[su_spoiler title=”REGISTER” class=”my-custom-spoiler”]

Oops! We could not locate your form.

Make an inspiring and successful podcast. A exceptional group of professional podcasters and radio producers help you develop your audio practice and podcasting vision.

10 years ago Internet and low cost audio production tools radically transformed the radio landscape, liberating the audience from time and space and makers from traditional media. Nowadays, anyone can become a broadcaster. But hosting a successful listener-supported podcast is a professional engagement. A successful podcaster has many technical skills, from audio engineering to radio journalism to sound storytelling to online marketing, and needs a great dose of imagination and entrepreneurial initiative.

This seminar designed by UnionDocs in partnership with Benjamen Walker and PRX network Radiotopia will show producers the various creative practices of podcasting. It will offer them technical tools and skill sets for navigating through the podcasting revolution and finding their own path in this emergent medium.

Over the course of a week, 15 producers will learn from a team of seasoned guest speakers and practitioners — public broadcast reporters, radio auteurs, sound engineers, podcasters and social science thinkers. This week-long seminar will explore storytelling to sound design to audience engagement and more. Workshops, discussions, exercises and work-in-progress critique will put this new knowledge into practice. Radio producer, host and creator of “Theory of Everything” for PRX Radiotopia, Benjamen Walker, will lead the course.

IMPORTANT FACTS

When: Monday, October 20th to Friday, October 24th, 2014, 10am – 6pm

Where: UnionDocs, 322 Union Ave., Brooklyn NY 11211

Who is eligible? 

We are looking for mid to advanced level audio producers and podcasters from all types of the media industry and beyond who have demonstrable skills in storytelling, sound editing and mixing. Please send a statement of interest, including a presentation of your audio practice and a project idea (approx. 250 words), CV, bio and a work sample with your application to [email protected]. Producers are accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Please note: Participants *will not* be producing a piece during the week. Focus is on listening, discussing and developing your podcast project.

Cost:

The fee for the intensive follows the schedule below. A non-refundable deposit of $350 is due upon application to the program. The balance payable two weeks in advance of the intensive.

October Session:

$750 – Early Bird Registration. Deposit received by October 8.

$850 – Late Registration by October 19.

Participants coming from outside NYC are responsible for their own transportation and room and board during the intensive. UnionDocs can provide assistance in locating housing and guidance for getting around town for those not native to New York.

Refund Policy:

The deposit is non-refundable. Should you need to cancel, you’ll receive half of your registration fee back until October 13. After October 13, the fee is non-refundable.

[su_spoiler title=”Class Overview” anchor=”commons radio one”]

Subject to change.

DAY 1 – Monday – Podcasting is the new radio
What makes podcasting different from traditional radio? The first day of our week-long program looks in-depth at the ways we make and hear audio podcasts.
Instructors:
Morning : radio host Benjamen Walker (Theory of Everything)
Afternoon: CEO of Public Radio Exchange Jake Shapiro (PRX Inc.)

DAY 2 – Tuesday – Power of voices
Voices convey a message, tell a story, make a point, guide the audience. What is magic with podcasts is that they are free from the radio clock and standardization. The second day of the intensive looks at the diversity of voices, the multiple ways to interact with audiences and build a relationship with listeners.
Instructors:
Morning :  radio host and producer Nick van der Kolk (Love+Radio)
Afternoon: vocal artist and performer Samita Sinha (portfolio)

*Field Trip: Celebrate Radiotopia. An evening of fun and excitement at the Eisner and Lubin Auditorium (60 Washington Sq. South)
www.radiotopia.fm

DAY 3 – Wednesday – Radio Storytelling
Radio making and storytelling are inseparable. How do you take an idea, a recording, an interview and turn it into a story?  On Wednesday, we focus on writing and shaping a sound story from scratch.
Instructors:
Morning : radio host and author Jonathan Goldstein (WireTap)
Afternoon : radio host and producer Joe Richman (Radio Diaries)

DAY 4 – Thursday – Turning a podcast into a show
The podcaster sees beyond one episode to create a series. Behind each podcast, there is a strong concept and a recognizable identity. The session on Thursday explores the multiple roles of the podcaster: at once host, producer, editor and visionary.
Instructors:
Morning: Host and producer Jonathan Mitchell (The Truth)
Afternoon:  radio host and producer Roman Mars (99% Invisible)

DAY 5 – Friday – BEING PUBLIC
It is time to launch your podcast. How to generate an audience and evaluate its growth? How to make your practice sustainable?
The last day of the seminar examines audience strategy, marketing and various business models for podcasting.
Instructors:
Morning: Host and managing editor of the podcast  “Death, Sex & Money” Anna Sale (WNYC)
Afternoon: radio host and manager Liz Berg (WFMU)

Each day follows this general structure, with some minor variations and substitutions:
10:00a    Warm up, inspiring references, listening exercises, ear training.
10:30a    Presentation
11:45a    Discussion
12:30p    Share / Discussion / Exercise
1:00p      Lunch (on your own – lunch will be provided on Friday)
2:00p      Presentation
3:15p      Discussion
4:00p      Workshop Exercise
5:00p      Workshop Critique
5:30p      End

[/su_spoiler]

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS

Benjamen Walker has made radio for NPR, WNYC, WFMU, and the BBC. Currently he produces and hosts ‘The Theory of Everything,’ part of the Radiotopia network from the public radio exchange (toe.prx.org).

Anna Sale is the host and managing editor of Death, Sex & Money, a biweekly interview podcast at WNYC. A veteran public media reporter, Anna covered politics for years, including the 2013 New York City mayoral race, the 2012 presidential campaign, and the statehouse beat in Connecticut and West Virginia. She is a frequent fill-in host for The Brian Lehrer Show and The Leonard Lopate Show and has contributed to This American Life, NPR, Marketplace, PBS Newshour, CNN, MSNBC, BBC, Slate, and NY1.

Jake Shapiro is founding CEO of PRX, the award-winning public media network supporting Matter within a portfolio of content, distribution, and leadership services. Jake is an Ashoka Fellow, former Associate Director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard, and an advisor to a variety of media organizations, funders, and Internet startups.

Jonathan Goldstein’s writing has appeared in The Walrus, The New York Times, GQ, and The National Post. He is a frequent contributor to PRI’s This American Life and the New York Times Magazine, and was a 2002 co-recipient of The Third Coast Audio Festival’s Gold Prize. In 2004, he was awarded a Canadian National Magazine award for humor. He is author of ‘Lenny Bruce is Dead’ and ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bible!’. His latest book, ‘I’ll Seize the Day Tomorrow’, is available for purchase online. Jonathan Goldstein hosts and produces PRI’s Wiretap, now in its 11th season.

Jonathan Mitchell (writer, director, producer) has contributed a wide range of work—documentaries, fictional stories, non-narrated sound collages, and original music— to all sorts of programs: Radiolab, Studio 360, This American Life, Hearing Voices, Fair Game, The Next Big Thing, and PBS’s Nova, to name a few. His work has won many awards, including the Peabody, Third Coast Festival, and the Gold Mark Time Award for Best Science Fiction Audio. He studied music composition at University of Illinois and Mills College, and lives in New York City.

Liz Berg has worked in public radio for 12 years, nearly 10 of which have been as the Assistant General Manager at independent, non-commercial WFMU in Jersey City. In addition to hosting a weekly radio show and podcast, Liz oversees the station’s annual fundraising Marathon, grant writing and administration, special events, remote broadcasts, podcasts, web-only programs, and web development projects.

Nick van der Kolk is a radio producer, sound designer, events organizer, and the host and creator of the critically-acclaimed Love + Radio podcast. His work has appeared on This American Life, The New York Times, Snap Judgment, Marketplace, and numerous radio outlets worldwide. He is also the co-founder of Megapolis — an audio art and leftfield radio festival. His media career began in 2001 as a DJ and later station manager of his college’s 5-watt, student-run station (slogan: “Stations with listeners have sold out”). He has won multiple awards from the Third Coast International Audio Festival, and is a 2012 USA Artists Collins Fellow.

Roman Mars (@romanmars) is the creator of 99% Invisible, a short radio show about design and architecture. With over 17 million downloads, the 99% Invisible podcast is one of the most popular programs on iTunes. Fast Company named him one of 100 Most Creative People in 2013. The 2012 season 3 fund raising campaign for 99% Invisible broke all previous records for a journalism project on Kickstarter. He is also the host and program director of PRX Remix, a 24-hour, innovative public radio story stream broadcast on XM 123 and public radio stations across the country.

Samitha Sinha is a performer and composer who combines tradition with experiment to create bold new forms, combining a deep grounding in North Indian classical vocal music with jazz, electronic, folk and ritual music in multiple languages. Samita has composed for a number of film and dance projects and has performed her solo projects at venues across NYC and around the country. Committed to combining art and civic practice, Sinha has devised and led social singing rituals for diverse groups of people in varied public settings. The development of her new work, CIPHER, includes the Open Voice workshops for young women of color in NYC. Her awards include grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, Queens Council on the Arts, Urban Arts Initiative, and a Fulbright Scholarship; and residencies with Atlas Performing Arts Center (DC), BRICLab (NY), Coleman Center for the Arts (AL), Millay Colony for the Arts (NY), Ohio State University, and The Watermill Center (NY).