SAG 31st Awards Show Honoring Jane Fonda...and some Local Features

 

For the second time ever the SAG awards were being aired solely on Netfix this year. We were fortunate to be with our friends across town last year as we hadn't a Netflix subscription at the time. We made it an evening and a half with attending a movie (One Love, biopic of Bob Marley) first, then going back to their house to take in the 30th SAG Award Show.

This year however, well, we'd like to say that our evening of viewing the 31st SAG Awards was...but unfortunately, it wasn't.

Verizon had just upgraded us to a new router and for the life of us, we couldn't get the ID and password to work our Netflix feed. Who woulda thunk that a silly glitch could prevent us from viewing the awards LIVE! Of course, that brings to mind that an actor who's strapped for funds and can't afford a Netflix subscription, is in the same boat. 

Part of the evenings events featured a tribute to honor Jane Fonda. Miss Fonda was awarded the 60th Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. 

 

Jane is a two-time Academy Award-winning actor, producer, author, activist and fitness guru. Her career has spanned over 50 years, accumulating a body of film work that includes more than 50 films and significant contributions to political causes such as women’s rights, Native Americans' rights and environmental protection. She is a seven-time Golden Globe® winner and was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2021. She accepted The Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival. Most recently, in April of 2024, Fonda accepted the TIME Magazine Earth Award. 

It was a fine evening as I saw the next day online here & there. But, you know, this was the 2nd time the awards were on Netflix solely and regardless of ability to watch...the presentation wasn't half a good as the first viral award showing on Youtube. It was a whole different and exploratory vibe. They took chances, things were absolutely more casual & free, less rehearsed, no commercials (altho, can't say for sure) and you felt as though you were a part of the evening. Check it out with this link to the  29th SAG Awards

On the home front

We were fortunate to be cast in a spot for an 85 year family owned HVAC business in upper New York State. I had been doing their VoIP voicing for years alongside their jingle. They wanted to continue that image with their Podcasts. Click to listen 

We had a bit of good luck as well just a little bit due south of us in Greenville, South Carolina. EISS, a European salon supplier wanted a British accent featured for all their VoIP work. They wanted a more stylish sound when European callers checked in... Giv-a-Call at: 843.552.7600

 

 

It is with great sadness we deliver the news that Gene Hackman, a fellow union member, passed away in New Mexico, yesterday. He was 95 years old. We had featured Mr. Hackman only last month as the voice-over to the “Fly the Friendly Skies of United” commercial some years back. 

 

There is a coincidence and uniqueness part to this, in that it comes with a recent revelation that it was my step dad who coined that inimitable phrase in the United voice-over ...amongst some other cool phrases. The revelation, keeping in mind that it means; a surprising and previously unknown fact, is that it came with the surprising news that my birth mother was still alive and had married this phrase-maker! The uniqueness is, it all came about as a result of us being reunited recently after all these years! Side-steppin' back to the coincidence part: we're all UNITED now as a family...with new aunts & uncles, cousins and names and words we've never used before or not in quite a while...like grandma, step dad, step sisters, drt'r-in-law, etc.

 

Segueing back to Gene Hackman; there's no better welcoming these days than those four wonderful words of my step dad he spoke; FTFS of United Airlines. Gene made you feel as though he was saying 'Fly the Friendly Skies of the United States'. The fact that it's literally carved (inside info) in stone and sewn together to the tune of Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue' for me, makes it hard to find a more Amatriotic slice of time. And nobody says: Baggage the way Gene Baby can. We'll miss you and hope that you and Peter are able to have that "espresso"!

 

by:+Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

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The Most Lopsided Superbowl in History...and Humongous G/E Turns Thirty-Five

That is correct. Super Bowl XXIV was and still is the most lopsided point spread difference in game history. That's right, on January 28, 1990 the San Francisco 49ers were pitted against the Denver Broncos for an ultimate 55 to 10 victory...a 45 point spread difference.

San Francisco's 55 points were the most ever scored by one team, and their 45-point margin of victory was the largest ever. The 49ers are also the only team to score at least eight Super Bowl touchdowns and at least two touchdowns in each quarter (only missed the extra point attempt).

But there's another reason that Super Bowl XXIV was more than a lopsided score. For me, it was a dream come true. 'Cause this Super Bowl, we had a Dog-in-the-Race...On Camera no less. Yes, this year marks the 35th anniversary of the "Humongous Gas & Electric" spot for the Oil Heat Institute. I never knew that there was a OHI, but boy am I happy there was and still is. The Humongous spot was super popular...once upon a time. I played an 'on camera' character named: Bob Davis - number 247-27A. 

He was a wimped-out customer type who was calling the big, bad Gas & Electric company 'cause there wasn't any heat. And the Big-Ass Conglomerate could care less, unless he smelled gas and treated Bob as the lowly number he was. They should do a "Where is Bob Now" redux campaign only to find him still roughing it out in the catacombs of Big Brother. Check it out below.

 

 

I had a ball doing the spot and had a chance to work with Bill Bryden, no that's not him as the bald dude in the video, but the star voice of those "Oxy Five" (jejune pimple) spots. We went from cloud nine to cloud ten when we learned later that year the spot had won a Clio, the Ad Industry's Oscar equivalent.

So that's one millennium...not to be outdone we had some luck in this millennia with a spot in  Super Bowl 54 in 2020. 

 

Not as Bob, but Oh'bother - Pooh. We were featured in ad agency - Fantastic Plastic's TV spots or end tags, played on Superbowl LIV, February 2nd, 2020. The VoiceOver was for the Damson Auto Dealerships in the Southeast half of the country. We managed a Winnie-the-Pooh sound-a-like that was in good form. Here's the full Damson Automotive Grp spot with its run a few months earlier.

We blogged about some of this last year. Then, it was more about my new step-dad, who coincidentally also had a Super Bowl dog-in-the-race as well. He was a creative directors creative director. An original Mad Man. It's been more than a bit freaky to be reunited with my birth mom. To learn that she married the coolest dude in advertising was like - Good Gosh. Do you believe my step-daddy came up with the Leggo-My-Eggo slogan or This Bud's for You, Coke is It or my mom's all time fav -  Fly the Friendly Skies of United ? Way...Cool!

 

On the United spot, that's the voice of a tinder Gene Hackman, in the day, paying tribute to the inspirational words my step father coined against the vibes of a Gershwin sound-track, that instilled a campaign at the ad agency Leo Burnett. “ Fly the Friendly Skies of United” was first introduced in 1965.  The tagline was used for over 30 years before it was retired when the airline parted ways with the agency.

 

 

That is the master-adcrafter; Al Lerman. And as a matter of record, he created the greatest ad of its era which debuted on: Superbowl XIII: It featured overtones of hard times that needed a bit of bolstering to accent the positive. 

Check it out at: This Bud's for You

Stefan Nadelman our resident Go-to-Guy for conceptualization in the movie & doc world is on the move this year in what might be considered an APB on his recent work on the docu-series - Don't Die. It's about this perfect protocol advocate / slash, W-a-D centimillionaire - Bryan Johnson. The Late Show's Stephen Colbert, did a number on Bryan Johnson, Monday night, unveiling his sequence of measuring his "Youthful Virility" or overnight - Winky - with an over-night tracking machine...and it included his son. They got metrics too. Stephen explains it all for us on his show entitled: Daddy Issues . Check it out.

Also check out Don't Die. It's being offered as a Sundance contender.

Don't Die is film about centimillionaire Bryan Johnson, a 46-year-old tech entrepreneur, who's obsessed with letting AI determine his health regimen to de-age himself. 

He has spent millions on a team of experts with the goal of making his organs look and act like those of an 18-year-old through a strict diet, which he combines with a one-hour exercise regimen, a rigid bedtime routine, blood transfusions and daily health tests.

Just Completed for Apple-Tv - Stefan had let me know about a docu-series called Con Queen. He did the Main Title Animation, along with graphics & animation - Not a bad feather either, to be picked up by Apple.

Eternal Values is another docu-series Stefan has completed about a new age cult of supermodels in the 90s, run by Frederick Von Meiers. As a cult leader of the group Eternal Values, Frederick Von Mierers, claimed to be an alien from the star Arcturus. Mierers believed in impending doom and that he and his fellow aliens had been sent here to help earthlings.

And Monkey Business (not a remake of the 1952 version with Cary Grant nd Ginger Rogers) is a doc about the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT scandal. Stefan's on the job but aspects are still in development. We'll follow up as soon as we hear further. Or you can always go to Stefan's IMDb page. 

by:+Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

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2024 TC and Company Year End Round-up

 

 

As we approach the second half of the second decade of the the second millennia and reflect on that first half...it was sort of a good half. Stock market went berserk from around 18 thou on the Dow in 2020 to a whopping 45 thou as it approaches the 2025 mark. Uprisings in the Mid East have come to terms with ousting longtime regimes, cease fires being reached...apparently & hopefully and we almost had our first black female president without the possibilities for the future seeming to be endless...as in this episode of the Zone: Shadow Play. 

 

Below is a composite of the years business highlights with links and graphics for easy navigation. Feel free to browse the landscape for a peculiar sound or idea that could have merit....in an existential way of course. Oh yes, please check if you are: Human?

 

 

Presented with the opportunity to unveil Pharmaline's entrance into the generic EU pharmaceutical market with more than just a passing concern...we gave them a Voice! They've been an established pharmaceutical company since 1987. With over 10 license agreements with global giants such as Glaxo Smith Kline, Merck, Abbott and the like, it was time to go international! 

 

We did live guest spot telephone call-ins back in the day, from our home studio in Queens. NPR's, Kids America had us performing during Christmas week for their show: Mystery History Guest.

Kids would call in from around the nation and try and guess who the person was they were listening to. With some sound effects and development from the NPR studios we'd transition into the past and begin to introduce our Mystery guest... Frank Lloyd Wright, (architect) !

How to spot A.I. in your shorts...that's YouTube shorts!

To go human... or not to go ~ human, is certainly the question everyone has been asking. It's been at the center of one of the longest strikes in our nations talent union's history ( Sag/Aftra). Because it presents an answer that could potentially end an era in the voice acting...and them some industry.

Candid Camera had me playing a Secret Service agent along with two other actors, against a shill actor, who played a celebrity autograph seeker. We descended upon the outside benches of the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. The agents would treat select bench-marks like a celebrity. The autograph-seeker would come up to the mark asking for an autograph. The agents would look...

 In this HELLECTION, your vote will determine the fate of humanity. Good VS. Evil. Choose Evil and name the destroyer of worlds. Choose Good and fight the Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse. The choice is yours…Choose Thy Fate.

...Or so says the narration on this Halloween season's theme for The Mortuary...NOLA's Haunted Mansion. In 1872 this Grand Victorian Mansion first opened its doors...

by:+Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

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Halloween can't get Scarier than T-H-I-S

Halloween this year takes on a whole new meaning... why it's even creeped into our Late Night TV show conversations. Take Stephen Colbert's response to Trump's post about Kamala Harris and Bret Baier's interview with her mid-month. Trump proffered seeing a more hard-hitting journalist, rather than one that's considered "Fair & Balanced".

The Late Night Show's host monologued that he's right; Fox has plenty of hard hitting journalists to choose from; There's Laura, Sean and the (Jig-Saw) puppet of the 11 Saw Movie Franchise. What's that Stephen, can that be true? The very same Jig-Saw puppet's sinister demeanor we've fashioned our Creepy-Guy voice after! Let's see, after all these years how they match-up against Stephen's intro for: Field of Screams/FrightMare Aslylum , Mountville, Pa.) 

So, this year marks the 17th anniversary (Circa 2007) featuring the Creepy-Guy voice which is based on Tobin Bell's rendition of the Jig-Saw character in the original Saw movie. We've combined the best creeps from the bunch and put 'em on the below links. Enjoy and don't get too Creeped-Out.

The Creepy-Guy voice on this next one is not only devilishly demonic...it's graphics and dialogue can also be somewhat disturbing. So, please be advised that if you dare to advance to the next level of shock-ability by clicking the blue link, please take a breath and we'll see you - on the other side!: Raycliff Manor. (San Diego, Ca.)

Here's a Texas Hold-Em you won't soon forget...'cause you'll be too scared to remember your name! With chants like"Hear your flesh rip" The Rotting Flesh Factory is the most terrifying haunted house in the RVG. That's referring to the region around Harlingen, Texas. In this haunted venue, when you get the call for 'dinner is ready' you just better make sure...you ain't the dinner. Click to get an invite for your last supper: Rotting Flesh Factory

 

Our Haunt journey began thanks to Jason Swarr at Elswarro Productions. We developed the Creepy-Guy voice to be an identifiable presence with the Halloween season. The Lizzie 'B' spot was a true ghastly delivery that it could be unsuitable for younger audiences...So, beware.

Even in places like Az., they got Scream parks and they want the Creepy-Guy voice just as much as the rest of the country. Although, in Arizona's Original Scream Park they also wanted "line R-U-L-E-S announcements" in line with their commercial spots.(no pun intended) Click above link.

 

Here's a nifty grabber for the upcoming election - In this HELLECTION…It's time to Choose Thy Fate. Or so says the narration on this Halloween season's theme for The Mortuary...NOLA's Haunted Mansion. It's a topical play on events with sentiments of Good VS. Evil. It goes on to say - Choose Evil and name the Destroyer of Worlds. Choose Good and fight the Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse. Have some fun with this one!

 

Check out a sentimental little Halloween ditty (below) that first found its way to us on the internet as a graphic. "Clifford the-Big-Red-Dog at Halloween" appeared from somewhere and we figured why not throw together a Quick-Cut video of it with the voice of Christopher Walken doing the Trick or Treat incantation.

by:+Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

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This Halloween - Scare Up some Shocking Results w/TC & Company

Last month's Blog topic was a roaring Halloween slash Presidential election tie-in. So, this month we reached back to present a gentler, kinder Halloween that kids can enjoy. Make way for the The Boogie Spooktakular! It's is a spectacle of fun for the whole family with a cast of characters that inspire kids to have lots of fun amidst a safe scare-free environment. 

 

We pitched the client that the host would have a playfulness that was fun, silly & amazed...not stupid & ditzy.

Kids are introduced to a bunch of silly characters like Mumzy, Wolfie and Gelga. 

It's all in the Halloween spirit while teaching kids dance moves and doing sing-a-longs to express themselves with other kids while having fun...safely!

 

So, the voice had to be engaging to kids and keep things moving along. Think of an MC that's daffy with a dash of Pee Wee, a pinch of surfer-dude and Voila!

 

Check to play Promo

 

Take a look at what we did for our New Hampshire all-year-round theme park Canobie Lake Park with their Halloween featured attraction - ScreeemFest.

They have a regular theme park operating throughout the year and do it up B-I-G for the Halloween season. A couple of years back we shifted from the wide-eyed la-de-dah voice and attitude to the Creepy-Guy voice...albeit, a bit Kinder & Gentler...wait for it! 

 Play TV spot

 

The Mortuary Haunted Mansion (NOLA) Presents -The Hellection attraction along with its Friday-the-13th Grand Opening. And they turned the throttle to 'high energy' to scare-up some shocking results for 'Friday The 13th' believers & shakers!

The Mortuary took full advantage of this September's early calendar of Friday the 13th, with their Hellection attraction and began the Halloween Season early this year. Stretching this year's season to almost Se7en full weeks! 

Here’s the link from this year’s Friday the 13th video promo that's in tandem with the Hellection attraction. Be advised, it features the Creepy-guy voice again. So, little eyes & ears beware.

Ditto for this Fast Rewind into the  not-so-distant past and we've had some very good luck maintaining a presence on the eastern seaboard doing all sorts of voice characterizations as far up as New Hampshire and Massachusetts and as far south as New Orleans, LA.  

Year after year working regularly as the Creepy-Guy voice...fashioned in many ways after Tobin Bell's character: Jizzsaw from the Saw movie franchise. Here's how it all started:  Click Red link below

 

Kentucky Scream Park

 

 

 

by:+Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

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This Halloween's Theme is the Hellection

 

In this HELLECTION, your vote will determine the fate of humanity. Good VS. Evil. Choose Evil and name the destroyer of worlds. Choose Good and fight the Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse. The choice is yours…Choose Thy Fate.

...Or so says the narration on this Halloween season's theme for the Mortuary...NOLA's Haunted Mansion. In 1872 this Grand Victorian Mansion first opened its doors. 

 

One hundred and thirty five years later, the mansion opened its doors as a haunted attraction in 2007 and they're taking this season's theme way too seriously. They've combined it with this years presidential election and its unquestionable importance. Casting the outcome as some sort of Orwellian composite, complete with text like: Gather Patriots within the hallowed halls of The Mortuary and cast your Final Vote. This is no ordinary HELLECTION, your vote will determine the fate of humanity.

 

These days 'ya gotta do what ya gotta do' to stay afloat and to eventually (all things being equal) thrive! Thematic attractions, while being already an attraction, do have their up side... especially if you want to extend the length of your season. Last year was kinda neat. The folks over at the Mort chose to go with a wedding theme...as in "Blood Weddings". People were getting hitched (deep faked in goth) or with actual paper work. It extended the season far into November. 

The HELLECTION thematic (as a noun) for this year...is taking a chance with the customer base marketing model. Or, could it be a shrewd piece of prescient maneuvering. They're counting on a swell of election fervor, now that the Dem's Harris/Walz ticket has got cred. 

Plus, the Republican ticket is gonna generate its own swell, especially if they keep eatin' at the Golden Arches while on the campaign trail!  Hellection is your only defense against the coming Apocalypse. It's the arsenal of democracy needed to keep the gates of the underworld  - closed. The choice is yours.

Will you choose to unleash the darkness or fight against it?

 

Embrace your civic duty and choose Thy Fate by casting your vote by clicking on the play button below for the Mortuary’s Hellelection theme mix for this year's Halloween season opener.

 

 

  

 

with: Stefan Nadelman

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the skinny with our most recent communique from Stefan Nadelman (Hollywood's resident visual artist in every sense) - - Remember dear readers you heard it hear first, off the record, on the QT and very hush-hush...

 

As Stefan writes; Anyhow, Hollywood Con Queen is out on Apple. Mr. McMahon has wrapped for real, for totally real this time. They've delivered all the shots for all 6 episodes...This Just in -

 

Mr. McMahon has just been released for viewing on Netflix September 25th, 2024. Click the red link for an exclusive trailer.

100 Foot Wave Season Three is done so that it should hit HBO Max someday soon. Don't Die and Razzlekhan are scheduled to wrap by Hush..Hush perhaps. The Bored Apes NFT project and Eternal Values are roundabout somewhere maybe in the middle of production. Keep an eye out for "MONEY ELECTRIC: The Bitcoin Mystery" on HBO Max, where Stefan did the main titles and chapter cards.

PS Now that the summer is morphing into fall...it's been a pretty advantageous time for AI, who is constantly plotting its complete takeover. Apparently we're a couple years away from AGI (artificial general intelligence) which will figure out how to manipulate and deceive humans.

That's the scoop! Stay cool brother! 

Oh, what a nice guy

 

 

 

 

 

 

by:+Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

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Entertainment Industry Backs Bill to Outlaw AI Deepfakes

 

Those in the entertainment industry have come together to show their support for a bill that outlaws digital deepfakes. It would create the first-ever federal right to one’s voice and likeness. Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, introduced a revised version of the bill, along with a bipartisan group of other senators. The bill titled; No Fakes Act, would make it illegal to create an AI replica of someone or their voice without their consent. 

The bill has the support of SAG-AFTRA, Disney, the Motion Picture Association, (representing several major studios), the Recording Industry Association of America, the Recording Academy and most major music labels and talent agencies. 

Fran Drescher, the president of SAG-AFTRA, said in a statement that it's “Game over A.I. fraudsters!”. She continued with “Enshrining protections against unauthorized digital replicas as a federal intellectual property right will keep us all protected in this brave new world. Especially for performers whose livelihoods depend on their likeness and brand, this step forward is a huge win!”  

The law would apply to deepfakes of everyone (famous and not-so-famous) alike. In the scheme of things, as usual, celebrities and public figures would have more at stake than mere mortals.

The NO FAKES Act allows a person's heirs controlling rights of their image and likeness for as long as 70 years after their passing, rather than expire at the time of a persons death.

Scarlett Johansson, who has been very outspoken against unauthorized usage of her likeness after her voice was used without permission in generative AI software. It's claimed that Open AI used a voice “eerily similar” to Scarlett Johansson’s after the actress turned down an offer to have her voice used for conversational AI software, the Chat GPT maker was developing. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is taking the issue head-on, and the bill she introduced to fight it unanimously passed the Senate last week. 

 

Video Game Strike "Active"

This just in from SAG headquarters

As you may know, SAG-AFTRA has called a strike against many video game companies, including some of the largest in the business. 

We’d much rather be informing you about a new contract that protects members and the work they do, but the reality is that we’re facing a pivotal moment, one in which we either stand strong for what’s right or stand by and let our livelihoods and this art we care so much about face an extinction level event. Showing your support will be slightly different than in previous strikes, but your participation is as critical as ever. 

We’re counting on you to post about the strike on social media, sign our letter of support and respond to digital and in-person calls to action. Find what you need to take action here.

SAG-AFTRA members who perform in video games are going on strike against all video game companies signed to the Interactive Media Agreement, effective 12:01 a.m. on Friday, July 26. The vote to strike comes after more than a year and a half of negotiations without a deal.

For the latest from SAG-AFTRA Comic-Con 2024 (San Diego) click for the "Human Art behind Game Performers"  video Podcast . Of course the main topic of concern was still AI and it was unanimous between them that more needs to be done. The panel focused on games performance and it's three categories: voice, facial and movement capture. The panel was made up of: actor Shannon Woodward, actor artist Ashly Burch, actor Noshir Dalal and voice actor Sarah Elmaleh.

Never one to pass up an opportunity to show off some early stages of old school Deep-Fake organic impersonations...check out the below episode of MTV's Celebrity Death Match back in the day -  featuring Vee-Jay (Jesse Kemp) matched against Vee-Jay Matt Pinfield (U'rs truly). May be unsuitable for young kids.

 

 

by:+Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

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