Tim Dadabo recently completed a dream assignment. It started with a call about a job from his West Coast agent at William Morris Endeavor and led to a script that seemed to include every item on a professional narrator’s wish list.
Now, his words are the denouement to Crispin Porter Bogusky’s Date Night, a broadcast spot for the 2019 Infiniti QX50 that’s running in heavy rotation.
“It was kind of a ‘we need this yesterday,’” Dadabo recalls. “I sent an audition and 24 hours later they said, ‘you’re on hold,’ and 48 hours later I was recording it.”
Combining the elegance of Infiniti’s 2019 QX50 with sights and sounds from Avengers: Infinity War, CP+B’s Date Night is a whimsical epic about a couple who are trying to get to the movies on time. Along the way, they get help from an Amazon Alexa, which starts the luxury midsize vehicle as they prepare to leave.
Date Night ultimately delivers an informative and humorous message, but the creators were still figuring out the exact mood of his part when Dadabo got involved. To determine the most appropriate style, they needed an artist “who could go from A-to-Z,” and supply them with a variety of options.
Fortunately, Dadabo practices every single morning, a routine that was inspired by the advice of his mentor, the late Chicago voiceover legend Larry Moran.
“One of the things Larry told me was, ‘be ready every day,’” Dadabo says. “I sing scales, I read aloud, everything from the newspaper to children’s books and motivational books. I also read the bible. One of Larry’s things was, if you can read the bible out loud with feeling, you can read anything.”
He has also been singing on stages since he ws 13-years-old and has an upcoming gig with 70s FM, a cover band that plays a stunning range of music, including songs by The Allman Brothers, Rush, The Who, Led Zeppelin, and, ZZ Topp.
Even with all that experience, he’s no stranger to the jitters. But as he explains, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“You’re always nervous, but it’s a good nervous,” he says. “You’re stuck in this glass box wondering, ‘did I do the job they brought me in for?’”
With help from the CP+B team and the studio engineer — who, according to Dadabo, “were very good at giving me direction but also very good about letting the reigns go” — they got three solid takes.
“The first, I kind of leaned in and gave them what we call a wry or knowing read — it’s a wink and a nod,” he says. “In the middle, it was very conversational, and the last one was all the way to the movie trailer.”
Dadabo proudly admits that he is “nuts” for Marvel movies and also loves cars. Now, his voice can be heard on what he considers to be some of the best work around.
“Doing cars and of course movies trailers and then Alexa all in one spot is the cream of the crop, especially with a high-end vehicle like Infiniti” he says. “There’s always that hope that they like your work, and the fact that they aired the spot with my voice tells me that I did.”
To learn more about the work of Tim Dadabo, click here.
Send your commercial news to Reel Chicago Editor Dan Patton, dan@reelchicago.com.
