In a CAR where FIVE voice over artists ride TO AN AWARD SHOW

May 8, 2018 9:27 PM

“Five Men And A Limo” is an advertisement for the 1997 The Hollywood Reporter Key Art Awards in which Don LaFontaine, John Leader, Al Chalk, Mark Elliot, Nick Tate, and Hal Douglas say things in their sweet, sweet voices.
posted by Going To Maine (12 comments total)

My god, I can't believe it's been that long.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:34 PM on May 8, 2018 [3 favorites]

20 years and I still haven't gotten over the fact that they didn't include the legendary (and old friend of mine) Gary Owens.
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:43 PM on May 8, 2018 [5 favorites]

"Let's go."
"Okay!"
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:49 PM on May 8, 2018 [2 favorites]

I remember when Don LaFontaine was being interviewed for some TV profile in the early 2000s. Someone asked him if he had advice for aspiring VO artists, and his response was “Wait until I die, because I work a lot!”

Back in those days, before Skype and a lack of easy telepresence or high-speed internet, his home studio already had an ISDN line installed so that he could get his pages by fax, call the client studio directly, and record his lines at 128kBps.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 10:42 PM on May 8, 2018 [5 favorites]

I adore this and am surprised it has never been posted to MeFi before. My voice drops an octave for at least a day every time I watch the video.
posted by PhineasGage at 10:53 PM on May 8, 2018 [5 favorites]

Comedian trailer. Hal Douglas shows how it's done.
posted by SPrintF at 10:54 PM on May 8, 2018 [6 favorites]

If it wasn't on Metafilter before, then where did I read all about this many years ago? How he was always driven from site to site for his voice jobs in his limo so he'd never have to get a parking space, and he often gave other voice actors rides (similar to this video), how his limo driver had been working with him since the beginning of his career (and some other details about him I've forgotten), why there was a phone call from Hal Douglas (a rival East Coast voice actor).

I can't think of where else I would have read so many interesting details in the comments.
posted by eye of newt at 11:26 PM on May 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

Ah yes, his limo driver was also his sound engineer, Clinton Hendricks.
posted by eye of newt at 11:30 PM on May 8, 2018 [2 favorites]

Oh man, this takes me back to the pre-youtube Old Internet days...
posted by scose at 12:03 AM on May 9, 2018

Previously & previouslier (but 13 years ago).
posted by misteraitch at 1:17 AM on May 9, 2018 [1 favorite]

I had the honour of working with Hal Douglas on a movie trailer, and having him read my sonorous yet meaningless pile of cliche. And if the line is "When the winds of war blow through the sands of time, only one man can turn the tide" you need Hal Douglas to make it work.

He nailed it on the first take, of course.

(Churchill: the Hollywood Years. The trailer is probably the best thing about the movie, though I say so myself.)
posted by Hogshead at 4:35 AM on May 9, 2018 [8 favorites]

The trailer brainstorming session for the 2002 film Minority Report.

Erskine: What do you mean no ‘in a world?’ ‘In a world’ is our bread and butter. Test audiences love ‘in a world.’ The people like knowing a movie’s going to be ‘in a world.’

posted by straight at 9:04 AM on May 9, 2018 [2 favorites]