This was reasonably unexpected - it seems that I've won a 2014 Pendy Award for Best Actor in a Seminar Short, for my role as Richard O'Malley in "O'Malley's Media Storm".
We are taking questions from the audience... uh, yes?
"What the heck is a 'Pendy Award'?"
Great question! I hadn't actually heard of them before November of this year. They are annual awards from Pendant Audio - an audio production group which was formed way back in 2004 dedicated to the creation of radio dramas in the style of radio serials from the Golden Age of Radio in the 1930's and 40s'. They solicit audio scripts, post casting calls for voice actors, and through the magic of elves and computers, pull it all together on a regular basis. They have several shows, shorts and longer-form projects which can be found on their SHOWS page. Next question...
"What's a 'radio'?"
Really? You're going with that? Ok. Yeah, a radio is like the internet without pictures? Naaahhh... It's like streaming audio, except once upon a time, humans used to choose what got played. And before that, they actually performed live at specific times, and you had to listen then or you wouldn't hear it. Crazy, huh? Those were the dramas and shows that everyone kept up with. Most of the early voice actors came from radio and vaudeville, their talents and characters honed by years of live performances and the glorious creative environment of working with other actors. Folks like Mel Blanc, June Foray, Dawes Butler and a ton of other folks whose voices you would probably instantly recognize. These folks are some of my heroes, and I love the idea that audio dramas are being actively produced.
"Can anyone just listen to these?"
Yep - they post them on the Shows Page I mentioned earlier, and they have a regular podcast you can subscribe to (and I gotta put in a quick plug for Instacast here. Been using it on the phone - iOS is free - and it's pretty solid!)
"What kind of stuff do they do?"
It really ranges quite a bit - their most ambitious project has been "The Phantom Canyon" (which includes the very talented Lea Gulino among the cast).
"And what exactly did you do?"
I played Richard O'Malley, an overblown television host who has an odd and interesting guest on his show "O'Malley's Media Storm". It was part of the "Seminar - Original Anthology Show" which features short plays and other projects "heard through the lens of lessons in a futuristic post-apocalypse..." So, it's kind of a unique venue... This project appeared in Episode Number 59, released in October of 2014. My bit starts right around 8 minutes.
A big thanks to the folks at Pendant Audio, and everyone who had a part in making this happen!
