I worked with Peter many, many times over the years. And I never forgot it. The client, by the way, loved the spot and the campaign was very successful. Peter was one of the best in the business and he took the time that morning to make a young, inexperienced ad guy feel big and important. After the playback, Peter told the engineer that I was brilliant and that my direction was "spot on." Over the years, I have worked with less experienced, less talented voice over and on camera talents, who treated advertising agency people as a nuisance. Peter recorded the spot again, pronounced the Indian name correctly and delivered the most majestical, mountainous, magical read possible. I walked him through the correct pronunciation and he asked if I wanted to give him any additional direction on his delivery? I thought maybe I should produce and direct a little but all I could think of was "purple mountain majesty" and I blurted out "How about a more mountainous read?" The engineer cut in "Mountainous? What does that mean? Peter? Mountainous?" Peter, sensing that I had no idea what the hell I was talking about or at the very least, could not communicate it clearly, responded "I think I know exactly what John wants here. Peter sensed my inexperience and said "Why don't I give you a read or two and you can see if we're on target?" Peter read through the copy, in exactly 60 seconds I might add, and his delivery was amazing except.he mispronounced one of the Indian names. This producing thing was harder than it looked. Then he asked how I wanted the copy delivered. He asked me a few questions about the client, where the commercial would air and a few questions about me. This was my first time doing any of this and I was plenty nervous. The session engineer answered the phone and told me he would begin to set up the "phone patch" which would allow me to talk directly to Peter through his headphones in the announce booth and direct the session. When the session started, I dialed into the New York studio. I wrote them out phonetically on my script so I could effectively direct Peter. The copy included a number of Native American Indian names which were difficult to pronounce. Nothing like putting the pressure on a young advertising guy. And we were paying by the quarter hour for the New York City studio. I was told that Peter was a national voice talent and was charging a lot of money to do the commercial. Peter would record from a studio in New York City and I would direct him over the phone. Our Creative Director had selected Peter Thomas to record the spot. I had been given the assignment of writing a 60-second radio commercial for one of our clients, a local art museum. The promotion did not include a raise in salary, it simply meant that in addition to writing commercials, I now had the added responsibility of producing them as well. I was a young copywriter who had just been promoted to Copywriter/Producer. I met Peter while I was working at an advertising agency in Phoenix in the late 1980s. Over the years, he also became my friend. He narrated documentaries, recorded promotional announcements for NBC News and did countless TV and radio commercials. You can also hear his voice on episodes of the PBS series NOVA. Most recently, Peter narrated Forensic Files on TruTV. Peter passed away this past weekend at his home in Naples, Florida. His name may not be familiar, but if you hear his voice, you most assuredly will recognize the distinctive sound of Peter Thomas.
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