Steve Barnes to produce 20 episodes of a new series called “High Rise” to be shot in Atlanta. High Rise will have the feel of ABC’s Desperate Housewives and HBO’s Entourage featuring a story about characters living in one of Atlanta’s most elite properties. Casting will begin early October in Atlanta and shooting is slated to begin soon.

Don LaFontaine...Photo by Aaron Farley

The KING of the VO, Don LaFontaine, has died from from complications from pneumothorax, a collapsed lung that causes air to build in the pleural cavity. Don was the BEST, period, at Voice Over and you can read a great story on him in SWINDLE magazine.

Don was THE busiest talent in Hollywood and one of the nicest guys I have met in the industry. Years ago a mutual friend introduced me to him when I mentioned that I would love to have Don as a guest on The Morning X. I got goose bumps when we first spoke on the phone, as you can imagine hearing that familiar “movie voice” come through the phone. If you are reading this and having a hard time placing who this is, watch this:

When he came on our show he was very understated and self deprecating and you could barely hear him on the phone. Here was this bigger than life guy, known by his voice, that barely came through the phone when it was time to focus on him in an interview. I got the feeling he hated the attention but he did the interview because it was “part of the game”.

We we spoke the first time, he asked what else I was interested in and I told him I loved movie production and was working on my first “real” short film. Without a hesitation, he gave me his fax number and asked me to send him copy so he could do our voice over for the trailer! What!! This guy gets $10,000 for 60 seconds and he’s doing our little 7 minute movie for free? It was in a Fed Ex on my doorstep the next morning and I couldn’t believe it. Wow, that was very cool of him. I just dug out the original file he sent me and you can hear it HERE. Here’s the finished product HERE. We kept in touch and he offered to do more VO for us “just for the hell of it”. I was very thankful and didn’t know how I could repay him. He didn’t care, he just liked the art and wanted to help some guys just starting out in the business. Don LaFontaine was a truly nice guy and truly a LEGEND in Hollywood that will be missed.

Don’s passing was also a weird experience for me. In my 41 years on this earth I have never had to delete someone from my phone/address book that has died. That was just a bit strange for me and a very weird feeling. You never think about that kind of stuff and it hit me when I came across his name in the “L” section of my phone on Tuesday. I just stared at it for a minute and then went to edit and delete it. I know it sounds stupid, but I have never had to do that and it was just eery. There’s my odd thought of the day.