Vault: Can We Make This Bert Show Member's Voiceover Dreams Come True?

Summary

The Bert Show: "Vault: Can We Make This Bert Show Member's Voiceover Dreams Come True?"

Date: March 11, 2026

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Episode Overview

This fun and heartwarming episode centers on helping longtime Bert Show member Melissa realize her “superficial” New Year's resolution: to do voice acting for a video game or animation. What starts as a lighthearted sharing of quirky goals turns into an unexpected, on-air fulfillment of Melissa’s dream, thanks to a surprise visit from representatives of Hi-Rez Studios, an Atlanta-based video game developer. Throughout the segment, the show keeps its trademark real, playful energy, blending surprise, geek culture enthusiasm, and genuine support for one another.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Superficial Resolutions – Setting the Stage

• The episode kicks off with hosts recalling their own “not-deep” New Year’s resolutions:
  • Bert: “I wanna catch a marlin next year, dammit.” [01:00]
  • Jen: Aspires to win a prize on a game show [01:16]
  • Melissa: “I love geek things... I always am fascinated... by the people that voice those characters in games or anime... So my superficial goal for 2009 is to voice something—anything—in gaming or animation.” [01:36]

2. Melissa's Voiceover Dream

• Melissa shares her passion for geek culture and her wish to contribute her voice to an animated work:
  • “Even if it’s just a one word thing, so that my voice can be on some kind of animation...” [01:36]
• The show teases that Melissa will get closer to her goal than anyone else this morning [02:15]

3. Surprise Studio Visit from Hi-Rez Studios

• Surprise guest: Todd Harris from Hi-Rez Studios enters the studio, joined by Michal. They reveal they’re fans of the show and have come to help fulfill Melissa’s goal. [02:21]
• Offer: Melissa is invited to voice a character in their upcoming major video game, part of a four-year development project. [02:48]
• The gesture’s magnitude sinks in for Melissa: “Wow. Okay.” [03:10]

4. Beyond Voice Acting: Motion Capture and Face Modeling

• The surprise gets even bigger: not only can Melissa voice a character, Hi-Rez will also model her face for a 3D character and capture her movements through motion capture:
  • “We’re actually going to help you overachieve this goal with the chance to not only have your voice in the game, but also have your face on an in-game character.” [03:13]
  • “You have a chance to have your moves immortalized in a video game with motion capture technology” [03:31]
  • Description of motion capture: “You’ll wear the black suit, with... golf ball, ping pong ball looking things... dancing, doing your moves, and that will actually be projected on your 3D in-game character.” [03:46]
• Melissa’s excitement is palpable: “That is so cool... My brother... is gonna freak out. This is awesome.” [04:17]

5. Details About the Game & Process

• The Hi-Rez team explains the game is “Global Agenda,” a new MMO with a “1984 meets Mission Impossible” future-Earth vibe, featuring player-created agencies and a breakaway from an authoritarian regime. [06:50]
• Melissa will record in January, following selection and preparation of a script and character design. [06:27]
• Hi-Rez also shares their credentials and that “Global Agenda” is their first major release, using a big local team including developers from famous franchises like City of Heroes and Call of Duty. [04:59]

6. In-Studio Playfulness & Impromptu Voice Acting

• The hosts ask Melissa to try out an authoritative line for a potential security officer character:
  • “‘Drop your weapons and turn around.’ Would that be something she might say?” [07:11]
  • Melissa gamely delivers: “Future—wait, hold on—future vibe: Drop your weapons and turn around.” [07:25-07:30]
  • “You’re gonna have to work with me though. See? Because I’m not an actor, but I will do my best.” [07:32]

7. Fan Reaction & Closure

• The hosts and Hi-Rez staff all share in the excitement, with Bert joking about living out his own video game fantasy and the team celebrating Melissa’s geeky Christmas-morning moment. [05:44, 05:57]
• Plans are made for her upcoming recording session and motion capture adventure [06:27–08:00]
• The team expresses gratitude to Hi-Rez and closes the segment with a buzz of anticipation.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Melissa (on why the goal is special): “I love geek things... I always am fascinated... by the people that get the jobs to voice those characters.” [01:36]
• Hi Rez Studios Rep (revealing the surprise): “We heard about the superficial goals and we wanted to come here and help make it happen for you.” [02:33]
• Melissa (overjoyed): “Oh, that’d be awesome.” [02:46]
• Hi Rez Studios Rep (describing motion capture): “Hi Rez has one of Georgia’s only motion capture studios... we get you dancing, doing your moves, and that will actually be projected on your 3D in-game character.” [03:46]
• Melissa (geeking out): “My brother... is gonna freak out. This is awesome.” [04:17]
• Bert (teasing): “Is this gonna be like one of those naughty cop games to where I could take Melissa in the backseat of a car?” [05:47]
• Melissa (after being asked to perform): “You want me to say that now, don’t you?” [07:17]
• Melissa (giving it a shot): “Drop your weapons and turn around.” [07:25]
• Hi Rez Studios Rep (on capturing more than the voice): “There’s some technology that works off of a photograph... we can project that on the 3D model...” [07:40]
• Host (on Melissa’s excitement): “I wish everybody could see what a little kid Melissa looks like right now. She looks like a little kid on Christmas.” [05:57]

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Important Timestamps

• [01:36] Melissa shares her dream of voicing an animated/video game character
• [02:21] Hi-Rez Studios representatives enter to surprise Melissa
• [03:13–03:46] Hi-Rez team lays out their full offer: voice, face, and motion capture for the game
• [04:17] Melissa reacts, thinking of family and geek pride
• [04:59] Hi-Rez discusses their team and the “Global Agenda” game
• [06:27] Plans set for Melissa’s recording session
• [07:11–07:30] Melissa attempts a “security officer” voice line
• [08:00] Segment wraps with excitement and gratitude

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Episode Tone & Style

The conversation is full of genuine excitement, playful teasing, and heartfelt support for a friend’s geeky dream. The energy is infectious—friendly, inclusive, and brimming with anticipation for Melissa’s upcoming adventure.

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Summary

In this standout Bert Show episode, the team and Hi-Rez Studios come together to make Melissa’s voiceover dream a reality, delivering a moment of authentic surprise and joy. The segment not only highlights Melissa’s fandom and aspirations but also peels back the curtain on Atlanta’s thriving game development scene, all while maintaining the candid, lively mood that defines the show. This is a must-listen for anyone passionate about geek culture, video games, or seeing dreams unexpectedly come true.

Transcript

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[The Bird Show Host]

The Bird show if you are listening, yesterday at this time the Bird show talked about our superficial resolutions, not the real deep ones. Like I'm gonna be better at time management, I'm gonna be more sensitive, blah blah blah. I wanna catch a marlin next year, dammit. Yep, that's my superficial resolution.

[Co-host or Guest]

Jen, I wanna win a prize on a game show like cash or a dresser.

[Melissa]

Jen I wanna play decent 18 holes of golf. And Wendy, I wanna be dating player and be in the family and friends section by the 2009 season.

[The Bird Show Host]

And then there was Melissa's also.

[Melissa]

I love geek things and some of the things I like is like animation and gaming. Right. And I always am fascinated by an anime or in gaming or whatever that all the people that get the jobs to voice those characters in the game or in anime or animation or whatever, Cartoon Network or whatever, Japanese anime, whatever. So my goal for superficial goal for 2009 is to to voice something either in gaming or anime animation, something even if it's just a one word thing, so that my voice can be on some kind of animation for you. So that's. I have no idea how the hell I'm going to do it, but I'm going to try. And you know, there's a.

[The Bird Show Host]

Okay, that was Melissa yesterday on the show.

[Melissa]

Yes. And I'm curious why I'm being sectioned

[The Bird Show Host]

out because you're going to get closer to your resolution, your superficial resolution this morning than the rest of us.

[Melissa]

Okay.

[The Bird Show Host]

Todd Harris, come on, step right up. This is Todd Harris from High Res

[Melissa]

Studios, the one I just Said hi to in the studio today.

[Hi Rez Studios Representative]

How are you?

[The Bird Show Host]

This is a complete surprise to Melissa.

[Melissa]

This is awesome. Hi.

[Hi Rez Studios Representative]

Hi. Well, Michal, who is here with me and myself are from hi Rez Studios. We're an Alpharetta based video game developer and we're fans of the show. We heard about the superficial goals and we wanted to come here and help make it happen for you.

[Melissa]

Oh, that'd be awesome.

[Hi Rez Studios Representative]

We are right now in the middle of development of a major game production. This is a four year development cycle. It's a computer game, a massively multiplayer online computer game. And we have parts and we want to cast you voice and we want to make it a stretch goal, if you will, for 2009. Michal maybe can fill you in on parts two and three.

[Melissa]

Wow. Okay.

[The Bird Show Host]

That's a multiple part.

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We're actually going to help you overachieve this goal with the chance to not only have your voice in the game, but also have your face on in game character.

[The Bird Show Host]

So Melissa will be able to play her own self in a video game.

[Melissa]

That's right.

[Hi Rez Studios Representative]

But wait, there's more.

[Nordstrom Rack Announcer]

There's more. Even beyond that, you have a chance have your moves immortalized in a video game with motion capture technology.

[Melissa]

Awesome.

[The Bird Show Host]

So is that the thing where she's like in a green room and they've got all the things on her arms and all?

[Hi Rez Studios Representative]

That's exactly right, yeah.

[Melissa]

Golf ball looking things.

[Hi Rez Studios Representative]

Hi Rez has one of Georgia's only motion capture studios. So if you've seen the movies, you're in the black suit, you have the golf ball, ping pong ball looking things on you. We get you dancing, doing your moves, and that will actually be projected on your 3D in game character.

[Melissa]

Oh, that's awesome. I think you can sit my game at Dragon Con and then I'll be a superstar at DragonCon shoot.

[Hi Rez Studios Representative]

Well, when you come to the studio, I mean, we know you have geek cred. I mean, you've spoken at Dragon Con. You've been to the Trekkie convention.

[Melissa]

My brother is gonna. Cause my brother and I are like the geek siblings of the family. He's good. Cause he's a programmer up in Nashville. He's gonna be so jealous, he's gonna freak out. This is awesome.

[The Bird Show Host]

Do you guys have like a specific character in mind for her already?

[Hi Rez Studios Representative]

We have a few characters and when she comes to the studio, we can kind of pass those by and work on them and let you guys in on the process.

[Melissa]

Oh, that's awesome, guys. Thank you so much.

[The Bird Show Host]

That is really cool.

[Melissa]

I'M just curious which one of you was listening yesterday, like when the light bulb went off.

[Hi Rez Studios Representative]

Well, that was myself.

[Melissa]

Okay.

[Hi Rez Studios Representative]

And so basically when we heard, you know, we just definitely wanted to come down and make it happen.

[Melissa]

That's awesome. Thank you. I'm so excited.

[Hi Rez Studios Representative]

That's great.

[The Bird Show Host]

Now, do you guys do a whole bunch of these video games right here in Atlanta?

[Hi Rez Studios Representative]

Well, this is actually the studio's formed with people from Atlanta and California, Texas people we've relocated that have done a lot of games before, including some massively multiplayer computer games like City of Heroes and other console games like Call of Duty. But we brought these folks together to make Global Agenda. And this is actually the first game out of hi Rez Studios, which is really Georgia's largest homegrown game developer. So it's about 45 animators, environment artists, character artists, programmers, designers, all coming together to make this game, which basically it's currently in alpha. So we have about 1,000 people in Atlanta and outside testing the game. And in 2009, we plan on releasing it.

[The Bird Show Host]

Cool for you, Melissa.

[Melissa]

Awesome. Dude, that is so cool.

[The Bird Show Host]

Is this gonna be like one of those naughty cop games to where I could take Melissa in the backseat of a car?

[Melissa]

Hey, yeah.

[The Bird Show Host]

You heard about these, right? They're getting so graphic now.

[Melissa]

She has to do her moves with the golf balls on. The secrets will finally be revealed. Awesome. Thank you, guys. So I'm so excited. I wish everybody could see what a little kid Melissa looks like right now. She looks like a little kid on Christmas.

[Co-host or Guest]

So now we talked yesterday and correct me if I'm wrong. So at some point in January, she'll go in and record her voice, right? And you'll give her a script. Like after you decide on the character and everything, she does the script, right?

[Hi Rez Studios Representative]

That's exactly right, yeah. We'll have a script for you in January. We'll bring you to the studio to do the voice recording.

[Co-host or Guest]

What would be an example of some things she might say? Like just. It doesn't have to be accurate, but I just want to see how she does.

[Melissa]

Don't make me audition.

[Co-host or Guest]

No, I'm just wondering, like, what would. What is a character that you have now say?

[Hi Rez Studios Representative]

Let's see. Script for Melissa.

[Co-host or Guest]

Is it some sort of made up language or is it like real English?

[Hi Rez Studios Representative]

No, it'll be English. The vibe of the game, it's almost like kind of 1984 meets Mission Impossible. So it takes place on a future Earth and There's like a 1984 style government, which Melissa may be a security Officer for. We'll just see. And the player actually breaks out of this world and joins player created agencies and tries to make their own place in the world.

[Co-host or Guest]

So maybe I'll like. If she's a security officer. Drop your weapons and turn around. Would that be something she might say?

[Melissa]

He wants me to say that now, doesn't he? You want me to say that now, don't you?

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah, as a. As an authoritative security officer.

[Nordstrom Rack Announcer]

In the future.

[Melissa]

In the future. Oh, God.

[The Bird Show Host]

Use your future voice.

[Melissa]

Future. Wait, hold on. Future vibe. Drop your weapons and turn around. Very good.

[Hi Rez Studios Representative]

That's good.

[Melissa]

You're have to work with me though. See?

[Co-host or Guest]

Very good.

[Melissa]

Because I'm not an actor, but I will do my best.

[Co-host or Guest]

So how do you get her a face in there? Is that a.

[Hi Rez Studios Representative]

There's some technology that we have that works off of a photograph, actually a front and a profile. And we can project that on the 3D model of the character.

[The Bird Show Host]

Outstanding.

[Hi Rez Studios Representative]

And then the final shooting will be when you come into the motion capture studio and put on the black suit and we can get what are called emotes, which are the special moves for characters in the game.

[The Bird Show Host]

You're high as a kite right now. Thank you to hi Rez Studios for hooking Melissa up next year.

[Hi Rez Studios Representative]

Thanks for chill. Thank you.

[Co-host or Guest]

Crap. Now the pressure's on to get.

[Melissa]

Yay.

[Co-host or Guest]

Come on down for me.

[The Bird Show Host]

I gotta catch a. Can you make me catch in a virtual Marlin the bird show?

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There's a difference between liking a house and actually getting it. Redfin is built to close that gap. Redfin agents close twice as many deals as other agents. So when you find a home you love, you're not a step behind when it's time to make an offer. That means less watching great homes disappear and more zeroing in on the one you'll actually end up calling home. Redfin helps turn saved listings into real addresses. Get [e-mail] own the dream.

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[The Bird Show Host]

So good.

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[Melissa]

because I always find something amazing.

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