My New Pen Pal & An Airlift To Australia… For Shell Oil

Aussie VoiceOver Talent Rhiannon Boulger records Safety Video for Shell Oil at Airlift Productions NOLA

The call came into the Airlift Productions Studios from Chicago, Illinois with a rather unique request.

Would I be available to help with a safety training project for Shell Oil concerns – in Melbourne, Australia?

Well, color me intrigued.

Stellar VoiceOver talent RHIANNON BOULGER operates as the safety training voice for Shell Oil concerns in Australia and, as the fates would have it, she was currently in the states along with her fiancé Jae  visiting New Orleans for the week.

Enter Airlift Productions & Airlift Mike.

The VO scripts were then emailed to both Rhiannon and me for the recording session. Cool!

So, Rhiannon & hubby-to-be Jae showed up via an Uber lift from the downtown Sheraton on-time, and we went to work.

Rhiannon rocks the mic to train Shell Oil employees ‘down under’ at Airlift Productions NOLA 

We phone-patched the entire session with  Jennifer at Accenture-Chicago for long distance direction & coaching.

The session went as smoothly as water off a kangaroo’s back in the outback! We nailed all four scripts, and I had the wav files on their way via an FTP site to the edit bays in Chicago for post-production within the hour.

For use at Shell Oil’s facility  ~ in Melbourne, Australia!

I teased Rhiannon throughout the session that I’d done scores of plant safety video narrations through the years, but never one that sounded so… ah, saucy.

Give a listen to just a taste of what went down at the Airlift mics, and since it IS New Orleans, we’ll deal with drugs & alcohol, here.

~ Rhiannon entertains our ‘fighting troops’ down under at Shell ~

Ah-h, the wonders of modern technology.

To have conducted a session like this and in this manner when I began the Airlift Productions Studios back in the day – the 1980s – would have been considered science fiction, unbelievable, and inconceivable.

Today in 2021… it’s par for the course. 

So pardon me, as I reach back in my bag for a nine-iron…and catch the next phone call.

Who knows? Could be my new Australian pen pal and recording gal pal from Melbourne.

Great job, Rhi! I really enjoyed working with you. And keep doin’ that voodoo that you do so well.

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MichealZiantsRhiannonBoulgerAirliftProductionsNOLA
Rhiannon Boulger & Airlift Mike at the Airlift Studios NOLA 

“Thank you Michael for being so accommodating, and making my job truly enjoyable. I’ve recorded in many professional studios all around Australia throughout the years, but I felt right at home and was really impressed with the huge Airlift Productions recording space & booth you built. Recording with you was as easy as if I were in my own studio back in Australia – and that really makes for a successful session. All your wonderful compliments didn’t hurt the vibe either! My ego appreciates your generous, kind words. Thanks again for being such a gentleman.”

~ Rhiannon Boulger, VO Artist, Melbourne, Australia

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** Airlift Productions ~ Audio Alchemy & Digital Magic from NOLA since 1984 **

Judah Ben-Hur’s Messala Drops The Mic – With Airlift Mike

TobyKebbellRecordsVoiceOverForSonyAtAirliftProductionsNOLA
Ben-Hur Star Toby Kebbell records national TV Sony Tablet Commercial VoiceOvers at Airlift Productions NOLA

I didn’t know quite what to expect the morning TOBY KEBBELL showed up at my Airlift Productions Studios to record VoiceOver for Sony Corporation and it’s new Xperia Z tablet.

“Ben-Hur 2016” wasn’t even on the drawing boards yet,  he was in New Orleans to film “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”, and tagged by Tag-Europe (a huge London-based ad agency) as the voice for Sony Products, he needed a studio to record a few V-O patches.

The UK's TOBY KEBBELL drops the mic - with Airlift Mike, on behalf of Sony
The UK’s TOBY KEBBELL drops the mic – with Airlift Mike, on behalf of Sony

So, Toby and his brother arrived at Airlift that morning … Toby was unshaven, in flip-flops & cargo shorts – hey, it WAS for a VoiceOver session, after all; at 6’1″, we stood eye-to-eye – I set-up the phone-patch to connect us with Europe and we went to work.

As the fates would have it, in the UK the letter ‘Z’ is pronounced ‘Zed’, and in order to introduce this new tablet here in the states, the tag lines had to be re-recorded with the Yank’s sound.

Toby talks for Sony on the Airlift microphones like this…

The tracks were coached and directed by Louise at Tag, with her agency contact for Sony piggy-backed in on the call – from Tokyo!

I then relayed the wav files via an FTP site into the computers at the editing bays in London, England and the finished commercial  – along with some help from David Bowie – appeared here in the United States like this…

And I love the exchange as he exited the studios that day. With Ziants being my last name, I’ve got a welcome mat at the front door with a ‘Z’ on it. Toby pointed it out and chuckled at the irony as he headed back to the rent-a-car.

Toby Kebbell all decked-out for the premiere
Toby Kebbell all decked-out for the premiere

The girls (or ‘birds’ as they call them there) in the UK are just gaga over this dude, and the ladies in on the phone-patch session that morning echoed that excitement.

Studly. Easy on the eyes. Soft-spoken. Ultra talented.

But from his appearance as Doctor Doom in the ill-fated “Fantastic Four” to the apparent miscues, in the eyes of some critics, with “Ben-Hur 2016”, I just wish Toby could find his footing in a true star-making role, one that could seriously catapult him into the stratosphere.

In the meantime, I’ll be the one catching Kebbell’s magic via Netflix on the flat screen in the den, remembering my morning recording Toby before his days with Judah Ben-Hur,  popcorn in-hand, smiling – and shaking the dust off my sandals.

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TobyRickettsVoiceOverAirliftProductionsNOLA“Working on the road can be a pain for voice artists – I was so glad to find Airlift studios on my travels, just outside NOLA CBD! What a beautiful, cozy, and quiet space to work in. Micheal was an absolute pleasure to work with, being 100% professional and 100% nice guy! If I’m ever in the Big Easy again, I’ll be sure to stop in and see Mike at Airlift Productions.” ~ TOBY RICKETTS, Award-Winning, World-Class, New Zealand-based VoiceOver Talent

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Airlift Productions ~ Where the warmth of analogue lives … and the lightning speed of digital delivers!