Voice Director Andrea Romano Inducted into the Children’s & Family Emmy’s Silver Circle

Voice Director Andrea Romano Inducted into the Children’s & Family Emmy’s Silver Circle

December 18th, 2023

Jerry Beck

Eight-time Emmy Award winner Andrea Romano further cemented her reputation as the greatest voiceover director in animation history on Sunday night when she was inducted into the prestigious Children’s & Family Emmys’ inaugural Silver Circle during a ceremony at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel.

The Silver Circle recognizes those professionals who have performed distinguished service within the television industry for 25 years or more. But the recognition goes well beyond their longevity – they are honored for making an enduring contribution to the vitality of the television industry and for setting standards of achievement the rest of the industry hopes to emulate. These honorees also give back to the community as mentors, educators and volunteers.

“This industry was given me so much, from wonderful relationships with actors and marvelously creative individuals throughout the animation world, to a lifetime of incredible memories and fulfilling work,” Romano said. “I’m so flattered that, five years after I’ve retired, people are still acknowledging my contributions, and I’m truly honored to be inducted beside such an illustrious group – including the people who produced Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers Neighborhood – into the inaugural class of the Silver Circle.”

Romano’s prolific career canon includes the voice direction (and often casting) for more than 40 television series, over 50 films and TV movies, 20+ videogames and a handful of shorts. Romano’s series work alone has accounted for the dialogue direction of more than 1,600 episodes of television. Romano, who has personally directed more than 10,000 voice sessions, was afflicted with optic neuropathy in one of her eyes, causing blindness in that eye. She subsequently retired in 2017.

Romano made her mark in every genre of animation – from orchestrating the casting and voicing of 23 different DC Universe Original Movies and the bulk of Warner Bros. Animation’s legendary animated TV series like Animaniacs and Batman: The Animated Series to more recent hits like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Voltron: Legendary Defender to guiding the voices of longtime sensations SpongeBob SquarePants and Avatar: The Last Airbender, to working across the globe directing the international casts of animated feature films and TV series.

She has been nominated for Emmy Awards a total of 35 times. In 2016, the International Family Film Festival honored Romano with the prestigious Friz Award for Excellence (named for animation legend Friz Freleng). In 2018, ASIFA Hollywood presented Romano with the Winsor McCay Award, one of the highest honors given to an individual in the animation industry in recognition for career contributions to the art of animation.

Left to right: inductees Tom Ruegger, Vicki Ariyasu, David Kleeman, Ellen Doherty, Fred Seibert, David Newell, Carol-Lynn Parente, Andrea Romano and Tara Sorensen.

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Jerry Beck

Writer, cartoon producer and author of more than 15 books on animation history. A former studio exec with Nickelodeon and Disney; currently on the faculty at both CalArts in Valencia and Woodbury University in Burbank, California.