Anime dubbing is its own art form. From matching performance to pre-animated visuals, to navigating time constraints, flaps, and translation choices, the craft requires precision, adaptability, and bold acting choices.
Join us for a panel including actors Ryan Colt Levy, Tara Sands, Abby Trott and casting director Mami Okada as they discuss how dubbing differs from other areas of performance, the technical demands of the booth, the collaborative process with directors and engineers, and what actors need to know to work successfully in this fast-paced field. Moderated by Ted Sroka, SAG-AFTRA Foundation.
BIOS:
For Ryan Colt Levy, growing up surrounded by art in New York fostered an immediate love for self-expression through different crafts. While doing school plays and studying acting at HB Studios, music also became a major creative outlet. After moving to Los Angeles in 2015, acting became more of a central focus. Voiceover and dubbing opportunities found their way into his creative path after a commercial needed additional ADR. He Immediately fell in love with the creative freedom the space invited in and has been extraordinarily fortunate to call this wonderful collaborative experience his job ever since. His credits include English voices in The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse, Record Of Ragnarok, Vinland Saga, Devil May Cry, Komi Can’t Communicate, Moonrise, The Rose of Versailles, and more.
Tara Sands started her dubbing career by voicing over 50 characters in the original English 'Pokémon' tv series including Bulbasaur, Richie, Jasmine, Oddish, Yamper and Tori. She has gone on to voice numerous roles in many anime, animation, and video game projects. Tara has also narrated over 300 audiobooks.
Currently, Tara is co-hosting a podcast called '4KidsFlashback' where she interviews the actors and staff of 4Kids Entertainment, the company who brought tons of anime (like 'Pokémon,' 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' and 'One Piece') to English speaking audiences.
Abby Trott is a versatile voice actress who has established herself as a force in the worlds of anime, video games, and animation. Raised in the small town of Attleboro, Massachusetts, her love for performing began in grade school when a drama teacher sparked her early interest in theater.
Trott began her professional career while living in Japan for six years, where she performed in English-language children’s shows that toured the country. While there, she booked a job voice-matching characters in the shows and discovered a love for the craft. That spark led her back to the U.S. to pursue voice acting full-time. After winning a Bang Zoom! anime dubbing contest, Trott made the decision to move to Los Angeles, where she has built a successful career voicing beloved characters across fan-favorite franchises. She can currently be heard as the English voice of characters such as Nezuko in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Momo in Dan Da Dan, Akane in My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999, Tokiyuki in The Elusive Samurai, Yoh in Shaman King, Shizuka in Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, Kirie in Uzumaki, and Ono in Sanda, and more.
Mami Okada, CSA, was born and raised in Japan and has moved to the States to pursue her passion for films. She is now the Co-President and Lead Casting Director at Bang Zoom! Studios, where she has worked on numerous animated series and films, video games, and anime for over 20 years. Okada has cast hits such as Golden Globe-nominated DEMON SLAYER: INFINITY CASTLE (record-breaking, #1 Box Office hit), DEMON SLAYER: MUGEN TRAIN, Golden Globe-nominated SUZUME, SWORD ART ONLINE, THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS, SAKAMOTO DAYS, and DAN DA DAN, to name a few. Okada and Bang Zoom! Studios are well known for seeking out and discovering talented actors who now lead the industry in the field of voice acting. Okada is also a member of the Casting Society of America.
