Category Archives: New Orleans VoiceOvers

Airlift Productions RADIO work, New Orleans VoiceOvers

Mike Church & Mike Ziants Take It Down To The Church … Via Veritas

November 23, 2015 Micheal Leave a comment

MikeChurchVeritasNetworkAndAirliftProductionsNOLA — Mike Church putting in another day at the office on the Veritas Radio Network

Mike Church, the longest-running conservative talk show host in the history of Sirius satellite radio is now on to the most exciting and provocative phase of his career.

And yours truly, Airlift Mike, is most fortunate and blessed to be his running partner in Crusade & Veritas.

You see, Mike & I both believe that what is ailing the “body politic”, as well as American society today, is a collective “turning of the back” on Christ the King and the Law of His Gospel!

I know, I know, I hear you … “But in polite social circles, in order to gain and keep friends”, you say (or create successful radio), “One should never discuss Politics, Sex, or Religion”. To those who still today adhere to this quaint 20th century saying, I say …

“Politics” ~ Rush Limbaugh; “Sex” ~ Howard Stern; and now, Crusading with Faith into the most volatile and incendiary of the three, America will now add the name of Mike Church!

“VERITAS” in Latin means “Truth”. But this is truth with 21st century swag, relevant relate-ability, pop culture (?) and style.

As a devout and devoted Roman Catholic boy of Faith, Mr. Church has launched THE CRUSADE CHANNEL and THE VERITAS NETWORK … available FREE 24-7-365 on everyone’s digital devices. Stream it anywhere and anytime to your PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad or laptop here — www.MikeChurch.com.

And Mike, known affectionately as “King Dude” to those who know and love him – and there are tens of thousands – has now tagged yours truly to act as Imaging Voice for this exciting new adventure. So, I shoulder the awesome, and fun, responsibility of setting the tone for this mission. Sample a montage of our initial efforts here …

I first met Mike earlier this century through our mutual radio comrades-in-arms Bo Walker & Don Banks, and have pitched-in through the years to help narrate and give cohesive voice to his patriotic & conservative films & DVDs.

But this Crusade – this championing of the Human Spirit, Faith & Truth – will prove to be really …. something …. else altogether!

Pray for us.

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MichealZiantsAirliftProductionsOnCamera4Seacor — Airlift Mike On-Camera for Tim Weston, TLW Productions & Seacor Marine Worldwide

“We’ve worked with Mike for almost 15 years, both as voice over and on-camera talent in more than 50 films. Not only is he a great guy and a super talent, but he has the coolest recording studio in the South.”~TIM WESTON, President TLW Productions, NOLA

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Airlift Productions ~ Audio Alchemy from New Orleans since 1984

Morgus & Me, New Orleans VoiceOvers

Doctor Morgus & Airlift Productions House Calls: The Sequel

October 16, 2015 Micheal 4 Comments

MorgusTheMagnificentSidRideauRecordsAtAirliftProductionsNOLA — Morgus the Magnificent – aka Sidney Noel Rideau Records VoiceOvers at Airlift Productions … for over a Quarter of a Century

OK, it occurred to me after sifting through some of my recent posts, that with visitors to this blog from corners of the globe like China, the UK, Moscow, and even Nigeria… perhaps a few points might need some clarification.

Especially with Halloween now in the air around America… and thoughts & google internet searches about Doctor Morgus on the rise.

Throughout the many decades of Morgus episodes on late night TV, Chopsley was the good doctor’s right-hand man, his henchman, his willing (or not so, as the case may be) accomplice. So, for three decades running now, yours truly has served ‘the master’ as the REAL Chops!

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

Think the role of Alfred to the Batman. Or, as Uncle Sid and I have often joked in a more literary analogy, to borrow from Cervantes, I have operated as the Sancho Panza to his Don Quixote. Yes, Dr. Morgus, er ah, Sidney Noel Rideau & I have jousted at many a windmill… and we have both been considered a pickle short of a whopper by many!

Not to put too fine a point on it, but Sid & I (together with many others today) see much of today’s youth rather long on arrogance and a tad short on character – lacking true values, ethics & a moral compass.

So, what if we could reach them and teach them BEFORE they reach the age of reason, and give them important life-altering thoughts and concepts that will impact their future? And America’s?

SidneyNoelRideauRecordsAtAirliftProductionsNOLA — Sidney Noel Rideau ~ Founder & Creator of the Internet Story Club

Yes, despite Sid’s rather heady accomplishments entertaining generations of late night horror fans as Morgus the Magnificent, it is his ambitious approach to reaching today’s youth via stories, fables & parables that he really wants to serve as his legacy.

Sidney Noel Rideau calls it the Internet Story Club!

Consider this our attempt to use the very medium that has been a roadblock to education – the television – to enlighten, inform, and develop character in today’s youth. Some windmill, eh?

Witness this approach at work here. Sid does the intros and outros and leaves what’s between the quote marks to me, personally directing me through the reads, looking for a ‘voice of God’ sound and flavor. These public service announcements promoting the Internet Story Club – sponsored by the N.O. Public Library – air in the New Orleans market on Fox-8 TV when you least expect it.

These are but three – of 45 total – PSAs that we produced. With many thanks to Blaine Strawn and his incredibly talented post-production team down at WVUE-Fox-8 on Jefferson Davis Parkway

Allow me to close with one more, from my favorite running partner & metaphysical space cowboy, the sage of Concord ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ….

“What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.”

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NormanRobinsonRecordsVoiceOverAtAirliftProductionsNOLAAugust2015 — Norman Robinson in the Airlift Productions Studios August 2015

“I have had the privilege of working with professionals all over the world. Micheal Ziants is among the best of them. His professional integrity is only surpassed by his love for humanity. It is perhaps his boundless humanity that drives his passion for his work and his compassion… to say nothing of his appreciation and understanding of the human spirit at it’s most creative level.”

— NORMAN ROBINSON, Nightly News Anchor at WDSU-TV, New Orleans for over two decades

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To Communicate is the Beginning of Understanding

Airlift Productions Communicates

Airlift Productions RADIO work, New Orleans VoiceOvers

Napoleon Hill, Star Wars & Airlift Mike

October 11, 2015 Micheal Leave a comment

“Think and Grow Rich” Author, a young NAPOLEON HILL

As the great 20th century American thinker Napoleon Hill so eloquently reminded us all – the IMAGINATION is the Workshop of the Soul! And therein, I use power tools.

You see, one of the many things that separates me from the one-thousand-and-one other guys who offer VoiceOver services on the internet today is that I not only operate a genuine, bonafide, tricked-out full recording studio, but, in many cases, I also get the opportunity to WRITE and CREATE – from the ground up – the V-O copy I read.

How thrilling to put my OWN words into my OWN mouth!

NOLAVoiceOverTalentMichealZiantsAirliftProductions2014 — Airlift Productions’ Micheal Ziants putting in another day at the office.

The power tools? Well, those would be meditation and exercise. Properly focused and fine-tuned, these two aid and assist in the entire creative pursuit, as they feed the imagination from the deep wells of the subconscious, which then directly grease the wheels of the entire writing process.

Too deep? A classic case in point would be the exercise of this past week.

Tasked by running partner Nathan Ales to create, write, voice, and produce thirty seconds of audio for Baton Rouge, La. television & radio to promote a Laser Tag outfit … I went to work. And can we make it “Star-Wars-y”?!?

Oh, sure.

*** Airlift Mike’s “Star-Wars-y” Laser Tag of Baton Rouge ***

Working within the 29.5 seconds ‘Goalposts’, that’s a lot to accomplish: Cop a James-Earl-Jones-ish attitude & pitch, grab some cinematic french horns, make ‘Sky-walk’ into a verb, draw an analogy to paintball challenges, state a very direct call to action, and finish with an ‘out-of-this-world’ tag – literally.

** Laser Tag of Baton Rouge :30 Television, along with running partners Video Wizard Todd Schmidt & Sales Ace Nathan Ales **

Now, how much fun is that?

From the ‘Workshop of the Soul’ – to countless tens of thousands of ears and eyes via the magic of technologies (radio, TV & the Internet) that weren’t even on the radar when Napoleon Hill was born.

Now, how magical is that?

AirliftProductionsRecordingStudioNewOrleans — Airlift Productions, New Orleans

Work? Excuse me? That’s what my coal miner brothers have been doing their entire lives, not me. For I have made my vacation … my vocation! The only ‘mining’ I do is within the ‘mind’ ~ and the ‘Workshop of the Soul’.

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MichealZiantsDavidMenascheAirliftProductionsNOLA — The late David Menasche, author of “The Priority List” (soon to be a major motion picture from Warner Bros), recording with Micheal Ziants at Airlift Productions NOLA in 2012

” I would like to thank Micheal Ziants & Airlift Productions for making the recording of the audio version of my book such a pleasure. Not only is Micheal an incredible audio engineer, he is my new best friend. This guy is one of the coolest cats I have ever had the honor of meeting. He made me comfortable, he made me feel talented, and he actually made my book into a product I can actually imagine people enjoying listening to. So far, the opportunity to work with Micheal on a future project is my best incentive to write another book. If any of you out there ever need a professional to help you with sound recordings, contact Micheal Ziants at Airlift Productions immediately!”

— the late DAVID MENASCHE, Author, Educator of Young Minds, Brain Cancer Activist, Major Mensch

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Airlift Productions ~ Audio Alchemy from NOLA since 1984

Airlift Industrial & Documentary Work, New Orleans VoiceOvers

Airlift Mike: Patching Things Up With The Brits Since 1984

September 28, 2015 Micheal Leave a comment

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!

BrettBogartRecordsJaguarVoiceOverAtAirliftProductions — 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

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 Productions RADIO work, New Orleans VoiceOvers

Yin~Yang & Early Fall Around The Airlift Productions Studios

September 12, 2015 Micheal Leave a comment

Yin me, Yang me. From the ridiculous to the sublime, and everything in between, it sure has been a rather interesting late summer and early fall around the Airlift Studios here in NOLA.

MichealZiantsNewOrleansVoiceTalentAndAudioProducer — Airlift Mike – like the local fireman down at the firehouse – ready to take the call

As footballs fly, leaves fall, and political mud gets slung, far be it from Airlift & me to not get a little on us. And just as the time-honored Yin~Yang symbol reminds us: Every Thing contains it’s opposite! We’ll never have the concepts of Heat without Cold, Up without Down, or a Hero without a Villain.

Recording studios and VoiceOver dudes and dudesses walk the same path… especially in 2015. Welcome to my ‘Silver Linings Playbook’.

Working alongside Nathan Ales and Todd Schmidt, lately we’ve tackled some pretty attention-grabbing television, for clients as diverse as high-end furniture outlets …

** Georgian Furnishing & Berger Home Labor Day Sale, asking the question “What will the Future Look Like?” ~ Ziants/Schmidt **

… to one-stop-shopping for plumbing, lighting & generators. And with the Louisiana State University Tigers having to cancel their home-opener last weekend on account of lightning & rain for the first time in nearly a hundred years, and sending over 100, 000 home early, the boys and I were almost prescient with this one ….

** Southland Plumbing’s ‘Best Seat in the House’ TV :30 ~ voiced by Micheal Ziants, Video Wizardry by Todd Schmidt **

I just LOVE working with these characters. Nathan Ales and I go way back to radio days at Q-93 here in NOLA, I was afternoon air personality and he was super sales dude. Todd and I met only last year, but that meeting was on the common ground where creative sparks fly and alchemy & magic live. This guy just gets it. He’ll go into the field with camera in-hand and then edit, imagineer, and cut ‘n paste masterpieces!

But as they say in the advertising field – “That’s not all!”

The Yin~Yang continues.

The call came in from Manhattan about another job slated to air in California – San Francisco, to be precise. Andy would write the copy, cast the talent (four separate actors), the agency is in Boston – are you following so far – and yours truly, sitting here in NOLA at the Airlift Productions Studios would merely be the button-pusher engineer to make it all happen.

Sixteen edits in a :30 spot? Really. Airing now in San Francisco is this goodie on behalf of the Armanino crowd…

** Armanino Radio :30, produced by Micheal Ziants at Airlift **

And to wrap-up the ‘Yin~Yang’ fall post, as the Louisiana Governor’s race looms – Trick or Treat – the call came into the ‘firehouse’ for some help with some boys (ironically, also in San Francisco) heading-up an Anti-David Vitter TV ad campaign. Oh boy, oh joy!

Jamie Neumann Records VoiceOver/Vice-Over at Airlift Productions NOLA

Could I help out recording NYC-schooled, NOLA-born ‘n bred Jamie Neumann reading the riot act?…. shouting ‘fire’ in the crowded political theater… calling, in effect, the front-runner a whore-monger?!?!

Oh, sure, why not. Sample just a taste of the phone-patched V-O session from a week and a half back, here ….

** Jamie’s ‘Anybody But Vitter’ phone-patch session excerpt **

From New Orleans, a town that pretty much invented the ‘piano player in the cat house’ thing, and where the only thing folks like spicier and hotter than their food – is their politics, why not?

Besides, as a life-long political atheist and outsider, I say, “Hey, let the best man win!”

Fall in the air, fur flying, leaves falling, mud on the tires – and the flat screens. Things just seem to get more interesting all the time around the Airlift Productions Studios. More Interesting. And hotter!

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“Airlift is THE place to go for a top quality demo. With Mike behind the board you are in very capable hands. His vast knowledge and command of all things audio blends with his laid-back fun environment to bring out the best in any voice. Airlift has the experience and all the tools necessary to make a voice-over reel that is on par with anything you would find in New York or LA!”

– – – HARLON MILLER, Voice-Actor

Hear Harlon’s most bodacious demo now at HarlonMiller.com

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Airlift Productions ~ Audio Alchemy from NOLA since 1984!

Airlift Industrial & Documentary Work, New Orleans VoiceOvers

Katrina + 10 ~ Memories, Dreams & Reflections From NOLA

August 28, 2015 Micheal 2 Comments

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.

Mother 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 **

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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“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 Productions ~ Audio Alchemy from NOLA since 1984!

New Orleans VoiceOvers, VoiceOver Marketing

Fantastic-4 Fearsome Foe Records At Airlift Productions?

Audio August 6, 2015 Micheal Leave a comment

Fantastic4MoviePoster — The UK’s TOBY KEBBELL – Dr. Doom – Records V/O for Sony Corporation At Airlift Productions

When ‘Fantastic Four’ opens today down at the mall cineplex , Airlift Productions & I will be watching it quite a bit differently than most. Let me tell you why.

I almost didn’t take the call that morning because it in no way looked familiar on my caller ID. Turns out it was a ‘Louise’ calling from Tag/Europe in London. She’d found my website in a google search, and was wondering if I had the time to help her on ‘a project’.

As it turns out, Tag’s client is Sony Corporation in Japan, and they’d hand-picked TOBY KEBBELL as VoiceOver spokesperson for all their Xperia-Z tablet computer TV ad campaigns.

DrDoomTobyKebbellRecordsVoiceOverAtAirliftProductionsNOLA — Fantastic-4’s TOBY KEBBELL records V/O with Airlift Mike at Airlift Productions NOLA

Now, the problem was that in the UK the letter ‘Z’ is pronounced ‘Zed’, and their entire TV campaign – now destined for the US – needed re-voiced with the Yank’s sound … Toby was in NOLA at the time, and the call came in for some HELP!

Perhaps you’ve seen Toby already in ‘War Horse’, ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’,’Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’, or ‘Prince of Persia : Sands of Time’. Today, he’s cast as Victor Von Doom in Marvel’s ‘Fantastic Four’ reboot. He’s a product of Nottingamshire, England, quite studly, easy on the eyes – and the ‘birds’ in the UK are just gaga over this dude.

In any event, Toby shows up at the Airlift Studios in a rent-a-car driven by his brother that morning… relaxed, unshaven, in shorts and flip-flops – hey, it IS a voice over session after all. And via the Airlift phone-patch, we joined forces with Louise in London … and her associate/client – in Japan!

Hey, all’s well that ends well (didn’t Shakespeare say that?), the session went splendidly – Toby laid down the tracks, they were approved by all the powers-that-be, and Airlift Productions & I delivered the big fat aif files into the mac computers at the edit bays within Tag/Europe in London within minutes.

LISTEN to just one track, destined for United States TV, and how well my new pal Toby says the letter ‘Z’ right here …

** Toby Kebbell speaks for Sony Corp at the Airlift microphones **

Not bad, huh? So when Toby – as Victor Von Doom – terrorizes and spreads mayhem versus those Fantastic Four dudes down at the theater during this smoking-hot summer of 2015, at least now you know what’s going on under the hood … of Doctor Doom!

Save some popcorn for me, stay safe out there, and I’ll see y’all at the movies!

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

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“For Voice Actors, the demo serves as a calling card and is unquestionably the most important tool in the pursuit of voice over work. Micheal 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.”

— JOHN DENNEY, Founder & Lead Singer for the notorious LA-based 80s Punk Rock band THE WEIRDOS, and aspiring Voice-Over Talent

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Airlift Industrial & Documentary Work, New Orleans VoiceOvers

Squeaky Wheels, Grease, Funny Papers ~ And Airlift Mike

July 26, 2015 Micheal Leave a comment

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.

WaltHandelsmanLeeCircleOptionsAirliftProductionsNOLA — 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.

WaltHandelsmanCaricatureOfMichealZiantsAirliftProductionsNOLA-1994 — 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.

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

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

Airlift Productions RADIO work, New Orleans VoiceOvers

SEX Continues To Sell Well At Airlift Productions

July 17, 2015 Micheal Leave a comment

It occurs to me that my last several blogs have dealt with Life’s Rear View mirror (history), so let’s pump the brakes just a second and re-enter the 21st century – in fact, a poker-hot July at the Airlift Productions Studios in NOLA.

From the days of the Mad Men in the ’60s to today, let’s face it, SEX sells! Folks will part with their last dollar to find it, thrill to it, and hang on to it. The magic allure of sex is a well that the Madison Avenue crowd will always draw from. Always. And in all ways.

I was reminded of this just this past Wednesday as the phone rang from Madison Avenue in NYC looking for some help on a project for Yves Saint Laurent. The boys were curious if I could find some time to record an actor while he was filming for HBO in New Orleans.

Ah-h, sure, let me check my schedule.

So, in the middle of cranking out some new night club commercials (also involving sex and the search for same), I agreed to record Edoardo Ballerini on behalf of Yves Saint Laurent for Moritz & Company in Manhattan.

EdoardoBalleriniRecordsVoiceOversAtAirliftProductionsNOLA — NYC-based Film/TV actor Edoardo Ballerini records VoiceOver for Yves Saint Laurent at Airlift Productions NOLA

Check this dude out. Perhaps you’ve already witnessed Edoardo’s talents on the Sopranos or Boardwalk Empire on HBO. It was further work with the Home Box Office crowd that brought him to NOLA. His new show, coming soon, is called “Quarry”.

What a stud. Edoardo blew through the Airlift Studio doors yesterday afternoon with all the swag of Johnny Depp … only with more talent! His zen-like, laser-focused mic techniques – honed through his recording of over one hundred audio books – were most impressive. Listen here to just a bit of this week’s magic captured by the Airlift Productions mics …

** Edoardo Ballerini talks for Yves Saint Laurent, 7-16-15 **

This guy’s skill set is just off the charts. Not only is he bilingual, fluent in Italian as well, but he studied Latin while on a scholarship – in Rome. And his relaxed and self-assured looks allow him to fit into any era on film. And play good guy or bad – with style.

In fact, as we discussed his life yesterday after our session, while he banged on my guitar in the Airlift Studios Green Room, I felt somewhat envious. Edoardo jets between NYC and NOLA, playing out the lives of fascinating folks on sets and sound stages …. while yours truly makes a living from the solitude of a dimly-lit, tricked-out digital cave.

But it’s funny, ya know, the Great Spirit has kept things in such perfect balance that one cannot lose one thing without gaining another. One door may close, but a window will open.

And a fine digital cave it is. And I have my privacy. And flying is for the birds. And the inquisitive fingers of prying TSA agents.

Which brings us back to sex.

And it continues to sell – well at Airlift Productions.

** A couple recent radio thirties for the gang at Legends Encore from Airlift Mike & the Airlift Productions Studios **

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“It has been my pleasure to collaborate with Mike at Airlift on a variety of projects from sound effects for museum films, to narration for corporate and commercial work, to high end deeply layered radio spots. In every case, he has maintained the highest standards of production that equal anything produced in New York or LA. He is dedicated, tireless, dependable and truly enjoys his work to the point of making the process actually fun. I would not hesitate to recommend his services to my colleagues or anyone seeking a totally professional sound track.” ~ DALE ANTHONY SMITH, Designer/Producer at Multi-Media Corporation, NOLA

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Airlift Productions ~ Audio Alchemy from New Orleans since 1984

Morgus & Me, New Orleans VoiceOvers

Airlift Mike & Morgus: Let’s Get Personal

July 9, 2015 Micheal Leave a comment

MorgusSidneyNoelRideauRecordsAtAirliftProductionsNewOrleans — Sidney Noel Rideau Records VoiceOvers and More at Airlift Productions New Orleans

As a close personal friend to the New Orleans & Late Night TV Icon Morgus the Magnificent and extremely gifted spirit Sidney Noel Rideau, it is with a heavy heart on this July morning that I pen this one.

Like most guy friendships, we can go months at a time without a chat and then pick right up where we left off, with a lunch or a recording session. So, in an entirely unrelated matter, I got Sid on the phone just yesterday only to find out that just months ago he had lost the one true love of his life – Donia.

While we had spoken often of her through the years, I only knew of her through her answering the phone or in the background during our many phone conversations between NOLA and the north shore of the lake.

Sid & Aldona met innocently enough in New York City back in the early ’60s while he was the struggling actor & radio dude and she was an interpreter at the United Nations. Really.

Their 52-year marriage included two beautiful children and a mutual love for the theater, the arts … and words. Oh, how they loved ‘words’.

DoniaRideau — Sidney’s wife of 52 blessed years Donia

It was ‘words’ that carried the lovely Aldona through Poland, England, Pakistan & Switzerland, all before even having met Sidney in New York. Catch up with just a bit of this woman’s spirit in her online obituary here Aldona Nalecz-Tyminska Rideau.

Sid’s beloved and adored Aldona served all through those turbulent & chaotic Morgus years as not only his silent partner … but as the wind beneath his wings.

Now, all this having been said, Sid would just kick my ass if he even knew that I was writing these words. Of all the people I’ve ever met in show business, radio or the theater – Sidney Noel Rideau would have to be the most personally private of all. Truly. He fiercely defends his privacy.

So, to the reader of these words, a simple request. For prayers. For the spirit of his beloved bride. For healing. And maybe one of thanks – for all the years of enjoyment & fun his on-air exploits have given generations of late night horror movie fanatics around America. And now, prayers for the woman who helped to inspire it all.

May God indeed bless you, Uncle Sid, and your lovely Donia.

“Don’t stand at my grave and weep. I am not there. I do not sleep.

I am the thousand winds that blow….

I am the diamond glints of the winter snow…

I am the sunlight that ripens grain…

I am the gentle autumn rain.

Don’t stand at my grave and cry. I am not there. I did not die.”

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MichealZiantsWithMorgusNOLA — Airlift Mike On-Camera performing with Sid in “Morgus Presents”, in happier times, 1988, re-broadcast on Fox-8

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