Grant
Wiens Bio
Grant
Wiens Bio
Grant
Wiens has been involved in voiceover work since he burst onto the
airwaves with his own pirate
radio
station at the tender age of twelve!  One
of the first problems Grant encountered was a staff shortage. No
problem, he simply created a bunch of wacky original characters
to fill the various time slots! Little did he know his ability to
impersonate everyone from his neighbours, friends and teachers to
television personalities, movie stars and politicians would become
his career (not nuclear physics as
he had planned).
Following
high school and an encounter with the radio television authorities,
Grant decided to take a more traditional approach and get a real
broadcasting education. He was employed at 1090 CHEC while attending
Lethbridge Community College, in Alberta, Canada. Two years later
Grant graduated with honours from Radio Arts.
Instead
of accepting full time work at CHEC, it was off to the west coast
to do the all night show on CHQB in the thriving metropolis of Powell
River, British Columbia (B.C.) A mere two months later he clawed
his way to the top announcing spot — morning show host.
Grant
learned a lot about the many facets of radio in this small market
station, including
news, sports, music, programming, engineering and most importantly
commercial
production. The next stop on the radio roller coaster was CHNL
in Kamloops, B.C. The following six years saw Grant really blossom
as a broadcaster.
One
of his first major successes involved creating a ratings-dominant
afternoon drive show. After a one-year stint backpacking around
Europe, listening to accents and visiting radio stations, Grant
returned with a vengeance. He developed an award winning morning
show as the “Breakfast Flake” and crushed the competition in the
ratings.
The
height of Grant’s on-air career was achieved in Edmonton at the
legendary 630 CHED. Once again, he worked his way up from the lowly
all night shift to a slot on the morning show, just as Canada’s
very first Morning Crew was being developed. It was a classic case
of typecasting when Grant was given the task of being not only himself
but a host of characters, both original and famous! He wove them
into daily features, phone calls, spoof spots and songs. It was
a character voice and production guy’s dream come true!
CHED Morning Crew (Grant back row, left centre)
In
the mid 80’s the demand for his voiceover talents and
character
voices became so great he left the disc jockey life behind and started
the Voicemaker radio and television commercial production .
He also subcontracted himself to QCTV as a television host and CFCW/96
K-LITE as an airborne traffic reporter.
Grant’s
ability to do over a hundred
voices
is a unique and effective advertising tool. His talent for serious
documentary film
and educational and instructional multi-media projects is also frequently
called upon. For example, Grant has narrated projects for clients
in the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean, the U.K., Europe and Japan including
The Government of Canada, The United Nations, UNESCO and The World
Health Organization. He has been the voice over talent for
Boston Pizza, Burger King, Canadian Tire, Dairy Queen, General Motors,
KFC, McDonalds, Safeway, the NBA's Utah Jazz & Utah Flash, the
NHL's Edmonton Oilers and the CFL's Edmonton Eskimoes. He has also
voiced promos, spots and imaging for CBC, CTV, Corus, Family Channel,
Movie Central, Super Channel,Teletoon and hundreds of radio stations.
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