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SERVICES FOR AD AGENCIES

WITH FEW EXCEPTIONS, ALL BUT THE LARGEST AD AGENCIES AND POST-PRODUCTION HOUSES DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO A DEDICATED AUDIO EXPERT. THIS IS A MISTAKE.

Audio makes the message. Exceptional audio, whether standalone, or combined with video, improves message retention, engages both viewers and listeners, and is the difference between a good product, and an amazing product.

Writing for an audio medium is different than writing for a visual medium. I'm proud to confidently accommodate both writing styles, and I'll provide guidance and assistance from the first step in the process, to the last. From conception and writing, to casting and direction, to music choices, editing, and licensing, to mixing and mastering for a specific medium, I can be involved as much as your team would like, up to and including full creative direction.

I am not a replacement for your valued team of professionals; I work with you and the people you trust, to augment projects to the next level.

It's impossibly difficult to truly describe this type of partnership with text alone. It's only slightly easier with samples. The best option is for us to have a conversation. Be honest with yourself: does the audio for your projects stand up to the big agencies? It can. Reach out to me and we'll talk about how to make that happen for your clients.

In the meantime, you can find a few examples of the result of successful creative partnerships below.

A consistent goal of the Laborers International Union of North America, is to humanize road workers. We all know road work is frustrating and inconvenient, and it's easy to forget that the road workers, who are endangered by reckless, careless, frustrated drivers, are people with lives and families. With this spot, I decided to bring the family to the listeners. With the help of voice actress Tawny Platis, the script and sound design were carefully crafted to first create intrigue, then uneasiness, followed by care and comfort. Genuine gratitude for those who are patient and drive safely, was the vector intended to reach drivers -- potentially those in their cars, listening to the message.

For this project, it was essential to capture the heritage of sports in Indiana, without a hint of phoniness. Nostalgia, without staleness; sentimentality without campiness. Dan Osborne was the perfect voice to deliver the primary message. Dan and I collaborated on the writing, I handled direction, secondary voice, music licensing, editing, mixing, and mastering.

Killa Dent Removal had not had success with traditional media advertising, despite having an outstanding collection of positive Google reviews. Their offered service, paintless dent removal, or PDR, is a somewhat difficult concept to explain. I asked the owner for his trust that I could explain just enough to get the message across. Rather than a deep explanation, I worked to make the focus more interesting than academic. In this instance, the writing was fairly simple, but the music and sound effects were more complex than usual. These were important components to make the ad really stand out and grab attention. Upon airing, the client received an immediate response -- a first for him with traditional advertising. As of writing, this client has extended his buy from three weeks, to nine months.

Once again, Dan Osborne and I partnered on this campaign. Three spots, each with a clearly defined demographic, and feature/benefit set.

The purpose of the first spot ("What's Next?"), was to demonstrate radio's ability to be present during a disaster. From the careful vagueness of the emergency itself, to the uneasiness of the overall sound, to the deliberate contrast between chaos and disruptive silence, every element was designed with a purpose.

The second spot ("Check This Out"), was written for a younger millennial audience. With Mo Holland as the primary voice, I worked hard to create an authentic spot with momentum, but not urgency. Sound effects were recorded entirely in a busy urban environment, to further preserve authenticity. With the exception of the announcer voices, even the character voices were recorded on the street. Yes, thats a real hot dog vendor.

The third spot ("Who's On Next"), is an obvious take on the famous Abbott & Costello comedy sketch. This was written primarily for an older demographic, simply for the purpose of awareness and branding. It was also a tremendous amount of fun to voice and produce. As it turns out, our limited market research showed this spot to also be popular with older millennials.

These spots were finalists for the prestigious Radio Mercury Awards, and winners of several other national and local awards. For a bit of fun, count how many times you hear the word "next" woven into the audio.

This is an interesting example of how partnerships can work. In this case, the client wanted to be more involved in their message. The voiceover for the ring announcer was provided to me by an agency I regularly partner with, but that agency had partnered with another agency, who was actually representing the client. So it became a multi-pronged partnership. There were two huge problems. The first problem, was simply the length. There wasn't enough content to fill with just the provided ring announcer VO. The second problem, is it simply wasn't a complete concept. Rather than simply adding a traditional announcer tag to the end, I conceptualized the idea of a typical announcer being interrupted by the ring announcer, then edited to make him sound somewhat unstable. We were able to add some lightly self-deprecating humor, while keeping the original concept partially intact. The partnered agency and I worked together to find a happy medium on all fronts. It's worth noting, that the group of people chanting "Walter!" was a direct request. Pulling it off required over 100 audio tracks and nearly five hours of work, as well as an innovative approach.

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