Despite my purported prowess in production I chose to have my Commercial Voice Demo produced by the one and only Marice Tobias.  Marice peeled me like an onion in a workshop and helped me discover voices I never knew I had.  Further, my booking ratio increased considerably since, which I attribute to her methods and encouragement.  I'm further honored to have my work produced by the highest of caliber audio engineers in the land...Mr. Peter Cutler!

Scott Burns-Commercial

I thought I would offer film producers and video production houses a variety of voice styles for their narration needs, so I came up with a pseudo "Character-Narration" demo.  Would that be called a Char-ation demo?  A Naracter demo?  Not sure, but here's a sample of the various vibes I was hoping to convey. Additionally I provide samples of straight reads, explainer, eLearning and a touch of in-show Narration.

Narration Voices

Nothing helps create "Theater of the Mind" better than actually getting to perform with other actors.  While technology has enabled producers to cut and paste voice talents lines together, there's still nothing like being in the same room feeding off the energy and bonding with other performers.

Dialogue for Commercials

Ah the holy grail of the voiceover...Video Games! With an estimated 2.3 billion gamers across the globe it's no wonder the industry has become more successful than film and music put together.  Now it's required for video game acting to be more cinematic and real, with a steady dose of exertion sounds to boot.  This demo includes a mix of the serious with a throwback to my early work with Humongous and Nintendo.

Animation Video Games

CHARACTER VOICE
What started out as a character voice demo evolved into an exercise in breaking the rules.  At the time it seemed everyone was trying to conform to industry demands for the proper slating, length and content of demos. Also, including impersonations was considered a no-no...so I addressed them all!  My thanks to legendary character voice actor/instructor Pat Fraley for his valued input and generous contributions to making this demo!

Character Voices

Creative Custom Comedy for Morning Radio Shows-Retro
In the early 1990's my wife and I created, "The Production Funnies," a completely customized radio morning show service utilized by top personalities across the USA and Canada. Here are some samples of the show openers, character interactive's and imaging bits that made those shows uniquely personal.

Radio Elements-Custom Comedy Imaging

It's always nice to have a little character in your voice.  Having more can create commerce!
This is compilation of characters and impersonations performed for Amazon, K-Mart, Miller Beer, Washington Lottery, Seattle Mariners and more.
Voices featured include Elvis Presley, Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Barney Fife, Willie Nelson and even an attempt at Burl Ives.

Characters in Commercials

It's important for me to create commercials sounding as if they plucked straight from the airwaves.  For voice talent to convince agents and producers they're worthy of big time jobs...their demo needs to showcase them as big time players.

Fortunately I've had the pleasure of working with a lot of talented voice actors...enabling me to craft convincing sounding spots using licensed music and top copywriters.

Here are samples of my sound design from various demos over the years.

Sound Design for Commercials

In the course of 11 years I have produced an estimated 13,727 commercials.  That's a lot of volume working with volume!
Whenever possible I always look for opportunities to enhance a clients message by incorporating subtle sound cues to further paint a picture for the listener.  Sometimes just finding a great voice artist is more than enough! Here are samples of spots I've had the pleasure to direct and produce in the course of my career as Senior Audio Production Manager for Destination Marketing.

Agency Commercial Audio Production

Professional voice actor, coach and producer

Scott Burns professional voiceover career launched ironically enough in the Puget "Sound".   Already established as a Seattle morning radio personality, his penchant for doing humorous characters were familiar to area advertising agencies, who began incorporating his impersonations into their ad campaigns.

When interactive gaming burgeoned in the 1990's Burns was again tapped to provide voices for Humongous Entertainment,  Monolith, Sierra, Blizzard, Bungie and Nintendo.  In 2002 Scott became the first "speaking" Bowser, providing dialogue as well as grunts and growls for the Super Mario franchise.

Scott Burns began mentoring up and coming VO talent in 2009 upon the request of Barbara Rey, owner of a Talent Development agency in Seattle. Two years later he was  commissioned to join the international team of instructors for Edge Studios in New York where he conducted weekend workouts and provided individual coaching via Skype.  The popularity of his Commercial, Narration and Character curriculum soon evolved into becoming a highly sought after coach as well as demo producer, a trade he developed in the early 80's.  

With his day job as audio production manager for a leading Pacific Northwest Ad Agency,  Scott is able to incorporate all aspects of his VO career by not only casting and directing talent, but recording and engineering the final product as well.  The joy of working both sides of the glass continues to fuel his passion for helping others achieve their own level of awesomeness. 

Scott Burns professional voiceover career launched ironically enough in the Puget "Sound".   Already established as a Seattle morning radio personality, his penchant for doing humorous characters were familiar to area advertising agencies, who began incorporating his impersonations into their ad campaigns.

When interactive gaming burgeoned in the 1990's Burns was again tapped to provide voices for Humongous Entertainment,  Monolith, Sierra, Blizzard, Bungie and Nintendo.  In 2002 Scott became the first "speaking" Bowser, providing dialogue as well as grunts and growls for the Super Mario franchise.

Scott Burns began mentoring up and coming VO talent in 2009 upon the request of Barbara Rey, owner of a Talent Development agency in Seattle. Two years later he was  commissioned to join the international team of instructors for Edge Studios in New York where he conducted weekend workouts and provided individual coaching via Skype.  The popularity of his Commercial, Narration and Character curriculum soon evolved into becoming a highly sought after coach as well as demo producer, a trade he developed in the early 80's.  

With his day job as audio production manager for a leading Pacific Northwest Ad Agency,  Scott is able to incorporate all aspects of his VO career by not only casting and directing talent, but recording and engineering the final product as well.  The joy of working both sides of the glass continues to fuel his passion for helping others achieve their own level of awesomeness.

Scott Burns

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