Airlift Productions Recording Studio & PROduction House, New Orleans Panoramic Studio Pic… My digital-meets-analogue “more than a man cave” connection to the planet.
With all the equipment in the Airlift Productions studios – bouncing meters, glowing lights, ‘bells & whistles’ – the one thing visitors and clients seem to remark the most about is, strangely enough, the Window!
Its custom-cut, stained glass beauty captures every New Orleans sunset from it’s setting in the western wall of the studio, and gives constant feedback on current sky conditions as it reflects the tempo of each and every recording day.
Inspired by ancient Mayan illustrations and pyramid hieroglyphics, it was custom-designed to carry the colors of the Airlift Studios into its intricate artwork – from the passionate purple of the walls to the midnight blue carpet & charcoal grey acoustic foamed walls.
“The Gift of Life”, as it is called, symbolizes the spiritual journey of man.
At the center is the flame-like symbol of God who is Light & Life, the Creator of All.
The Triangle – symbolizing Mind, Spirit & Soul enlightened by God in its midst – is within the circle that signifies God is All in All, without beginning or end.
Surrounding the circle are the glyph signs for sky, earth’s abundance, and precious water.
And this magnificent artwork accomplishes all this spiritually without being overtly religious, to say nothing of ‘choosing up sides’ – favoring one religion, faith, or approach over another.
“The Gift of Life” also serves as the perfect backdrop and vibe for all the intensely creative audio projects & work being recorded and captured at the Airlift Productions Studios.
The Airlift Productions “Engine Room” ~ a view into the studio control room, as seen from the Talent room, along with the “Gift of Life”, Myron’s Discobolus … and the Laughing Christ.
Airlift’s Micheal Ziants (Right) with actor Joe Renier, On-Camera with TLW Productions for Seacor Marine … deep in the Gulf of Mexico
“We’ve worked with Mike for over 20 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, New Orleans, LA, USA
Veteran New Orleans Voice Talent Micheal Ziants with trusty sidekick & mascot The Shadeaux
Although I live in Louisiana, the Sportsman’s Paradise, I do not hunt and shoot animals, I do not own a gun…shucks, I don’t even play golf!
THIS is what I do.
Giving LIFE to the printed word, making simple text & fonts on an iPad or piece of paper BREATHE and create emotion in the mind of the listener is what I do.
And then, I further animate those living, breathing words with soundscapes – musical backdrops and sound effects which enhance and complement the human voice.
You know, the stuff that comes out of your radio speaker, or the flat screen TV in the background at the bar, or deep in your inner ear canal from earbuds, stuff like this….
And with roots in the great state of Pennsylvania, now firmly re-planted for over forty years in the bayou state of Louisiana, it’s kind of strange to say but here in 2024 I feel a stranger to both.
I don’t talk like your average N’awlins folks (“Wherey’at, dawlin’?”), I have a growing disdain for the yearly bacchanal called the “Mardi Gras”, and yet I have no desire to return to the ice-packed, snow-covered northeast.
New Orleans Voice Talent & All-around Audio Dude Micheal Ziants, Airlift Mike
A man without a country.
But I DO have one thing most don’t – a vocation that is also my vacation. And there’s solace in that.
On top of that, it’s a vocation that due to technological and digital advances affords me the opportunity to be heard by–and work for–anyone, anytime, and anywhere on planet Earth!
While the VoiceOver arena is today an incredibly competitive and increasingly overcrowded field, it’s an honor to throw my headphones into the ring every day from America’s most fascinating city, New Orleans, warm-up the Airlift Productionsmicrophones, and create compellingly convincing audio for clients near and far.
And the challenges and obstacles are far more daunting than shooting deer, flushing-out ducks, or spending weekends chasing a little white ball around a golf course.
** Airlift Miketaking a “shot” at Movie Trailer V-O – “Gladiator” **
Outcast? Rebel? Well, sort of, I guess.
But in the meantime, life in Louisiana certainly has its upside, too – cargo shorts & flip-flops year-round, I haven’t bought snow tires in years, and I sure have become a Saints fan. Who Dat?!?
“Micheal Ziants is a great voice talent who is generous with his time and energy. I have worked in TV for years, but needed the guidance of a professional to create my radio reel and found it with Ziants. He made me feel comfortable in studio and encouraged creativity, coaching me to a reel I hope will bring many job opportunities. “ – RACHEL WULFF, former WWL/WDSU-TV Anchor & Reporter
(L-R) Charlie Biondo, “Miss Linda” Mintz, Micheal Ziants, celebrating over 3,500 units sold, “Soft Words, Warm Nights”
While the world was still calling the genre “Books-On-Tape” in 1993, Airlift Productions self-published and successfully sold spoken word CDs to libraries across America – and to the world via thePlayboycatalog.
I realize that this all sounds a tad mad, but let me tell you the story.
I first met New Orleans icon “Miss Linda”, Linda Mintz, during a session at the Airlift Studios on Iberville street in 1993 while recording radio commercials for a local client.
Our muses, along with the stars, somehow aligned after that session while Linda and I discussed our love for poetry… as we hatched the egg of an idea for an outfit we dubbed “WordMusic”.
“Miss Linda” Mintz & Micheal Ziants (McCann), during recording sessions for “Soft Words, Warm Nights”, Airlift Productions, 1993
Linda, long known and loved by generations of New Orleanians as Romper Room’s “Miss Linda”, had been reared with a love and respect for the magic of poetry.
Yours truly, while working all over New Orleans airwaves as a commercial voice and producer, was looking to create a self-published project that had “legs”, would be “evergreen” and that we could get behind and market to the world.
Produced on Iberville Street (all on reel-to-reel tape), voiced by Linda & me, and backed by husband Albert Mintz… we called the project “SOFT WORDS, WARM NIGHTS”.
** “I Love You/A Bright New Land”… Soft Words, Warm Nights excerpt with Linda Mintz & Micheal Ziants **
Imagine the world’s most romantic poetry lovingly rendered – and cast against the lush backdrop of the sounds of nature, coupled with a meditative new age score.
Score one for the kids on Iberville Street!
** Bess, the landlord’s daughter sacrifices herself to save her lover, Mike Ziants reads the classic, “The Highwayman” from SWWN **
Together with marketing pal Charlie Biondo, we drew the attention of Bayside Distributors in California, produced cassette tapes AND CDs in 1993, were successfully reviewed by all the major trade publications, and took it to market!
** “Will You Love Me When I’m Old?” from SWWN **
After selling over 3,500 to libraries across the U.S., we attended the American Booksellers Association trade show in Chicago, where I personally pitched the project to Hugh Hefner!
“Soft Words, Warm Nights”, featured in the Playboy catalog, 1995
Hef was back in his hometown that weekend to promote Playboy’s 40th Anniversary coffee table book and, little did he know it – but get a fast pitch from Micheal Ziants.
Playboy Magazine’s catalog then featured our “Soft Words, Warm Nights” in several editions, helping us to move over 500 units, saying that our CD created “Irresistible Ambiance”.
While I caught a lot of kidding & ribbing from family and fellow radio pals here in NOLA over this entire escapade, it remains one of my favorite stories.
What wasn’t so pleasant?
In an attempt to get a major ongoing distributor for our work, upon sending our CDs to every single major AudioBook publisher at the time, we were not only turned down – but ripped off!
“Soft Words, Warm Nights” CD artwork, Airlift Productions/WordMusic 1993
As the idea – romantic spoken word, produced with music & sound effects – was copied within a year by many of them, along with known Hollywood actors that carried marquis–type names.
(Sigh!)
Oh well, as the Bard once opined, “It is better to have loved and lost… than to have never loved at all.”
Besides, it still makes for great “Did-you-hear-the-one-about-the-BIG-one-that-got-away?” type stories around the bar and NOLA parties.
Furthermore, as Churchill reminded us all, “Never. Never. Never. Give up!”… and from the vernacular, “He who loves and runs away, lives to fight another day.”
Airlift Mike, Micheal Ziants, reads James Patterson’s “The Chef” for Hachette AudioBooks, NYC/Paris
I haven’t. (Given up.)
And.. I have! (Lived for another day.)
I mean, back in the 1990s, how was I to know that here in 2019 my path would intersect with one of the world’s biggest and best-selling authors?
“Now showing” on earbuds near you, from the Hachette AudioBook Group, and today available on all worldwide platforms… Micheal Ziants narrates and interprets James Patterson’s“THE CHEF”.
And trust me, gang – Soft words and a warm night, this ain’t!
“Working with Airlift Mike in NOLA was an utter pleasure. I was in town for business for a month and needed to maintain my audiobook recording schedule. Mike was accommodating and a pure professional. He mastered the punch and roll technique in 24 hours to be ready for our first session, and over the course of the month we laid down 5 books and a number of auditions. His studio sounds great. The vibe & atmosphere can’t be beat. You’d be hard pressed to find a better recording studio in the southeast – no matter what your needs. I wish I could have stayed!” ~ Amy Landon
Ya know, when folks today ask me for my opinion on the concept of reincarnation, my response is, “Why not? After all, look at our Huey P. Long – he came back as a bridge! And personally, I’ve already lived many different lifetimes within THIS one!” And then I begin. To. Tell. This. Story…
It’s long been said that the Devil dances in empty pockets. You’ll also hear that the Devil is in the details. And while most in New Orleans know me as Mike McCann… in the Fall of 1979, as John Saint John, I was dancing a very detailed jig with the Pulitzer Family along the banks of the Mississippi in Saint Louis, Missouri.
This whole blog post was triggered by a rather innocent enough email to theAirlift Productions Studios from a Lance Hildebrand (traffic reporter/VO guy), looking for a studio to work from while visiting New Orleans. The subject line was “We’re both KSD Alums”. Really?
Saint John Congratulations letter from the office of the PA Attorney General, Harrisburg, PA 1978
Hired by the Pulitzer Family in the summer of 1978, I’d packed up my entire life, hopes & dreams and moved over 800 miles from Harrisburg, PA to take on the afternoon drive shift at 55-KSD radio in St. Louis. Excitement was hardly the word!
That summer the Pulitzers held and owned pop/adult 55-KSD Radio, NBC-affiliate KSD Television, AND the property that first put them on the map – The Saint Louis Post-Dispatch, the most widely read paper in town. Long before there was a radio or a television set, Joseph Pulitzer had made his name in print. The “Prize” was to come years later.
Little did I realize when I first took the job that this stunning combination of power, strength and reach would serve to ultimately lead to my untimely dismissal.
** KTVI-2/St. Louis Don Marsh Feature on John Saint John, 1979 **
Let’s face it, in 1979, before the birth of the internet, the web & a digitally-connected America – one company could, in effect, monopolize what people would read in their newspaper, listen to on their radio, and watch on their television! I mean, what else was there?
Apparently, by 1979, the FCC had come to the same conclusion.
The Ronald Reagan years of deregulation and consolidation were yet to come, and the Federal Communications Commission, the government’s watch dog, had been wagging its paw at the Pulitzer clan for quite some time. And the time had come.
KSD Radio’s Name Game Promotion, as it appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Music DJs Ron Morgan, Ed Scarborough, and yours truly were all shown the door as Combined Communications out of San Diego purchased KSD Radio from the Pulitzers, changed the format to News/Talk and decided to duke it out with KMOX.
Ironically, my afternoon news dude, the amazingly & wickedly talented Bob Hamilton, was retained through the transition, and later went on to legendary status at longtime CBS kingpin KMOX. No longer with us, but let’s hear it for the on-air longevity of an outstanding newsman’s career.
Micheal Ziants wedding to Cookie, along with mom & dad, Creve Coeur, suburban St. Louis, 1979
Yes, despite my #1 ratings with women 25-49 in afternoon drive at 55-KSD – precisely what Lee Fowler, Ed Newsome and the Pulitzers had hired me to do – newly married and with a child on the way, along with the rest of the on-air music staff, I was summarily let go/fired in the late summer of 1979. A pawn in quite the elaborate and corporate chess game.
But as my pop used to say “Illegitimus non carborundum est” (Latin for ‘don’t let the bastard grind you down’). I picked myself up, dusted myself off … and headed to Nashville. But that’s the story for another blog another time.
Indeed, those late summer nights after Cardinals games, I dreamed of having quite the career in Saint Louis, maybe after radio parlaying my on-air work into writing for the Post-Dispatch one day, but that story was never to happen.
Dancing with the Devil? He’s in the details? You betcha’! And I guess I should have seen it coming. When radio got into bed with big business, you knew it wasn’t going to end pretty.
And when you get into bed with the Devil … you better be prepared to get it on.
Toby Ricketts Instagram-Twitter ‘Selfie” taken in the Airlift Productions booth
“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, New Zealand-based, award-winning, world-class VoiceOver Artist
In week three of the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season, some personal reflection —The National Weather Service defines the “Eye” as the region of mostly calm weather at the center of strong tropical cyclones.
Metaphorically, then, while the ever-changing media & technology would be the tropical cyclones/hurricanes, Airlift Productions & I would be the ones whohave for forty years now resided… calmly persistent & steady – in the hurricane’s eye.
The Airlift Productions logo, conceived & trademarked in 1984, and re-imagined for the 21st century
In 1984, the needs of my first full-time client – WGNO-TV/Tribune Broadcasting – gave birth to the Airlift Productions Studios.That very year Ronald Reagan sat in the Oval Office, the compact disc was brand new, and top-rated CBS affiliates WWL-TV & WWL radio here in New Orleans were owned by Loyola University (“World Wide Loyola”) and… the gang down at the Catholic Church.
From the changing complexion of the White House to digital music distribution (and piracy), TV/radio deregulation and consolidation; and from Loyola’s WWL ownership change to Gannet/Tegna, and Entercom to Audacy – my oh my, how the media and technological winds have blown!
Meanwhile, through all the changes and through all the years, Airlift Productions and I have resided calmly and ever-persistent in the Hurricane’s Eye, while at the same time, tacking into the winds of change.
A recent Search Engine request for just two words “Airlift Productions” yielded the most remarkable result – in the Images section was an internet-search-generated collage of a Life lived in the Hurricane’s Eye…
There was every studio I’d ever built – from the closet at Rock Creek Apartments to Iberville to Pomona. There was Norman Robinson, Rich Lenz, Heath Allen, Deuce McAllister, Congressman Steve Scalise, Amy Landon, Dr. Morgus/Sid Noel, Rachel Wulff, Tim Weston, Jamie Neumann, Sean O’Shea, Sister Thecla, even studio mascot The Shadeaux, the studio’s stained glass window and game room!
From radio commercials, TV voice-overs, podcasts & audio books, to educational software, industrial training & safety videos, and from cathode ray tubes to flat screens and broadcast to podcast – the Airlift Studios & I have shifted and tacked into the winds of change – while remaining calm & steady in the Hurricane’s Eye.
“Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence & Determination alone are omnipotent.” ~ Coolidge/Ziants
*** Micheal Ziants AUDIO BOOK Demo ***
Airlift Productions proprietor Micheal Ziants putting in another day at the office ~ along with late studio mascot ‘The Shadeaux’
And the winds continue to blow! My grandfather John was born before the radio, my father Charlie was born before the television, and I was born before the internet & digital.
What’s next? AI, VR, the Metaverse?
Well, whatever it is, you can rest assured that Airlift Productions and I will be there, sitting calmly determined & ever persistent – in the Hurricane’s Eye.
Airlift’s Micheal Ziants (Right) with actor Joe Rainer On-Camera with TLW Productions for Seacor Marine … deep in the Gulf of Mexico
“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
Around the Airlift Productions Studios, I still get into this one with my video production pals – when it comes down to audio versus video, which of the two is more powerful and packs the bigger punch?!?
I mean, what is all televison except radio… with pictures? Which came first? And where are the more powerful emotional cues?
You know, the ones that capture attention, motivate, inspire, scare … and drive someone to action?
Pause to consider, the very first sense that develops as the human develops within the mother’s womb is …. wait for it – the sense of HEARING! The growing infant HEARS the mother’s heartbeat and the rush of amniotic fluid, almost like ocean waves, surrounding it’s ears.
The eyes are nowhere in the picture yet.
Now, picture yourself in a movie theater. You are terrified by the motion picture – from b/w ‘Psycho’ in the ’60s to the latest flick about some camp counselor gone crazy chasing teens through the woods with an ax – and you can very simply close your eyes.
But you cannot close your ears!
The shrieks of terror, the ragged breathing, the sound effects, the dramatic music pulsing and pounding. Even when all sounds disappear and come to a complete … heart-pounding … stop!
Interestingly, the Creator gave us eyelids… but He didn’t give us EAR-lids!
Now, talk to a hospice caregiver, and they’ll quickly tell you from experience that in the majority of cases the final sense to leave us at death – is the sense of hearing.
More to the point, in the case of television advertising, when an ad comes on, many are off to the bathroom or into the kitchen. In this case, all the expensive video editing software and fancy visual zips and zaps are superfluous! They are not even there in the experience of the intended viewer.
And since time immemorial, the story-telling tradition, as one generation passed legend and myth and bedtime stories down to the next, the entire presentation was aural – powerful, memorable and impact-full.
Sorry, video aces, but audio trumps video. It will always be AUDIO that drives the emotional train.
Airlift Productions, driving that emotional train from NEW Orleans …. since 1984.
“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 Productions 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!”
Many thoughts are rambling around my head on this Mother’s Day weekend, so I came here to unpack a few of them. Allow me to wish you & yours a Happy One as I attempt to sort some things out.
It’s been said that, “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world”. Indeed, mothers, and the way in which they raise their children, most definitely mold and form society and the world in which we live.
Rightly or wrongly (and yes, there are bad mothers), through motherhood, women leave their indelible mark on the planet. Some seek to leave their footprints in the sands of time…while others leave but skid marks at the intersection.
Did you know that America’s first people, the Tribes – from the Sioux to the Cherokee – had quite a different view when talk of the planet and mothers was involved?
To them, four simple words summed-up all of existence – “Mother Earth, Father Sky”.
ALL food, all sustenance – indeed all life – grew from the Earth! Berries, fruit, maize, corn, wheat ALL came from the dirt beneath their feet. Mother Earth.
And all this nourishment, the very essence of life, would not be possible without the rains and the sun to make it grow. Father Sky.
Pretty simple, huh? And pretty true, too.
Well, if you’ve run with me this far on this Mother’s Day, let’s run just a bit further. I’m haunted as of late by a line from Paul Simon’s tune “Questions For the Angels”, wherein he poses this question…
“If every human on the planet and all the buildings on it should disappear… would a zebra grazing on the African savanna care enough to shed one zebra tear?”
Wow! Ponder that one a moment. Let that one sink-in a bit.
And I realize that it’s more than a tad on the dark side (for Mother’s Day weekend), but couple that thought with this troubling nightmare that persists… in my New Orleans nights.
The whole planet Earth – all now-Eight-billion-and-counting – all humanity…the very planet we call home – gone! Disappeared. And the epitaph on the tombstone says rather succinctly, “Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.” ~ signed, the Father.
No. Despite all human ‘advancements’ and technology and progress and religion and culture…in the eyes of the Creator Spirit that is ALL { the One the Tribes called ‘Wakan Tanka’} — we just didn’t cut it.
And the kicker? In the Big Picture? In the eyes of the vast universe… the disappearance of this one little planet in the backwaters of the Milky Way, here in what we call the 21st Century…didn’t even make the front page in the Sunday Universal Times.
Yet, from the palaces of Kim Jong Un to Vlad Putin, the games persist. And from the streets of Anytown USA to today’s nearby college campuses… peace, love & respect for human dignity increasingly get lost in our crazed, frantic and hyper-connected digital world.
And the beat goes on. Until it doesn’t.
I only wish that I had a rosier picture to paint this morning, but we’ll save that ‘rose’ for the Mother’s Day bouquet sitting on kitchen tables all over the world at this moment.
*** Airlift Mike’s “This Is For the Mothers” ***
And along with it, a Hope and a Prayer…for your Mother Earth and mine.
IncreaseThePeace…with Love & Respect from the New Jer-USA-lem ~ Micheal Z
Allen was there to accept yet another award and, as the show’s live announcer (a job I enjoyed for ten straight years) it was my duty that night to introduce him to the packed house.
Allen at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, getting to know President Obama
Warm, engaging, self-deprecating, soft-spoken, and impeccably dressed, Allen Toussaint truly defined the word – Gentle-man, with qualities that truly belied his most amazing and breathtaking list ofrather heady andremarkable musical accomplishments.
That night we laughed and got to know each other. In fact, after recognizing my voice from years on local television, he asked me, “Mike, would you do a few of those ‘Tonight on Fox Night at the Movies’ promos for my lady?” Laughingly, I agreed. And did.
November 10th in 2015 at the age of 77, across the ocean in Madrid, while performing and doing what he loved, Allen suffered a heart attack and proceeded to drop his body… and move on.
As he left us with musical memory after memory after memory. Is it even possible to pick a favorite? From “Mother in Law” to “Southern Nights”, “Working in a Coal Mine” to “Lady Marmalade”, and these are but some of the radio ‘hits’. They just go on and on and on….
Epic & Legendary New Orleans Recording Engineer & Producer Cosimo Matassa Service Prayer Cards ~ September 16th, 2014
You see, the Coz was the one behind the huge mixing console down in NOLA’s French Quarter in the ’50s & ’60s who made all that musical magic happen with Allen and so many others back in the day.
That day – and this is so Allen – the entire crowd, and it was sizable, was all dressed in funereal black. Except for Mr. Toussaint. Ask anyone who was there. Allen wore the most amazing shade of iridescent blue!
Now, we’re the ones who are… blue, that is. As Allen Toussaint belongs to the ages. And pages of musical history.
Oh, and no minor footnote here, he also posthumously loaned his name to a major New Orleans thoroughfare formerly known as Robert E. Lee Boulevard.
Brother Allen, rest in power and musical paradise, thanks for all you brought us and taught us through all those years.
And for all that MUSIC!
Our ‘Southern Nights’ will never be the same.
** Allen Toussaint waves “Bye, Bye”, as only he could, via YouTube **
Nathan, while recording at Airlift Productions, October 2019
“Mike is a master of his craft, a true audio artisan. The long days I spent recording my audiobook with him were a joy. First and foremost, he is a meticulous professional who wants to make sure that the production achieves the best possible quality. Because of his extensive background as a voice actor, he can coach you in exactly how to make something sound serious, credible, and powerful. And because he built the whole studio himself, he knows how to get the most out of his equipment and produce exceptional recordings.
But more than that, Mike is not just a skilled producer. He’s a great guy, with a tranquil life philosophy that will put you at ease and make you feel comfortable enough to give your best effort. He knows how to make you feel good, from the mood lighting to his calming presence in your headphones. He’s funny, too, and has lots of great stories from his long career in radio. I truly had a blast working with Mike and will write another book just to do a new audiobook with him.”
— NATHAN J. ROBINSON, Editor in chief of Current Affairs magazine and author of ‘Why You Should Be A Socialist’
Original Airlift Productions LOGO – 1984 by Harrel Grey
It’s kind of strange the way inspiration works. I was sitting at a bar here in downtown New Orleans that no longer exists in a hotel that no longer exists while dreaming of a business that didn’t yet exist – and it struck!
In my second year on Q-93 radio ( WQUE-FM, New Orleans ) as afternoon air personality Mike McCann, I was frustrated and, to be honest, somewhat frightened and more than a bit concerned.
After all, I would not have been at Q-93 had a format change not led to my being terminated/fired from my on-air job in Philadelphia! And wouldn’t have been in Philly had they not let the entire air staff go in Nashville! A similar story – station sale & format change – led to my exit from St. Louis.
Short story longer, I used to wake up in a cold sweat on the waterbed (hey, it was the 1980s) in the middle of the night wondering where I’d be when I reached age 40, to say nothing of 50 or 60 if I stayed on my current path.
So, my Q-93 partner in crimeRon Chatman and I were sitting around the bar at Bert’s, a bar on the first floor of a now-imploded and long-gone hotel on Canal Street, having a few and comparing battle scars while musing about our collective futures.
Bing-Search-Generated Image page for Airlift Productions
I grabbed a bar napkin and started doodling, sketching, dreaming – and came up with the first crude version of the Airlift Productions logo.
Airlift – as in ‘to the rescue’, with all it’s heroic connotations. If all radio & TV commercials are indeed sent over the air, “Let me give your Air a Lift!” Alphabetical listings being what they are, I’d also be listed first in all the recording studio listings.
** Airlift Mike narrates James Patterson’s best-seller “The Chef”, now available on worldwide AudioBook platforms **
Plus, I somehow knew all those years ago that the studio would be involved in projects bigger and loftier than just commercials, so it just had to be Airlift ‘Productions’. I knew that I was on to something.
The year was 1984.
After hiring local artist, the late Harrel Grey to fine-tune my crude bar napkin logo rendering, I trademarked it with Baton Rouge officials, got my first bonafide freelance account – WGNO-TV/Tribune Broadcasting – and was off to the races.
Airlift Productions Logo Reboot ~ re-imagined by Digital Artist Ethan Anderson ~ 2012
Today in 2024, if one were to do an internet search with just those two words ‘airlift productions‘ in a search engine – with no qualifiers, no country or state, nothing else – out of over several million possibilities worldwide and worldwide-web-wise – there I am.
Hard to believe that as I write these words it is forty years later, but that’s what the calendar tells me.
Meanwhile, the technology, the recording gear & the delivery methods somehow grew into my dream & vision.
And the jobs? Well, Airlift Productions has today recorded and delivered audio all around the world – literally!
Mandarin Chinese-translated video for the Port of New Orleans, Shell Oil Industrial Narrations for Melbourne, Australia… Arabicaudio for MBC (Middle East Broadcasting) in Dubai…and AudioBook production for every major player on Manhattan Island in New York City.
Furthermore, the latest “plum” fallen from this marketing tree?
I am now heard nationwide as the Imaging/Announcer Voice for iHeart Radio’s Michael DelGiorno & his “Your Morning Show” Talk Show every weekday morning – from Sacramento to Nashville and from Tampa Bay to Youngstown/Akron.
With Anchorage and Washington D.C. waiting in the wings….
As I provide the “Ed McMahon to his Johnny Carson” – Four breaks an hour through three hours of conservative talk every weekday morning across America!
Yes, while most my age have thrown in the towel, walked away… or passed away, here in 2024, I find myself still writing new & exciting chapters.
So, what’s in a logo? In a word – Everything!
And I do mean every little and BIG thing.
Airlift Productions Recording Studio, New Orleans, Panoramic Studio Pic
Steve Scalise & Airlift Mike during a break from “Back In The Game”, Airlift Productions NOLA, October 2018
“Mike, I can’t thank you enough for the great job you did coaching me through the audio recording of my new book, ‘Back in the Game!’ Since this was the first book I’ve ever written (and recorded), it was all new territory for me. You made the entire process go very smoothly, and I am incredibly happy with the final product.
I appreciate all you did to bring this book to life. You know you are really good when both James Carville and I are in complete agreement that you are great to work with!!” – CONGRESSMAN STEVE SCALISE
John Lennon at the piano creating a vision with “Imagine”
Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people living for today
Imagine there’s no countries It isn’t hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people living life in peace
You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one I hope some day you’ll join us And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people sharing all the world
You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one I hope some day you’ll join us And the world will live as one
~ John Lennon, “Imagine”
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As my fave old metaphysical space cowboy running partner Henry David (Thoreau) used to say, “Do not worry if you have built your castles in the air. They are where they should be. Now… put the foundations under them”. And …
“What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us … are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.”
Airlift Productions’ Micheal Ziants – at age 20 – on the first real radio job, Youngstown-Niles, Ohio, 1972, when many thought I LOOKED like John.
Airlift Mike – channeling and realizing the dreams of John Lennon.
Norman Robinson & Airlift Mike, tracking VoiceOver session, October 2019 at Airlift Productions New Orleans
“Michael is without a doubt one of the most versatile audio and production experts in the industry. ” — NORMAN ROBINSON, Harvard Nieman fellow; Honorary Doctorate of Human Letters-Our Lady of Holy Cross College; former CBS-TV White House correspondent; senior news anchor WDSU-TV, NOLA
