Sex In The Suburbs ~ Courtesy Airlift Productions

Ideally situated - just off Veterans and Causeway Boulevards, and near the suburbs main mall - Legends Encore is set to take-off... again
Ideally situated – just off Veterans and Causeway Boulevards, and near the suburbs main mall – Legends Encore is set to take-off… again

Imagine being tasked with re-branding and imaging one of metro New Orleans oldest and most established night spots! I mean, there have been more marriages created … and broken in this one little spot on the map than you can shake a wedding band at!

Legends Encore is now the name.  Under new owners and management – Dean St. Pierre, Nick St. Pierre & Chad Prestenbach, respectively – the NEW LEGENDS ENCORE is set to take off.

Long a favorite hangout for those single and ready to mingle, the divorced, separated, disenfranchised, fresh-off-the-backboards in the game of love … Legends has become, well, sort of a … legend.

Now, newly renovated, with so many suspended flat screens that it comes off like a Best Buy with alcohol and burgers, Legends Encore is poised to move to the top of the nightclub heap in Jefferson Parish.

And the improvements to the stage and sound system are epic!

Looking to image the club and make the most of what it has to offer, my first shot across the ‘radio bow’ came out like this.  Blow some dust off your digital device’s speakers with this one ….

 ~ Initial Legends Encore radio :30 written, voiced & produced by Micheal Ziants @ Airlift Productions for B-97 & Bayou 95.7 …. “Legends Never Die” ~

Fun, creative, with swag & attitude, “Legends Never Die” sure accomplishes a good deal in 29.5 seconds.  A call-back to the legacy of decades of parties,  teasing promises of love & sex ( ‘get the downlow on the hook-up’), even a cameo from Mike Myers as Austin Powers!

To say nothing of setting the stage – that’s Legends Encore’s stage – for this club to be perceived as ‘Metairie’s Premier LIVE Music Venue.’  And this is in an area (metro New Orleans, come on) that really knows music.

~ yet another party crowd on yet another Saturday night at Legends Encore, 2708 North Hullen, Metairie ~
~ yet another party crowd on yet another Saturday night at Legends Encore, 2708 North Hullen, Metairie ~

No, you won’t find this spot on Carrie Bradshaw’s ‘Sex in the City’ HBO reruns … but if she ever did time in Louisiana, you sure would.

Just think of me as the digital media matchmaker and toll taker on that ever elusive and always just out of reach ‘Highway of Love’! :-)

Airlift Productions ~ Audio Alchemy from New Orleans since 1984

 

It’s An Airlift to LA ~ With A Dash of Pepper!

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Actress Pepper Binkley Records VoiceOvers for Amazon At Airlift Productions, New Orleans

Or maybe we should make that Red Pepper.

Perhaps you’ve caught Pepper Binkley on-screen with Robert De Niro in “Stone”, or on TV as Nurse Bridget on the long-running soap “All My Children”, or helping throw steam from the flat screen on the Showtime series “Masters of Sex”.

In any event, Pepper and entourage were in the house yesterday at the Airlift Studios to record VoiceOvers on behalf of the CyberiaMedia krewe in Santa Monica … tracks destined for an ‘amazonian’ crowd, to tout and promote Amazon Web Services.

We phone-patched from Airlift to California, and David & Richard, in-house at CyberiaMedia helped steer the entire session, as Ms. Pepper mystified and amazed us with her masterful microphone maneuvers.  Really.

Crank-up your speakers on your digital device and give a listen …

~ Pepper Binkley wows the Amazon crowd … with a little help from Airlift Productions ~ 

In New Orleans ~ Hollywood South ~ to film “A Night Without Armor”, Pepper was in need of a studio to help ‘connect the dots’ and Airlift & I were only too happy to oblige.

Trained in London, Pepper has a spot-on British accent, which she can turn on & off like the flick of a switch.  But in this case, it was full-on American neutral … in pursuit of a crowd of very technologically inclined millennials.

Pepper Binkley's autographed Amazon V/O copy, Airlift Productions - November 2014
Pepper Binkley’s autographed Amazon V/O copy, Airlift Productions – November 2014

And when “A Night Without Armor” opens-up down at the cineplex, I’ll be the one with the milk duds & popcorn in the front row.  See you there.

Airlift Productions ~ Audio Alchemy from New Orleans since 1984

Airlift Productions Creates A Monster For Halloween! And One Saint.

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The “Murder in Coweta County” made-for-CBS-TV movie starred Andy Griffith as the villainous John Wallace – and the iconic Johnny Cash as the heroic sheriff Lamar Potts

In Mary Shelley’s gothic “Frankenstein”, her monster was created from the exhumed body parts of the murderous and insane dead.  In the controversial true crime drama “Murder in Coweta County”, Margaret Ann Barnes attempts no less a task.

In this case, venerable & beloved Andy Griffith, in the made-for-TV movie, is cast against type as the villainous & evil 1948 Georgia wealthy land baron John Wallace. And the iconic legend Johnny Cash portrays the noble sheriff on his tail – Lamar Potts.

Today, in 2014, Airlift Productions and I have assumed and shouldered the truly awesome responsibility of voicing, recording and editing the bound-for-Pelican Publishing concerns audio book title of the same name. 

While previous blogs of mine have dealt with the arrogant, violent, racist, monstrous John Wallace character (spoiler alert!) who was put to death in the Georgia state electric chair in 1950 – today’s blog introduces you to the noble & righteous real-life hero Lamar Potts!

Even though many of the scores of characters in the Airlift version of this audio book are painted with broad strokes of southern caricature and color, I’ve chosen to paint this unique sheriff in neutral tones … relaxed, calm, reassuring, caring, and almost dialect-free.

Destined for a Halloween finish date – and the night before All Saints Day – meet the hero, the true star of “Murder in Coweta County”. Meet the sheriff of Coweta County.  Meet Lamar Potts ….

~ Micheal Ziants creates the iconic Coweta County, Georgia sheriff Lamar Potts, excerpted from Chapter 3 of the audio book, courtesy Pelican Publishing ~

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Micheal Ziants creates  the audio book “Murder in Coweta County” for Pelican Publishing, New Orleans

I wanted the listener of this book anywhere in America, or the world for that matter, to be able to personally relate to the hero.  To make him appear with a drawl, southern accent, or any caricature of any type would totally defeat that purpose. So, he kind of sounds pretty much like … me. But the best part of me.

You know, a quick look at today’s headlines, both national and international, would indicate that we today are still making many of these John Wallace type monsters… from the dark basements of Ohio to the bloody sands of terrorist-laden Syria.

But along with the release of this audio book, it is Airlift Productions and my sincere hope and prayer that we are also creating ethic-filled, righteous – and yes, almost saintly – triumphant and true heroes!

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The real John Wallace (center) and Sheriff Lamar Potts (right) entering the Georgia courthouse for trial, circa 1948

 

Airlift Productions New Orleans ~ telling America’s Great Stories since 1984

Variety Is The Spice Of … Airlift Productions!

Truth be known, across America today there might very well be busier VoiceOver dudes and recording studios than Airlift & me, but I seriously doubt that any are doing a wider variety of work!

In the past week alone … I’ve recorded incendiary tracks for the controversial audio book “Murder In Coweta County” (coming soon to a Pelican Publishing download/CD near you),  in-your-face TV audio for Baton Rouge, banging the drum for a Laser Tag outlet …. and canned stage announcements for a N’awlins-based Bollywood dance team!  I mean, really.

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~ Audio Excerpt of Micheal Ziants, interpreting the pain of dealing with a dead body, in Chapter 7 of ‘Murder in Coweta County” – courtesy Pelican Publishing ~

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~ Airlift Productions’ Micheal Ziants invades the flat screens of Baton Rouge – along with ad ace Nathan Ales – with this :30 TV spot (written, voiced & produced in the Airlift engine room by Micheal) to promote ‘Laser Tag of Baton Rouge’ ~

Meanwhile, as the Laser Tag dudes are going at it in the dark of the arena ….  on a brightly lit, spot-lighted stage in an auditorium somewhere around Louisiana and the Gulf South tonight –  jubilant and righteously proud moms & dads are cheering on their daughters to these stage announcements ….

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~ Airlift Mike – at it again – with pre-recorded (canned) stage announcements for Indian export Ruby Pal and her New Orleans-based Ruby Creative Dance team ~

Whew! Honestly, in my thirty years owning and operating Airlift Productions here in America’s most fascinating city, I’ve had busier, more versatile and challenging weeks … but I’d be hard-pressed to name one.

And, yes, the beat goes on …

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~ Airlift’s Micheal Ziants – bustin’ out all over! ~

Do the math ….

Versatility + Quality + Dependability = Airlift Productions.

Airlift Productions – coming soon to a radio speaker, flat screen … or auditorium near you.

Murder In Coweta County…The Saga Continues

The "Murder In Coweta County" made-for-CBS-TV  movie shook-up America in 1983
The “Murder In Coweta County” made-for-CBS-TV movie shook-up America in 1983

The Airlift Productions Studios have sure been humming lately!

The Laser Tag of Metaire ‘While the Cat’s Away’ campaign starts all over New Orleans TV this Monday …  but this weekend is consumed with bringing  the startling true southern crime drama ‘Murder in Coweta County’ to LIFE for the krewe at Pelican Publishing.

This ripped-from-the-headlines story featured – in the movie version –  not only Andy Griffith as the evil John Wallace and Johnny Cash as the heroic Lamar Potts …

But  also cast Johnny’s real-life-wife June Carter Cash!  Central Casting gave her the role of the mystic seer who lived deep in the woods –  Mayhaley Lancaster.

June Carter Cash as mystic seer Mayhaley Lancaster, in the TV Movie of 1983
June Carter Cash as mystic seer Mayhaley Lancaster, in the TV Movie of 1983

As a Voice Talent dude, it’s my job in the audio book to give LIFE to the words. To animate. Ignite interest…and tell ’em the story.  Wow!  This project has been like ‘breach-birthin a baby’!  If you’ll pardon my dip into 1948 Georgia vernacular.

So, scrape the rust off your imagination.  And imagine, if you will, the scene from Chapter 4, wherein a desperate John Wallace ventures deep into the woods to seek guidance and direction from the mysterious and  spooky Mayhaley Lancaster….

~ Micheal Ziants reads from Chapter 4 of Murder in Coweta County, courtesy Pelican Publishing ~

Sheesh! What a page-turner this one is.  Or in this case, an ‘ear-scapade’ This story mixes together Power, Arrogance, Racism, Bootlegging, Big Money, Murder & Mysticism –  all cast against the backdrop of the state of Georgia, as well as America, in 1948.

I have to confess that I am thrilled and honored to have been entrusted with such a weighty and controversial title.  So far, it’s been not only extremely taxing and very challenging but richly rewarding.

Johnny & June Carter Cash in a relaxed picture while on the set of 'Murder in Coweta County', 1983
Johnny & June Carter Cash in a relaxed picture while on the set of ‘Murder in Coweta County’, 1983

And when we last left our hero, Lamar Potts was hot on John Wallace’s heels….  

As Airlift Mike turns to … what was that? Uh, was that page 97 or 98?….

“Murder in Coweta County” coming soon to a Pelican Publishing Download or CD near you….

Kitty Cats & Games & Lasers, Oh My! ~ Courtesy Airlift Productions

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Artist’s rendering of Airlift Mike at the Mic ~ Airlift Productions, New Orleans

Boy, is it just me, or is it HOT in here?  Things around the Airlift Studios have really heated-up as of late!  While thick in the audio book recording sessions –  New Orleans TV & Radio have been calling.

Working alongside that rascal Nathan Ales, we’ve teamed-up to put together a radio/TV campaign for Davor & his krewe at the Laser Tag of Metairie Family Entertainment Center on Veterans Boulevard, just outside New Orleans towards the airport.

And perhaps we had just a little too much fun with this one.  Guilty as charged.

The TV thirty – with the masterful touch of digital artist and video ace extraordinaire Todd Schmidt – has the cutest little digital cartoon kitty cat playing all the games at Laser Tag.  You see him shooting basketballs, riding bumper cars, firing lasers… even sliding down the bowling alley to make a strike!

The spot is called “While the Cat’s Away –  the whole Family plays at Laser Tag Family Entertainment Center”.

Laser Tag of Metaire, which also includes a rockin' Bumper Car ride
Laser Tag of Metaire, which also includes a rockin’ Bumper Car ride

The radio campaign – which airs on N’awlins B-97 Radio starting this week plays-off the excitement of the whole experience – including pop dance music with stereo laser wash sound effects … and a ‘kitty cat’ call-back to the TV spot at the tail end.

Crank-UP your computer speakers, blow some dust off ’em,  and check-out these Airlift-produced radio :30s here ….

~ Laser Tag of Metairie “PARTIES” ** :30 Radio for B-97 Air ~

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~ Laser Tag of Metairie “JEDI KNIGHTS” ** :30 Radio for the B ~

In your face, pulse-pounding, ratcheted-up, yet fun & exciting!  If you live in or around the metro New Orleans area, you’ll have to keep an ear and eye out for them.

In the meantime, I’ll see you around the Laser Tag arena on Veterans Boulevard.  My arena name tag says ‘SkyWalker Mike’!

Oh yeah, Sorry! But the Shadow demanded equal time — Arf! Arf!

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Airlift Mike and the Shadow, a doggie with powers & abilities far beyond those of mortal dogs

 

Airlift Productions ~ Audio Alchemy from New Orleans since 1984

Murder In Coweta County ~ Airlift Productions Style

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The “Murder In Coweta County” made-for-CBS-TV-movie created quite the stir in 1983…starring Andy Griffith & Johnny Cash

If a radio or television :30 spot is the sprint – then the recording of an audio book would have to be the marathon.  And yours truly is off to the races!

I’m not sure how you spent this past weekend (aside from joining fellow Saints fans crying in their beers), but I was ankles & elbows-deep behind the microphone bringing the true southern crime drama “Murder in Coweta County” to LIFE for the krewe at Pelican Publishing.

Raw.  Gritty. Visceral. Shocking. Controversial.   And I feel quite safe in saying that the folks who live in and around Atlanta, Georgia today in 2014 …. would scarcely recognize Coweta County and life as it was … in 1948.

When greed, money, arrogance, power, bootlegging, racism … and southern justice collide, you have to know that it’s not going to end well.  And the picture that you’re left with?  Well, who’s going to want to paint that?

Enter Airlift Mike at the mic – with one big paintbrush!

~ Excerpt from Chapter One of “Murder In Coweta County”, as voiced by Airlift’s Micheal Ziants … courtesy Pelican Publishing ~

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New Orleans VoiceOver Talent Micheal Ziants gives Voice to “Murder in Coweta County”

Honestly, I’ve recorded quite a few audio books – and yet never one quite like this.  It’s almost as if I’m helping to perform an autopsy on the very ‘Soul’ of America.  Too heavy a statement?  Well, you haven’t read this book.

While we, as a country, continue to wrestle with racism & violence – from Ferguson, Missouri to the locker rooms of the NFL –  now, let’s throw the legalization of marijuana issue into the pot (if you’ll pardon the pun), for this book deals with big $$ made off bootlegging during Prohibition … and the fallout that ensues.

Oh my.

Believe me, as a lifelong Champion of the Human Spirit, and the polar opposite, 180 degree antithesis of a racist – much of what’s in this book is awfully painful for me to articulate.

And to breathe Life into some of these characters is a seriously daunting task. Truth be known, I would never have read this book – I lean more towards spirituality, mysticism & inspiration – and now, I’m sleeping with this book.  Literally.

So, hey, light another candle for me, Lord.  And pray that I can effectively run this marathon … and come out the other side with even more compassion, understanding, and peace than I went in with.

Trust me.  This audio book is going to make a lot of noise!

The REAL John Wallace, as he made his way into the county courthouse fro trial, Coweta County, Georgia, circa 1949
The REAL John Wallace, as he made his way into the county courthouse for trial, Coweta County, Georgia, circa 1948

 

Airlift PROductions – Audio Alchemy from New Orleans since 1984

Airlift Productions “Cajun-izes” Houston Radio

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Cajun VoiceOver Talent LUNO BORDELON reels-in the Big One while taking some time off in Hawaii (but would a Real Cajun be caught dead in these shorts? LOL, LMFAO, WTH? OK, well, … maybe in camo )

Truth be known, it’s a bit hard to put a price tag on my abiding, enduring friendship and decades-long love affair with this crazy Cajun Luno Bordelon!

After all, we’ve been witness-to and IN each other’s weddings … and have watched each other’s kids grow… and grow...

Through the Airlift Productions Recording Studios and Luno’s wild, inventive and contagiously engaging VoiceOvers we’ve recorded for the TV and radio, we’ve sold more products & services together than you can shake a big fish at!

And this is since years before anyone ever heard of a ‘Duck Dynasty’. 

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Long-time running’ partners Luno & Airlift Mike – hiding out in a Breaux Bridge, LA cabin (as part of the Cajun-Confidential witness protection program back in the day)

 

 

Most recently, Luno & I shouldered the awesome responsibility of “Cajun-izing” unsuspecting Houstonians.  Imagine the alarm clock radio popping-off at a bleary-eyed 6:30 am to this —-

~ Cajun VoiceOver Talent LUNO BORDELON charms Houston via Airlift Productions, on behalf of Brooks & his krewe at BB’s Cafe, “the Home of Tex-Orleans cooking” on this :60 radio spot ~

BB’s Cafe Proprietor Brooks Bassler gave us main copy points – you know, stuff that just HAD to be in the spots –  but otherwise, just turned us loose to have some creative & off-the-wall Cajun fun!

Pooyie, cher!  Crank it up!

~BB’s Cafe, Houston Radio :30s from Cajun V/O Talent LUNO BORDELON & Airlift Productions~

I know, I know, no one should be having this much fun at work, now should they?  Well, shame on us.  For true.

You see, having FUN and capturing it through the microphone – creating memorable & effective audio campaigns via sound waves – is what has helped Airlift Productions to survive and thrive across not one, not two… but now three decades!

But, cher, the Airlift Studios are but the tracks that deliver & carry the goods. It’s talent that drives the train.  And my pal Luno Bordelon’s got it in spades!

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~ Cajun Comic & VoiceOver Talent LUNO BORDELON Records At Airlift Productions – for YEARS! ~

Why not let Luno & me “bait the hook” for your next project?! Radio, TV, Web-audio, point-of-sale displays, talking toys …. use your imagination!  Because you know WE will!!

Book Studio Time with Luno & Airlift Mike now at Airlift PROductions!

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“For voice over actors, the demo serves as a calling card and is unquestionably the most important tool in the pursuit of voice over work. Mike Ziants and Airlift PROductions produced my first VO demo and within weeks I landed my first job in the industry. Airlift’s state-of-the-art recording studio combined with Mike’s wisdom and expertise provided me with an excellent demo as well as the confidence needed to achieve success!” — Founder of 80s Punk Rock Band ‘The Weirdos’ & VO Actor JOHN DENNEY  

Airlift PROductions Recording Studio ~  Audio Alchemy from NEW Orleans since 1984 

Airlift Mike Advising Women?! Really?

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Airlift Productions’ Micheal Ziants putting in another day at the office

 

You know, the life of a VoiceOver actor is never boring.  

While I’ve never been to medical school, or even dreamed of being a doctor, as the joke goes – “I’ve played one on TV!”  From narrations inside museums – I’ve been the voice of a talking king cake – to toys that talk, I have helped bring some of the strangest things to life.

But the call came in this week to come to the rescue of a financial adviser (who here will remain nameless)  who wanted to cast a big net for women concerned about (gasp!) – growing older!  Outliving their men, as well as their $$ money in their golden years.

Airlift Mike to the rescue!

Now, if you know me or anything at all about my personal life, you’d know that I’d be the last guy in the world to ever try to offer advice of any kind to a woman.  I mean, my track record with the opposite sex has been anything but stellar.

So-o, l took a couple rather deep breaths, swallowed hard, and plumbed the depths ~ as well as my acting chops ~  for some thoughtful, pensive and compassionate tones, cozied-up to the microphone and delivered this ….

Micheal Ziants ~  Investment/Retirement Advice for Women ~ V/O

Airlift PROductions Recording Studio … to the rescue from New Orleans since 1984

Oscar Buzz At Airlift Productions – 20th Century Style

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Academy Award Winning Documentary Film Maker Charles Guggenheim (1924-2002)  Making Tracks At Airlift Productions ~ on Iberville Street in ’93

Throw-back Thursday today throws the spotlight on Airlift Productions in the Fall of 1993 –  a most remarkable day, because when legends meet and connect, magic is created and sparks fly!

I mean, it’s one thing to meet powerful and important people, it’s another to get a quickie photo op with powerful and important people … and yet another thing altogether to spend an entire day with powerful and important people –  work with,  document and record the whole affair.

Academy Award Winning Documentary Film Maker Charles Guggenheim showed up at the Airlift studios that Fall morning in a rent-a-car from Baton Rouge.  After confessing he was a bit hungry, we took the elevator up into the commissary and I made him some toast – no butter, no jelly – just toast.  It’s what he asked for.

Not long after, Avery C. Alexander, along with his driver, arrived. Reverend Alexander is the closest thing New Orleans and Louisiana has ever seen to Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior.  A longtime civil rights activist, ordained minister & LA state representative – ‘the Rev’s’ name is carved above the entrance to our N.O. Charity Hospital!

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Avery Caesar Alexander (1910-1999) being restrained by the NOPD during a scuffle at the controversial Liberty Monument re-dedication ceremony in March of 1993

Charles Guggenheim had contracted Airlift Productions & me to record his 60-Minutes-Style interview with Avery Alexander for sound bites to be used in his latest documentary project ‘The Shadow of Hate’.  

Wow! Some of the things that were said that day ….

~ Avery Alexander talks of prejudice, mistreatment, abuse, lynchings & murder at the Airlift microphones ~

Amazingly, with the historic impact that Avery Alexander made here in Louisiana during his life & civil rights mission – there is no audio record of him anywhere on the internet through a google or bing search.

There is now.

~ Avery Alexander talks of David Duke, the KKK, anti-Catholic/Jew bias … and the ‘dignity of man’ ~

Charles and Avery went at it for nearly two hours.  Guggenheim had me adjust the microphone for only Reverend Alexander – while he paced and questioned him persistently … drawing-out intimate and personal reflections.  Some session, I’ll tell you that.

The program that contained the recordings made that day in the Fall of ’93 at the Airlift Studios on Iberville Street – Guggenheim’s ‘The Shadow of Hate’ – was nominated for the Academy Award in 1995 … and opened more than one or two eyes and ears.  Yours? 

 

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Charles Guggenheim accepting the Academy Award for Documentary Film in 1994

In 2014, the beat goes on …

And even though both of these extremely fine gentlemen now belong to the ages, sad to say,  the problems they attempted to address and remedy that day are still very much with us.

From the locker rooms of the NFL to the streets of Ferguson, Missouri … and from the playgrounds of YourTown to the Main Street of AnyTown, USA.

But as the planet continues to grow smaller and smaller as each day goes by, perhaps ONE day we can all learn to live by the mantra – and it’s pretty simple, four words – ‘ONE Father, ALL Brothers’.

increasethepeace ~ Micheal Z

Airlift Productions ~ Audio Alchemy from New Orleans … since 1984

VoiceOver Recording & Production … with a New Orleans twist