We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Scott And Miranda Parkin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Scott and Miranda thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

Scott: My daughter Miranda and I have always had a great love for animation and comedy. We wrote, starred in, and Miranda animated our pilot the Comet Casino.

Miranda: I love animation, and in particular episodes of animated tv shows where the characters go to a casino. I always thought “Why don’t they just stay at the casino?”

Scott: And we both love scifi and space; Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell, that kinda thing. We also adore comedy shows like Arrested Development and the Righteous Gemstones. So ultimately we landed on a found family father daughter story set 200 years in the future at the edge of the galaxy.

Miranda: Our story takes place at the Comet Casino, which is located on “The Loop,” a hundred miles of debauchery, gambling and Vegas style entertainment encircling a distant moon.

Scott: I’ve been a voice actor for 35 plus years and Miranda used to come with me for all the auditions starting at a very young age, and she’s been around that shoebox environment for her whole life. So when it came time to cast it, we asked an A list of animation voice acting talent who’ve been in countless animated shows and films to be in our pilot. They all knew us for a long time and were thrilled and graciously agreed to help out.

Miranda: Yeah, it’s pretty amazing that we got Billy West, Gary Anthony Williams, Tara Strong, Grey Delisle, Dee Bradley Baker, Laraine Newman, and Mindy Sterling to all be a part of the Comet Casino.

Scott: Miranda and I have written multiple ideas for shows but the idea of a found family/father daughter story just really appealed to us and seems to resonate so well with so many people. We felt it was the right call. And really, when you’re writing a show, you should write something you like and that makes you laugh, so that’s been our mantra when making the Comet.

Scott and Miranda, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Scott: I left college when I was 21 to start work in radio and was on the air in the mornings and afternoons for 12 years. Eventually I moved into voice work, improvisation, and on camera commercials and writing comedy for live sketch shows and television. I’ve been a working on camera and voiceover commercial actor for 31 years. I also coach improvisation for voiceover and oncamera commercials.

Miranda: Yeah, I was raised around voiceover, television sets, and comedy people my whole life, so I ended up starting voiceover at age 5 and have continued to do commercial and animation voicework to this day. You can hear me as Miyo (and also Miyo’s mother Sumi) in the Netflix anime My Happy Marriage. I’ve always loved drawing since I was very very young, and took concurrent college animation courses while in high school. At 21, I got my first job as a studio artist at Surfer Jack Studios under Jeff “Swampy” Marsh. I’m very proud that our pilot The Comet Casino contains all character designs and backgrounds designed and animated by me.

Scott: Currently I am represented by DPN talent and could be hired to do voicework and on camera work. I also teach improvisation for animation, voicoever, and on camera commercials privately or in groups. I’m also a freelance writer for TV and commercials.

Miranda: I am also represented by DPN talent for animation, commercial. and promo voiceovers. When it comes to art, I do a lot of commission work. I am an art director, animator, background and character designer, and storyboard artist. Most of my work comes off of Instagram, where I have 192 thousand followers. For both me and my dad, we are uniquely qualified in voiceover and improv.

Scott: And Miranda can do most anything. She’s a uniquely talented artist and animator, and a top voice talent in the industry at just 25. I’m very proud to be a working actor into my early 60’s but the thing I’m most proud of is my daughter.

Miranda: In all honesty I’m proud of all the work we’ve done on the Comet together and how much work I’ve put into it over the years…And I’m proud that I didn’t end up like my dad. Kidding. ;) I still have all my hair.

Scott: With both of us, we love teaching, performing, and writing. We believe that if it’s not fun, why bother?

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Scott: In VO and oncamera work, I have been with my agent ICM/DPN for 26 years because they represent me extremely well. With my freelance teaching and coaching improv and voiceover, Facebook and Instagram and word of mouth have been very good for me.

Miranda: DPN has represented me very well, just like my dad, and they always send me the right fits for my voice. On the artistic side, Twitter and Instagram (Instagram mostly) have been my primary sources of commissioned work.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Scott: For me, making people laugh on the performance side and on the teaching side seeing students do things they didn’t think they could do.

Miranda: On the voiceover side, I think meeting people who know me through a character I play and seeing them get excited, or when I’m learning new things and how to do new voices. Also, when we get just the right take and my directors say “that’s just how we want it!” On the art side, bringing people’s vision to life is a wonderful feeling.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @parkinart (miranda’s instagram but you can reach scott through here)
• Facebook: Scott Parkin, and Miranda Parkin respectively
• Twitter: mparkinb
• Youtube: Parkinart