Vocal Qs

Batman: Death in the Family will be released on Bluray Tuesday October 13th in an exciting 'choose your own adventure' format where viewers get to decide the outcome of the adventure as they go along. FilmSpeak and Vocal Qs got an exciting opportunity to sit down with other select journalists to partake in a roundtable discussion at New York Comicon recently, with voice actors Bruce Greenwood (Batman/Bruce Wayne), Vincent Martella (Redhood/Jason Todd), Zehra Fazal (Talia) as well as Brandon Vietti, the writer, director and producer of the film. The cast also includes Gary Cole as Harvey Dent/Two Face and the incomparable John DiMaggio as the Joker. 

Batman: Death in the Family follows the iconic Batman crossover event written in the late 80s, following the fate of Jason Todd, the second young soldier to take up the mantle of Batman's sidekick, Robin. Trained as Batman’s protégé, Jason Todd brings a relentless sense of justice as Robin, who sets his sights on bringing down the Joker. But can Batman save Robin from a fate worse than death? Tragedy, revenge and redemption await in this groundbreaking DC film! Who will live? Who will die? Who will watch over Gotham? The blu ray also includes 4 additional DC Showcase Shorts: Adam Strange, Sgt. Rock, The Phantom Stranger, and Death.

The amazing James Urbaniak (The Venture Bros.) joins us for a chat about that little-show-that-could. Sadly, it follows the recent announcement that Venture Bros has been cancelled after 14 years and 7 seasons of production. But James' work, along with the voice talents and creative team that put together Venture Bros. has given us all something special. If you've never seen the show, and you're a fan of pop-culture references and encyclopedic music deep-cuts, I highly recommend it.

James has also had a broad career in the arts, appearing in Film & Television, working on not only some of the great Animated shows of our time, but in Law & Order and Brooklyn 99, appearing in feature films (there's a Woody Allen story in this episode) and having a deep love for theatre that goes back to the 80s.

I love talking to energetic people who are passionate about the arts, and while James may remain humble when it comes to his knowledge of music, this is a man who knows theatre, illustration and especially classic cinema.

So join us for the second episode of Vocal Qs where James and I discuss Letterman, Woody Allen, his connection to the greats of Canadian comedy and much more. 

FilmSpeak is very excited to bring you the premiere episode of ‘Vocal Qs’ - the exciting new podcast about Voice acting, Animation, Impressionists and Comedy. We have been building a great list of guests for the next few months, but to get it all started, we talk to a living legend… Billy West.

Billy West (Futurama, Disenchantment, Space Jam) talks about his almost 40 year career in the Voice Over industry and being one member of the 'greatest generation' of Voice over artists. These old school Voice Over artists and their approach to the art are a dying breed these days, and Billy has a lot to share with anyone looking to break into the business.

He also discusses his prolific career; voicing the icon Bugs Bunny, his commercial work as the HoneyNut Cheerios Honey Bee and the Red M & M, working with the great Matt Groening, Phil Hartman, Maurice LaMarche and the talented cast of Futurama.

Billy's artistic endeavours don't stop there though. He is a trivia master when it comes to Classic Hollywood, an encyclopaedia when it comes to famous cartoon voices, and even a successful musician in his own right. He even opened for Roy Orbison and worked with Debbie Harrie and Brian Wilson.

So please enjoy the premiere episode. We hope you have as much fun with it, as we had putting it together.

Be sure to subscribe to the Vocal Qs podcast feed so you don’t miss an episode. Vocal Qs can be found on Spotify and Google Podcast.

I am thrilled to be bringing you The Vocal Qs podcast. During this pandemic, I wanted to keep creating and talking to creative people, and everything just seemed to click. My experience as a dialect coach and my love for animation inspired me to reach out to some of the biggest names in Voice Acting, Impressionism and Animation to bring you an amazing first season. 

If you enjoy impressionists and comedians, if you want to hear some of the iconic voices of your childhood, or if you want to more about the voice acting industry, this... is the podcast for you.