of voices to add to our projects. Imaging folks love it when we can spice up Halloween-themed imaging with a cackling old witch or cute little elves for christmas. You get an entire library with the 2 of us.
4) How did you get started as a VO actors? What were your first gigs? Jes started at 15 and has been working ever since. The first job was on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Grant landed his first job in a movie Jes was voice casting – Leprachaun. Apparently, the sparks flew off the page and into each others’ laps.
5) Have you ever had a voice coach? Would you recommend it? Both of us have studied with many of the great teachers. We continue to take workshops and perfect our craft. We’re never done learning. We have also taught all around the country. In 2015-2016, we traveled as guests to over 12 states and taught our famous creating characters workshop.
6) Who are your VO idols/mentors? Who influenced your work as VO artists? For Jes, it was her godfather, Hal Smith, the silly drunk Otis on the Andy Griffith Show. Grant better say “Jes” but his might start with watching the Super Friends. Funny that he became the voice of the famous Avenger’s Ant Man (pictured below).
7) What is your dream gig? We have to say having tons of imaging jobs per day, don’t we. But we love those stations that think outside the box and let us work together. Our favorite work is always doing characters for cartoons.
Jessica as the voice of Glob in Bottersnikes and Gumbles
8) Can you offer 3 helpful tips for newbies trying to make it in the voice-over industry? Study with people, take classes, don’t make a demo until you are competitive.
9) If you weren’t doing voiceover, what else do you think you’d be doing for a career? Helping people who need a boost, and flipping houses.
10) How do you schedule/prioritize your work? We keep east coast hours and get our work done early in the morning. We are very organized and get our work done efficiently and on time.
11) How much time do you spend auditioning for new work? Every day for at least 2-3 hours. Sometimes more.
12) How do you market your services to potential clients? We write blogs, we travel around the country, and we use social media.
13) Which production system do you use and why? We have 2 booths with top-notch equipment. We’re suckers for clean sound.
14) What are your favorite plugins? We don’t use too many.
15) What gear do you use (microphone, pre-amp, booth, etc)? Neumann TLM 103, Mackie Boards, Beyer Headphones.
16) How has new technology changed the way you work? We have wonderful clean sound.
Pictured above: Grant and Jessica in Miraculous Ladybug on Nickelodeon
17) What is the best voice processing trick or voice-over technique everyone should know? We send things in raw. Sometimes speed helps with timing.
18) When it comes to VO work, studio & gear, what are your most ingenious methods/discoveries for saving time and cash? It’s great to have an auxiliary editor to help, so we can concentrate on the work.
19) Do you have a different approach to reading radio imaging copy as opposed to TV/radio commercial ads?Completely different. Writing for imaging is usually fast and doesn’t have time for embellishing. In our commercial work, we book jobs because we add our own spice of life.
Family photo; kids are also getting their start in the industry
20) What did it feel like the first time you heard your voice on the radio/television? Jes was 15 and was giddy with excitement. Grant was so excited he listened to it over and over.
21) Favorite TV show of all time? Grant- the original Krofft Super Show’s Land of the Lost. Jes – right now- Ballers…but she’s a Brady kid.
Their sons who are The Boy Wonders; Daxx & Logan doing ADR and Walla for one of the many films Mom and Dad have cast.
22) If you could invite one person to dinner, living or dead, who would it be (non-family)? Jes would love to see her dad again as an adult.
23) Biggest pet peeve? Jes can’t stand when metal is rubbed against metal. Grant has a phobia of dirty rubber sneakers.
24) What’s your guilty pleasure? Both of us…a Corona on a hot day and Porto’s potato balls.
25) Dogs or cats? Both and anything else that wags its tail.
26) What’s the best halloween costume you’ve ever dressed as and why? We are the winners of every contest we ever enter. Our mummies were our best, complete with coffins and contact lenses. We recently did evil siamese twins for a creepy carnival theme and we stayed joined at the head for the entire 4 hour party.
27) If you could travel anywhere in the world right now where would you go and why? To the seaside of Italy to visit where we got married and where we might just die.
Contact Links:
Grant Benztown Site: http://benztown.com/brigade/grant-george
Jess Benztown Site: http://benztown.com/brigade/jessica-gee
Website: http://www.dynamicduovo.com/
