JP Watson - Smoky, warm, understated, character specialist

Smoky, warm, understated, character specialist

• JP Watson is registered with Voice123 since Oct 18, 2011.
• JP Watson started his/her voice over career in 2004.
• Currently JP Watson is a Premium subscriber.
• Auditions and proposals submitted through Voice123 during the past six months: 89
• JP Watson has been active on Voice123 during the past 48 hours

Voice Description

An authoritative but not overpowering voice. A warm and friendly "everyman" for narrations, commercials, and audiobooks. Deep, edgy, and textured for movie spots. Articulate, professional, and straightforward for presentaions, documentaries, or technical material.

Humorous cartoon characters are a specialty. These include an authentic country bumpkin or Southern good-ol' boy, British twits (male and female), a kindly Hindu gentleman, as well as exaggerated, comic French and German accents.

Voice Genders and "Ages" I Can Perform

• Middle Age Male
• Senior Male

Language(s) of Which I Am a Native Speaker:

• English - North American
• Spanish - Castilian (from Spain)
• Spanish - Mexican

I Offer my Services for these Recording Purposes

• Commercials
• Promos
• Training, business presentations, sales, and web sites
• Audiobooks
• Videogames
• Documentaries
• TV shows and movies
• Movie and game trailers
• Podcasts
• Others (on-camera, infomercials, live announcers, spokespersons)

Jobs I Am Willing to Take (Union-wise)

• Non-Union Jobs

My Union Affiliations and Memberships

None

My Recording and Delivery Capabilities

• I will go to any designated studio in my area
• I can record and then deliver the audio files via Email
• I can record and then upload the audio files via FTP
• I can record and then deliver the files by regular mail

Pre-, Post- and Production Services I Offer

• I offer copywriting services
• I can deliver edited and finished voice tracks
• I can add special effects to any project

My Home Base

Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Accents, Impersonations, Characters and Dialects

Exaggerated British (ranging from working-class Cockney to uppercrust twit, male and female), American hillbilly, Southern good ol' boy, wheezing old man, shrieking old woman, cackling old witch with a sinister laugh, Don Quijote and Sancho Panza, befuddled Indian gentleman, Mexican, Frenchman, and mad German scientist.

I have captured many of these characters in "audio skits" I have written and recorded. These are short, comic snippets of a single character or a conversation among several characters, with sound effects and background music.

My Voice Experience

My experience includes radio spots, in which I played characters ranging from a doctor to a yoga instructor, and voiceovers for public service announcements.

My Training

I did voiceover training with John Burr and Associates in Bethesda, Maryland, and attended a number of voiceover seminars. I also have recorded radio spots in Craig Gildner's Metrovoice Media studio in Maryland.

I have worked as a journalist in the Washington, DC, area and in New York for 30 years. This experience includes four years as a Senior Editor for National Wildlife magazine, five years as an Editor for Time-Life Books, and three years as Senior Editor for Reader's Digest magazine. I currently work as Publications Manager for a federal agency within the Executive Office of the President in Washington, DC.

Since age 10, I have performed professionally as a drummer in countless musical groups. Styles have covered the gamut, from rock, pop, and fusion to country, disco (alas), blues, big-band, and jazz. In 2008, I traveled with the Olney Big Band of Olney Maryland to perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. In Washington, DC, I have played with the Night & Day jazz band, a blues band called The Danger Zone, and currently perform with the swing band Blue Sky 5.

My Studio Equipment

Software: Pro Tools LE 8.1, Audacity
Interface: Mbox 2 Pro
Computer: Apple iMac and G4 PowerMac
Microphones: Audio-Technica ATM31a, Audio-Technica AT4040

Additional Skills

I have more than 30 years of experience as a writer and editor for newspapers, magazines, books, and government publications, so I am happy to help with script-writing and offer suggestions to strengthen clients' scripts.

However, I take instruction and work extremely well with script writers and producers. They are my friends. I understand that some scripts are "carved in stone" and shall not be monkeyed with. My job is to give the client the best possible service, and sometimes that means working with the material as written, no questions asked.