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.
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!
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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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