around the bloch

Don LaFontaine, “The Voice” silenced at 68.

Jeff — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:58:40 +0000

Yesterday, “The Voice”, Don LaFontaine was silenced forever. He was only 68 years old. Though an official cause of death has not been released, it is reported that he did suffer from complications after a collapsed lung. He has be the most prolific voice over actor to ever work in Hollywood. Don did thousands of commercials, station promos, episodics and movie trailers. I have had the pleasure through the years to work with some of the best voice over actors/actresses in the business… they all are great… but fall short of the giant range of Don LaFontaine. Some of you may recognize the voice or you might have seen him in a recent parody of himself in a Geico commercial.

But… I’d like you to watch this video to see a little of what he was all about. It’s a true loss and no one will fill the mic like Don LaFontaine.

Don LaFontain was a living ledged. He is the “In a world” guy. He is “The Voice”. He is what every voice actor has ever tried to be… many can try, but no one will replace Don LaFontaine. Don has been silenced… but his work and voice will live on forever as the best voice over actor of our history.

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Snow Jones – Warren Miller’s Impact

Jeff — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 22:50:34 +0000

Warren Miller's Impact

So last night I was flipping through the TV and found Warren Miller’s ski documentary, Impact. It was a nice surprise to run across this film late on a Sunday night with nothing else to watch. The bad part… it’s Sunday night in August and it’s about to hit 100 feakin’ degress this week. Who is Warren Miller? Warren Miller is the master of documentary ski films. Warren Miller has been making ski films since 1949. He has shown the world what skiing and now snowboarding is all about. But watching this great showing of Impact… I started thinking back to when I saw my first Warren Miller film.

My first Warren Miller ski film I saw was way back in 1987. The film was titled “Steep and Deep.” I’ll never forget going to this show. A family friend of mine was old enough to drive and drove my brother and I over to the Scottish Rite Temple in Stockton. I remember that there was excitement in the air… the ski season was coming… the sponsor was going to have a ski fashion show (the neon was awesome) and there was freebies galore. People were excited for the film and the event itself. By the time the house lights dimmed for the movie… everyone seem stoked for a full immersion into the movie.

Warren Miller and his crew are the masters at setting a good scene and the developing the story of the mountain, the skier and the experience. By the time the movie was over we were all ready to get the skis waxed and charge up the mountain in search of champagne powder and first tracks.

During the film I remember thinking that I’d love to one day work for Warren Miller… ski the world and make documentary ski films. Well… one of my dreams came true… I do make films, but I’d still love to work for Warren Miller Films. Below you can watch the trailer for Impact… now when is it gonna start snowing!

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1 more Mac ad – Off The Air

Jeff — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:22:48 +0000

Today there was one more “Get a Mac” ad added to the line up, “Off The Air”. Just like the others… very funny. You can watch below or click here for a high resolution file from Apple.

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3 New Get a Mac TV ads

Jeff — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:24:20 +0000

Today the geniuses in the Marketing and Advertising department over at Apple unveiled 3 new “Get a Mac” spots. Staying true to the past spots shot on a white background “Pizza Box”, “Throne” and “Calming Teas” are all brilliant. Here are the spots below.

The first, “Pizza Box,” has PC attempting to trick college students into buying a Windows computer, by hiding in a pizza box and marketing himself as free pizza. PC is mad that the Mac in the number one notebook computer on college campuses.

The second, “Throne”, PC is taking shots at Mac claiming that he is still king. Mac then shuts PC down with the fact that PC users can bring in their old PC and the Apple Geniuses will migrate their PC to a new Mac for them.

The third, “Calming Teas” is just plain funny. This is a shot at Vista. “Calming Teas” points out that Microsoft is not fixing the problems… but will give you some tea to calm your anger with Vista.

All and all another good showing from the Advertising Department over at Apple. Click here to watch the new ads in high resolution on the Apple site.

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Greater Good Films plays the Crest Theater in Sacramento

Jeff — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 04:22:17 +0000

Well… our film had its theatrical debut today at the Crest Theater in Sacramento. I must say that seeing the film projected in high definition was amazing. I was really pleased with the projection and the reproduction of the color of the film. The sound mix of the film really showed in this amazing old theater. I was really pleased with the organizers of the Sacramento International Film and Music Festival. They did a great job at picking a wide variety of films with different subject matters to play with our short.

Overall… I really felt that the film really stands on its own and the crowd reacted well to the playing. I’m totally stoked!

Here’s a link to our Greater Good Films website.

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