Speaker 1: And now Audio Theater Central.
Speaker 2: Hello, Welcome to Audio Theater Central. This is the show
that explores family friendly audio drama through news, reviews and interviews.
I'm your host, J D. Sutter, and this is episode
two hundred and eleven. In this episode, I've got a
bunch of feedback from the community from Camden, from Rose, Jonathan,
David Blake, Bethany Daniel, and Jane. I've got a bunch
of audio drama updates to get to and I'm going
to do something I've never done before. I'm going to
give a brief overview, sort of review of six audio
drama podcasts that I think you might want to check
out now before we jump into the content. This episode
is a little bit late because, as I said in
the newsletter, had some issues with my voice. But it
feels like get strong enough to handle this episode now,
so we're going to get through this as quickly as
we can. And also, right now in Phoenix, we're going
through a rare happening and that is a rainstorm. So
I'm going to try to filter out the sounds as
much as possible in the post production of this episode,
but if there's noise in the background, I'm sorry. I
didn't want this episode to be any later for you,
and I just thought we're going to record through this rainstorm.
So anyway, I hope it's not too distracting. But let's
get to these audio drama updates.
Speaker 1: We interrupt this program to bring you a special report.
Speaker 2: And in other news tonight.
Speaker 1: A brief look at the headlines.
Speaker 2: Now, they want exciting, fast piece news that's relevant and
entertaining like this. Quick reminder, as always, if you've got
some updates about an audio drama project that you are
involved in, or that you've heard of that you think
we need to know about, send those updates to us PFM.
Dot link. Slash ATC News is the direct link, or
you can click the button on our website. First up
is an event that I wanted to talk about. It's
coming this summer called the Realm Maker's Expo. Now, this
is a fan con for Christian storytellers impacting popular culture.
It's going to be July eighteenth through the twentieth in
Grand Rapids, Michigan. The reason why I'm mentioning it here
is because the Realm Maker's Event has been previously primarily
a writer's conference for Christian writers and they're expanding out
and adding this expo where they're going to be putting
a focus on Christian storytellers in various mediums. So they're
going to be including audio drama as well. So if
you're a fan of Christian speculative fiction in novels or
board games or video games or audio drama, they're going
to be covering all of these different areas. And I've
had a couple of meetings with the organizers there really
excited to start incorporating in some audio drama elements to
this event. So if that sounds like something you want
to check out, a link is in the show notes
to go check out more information about the Realm Maker's
Expo in Grand Rapids, Michigan this summer. Next up a
few new releases. Well, the first one is not necessarily
a new release, but it is available on a new
platform now. The Secret Garden from Voices in the Wind
Audio Theater and the first Noel Productions is now available
on Dramafi. This was released a few years back, and
in fact garnered a few Seneca Awards nominations back in
twenty twenty one for Best Cover Art, Best Leading Actress
for Georgia Lee Schultz as Mary Lennox and best Supporting
Actress for Barbara Rosenblatt as Missus Medlock. This adaptation of
the classic novel is just shy of two hours at
an hour and forty nine minutes, and it is now
available to stream Dramafi, so go check that out. Also
recently released from The Human Eel is a new installment
in that series called The Good, the Bad, and the
even Badder. I love that title. Oh Goodness. The Human
Eel's arch nemesis, Scumbag has just been released from prison
and he's up to no good. But the Human Eel
finds his hands are tied due to a shakeup at
The Evening Star, Megapolis, City's largest newspaper, where he serves
as a mild mannered ace reporter second class. The Apologetic
delves into the existence of evil always fun times with
the Human Eel and Nick Guy Private Eye, both from
the same producer, Dominion Artists. And speaking of Nick Guy,
there are several new titles in that series. Newly released
from Nick Guy is The Good Shepherd slash Bad Shepherd Affair,
in which Nick Guy and Doctor de Soto are hired
to investigate the strange goings on at a sheep ranch
along the way. Using Psalm twenty three as a guide,
they explore what Jesus meant in referring to himself as
the Good Shepherd. This installment features John Bradford as Sheriff
bug Tussel. Producer and writer Frank Youughley said, interestingly, we
got the idea about the name Sheriff bug Tussel from
the sixties TV show The Beverly Hillbillies. It was mentioned
as the place where Jed Clampett lived before striking it
rich in oil. I was surprised to discover that there
actually is a town called bug Tussle. In fact, there
are at least four towns, one in Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma,
and Texas. So that is Nick Guy and the Good
Shepherd slash Bad Shepherd affair. Also Nick Guy and the
Ripped van Winkle affair is available. This installment features Rose
Beasley and Glenn Haskell, along with series regulars Rebecca Bradford
and Frank Youughlee. The summary is nearly seven years after
being shipwrecked and lost at sea, Stanton Brownwell has reached
turned home. Is the man claiming to be the heir
to a sizeable Estate really him or is he an impostor?
In helping to solve the case, Nick Guy and Doctor
de Soto learn the value of taking each thought captive
to the obedience of Christ, being certain that those thoughts
conform to a right understanding of the Word of God. Also,
Frank Uley gave us a peek at one that is
going to be released very soon, and that is Nick
Guy and the Woman from Anti Affair, which he says
is based on the nineteen sixty television show The Man
from Uncle. This installment features Glenn Haskell and Jana and
Sarah Klein. The Apologetic explores some of the principles that
are helpful for properly interpreting the books of the Bible.
So lots to look forward to from Nick Guy Private Eye.
Now speaking of a few more audio dramas to be
on the lookout for in the future Venture, the next
episode is underway. The team says, we are excited to
announce that sound design for episode two is completed by
Lee's Staying and now they are on to the music
stage with composer Philip J. Rasmussen. Venture, of Course a
production of Eternal Future productions. They also sent in an
update on robin Hood Rising to Honor season two, this
joint production that they are working on with LRT Media,
and they said that writing, recording, and vocal tracks are
one hundred percent done for robin Hood season two, and
sound design is seventy percent done and music fifteen percent,
so truck and ride along. They said, this will be
a powerful season and we will be releasing it all
at once on CD and digital when it is finished,
so that is an interesting strategy. Rather than doing it episodically,
They're going to drop it all at once so we
can binge it. So that's exciting. Really looking forward to
this show, Love season one, can't wait to hear season two,
and another show that is on the horizon, which is
a joint production between Caleb Rerestler and Craig Hart of
LRT Media. He vanished below this is that mystery thriller
that we've talked about in previous episodes. Caleb let us
know that recording has been completed and editing is underway.
The cast includes Craig Hart, Caleb Bresler, Joshua Nicholson, Chloe Elmore,
Connor Bushoven. I hope I'm saying that name correctly. Maybe
it's bush Oven. I don't know, sorry, Connor, Kara O'Brien,
Andy Harvey, and John Renee. No firm release date yet
at this point, but Caleb says likely spring or early
summer of twenty twenty five. At this point you know
they're entering the editing phase, but he says it looks
like it'll probably be three episodes in total, and there
is a link to the website if you want to
go sign up to their list so you can be
notified as soon as that is out. And a trailer
is also in the works that will be coming soon,
so looking forward to that as well. Now more from
Craig Kart slash LRT Media. This is a really exciting
one because we got a little peak at this series
many months ago, and that is Chapel and Squeak, Episode
one of that fun, fun show where rodents are the stars.
Oh goodness. It sort of reminds me a little bit
of those old Kids Praise albums where we had Charity
Church Mouse and all of those characters. But anyway, Chapelin Squeak,
if you haven't heard it, definitely look it up. We
got the first part of that quite some time ago.
Part one of an episode called The Great Church Robbery. Well,
I am excited to share that that show is back
in production and there's going to be a total of
eight episodes in this first season that will be coming
to the Window Seat platform. So this is exciting. I
believe that all eight episodes have been scripted, many of
them have been recorded, post production is in progress on
some of them, so it is moving right along. And
I get to share the titles of all eight episodes.
So the first episode, as we heard, was The Great
Church Robbery Part one. Well, episodes two, three, and four
are The Great Church Robbery Parts two, three, and four,
and then we get episode five, The Rat Who Wouldn't Read,
followed by episodes six and seven, The Great Grade Impostor
Parts one and two, and wrapping up with episode eight
The Tempest and the Tower. Oh man, it's such a
fun show for kids, but I really enjoyed it quite
a bit as well. The cast does a great job.
We have Amy Lilly and Craig Hart and Jonathan Cook
as our primary actors for these characters, and it's just
a lot of fun. So eight episodes total for season
one of this show. Chapel End Squeak coming to window
seat very soon. Well, that'll do it for all of
the audio drama updates. Let's jump into the review segment.
Speaker 1: I remember her from that radio program what was it?
Speaker 3: A Western musical melodrama?
Speaker 2: You helped out with the kids radio program and you
were great another important tool of acting, the art of becoming.
Speaker 3: Shouldn't we applow or or something?
Speaker 1: For what?
Speaker 2: So? As I said at the top of the episode,
I'm going to do something that I don't believe I've
ever done before in the I don't know what has
it been over fifteen years of doing this show. If
you've been listening for any length of time and you've
heard previous reviews, you know that we typically do in
depth reviews of productions. I have in the past done
some shorter ones where I group in a few productions together,
but even then we usually go through all of the
cast and crew credits and all of that kind of
stuff as well. But I'm not going to do that
this time because I wanted to share six audio drama
podcasts that I think you might want to check out,
and it would just take way too much time to
go in depth into all of these, so I wanted
to just do a brief overview of these six different
shows and let you decide whether or not you want
to go check these out. All of these are audio
dramas that are available as a free podcast, and we're
just gonna kind of go through this list and I'll
share a little bit about each show, and of course
they will all be linked in the show notes and
you can go look them up see if it's something
that you and your family might enjoy. One of the
reasons I wanted to do this is because, as you know,
there is a ton of content available out there, and
there's a lot of audio drama, and I'm constantly being
made aware of new shows, and it's just a lot
of time to try to sift through and find out
the stuff that's worth sharing and will be applicable to
this community here, the ATC community. And I listen to
a lot of a really bad audio drama trying to
find the good stuff. And I listened to a lot
of stuff that might be good quality, good acting, but
it's just not great content wise. And so when I
do find some, I often will share a little bit
about them in ATC backstage. If you are a member,
then you know that I do what I call initial
reactions quickisodes, and I'll share my thoughts immediately after listening
to an audio drama for the first time. And so
some of these I have talked about in those episodes,
but I thought it was time to go ahead and
share them on the main show after I've gone a
little bit further into them. So I often do those
reactions immediately after listening to the first or first couple
of episodes. So let's go through these, and I'm going
to share, as I said, a little bit about each show,
and then it will be up to you to go
check them out and see if it's something that you
want to subscribe to. So first up is a show
called The Golden Key. Their official summary is very short.
It just is a full cast, dramatized journey of goodness,
truth and beauty for all ages. So this one has
actually been out for quite a while. They started back
in twenty seventeen and they have almost thirty episodes available now.
Each episode is typically about thirty minutes. Now, this one
does come from a Catholic point of view, so several
of the episodes focus on different saints or different celebrations
on the Catholic calendar. So just wanted to give you
a heads up that these episodes are coming from that
point of view. If you're not Catholic, then you may
not have as much interest in these I know the
majority of our audience are not Catholics. But they recently
did a two part episode called The Suspect in the Sanctuary,
which is a little bit of a mystery thriller story,
which was pretty decent and I quite enjoyed listening to it.
I thought they were still worth mentioning here. There are
some mixing issues with this show. The acting is pretty
good for the most part, the stories are pretty decent.
Like I said, I've listened to a handful of episodes.
I have not listened to every single episode that they
have available, but an example of some of their episodes
are a Saint Valentine's Day Sacrifice, An African Legacy of Faith,
Saint Boniface, and the First Christmas Tree, and as I
mentioned a moment ago, The Suspect in the Sanctuary. And
their website says the Golden Key aims to bring to
listeners of all ages and experience both imaginative and restorative
of the legacy of storytelling and long standing traditions in celebrations, music,
and other attributes of the culture and context of historical Christianity.
Links in the show notes of course to go check
this out on their website and also to a link
on Podchaser where you can subscribe in your podcast app
of choice. So that is again called the Golden Key.
And while we're talking about Saints, let's move on to
the next one called simply the Saints. Now, this one
is from the Mary Beggars. Now, these are the people
who brought us on the Night Train and the a
Christmas Carol Advent calendar. They do really good quality work.
So The Saints is a daily podcast bringing the Saints
to life with award winning actors, writers and sound designers.
In a culture that has abandoned God, families struggle to
find beautiful, faith affirming stories to inspire their children. The
Saints Adventures of Faith and Courage provides thrilling and inspiring
stories to ignite your family's pursuit of virtue and holiness.
Join Joan of Arc as she leads the French Army,
Patrick of Ireland as he escaped slavery, Saint George as
he stands up against the Roman Empire, and many more
professional actors, award winning writers, and cinematic sound design that
are guaranteed to leave you and your family eagerly waiting
for tomorrow's episode. Now it says tomorrow's episode because this
is a daily show. Each weekday they release an episode,
and so each week they focus on the life of
a particular saint and it's very much a biographical story
of each one of these individuals. So I've listened to
a handful of these, in particular the ones about Saint
Patrick and a few others. So it's really interesting, great
production values, good acting. Each episode is about fifteen minutes,
so every single day getting new content. It's really pretty cool.
So again that is called The Saints from the Mary
Beggers is from Moody and I think I may be
even mistaken about this, but I think this might be
the latest audio drama from Moody Radio, and the first
one in quite some time, unless they've been releasing stuff
somewhere that I don't know about. But for many years
they were very active in audio drama, and especially during
my childhood, I listened to a lot of programming from Moody,
So it's cool to see them back in the game.
Whether I'm correct about this being their first one in
a while or not. It's really cool. And this one is,
as with all of the ones I'm talking about today,
released as a podcast, and it's called The Honeycomb Chronicles,
and this is a show for kids, and the official
summary is The Honeycomb Chronicles follows Max, Lena, and Colin
on their adventures in the Honeycomb Club, a faith based
after school program led by mister Mitchell, who created the
club to help kids connect with God and understand his word.
This one was launched last summer August of twenty twenty four.
There are twenty plus episodes available now and they each
have a run time of about ten to fifteen minutes.
So I've listened to a handful of these already. It's
quite fun. Now. This one is presented in an interesting
sort of story framing device. So, as you hear in
the summary there, there's an after school program and these
kids come in to the Honeycomb Club and then they
end up making a podcast. Now this is not a
big spoiler because this is mentioned right in the first episode.
So the kids come together and they decide to make
a podcast. So part of this podcast is episodes of
the kids' podcast. So it's an interesting framing device, which
is not necessarily my favorite way to tell a story,
but I think in this particular case it works fairly well.
And again this one is aimed at kids, so I
think it works. And it's not like the entire episode
that we're listening to is all about them sitting in
a room recording a podcast. There's other things that are
happening around the after school program. Mister Mitchell gives them
different tasks, like there's one episode where they have to
go clean some pet cages. I think it was a
lizard or something like that. So it's a fun show
that I think kids will enjoy, and it's again cool
to see Moody producing some new content. So that is
the Honeycomb Chronicles. Well. Next up is Firebreaker from Coronation Media,
and the summary is Welcome to the world of Firebreaker,
an exhilarating audio drama that takes you on an adventure
of courage, friendship, and sacrifice. Join us as we delve
into the captivating legend of George and the Dragon, a
story that has inspired generations. So season one of this
show is out now. There are eleven episodes play us
a bonus Q and A with some of the creatives
behind the show. Before I say any more, here is
the trailer for Firebreaker. Whoa there, steady, Michael, my mother?
What was that?
Speaker 1: It was nothing, my dear, just a Please everyone stay
where you are. This is a story near to my heart,
one which I have long kept to myself. Does it
have a happy ending? Grandfather? Oh, we shall see. The
hour has come.
Speaker 2: Your noble brother's sacrifice will not be in vain.
Speaker 1: Find silence, savior, Roman soldiers, Please help me. Hold down, boy?
What are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?
I have been sent.
Speaker 2: By my princess to find.
Speaker 1: Warriors, warriors to fight home the dragon.
Speaker 3: George, Perhaps it is time you learned the truth. Since
time began, dragons have corrupted their minds and bodies, and
men dragon worshippers have appeared everywhere.
Speaker 1: They form colts.
Speaker 3: Let us call for a great law and demand absolute
fealty to their so called dragon gods.
Speaker 1: Draco throws couples. Since you left, follow closely, not as out.
But why didn't the people fight? What about the king?
I should have known. I will find you, Capads, I
will find you.
Speaker 2: Silenis with me.
Speaker 1: Let me tell you the story of George. George the
Dragon Slayer, made the Holy Cross be My life? Behind
where you're getting pretty good at this George, what y'all made?
The Dragon never be My overcord.
Speaker 2: Learn more about the world of Firebreaker at Firebreaker series
dot com. Pretty cool, Pretty cool. It is kind of
like a fantasy because it does have some historical elements,
but it obviously has fantastical elements as well, with a
dragon and all of that stuff. But you know, I
was talking about a story telling framing device that we
had in the last one with the Honeycomb chronicles. This
one also employs an interesting storytelling framing device, and that
is we as a listener are listening to an older
gentleman who is telling a story to his grandson. I
believe it is, And so it is interspersed with a
lot of narration. There is a lot of narration in
this one. It is an audio drama. There's plenty of
dramatized scenes, but there is a ton of narration, which,
as you know, that's not one of my favorite things,
but that is the way they chose to approach this,
and that sort of framing is not new to audio drama.
We've heard that a lot, but it can occasionally be
a crutch for writers to find an easy way out
to work in some exposition so that they don't have
to do it in the dialogue. And I think, I
don't want to criticize them too much, but I think
a little bit of that happens here in this show.
There are a few issues that I have with the writing.
That is one example, the heavy reliance on narration and
even some of the dialogue is not super smooth in
some places. You know. Just as an example, there's one scene,
and I'm not gonna give any spoilers, I'm not gonna
say who says it, but there's a scene where a
character says, I'll save you, princess, and the princess replies,
so be it, which it just seems like an odd
way to phrase things. So that's just one example of
the writing is just a little rough around the edges
in some places, but overall it's quite quite good. The
acting is pretty solid. The sound design is also quite good.
Speaking of sound design, I love that they worked in
the Wilhelm scream in at least one place, I think
maybe two. I love hearing that I just like the
little Easter egg there. Many people may not even notice it.
It was pretty subtle, but kudos to the sound designer
for that. Also, there is some very overt symbolism and
parallels to you know, biblical lessons or morals in this story.
But this is a show for family, so therefore they're
trying to make it applicable to younger listeners as well.
So I'm not going to say that that's a negative necessarily.
I think it was handled fairly well, and there's a
lot of adventure, and it's it's a fun show and
you know, following the story of George starting as a
young child and we follow him for several years. And
I thought it was very well done. It was a
fun show, and I think it is is worth checking out.
I listened to the entire season. I also listened to
the bonus Q and A with the team there and
and so this is a pretty good show that I
think you might want to check out. So again, that
is Firebreaker from Coronation Media. All right, we're down to
two more shows. Next up is Wilder Dreams from Story Button.
The summary is discover the heartwarming and dramatic family podcast
Wilder Dreams where the themes of resilience, family bonds, and
self discovery come alive through captivating storytelling. Following the tragic
loss of their eldest son, Bailey and her family are
forced to navigate their grief and find new dreams for
their future. Bailey, who always envisioned running the family ranch
alongside her brother, now faces an uncertain path. He was
the vibrant and fearless one everyone turned to in rough times,
even her beloved g pop. As Bailey grapples with her
brother's absence, she forms unexpected connections with a new neighbor,
a dedicated stable hand, and a wild horse that captures
her spirit. These new relations play a pivotal role in
helping Bailey reconnect with her passion and uncover her true
potential with horses. So this is set on a ranch
in Montana, and I really really enjoyed this. I listened
to the entire series and it is one of my
favorite independent podcast release audio dramas from twenty twenty four. Really,
it really enjoyed it. The characters are fun, engaging, and
it's really interesting to just follow the dynamics of this
family as they're trying to sort through this loss and
keep up on the ranch duties and all this kind
of stuff, and I thought it was really really nice.
It started in July of twenty twenty four and there
are ten episodes. They each average about fifteen minutes, so
it's a good long audio drama and it's quite enjoyable. Now,
I forgot to mention this on fire Breaker, but it
is also the case with this one. I did record
an initial reactions quickisode for this show for ATC backstage,
right after I had listened to the first one or
two episodes, So if you want to hear my initial
thoughts immediately after finishing that, go ahead and join backstage,
or if you're already remember signing and listen to that.
And there is also one for a Firebreaker, the last
show I talked about. But again, this is a really,
really nicely done show. There are a few issues with
the sound design, some mixing issues with some of the
levels here and there, a few little niggly details, but
overall it's very nicely done and I just enjoyed kind
of getting to know this family, these characters. I love
country life, and even though I've been living in a
city for almost two decades now, I love the outdoors,
and so it was just really cool to sort of
get immersed in this slower paced sort of country life
for a few hours with these fun characters. So that
is Wilder Dreams from Story Button and that brings us
to our last one for today, and it is another
one for kids. It's called Tales from Cottonwood Trails. This
is from Square one World Media. The summary is follow
the antics of Rob, the forest Ranger and the quirky
cast of critters he takes care of in the remote
woodlands of Cottonwood Trails. Why that's a tongue twister. No
matter what the adventure or misadventure, Rob is always ready
to guide his animal friends along the way with his
favorite book, the Bible. So, as you probably gathered from
that summary, this is another show that has a bunch
of animal characters, you know, like Paws and Tails or Kids,
Corner Lizen Friends or Jungle Jam. The difference is they
do interact with a human character, the forest Ranger, which
is a little bit different. I can't think maybe I'm
maybe I'm misremembering one that's very obvious, but typically when
we have animal characters, we don't have them interacting with
human characters. Now I mentioned Jungle Jam, and of course
occasionally they do sort of have a fourth wall breaking
moment where the characters in Jungle Jam will talk to
the narrator, but that's more for comedic effect, and the
narrator is not necessarily a character in the story, as
is the case here with Tales from Cottonwood Trails and
Rob the Ranger. But I did not do an initial
reaction for backstage of this show. However, I did record
a little voice memo because we were talking about this
show in the Audio Drama Alliance slack group. So I
recorded a voice memo where I talked about this show
a little bit. So to go ahead and just insert
a few clips from that voice memo and let you
hear some of my thoughts after listening to a few
of these episodes, I got through six episodes of that
show what is it Tales from Cottonwood Trail or is
it Trails? Anyway? Six episodes and it's quite fun. It's
quite fun. I think Austin nailed it on the head
when he said it's sort of tonally, it's sort of
in between the Pond and Jungle Jam. It's not quite
as witty as Jungle Jam and it is definitely a
little more snappy than The Pond. The Pond is a
little more slower paced, but the Pond is also a
little bit more witty in some ways too. Overall, it's
quite funny. There are some laugh out loud lines. I
thought the Badger is a very funny character. I liked
him quite a bit. He has a lot of real
fun lines, and I'm enjoying it. It's an interesting to
or not perspective, but premise to have these short episodes
that completely wrap up with a lesson at the end.
So that's different from like something like Pause and Tales
or even Kid's Corner. At least so far, they all
sort of have a lesson at the end of every
single episode. I guess there was a two part. Of
the last two episodes I listened to was a two part,
but there was still something of a moral and doesn't
seem like there's an overarching arc that these characters are
going on, and so that makes sense. I guess for
the it feels like it's going for a much younger
target audience, and so I think that makes sense for
that to take that approach with this type of a show.
But overall, it's quite fun and I will continue to listen. So,
as you heard in that clip, I referenced a comment
that Austin Peachee had me and he said that this
show is sort of like a middle point between The
Pond and Jungle Jam, and I think he was spot
on about that. The Pond, of course, another show that
focuses on animal characters, and so it's a really fun show.
Production values are pretty good. You know, it's not super
immersive cinematic sort of sound design, but it doesn't need
to be for something like this, and it's it's perfectly fine.
It's fun. There are some really funny lines, the characters
are just goofy, we have all sorts of animals and
it's just really really enjoyable and I think it is
worth checking out. So again that is Tails from Cottonwood Trails.
So that'll wrap up this overview review sort of thing,
and let me know what you think about this format.
If you like me doing this where we don't do
super deep dives but just give a brief synopsis of
each of these, let me know and we can do
more of these, because there are still a lot more
shows that I have to listen to go through. I
do want to try to weed through these shows that
I find out about. Sometimes producers reach out to me
to let me know about them, sometimes I just come
across them. I have Google alerts set up for different
keywords relating to audio drama that I get notified about
this stuff. So there's just a lot out there, and
I don't ever want to bring it a show to
you that I haven't checked out first to make sure
that it's going to be a clean show. And so
these are ones where while I haven't listened to every
single episode of some of them, and others I've listened to,
you know, the ones that are available now, but there
are more to come. But I feel fairly confident in
saying at this point, you know this it's worth going
and looking into. And it's not a complete endorsement of
everything that they cover in every one of these shows,
or that they might cover in future episodes, because I
don't know, you know, most of these are producers that
I'm not familiar with, and so I'm just presenting them
here in this overview sort of approach for your consideration.
So again, let me know what you think of this format,
if you like it, or if you don't like it,
and we won't do it ever again. Let me know
either way though, and of course all of these are
linked up in the show notes. So what do you
think of the show? Please leave your message after the.
Speaker 1: Shown Hi, Audience Theater Central. Hey guys, this is awesome.
Speaker 2: Hell about j D Royan, Andrew Minum and Victoria. Now,
yesterday I received a letter from a big band.
Speaker 1: No time to try. I've got an email list another
package for me today. No, it's actually just your mail.
Speaker 2: Well, speaking of letting me know what you think, here
is the segment for you to do that. If you'd
like to reach out, email us feedback at audiotheatercentral dot com,
or comment on the show notes, or send a text
message or give us a call to our feedback line
six two three six eight eight two seven seven zero. Well,
a few episodes ago, we got some feedback from Camden
about Jake Muller Adventures Blood. I had played a section
of the trailer and Camden had reached out to let
us know that he was a bit surprised that we
were talking about a show that talked about vampires. So
I addressed that feedback in episode two oh seven, and
he followed up after that episode and just let us
know that he listened to the feedback and he appreciated
us addressing his concerns and explaining exactly what Jake Muller
Adventures is and what it's about. And in fact, he
did go and check out Jake Muller Adventures unidentified, and
so he said he understands a little bit more what
that show is trying to do.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: He says he's still personally not going to check out Blood,
but he understands that that is a personal conviction. He
just doesn't feel like that's a decision that he wants
to make because of the content and some of the
things that are depicted in that show. And I totally
get that. I understand that. I respect that. So, as
I said at the time, you know, this is not
a program Jake Muller Adventures. Blood is not one for
younger listeners. It's covering some really well first of all,
it's covering some weird, wacky stuff that really exists in
the world today, and they're doing that intentionally, trying to
bring a light to some of the stuff that's going
on in our world through the lens of a Christian perspective,
but I understand that that's not going to be everyone's
cup of tea, So that's totally totally fine, and I,
you know, we'll try to be more cognizant of that
going forward to any trailers or clips that we might play.
I've always had in my mind anyway, that I want
anything that we talk about to be applicable for the
family and not something you have to go cover the
ears of the young ones if we talk about something
that may be intended more for adults. But I do
understand that everybody has different tolerances, and so yeah, we'll
just make sure to keep that in mind a little
more as we move forward. But thank you Camden for
your follow up on that, and I really appreciate that.
And Camden's comments had actually gotten some feedback from a
few people who heard that episode where I addressed it,
and Michael c and Blake Im responded to some of
Camden's concerns about blood and they brought up focused on
the family Radio theater's father Gilbert, and both of them
mentioned Dead Air in particular, and how those episodes cover
some really evil things as well. So even something that's
produced by focus on the family is not for every
age group. It might be coming from a Christian worldview,
but that doesn't mean that it's applicable or suitable for
all ages. So yeah, and that brought about the whole
discussion of what really does family friendly mean? And we've
talked about this in the past, and I think I
mentioned it in that discussion as well. There's not really
a great term. You know, if you say clean, well
that some people interpret that to mean it's only for kids,
and that doesn't really apply. And so, you know, family friendly.
It's the closest term that I've been able to figure out.
And so that's what we went with from the beginnings
of this show, and that's what I still use today,
even though it's not the perfect descriptor. Michael points out
in his feedback, family friendly means different things to different people.
I think what you mean by family friendly is content
that does not violate Christian morals or a Christian worldview. Preferably,
this content will influence the listener to have a Christian
worldview and Christian morals. Why not just say what you
mean to avoid any confusion. Well, it's true that I
don't want to promote any content that violates Christian morals
or violates the Christian worldview. I don't necessarily think that
a prerequisite means that it needs to influence the listener
to have a Christian worldview or Christian morals, because I
think there are some shows that are just for fun
and they don't necessarily have a biblical or overtly Christian
message to them, and they're just fine. I mean, I
think of some of the old time radio comedies or
even our comedy show Greenhorn Tails. There's nothing that's inherently
Christian about the content is just a show for fun.
And so yeah, we've struggled with how to frame this,
and again, family friendly is just the term that we've
landed on because I don't want to necessarily exclude content
that just because it doesn't have an overt Christian message,
because that's you know, I don't think that that's a
prerequisite for enjoying stuff. So it's tough. It's tough to
figure out how to best do this. But if anybody
else has any particular thoughts on this, I would be
open to hearing from that. So thanks to Blake and
to Michael for chiming in on that discussion. Really appreciated
and hearing their thoughts on that. Also, David Hilder said,
in regards to that same episode, interesting discussion on the
term family friendly audio drama. I don't believe audio drama
needs to be appropriate for all ages in order to
be good. While listening to another podcast called Fantastical Truth,
I first heard the term wholesome audio drama. They discussed
how it could be a potential replacement for the term
family friendly. So to address that, yes, I've definitely heard that.
The problem that I have, and maybe it's just a
me problem, but the problem I have with the word
wholesome is that I'm seeing it way overused online these days,
and people are using it and applying it to things
that are, from my point of view, undeniably unwholesome because
they are in direct opposition to basic biblical principles, and
they're calling these things wholesome. If you look in comments
sections on content online these days, you'll see all kinds
of people saying posting comments like oh that is so
wholesome or whatever. And because of that overuse and misapplication
of that word that has really seemed to be happening
in the last few years. I don't personally care to
use it, because I don't want any content that we're
talking about to get grouped in with some of these
other things that people are calling wholesome that aren't. And
so again maybe it's just a me problem, but that's
why I don't personally think I would use that term
wholesome audio drama. And it's a shame that that word
has sort of gotten corrupted in my view, But I
would not have a problem with other people if they
want to use that term. It's just probably not the
direction I'm going to go in. And David also said,
I hope more audio dramas get made for mature audiences,
and I think it's possible to do so without crossing
the line into unwholesome content. And I totally agree. And
this is something that we've talked about for years and
wanting more content that is made for an older age demographic,
and so Jake Moore Adventures is doing that. Yes, it
might be considered edgy by some and not applicable to
all ages, that's fine, and I also think that there
can be content made for older listeners that doesn't have
to go that direction either. It doesn't have to go
quite as far as Jake Muller does, they are doing
it for a specific reason and with a specific mission
and goal in mind with that series, But I think
it's possible to just have a great action adventure thriller
sort of story for an older audience and not have
to be delving into these deeply serious topics regarding you know,
spiritual warfare and all this other kind of stuff. I
quite enjoy those kinds of stories, but I think it's
possible to do it without it. So there's room for
all kinds of different content, I think, under this umbrella
of clean, family friendly, wholesome, whatever label we want to
put on it. We also heard from Jonathan s on
episode two oh seven where I talked about this very
issue Jake Muller, and he said, ditto to everything JD
said about JMA Blood in this episode, it isn't amazinging
audio drama, and the interview with Darby Kern and Mike
Toouche about it was a highlight of this podcast series.
So thank you for that feedback. Jonathan really appreciate that.
Thank you to David as well. So much of this
feedback was revolving around this issue of content that's maybe
for an older audience, but is still clean and can
still carry a Christian message. So that obviously touched a
chord with people. And so again, if anybody has any
more thoughts about this, definitely open to hearing from you.
Speaker 3: Well.
Speaker 2: Next up, a couple of pieces of feedback regarding episode
two oh eight, our interview with Jared Depesqual. Rose Beasley said,
such a great episode. I've always wondered what the relationship
between the sound designer and the composer was like, so
it was neat to hear Jared touch on that. That
is something I would love to hear talked about more
in depth in terms of the process and collaboration on
projects and how closely the sound design and music relate
to each other. First of all, thank you the feedback rows,
And yes, it's so interesting. This whole production process is
fascinating to me, and I love hearing these creatives talk
about their process. And the music and the sound design
are separate elements, but they are so intertwined in a
really good, really well produced audio drama that it's so
important that those people are talking to each other. I think,
for the most part, or the director slash producer has
a really good idea of what direction to go in
and can really lead both of those parties to create
something that comes together nicely. So yeah, I love hearing
that kind of stuff and I kind of want to
do a little bit more that kind of thing on
the show. So hopefully everybody else is enjoying that kind
of content as well, because I do want to dive
into that a little more going forward. And Bethany Baldsman
also weighed in on that same episode with Jared and
she said, great episode, super interesting to hear from. Jared
gave some good insight even for me as a writer,
that I can apply to my own creative life. And yes,
I think that is so true, and I love that
a lot of times we can listen to these insights
from different creatives who are talking about things specific to
their field, but the concepts, the overall overarching concepts that
they're presenting and approaches to creativity can be applied to
different disciplines and so if you listen with a very
critical ear, you can pull out those little nuggets of
workflow tips or whatever it might be that you can
apply to whatever it is you're doing in your own
creative pursuits. Daniel Roth also weighed in on the Jared episode,
and he said, I loved listening to Jared talk about music.
I myself love film scores and it's so fun to
hear a composer talk about his process and where he
gets his inspiration from. I heard him teach at Sonicon
twenty twenty three and it was excellent. His music is
beautiful and I love listening to it. Also, I love
what he said about Howard Shore and about how the
music for the film can still stand out and are
great even if the movie isn't as great. I found
this to be the case listening to the Score with
edmund Stone and I had never heard of that, but
apparently The Score is a radio program that goes behind
the scenes for different film scores. And yeah, that's definitely true.
I think Jared and I even talked a little bit
about that in that conversation, that some of his music,
actually much of his music I think is just enjoyable
to listen to on its own. And I also listen
to a lot of film scores. I mean never see
the films that I just come across them. Sometimes they
get recommended in my music app and so I listened
to them or somebody else recommends them, and so I
listen to them, and they stand on their own. They're
great to listen to. I listen to instrumental music a
lot as I'm writing or working around the house sometimes,
but a lot a lot of times when I'm writing,
I listen to instrumental music and I just find it,
i don't know, invigorating in a certain way. And so
I love listening to two scores. And as Jared said,
that's always a bonus when it can stand on its own,
that's not the goal. The goal is for it to
support the story, and so it's an integral part of
the overall package, the overall presentation of the story. You know,
we don't want it to get in the way of
the story. We don't want it to take a you know,
a real far back seat where it's like unnoticeable either.
So that's the struggle, or that's the balance that the
composer is trying to strike, and then the sound designer
as they're mixing things, trying to keep it all where everything,
all the elements are complimenting each other and not fighting
with one another, but the story is still at the forefront.
So yeah, music is such a great part of audio drama,
and I I know that there are some producers that
go super minimal on the music side of things. The
BBC in particular, they don't always do a lot of
music in some of their shows. They work with a
lot of different writers and producers. So it probably unfair
to state a blanket observation about all BBC productions because
it's probably not quite true. But I think I think
it's safe to say that generally the BBC takes more
of a minimal approach to original music for audio drama.
There's not always a ton of underscoring and things like
that to support scenes, though that does happen, but you know,
projects like Focus on the Family Radio Theater or Augustine
Institute Radio Theater or lamp Lader Theater where there's a
lot of music involved, and of course Adventures Odyssey it's
such a big part of the story. And as a consumers,
as a fan of audiodrama, I prefer those kinds of stories.
I think it just makes them much richer, and so
that would be my preference. But you know, it is
possible to do a good audiodrama with minimal music. But anyway,
thank you Daniel for your feedback. On the episode. Really
appreciate that. And our final bit of feedback comes from Jane,
as she said, I came across your podcast several weeks ago.
The first episode I listened to was the last one
you did for the year, and she is, of course
referring to the December twenty twenty four episode, which is
probably not the best one to start with, but I'm
glad she's stuck with it. You know, this is something
I tell my podcasting clients all the time. You really
need to try to bring your a game every single episode,
because every episode is going to be somebody's first episode,
and so I try to keep that in mind myself.
I don't I don't like to say do as I say,
not as I do, and I try to practice what
I preach. But that was a very different sort of episode.
It was sort of a break the mold episode and
then I got a little personal at the end there.
So probably not the best one to start with, but hey,
she enjoyed it, and she also included in her email
some very very kind and encouraging words that I'm not
going to go into here, but I deeply deeply appreciated that, Jane,
So thank you very much for your message, But she
also said, I've heard you refer to Soniccon. Do you
know if there will be one this year? The answer
is no, I don't know that if there will be
one in twenty twenty five, though I think at this
point it might be a little unlikely. That's the way
it's looking. I'm going to try to get some more
information on that as soon as possible to share with you,
because I know that people have calendars to try to schedule,
especially if it's going to be at the end of
the year near the holidays. You've got to get that
stuff booked at and so the earlier you can get
the notice, the easier it will be to be able
to attend. So I want to try to get that
information out as soon as possible. But I think it's
looking unlikely at this point for twenty twenty five, but
that could change. I don't know for certain now. If
you are listening, not just Jane, but if you are
listening and you haven't been to Sonicon and you were
hoping to go this year, or if you have been
to previous sonicons and you were hoping to go this year,
head over to the website Sonicdashcon dot org. Reach out
to them and let them know what it is about
the event that you were looking forward to. If you
have attended in the past, what are the things that
you really appreciated about the event, whatever, you can give
them some feedback so they know that this is something
that people still want. Well. Thank you so much to
Jane and Daniel and Bethanien Rose and Jonathan and David
and Blake and Michael and Camden for your feedback. I've
said it before, but I love hearing from you. The
ATC community, the audio drama community is a great, great community.
Some of the best people I've ever met in my
life are the creatives and fans of this community of
family friendly audio drama in particular, and I'm very grateful
to be a part of it. So again, thank you
to everybody for your feedback. As always, if you'd like
to get in touch with us, head over to audio
Theatercentral dot com slash contact and the show notes for
this episode are at Audiotheatercentral dot com slash two eleven
two one one, and all of the links to all
of the audio dramas that I talked about, all of
the news items as well, all of that stuff is
linked in the show notes there. I will see you
next time. Thank you so much for listening. Audio Theater
Central is a production of Porchlight Family Media. Our theme
music was composed by Sam Avandanio. The show is produced
and edited by yours truly, JD. Setter. On Our website
is audio theatercentral dot com. Porklight Family Media your source
for family centered content. Porchlightfamilymedia dot com