Every year the Mark Time Awards present some of the best audio drama has to offer. The 2016 Awards were presented at the Hear Now Festival and has expanded its usual fare from the award for best science fiction drama (Mark Time) and the best horror drama (Ogle) to The Danger Prize, The Bradshaw, and The BettyJo.
The Sonic Society congratulates this year’s winners:
From the Mark Time Award’s Page:
The Ogle Award, named for Charles Ogle, the first portrayer of Frankenstein’s Monster on screen, is given in two categories, Horror and Fantasy. The Gold Ogle for Horror went to “The Masque of the Red Death,” produced and directed by William Dufris, who accepted in person. The Silver Ogle was won by “To The Manor Borne by Robots, Episode 5,” written, produced and directed by John Eder.
Winning the Silver Ogle for Fantasy was “The Springheel Saga: The Secret of Springheel’d Jack,” from London’s Wireless Theatre Ltd., producers Jack Bowman, Mariele Runacre Temple and Robert Valentine.
The Mark Time Award for Science Fiction, named for one of Ossman’s Firesign characters, was won by Jonathan Mitchell of New York City, who was also named Producer of the Year for a trio of short pieces, “Visible,” “The Last Job,” and “Santa For President.” He appeared via Skype. In addition, Tom Ligon, in the role of Santa, won the Betty Jo for Best Actor. The Betty Jo honors Firesign’s Phil Proctor, man of many voices.
The Silver Mark Time went to the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company for “The War of the Worlds: The Untold Story,” produced by David Benedict.
Additional Finalists were John Holland for “The Cure,” Marty Durlin and KZMU, Moab, Utah for “Downtown Abbey, Episode 3: Denial in So Many Forms,” and Pete Lutz and Pulp-Pourri Theater for “The DNA Pit.”
The Nick Danger Prize honors Firesign’s Phil Austin in memoriam and his immortal character, known for his “third eye.” It is awarded for the best in mystery and noir detective genres. There was a single Finalist, “Brass – A Steampunk Adventure Serial” from Battleground Productions, Seattle, written and directed by John Longenbaugh, sound design and production by Nick Abercrombie,
Ossman announced a new prize for Audio Comedy, called The Bozo Knows, open for entries in 2017. Information on entries and the Mark Time Awards history, previous prize-winners, Grandmasters, and Hall of Fame can be found at www.marktimeawards.org.
The Awards Ceremony was held as part of an Otherworld Cabaret, which featured high school students from the Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts where the Mark Time SoundPlay audio workshop is in its second year of production classes and activities. Youth participants presented four short original audio plays which were written, performed, and sound designed by them, as part of the Mark Time Awards performance. Members of the 2016 Mark Time Academy included Carissa Stevens, Mel Jones, Kaden Vladimir, Travon Wainwright, Mahryn Barron, Trail White, Ethan Anissy, Marcus Robertson, and Kahlil Odums.
Young audio artists of the Paseo SoundPlay Workshop will be seen again as part of the Future Stages Festival at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, June 26th at 3 p.m. on the outdoor stage.
The Mark Time Awards and SoundPlay Workshops are made possible by a grant from the Leo Gilbert Wetherill Foundation with additional support from the Board of Directors of Otherworld Media.
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