What does it take to survive (and thrive) through every era of voiceover?
Studio engineer, producer, and VO talent Mark Graue joins George Whittam to share stories from radio hustle to Hollywood studios, working with legends, and building a career that adapted from analog tape to today’s digital world.
From a near-disastrous timecode session to landing VO work at Hanna-Barbera, this episode is packed with hard-earned lessons on engineering by ear, storytelling in demos, and knowing when to step away.
Timeline
00:00 – Audio service promo
00:22 – Cold-call spec spots: the original hustle
03:12 – Breaking into Cherokee Recording Studios
03:36 – The Van Halen spec spot gamble
04:39 – Building a Warner interviews archive
06:10 – The open audition that led to Hanna-Barbera
07:39 – Buying Studio 5 and going independent
10:26 – Moving to Burbank and evolving the business
12:47 – Surviving the analog → digital shift
15:09 – The timecode session disaster
15:54 – Handling pressure when everything’s on the line
16:17 – Why great engineers use their ears, not just meters
17:13 – Storytelling secrets in voiceover demos
18:01 – Memories of Don LaFontaine
20:10 – The “voiceover gypsy” era
21:46 – Life beyond LA
23:45 – Travel, boundaries, and no mobile rig
24:37 – Coaching talent and modern home studios
25:32 – Gear graveyard stories
27:16 – Where to find Mark