Jeffersonville voice actor Kris Brown's journey to success

JEFFERSONVILLE — Kris Brown's journey to becoming a professional voice actor started when he hit puberty. His teachers noticed his voice starting to deepen — which it only continued to do over the following years. Now a fully-grown man, Brown has a deep, resonant vocal tone, the type you would hear promoting the latest Hollywood blockbuster.

From his home studio in Jeffersonville, Brown has recorded a promo video for the Vermont Department of Tourism, a cartoon for the YouTube channel Cartoon Connect, and a commercial for the company BNI Vermont, among other projects.

"Anything voice-related, I can do it," Brown said.

Brown got his start at Such A Voice, a South Burlington-based company that provides online trainings to aspiring voice actors. While training with a coach, Brown joined several Facebook groups for voice actors. Through Facebook, Brown connected with the Hainan International Film Festival, based in China, which hired Brown to do a trailer.

While some of Brown's projects are based outside Vermont, many are for local businesses and organizations. Brown's most recent collaboration, a forthcoming advertisement, is with the Barre-based design company Granite City Graphics.

"Vermont itself is a community," Brown said. "It's all about connecting with the community."

When he's not recording voiceovers, Brown is recording his own podcast called "Cannasations W/ Kris," which is about the legalization of cannabis in Vermont. Brown's goal for the podcast is to create a platform for prominent people in the Vermont cannabis industry, partly as a response to Vermont's strict regulations around advertising for cannabis companies.

Between running his own podcast and voiceover business, Brown is relishing in the freedom of his work. Years ago, when Brown was a professional chef, he had to prepare meals exactly the same, time after time. Now, he can be creative with the characters and personalities he imbues into his voiceover scripts.

"It's so much fun just to do it. Like they say, if you love what you do, you don't work a day in your life. And I've worked a lot of days in my life," Brown laughed. "Here, owning my own business and being able to express myself, it's like nothing matched."

You can contact April Fisher at amfisher@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AMFisherMedia

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont voice actor Kris Brown's journey to success