Upon his arrival in LA, he wrote and produced both long and short-form for radio syndication, hosted two shows for national radio broadcast, pulled a shift at KISS-FM, interviewed pop stars on his own in-flight show, and began to work theatrically and commercially on-camera. On the side, he studied with some of the best pros in the business: at Film Industry Workshops, in Joan Gerber’s workshop and with dialectician, Larry Moss. He worked out with Robert Easton’s class at Sherwood Oaks College, and studied the finer points of improv in Dee Marcus’ “Off The Wall” Workshop. But his mentor was to be animation voice-master, Daws Butler.
A Multifaceted performer, Brian has been a staple in voice-over as a gifted talent, writer, producer, and musician. From believable straight man to characters and animation, his work is varied and memorable. He’s been warm and inviting on countless Disney projects, intro-ed countless DVD’s with, “Now our feature presentation”. He’s been a macho pitchman for Hot Wheels, an insane psycho for Sony-Playstation, and delivered sly sensuous invitations to “Fine Living”. He camped up the villainy as the sinister Dr. Mindbender, of G.I. Joe infamy, or the fidgety Chef Bouche in Beauty & The Beast, even pulling off a screaming rock & roll vegetable, Lick Broccoli, to rival the California Raisins. More recently Brian was heard voicing-over in the cast of Emperor’s New School and merrily slaughtered his way through the Mark of Kri/Kasai video game series as Baumusu. He played Russian scientist turned spy, Dr. Sokolov, in Metal Gear Solid 3, alien black-ops invaders in Area 51, and a dozen characters in Everquest 2. He screamed again as a high “campy Brit” for Magic Mountain. He’s been sinister as a snake for Disneyland’s Tower of Terror and kiddy-clueless as Doofus in “Ducktales”. As an announcer he’s been heard for major networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, WB, TBS, Starz, & more. His indie TV promo work has sold shows like King of Queens, Joan of Arcadia, Everybody Loves Raymond, Mad about you, Seinfeld, Family Feud, Regis & Kelly, etc. He’s hyped major feature films and sweet family fare. And commercially he’s pitched everything from breakfast cereals to toothbrushes, universities to supermarkets: for Ford, Toyota, Honda Motorcycles & ATV’s, Coca Cola, McDonalds, Burger King, Arby’s, Home Depot, Sonicare, Disneyland, 6 Flags, Silver Dollar City, Hasbro, Mattel, Safeway Stores, etc.
From Shrek to Shattered, G.I. Joe to Gummi Bears, he’s a voice talent who does it all. And as if that’s not enough he’s completed three CD’s of essential rock & blues with his semi-amorphous band Media Monster, six other CD’s of varied instrumental production music and is, at this writing, finishing music and production on an audio/book and pilot for a new cartoon series of his own creation.
But not content to rest on his laurels, he believes in sharing what he has learned with others. He teaches quarterly voice-over workshops to pass on the gifts that the business has so richly given him.
Brian Cummings has always “talked funny”. As a boy in the mid-west, he was fascinated by cartoons, music, and comedy. When his neighbors would ask him to do his “Elvis” or recreate a voice from TV, He gladly obliged.
His career actually began while he was still in school, in small market radio, where he became a Jack-of-all-trades. He had to be witty on-air, then spend hours writing and producing local spots, providing him with a solid base in “nuts & bolts” advertising.