A Good Director

The other day someone brought up the pros and cons of working with a live director and I immediately thought of how invaluable Art Insana was throughout this book I narrated for Penguin Random House last year. He set the tone each session by taking time to chat about our days and life in the biz for a few minutes at the top and over breaks. It was such a minor thing but breaking out of the “GO! GO! GO!” mentality of getting the book recorded as-fast-as-possible and actually slowing down to breathe, joke, and chat with a fellow artist was such a gift.

PRH Audio · Chesty Puller by John Wukovits, read by Josh Innerst

Straight-record sessions with a good live director are like carrying an advocate for the audience in my ear. If I'm trying something that makes sense in my head but isn't coming across clearly, I have immediate feedback from a fellow artist who is working to make the audiobook—and by proxy me—sound as good as possible. And my experience working with Art showed me just how the energy that a director brings with them into the studio can make a project memorable in all the right ways. He turned what was at times a heavy story to tell into an absolute joy.

​I particularly enjoyed listening to him tell stories about the pace and process of the amazing narrators he’s worked with over the years, chief among them being the late and much loved Frank Muller. He was the reason I became interested in voice acting in the first place, and it was lovely hearing how much of a dream he was to work with.

​I’m so grateful for the generosity and attention to detail that Art brought to this project.