Category Archives: Airlift Industrial & Documentary Work

Airlift Industrial & Documentary Work, Airlift Music Sessions, Airlift Productions RADIO work, Audio Book Recording & Production

2016 ~ Janus/January and NOLA Airlift Reflections

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janusJanuary is the month for reflection. And prognostication! (u like that word?)

In legend, named after the Roman god Janus, who had two heads & faces, January gives us all pause & cause to look back (reflect) and forward (predict/prognosticate) at the same time.

So, let’s do that.

As a VoiceOver & Radio dude operating a full-blown recording studio & production business in the great city of New Orleans, LA for now-THIRTY years, I guess it would be safe to say that I’ve got some pretty fascinating stories to tell.

From working with – and RECORDING – everyone from Archie Manning to Dr. Morgus the Magnificent, Quvenzhane Wallis to James Carville, Ronnie Lamarque to Dr. John, Mayor Marc Morial to Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Reverend Avery Alexander to Congressman Bill Jefferson (I could go on and on, name dropping, but you get the idea) – what a RIDE!

When it comes time to reflect, it’s like,  OK, so where do I start?!?

I sure do miss some old friends. How about we start there?

BuddyStallRecordedRadioSpotsWithAirliftProductionsNOLA
Buddy Stall made radio magic for YEARS with Airlift Productions NOLA

I miss my old buddy Buddy Stall. As Louisiana historian, writer & public speaker, Old “Gaspar J” sure could spin a yarn. And always about the people and the town he loved.

Buddy passed (dropped his body) in 2011 at the age of 81, but not before leaving quite the mark on the Crescent City.

His books and speeches about “The City That Care Forgot” are legendary, and were they ever fun!

BuddyStallAutographToMicheaWe worked together for years. Ironically, one of his final gifts to me was the DVD of the special documentary he’d made of the great cemeteries of NOLA!

Give a LISTEN to just one of our radio gems that we cooked-up together through the years. This one is to sell our Louis Armstrong International Airport …

** The Late Buddy Stall making magic at Airlift Productions, NOLA **

Wow!

Reverend & State Rep Avery Alexander Recorded VoiceOver At Airlift Productions NOLA
Reverend & State Rep Avery Alexander Recorded VoiceOver At Airlift Productions NOLA

Or, how about having the opportunity to record the late Reverend Avery C. Alexander for an Academy Award-winning documentary film, as I worked side-by-side with the legendary Charles Guggenheim?!?

(I mean, really. Who wrote this screenplay? And how many ever get a chance to live this kind of life?)

The Rev’s candid, honest & heartfelt sentiments resonate and reverberate from last century to this one.

** Avery Alexander talks of David Duke, the KKK, and anti-Catholic & anti-Jew bias for Guggenheim Documentary at Airlift 1992 **

January 2016,  reflections on not only some of the great spirits who’ve spent time at the Airlift Productions microphones, but how about the BUSINESSES that have come and gone?

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The late legendary & seminal NOLA Recording Engineer Cosimo Matassa sharing a table with Airlift Productions’ Micheal Ziants at the Big Easy Entertainment Awards Show, Fairmont Hotel, New Orleans, 1991

I spent 17 years with Ronnie Lamarque “Bridging the Gap” (remember when he had 7 dealerships on both sides of the river and lake?), I wrote and recorded many commercials for Archie Manning when he & his partner Steve Smith had the long-gone Gold’s Gym franchise on Veterans … and one of my fave old accounts (which has sentimental bearing here) was David Ervin’s “The Daiquiri Factory”!

Imagine using kids from a daycare to “reminisce” (really, can kids do that?) to sell an alcohol-fueled Eggnog Daiquiri on the radio to adults.

Crank up the speakers on your digital device and listen to the gang at Judy’s PlayCare in mid city NOLA make you all misty, so you’ll open up your wallet to buy a daiquiri … back in 1992 —–

** Daiquiri Factory 1992 “Eggnog” Campaign – Airlift Productions **

Yes, from radio spots to television voice-overs, industrial training narrations to comedy albums, music projects to website audio, educational software to documentary films … life around the old Airlift Productions campus is never boring!

Ever.

And gee, I didn’t get a chance to tell the stories about recording Anders Osborne & Theresa Andersson right after they landed in America & NOLA, or capturing two entire audio books with James Carville (and the wife), or tracking VoiceOver with Chef John Besh for TLC!

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“Katrina-versary Get-Together” on Saturday August 29th, 2015 (L-R) Rich Lenz, Brian Landry, Norman Robinson, Dan Milham, Heath Allen, Airlift Proprietor Micheal Ziants

But, hey, that’s what January is all about, right? Looking back – and forward. 

Stories for another day, another blog, another time.

In the meantime, look us up at the Airlift Productions Studios. We’ll leave the mics hot and warmed-up for you.

As our old buddy James Taylor once reminded us – “The secret to Life is enjoying the passage of Time”.

So, let’s do that.

And allow me to be one of the last to say Happy New Year to you!

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JamesCarvilleRecordsAtAirliftProductionsNOLA
Airlift Productions Proprietor Micheal Ziants shoulder-to-shoulder with JAMES CARVILLE at the Airlift Studios

“I have been in studios from the Bayou to the Beltway, and I can say after recording my last two audio books with Mike, that there is no better place than Airlift Productions.  The quality of the production, the studio, and frankly, the comfort, make it the only place I want to record now or in the future.”

— JAMES CARVILLE, Political Commentator, Tulane Professor, and Campaign Strategist behind the most dramatic political victories of our generation

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AirliftProductionsNewOrleansColorLogoAirlift Productions ~ Audio Alchemy from New Orleans since 1984! And … what’s next?

 

 

 

 

Airlift Industrial & Documentary Work, New Orleans VoiceOvers

Airlift Mike: Patching Things Up With The Brits Since 1984

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Union jack: hugely symbolic.The S.O.S. call came into the Airlift Productions Studios from London, England just this past Tuesday… with George Washington, Lord Cornwallis’ surrender, talk of Redcoats & that Tea Party thing in Boston well in the rear view mirror.

It was Geraldine from Brainstorm in the UK looking for some help on a project for one of their major clients – Jaguar. Or as the Brits pronounce it, ‘JAG-you-are’.

Apparently a couple of Jaguar’s demo team/drivers had been in New Orleans through the past month, across the river in Avondale at NOLA Motor Sports,  and a film Brainstorm was working on needed a few audio VoiceOver patches done – now!

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Jaguar Driver Brett Bogart, along with his boy, Records VoiceOver at Airlift Productions NOLA

Tim Scully of California and Brett Bogart from New Hampshire showed up at Airlift Productions on Thursday afternoon for a 4:30 session to do the deed.

So, let’s see, I’m coordinating a phone-patch recording session here in NOLA with guys from California & New Hampshire, on behalf of London concerns at 4:30 in NOLA – with a director, Jeffrey, while he’s on a cell phone getting off a commuter train in London at 10:30 pm UK-time!

Gee, I’ve got a strange life, huh?

** Brett Bogart VoiceOver Work for Jaguar via Airlift Productions **

Brett's road-worthy & road-weary Jag
Brett’s road-worthy & road-weary Jag

The session went splendidly. Brett, Tim and I ‘crossed all the Ts and dotted all the Is’, I watched my tongue and refrained from references that might seem too “dodgy” or “cheeky”, as Airlift Productions & I delivered the goods.

The big fat Aiff files were then sent via FTP site directly into the mac computers inside the edit bays of Brainstorm within one hour of our recording just like that. Voila!

As once again Airlift & I extend goodwill and hands/headphones across the waters … from the states – ‘England, Junior’ – to our mother country. Hey, I’m all about Beatles, Stones, and Bond – James Bond.

Airlift Productions Website Traffic from London & Brainstorm
Airlift Productions Website Traffic from London & Brainstorm

Irony was further served … as I served Tim & Brett a Dos Equis beer after the session (hey, this is New Orleans), so now we’ve got a Pennsylvania-born engineer recording New Hampshire & California boys for the Brits in the UK … toasting the session’s success – with a Mexican beer!

Only in America, huh?

Which is, of course, what that whole tiff in 1776 was all about.

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JohnFMcElroyRecordsWithAirliftProductionsNOLA
New York-based Award-Winning Audio Book Producer records with Airlift Productions

“Micheal Ziants & I have worked on a number of celebrity productions together.  He’s a cool head in tight spots, keeping the talent moving ahead happily.  He has a wealth of experience at the controls and behind the mic, and knows what he can and can’t get — a valuable and rare sense of proportion.  Working at Airlift Productions remotely via Skype or phone patch is seamless.  It’s like being in the next room.”

— JOHN F. McELROY, New York based Grammy Award Winning Audio Book Producer

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              To Communicate is the beginning of Understanding!

                              Airlift Productions Communicates.

Airlift Industrial & Documentary Work, New Orleans VoiceOvers

Katrina + 10 ~ Memories, Dreams & Reflections From NOLA

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NOAA's Official Track of Hurricane Katrina ten years ago on that Fate-full Summer of 2005
NOAA’s Official Track of Hurricane Katrina ten years ago in that Fate-full Summer of 2005

OK, as blogs go, this one may be a bit more painful than most.  And as I sit today, comfortably in the A/C, at the Airlift Productions Studios in NOLA, it’s hard to believe that as I write this, we’re a decade down the road.

Frankly, I do not have enough fingers and toes to count all the people that I know personally who lost everything – homes, cars, all the worldly possessions of a lifetime – through the aftermath of this one storm.

Folks who, like me, packed-up the car with enough clothes and necessities for a 3-day evacuation, convinced we’d be back home, snug in our own beds by Tuesday.

KatrinaSurvivor_9-1--05Mother Nature … and that Mother Katrina had other ideas.

As the ‘homes’ they returned to were buried to the rooftops in Katrina & Lake Pontchartrain’s floodwaters!

And as if ‘things’ weren’t enough to lose, I even had friends who – in fits of despair and hopelessness – chose to end their very lives.

 

Like I said.  A blog more painful than most.

Yet, as the Ten Year Anniversary rolls around  – Katrina roared into town August 29th, 2005 – it’s time for NOLA and the Nation to reflect. Reflect on where we’ve been.  And where we are.

MichealZiantsNormanRobinsonAtAirliftProductionsNOLA-August2015
Micheal Ziants mic-side with Norman Robinson, working on ‘Storm Challenge’ for Versatile Productions & Versabar

Through the past couple weeks I’ve had the pleasure of working with Paul Atkinson, producer/videographer with Versatile Productions, who hired me to record my old pal Norman Robinson for a documentary he’s working on about the storm, the aftermath, and repairs made – to both our infrastructure … and New Orleans’ collective human spirit.

While it was good to work with Norman again, and meet Paul, at times the sheer weight of the project loomed rather heavily in the Airlift Productions Studios.

Give a LISTEN to just a bit of what went down at the Airlift Productions mics on this project,  remembering Hurricane Katrina….

** Norman Robinson records Katrina Documentary VoiceOver at Airlift Productions, New Orleans – August 2015 **

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Norman Robinson in the Airlift Productions Studios August 2015

Through ten very painful – and yet encouraging – years of rebuilding, along with all it’s survivors, I’ve heard all the aphorisms and cliches, but the one that reverberates most true is the classic – “That which does not kill us only makes us stronger”.

If indeed that’s true, to readers of this blog from around America, come on down! Come bring your tourist dollars, appetites & senses … and feel the muscle of America’s most fascinating & resilient city ~ New Orleans, LA!

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SidNoelRideauMorgusRecordsVoiceOverForNewOrleansAtAirliftProductions
E.R.I.C. the talking skull records VoiceOver at Airlift Productions

 “No recording studio I have worked with has given such personal attention toward perfecting the ‘science of sound’ than Airlift Productions in the hands of Micheal Ziants.  I thank him for the many voice-overs and sound effects he produced for my syndicated television shows “MORGUS PRESENTS”!  ~ DR. MOMUS ALEXANDER MORGUS,  aka Sidney Noel Rideau

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Airlift Industrial & Documentary Work, New Orleans VoiceOvers

Squeaky Wheels, Grease, Funny Papers ~ And Airlift Mike

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WaltHandelsmanBillCosbyCartoonAirliftProductionsNOLA
Walt Handelsman’s fun take on the whole Bill Cosby tragedy – courtesy the New Orleans Advocate

It’s long been said that the squeaky wheel will always get the grease. You also used to hear in those prehistoric days before the internet and digital, when the Sunday comics really hit home on an issue – “Hey, I’ll see ya in the funny papers!”

I’m reminded of these two thoughts every time I check out the New Orleans Advocate newspaper in print or online, because they’re fortunate enough to have corralled the outrageously and wickedly talented WALT HANDELSMAN.

The art of editorial cartooning has always fascinated me with it’s power, reach and stunning clarity. With it’s unique ability to cut through the bullshit and take us to the heart of a matter or issue – with humor.

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Walt’s inspired take on the poker-hot issues of the legacy of Dixie, the flag, and N’awlins own Lee Circle on Saint Charles Avenue

Walt is simply the best-of-the-best in the editorial cartooning field! Accomplished, eerily insightful, and always entertaining, this two-time Pulitzer Prize winning genius plies his trade daily to the delight of New Orleans readers in need of a hearty laugh in hard times.

While these days our interaction seems relegated to Twittering each other (is that legal in LA?), in the ’90s Walt and I worked together at the Airlift Productions now-the-stuff-of-legend Iberville Street location.

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Walt Handelsman caricature of that Mike McCann (Ziants) guy on an old Airlift Productions note pad – 1994

He was launching an effort to promote his convention outreach program wherein he would stand in front of a convention crowd with an overhead projector and actually interact with the conventioneers and draw cartoons for them LIVE –  along with their input. 

Yours truly, Airlift Mike, was selected to help tell the tale.

Contracted by Lenny Delbert of Pan Am Communications, I worked with Walt across a remarkable afternoon to narrate his promotional video to help get this idea across to potential New Orleans convention meeting planners. The word “fun” hardly captured the whole experience.

In fact, enough with the introductions, MEET the inimitable genius of Walt Handelsman here ….

Squeaky wheels? Funny papers? Howzabout one more line?

It has been said that the pen is mightier than the sword. Yeah, I know, I get that. But this dude has raised it to an art form.

WaltHandelsmanAutographToMichealZiantsAirliftProductionsNOLAAnd, yes, even – and especially –  Walt would appreciate the pun.  🙂

Airlift Productions – helping to tell America’s Great Stories … from NOLA since 1984.

 

 

Airlift Industrial & Documentary Work

Airlift Mike Goes Industrial. Again.

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shell oil logoIt sure has been an interesting week around the Airlift Productions Studios here in NOLA. And a day in the life of a VoiceOver artist is certainly never boring.

There is not an ocean on the planet that Seacor Marine vessels do not sail.   And multinational Shell Oil is among the largest and most powerful oil companies in the world.

This past week I had the honor of working for both of them.

Yes, the Airlift Studios were buzzing as commercial work & audio book projects gave way to industrial fare.  You know, it occurred to me a long time ago that teaching someone how not to die while on the job was not only necessary… but rather noble.

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Airlift Productions Proprietor Micheal Ziants working On Camera for Seacor Marine

Working alongside Tim Weston of TLW Productions here in NOLA, Wednesday afternoon I narrated Safety Videos for the SEACOR MARINE crews in an effort to get the boys out to sea from Port Fourchon safely.

Meanwhile, Friday morning, contacted and contracted by new Airlift client Launch Media in Baton Rouge, I recorded a corporate outreach effort on behalf of SHELL OIL. 

In fact, this job struck like lightning! The call and email came into Airlift after hours Thursday night, and was signed-off on, recorded, tagged & bagged by 9:30 Friday morning.

Launch Media Creative Director Wes Kennison made the request, then orchestrated and directed via the Airlift phone-patch, and wave files were relayed back to Baton Rouge for post-production.

When it comes to corporate, industrial V/O jobs, the person behind the mic has to take control… cross the T-s and dot the I-s, with letter-perfect diction. With Authority. With Conviction.  With Sincerity.

*** Airlift Mike, setting the pace for Port Fourchon, LA ***

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Airlift’s Micheal Ziants (Right) with actor Joe Renier, On-Camera with TLW Productions for Seacor Marine … deep in the Gulf of Mexico

Like I said, a day in the life of a working VoiceOver artist is never boring. Especially if you get to occasionally play around in front of the camera too!  From New Orleans …. 150 miles out into the Gulf of Mexico.

 

And teaching someone how not to die while on the job is not only necessary … but noble.

           To Communicate is the Beginning of Understanding.

                            Airlift Productions Communicates.