Cara Jones

Voice Talent

Cara Jones started doing voiceover in college, helming the Harvard University radio station’s Folk Department for 3 years. After completing her Master’s Degree in Japanese, Cara moved to Tokyo and was immediately hired for a prime-time slot on the popular FM station, J-Wave. She spent nearly ten years in Tokyo hosting radio shows for J-Wave and other stations around the country. Highlights include co-hosting a radio series with Barry White, and interviews with visiting musicians such as Harry Connick Jr., The Manhattan Transfer, Charlie Watts, David Sanborn, Suzanne Vega, and more.

As her voice became well-known on the radio, she slowly became a staple in English-language announcing in Japan, voicing commercials and live events for Schick, Toyota, Japan Air Lines, Canon, Sony, Xerox, Mitsubishi, Kirin Beer and many more. In 1997, she was asked to narrate videos about the upcoming Olympics, and was later named by the Japan Olympic Committee to be the English language announcer at the nightly Medal Ceremonies for all outdoor events at the 1998 Winter Olympics at Nagano.

In addition to radio, commercials, documentary narration and live event announcing, Cara played roles in many popular games, including Shenmue, Tekken 3, Einhander, and Arc the Lad II.

Voiceover Experience

GPS CAR NAVIGATION SYSTEMS (International, Denso Inc.) 1997 – 2011
English voice for the car navigation systems and voice recognition systems in models of the the Jaguar, Mercedes Benz, Lincoln, Ford, Cadillac, Land Rover, and more
TV SHOW: “DBL’S EXCEPTIONAL HOMES AND ESTATES” (Los Angeles, CA) 2003
Voice-overs for 30 minute weekly TV program
J-WAVE 81.3 FM (Tokyo, Japan) 1991-1999
Co-hosted “Optune Midnight Faces” with BARRY WHITE (M-F 12am)
Hosted and programmed the weekly “Essential Love Collection” (Sun 8:30pm)
Hosted the nightly “Tokio Cold Cuts”, with a nightly listenership of over 2 million (M-F 8pm) (FULL RADIO RESUME BELOW)
TIME WARNER COMMUNICATIONS (Gardena, CA) 2000 – present
Commercial spots including television commercials for Hustler Casino; BBQs Galore; Gardena Chamber of Commerce; Planet Fitness; and more
SONY PLAYSTATION 1996-1999
Character voices:
- Einhander – the voice of “Mission Control”
- Tekken3 – “Michelle Chang”
- Arc The Lad II – “Shante’s singing voice”
SEGA 1995-2001
Character voices:
- Shenmue – “Hisaka”, “Mayumi”, “Lidia Bennet”
- Fighting Vipers – “Jane”
WINTER OLYMPICS (International Olympic Committee/JOC) 1998
Announcer of the Medalists in all outdoor events at the nightly awards ceremonies of the Winter Olympics at Nagano, broadcast live around the world

OTHER COMMERCIALS AND INDUSTRIALS (US, Japan, Worldwide) 1991 – present
The Cosmopolitan Hotel of Las Vegas, Agnes B., Shick, Toyota, Phillip Morris, JAL (Japan Air Lines), Harry Winston, Volvo, Canon, Deutsche Telecom, Sony, Xerox, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Ansett Australia Airlines, Kirin Beer, Toshiba EMI, Edwin Jeans …

DOCUMENTARIES AND NARRATIONS 1991-2000
Coca Cola, Tokyo Electric Power Co, Land Rover, Komatsu, Shiseido, Suntory, NHK, Panasonic, Nagano Olympics, Paralympics, ANA Airlines In-flight announcements, Korean Embassy of Japan

Radio

J-WAVE (Tokyo, Japan) 1991-1999
- Co-hosted “Optune Midnight Faces” with BARRY WHITE (M-F 12am)
- Hosted and programmed the weekly “Essential Love Collection” (Sun 8:30pm, 1993-1999)
- Hosted the nightly “Tokio Cold Cuts”, with a nightly listenership of over 2 million( M-F 8pm)
- Hosted “Behind the Hits” segment on the “Boomtown” show – Japanese (F 9:30am, 1998- 1999)
BAY FM (Chiba, Japan) 1993-1996
- Hosted “Sunrise Cruise” – English (M-F 5-6am)
- Hosted “Sawaki No Borders” – Japanese (F 7:30-8:30pm)
- Co-hosted “Prime Groove” – Japanese and English (Live Sat 10pm-12am)
FM YOKOHAMA (Yokohama, Japan) 1993
Hosted “PM Drive” – English and Japanese (Live M-F 4-7pm)
ZIP FM (Nagoya, Japan) 1993-1994
Hosted “Sweet Soul Time” – English (Sun 12-12:45am)
CBC RADIO (Nagoya, Japan) 1992-1993
Co-hosted “AquaJam” – Japanese, English, Spanish, and occasional French (Live Sun 1-2pm)
KTYO Radio Sky-1 (Satellite, Japan) 1992-1993
Hosted “The Cara Jones Show” – English (Sat, Sun 6-8am)
WHRB 95.3FM (Cambridge, Massachusetts) 1988-1990
Hosted “Folkways” (F 12-2pm)
Folk Department Director 1989-1990
Hosted and produced WHRB’s “Live Folk Orgy” 1989 and 1990 (outdoor festival featuring Livingston Taylor, Chris Smither, David Massengill, Johnny Cunningham, Cormac McCarthy…)
INTERVIEWS include:
Shaggy, Shawn Colvin, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Harry Connick Jr., The Manhattan Transfer, Charlie Watts, Incognito, David Sanborn, Karla Bonoff, Jellyfish, Suzanne Vega, Tony Toni Toné, Richard Thompson…

Education

B.A.-East Asian Languages and Civilizations (magna cum laude)
M.A.-Regional Studies: East Asia
Monbusho Fellowship Recipient
Tsukuba University Exchange Student

Snapshot

Bio

As a veteran voice talent for over 25 years, Cara Jones has voiced the car navigation systems of models of the Jaguar, Land Rover, Cadillac, and Mercedes Benz, in addition to having voiced hundreds of commercials, IVR systems, mobile and video games, corporate videos and more. Her live announcing of the Medal Ceremonies at the Nagano Olympics was heard by millions around the world. She also has more than 10 years of live radio broadcast experience.

Cara speaks Japanese fluently, and performs voiceovers in both Japanese and Spanish when continuity of voice is required.

Education

Harvard University: Bachelor’s (magna cum laude) and Master’s degrees in Japanese Language

Studio

Cara records out of Carasmatic Studios in Los Angeles, California, a full-service commercial recording facility. Cara usually records on a Neumann U87 mic, but prefers her vintage Neumann CMV-563. Other mics are available, if needed. Clients can listen into sessions and direct remotely with affordable Phone Patch, Zoom and Skype-assisted sessions, billed on an hourly basis.

(More details and equipment list…)

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