BAM Studios News

Disney called upon BAM Studios to record Joan Cusack’s character, Jessie, for their upcoming Toy Story 3 game to be released on Sony’s Playstation Portable.  The PSP game is based on the third Toy Story movie in which Woody & Co. get dumped in a day-care center after Andy goes to college.

The movie Toy Story 3 comes out June 18, 2010.  The date for Sony’s PSP game of Toy Story 3 has yet to be released.

BAM is celebrating it’s 10th year today.  I opened BAM Studios on December 1st 1999 on Ohio St with just one studio.  Now the facility is at State & Erie and has grown to three studios.  Studio Manager and tech wiz Johnathon Karcz has been with BAM from nearly the beginning, and award winning Sound Designer and long-time friend Dave Leffel joined us in 2004.  Rounding out the staff are associate engineers and all around nice guys Philip von During and Matt Sauro.

Thanks to everyone for making BAM such a success and for allowing us to do what we love to do.  We will continually strive to be the best in sound.

Sincerely,

Brian Reed

Chicago native David Pasquesi visited BAM Studios to record a new radio spot for Bayer CropScience soybean products.  The spot “The Simpler, The Better” was produced by Rhea & Kaiser.  In 2009, David was seen in the blockbuster film “Angels and Demons” with Tom Hanks  followed by “Year One” with Jack Black and Michael Cera.  When he’s not voicing spots, David can also be seen onstage.  He has running performances in New York and Chicago of  the two-man improvised show titled “TJ & Dave” with fellow actor TJ Jagadowski.

Visit http://www.tjanddave.com for more info.

Niecy Nash was at BAM Studios narrating the latest episode of “Clean House”.  The show is currently filming an episode in Chicago.  Niecy is the Host of the Style Network’s home makeover show, which has become the network’s #1 rated program. The American Women In Radio & Television honored Niecy with the 2007 Gracie Allen Award for Outstanding Program Host for her work on “Clean House.” In addition, Niecy stars as no-nonsense Officer Raineesha Williams on the hilarious Comedy Central hit, “Reno 911!,” a half-hour unscripted spoof of “Cops.” The show is so popular it was spun-off into a feature film, “Reno 911: Miami.”

For more information about the show visit: http://www.mystyle.com/mystyle/shows/cleanhouse/index.jsp

Actor and Chicago Native John Mahoney was at BAM Studios to record ADR for the upcoming film “Flipped”.  The movie was directed by Rob Reiner and produced by the super team of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer.  Based on the novel “Flipped” by Wendelin Van Draanen, the story involves two eighth graders who start to have feelings for each other despite being total opposites.  The cast includes Rebecca De Mornay, Penelope Ann Miller, Aidan Quinn, and Anthony Edwards as well.

John is currently taking a break from films to do stage projects. He can be seen in the production of “A Life” at Skokie’s Northlight Theater  in Spring 2010.

For more information about the movie visit: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0817177

Once again BAM Studios hosted contestants for Oprah’s Karaoke Challenge.  The final 3 singers spent the day rehearsing for their live performance on the show.  Vocal couch Kenn Hicks Skyped in from his home in New York to help prepare them for the big day.  Judging the performances this time will be David Foster, Diane Warren, and L.A. Reid.  Tune in to The Oprah Show on 11/12 to watch the live show and see behind the scene footage of BAM!

For more info visit: http://www.oprah.com/dated/oprahshow/oprahshow-20091112-karaoke-challenge-finals

Actor Vince Vaughn and Director Peter Billingsley were at BAM Studios to record commentary for the Blu-Ray release of the film “Couples Retreat”.  The two friends sat in the studio, sports commentator style, and talked for hours watching the movie.  Lights and cameras were also rolling for the duration so that the home viewer can watch them with Picture-in-Picture.

The movie, which was released October 9th, is about  four couples who settle into a tropical-island resort for a vacation. While one of the couples is there to work on the marriage, the others fail to realize that participation in the resort’s therapy sessions is not optional.  Recording Engineer Dave Leffel said he had way too much fun on this session!

For more information about the movie visit: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1078940/

Contestants for Oprah’s Karaoke Challenge were at BAM Studios for two days preparing for their live performance on the show. Vocal coach to-the-stars Kenn Hicks was on hand to help the contestants with singing and performance techniques. 8 semi-finalists were picked from thousands of videos submitted in the past several months. Judging the performances will be Billy Ray Cyrus, Gladys Knight, and Ashford & Simpson. Tune in to The Oprah Show on 11/05 to watch the live show and see behind the scene footage shot here at BAM!

For more info visit: http://www.oprah.com/dated/oprahshow/oprahshow-20091105-karaoke-challenge-1

CBS Films called on BAM to record ADR with 8 year old actress Meredith Droeger for their upcoming film “Extraordinary Measures”.  “The director wanted stylized voice variations from the actress calling for a unique recording approach to the project” says ADR Recordist Brian Reed.  The cast features Harrison Ford, Brendan Fraser and Keri Russell.  The movie centers on the efforts of John and Aileen Crowley to find a researcher who might have a cure for their two children’s rare genetic disorder.  The music is also composed by Chicago native Alex Wurman.

For more information visit:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1244659/

Singer, songwriter Susan Calloway spent the day at BAM Studios recording vocals for the song “One More Moment” written by songwriters Tim Claffey and Brando Triantafillou.  The song was written for a Cancer Treatment Centers of America program and was produced by Targetcom’s Managing Director Tim Claffey.  Susan Calloway’s vocals and music have been heard in a number of Film, Television and Advertising spots.  Her music has been featured on some of the WB’s most popular shows, including “Dawson’s Creek”, “Summerland”, and “One Tree Hill”.  BAM’s engineer Philip on During handled the vocal recording.  The C.T.C.A. video was edited by Joe Langenfeld at Punkvision.

For more information about Susan visit: http://www.susancalloway.net

For more information about C.T.C.A. visit: http://www.cancercenter.com

Pictured Left-Right (Mark Bloom – Philip von During – Brando Triantafillou – Tim Claffey – Susan Calloway)