#as is making an audio drama!

[thelaurenshippen]

this is a genuine question not at all meant as a rude gotcha, but I feel like I've seen lots of people cite the relatively low barrier of entry as a huge advantage of podcasts as a medium, "if you have access to decent audio tech you can make a podcast" etc etc. So where does the need to sell a script come in? Is it a financial thing, and IP thing, something else?

this doesn't read like a rude gotcha at all, it's a really good question! there is a much lower barrier to entry when it comes to podcasts compared to tv, film, theater, etc. (though not as low as writing a book if we're talking about hard resources - you can technically write a book with just a laptop and a dream and then self publish! though as a writer who has written a lot of scripts and four books (3 published) writing a book is a much bigger psychological burden imo lol).

the need to sell a script, for me, is entirely a financial thing. if I had the money to produce podcasts at the level I want to entirely independently, I would! I know how to do it! but, unfortunately, I really only have the funds to produce something like @breakerwhiskey - a single narrator daily podcast that I make entirely on my own.

and that show is actually a great example of just how low the barrier is: I actually record the whole thing on a CB radio I got off of ebay for 30 bucks, my editing software is $50/month (I do a lot of editing, so this is an expense that isn't just for that show) and there are no hosting costs for it. the only thing it truly costs me is time and effort.

not every show I want to make is single narrator. a lot of the shows I've made involve large casts, full sound design, other writers, studio recording, scoring, and sometimes full cast albums (my first show, The Bright Sessions had all of those). I've worked on shows that have had budgets of 100 dollars and worked on shows that cost nearly half a million dollars. if anyone is curious about the nitty gritty of budgets, I made a huge amount of public, free resources about making audio drama earlier this year that has example budgets in these ranges!

back in the beginning of my career, I asked actors to work for free or sound designers to work for a tiny fee, because I was doing it all for free and we were all starting out. I don't like doing that anymore. so even if I'm making a show with only a few actors and a single sound designer...well, if you want an experienced sound designer and to pay everyone fairly (which I do!), it's going to cost you at least a few thousand dollars. when you're already writing something for free, it can be hard to justify spending that kind of money. I've sound designed in the past - and will be doing so again in the near future for another indie show of mine - but I'm not very good at it. that's usually the biggest expense that I want to have covered by an outside budget.

but if I'm being really honest, I want to be paid to write! while I do a lot of things - direct, produce, act, consult, etc. - writing is my main love and I want it to be the majority of my income. I'm really fortunate to be a full-time creative and I still do a lot of work independently for no money, but when I have a show that would be too expensive to produce on my own, ideally I want someone else footing the bill and paying me to write the scripts.

I love that audio fiction has the low barrier to entry it does, because I think hobbyists are incredible - it is a beautiful and generous thing to provide your labor freely to something creative and then share it with the world - but the barrier to being a professional audio drama writer is certainly higher. I'm very lucky to already be there, but, as every creative will tell you, even after you've had several successes and established yourself in the field, it can still be hard to make a living!

anyway, I hope this answers your question! I love talking about this stuff, so if anyone else is curious about this kind of thing, please ask away.

[gaywaren]

changyang’s newest hualian fanarts!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Ghouls night out

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[boombox-fuckboy]

Last-minute podcast Halloween costume ideas (very scary):

Wet mouth sounds (extended cut)

"Content Warning: Mature Themes." [Do not elaborate]

The episode that is twice as long as any before it

The 80 decibel difference in volume between podcast and advertisement

Sound of distant emergency sirens

"This Episode is No Longer Available"

Live action adaptation

[therukurals]

No boy can diss me or my mother Round here ain't safe, everybody need armour .

Blossom 九重紫 (2024)

[lesbian-jack-barnabas]

hey again audio drama tumblr. I’m a fucking nerd and I’m doing a thing rn

i am a science nerd at heart and as such I’m making a list of podcast recs based on different branches of science (If you like physics/chemistry/astronomy/zoology/etc you should listen to [podcast] type of deal). If anybody wants to drop shows that either a) features a scientist character or b) has a general plotline/themes that line up with some branch of science or other I’ll be indebted to you forever 🙏 I’ll be using it half for the list and half as recs for myself. Tbh. Because I love myself a good podcast scientist

[iriscasefiles]

as post-production on the final season of Starship Iris continues and i try to figure out what to do with my time going forwards, i have to wonder: do all audio drama people have a big secret super-ambitious absurdly labor-intensive idea in their back pocket that they dream of someday seeing to fruition? or is it just me.

[castingpods]

Listening to stuff from the audio drama renaissance is so funny. why were there only like 5 voice actors and how were they all in each others shows

[audiodramayearbook]

Most Likely Nominations open through January 20, 2025 (Yearbook submissions through the 31st)

Here are all the nomination forms, in a slightly easier to use format.

Writer Nominations

Show Nominations

Editor/Sound Designer Nominations

Character Nominations

Actor Nominations

And of course,

Yearbook submissions go here

[c-rowlesdraws]

I’ve started listening to The Magnus Protocol after dropping off TMA during the last season, and it’s fun so far, but that deliberately-awful-quality “characters talking in another room” part at the very end of episode three made me crank the volume on my phone all the way up to understand anything (I’m listening while tidying my room), and the transition from then to the SUPER LOUD MUSICAL SPOT that plays at the end took about five years off of my life

[thelaurenshippen]

you there! do you want to make audio drama? well have I got a deal for you!

hi, I'm Lauren, I made a handbook that walks you through how to make an audio drama and you can have it for free, plus it now comes with bonus! tumblr guide and I'd love for y'all to read that and then drag me on how I'm using tumblr wrong, okay love you bye

[jo-in-the-snow]

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker.

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[newtzii]

IM GONNA FUCKING BARFF IVE BEEN NEGLECTING THEM SO MUCH… kicking myself in the head PLEASE CORRUPT MY MIND ONCE MORE ABACELSUS!!!

bloodsucking more like erhh… kiss me onnthe mmout….

[forgetmenomore]

Silly old me five months back thought the Yingdu Chapter would be a silly old slice of life of Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang sharing beds or whatever

They are not sharing beds or whatever. They are sharing immense trauma

[yo-yo-yoshiko]

Kenzaki rolling up in Zi-O looking like he's been lying face down in the toku quarry for ten something years just letting current series film stunts over him...