Escape Rooms taking Front & Center with Tom Clifford Unraveling the Clues!

Escape rooms are taking the country by storm. The Mystere Escape Rooms are Year-Round and are live-action team-based where players discover clues, solve puzzles, and accomplish tasks in order to escape from the room(s) in 60 minutes.
Just did two radio spots for the Mystere folks in NOLA and the demand is for more...they already have a bunch!
Up to 12 participants per themed adventure including a Treasure Hunt Pirate Adventure, an “Indiana Jones” type adventure called The Game Room, capture a Poltergeist in The Ghost Lab, or escape from a “live” zombie in the Embalming Room. The question is whether you can beat the clock? It may be the most intense hour you and your posse will ever experience. Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock… EscapeTheMansion.net


Playing on Social Media with the ubiquitous need to display everyone's activities to the world is another avenue most escape rooms follow. What better way than by capturing the moment with a 'group-photo' for posterity. Claiming success can be a badge of honor in some of these circles. So, imagination has no limits with as many features to provide all the ingredients for celebrations! Targeting private parties complete with catering, entertainment, and the creatures of the night pays off well! PartyVenuesNewOrleans.com



Around these parts of Long Island, N.Y., you can Escape in a Cool-ass..Big-ass Bus. Or L.I.'s *NEW* mobile (multi-concept) escape room...'cause it's the perfect form of entertainment for your Long Island event. They bring their #1-rated escape room challenge to your choice of location – for hours of on-site fun! Of course they offer all kinds of packages at all sorts of budgets with events that have multiple rounds for all guests to have a chance to play. The ride that travels to the burbs.

Or a modern day version of the W-H-I-P ride that would make the rounds of neighborhoods of yore. It was basically about 6 rusty barrel seats that were crunched on the back of a truck. They were connected with a chain on a track that would go around in a circle. At one point it would heave (whip) a row of seats into the stratosphere with a wall of steal mesh to prevent kids from falling out onto the street...or chopped up in the mechanism. One of those 'when we were kids' stories.

Click for Mystere Radio Spot 

     

by:+Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

VoiceOverGuy
IMDb Page

FaceBook Business Page
tomcliffordvo@gmail.com

516.488.8840 Office
516.448.9900 Mobile

Travel Channel could favor TC & Company...

Ya'll remember a post about the Travel Channel being interested in George Willig for their Mysteries at the Museum Show. It's sort of a docu-enacted History Channel feel that revolves around an artifact of a person or persons history making.

I was approached last August about the possibility of the Show using George's 1977 climb as a vehicle for an episode featuring Don Wildman as the host.

The producer had called and emailed after he had heard clips of the YouTube video "Unclimbable" . He had caught the Blog Talk Radio show Bob Brown & I did for the 40th Anniversary of the climb. He wanted to get in touch with George with the idea for the show. Depending on a few factors that can sometimes be a tall order. But as luck (and Good Timing) would have it, was able to get a good deal of interest from George, who offered some creative suggestions no less.  He said, how 'bout having the "artifact" hand off at the Explorers Club in New York... which he's a member!


The idea behind using George's climb would be for George to donate an artifact from the climb to a museum of his choice. The Show would re-enact his feat of climbing One of the WTC Towers and offer some back-end unique tale about how it was done.

Well, just did the infamous "checkin In" call and it seems there's been a 'development'. The producer says that it's just one of those "things" that the project has been passed to a different team. They'll do another reach-out if anything should develop. But here's the kicker, not to be one to ignore an opportunity, I asked the the producer if he and the team might be receptive to having some samples of my vo work, since all the teams DO actually talk to each other and from time-to-time have need for a VoGuy. Sent 'em a series of links to voice demos and hope for some interest...Or if the landscape changes for another look on a show with George. 

by:+Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

VoiceOverGuy
IMDb Page

FaceBook Business Page
tomcliffordvo@gmail.com

516.488.8840 Office
516.448.9900 Mobile

TC & Company's Year End Round-Up continues Upward

Last year's focus seemed to hinge on M-O-R-E.

Give the client more and see what develops. Now I don't know if it's a direct outcome of that practice, but there were at least (3) clients that had me on retainer this year...or so it felt. Could be because, right from the get go, k-e-p-t things completely upfront as to what it would take and how much we were willing to give back...in discounts or above & beyonds.

Also, this year on the VoIP fronts, telecommuting as a standard was introduced. Less face-to-face. Most, if not all the other categories have been up-to-speed in that department for a good number of years. But, this is a completely different sector. More Main Street. All's you can do is try and keep the casualty count to a minimum. Still, there are some that are clingin to that "old school" belief that it's cool Not-to-know-Nutin about computers. And interpret digitally informed tasks as too much to be considered. There's only (5) words for that - Too Late in the Game.

I remember, back when we were doing live auditions at my agents recording booth at Abrams Artists, spit-balling about doing auditions from our home studios. Sure, that'll be the day! There was a time when it was generally thought by some agents and talent alike, that knowing about tech stuff or for that matter too much left hemisphere activity lessened your acting cred.
Enter the Smartphone and a whole new mentality that followed.

All in all, not such a bad year...considering such changes in leadership landscapes we won't mention.
Even had some fun ala (Reagan takes a Knee) with our Celeb-Death (The Donald) taking the helm as president this year. Hoping your year was a good ONE... and here's to another that has everyone & everything you need.  Happy New Year!

Axial finished up it's 2 year run cycle this September on CBS Sports Network. The company has switched from vo based branded imaging to sound-effect/special effect brand imaging. Costs being cited as an issue, I've been replaced by a slight K-Boom & muffled earthquake shake. Kinda cool actually. Here's the latest spot that's very much still online at:
Axial Trophy Truck Score International Spot.
 

We continued local, regional and international spots. There was (NOLA) & (Salem, New Hampshire) for the Haunt industry. This year marked a national breakout for The Mortuary featured prominently on CBS's NCIS late October for their Halloween 'Dead Man Calling' episode. OmniTrans, Metro Bus Service in San Bernardino Valley, Ca. updated their "slowest man" radio spot based on the Bill Lyman PBS docu-character theme. And voicing with a movie trailer'esque style, Lebanon's nationally themed TV campaign - entitled: "We Dream Lebanon" via Plan-A Advertising.

Reached into the MTV Celebrity DeathMatch vault to unearth an episode I voiced of Rodney Dangerfield as he was pitted against Don Rickles. Don passed away earlier this year and Mr. Warmth's presence is still very much felt with tons of SEO dividends. The last scene had pieces of Don Rickles on a BBQ spit to signify he was thoroughly roasted. You'll find a link to fan clubs and episode info at the above link.

The folks at: Futurama came-a-callin with a read for their Game-of-Drones mobile game app teaser trailers. Some last minute casting to the tunes of Benders voice variations. The show's been off the air for a few years, but has good enough recall for a roll-out of promo teasers to spark some interest in the mobile markets. Bender's tuned to a bit of extreme type-A multiple personalities that we were sparking on all fours...'hyper-cylinders' that is.

There was also some buzz this year from the folks over at the Travel Channel to have George (The Human Fly) Willig appear on their Mysteries-at-the-Museum show.
More on that as it becomes available.

by:+Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

VoiceOverGuy
IMDb Page

FaceBook Business Page
tomcliffordvo@gmail.com

516.488.8840 Office
516.448.9900 Mobile

Stefan Nadelman's - Jane is Out & About and the Deuce nods its visuals to Terminal Bar

Stefan Nadelman, is a name that appears with some frequency around this BLOG.
Our journey began some time ago while voicing his award winning documentary of a New York City icon of the times and subsequent follow up Doc. Terminal Bar 'Two' link



And very happy he continues with his present day-job as credited movie titling animator...and then some with Cobain and now with Nat Geo's - Jane, hitting the theatres. 'Jane' Trailer animation

Stefan handles both the titling and animated sequence scenes with his gritty unvarnished flashes of pop art story-telling. He can bring normally overlooked objects and personal archive writings to dance alive with a fresh conveyance. Almost in a new medium type of way. Throw some Phillip Glass down as your musical sound trax and damn... you're traveling back through time...or at least it feels like it and it's always cool lookin. Nat Geo (Jane-the-Movie) website

But, Stefan doesn't stop there. He just emailed  - that he's almost done wrapping on the Garry Shandling documentary he's animating. Being directed by Judd Apatow, Stefan will concentrate on the journals & notebooks of Garry's for animating scenes and titles. He said, between Cobain, Jane & now Garry, that makes three lives he's gotten to know intimately. 


Stefan went on to mention he read an article that the HBO series - The Deuce (a nod to 42nd Street) had its key visual reference based on photos from this notorious dive across from the Port Authority back in the 70's & 80's...called The Terminal Bar 'One'!  

Here's the link to the article in the LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-ca-st-fall-preview-the-deuce-20170908-story.html

by:+Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

VoiceOverGuy
IMDb Page

FaceBook Business Page
tomcliffordvo@gmail.com

516.488.8840 Office
516.448.9900 Mobile

CBS's NCIS (NOLA) features The Mortuary in its plot this week

The Mortuary has been home to some very scary voices over the past decade and are now getting their due as one of the best haunts in the industry by being featured in the CBS series NCIS (NOLA) this week. Hope I played some small part to that end.

Featured as an integral part of the show's plotline, The Mortuary's creepy insides are revealed in great detail and offers the perfect venue for mystery & mayhem. Not a bad little piece of exposure for both of us.

Take a look at the full CBS NCIS episode called "Dead Man Calling" featuring the Mortuary Haunted Mansion at: CBS NCIS Link


Here's how it all started back in 2007

by:+Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

VoiceOverGuy
IMDb Page

FaceBook Business Page

516.488.8840

Reagan's Knee-Jerk response to Protest Etiquette

Never one to be political...but, with all the heated polarization over football players kneeling during the national anthem and President Trump's jumping on the chance to set things patriotically straight with a flurry of over 30 tweets... it seemed like a reasonable time to interject a bit. 

After all, Trump was calling out football players - namely over the progenitor kneeler: Colin Kaepernick. All while Puerto Rican's, were currently reeling from the devastation left behind by hurricane Maria and there wasn't a word (tweeted or otherwise) about it from the Commander & Chief.

Enter, Ron (tear down that wall) Reagan with a Quick Cuts video to help provide a sense of humor and make some sense outta today's fray of bazaar weirdness.

On a similar patriotic note and a complete eye opener was the Oct. 2015 post by the Young Turks. https://youtu.be/t4LvwXYmt3Q

It's the story behind that iconoclastic protest photo of the 1968 Olympics (and perhaps one more insight into Olympic practises). Peter Norman, the Australian who finished and stood second in the Olympic periodic line, was responsible for Carlos & Smith sporting the "Black Hand" salute at ceremony time. He also stood strong with his convictions to shine a light on Australia's warped morality towards their indigenous natives. Here's the link to a fascinating story that's wonderful, heart wrenching and Tinseltown  should do its darnedest to promote...in full epic proportion.

by:+Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

VoiceOverGuy
IMDb Page

FaceBook Business Page

516.488.8840

We Dream Lebanon event launches with Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services

The time has come to show off Lebanon's creative side with the story of the whole nation's dream...and the launch of their "We Dream Lebanon" multi-media campaign. Complete with:

300 LIVE PERFORMERS
23 TONS OF LIGHTING
120 METERS OF 3D MAPPING PROJECTION
2 MILLION LITTERS OF WATER
8.5 TONS OF FIREWORKS
8 MONTHS IN THE MAKING





Plan-A Advertising in Beirut, Lebanon in association with Beirut Events put together the creative imaging for the promo with an August 24th opening. Back in May they reached out to me with a request for a movie-trailer type of read to go along with a sound track that would build from slow drama to a high energy pace. Wound up doing a couple of versions.

Here's the 30 second version below:


For the Full Version, with a softer read,
click here:  We Dream Lebanon

by:+Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

VoiceOverGuy
IMDb Page

FaceBook Business Page
tomcliffordvo@gmail.com

516.488.8840 Office
516.448.9900 Mobile