The field of VoiceOver is more than ‘hoo haa’ & ‘boom shaka laka’! While commercial voice work is positioned to cajole, pitch and sell, the industrial read has to be, well… industrious.
Industrial narration is a different bird. And here in Louisiana, Sportsman’s Paradise, it would seem that bird is becoming somewhat of an endangered species.
Through over thirty years of VoiceOver (as well as on-camera work) here in NOLA, Airlift Productions and I have helped steer many a company – both large and small – through some pretty tricky waters.
We’ve narrated and produced audio for Shell Oil, Bollinger Shipyards, Edison Chouest Offshore, Amoco Oil, and Seacor Marine Worldwide Interests, among others.
But America’s current oil situation, and its subsequent nationwide drop in oil prices, while causing glee for giddy drivers has been cause for major concern – as well as job losses – for countless thousands here in the Bayou State.
Count yours truly in that number.
While Louisiana continues to reel from yet another oil bust, the trickle-down effect is reverberating across the state. And as the oil money dries up, so does the Industrial Narration Voice Over work.
Get a feel for the impact of oil – to Louisiana and America – with this one video which I narrated post-Katrina for the Port Fourchon (pronounced FOO-shon) Commission, along with stunning aerial photography from Andreas Frentzos & Tim Weston at TLW Productions here in NOLA —
Port Fourchon, Louisiana’s southernmost port, and “the nerve center of oil and gas drilling and production in the Gulf of Mexico!”
The VoiceOver read for industrial concerns strips away all the cajoling, pitching and selling. It remains sober, confident and in-control, as it crosses all the Ts and dots all the Is with letter-perfect diction and tone.
On top of that, with much of this type work addressing safety concerns, it occurs to me that teaching someone how not to DIE while on the job is not only necessary, but rather noble.
So, as we move through the balance of 2016, Airlift Productions and I will tack into the winds of change yet again, adjust our sails/sales, keep a vigilant eye on the oil prices, and keep moving forward.
But should you happen to find me alongside this guy at the interstate overpass … with a black-magic-marker-on-cardboard sign, a PB & J will work, ham ‘n cheese preferred, but remember — ” Airlift Mike will talk – WELL – for food!”
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“We’ve worked with Mike for almost 15-years, both as voiceover 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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