Author: Jack (Page 82 of 175)

Born to Teachers and Amateur Audio Enthusiasts in the small rural community of Belwood, Jack's first love was stories- writing, reading, telling, and singing. He developed his acting skills through High School, University, and through film and community theatre.
Jack writes the lion's share of Sonic Cinema Production's (previously Electric Vicuna) Audio Drama scripts and has his own writing site at www.jackjward.com. Jack also is the middle of book writing, screenplay production, and is the CEO of the Mutual Audio Network- where he and the best people in the world Listen & Imagine, Together!.
He's thrilled to co-host the Sonic Society with his wonderful, talented, friend David Ault as they enter their second decade in the medium!

Audio Dramatist for Hire!

May 30, 2017 / / 0 Comments

The Internet is buzzing with the news that Audible.com has decided to launch a five million dollar fund to find and play audio drama writers. The Digital-Reader has all the details:

Audible, the digital audiobook giant, announced Tuesday that it would create a $5 million fund to commission new works from emerging playwrights — not for the stage, but for people’s headphones and speakers.

As audio fiction seems to be having a moment, in the realm of podcasts, Audible plans to draw from the vast pool of young writers to create one- or two-person plays. They will be available beginning late this year, the company said.

Playwrights can apply for grants to cover both “industry standards” for new commissions and the cost of production, said Donald R. Katz, Audible’s chief executive and a former journalist and author.

“I’m hoping that people just come out of the woodwork,” Mr. Katz said.

Audible is hoping to fund dozens of playwrights. This will certainly help put proof in the pudding that we’re entering a new age of Audio Drama listeners and production!

Mediumship

May 26, 2017 / / 0 Comments

So many great actors work in the medium of audio drama/radio drama these days, every little bit of wisdom and experience can help. Consider the article in Spotlight by Katie Redford who gives great advice on how to break into radio:

When I was little, my parents always told me I could be anything I wanted to be. I don’t think they thought I’d take it quite as literally as I did when in one of my first ever jobs in radio, I played a t-shirt. Yes, I was the voice of a t-shirt. I was a bit thrown by the Director’s notes too:

“Yeah, we’re not feeling it. Can you sound a bit more… like a t-shirt?”

Radio is a fascinating genre and I feel extremely fortunate to currently be a part of it. It’s a medium that so many established, highly respectable actors such as Sheila Hancock, Amelia Bullmore, Daniel Mays, amongst many more, work in time and time again. When Bill Nighy was recently awarded an award for his services to radio drama, he said: “I am as proud of my involvement in radio as of anything in my professional life. Long may it provide its unparalleled service and entertainment.”

The thing is though, how on earth do you crack a career in it? It’s tricky enough to break through this industry anyway, but radio almost seems to be in its own bracket. Here a few suggestions that hopefully will help get the ball rolling for you.

Read more of the article and get your ode to audio working for you today!

Episode 517- Appointment for Rex

May 16, 2017 / / 2 Comments

Tonight we complete “The Case of the Poisoned Parakeet” from  Rex Rivetter: Private Eye brought to you by Downstairs Entertainment and DaveyBoy Productions and “The Appointment Book” from The Grist Mill. It’s Audio Drama Time!

Behind the Sounds

May 8, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Students in the Lighting Design class work to hang lights for the upcoming production of “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” in the Salisbury Theatre.

This great OnStage article was shared on Facebook by our amigo, Jeff Billard a grand thaumaturge in both the audio and stage dramatic varieties. It suggests that all actors should spend some time behind the scenes understanding what goes on from the purposes of stage managing.

As usual, we ask the question. Should all audio actors take a turn audio editing as well? Would there be some great value for actors to understand the challenges in isolating the clearest sound?

Similarly, how valuable would it be for all audio editors to take some time behind the microphone and see the challenges in clean delivery?

What do you think? Would that kind of experience make both roles in an audio drama production better?

The Reviews are In!

May 7, 2017 / / 2 Comments

Recently there’s been a lot of hay made about the  hashtag weekly on Twitter. We think it’s a fantastic way to get the word out for those who haven’t yet got on the Audio Drama Trolley (we’ve got multiple cars give us a try!) But for those of us who already listen to audio drama the rest of the week, how can we help out?

Perhaps you can make Sunday your review day. Most shows RSS Feeds can be found through i-tunes and lately we at the Sonic Society have made Sundays our day to attempt to systematically write i-tune reviews for all our favourite shows. Because that would take an inordinate amount of time, we’re keeping our list to three shows a week. How about you?

Try the three reviews a week Sunday challenge! 

Honestly, it’s not easy to go write reviews in the first place, but here’s a couple of methods:

Lastly, if you’re a producer, you can sign up and check your reviews from all around the world monthly with a free account at MyPodcastReviews.com

So what are you waiting for? Go out there and get more folks on i-tunes checking out how hot radio drama is….

And hey, what better way to start than writing one for the Sonic Society? You hit EVERYONE then! Happy Reviewing!

 

By Crom- The Bill Hollweg Memorial Summer Season

May 6, 2017 / / 0 Comments

The Bill Hollweg Memorial Sonic Summer series is set! With gratitude to the folks at Audio Drama/Radio Drama Lovers Facebook Group, and to the big wigs at Broken Sea Audio for their kind permission, Sonic Summer will have two features a week. Our regular Sonic Summerstock Playhouse on Tuesdays (a favourite of Bill’s) and in honour of the Thursday releases at BSA, a retrospective of some of the very best of Bill Hollweg’s audio drama life and work. Please join us as each week we’ll assemble a panel of roundtable guests to talk about the feature and share their memories before we play our episode(s) for the night.

Join us, won’t you?

Runtastic Audio

May 5, 2017 / / 0 Comments

One of the great elements of audio drama, is its nature to be portable. Runtastic has discovered the value of a good story on the go as well it seems. Check out this article at Wired: 

Fitness app company Runtastic has launched Story Running, a range of downloadable stories written with the specific aim of motivating people to run.

Runtastic has recruited script writers and musicians to create a series of 40-minute stories with a narrative arc that allows for interval training. The stories — which can be downloaded through the Runtastic app — fall under categories such as adventure and fantasy, and are accompanied by music with different beats per minute to encourage different running speeds — starting slowly and then increasing in speed as the tension in the story rises, before slowing down as the runner draws to the end of their route.

The idea came about in Runtastic’s kitchen, with CEO Florian Gschwandtner telling Creative Director Chris Thaler, “We should do story runs.” Thaler thought it wounded awesome, but wasn’t entirely clear on what a story run was. Gschwandtner simply replied: “We tell them stories while they are running.”

Check out the rest of the Wired story, and consider how Runtastic apps may provide brand new audio drama in the community!

 

 

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