In 1999, Mike Alben met with me at my studio in New York to discuss dubbing the English version of the OVA Record of Lodoss War. We began a 12-month project that started the anime division of Headline Studios. Headline, originally started up by me back in 1988, had existed mainly as a music recording studio, with three Grammy nominations under its belt with children's and folk artist Tom Chapin, and also a postproduction studio doing film or television work. Clients have included Jonathan Demme, Jason Wishnow and Wildwell Films.

Since Lodoss, Headline has made several other anime titles, four standouts being His and Hers Circumstances, Boogie Pop Phantom, Gokudo, and Gravitation. Other titles from our studio have included Shingu, Secret of the Stellar Wars, Comic Party, Assemble Insert, K.O Beast, Genshiken, Boys Be, Madara, Space Travelers, Jewel BEM Hunter Lime.

Since Mike Alben's tragic passing several years ago, I have sought out talented people in the anime world to help create a group who all have worked under the Headline banner. The goal is to make English versions that are faithful to the original Japanese intent, but that also make sense to an American audience.

This can be a tough balance, as some things do not translate across the board so directly. Jeff Thompson from Right Stuff International (who recently also tragically passed away) was the first client to open the door, after Record of Lodoss War from CPM, to new avenues for Headline. RSI gave me the opportunity to direct Boogie Pop Phantom and Assemble Insert. Then Jeff directed His and Her Circumstances for us, and was also the RSI producer for that dub.

I produced the Headline dub, gave some input, and worked with Jeff and the engineers, as well as doing the final mix. The group started to grow, with Crispin Freeman coming in to direct Space Travelers. Crispin had already been one of our top actors in Boogie Pop and Lodoss. He also was our main script adapter, taking the translations and making them fit the picture with more accuracy. Crispin then moved out west, where he continues to adapt, direct, and do voice work in anime.

Bill Timoney, who previously voiced Parn from Lodoss, came east, and proved himself to be a talented adapter as well. In addition, he was given the job to direct and adapt Gokudo, as well as Jewel BEM Hunter Lime. The Class-A actress Rachael Lillis then came on board to adapt K.O. Beast, for which I returned to the director's chair, and yet another top talent came on board, Sam Riegel.

Sam got the lead role in K.O. Beast, along with Liam O'Brien, an actor that Jeff Thompson and I discovered during the Boogie Pop auditions (and who was originally referred to us by Crispin Freeman). O'Brien was given the role of Yogi, and thus was born another major talent in anime. Like Crispin, Liam moved west and has gone on work in many anime titles. Soon afterwards, Sam was tapped as an adapter for Comic Party, which I directed.

The big fun started when Sam adapted and co-directed Shingu, Secret of the Stellar Wars (Sam did most of the work), which featured perhaps the largest cast ever assembled for an English dub at Headline. Bill Timoney was cast as the lead, Hajime. I decided Bill would be great to direct and adapt Gravitation, in which he also plays a role as the intense Sakano.

Now that all these talented people are together, Headline has made a new move in anime dubbing. With Sam & Liam now out west, and Bill and myself here in the East, the recent Boys Be is the first bi-coastal English anime adaptation. Voice actors from both coasts are auditioned, with the majority being from the west this time (though many from the east are now out west as well, like Megan Hollingshead, Tara Jayne, etc.), but we managed to get east- coaster Rachel Lillis in for a part.

Simply put, Headline, originally an East Coast based studio, has evolved into a bi-coastal organization. The best actors, directors, adapters and engineers from both coasts join their super-power forces to create the finest Anime English Versions that we can possibly produce.