Meet Ed Cunningham | Voice Actor, Voice Teacher, and Demo Producer
We had the good fortune of connecting with Ed Cunningham and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Ed, as a parent, what do you feel is the most meaningful thing you’ve done for them?
Teaching them to appreciate mother nature and everything she has to offer us here in Southern California. Since they were toddlers, I’ve been taking my girls hiking in Topanga and the Angeles National Forest, camping at Cachuma Lake, surfing and beach-combing in Malibu. I think it teaches all of us that wide horizons cure what ails you, and that we’re all connected, every living thing. They’re 15 and 17 now and still ask if we can “go on an adventure.” That’s what I called it when they were little.
What should our readers know about your business?
I’m a voice actor, and a teacher of voice acting, and a voiceover demo producer. But I started on the stage in Chicago, performing at Chicago Shakespeare, Lookingglass Theatre, and with dozens of other companies. For eight years I went from play to play, but making a living that way proved difficult. Then, an agent suggested I start auditioning for voiceover, and I booked my very first time out— a national Gatorade spot. The income I earned allowed me to continue doing theatre for peanuts! Then I started booking video game characters— classical actor training lends itself well to dramatic, sci-fi, and high fantasy video games— and I played lead roles in Call of Duty, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon, Soul Caliber, Star Wars, Fire Emblem, Snoop Dogg’s arch enemy in Way of the Dogg and hundreds of other characters. Voiceover led to my work as a Looper for film and TV (Independence Day, Lone Survivor, The Purge, The Good Wife, etc) and piece by piece I was able to build a career through voice acting. But the thing I’ve always loved most about it is the community around it. Simply put, voice actors tend to be some of the most generous actors I’ve met. We’re happy for each other’s success, and are always looking to help advance each other’s careers. I found this to be true more so than in theatre and on-camera actor communities I’d been a part of. And it suited me well to start preaching what I practiced, as I’ve always had the inclination to teach, I think. I coach my daughter’s basketball teams, and funny enough, I think I employ a lot of the same teaching techniques in my recording studio. I want to figure out an actors strengths, shore up their weaknesses, and help them realize a career for themselves. Just the other day! I made a commercial voiceover demo for an actor fresh out of the BFA Acting program at Illinois State University; he submitted it to agents all over the country, and just signed with ACM Talent here in L.A.! He booked an AFLAC national tv spot in his first week. All of that happened within a few weeks. I absolutely love helping this new generation of well trained actors put that training to good use in the voiceover booth.
I am actually a adjunct professor of voice acting at Elon University and at the University of Colorado Boulder. I also guessed lecture at USC and Loyola Marymount.
I also teach privately out of my guesthouse, recording studio in Valley Village.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well, I’m a cinephile. So, first I would take them to the Smokehouse for a good meal, then pop across the street to Warner Brothers and Universal, and show them where the movie magic happens. Then, we’d hike up to the Wisdom Tree and the Hollywood Sign, and I’d point out where Howard Hughes planned to build his dream house for he and Kate Hepburn, and where Madonna and Christopher Nolan used to live. (I swear I’m not a stalker and not a tour guide— you acquire this knowledge by living and working in Hollywood for 23 years!) Next, it’s out to Malibu for a tour of some famous movie locations— the beach where the Statue of Liberty came ashore in Planet of the Apes, and the beach where Ralph Macchio faced his bullies in Karate Kid! After a quick hike up Solstice Canyon to see the burned out ruins of a 1920’s Malibu Mansion, I’d roll on over to Santa Monica to visit my wife who works for Riot Games, and we’d check out all the incredibly realistic statues of characters they created for League of Legends and Arcane, then pop up to The Getty Center for some artistic gratification, and over to The Road Theatre in North Hollywood to see a cutting edge new play. That evening, we’d dine at La Poubelle on Franklin, and catch a late-night comedy improv show next door at the Upright Citizens Brigade— hopefully Amy Pohler will be jumping in!
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My professors at Northern Illinois University’s MFA Actor training program— Gene Terruso, Kathryn Gately, Deborah Robertson, and Michael Kachingwe— not only gave me technique that is fundamentally important to my own voice acting, but they showed me how to make myself useful to other actors, how to teach without ego, and how inspire others on their journey down this unusual career path.
Website: www.edcunningham.net
Instagram: @EdCunninghamVO
Other: https://on.soundcloud.com/ZYNvhKvHtWXkTkuw9
Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
