SungWon Cho
Cho at Colorado Anime Fest 2022
Born (1990-12-09) December 9, 1990
Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Other namesProZD
Occupations
  • YouTuber
  • voice actor
Years active2015–present
Spouse
Anne Marie Salter
​
​
(m. 2016)​
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2006–present
Genres
  • Comedy
  • parody
  • gaming
  • review
  • food
Subscribers3.91 million[1]
Total views1.77 billion[1]
100,000 subscribers
1,000,000 subscribers2017[2]
Last updated: March 4, 2023

SungWon Cho[3] (/ˈsʌŋwʌn/ SUNG-wun;[4] Korean: 조성원; RR: Jo Seong-won; born December 9, 1990), also known by his internet pseudonym ProZD, is an American YouTuber and voice actor. On his YouTube channel, Cho produces short comedy skits, unboxing videos, and reviews of board games and snack foods. He is also known for his many voice acting roles, including FL4K from Borderlands 3, Holst Sigiswald Goneril from Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes and Ratatoskr from God of War Ragnarök. His live-action roles include Detective Joe Furuya in Anime Crimes Division and Richie Cheung in BlackBerry.

Early life

Cho was born to Korean parents in Minnesota on December 9, 1990,[5][6] and later moved to DeWitt, Michigan.[7] He started voice acting in high school when he voiced different characters on a friend's radio plays.[8] He attended Michigan State University, where he frequently acted in live performances and graduated in 2012 with a degree in Media Information and Technology.[8][9] In 2012, after graduating, he described himself as being "in a creative rut" and taught English as a second language to Korean immigrant students.[10]

Career

Cho presenting at his panel at SMASH 2023 in Sydney, Australia

In October 2012, Cho began daily posting voice content to Tumblr, building an audience and eventually going viral with a video of him singing "Let It Go" from Frozen as Goofy.[10] His first foray into professional voice acting occurred when voice director Deven Mack saw one of his YouTube videos and had him audition for Apotheon, where he ended up securing the role of the main villain Zeus.[11] He remained active on Vine until the 2016 announcement of their shutdown and was also a finalist for the 9th Shorty Awards for Vine of the Year.[12][13] Cho shifted his focus to his YouTube channel, his audience following from Vine and having his work often appear on the frontpage of Reddit.[14][15]

In 2017 Cho starred in his first live action role as the main character, Detective Joe Furuya, in Crunchyroll's Anime Crimes Division, for which he was nominated for Best Acting in a Comedy for the 8th Streamy Awards.[16][17] In mid-2018 Creative Artists Agency reached out and signed him coinciding with an already planned move to Los Angeles to continue his career as a voice actor.[18][19] Soon after he was cast in the multi-ethnic Rooster Teeth series Gen:Lock and told NewsWeek's Phillip Martinez, "Voice acting gives me a lot more freedom because I'm not limited by my physical appearance. I can voice all different sorts of characters."[20]

Cho's presence on YouTube grew throughout this time with his channel exceeding 3.75 million subscribers and most of his income between voice acting work coming from sponsorships and ad revenue.[21] His videos are intentionally low-budget and often feature recurring universes with their own casts of characters, including an anime parody ("The Tomoko Chairem Anime Canon") and a role-playing game parody ("King Dragon"), through which he pokes fun at common gaming and anime cliches and tropes.[21] He continued to expand these existing storylines that had originally started on Vine, as well as creating a Let's Play channel Press Buttons n Talk with his friend Alex Mankin.[21][22] In 2019 Cho voiced the character FL4K in the popular video game Borderlands 3.[23] He has been a fan favorite in the anime community being a frequent guest at conventions and presenting for the Crunchyroll Anime Awards.[24][25]

In 2023, Cho made his live-action Hollywood debut, playing a supporting role in BlackBerry.

Personal life

In October 2015, Cho became engaged to Anne Marie Salter, whom he had met through an online Super Mario fan fiction community.[10] They were married on May 28, 2016.[26] They have two cats named Effie and Sophie who are seen in Cho's videos at times.[27]

He came up with the username "ProZD" in elementary school, and said that he would not disclose what it means as "it's so embarrassing that even my wife doesn't know."[28] On April 26, 2022, Cho tweeted that he had finally revealed the meaning of the username to his wife after being together for fourteen years.[29]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2018 Something Film actor Voice role; feature film
2021 Belle[30] Voice role (English dub); feature film
2023 Lackadaisy Mordecai Heller Voice role; short film
BlackBerry Ritchie Cheung First live-action role

Television

Year Title Role Notes Source
2018 Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These Vice Admiral Legrange 1 episode
Radiant Master Lord Majesty 3 episodes
2019 Gen:Lock Heng Li 'Henry' Wu 3 episodes [31]
OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes Johnny, Jack Whacky, Rando, Teamster, Game 2 episodes [32]
2020 Craig of the Creek Keun Sup "The Blur" 4 episodes
Big City Greens Maestro / King Violin 1 episode
Akudama Drive Shark
2021 Adventure Time: Distant Lands Brain Wizard Ep. "Wizard City"
Ranking of Kings Kage Main character [33]
One Piece Nekomamushi Supporting character
86 Richard Altner [34]
The Irregular at Magic High School Kotaro Tatsumi
2022 Odd Taxi Kensuke Shibagaki
Tokyo 24th Ward Hiroki Shirakaba [35]
Birdgirl Additional Voices
2023 Record of Ragnarok Kajinosuke Tanikaze Season 2 [36]
Pluto Brau 1589
2024 Delicious in Dungeon Senshi [37]
Solo Leveling Woo Jin-chul Post-production [38]

Web series

Year Title Role Notes Source
2017–2018 Anime Crimes Division Detective Joe Furuya Main character [39]
2018 Nomad of Nowhere Toro Episode 7 [31]
Camp Camp Brian Season 3, episode 3 [20]
Red vs. Blue King Atlus Arcadium Rex 8 episodes
2019 Tuca & Bertie Ultra-Sam S380 1 episode [40]
2020 Bigtop Burger Doctor 5 episodes
Aggretsuko Hyodo 9 episodes
Pokémon: Twilight Wings Mustard, Mienshao The Gathering of Stars [41]
Onyx Equinox Xolotl 2 episodes
2021 High Guardian Spice Cal, Kemp, Demon 5 episodes [32]
2022 The Hamlet Factory Birmy 1 episode
Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles Lord Kogane, Warimashi, Head Keisatsukan
Make Some Noise Himself 1 episode
Drawtectives: Celestial Spear Villainius 1 episode
2023 Lackadaisy Mordecai Heller

Video games

Year Title Voice role Notes Source
2014 Ace Attorney Investigations 2 Gregory Edgeworth Fan translation [42][43]
2015 Apotheon Zeus [32][44]
2016 Move or Die Announcer
2017 Battlerite Sirius [45]
Fallen Legion G'ndarark the Bloodhammer [46]
A Hat in Time Express Owls / Intercom [32]
2064: Read Only Memories Froyo Guy, Bouncers, and Police ROMs [47]
2018 Monster Prom Brian / Interdimensional Prince [32][22]
2MD: VR Football Coach [48]
Unavowed Kalash [49]
BattleCON: Online King Alexian XXXVII
Attack of the Earthlings Regional Manager Dennis Dickinham [50]
Wonder Wickets Leo
2019 Judgment Tashiro English dub [51][52]
Akash: Path of the Five Caspian [53]
River City Girls Nishimura [54][55]
Borderlands 3 FL4K [32][56]
2020 Granblue Fantasy Versus Vaseraga, Imperial Soldier English dub [32]
Yakuza: Like a Dragon Mitsuo Yasumura [57]
Forgotten Waters Captain Jesbut J Vance [58]
Soulcalibur VI Hwang Seong-gyeong English dub (version 2.30 onward)
Fire Emblem Heroes Darros English dub
2021 Persona 5 Strikers Additional voices [59]
Genshin Impact Krosl / Uncle Dai / Bravo / Elemental Being: Grounded Geoshroom [60][61]
Scarlet Nexus Additional voices [62]
Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny Misedor
Boyfriend Dungeon Sunder the Talwar
Mary Skelter Finale Jabberwock
Lost Judgment Tesso / Tashiro English dub [32]
Monster Hunter Rise Hibasa [63]
2022 Shadow Warrior 3 Zilla [64]
Phantom Breaker: Omnia Phantom English dub [65][66]
Rune Factory 5 Bandit, Oswald [32]
Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers Domino [67]
Neon White Mikey [32]
AI: The Somnium Files – Nirvana Initiative Gen Ishiyagane English dub [32]
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes Holst Sigiswald Goneril [32]
God of War Ragnarök Ratatoskr Also motion capture and writing assistance [68]
2023 Master Detective Archives: Rain Code Number One of the WDO English dub [32]
Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp Eagle / Flak [32]
Detective Pikachu Returns Will Butler [69]

Awards and nominations

Year Ceremony Category Work/Recipient Result Refs
2017 Shorty Awards Vine of the Year "When You're the Main Character Tho" Nominated [13]
2018 Streamy Awards Acting in a Comedy Anime Crimes Division Nominated [70]
2023 Crunchyroll Anime Awards Best Voice Artist Performance (English) Kage (Ranking of Kings) Nominated [71]

References

  1. 1 2 "About ProZD". YouTube.
  2. ↑ Cho, SungWon [@ProZD] (December 12, 2017). "one million subscribers on youtube, this is real surreal, this is a number that if you had asked me last year, i would've dismissed as an impossibility, thank you to anyone who's enjoyed my stuff" (Tweet). Retrieved May 25, 2020 – via Twitter.
  3. ↑ Cho, SungWon [@ProZD] (June 28, 2019). "dear anyone who contacts me for any reason ever, it's SungWon. not Sung, not Sung Won, not Sungwon, not Sung-Won, not Sung-won, not Sung won. SungWon, no fuckin space, capital-ass W thanks, SungWon" (Tweet). Retrieved May 25, 2020 – via Twitter.
  4. ↑ Cho, SungWon (October 12, 2017). "having a non-white name". YouTube. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  5. ↑ Cho, SungWon (April 26, 2013). "Frequently Asked Questions". ProZD Likes to Voice Act. Tumblr. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  6. ↑ Cho, SungWon [@ProZD] (October 6, 2018). "korea was a place i'd always been a little intimidated to visit, i speak korean pretty poorly and i'd only been once when i was 3, but i'm so glad i came. my family here is wonderful and made me feel so welcome, i truly felt at home. i can't wait to come back" (Tweet). Retrieved May 25, 2020 – via Twitter.
  7. ↑ Cho, SungWon [@ProZD] (May 25, 2020). "i've been informed i now have a wikipedia page, now i don't want to edit it myself, but to help out as a source (being myself), i will say i specifically grew up in DeWitt, Michigan as opposed to Lansing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SungWon_Cho" (Tweet). Retrieved May 25, 2020 – via Twitter.
  8. 1 2 Lee, Jonathan (August 9, 2018). "ProZD Talks About Acting, Diversity, and His Biggest Fans". Inverse. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  9. ↑ Ashley, Skyler (December 26, 2017). "SungWon Cho: MSU's Other YouTube Star". WKAR-FM. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  10. 1 2 3 Zakarin, Jordan (February 5, 2018). "SungWon Cho used to make goofy voices for fun. Now he's got millions of fans [Fandom Files Ep #15]". SyFy Wire. Archived from the original on May 25, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  11. ↑ Gwaltney, Javy (April 2019). McNamara, Andy (ed.). "The Genuine Comedian". Game Informer. No. 312. Sunrise Publications. p. 22. ISSN 1067-6392.
  12. ↑ "ProZD". Vine. 2020. Archived from the original on August 4, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  13. 1 2 "When You're the Main Character Tho". Shorty Awards. 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  14. ↑ Matos, Clinton (May 25, 2017). "What it takes to be a pro voice actor and YouTuber with ProZD". htxt.africa. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  15. ↑ Gutelle, Sam (March 15, 2018). "Reddit Made The Video Star". Tubefilter. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  16. ↑ D'Anastasio, Cecilia (December 1, 2017). "YouTube Show Anime Crimes Division Is Naruto Meets CSI". Kotaku. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  17. ↑ Loveridge, Lynzee (September 25, 2018). "CR's Anime Crimes Division, Voice Actor-Led Critical Role Nominated for Streamys". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  18. ↑ Fogel, Stefanie (May 7, 2019). "CAA Signs Internet Gaming Personalities ProZD and Caleb City (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  19. ↑ Zakarin, Jordan (March 4, 2019). "YouTube star and voice actor SungWon Cho is killing it in Hollywood [Ep #75]". SyFy Wire. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  20. 1 2 Martinez, Phillip (March 7, 2019). "SungWon Cho talks his 'gen:LOCK' character and becoming a part of something special at Rooster Teeth". Newsweek. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  21. 1 2 3 Stephen, Bijan (July 12, 2019). "ProZD makes nerd humor cool". The Verge. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  22. 1 2 Russell, Jack (August 23, 2018). "SungWon Cho Interview (ProZD) – Otakon 2018". Pop Culture Bento. Archived from the original on May 25, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  23. ↑ Brown, Fraser (August 8, 2019). "Borderlands 3's final character trailer introduces FL4K and his pets". PC Gamer. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  24. ↑ "SungWon Cho Information". AnimeCons.com. 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  25. ↑ Williams, Tommy (January 12, 2020). "Crunchyroll Reveals the Nominees for the Crunchyroll Anime Awards This Year". GeekTyrant. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  26. ↑ Cho, SungWon [@ProZD] (May 28, 2016). "back, got married" (Tweet). Retrieved May 25, 2020 – via Twitter.
  27. ↑ "SungWon Cho". Otakon. 2018. Archived from the original on May 25, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  28. ↑ "SungWon Cho reveals what it's like to be a video game voice actor". Retrieved November 16, 2020 – via YouTube.
  29. ↑ @ProZD (April 27, 2022). "i have been married to @cherrizard for six years, we've been together for 14 years, and i've known her for even longer before that only tonight did she finally learn what ProZD stands for she is the only person who will ever know this dark secret" (Tweet). Retrieved August 30, 2022 – via Twitter.
  30. ↑ Grobar, Matt (December 9, 2021). "Mamoru Hosoda Sets English-Language Voice Cast For Gkids Film 'Belle' Led By Chace Crawford, Manny Jacinto, Hunter Schafer & Kylie McNeill". Deadline. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  31. 1 2 "SungWon Cho (aka ProZD) Joins Voice Cast of Rooster Teeth's 'gen:LOCK'". BroadwayWorld. February 13, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  32. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "SungWon Cho (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  33. ↑ Mateo, Alex (November 17, 2021). "Funimation Streams Ranking of Kings Anime's English Dub". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  34. ↑ "SungWon CHO". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  35. ↑ Luster, Joseph (March 15, 2022). "Tokyo 24th Ward English Dub Heads to Crunchyroll, Full Cast Revealed". Crunchyroll. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  36. ↑ Luster, Joseph (January 23, 2023). "Record of Ragnarok II Anime Lets Fiery Fists Fly in Subtitled Trailer". Crunchyroll. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  37. ↑ Añonuevo, Marla (January 5, 2024). "Delicious in Dungeon English Cast: Damien Haas, Emily Rudd & More". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  38. ↑ Mateo, Alex (November 17, 2023). "Crunchyroll Announces True Beauty Anime, Streams Delusional Monthly Magazine, Senpai wa Otokonoko, More Anime". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  39. ↑ Lee, Jonathan (August 3, 2018). "'Anime Crimes Division' Season 2 Release Date: Filming Is Done, ProZD Says". Inverse. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  40. ↑ Briger, Same (July 29, 2019). "Lisa Hanawalt On 'Tuca & Bertie,' 'BoJack Horseman' And Channeling Anxiety Into Art". NPR. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  41. ↑ Lamoreux, Ben (November 17, 2020). "Pokémon: Twilight Wings gets a bonus Galarian Star Tournament episode". Nintendo Enthusiast. Archived from the original on July 31, 2021. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  42. ↑ Cho, SungWon. "oh yeah, I won that AAI2 poll". ProZD likes to voice act. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  43. ↑ @ProZD (January 6, 2017). "@Mariokemon1 i voiced gregory edgeworth, not miles" (Tweet). Retrieved May 13, 2021 – via Twitter.
  44. ↑ Med, Elec (February 13, 2019). "Akash: Path of the Five – Valentine's Day Trailer". ElecCafe – Tech news articles and gadgets videos from around the web. Archived from the original on May 25, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  45. ↑ "Battlerite". Sound Cadence Studios. 2020. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  46. ↑ Deogracias, Elisha (July 6, 2017). "YummyYummyTummy recruits ProZD to voice an in-game character for Fallen Legion". Gaming Trend. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  47. ↑ "2064: Read Only Memories". MidBoss. 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  48. ↑ Graham, Peter (April 5, 2018). "Become a Champion Quarterback When 2MD: VR Football Lands on PlayStation VR". VRFocus. Archived from the original on December 4, 2020. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  49. ↑ Kaharl, Jonathan (August 8, 2018). "Unavowed". Hardcore Gaming. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  50. ↑ "Attack of the Earthlings". PlayStation. Wales Interactive. 2019. Archived from the original on May 25, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  51. ↑ "Judgment (2019 Video Game)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  52. ↑ "ProZD coming to IFF Toronto 2019!". IFF Toronto. January 3, 2019. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  53. ↑ Tran, Tiffany (November 5, 2019). "Indie Dating Sim "Akash: Path of the Five" is Full of Flavor, Fun, and Sexy Characters". Nerdbot. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  54. ↑ Wayforward. River City Girls. Arc System Works. Scene: Ending credits, 4:34 in, VOICE ACTORS.
  55. ↑ Hopkins, Tom (September 12, 2019). "Meet the Voice Actors of Borderlands 3's Voice Cast". Twinfinite. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  56. ↑ Lanier, Liz (June 11, 2019). "'Borderlands 3's' Flak Will Be Voiced by SungWon Cho". Variety. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  57. ↑ Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Sega. Scene: Ending credits, 0:21.
  58. ↑ "Pirate board game Forgotten Waters' voice cast includes Dragon Ball Z, My Hero Academia and Red vs. Blue Stars". Dicebreaker. April 9, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  59. ↑ "Persona 5 Strikers (2021 Video Game)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved May 7, 2021. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  60. ↑ McNulty, Thomas (April 28, 2021). "Genshin Impact's Krosl Is Voiced By YouTuber ProZD In 1.5 Update". ScreenRant. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  61. ↑ Cho, SungWon. ""yup, that's me too, i also voice Bravo in @GenshinImpact"". Twitter. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  62. ↑ "Scarlet Nexus (2021 Video Game)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved July 12, 2021. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of the title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  63. ↑ @monsterhunter (October 28, 2021). "Born to be everyone's big bro, it's Hibasa!Equip your Hunter with Hibasa's uplifting voice to bring the power of…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  64. ↑ @ShadowWarrior (January 31, 2022). "Introducing the new cast of Shadow Warrior 3 bringing the next chapter in the wild FPS series to life starting Marc…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  65. ↑ Mateo, Alex. "Phantom Breaker: Omnia Game Delayed to Early 2022". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  66. ↑ Mages. Phantom Breaker: Omnia. Rocket Panda Games. Scene: Ending credits, 1:03:49 in, ENGLISH CAST.
  67. ↑ "Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers - Voice Acting".
  68. ↑ Cho, SungWon [@ProZD] (November 3, 2022). "eyyy, looks like the first images of Ratatoskr are finally public (i voiced him, helped write his dialogue, and did the motion capture), looking forward to people finally getting to play God of War: Ragnarok soon @SonySantaMonica" (Tweet). Retrieved November 4, 2022 – via Twitter.
  69. ↑ "Detective Pikachu Returns (2023 Video Game)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  70. ↑ Schaffstall, Katherine (October 22, 2018). "Acting in a Comedy - Streamy Awards 2018: Winners List". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  71. ↑ Eisenbeis, Richard (March 4, 2023). "All the Winners of the 7th Annual Crunchyroll Anime Awards". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
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