TC&Co's Year End Highlights

 

 

Looking back, 2022 was a pretty good year in many respects. I made a friend some money (sorta out of thin air...really thin, 45 years old thin), celebrated some milestones and it wasn't too shabinsky with the voice-overs either. 

 

But, was 2022 a banner year? Wiktionary has it as; It was a banner year for the company; it produced a million widgets for the first time. Perhaps, it could be more than just a million or so widgets? Maybe 2022 never really had a chance to establish its own identity to have a banner year because, you know, it never had it's own - Catch-Phrase. Whereas, 2023 comes with its own Catch-Phrase built right in. Nice segue, huh. 

Besides, things right now are starting to look a little sketchy. Markets are diving for cover every other day. Interest rates are trying to plug things up and Joe's tellin people to "F" off about how he knew one of the guys on Mt. Rushmore. So, since 2023 already seems to have something going for it in the Catch-Phrase department, why not take it out for a spin. We're talking a phrase that's over a hundred years old and shrouded in analogue Black & White. Could "23 Skidoo" be ready for a come-back!

During the early 1900s, groups of men reportedly gathered on 23rd Street to watch women walking by have their skirts blown up, revealing legs, which were seldom seen publicly at that time. Local constables and transit police, where known to periodically disperse the group's congestion with hearty bellows of  "23 Skidoo...C'mon, let's Go, 23-Skidoo, let's move it along now". It was said that they were;  "Giving them the 23 Skidoo".

Perhaps, the most widely known story of the origin of the expression concerns the area around the triangular-shaped Flatiron Building at Madison Square in New York City. The building is located on 23rd Street at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway, the latter two of which intersect at an acute angle. Because of the shape of the building, winds swirl around it. "23 skidoo" quickly became a popular Catch-Phrase after its appearance in early 1906. It combines two earlier expressions. '23' (1899) and 'Skidoo' (1901), both of which refer to leaving, being kicked out or end of something.

 So, maybe "23-Skidoo" ain't such a bad Catch-Phrase for 2023. An anthem to Let's go...Let's move it along. Time to go past the teenage years and realize that this millennium is gonna be a quarter century old soon, be'Geezus! 

Below are some voice-over highlights from the 2022 Calendar year. Please take a look & listen.

 

The copy says it best; Go from design to industrial parts at the touch of Print! They didn't want a traditional voice or attitude insomuch that their printers were certainly not traditional. The production director initially contacted us in hopes of using the same tone of narrative voice we used in the Terminal Bar years back. We started the year off with a voice-over for their C3-D Metal printers.

 

April we did the video voice-over for Za’atar Road. What we tried to convey in the voice-over was the emotional aspect of the Levantine region and it's artisans, descendants, expatriates and enthusiasts with providing people around the world with access to the regions authentic goods they can't find locally. Check out their website as an alternate source.

Back in November, 2021 while watching CNN’s Original Series “The Story of Late Night" on HBO Max we noticed a clip of someone we know on a show that we booked them on, that featured a premise we cooked up...some 40 years ago! The clip featured George Willig (WTC climber) with reference to Morgan Brittany, the actress. We just saw her in a Perry Mason (movie) re-run from the 80's & 90's.

The MetaVerse stands more-than-ready to remind us of names, places and generally whom we and "our eyeballs" were a few months or years ago as we pass through the landscape of our lives. Boehringer Ingelheim's was to tap into this fountain by rolling out of their digitally transformed journey promo. The pacing's a bit enthusiastic towards the end to help build momentum and inspiration within the troops.

 

   This year marks the 15 anniversary (Circa 2007) featuring the Creepy-Guy voice so we've combined the best creeps from the bunch and put 'em on the below link. Oddly enough, this year also marks the 150 year anniversary of The Mortuary in NOLA. We began our journey thanks to a mutual acquaintance at Elswarro Productions. The Creepy-Guy voice became such an identifiable presence with The Mortuary, that they started using us directly and it became the beginning of a beautiful friendship ever since. Click to hear a few quick tags for the Mortuary's  'The House that Fear Built' 150 year Anniversary campaign. 

 

And, "in keep'in with the situation" as Mrs. Dilber would say at A Christmas Carol time, we leave a link to a minute version of:  'Twas the Nite Before Christmas - a cavalcade of wise-crackin old Celeb farts voices that will thrill and captivate the whole family. Click above link or graphic to play.
 

 

In closing, we end the year by giving tribute to the inimitable Mills (Let's Get It On) Lane, who passed away this December 6th, at 85.  Let's hope he's still gettin' it on in that heavenly ring in the sky. Mills was a real life boxing referee. His long career was punctuated when he ref 'd the Tyson/Holyfield fight. That's when Mike Tyson bit off a portion of Holyfield's e-a-r! In 1998, Lane hit the small screen as the star of the syndicated courtroom show Judge Mills Lane, deciding real-life cases with his razor-sharp judicial expertise and hard-nosed demeanor. He also appeared as himself in the MTV animated series Celebrity Death-Match where I often times appeared with him as a celebrity voice. The Mil'ster and I go way back. Yeah, right. Actually, Mr. Lane and I, although appearing together in many of the episodes, only met twice at the food court of Syn-Sound recording studio on the upper West-Side of Manhattan. Here's an episode that features Mills out of character as a contestant, almost. I played tough guy VJ Matt Pinfield against Zany VJ Jesse Camp. It's not pretty, but you can count on a-laugh-a-minute of side-splitting humor for an uproarious riot of comedy fun. 
 

by:Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

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Tc & Company gets Vocal on Tinol's "You Name It" Campaign

 

For many years now, choosing a color in Lebanon has meant choosing a political side. You see it in branding, protests, on billboards, marking their territories and creating more divisions among the Lebanese population. The day after the last Parliamentary Elections in 2022, the Lebanese people woke up to an even darker political context and a country losing by the day its colorful spirit.

 

A tad close to home, but when I hear or read stuff like this, my mind flashes back to the Star Trek episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" with Frank Gorshin, the impressionist. His character Commissioner Bele, questioned if Kirk and Spock weren't blind not to see the obvious distinction between right & left sided faces. One Black...one White. Ah, but on which side of the face are they white & black? Don't despair. There was a lot of pause-acting from Capt. Kirk for xenophobe Bele and the rest of us to get the message.

The Lebanese people continue to struggle with 'obvious distinctions'  while having to deal with extended power cuts, a growing bread crisis, water and fuel shortages, increases in poverty along with increased hunger rates and limited access to proper medications. All the Lebanese are living in the dark. The colorful spirit of Lebanon is sadly disappearing…leading the country to a total economic meltdown.

To revolt against this gloomy reality, Tinol a leading paint brand in Lebanon, stepped forward to contribute  “symbolically”. Aimed at disarming the political parties, by depriving them of their color appropriation, and giving back this right to the Lebanese citizens. Tinol launched a unique, initiative…A colorful revolution with a twist; in which RED claims to be BLUE, ORANGE to be GREEN and so on...You Name It!

Tinol wanted a distinctive roll-out for their outdoor media "You Name It" campaign all over Lebanon. The effort was ON to break the strong association that was being made between colors and the political parties - making a bold, disruptive, and colorful statement. Revealing your own color, became a sort of game to express differences in a peaceful manner and a reminder that colors can speak in a thousand ways.

 

Our job was to make the voice as emotive as the spirited music track. At least that's the direction from the advertising camp. The music is pretty intense with flourishes and serene moments and the wrap-up of course. And there was a template for additional guidance as to tone, approach-ability and a leave-no-question as to our trustworthiness. The voice, after all said & done, had developed into an assertive character. It was a cross between a newscaster and meaningful commentator...but, in a good way we hoped. We were feelin' the magic! Click below for an abbreviated pre-quel to the final.

Over on this side of the world, we were invited to attend some very hep sounds in NYC at the College of Performing Arts at The New School on the 20th. A good friend of ours has been singing her heart out in this choral society she's belonged to for quite a few years now. Our seats were reserved, brand spanking new and built for a clarinet. Masks weren't optional. Small price to pay (free) to be a part of this gala event of the season. We were about to hear a few hours of a rare staging of the New York Choral Society stylings against Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts. Check it out. It was in partnership with the College of Performing Arts. What a nice surprise of theater peeling back the rich layers of Ellington rap plus some rat-a-tat-tippy-top-tap to top it off!

Combining elements of jazz, classical music, choral music, spirituals, gospel, blues and (Tap) dance, Ellington’s three Sacred Concerts were first performed in 1965, 1968, and 1973. Ellington said it was the most important music he’d ever written. Because of the scale of the music and the number of artists needed to perform each work, Ellington’s Sacred Concerts have rarely been performed in their entirety since his death in 1974 and have not been performed in a concert hall setting in New York City in over 35 years.

The Sacred Concerts would not be possible without YOUR support. Your donation, in any amount, makes this historic production possible. DONATE HERE. Thank you!
                                                                    - New York Choral Society

The New York Choral Society and The New School Studio Orchestra will be joined by vocalists Brianna Thomas and Milton Suggs, dancer Daniel J. Watts,  artist James Little. David Hayes and Keller Coker conduct.

Click above pic for Utube link to watch replay of Nov. 20 Concert

by:Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

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New York Times Devil Terms | Frightfully Halloween

Tis the time to get spooked, right? Man, did I ever, after I looked at Sunday's front page of the New York Times. On the front page was a montage of nine Tweet Balloon quotes from Republican representatives over the past couple of years. One of which was from a fellow I did a VO job for back in 2010...and I ain't saying who!

That being said; the scary aspect and perhaps another plus for ai, is that one can never tell where one's voice is gonna wind up...or w-h-e-n! The voice I used was far from my own. It was a nice homey storyteller type voice - codger with a hint of southern drawl. 

The spot's a bit cheesy by party standards. No pokin fun at anyone or any one demographic. The spot featured a young guy just starting out, not a career politician. The VO moseys on over to where he's been a small businessman and found out how to create jobs and grow the economy. Plus, I got to learn how to say Mont-gum-ree. And it's State House as opposed to congressman or representative. 

 

The Creepy-Guy voice wraps up the Halloween Season. This makes three posts in-a-row with the Haunt Industry as the topic or sub-topic, but being it's right at the crest of the season, why not make the best of mentioning it. The Mortuary, the Haunted House venue in NOLA, is running this very cool TV spot of these two goofy characters On-The-Street  being interviewed. They're pretty funny as they give their accounts at the event. Spoiler Alert - pop-out voice.

Now that it's closer to October 31st, here's the Mortuary Sprite co-op spot (left) that lets viewers get discount tickets by scanning the secret QR code where Sprite is sold...time is running out. Click the Sprite 'House that Fear Built' pic to play spot in typical high-energy Creepy-Guy voice style. 

  

Don't forget, it's The Mortuary's 150th anniversary. In 1872 this Grand Victorian Mansion and former funeral parlor opened its doors. Between 1930 and 2003 more than twenty thousand funerals took place in this house. The Mortuary first opened its doors in 2007 as a haunted attraction and we've been partnering-it-up now for 15 years. Take a listen to the Celeb Voices mp3 from the August 31st Blog post above. It contains a few oldie-but-goodie horror voices joining unworldly forces to perform an audio translation of the text.

 

Here's a 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 little video of it with the voice of Christopher Walken AKA Clifftopher Walken doing Kevin Spacey's rendition of Christopher Walken doing the Trick or Treat incantation. 

 

 

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Tom Clifford Celebrates 15 Years in the Haunt Industry

The Creep Show started in 2007, quite by accident...as our 15 year anniversary begins. The outfit responsible for it was called - Elswarro Films. Elswarro specialized in haunt industry short films and advertisements. Jason Swarr, head ghoul filmmaker extraordinaire reached-out to me and asked if I could create a Creepy-Guy voice based on the 2004 movie 'Saw'. They wanted that same eerie sound to that of the movie's protagonist JigSaw, characterized by Tobin Bell. Jason had a compendium of clients throughout the country that needed representation. He supplied them with custom videos from various templates, custom voiceovers & music.

I remember being surprised at who was behind the voice of Jigsaw. Tobin plays that intense off-putting heavy so well in such flicks as 'The Firm', 'Sandman' and 'The X-Files'. Now he's got a completely new career as the demented voice of a psycho-killer. His latest involvement is the Ghostkiller. And he's said to be just as creepy as in the Saw's franchise. To get that creepy crypt keeper voice style I pretended as though I was between two slabs of concrete and every breath was so labored just to say basic phrases. Using that limitation together with some demonic conjuring we came up with a pretty scary likeness. 

That being accomplished and with a client list that kept building on top of polished production content... all was right in The Haunt World. The Creepy-Guy voice evolved into a high energy pitchman. Then, Jason confided that he wanted to stretch his creative senses and go into feature films. The great guy that he is, left me all his contacts and gave his blessing to go forth and multiply.

Fast forward fifteen years into the future and I've had some very good luck. Been able to maintain a presence throughout the country providing all sorts of voice characterizations as far west as Arizona & Texas and south to New Orleans, LA. and up to New Hampshire.  

 

Year after year working regularly as the Creepy-Guy Voice, we were able to pitch all sorts of voices for other areas of client holdings; Escapes Rooms, In Line presentations, TV & Radio even developing animatronic voices to cater to clients One-Stop shop for all their attraction goals. Here's how it all started with Arizona's Original Scream Park for their: ASP - Applegate Asylum

 

Take a look at what we're doing for Canobie Lake Park's ScreeemFest: 

They have a regular theme park going throughout the year and do it up B-I-G for the Halloween Season, particularly this year since it's their 120th year Anniversary. They feature live bands, side shows and Critter's live shows for the little guys... and for Mom's & Dad's.

 Play TV spot VO (wait for it)

 

The Kidz Zone is where younger kids have fun at the Scout Island Halloween festival in NOLA. We're featured as the spaced-out MC Host character in the 'Boogie Spooktakular', an animated cartoon musical adventure! A spectacle of fun for the whole family and kid-centric with a cast of characters that inspire kids to have sing-a-longs and create their own fun amidst a safe scare-free environment. For the MC voice - think a-bit-daffy with a dash of Pee Wee and a pinch of surfer-dude wonderment and Voila! Kids are introduced to a silly bunch of characters like: Mumzy, Wolfie & Helga. They spook-up that Halloween spirit and teach addictive moves to boogie to, giving kids a chance to express themselves with other kids while having fun.                             Check it out at: Boogie Spooktakular
 

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The Mortuary Marks 150 Years with TC & Company

                                                

Well another Halloween season is upon us and that 'ole pre-pandemic nostalgia is wafting about. It's almost back to pre-pandemic levels with 3 months of preps in advance of the event. Did you know this year marks the Mortuary's sesquicentennial [ses-kwi-sen-ten-ee-uhl] anniversary? A hundred and fifty years is reason enough to roll out the red coffins...err carpet. Voice Translation

The agency has requested the Creepy-Guy voice once again to rekindle the brand and billboard its 150 years as a NOLA tradition. They're hoping to get the message across that they're still very much (of all things to say) alive... and keeping that tradition going well into another sesquicentennial. The roll out theme for the 2022 season is; The House that Fear Built...even though it may sound like an HBO episodic.

This season, The Mortuary's ticket-buying arm co-opted with Sprite for 'Wherever they're Sold' QR code tie ins in hopes of scaring up some shocking results.

As the story goes, albeit with a dash of MST 3K,  in 1872 a man-turned-monster named Ravencroft, a mortician by trade, began to tinker with the primal forces of the universe with vampiric blood, seeding the terror of the victims of his unearthly experiments in his search for eternal life into the very walls of the basement to the house he called his own. (Don't call us...) Insane acolytes hearing whispers from the dark continued with Ravencroft’s experiments, and where Ravencroft’s seed blossomed, the seeds of the dark society of mass murderers known as The Collector’s ~ bloomed (Dum Dum Dum)! Within the bloody, beating heart of New Orleans, on the edge of the City of the Dead, fear was cultivated and allowed to fester...(we're Bringing-it-Home) building a place for itself… a house…a home…where, if you're not screaming...you're already D-e-a-D. NOooo! Cue Creepy-Guy-Voice.

Now after 2 years + of indiscriminate spot closures and partial openings, The Mortuary has all the eye, nose and ear-marks of being pretty much back on track...with the provisos of operating on the side of caution. So it's still mask wearing, wash them there hands (bloody...or not) and no exchanging blood types with the zombie actors no matter how much they s-c-r-e-a-m! 

 

Between 1930 and 2003, more than 20,000 funerals took place within this Grand Victorian Mansion and former funeral parlor. Surrounded by New Orleans’ famed “Cities of the Dead” and sitting among more than a million graves in a one-square-mile radius, The Mortuary first opened its doors as a haunted attraction in 2007. Now, the house is alive as ancient and evil spirits that have lain dormant for so long begin to stir once more…Old fears you thought forgotten begin to resurface and that something's wicked hiding under your bed.

The Mortuary has been featured on  CBS' NCIS (Nola) series for their Halloween episode in 2017. As if going national wasn't enough, they're also listed amongst the top ghost hunting shows by the Discovery Channel’s Ghost Lab. And the Mortuary is prominently featured by SyFi Channel’s Ghost Hunters & Ghost Hunter’s International and The Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures as one of America’s Scariest Attractions! It’s the perfect setting for a one-of-a-kind adrenaline pumping, nail-biting haunted house experience...and by the spooks of it, they ain't kiddin.

 

The Mortuary will actually open its doors a bit later than pre-pandemic openings. The season will begin September 24th. There will be a ton of social buzz with creepy teaser sound effect only spots leading up to all important opening dates. 

 

 

 

We did a number of spots featuring the Creepy-Guy voice so we've combined the best creeps from the bunch and put 'em on the video below. Oddly enough, this year also marks our 15 year anniversary representing the Mortuary (Circa 2007). We began our journey thanks to a mutual acquaintance at Elswarro Productions. The Creepy-Guy voice became such an identifiable presence with The Mortuary, that they started using us directly and it became the beginning of a beautiful friendship ever since. More on that in next month's BLOG. Click the play button to hear a quick 15 second tag for the 'The House that Fear Built' 150 year Anniversary campaign.

 .

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Botticelli and Hyde Collection - links WTC's Petit & Willig

Well, it seems we all deserve a VaCa every now and then and with the help of a friend who knew the lay-of-the-land so-to-speak, we had the pleasure of being steered in the direction of Lake George for a few Original Vacation days. Ain't the closest lake around from Nassau County, Long Island. Four hours of scenic driving through the Connecticut hills and back up amongst the Adirondack mountain ranges. Nice family oriented setting with generations of happy campers enjoying all that nature and the fine folks of Lake George had to offer.

The lake is very big (32 miles x 3 miles). I even got the T-shirt that looks like it's got a stain with those dimensions as it resembles a draggle of bird poop on the left side of it. But, at least now I can say (as it seemed I was the only one left in the world who could) been there..done that...got the T-shirt.

Cutting to the chase and all, there was an off day where it rained for a few hours, whereby our travel itinerary director thought it useful to find something for us to do for those few hours. That something was something none of us had figured on... at least not in these parts.

Since we're so close to Glens Falls, it was put forward that we take in a rather unexpected art show...of the Hyde Collection. History has it that the fortune made from a paper mill magnate and their daughter and son-in-law's taste for high art of Original Masters manifested into this landmark museum. Which until that very moment for us, was a tightly kept secret. When we went to Lake George, we in no way expected to see an original Rembrandt, van Gogh, El Greco, Ruebens, Whistler, Kandinsky, Picasso, Renoir, Degas and last time we saw a Botticelli was at the Gallerie degli Uffizi Museum Gallery in Florence, Italy. The list goes on to include works by; Sir Anthony Van Dyke, Dorothy Dehner, Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Thomas Eakins, Andy Warhol, French post impressionist Georges Pierre Seurat, sculpture by Andrea della Robbia among others for what amounted to a well rounded tour of world renowned artists. 

The museum was designed by Boston architect, Henry Forbes Bigelow in the style of an Italian renaissance palazzo. The Hyde's passion for collecting art was shaped by world travel.

But NYC was where they acquired the majority of the art works that entered their collection. To the left is a Rembrandt van Rijn of Christ with Arms Folded cica, 1659. These works are viewed up close and personal aside from it appearing a bit out-of-place with the congruity of the Adirondacks. There are just a few visible security guards standing about here and there and couldn't help but think what might happen to a priceless piece if any attempts were made to abscond with or vandalize them. 

A few days after our visit to the Hyde Collection, a story unfolded about just that scenario in Italy. On July 22nd, one of the most famous paintings in the Gallerie degli Uffizi in Florence, Sandro Botticelli's Primavera (around 1480), was left undamaged after climate activists glued themselves to the masterpiece's glass covering the work.

It took 20 minutes to clean following the glue incident. “If there had not been the special protection glass—something that museum management put in place with all major masterpieces a few years ago—then the work would have been badly damaged.” 

The protestors also rolled out a banner which read: “Last Generation: No Gas, No Coal.”
 

A new gallery devoted to Modern and Contemporary art, aptly named the Feibes & Schmitt Gallery, opened in June 2017, positioning the Hyde Museum as a regional hub for post-war art. For more than four decades, Werner Feibes and the late James Schmitt amassed a world-class art collection that aligned with their personal tastes and interest in non-objective art, Pop art, abstract art, and Minimalism. On display now is modern exhibition with sculptures in - The Art of John Van Alstine’s Transformations: slated to be at the Hyde till September 18th, 2022.

As we turned the corner of the Van Alstine's initial sculpture displays we were stopped in our tracks with a piece that was inspired by a contemporary of George Willig, the climber of the South Tower of the World Trade Center in May of 1977. 

Funabulist, was the sculptures title. Abstract as this miniaturized version (left) of the actual sculpture was, you can't help but be struck by its balance centricity. The year was 1974, August 7th and the twin World Trade Towers were brand spanking new. (And according to legend and eyewitnesses, had the calmest wind turbulence between the Towers ever).

 

On that day a 24 year old French tight-rope aerialist name Phillipe Petit had a calling to cast a suspended high-wire 200 feet between both the World Trade towers and walked, knelt, laid across and danced on it for nearly an hour...1350 feet (a 1/4 of a mile) in the sky above from what is now known as ground Zero.

Funabulist was John Van Alstine’s tribute to Phillipe and that (Life or Death) feat of balance. There's even been a documentary made of it starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt called Man-on-a-Wire. This film incorporates Petit's footage to show the numerous extraordinary challenges he faced in completing the artistic crime of the century. We took a shot of the placard on the right and sent it over to George with the tag "we gotta get you one of these" to see if he too might have a depiction of his WTC climb in pigmented and sealed steel someday.  

Who woulda thunk it...that a wilderness VaCa would have you waking up and swimming nose-to-nose with a pickerel in the morning and being nose-to-nose with a Man Ray at night ~

without the possibility of a Shark Attack!

 

click to visit John Van Alstine’s website

 

Oh...and speaking of attacks; Howz 'bout some July 4th sentiments - CelebDeath style (we play Teddy & the wheel-chair dude in video below). Also, here's a link to: T'was the Nite before Xmas (page-Bottom) so's to do that 'Xmas in July' thing...with all the trimmings

for what could be a great excuse to P-A-R-T-Y out, man. 

 

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Boehringer Ingelhiem's MetaVerse gets a Voice w/TC & Company

As it is described in TIME the word metaverse is often traced to Neal Stephenson's 1992 dystopic cyberpunk novel Snow Crash. However the MetaVerse is far from far flung sci-fi stuff...it's not even new. 

Whether in a virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) or simply on a screen, the promise of the MetaVerse is to allow a greater overlap of our physical and virtual lives in wealth, socialization, productivity shopping and entertainment. 

These two worlds are already inter-woven, no headset required. Think about the Uber app telling you via location data, how far away the car is. Or how Netflix gauges what you've watched before to make suggestions. And how 'bout that LiDAR scanner on newer iPhones that can take a 3D scan of your surroundings. At its core, the MetaVerse (also know as "web3") is an evolution of our current Internet. 

 

In an age where perpetual change is the name of the game, changing our lives, and in this case, the pharma industry, like the rest of the world, stood on the brink of a new digital transformation. Which was poised for yet another disruption. Or in more theatrical terms ~ Bio-Pharma meets the Minority Report. Enter our new research-driven client, Boehringer Ingelheim; a bio-pharmaceutical company held in high esteem that hired us to voice the launch of their digital tools app. It helps consume and communicate in this new augmented/virtual-reality-digital-human-metaverse. Don't forget that restaurant you just walked by and now flashes a menu your way because you were a customer last week. Perhaps, even reminds you of what you had or contemplated having. 

Forget-Me-Nots are a thing of the past in the MetaVerse. Makes you wonder...or maybe just the opposite with trivial bits of info on the tip-of-your-tongue that aren't coming into focus as easily as before. But in the Meta-Verse we're all hooked into instant facts retrieval, as if directly toggled into our own private (Big Bang) Sheldon's. We don't even try anymore. Could the Verse be responsible for flabby-memory-syndrome or (FMS) ? You know, those fuzzy moments of memory loss we seem to have more often than not, regardless of getting so called - Older. It use to be blamed on Multi-Tasking! But, there are just as many millennials walking around these days asking important questions like: What was Ted Knight's wife's name in the movie - Caddyshack!  

 

 

The MetaVerse stands more-than-ready to remind us of names, places and generally whom we and "our eyeballs" were a few months or years ago as we pass through the landscape of our lives. Speaking of which, below is the video of the voice-over we did for Boehringer Ingelheim's rollout of their digitally transformed journey promo. The pacing's a bit enthusiastic towards the end to help build momentum and inspiration within the troops. To check it out, just press play button above

Also teaming up for a cause close to her heart is Queen Latifah (Dana Elaine Owens) for Boehringer Ingelheim's Scleroderma Research Foundation. Dana lost her mom Rita in 2018 to the decease and has dedicated herself to the fight against scleroderma-associated ILD. Today, she and her sister are working hard to raise awareness about scleroderma-associated ILD to help others avoid the challenges Rita faced. Watch their experience below. 

Click to Go to Video

 

 

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George Carlin | Story of Late Night pays Tribute to George Willig's 45th Anniversary WTC Climb

Back in November, 2021 while watching CNN’s Original Series “The Story of Late Night" on HBO Max we noticed a clip of someone we know on a show that we booked them on, that featured a premise we cooked up...some 40 years ago! 

 

The funny part was, aside from that hilarious premise, the clip they were showing was from The David Letterman (morning) Show. So why was it being used to illustrate late night talk shows ? Oh, BTW  that someone was none other than George Willig, who climbed the South Tower of the World Trade Ctr. on May 26th, 1977. Some 45 years ago!

At 6:29 AM the day of the climb, George started up the northeast corner of the south tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. By Ten O'clock, after signing a few autographs for police ascending in a window-washing gondola, he had reached the top. As he gestured and waved towards the crowds below, George was arrested by Port Authority police and was initially slapped with a $250,000.00 fine that was later reduced to $1.10. One penny for every story he climbed. 

We did an interview with George shortly after the WTC climb and became friendly. I explained to George my connection to Marty Ingels as a free agent to his Celeb Contact service. George introduced me to Steve Lefkowitz, his agent at N.S Beinstock, a sports talent agency at the time. He steered me in the right direction and I booked George on ABC's Super-Star Show and got some nibbles back from the talent folks over at the David Letterman Show. Nibbles turned into a booking for George to appear on Dave’s morning talk show. 

Believe it or not, after all the preps and travel arrangements were made and expenses paid, the Talent Coordinator up & canceled George for Dave’s September 19th, 1980 morning show…while he was still in the air! This was before Air-Phones, so there was room to negotiate whereas today we’d be up that creek w/o even a flip phone. We arrived early at the studio for rehearsals and timings. We, included me, George and girlfriend Morgan Brittany, the actress. Originally scripted for the Show's opener was only David climbing up a 45 degree angle and introduce George as part of the guest list.

Yet, after a few rehearsal takes, the scene was falling flat. I was spit-balling a few ideas with the scenic designer and tendered a bit that with the help of a blow up pic of a brick building, we could pull off the premise that George & Dave (side x side on the floor) would appear as if they were scaling the side of let's say - the RCA building. Then cue Dave’s dog Stan who would trot into frame for the comic reveal. It worked. Worked well enough to get me a sit down with Neal Levy the talent coordinator at SNL…thanks in no uncertain terms to Morgan and the Chyron lady! Totally Freaky!

 

So anyway back in November of last year we were checking out this docu-series called The Story of Late Night. It follows Late Night Talk Shows from their inception to "what made them popular to what have you done for us lately". Then, while watching Season One, Episode Two and listening to Conan O'brien answer an interviewers question about the cultist attainment the Letterman show was getting, there it was - the clip of George & Dave Letterman scaling the RCA Building from the Letterman Show ...41 years ago. 

It was definitely a WTF moment and got us thinking - Gee, perhaps we're due some sort of credit here. Nope - nothing about George in the credits. And with that, could there be a fee for the use of the lift from WorldWide Pants, Dave's company. Just spitballing, but hey - this be CNN and HBO…Max no less. With a bit of investigation and apparently well placed messages we got a call back to discuss the matter from the production company. A win insomuch as they didn't tell us to F--- Off. Just the contrary, these guys were from Canada. Happy to report that Canadians are very gracious people.

All in time for George’s 45th anniversary!

Talk about standing on the shoulders of greatness. We would like to remind people who have access to HBO/Max that my pal Stefan Nadelman just had his George Carlin American Dream premier on the 20th. Stefan is the Animation Director on this Two-Parter TV Movie Documentary series, directed by Judd Apatow and focuses on George Carlin's career and ordeals both at home and on stage. 

 

Stefan of course, is the nuts & bolts behind his Terminal Bar tribute to his dad, Sheldon Nadelman. Sheldon not only worked the bar but also his camera and captured a unique segment in time with his multi-dimensional photographs. They depicted a particular time in NYC that was raw, gritty and true-to-life testaments to an Era...where Disney was nowhere to be found. A time when grown men would go into Central Park and never be heard from again era.

 

Stefan Nadelman as TB's director, music producer, cataloger and distributor transformed those timeless 35 mm shots somehow back into life. I had the pleasure to be cast as a few voices that breathed some life back into those characters from years ago. Coming up to almost Twenty Years!

 

Check out all the recent Hollywoodland very impressive work Stefan's been up to on his IMDb Page including some past gigs you may have noticed but had no idea it was Stefan's talent behind some of those animation scenes like; 100 Foot Wave, Bad Vegan, Tiger King Two, Into the Storm and watch for his take as (Animator) on the new docu-odyssey about David Bowie premiering in September called:

Click for Trailer

 

Here's a special Transatlantic email we just got from Stefan and thought it was worth sharing... and it reads:

(5/23/22, 4:11PM) So I got to Cannes today and just had dinner with the crew. Headed to the pre-party and then I’ll join the “delegation” of crew members and we’re gonna do the red carpet in an hour or so. It’s happening!
Tune in! I’ll hit you back when the madness subsides. Stefan

WoW ~ WoW ~ WoW, we know people. Couldn't happen to a better more talented guy! We're so proud of him.

Click the pic to view Brett Morgan's Youtube acceptance speech...and a wee bit of a glimpse of Stefan at the very beginning on the very left hand side of the frame!

by:+Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

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