New site - update your bookmarks!

As we have entered the next phase in this project's life (recording! With actors!), we felt it was time to move on over to a dedicated domain for Escape Clause. All the content here has been moved over there as well, and you can also see how the Great Recording Weekend of 2010 went! Come check us out at www.escapeclausepodcast.com!

Counting down

As mentioned before, the scripts are done! And now that we've gotten all of them back from our editor, I can say with certainty that they are way better now than they were a month ago. Trust me, if you have a good friend who happens to be a talented and generous editor, you should avail yourself of his or her services.

We are now 8 days from recording. The following things need to happen in the meantime:

• Final tweaks to 6 scripts (a lot more time-consuming than you'd think - there are a lot of continuity issues to address)
  
• Two meetings with actors to discuss their roles and get a feel for the characters
  
• Make pop filters and sound boxes for microphones
• Finalize location for cast party next Saturday night
• Figure out logistics for the recording weekend and determine how best to organize the time
• Learn how to act
  

So, that's a lot. When I begin to freak out (as happens approximately every time I look at the list above), I try to remind myself that the following things have already happened:

• We've found a composer to work on the score, and a songwriter to develop the theme music
• We have a portable sound studio, big enough to hold 3 people in relative comfort. It has been dubbed The Chamber (always speak of The Chamber in capital letters to remind yourself of its grandeur)
• Approximately everyone we know has contributed something to this project already, offering their talents, support and encouragement. It's kind of overwhelming to think about.
  
• Did I mention that all 11 scripts have been written and edited?

When it's complete, this will be the largest creative project I've contributed to, by far. 2 years, 173 pages of dialogue and about a thousand awesome moments later, I think I've finally reached the point where I'm willing to admit that this is one of the coolest things I've done.

We did it!

Oh my god, we finished it.

In July of 2008, Jason and I got together at a sandwich shop and started brainstorming ideas for an audio drama podcast. We had this ridiculous notion that we could actually pull something like this off. Two years and a bottle of champagne later, we have completed all of the scripts and sent them off to a dear friend who is a professional editor, and who has graciously agreed to edit them for us. (Let it be said that we hope she will remain a dear friend once she realizes what she got herself into.)

We still have the original brainstorming list from that fateful summer day. I just looked it over, and absolutely none of it applies to our current story. Well, I take that back. There are three things:
1. A magician
2. Madame (now Aunt) Olga
3. The magician's hacker friend

That's pretty much it -- the rest really isn't worth recapping. I'm not sure how the heck we got from that list to the story we have now, but I have to say, I'm pretty pleased with what we did with it. I hope you will be too.

Well, once we release it, that is. There are still many, many steps between now and the release of the first episode. Some of those are very exciting steps -- but there are many of them. We'll be sure to keep you updated.

Meanwhile - want to be a part of it? We are still looking for cast members (particularly men, but we still have a few roles for women available as well) - and we still have episodes that need album artwork. Contact either one of us for more details. Tell your friends.

Oh? And by the way... the show has a name now. It's called Escape Clause. We need to change the blog subhead one of these days.

As Viper would say, "Dude. We totally did it. This is so freakin' awesome!"

Indeed, my friend. Indeed.

Call for Visual Artists

Attention visual artists!

We are looking for someone (or several someones) to create album artwork for each of our episodes. The count currently stands at 10 episodes - maybe 11, depending on whether or not we split the finale into a two-parter. (We're still on the fence about that.) Ideally, we'd like each episode to have it's own unique artwork attached to it.

As much as we'd like to, we won't be able to pay you for your work -- but we will promote the heck out of you.

If you're interested in donating some time and artistic talent, then please contact us by commenting on this post, or emailing river.roberts at gmail dot com or hess42 at gmail dot com. It would be great if you could send us a small sample of some of your work. If it seems like a good match, we'll let you know what we need and give you some plot points to get you started.

Thanks! Feel free to pass the word along to your friends, enemies (as long as they don't decide to become our enemies, mind you), or anyone else you think might be interested.

Let me explain... No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

Now that the casting call has gone out, we potentially have a number of new folks reading our blog who are curious about what this here project is all about. I thought I would go back through the archives a bit and pull out some posts that might help give you a better picture.

(By the way, we still have a handful of roles available - some small, some less small. If you're interested, please read the casting call and drop us a line. We begin recording in just under two months.)

What's this show about again?
The best place to start would be what we're calling the "dustjacket summary" of the show - that will likely find its way into one of the trailers, or at least the iTunes description. Or you can read one of Jason's early descriptions wherein he can't decide if it is a road story, buddy movie, urban fantasy, coming-of-age story, or something else entirely. We have been somewhat inspired by Slavic mythology (and when I say "inspired" I mean "loosely inspired"). You can learn a bit about the deities we are inviting into our little universe, as well as some fun tidbits about Slavic sympathetic magic.

You two appear to be quite witty and charming. Does your show reflect that aspect of your respective personalities?
I'm glad you asked. Jason is not the only indecisive one on the writing team. For several months I struggled with the emotional tone of our scripts. At first, I thought it was going to be a fairly serious show. But as we're nearing the end of the writing process, I have finally seen the light, and fully acknowledge that yes, I have a "campy" gene -- and I am not the least bit ashamed of it.

Okay, so it's funny. What are the characters like?
Somewhere down the line, we realized that we had created 30 unique characters for this show. Granted, many of them have creative names like "Guard #2" - but since our main character is traveling throughout the entire show - he meets a lot of different folks. Unwieldy, perhaps. But the beautiful part is that we get to involve as many people as possible in the process - which couldn't make me happier. (Did I mention the casting call?)

Our lead characters are already cast - since most of them were written with specific folks in mind. Several of them (but not all) are featured in the blog. And while some aspects of the characters have changed since we wrote the profiles, the essence of who they are seem to be pretty intact. You can read about Alex, our main character, his Great Aunt Olga, his best friend Viper, and Klaus, an old family rival. You can also get to know Mags, Alex's haunted GPS - who often leads him to diners, where he meets various waitresses.

What made you decide to do this?
I think Jason describes our motivation very well in his opening post.

And are you finished yet?
We are very, very close. The finish line for script-writing is within reach - and we have set dates for recording. Music is being composed, sound effects are being located, space for a make-shift recording studio is being rented, actors are showing up. This thing is actually going to happen, and happen soon. I can't guarantee a release date yet, because we're not sure how long post-production is going to take - but I would imagine that by the end of the year, we're going to have ourselves a podcast. And then I'm going to have a Reuben sandwich to celebrate.

In which there is a casting call

You oughta be in podcasts

You’re wonderful to hear

You oughta be in podcasts

You’re music to our ears!

Your voice would thrill a nation

Whether you are short or tall

You’d make a great sensation

You won’t be paid at all

(with grave apologies to Heyman and Seusse)

Good afternoon, gentle readers. I suspect you’re wondering why we’ve called you together today. We are here to discuss an important matter.

You may recall that River and Jason, back in bygone days known as “2008” began a writing project known at the time as “Hey, we should totally write a podcast.” Since that time, the project has gone through several phases, including “What the hell were we thinking?” “This is really harder than I thought it would be,” and, “I can’t even think about this thing right now, oh god, why won’t these characters leave me alone?” Throughout each of these iterations, we’re pleased to note, we have generally enjoyed the process quite a bit.

Recently, the project has entered a whole new phase. Now, we’re calling it “You know, we’re actually pretty close to done with this thing. Guess we should start recording it eventually, eh?”

And that, we hope, is where several of you come in. At last count, we discovered that we have written a story with more than thirty characters (though many of them don’t need a unique voice: Thug #2, for instance, probably doesn’t need to be that distinct from Man With Gun three episodes earlier.)

Most of the large roles were written with specific people in mind, so our leads are covered (for better or worse). What we need, at the moment, are some friends who are willing to help us with those roles that actually make the story move forward in some key elements…and, yes, also some fun bit parts such as the aforementioned Thug #2.

So, consider this our official casting call for the podcast. If you’re interested in learning more, read on. If not…um, don’t. We’ll cover the highlights Q&A style.


Question: When are you recording?

Answer: Our initial recording sessions will take place in Chicago over the weekend of June 11th-13th. The plan at the moment is to get together for some read-throughs on Friday evening, spend all day Saturday recording (obviously we don’t need everyone there all day), then again on Sunday. There will likely be a cast get-together on Saturday night.


Question: What if I don’t live in Chicago?

Answer: We’d love to import voice talent. One of our leads will be flying in from Missouri, and another contributor currently lives in England. We can probably find a place for you to crash if you can get yourself here.


Question: What sorts of roles are open?

Answer: The partial list includes our lead character’s ex-girlfriend, two carnies, one long-lost distant cousin, a priest, various members of a biker gang, and approximately eight coffee shop waitresses. Some are funny characters, others are deadly serious.


Question: I am not a professional actor. Is that a problem?

Answer: Um. No, that is not a problem.


Question: What about money? I am a madly talented voice actor.

Answer: We won’t charge you a dime!(**)


Question: I am not available during your recording window. Am I out of luck?

Answer: Not necessarily. We’re certainly not going to get this whole thing done in a weekend, so we’ll be doing some smaller recording sessions after this one is complete.


Question: Do you take bribes? I really have my heart set on that "Man with Gun" role.

Answer: I am shocked – SHOCKED- that you would even need to ask this question. If you know us at all, you know that, yes, of course we accept bribes.


Question: I’m so in! What should I do now?

Answer: The best way to contact us is by email at river.roberts at gmail dot com and hess42 at gmail dot com. Or if you have one of our numbers, just call. Or comment here, if you prefer.


So, friends and soon-to-be podcast voice talent: any other questions coming up for you? Post ‘em here in the comments and we’ll do our best to answer.

(**Actually, this is a lie. We will probably pass around a hat for donations to cover the rental of our recording space.)

Тёмная ночь

My dear friend Jennifer has graciously agreed to be a part of this little enterprise by lending her voice and substantial acting talent to the show. If we ever manage to record this sucker (and we will), then Jen will likely be our only professional actor. She classes up the place quite a bit - and lordy, do we ever need it.

For Halloween last year, Jen made a mix tape of songs that kind of go with the whole autumn-All Hallow's Eve-Day of the Dead kind of theme. (Okay, there were no actual cassettes involved, but I like the idea of a "mix tape" and I don't want the term to ever go out of style. Most of my childhood took place in the 80s, after all.) One of the songs she put on there was a lovely World War II-era number called Тёмная ночь (pronounced "tyom-na-ya noch" - long 'o' as in 'boat') which means "Dark Night."

I instantly fell in love with it as soon as I heard it. Give it a listen. This is from a movie called "Dva Boytsa" (Two Soldiers).



I'm even more excited that we've found a place to use it in the show. I can't give you too many details because the episode is kind of special and I don't want to give any spoilers - but suffice it to say, this song is perfect. Okay. One spoiler... there's at least one person of Russian descent featured in the episode.

If you're interested, you can find a translation of the lyrics here. They're hilarious, by the way. My personal favorite: "I believe in you, my dear she-friend."

Meanwhile, we're puttering along with the scripts. Our excitement level is still high, though -- and I am totally jazzed about the episodes that we're currently working on. Meanwhile, I'm going to beg Jen to teach me how to act. Or failing that, pray that you're so wowed by the story, sound effects, and music that you forgive my terrible acting. That being my most likely master plan - think I'd better go hunt down some more music and practice pretending to be a foley artist.

Side note - Jen is currently playing the lead in a production of Bertholt Brecht's "The Wedding" - with the TUTA theater company here in Chicago. She's spectacular in it. (And I'm not saying that because I'm biased. She's really quite talented - and the rest of the cast is fabulous too. There's one more weekend in the run -- so if you're in the Chicago area, go see it.) More information here.