We've been fortunate over the years to work with the best voice actors in the country. Occasionally they happen to also be well-known outside our niche of radio/audio advertising. Such is the case with the subject of our latest Talent Spotlight, Fred Melamed.
Fred is a terrific film actor and was awesome to work with in a tongue-in-cheek radio campaign we wrote and produced for Roku and their agency Division of Labor back in 2012.
Turn it up & take a listen!
British chemist Aaron Klug once said, "One cannot plan for the unexpected."
Ehhh...we beg to differ.
Another in a series.
It's voice actors like Ritamarie Kelly & David Shatraw that first inspired our Talent Spotlight series. They're two of our all-time favorites and were cast in this spot for Dominion East Ohio years ago. I don't imagine there had been much direction shared; it was their spontaneity, timing and energy that made this performance one to remember.
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(TURN IT UP)
27 years ago we wrote & produced this spot for Wheel of Fortune. It was received so well it continued airing during the run-up to Halloween for many years to come.
Special thanks to Pat Sajak (who was always up for doing the crazier spots), the great David Shatraw (as contestant), and the late Len Maxwell who handled announcer duties.
Enjoy.
Back in the day we'd bounce back-and-forth between our studios in NY and LA with two industry greats from Ogilvy/Team Detroit: John Rokicki/CD & Kent Aitchison/ECD, producing work for Ford Parts & Service.
No idea how many spots we did, but the campaign was great fun and featured voice actor Dan Gilvezan.
In each commercial Dan would interview various, underappreciated car parts while encouraging listeners to schedule maintenance.
I'm not sure casting for that role was even necessary; this is Dan's sweet spot. Super natural delivery, super distinctive voice, super sweet guy.
Take a listen to one in a series.
Our latest installment for copywriters: Don't keep it to yourself. Hear it the way listeners will.
When we first had the idea for Talent Spotlight, it was with voice actors like Meredith Zeitlin in mind. A huge talent and an absolute pleasure to work with. When she gets booked, we know the spot will turn out great.
To that end, check out her and her "husband" EJ Carroll in this spot for AT&T we did a while back. Awesome performances by two of the very best in the biz.
(And, yes, that's the one-and-only Steve Albert handling VO duties.)
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A shout out to the always awesome Marc Fine playing the grandson, (the late) Joel Crager as the banker, and (the late) Hal Riney handling VO duties. Writing credit to Jim Hord.
Another installment in a series & our personal favorite.
Paul Christie is one of our all-time favorite voice actors. Great guy, awesome to work with, wildly talented. And talk about range. The same guy playing the "juggler" in this spot we did with him years ago is also Budweiser's Louie the Lizard.
(Another tidbit: Paul is reading with the already-Talent-Spotlighted Harry Prichett.)
Turn it up!
For our next installment of Talent Spotlight, we're recognizing one of our all-time favorite voice actors. Paul Hecht not only has an amazing voice - more importantly, he knows precisely how to use it. There were so many spots we could have featured...but this one sort of says it all. (The commercial is so old, at this point the "Kid" is probably 30. But hats off to him, too.)
Take a listen.
Yet another in a Series: Use radio the way Marconi intended.
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