Radio Dramas Reborn on the Internet

In a time when radio is filled with two unpalatable choices -- overhashed bland music and insidious talk, (usually those seedy regions of religion, politics or fart jokes) another choice emerges from the swampy dredges of corporate control. This mutant creature, a super hero of sorts, scents out those of us reminiscing about old time radio shows. Created in a fantasy playland where Burns and Allen lived, The Shadow stalked, even radio soap operas dramatically declared their existence, radio shows took listeners on an emotional roller coaster. In what seemed an inevitable but tragic end, video came swooping in with technological triumph. While it didn't kill the radio star, it seemed to have put radio dramas into the grave.

Fast forward 50 or 60 years, long past the ashes of the radio drama's funeral pyre. Technology has far outstripped television, letting us make digital information portable and instantly accessed. Ipods follow us around, tailored to our listening pleasures rather than the tastes of corporate playlists. Itunes and YouTube have become the EJ's of the day (electronic jockies,or--if you're cool-IJ's). Combining this technological explosion with the uncontrollable wild wild west of the internet, opens the playing field of creativity to the masses.

Out of this primordial cybersoup a new incarnation of Radio Drama has crawled to save the hearts and minds of listeners and creators. Radio Drama has claimed a new name on the wireless waves: The Internet Audio Drama.

Coming in the form of downloadable or streaming mp3 and wav files, much of it is produced for free by groups of people whose creativity is unbridled. They write, produce, mix, and act in these fairly high quality productions out of the passion they have for the end product. And all of this is somehow sandwiched between real world work, kids, the need to eat and, of course, sleep.

Many of these audio sites start out as FanFic (or Fan Fiction for the uninitiated) such as Star Wars Fan Works. (Star Wars and Star Trek seem to be common fare in the internet audio drama community.) On the continuum of audio drama devotees, the groups begin to evolve into hybrids which also labor with love in creating original audio dramas. Pendant Audio, Darker Projects, and Circus 13 are excellent examples of FanFic to original audio production hybrids.

Pendant started with a Star Trek spin off, does a variety of DC based shows, and has launched several original productions in the last few years. Darker Projects has done Dr. Who spin offs, as well as Quantum Leap, and its own Star Trek show. It too has several original sci-fi, sometimes horror filled, creepy or suspenseful tales to tap into. Circus 13 delves into the world of Marvel, with X-men and Spiderman to tingle the senses, in addition to its original fare.

Still others primarily were created to breathe life into new visions of audio storytelling goodies, such as Roney Zone, Misfits Audio, Imagination Lane, Broken Sea and Giant Gnome Productions. (There are so many more and so little space!)

Those who dare to go it alone without a cult following of voice actors, producers and mixers can go to the Voice Acting Alliance to announce projects, post auditions for voice actors and helpers (primarily unpaid-paid Internet voice work is an entirely different article) and post links to their finished sound files.

The variety and spices of internet audio drama are just as diverse-if not more so than their old time counterparts. For example: horror, suspense, action and mystery can be found at Darker Projects and Broken Sea. Science fiction and space dramas are being launched at Giant Gnome and Misfits, though with different flair and flavor. Misfits has a taste for comedy while Giant Gnome has a darker fantasy tone.

Roneyzone does parodies and humor, but has recently launched a gripping futuristic action adventure serial called New World Army. (For full disclosure the author has deep ties to this production--and has been involved with each of these groups at some level from fan to actor currently or in the past). Imagination Lane is starting a new fantasy/mystery private eye show called TamLynn PI. Imagination Lane bills itself as entirely family friendly. Pendant Productions runs the gamut of shows including DC comics--Superman, Wonderwoman, Catwoman--to family friendly anthologies and adult oriented science fiction/fantasy soaps in the form of the Kingery and Once Upon a Time in Las Vegas.

These productions are then free to download, bringing joy to thousands of people (though some estimate it to be in the millions). The programs themselves then seem to spawn further creativity. Take for example this short story called Ruminations by Perry Whittle (Ep.9) about talking cows mired in their own version of the rat race. It spurred one listener to begin creating a humorous and visually captive animation to the audio who then posted it on Youtube.

Internet audio drama has burst through so intensely, and kept that flame burning, so much so that the genre has birthed its own prestigious and sought after awards. The Parsec Awards are, according to their website, "Dedicated to rewarding excellence in various aspects of Speculative Fiction Podcasting". They are the Oscars of internet audio drama. In its third year and partnered with Dragon Con (in geek speak, one of the coolest conventions on this earthly pod), it sifts through hundreds of nominations to find the best of the best. BrokenSea's "Maudelayne" received the prestigious honor of of being a finalist for a Parsec award in the Best Speculative Fiction Audio Drama Category.

In addition to reviving a dormant art, the plethora of audio stories to choose from have been a boon to the blind in a day and age where television and movie media, whose elements no matter how well described are focused towards the visual, are the demand of the day. Move over ABC and HBO--a large and economically viable segment of the population is making the television a giant paperweight for their Mp3 player.

Whether zooming in the cockpit of a WWII fighter plane shooting down farcical Nazis during an interminable bus ride, or facing sniperbot explosions and angry crowds suboordinated by artificial intelligence in the midst of ignoring angry people in the cubicles around you, internet audio drama is returning listeners of all ages and states to the saving grace of an imagination fantasy playland. It has re-emerged from fiery ashes to reclaim its crown that radio drama lost so many years ago. This seems to be a fitting new beginning for the audio phoenix that was radio drama.

Trivia:

1. Can you figure out which two Internet Audio Dramas are referenced in the last paragraph? Hint: They are housed at two of the audio producers listed in the article.

2. The intro to this article, though dramatic, is a reverent nod to a recently deceased celebrity in the voice over field. Can you name him? Hint: He is considered the father of voice overs.

Sources:

Voice Acting Alliance - voiceactingalliance.com/board/
Star Wars Fan Works - www.starwarsfanworks.com
RoneyZone Productions - www.roneyzone.com
Pendant Audio Productions - www.pendantaudio.com
Parsec Awards - www.parsecawards.com
Misfits Audio - www.misfitsaudio.com
Imagination Lane - imaginationlane.net
Giant Gnome Productions - giantgnome.com/
Darker Projects - www.darkerprojects.com
Circus 13 Productions - www.circus13productions.com/
Broken Sea Audio Productions - brokensea.com/