Workshop 101
Online Video Conference
Creating and Podcasting The Dramatic Podcast
Workshop 101
Workshop 101: Creating and Podcasting Audio FictionA series of Master Classes for producers and performers that will take place online June 11-14, 2020 as part of the virtual HEAR Now Festival.
These sessions will examine creating short-form content for podcast audiences. Registration is limited to 18 participants Once registration is filled to capacity, we will be put any others who wish to register on a “wait list.” If there are any last minute cancellations we will notify the "wait list" in the order in which we received them. Questions? Email hearnowfestival@gmail.com 101 Faculty
Lia Hagen is an overly enthusiastic girl finding innovative ways to tell stories online. Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, she now lives in NYC. She's a podcaster, a director, and a social media manager, but above all, she's a writer of all things. Her fiction podcast "Overkill" tells the story of a ghost accidentally summoned by a troupe of Girl Scouts, and it has been downloaded more than 30,000 times. Her webseries projects include "In the Clouds," a rooftop love story with 25,000+ views, and the upcoming "Stalled." She graduated summa cum laude from NYU with a degree in Digital Storytelling, and her special skills include killing bugs for her squeamish friends. In her free time, she likes to laugh at her own jokes.
Brian Price of Great Northern Audio Theatre is an award-winning writer and producer of original audio Fiction. He has written, directed and worked with audio theater groups across the country including Native Voices At the Autry, the Grist Mill, and the National Audio Theatre Festivals. He is also a Mark Time Grandmaster in good standing.
In 2018 he and partner, Jerry Stearns', original production "The Old Cart Wrangler" won an Audie nomination. In 2017 they won an APA Audie for their feature-length drama, IN THE EMBERS, were awarded the Norman Corwin Award for a lifetime of Excellence in Audio Theatre, and released their newest CD, LOOSE WHEELS AND NARROW NECKS--monologues featuring David Ossman. www.greatnorthernaudio.com 
Carol Monda is an award winning narrator and performer who brings 35 years of experience and devotion to the performing arts. Trained at New York City's American Academy of Dramatic Arts she holds a Fine Arts degree in Drama from Catholic University. Carol's career was spent mainly on stage at theatres such as Arena Stage, The Kennedy Center, and Manhattan Theatre Club, playing parts as diverse as The Snow Queen, Viola in Twelfth Night and Celimene in The Misanthrope.
Her voice-over work is equally varied with clients including ID Discovery, McDonald's, HSBC, The Guggenheim, UPIC, Tena, NY Historical Society, the AFL-CIO, CitiCorp, WNET, NYC-Arts and the Toronto, Detroit, Portland and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestras. Carol has been the voice of the Turner Classic Film Festival for over 10 years and can be heard on more than 450 audiobook titles in 17 genres. These narrations for Audible, Blackstone, Blunderwoman, Brilliance, Deyan, Hachette, Harper, Highbridge, Macmillan, Metabook, Penguin Random House and Recorded Books, among others, have garnered Audie and Earphones Awards, Years' Best mentions and Audie nominations. Carol brings her experience and passion to teaching and coaching. She has devised and taught classes in commercial and narrative VO, audiobook narration, voice and speech, acting, scene study, audition techniques, text analysis and accent reduction. She has served as an adjunct professor of Commercial VO and Narration at NYU's Digital Design and Film School and as an instructor of Voice and Speech III at Tisch School of the Arts. She was a director and teacher at the Professional Performing Arts School in NYC and Belvoir Terrace in the Berkshires. Carol has also taught extensively in and around Washington, DC., including classes at the Theatre Lab School of Dramatic Arts, Round House Theatre and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. She has taught and paneled at VO Atlanta, VO Mastery, the NE Narrator Retreat, APAC and countless workshops. Currently, she directs and teaches voiceover at Edge Studio, The Voice Shop at CMD and Global Voice Acting Academy, and has a robust private coaching practice. 
Deondra Means is a Master storyteller and resident playwright of The Children's Theatre of Cincinnati with over 30 years experience as a voice actor.
For the past 3 years, Deondra’s worked with the HEAR Now Festival. He was voice talent for Blood Cotton and co-produced and assistant directed, American Socialist: The Life and Times of Eugene Victor Debs. He’s also a featured singer with the Hues Corporation and has been a featured voice artist with Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra: Lolli Pop’s, as narrator for “Peter and the Wolf”. He’s recorded as a featured soloist with Kentucky Symphony Orchestra’s Ragtime Band in Rags to Riches and in addition to directing audio play readings and Pod Casts for TCT, Deondra is a voice talent with Sound Images based in Cincinnati Ohio. 
Tony Brewer is a poet and sound effects artist from Bloomington, Indiana. He is also is also a spoken word performer, screenwriter, and roller derby announcer. He has taught and performed for the National Audio Theatre Festivals and HEAR Now since 2001, and has taught at Indiana University, Michigan University, and Kansas City Art Institute. He has performed with the Knoxville Opera, Otherworld Media, Stages Bloomington Youth Theatre, and many other orgs, from foley for film to costumed live theatre. Tony also plays live sound effects and field recordings with the improv ensemble Urban Deer.
Tony is also executive director of the Spoken Word Stage at the 4th Street Arts Festival in Bloomington, Indiana. He has three books (The Great American Scapegoat, Little Glove in a Big Hand, and Hot Type Cold Read) and wrote and co-produced a DVD, 8 Wheels of Death, the world’s first roller zombie romantic comedy. 
Matt Serianni - Editor / Production Assistant
Matt is an audio engineer/musician based in Brooklyn, hailing from Saratoga, NY. He received a STEM-certified BM in Music Technology from New York University in 2018, and enjoys continually working and learning in the fields of audio and music. In addition to working with Radio Waves Studios - engineering various pieces of voice-based media including podcasts, audiobooks, audio dramas, and more - he has accolades and experience in live sound for musical, theatrical, and corporate settings. He also produces, mixes, and masters records for independent artists in and around NYC, including himself! He has an EP released under the name “Matthew Gregory”, and enjoys playing shows as a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter under this moniker and with other projects. Throughout his engineering and songwriting, Matt is committed to creating compelling storytelling through music and sound. |
Workshop 101 Video Conference Schedule & SyllabusAll times are CENTRAL
Workshop 101 begins on with on-site check-in on Thursday, June 11 at 9:45am am via Zoom video conferencing. Class materials will be distributed via email on Wednesday, June 10, 2020 to participants for review prior to the first class. Thursday, June 11, 2020 - Sessions will take place over Zoom DAY ONE: PRE-PRODUCTION By the end of day one, students will have worked through the process of conceptualizing and pitching a fiction podcast. They will have completed a log line and character summaries, and they should have a plan for their 3-5 minute pilot episode. 10AM-11AM / WHY PODCASTS? In this group session, we’ll introduce ourselves and explain our interest in audio fiction. 11:30AM-12PM / FINDING YOUR STORY Students will be in three or four person break-out groups, depending on the class size, instructors will work with the groups to help refine their concepts. 2:30PM-3:30PM / THE PITCH Each group will pitch their show and receive feedback. 3:30PM-4:30PM / THE SCRIPT Brian Price and Deondra Means will discuss the core elements of a pilot script. 4:30PM-5:30PM / THE PILOT In breakout groups, students will create an outline for their pilot and decide whether they will be written collaboratively or by an individual. Friday, June 12th Sessions will take place over Zoom DAY TWO: PRODUCTION By the end of day two, students will have a sense of how to make their podcast happen in the real world. They will better understand how to tell stories within an episodic structure, and they will have learned how to direct actors and work with audio. By the end of the day, they should have recorded a 3-5 minute draft of their pilot episode. 10AM-11AM / PODCASTING BEYOND THE PILOT In this group Zoom, Lia Hagen will discuss podcasting beyond the pilot. 11AM-12PM / ON VOICE ACTING Carole Monda will discuss what makes for good voice acting, and we’ll discuss the relationships between actors and directors in audio fiction. 12PM-12:30PM / GROUP CHECK-INS Using Zoom break-out groups, Lia Hagen will check on the progress of the groups. Depending on availability, instructors will assist. 2:00PM-3:00PM / ON SOUND ENGINEERING SFX Artist Tony Brewer and engineer Matt Serianni will discuss how sound design and sound engineering influences the telling of audio fiction. 3:15PM-4:30PM / TABLE READS In this group Zoom, we will read each group’s pilot draft. Saturday, June 13th Sessions will take place over Zoom DAY THREE: PRODUCTION & POST-PRODUCTION By the end of day three, students will understand how to publish their podcast and acquire an audience. They will have a basic understanding of the place of podcasts in the media landscape and how to market their story. By the end of the workshop, they should have recorded their 3-5 minute pilot. 10AM-11:30AM / GROUPS WILL RECORD Each group will record their 3-5 minute pilot. Mentors will be listening in on Zoom. 11:30AM-1PM MARKETING YOURSELF In this final group discussion, Lia Hagen how to genuinely engage your audience and community. |
