Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1524863
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S 51 remember what it was at the time, but she did such a wacky version of that celebrity that the head animator fell on the floor laughing. He was so happy that we finally found it, because it took a long time to find that particular character. Also again, the ability to take direction on a shorthand notice. My very favorite direction I ever gave was to Jennifer Hale. Jennifer was the mom on Billy and Mandy. The level of the character was based on how much Prozac she had or needed. That was our little insight to that character, "Are you on your Prozac? Have you had your pills yet?" She had this speech that was literally an entire page. Like solid dialogue, the whole page. So she did it, and yes, we could have kept that take. But I knew we could have finessed it a little more and made it funnier. I had a million things to say, and I was looking at it, and looking at her, and I just made a gesture at her, and she goes, "Got it!" She hit every single note that I had in my head. I was dumbfounded because she and I had such sync together. EM: Is it challenging to find the perfect candidate to match the mouth and body of a character when in some situations, all you have is concept art or a storyboard if you even have those to go off of? KZS: Then you have to rely on the words because they tell you stories. When I teach my acting class, I try to have them understand that it tells you the action in the words. There was a character from Doc McStuffins, the knight, and in a speech he says, "I hop on my trusty steed, and I do this, and I do that, it tells you." The people that just read it straight through that have no emphasis on anything or that the feeling of action is also very important, they wouldn't be the ones that got cast. It's gonna be the person that hones all that stuff out. EM: How did you transition from casting and talent coordination to more voice directing? KZS: I think it just evolved. Gordon was laid off when Turner bought us, like I said. And then some of the writers or producers chose to work with me, so it was all about being invited to do it. I think Davis Doi, who was the producer/animator, asked me to direct my very first series, which was Jonny Quest. There were something like 52 episodes, and they needed a lot of stuff done. Choosing the director came from the producers that worked at Hanna-Barbera. They knew me and either they liked my style, or they wanted to do it themselves, and that was just kinda what happened. I don't think I really planned any of it. EM: That's amazing! When you cast and direct actors for animation, what are some other examples of the state of visuals the animated shows are in at that point? Are you ever able to see final, animated visuals when you're casting? KZS: Most of the time, for main characters, we usually have some artwork for the actors to see before auditioning. The picture is usually driven by the voice performance. "I remember Ed Asner giving me a big bear hug at the end and going, 'Great job, kid.' It was really, really fun."