Voice of the Convention
Cedering Fox cracks the glass ceiling at the D.N.C.
(8/28/2008) East Enders who have been glued to the TV this week watching the Democratic National Convention in Denver as the party prepares to officially nominate Barack Obama as its presidential candidate might be surprised to learn that the voice of the convention — that booming “Voice of God” narrator that introduces delegates, politicians, and other guests — is no stranger to the East End herself.
She is Cedering Fox, a voice-over artist based in Los Angeles and the daughter of the late poet and artist Siv Cedering, who lived in Amagansett and Sagaponack. With a father who lived in Bridgehampton as well, Ms. Fox has been a regular visitor here, and has helped produce benefit fund-raisers for local organizations such as the Pushcart Press and its literary prize.
Ms. Fox is regularly heard on promotional campaigns for major TV and cable networks, on movie trailers, in documentaries, and in ad campaigns. Her voice is described on her Web site as “solid, deep, raspy . . . intense, crisp, and polished.”
She has served as the on-air announcer for nationally broadcast live awards shows such as the People’s Choice Awards and is the compelling voice-over narrator describing the television show “Prison Break,” and can be heard on a promo for the X Games.
And while the contest for the Democratic nomination and the accomplishments of Hillary Clinton — lauded before her speech at the convention on Tuesday night and mentioned in a speech by Michelle Obama on Monday — broke new ground for women, Ms. Fox did too, in her own field.
Though authoritative male voices were traditionally chosen for promotional spots by major networks and others to capture listeners’ attention, Ms. Fox instigated change by becoming the first woman to do promos on ABC for its morning talk shows, afternoon soaps, primetime shows, and its late-night shows. She also did spots for other major networks such as CNN, ESPN, and NBC’s “Nightly News.”
“I was told I had the authority of a man’s voice and the warmth of a woman’s voice,” she said in an interview published in a June 2005 issue of the show business periodical Back Stage. She is also the artistic director of WordTheatre, a literary salon operating in Los Angeles, New York, and London, where she directs actors in live performances of short stories, and is featured in the book, “Secrets of Voice-Over Success: Top Actors Reveal How They Did It.”
Ms. Fox’s path to the Democratic convention was described in an article by Jeffrey Ressner published Monday on the Web site Politico.com.
Having done political voice-overs for Greer, Margolis, Mitchell, Burns, and Associates, a Democratic consulting and advertising agency, and, hoping to support the effort to elect Mr. Obama, she contacted the firm to volunteer her services.
In her e-mail to the agency, Mr. Ressner reported, she wrote that “though I am aware that the conventional wisdom says Democrats don’t need female voices for commercials as much as Republicans do, it occurs to me this paradigm might have shifted, given the fact that Hillary is Barack’s opponent.”
Just a short time before the convention, she was tapped as the announcer. “I’ll be sitting in a trailer during the entire convention wearing headphones,” she told Mr. Ressner.