What if voice actors built the AI themselves?
Cissy Jones is a BAFTAn award-winning voice actor whose credits include Firewatch, The Walking Dead, Fallout 4, Starfield, Life Is Strange, Halo 5 and The Owl House. She is also co-founder and CEO of Ethovox, a US voice AI company owned and run by voice actors. In this episode Cissy describes how her voice was cloned without her permission during Covid. That led her to help organise the industry through NAVA (the National Association of Voice Actors), and then to build Ethovox as a consent-led alternative to open marketplaces.
Cissy explains how the Ethovox model works: contracted permission, custom recording, intensive mastering, no marketplace (so exclusivity is protected), actor approval for every use, and compensation. Cissy sets out what performers should check before licensing their voice and points to NAVA’s 13-question guidance and free AI contract rider. She also talks about the limits of “in perpetuity” clauses and argues that AI can’t replace human performance, though it can help with things like scratch work and high-volume, multilingual reads. Cissy also stresses the need for regulation.
What we cover
Chapters
00:00 Season Four Kickoff
00:44 Meet Cissy Jones
01:48 From Silicon Valley
02:58 Early Roles Breakthrough
04:20 Why Ethovox Started
07:49 Building the Team
08:31 What Makes It Different
10:42 Questions Before Licensing
13:07 BRAVA Sponsor Break
14:09 Buyouts and AI Rights
16:02 Pay and Performance Limits
17:25 SAG-AFTRA Agreement
18:31 Protected Direct Licensing
19:17 UK Expansion Challenges
20:33 Future of Human Voice
22:43 Wrap Up and Next Episode
Explore the companion notes here...
Links & Resources
Cissy Jones and Ethovox
NAVA (National Association of Voice Actors, US)
UK
This is Season 4 of HIGH NOTES. Where every conversation is a performance.
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