Where this was said
The Accidental Big Break: Gunfighters of Casa Grande
At 9:13 · chapter starts 8:25
Josh picks up the story at 1965, the year everything changed for Don LaFontaine. A voice actor failed to show up for a session, and LaFontaine — still primarily working as an engineer — was pushed into the booth to record radio spots for MGM's western 'Gunfighters of Casa Grande.' MGM's response was immediate and overwhelming: they bought the whole production outright. [1] — Josh "In 1965, a voice actor missed a session, and LaFontaine — then still an engineer — stepped in to record radio spots for MGM's Gunfighters o…" 08:20 As Josh puts it with characteristic flair, LaFontaine 'invented the plane with the seat back trays and everything right out of the gate' — meaning the very first thing he produced was already a complete, polished version of the form. It was a proof-of-concept moment that neither LaFontaine nor the industry could walk back from.
LaFontaine's voiceover career began by accident in 1965 when a scheduled voice actor didn't show, and he stepped in to record radio spots for MGM's 'Gunfighters of Casa Grande'.
In the 1960s, film studios handled all their own promotion in-house — LaFontaine and producer Floyd Peterson were among the first to break that model by offering independent trailer production. They accidentally became 'disruptors' before the word existed, a fact that sends Josh into a Silicon Valley eye-roll.
