SORRY! Dec was a bugger.

Didn't have a chance to post much in December.. sorry for those that visit often. The last month of the year was a killer. Very busy at the office and at the home front. Did the Netflix session again, that should be hitting the airwaves here shortly. But it was also family time which was also fun. Also prepped and readied the home office/studio for wood floors.

I am taking vacation hours to finish the floors. Some action shots below. Or check out the progress at THIS LINK:

Thank you, on Thanksgiving! :)

During this Thanksgiving day, just a note to say thank you for visiting my site and if you are a client of mine, thank you for yet another wonderful year! Here's hoping to a great 2009! I hope you are thankful for something special on this day! If your not a client yet, let me know how I can help you on your next project. (I'll thank you later for that!!)

I also just got word for a session on Monday for another year as the main Netflix voice for their testimonial campaign. Another thing to be thankful for on this special day.

Thank you again! Have a great Turkey Day! (uh.. I'm so stuffed!)

Interview with Radio Creative Land

Very cool site out there for creatives for all forms of media called Radio Creative Land. (http://www.radiocreativeland.com/) And Doug Zanger and I spoke about our industry, including success and challenges we face in the coming years. Very cool guy and love his enthusiasm for our industry. Click on pic below to hear entire interview.

RBR Article - Success in Decision Making.

I had an article featured in this weeks RBR.com site, another industry trade publication that is viewed around the world. Click image below to read full article.

Peggy made simple.... actually "Home Made Simple" Audition

Casting people for Discovery Network, TLC's "Home Made Simple" came to audition us today to possibly appear on one of their upcoming episodes to be shot in January. It's a fun show where you have three "Mavens" that come in and help you do any number of things that need finishing up, fixed up, or created in the home to make life better. Kind of a cute show. We watched an episode before the producers came over. Here's Peggy below being asked questions. They shooed me away to ask her questions, then did the same to me and shooed Peggy away. Payback! :)

TXMPA - Friday Night.

Local Agents Liz and James of TAG Talent and a lot of our roster all got together at the Texas Motion Picture Alliance Spaghetti Western dinner and fund raiser! Fellow talent and friend Jeff Jordon and I hung out and networked. It was a great time to visit with a number of the other talents on the roster for a great cause! Lots of celebs, and casting agents including Diana Guthrie (that's Diana with Jeff and me above) on hand to relax and toast with a Shiner Bock. Shook the hands of Ray Benson (Asleep at the Wheel) and Directors Richard Linklater, and Mike Judge (Pictured below). It was a fun night! Seeing how the house is wrapping up on the small projects, I am heading out and making more time to network with my fellow peeps.

Creative Proof

A success story of a client at the station that was picked up by a new creative community I belong to: http://www.radiocreativeland.com/ . Already got a bounce back from the big guy at corporate. ;-) Nice.

Creative Proof

Austin Wind Symphony - Live narration last Friday Night.

To boldly go, where Jimbo has not gone before..... in a long time!!! To stay up past his bed time! No really, last Friday night was a trip. I donated my voice and time to the Austin Wind Symphony for another fall concert. What fun! For those that came? Thanks! All went well until later in the show where I stared reaching that optimal sleeping temperature. ;) That 4AM wake up happens on weekends too. Just a couple of lost places in the script. But recovered ok. I did get to be Captain Kipping and be addressed by Captain Picard... Nice FX too. WAS is a class act group. The Pic below is of Conductor Patrick, VP Shelly and I after the "fitting" of the star fleet Captain's uniform. (I think I still have a stick pin somewhere I can't reach.. )

If you have never seen the Austin Wind Symphony, check them out. Their next concert is in March and will feature music from Video Games! Thanks all. Now back to the 4am grind. See you next time!!!

Blogging on my voice and ... uh.. .blogging. ;) Sweet.

Blog on the Blog? Won't that mess up the space time continuum?

This Friday I am performing LIVE (and way past my bedtime!) with the Austin Wind Symphony. This very unique group, only performs music from TV and Film. This marks the second time they have asked me to join them to host and play along, this time for the STAR TREK themed show this Friday. Looks like a blog is covering the blog! Come join us Friday night at 8:00PM for the show. It's very high tech too! Come find out. (click picture below for a link to their blog)

Texas type auditions.... y'all !

This evening I did some auditions for the home state... TEXAS!
Click logo's below to hear auditions for each of these.

Press the flesh... and pass the biscuits!

Radio and Production interview from September.
Here's the full read! Thanks Jerry V!

Who the...? Why would I get a hit from here?

After I blogged about the Kreg Jig infomercial I voiced for a national roll out that hit the air recently... I get a hit on the tracker. What a hoot. Look at the city and state! Now.. I love that you hit my site and blog but a question we, (meaning every American resident residing in the lower 48) has is uh.. how do I put this... THERE'S AN ACTUAL CORPORATE T1 THERE??? No s@#t? We can move there! But can you get ISDN!?! Hmmmm

(Click on image to make it larger)



Thanks for visiting Wasilla! Say hi to the Ruskies when you see 'em don'cha'noh. And yes order the Kreg Jig. I am getting one in the mail myself and can't wait! Their amazing!

Kreg Tool Infomercial - Jimbo VO, just in!

I know this is already running, as I have recived hits on this blog from Google searches that point here. So.. here's a portion of that Kreg Tool Company show I voiced. The original show is 30 minutes. Of course just finishing building a house, WOW this would have come in handy! Dang! ;)

Amtrak, Feedback, Body by Jake!

Uh.. that sounded like a line from Billy Joel's "We didn't start the fire." Nope, just a day in the voice over fun! First the spots for Amtrak have been completed MINUS the local tags, it's amazing, 15 second spots. My part is just half of each of these: SPOT1, SPOT2, SPOT3. Short & sweet, and I get paid for this? Ok! Some nice feedback from Flannery at the ad agency, Glass McClure;

Matt, the copywriter, picked you because he liked the improv
bit at the beginning (showed an ability to be flexible) and felt that the range
you showed was much higher acting ability than any of the others we listened
to... And there were over 200.... we loved working with you! The
client is thrilled with the spots, and they will begin airing in a few
weeks...

Today's Auditions included: BODY BY JAKE infomercial, and some sort of client that wants an Australian accent for a "high end" client. Oh, and no script.. so make it up. Quick, watch me pull a rabbit out of this hat! So this is my best sophisticated Crocodile Hunter. Oh, and some sort of VIDEO GAME bit. Whew.. busy afternoon.

2012 Audition Today and TQ's Memorial Service

Today was a busy day. NAB conference started today. Went to the hall and picked up show passes and sat in the Emmis job fair booth to talk to attendees. Also picked up Ted-Smith and took him with me to Tom Quarles' (TQ) service. Dusty Black did a wonderful job of putting together a fitting tribute to Tom. A veritable Who's Who from the Austin Media market were there. We all laughed and cried and laughed again. Exactly what TQ would have wanted. Austin radio veteran Bob Cole, Bamma Brown, and Cody Nichols were there to keep the festivities moving. Again, very moving. We'll all miss you Tom!!

Today also had a nice audition for a History Channel project: Nostradamus 2012. (Hear my aud HERE) Nothing like narration! Love that stuff! Tomorrow Amtrak California session and more NAB. Tonight will be a late one, NAB festivities will keep me out waaaaaaay past my bedtime. 4AM will not be pleasent tomorrow morning!!

Oklahoma Tourism - Travel OK... uh.. ok!

Nicer and nicer gigs have been coming down the pike here lately. These spots below are a good example. These were done for Oklahoma Tourism, and are high end shot on film, many helicopter shots too. All in all very nice campaign, and am very happy to be part of the final product. Thanks TAG Talent and Oklahoma! (where the wind goes......)

This first one above is for the entire state. There is a little wait before it fires off, but hang tight.

This one is Tulsa-centric. Again, very lush in colors and pacing.

This one is OK City-centric. Big and bold. Don Juntunen (good Oklahoman name.. right?) did an awesome job of putting these together at the agency Ackerman/McQueen. They can be found at http://www.am.com/. Thanks ya'll! (they hate that... tee hee)

Weekend Happenings - Singapore calling - Nerf too.

First off, the service for Tom Quarles (TQ) will be this Wednesday, Sept. 17 @ 2:30pm/Weed-Corley/N. Lamar. Wow.. I still can't believe he's gone. What a local legend and someone I looked up to. Gonna miss Tom.

In voicing news, Voices.com came through with a gig for Best Denki, a chain of electronics stores in Singapore. Makes a huge difference working with someone 13 hour difference in time. We're getting up while they are going to bed! This was a corporate video project that was a rush job. Of course I am coming off of some nasty cold/bug picked up from someone at the station!! Aaagh!! (snort, spit)

However one thing that does happen when a cold comes on, I can channel Don Lafontaine as I did in this audition for Nerf for VoiceCasting in Atlanta. Wow.. what a violent... toy? Listen to entire audition, it's kinda funny. Never voice angry..... or hyped up on antihistamines!! ;)

This week NAB Radio also hits town (That's David Rehr, NAB Pres above). I think he was against the bridge to no where from the beginning. ;) I will be attending the radio festivities, Tom's service, the Amtrak California session is also this week. Whew. Glad I can multi-task.

Another larger than life hero of mine leaves us.

It is with great sadness that another large figure in voice and production, Tom Quarles or TQ to most that remember him, passed away earlier this week. Tom and I shared the same positions, Creative Services Director, he at Clear Channel, me at Emmis. We spoke often, fighting the good fight to make better radio. TQ was Production Director prior to Frank Scales here when the company was simply LBJ Broadcasting back in the 80's, and prior to that was an on air personality back in the day before play lists and computer generated music logs. Little known fact, it was Tom that actually was the FIRST jock to play The Police on the air in the US and broke the band before any other station at KLBJ in Austin TX. Sting still credits "that station that was owned by a US President" for playing their record first. That was Tom. An incredible voice, fantastic sound designer, and impeccable writer. Couple that with he and his wife Bev's love of rescue dogs (cocker spaniels in particular at first - something close to my wife Peggy an my hearts) as well as his gift for cutting through the clutter of many times BAD radio and TV commercials... needless to say, there is a big hole in our hearts with his passing. I'll miss you Tom. I hope crossing the Rainbow Bridge is everything you thought it would be. ;) Please kiss Sassy for us! We'll see you again Pumpkin!

ALLLLL ABOARD!!! Now landing in studio 1...

Ok.. for those of you that know about THE SECRET... it works.. that's all I have to say about that. (silly Forest Gump voice here) Today, as I was grocery shopping I thought to myself.. Hey.. self... what's the deal with the Amtrak audition I did (see Amtrak posting way below) a few weeks ago? Then did a call-back audition last Friday last minute. I called Becky at BigFishVoice.. Hey Becky whats with Amtrak? "I'm on it.." she says.... I get a message while I'm standing in fresh fruits and veggies isle about 10 minutes later (beep) "Hey Jimbo, Becky here.. no sooner did you hang up the phone with me, I get a call from the agency for Amtrak California.. you got the gig. I didn't even have a chance to call them.. they called me!" Seee? Attraction people, Attraction! How funny.

Wait, more potentially huge news, as I get home there is a very large audition for the new Harry Potter video game coming out. Let's just say this is wwwwaaaaaayyyyyyy huge..er. Of course I gave it the full treatment on the audition file to send in... hear THAT here. That and I get messages from three friends from high school I hadn't seen in 22 years?Strange. (I'm thinking of you right now!?!?! OOOoooooooooo)

Trade Pub... Pub.. Radio and Production Mag tease.

Jerry V at Radio and Production and I had a wonderful conversation about life, sound design, radio and building homes (my wife and I general contracted and lived IN my soon to be studio while building our house). The article hits this month's issue. Here is the tease that the publisher has on their site: http://www.rapmag.com/

Interview: Jim Kipping, Emmis Broadcasting, Austin, Texas
by Jerry Vigil
How many times have you said, “One of these days… I’m going to buy me a piece of land outside of town and build my dream home, with my dream studio”? That’s what Jim Kipping said some 9 years ago when we last interviewed him in May of 1999. In fact, he had just purchased 11 acres near Willie Nelson’s home outside of Austin, Texas. This month’s RAP Interview checks in on this dream, which is in the final stages of completion – a fabulous home he calls, Il Poggio Secco, Italian for “the dry hill.” Keeping with the Italian theme, the house features a tile roof, picturesque views from the windows overlooking the Texas Hill Country and the Pedernales River, ornate décor throughout, and of course, his soon-to-be dream studio. Did he hit the lottery? No. This is a simple story of vision and hard work, even while maintaining a demanding full-time job, which he still holds as Creative Services Director at Emmis Broadcasting’s Austin properties. An in his spare time, Jim has managed to cut his niche in the national voice-over business. Jim tells us what’s new at Emmis Austin, how he’s managed to grow his VO business, and what it has taken to bring his dream to fruition. Check out this month’s RAP CD for a sample of the excellent work his crew is churning out at the stations, and check out his website at www.jimkipping.com for more on Il Poggio Secco.

Loss of a voice legend, Don Lafontaine.

You might not recognise the face, but the VOICE you sure will. And it will beat you upside the head until you do! Don Lafontaine, pioneered the modern movie trailer that we all know today. Over 5,000 movie trailers and 100's of thousands of TV spots and promos are just some of the credits to his long 30 years in the voice business.
I was fortunate enough to have a chance to speak with Don from my home studio (ISDN, the way he did most of everything he voiced in recent years) for a book I am writing about people that make money from their voice. The book, (working title) Me and My Big Mouth, and How It Makes Me Money! is not necessarily how to break in to the business, but more about peoples unique story on how THEY did, and their success. I spoke with Don for about an hour, and found him to be the most gracious, humble, hard working and fun guys you would ever meet. One quote I got from him includes THIS ONE that pretty much sums up the book. Don died this past Monday, he was 68 years old. He worked all the way to the end, as many of us could only hope and pray for. He was and still is a legend that, although his voice may be silenced in body, will live on forever somewhere around the world, on some media. I'll miss you Don. I hope your new session is everything you thought it would be. Stand by?!? JK

Monday, Monday... session session.

Today, had a wonderful session for Oklahoma Tourism through TAG Talent. John from the agency was great to work with and in the same time zone for a change. Wow! Will post those when I get a copy to show you all... the original audition did indeed perk their ears and made it stand out, but I also gave them some dry reads which they used to close the deal with the client. I'm sure glad that stuff works out! Got a glowing review from the VoiceCaster audition for TimeWarner Cable which would be nice. Finally last Friday was the session for Kreg Tool Company Informercial. Great session with John and Drew live from DownStream in Portland and Poggio Secco Studio... albeit in temporary settings as the new studio construction hasn't started yet. Today Auditions: Culver's and TXDot.

New Agent signs on.

VoiceCasting Agency out of Atlanta Georgia singed on as another talent agent to rep my work, in yet another outlet. Glad to have them on board!!

My first day with them and had a nice audition for NERF / LASER TAG click HERE to hear.
And got really good feedback from the casting agency. Would be nice to snag something on the first day..... sweet!

New profile on VoiceCasting

Sunny Delight - BBoys Step Up - TV

Kind of a unique project here. I voiced this way back

in Feburary and finally got a copy of it.

STOP THE PRESSES!!!!!!

Cox media announced that the local paper is for sale. Wow they really know how to liven up the Christmas party! Right? Who wants to do some TEAM building? I am truly sorry for those that have put their lives into the Statesmen that will be affected.

In other news... Jerry Vigil publisher of industry trade mag Radio and Production did a follow up interview with me, revisiting some things we spoke about waaaaaaay back in 1999. Remember those times? Y2k, and mp3, BEFORE mp3 became a household word!?

http://www.rapmag.com/ next issue.

Thanks Jerry!

Seen this spot before?

Have you seen this yet? Yep.. that's me sprinkled throughout and at the end. Oh.. AND we're huge Netflix fans too. ;)

Next generation voice-over star! Meet Evan.

One thing I truly believe in my heart is if you want to get somewhere in life, help others get to where they want to go! ;-)

Today, my former next door neighbor had an opportunity to bring their boy Evan up to my studio, for a CALL BACK audition for a pretty big character on PBS Kids called Hooper. This is significant because he has never done anything like this before. One of my agents in Denver emailed with a call to us "talents" that may know any young kids that may fit the Hooper voice mold last week. Why yes.. Yes I do. I called Evan's mom and dad and told them about the audition.... needless to say they were excited so they brought him in last week for the the initial audition. Since this is summer break, no problem to bring him up to the studio and BAAAAM! Today he got a call back on the first time. Good for him!!! Now let's land it Evan!!!

Hear Evan in his call back audition HERE!!

Greetings there...

Aaaahhhh. Another day, another blog.
Welcome to the first entry.......
uh....
yeah.......
Welcome.....

Since my jimkipping.com site is being revamped, I thought I would include a blog to keep all those interested in the happenings in the studio. So that is what this is. I'll post some fun stuff and auditions and success stories along the way. You'll see the behind the scenes of the new studio project and how goes it with this wacky world of voice. Hope you enjoy it. It's a work in progress. Isn't it always?