It has been a goal of mine to have a lot of cushion in my production schedule. Firstly, because I believe having a consistent release schedule is important. It shows a level of professionalism, as well as building a routine into your audience that they can rely on. A consistent release can mean whatever you want it to for your own show. That you always release a new season in June? You have new content every two weeks? There is no rule to your consistency, only that it be consistent!
For “Madison” I had several truths about my production going in. The main one was that I was not going to be able to pay my actors. I am asking them to record in their free time. I have honored that by not doing any read thrus where they need to be present at a certain date/time, similarly, having the cast record remotely on their own schedule, and then building in time to have a full three week turnaround for their recordings. I am doing my best to respect their time, that they must put paying jobs above my non-paying one, and that, well, life can get in the way sometimes.
And life got in the way in a BIG way for me in April. Jeremy, my husband and our amazing music composer, traveled to Canada to headline a show with the Niagara Symphony Orchestra. And brought back pneumonia. It was bad. Very, very bad. He’d had COVID (I haven’t yet) and this took us both down in a way COVID never did him. I lost the month of April. Jeremy couldn’t do his sound engineering/music, and I couldn’t record my voice. I didn’t have one. Madison had left the building. Eventually my delirium lessened and I was able to write and do brief appearances on social media, but I couldn’t record “The Lone Ranger.” I managed to edit the three scenes Madison isn’t in, but I was starting to wonder if June 1st would come before we could do the work.
But thanks to the huge cushion I built in, we got it done in time! It’s been a lot of playing catch up since then, but the production cushion has allowed for it. We are indie creators. We try to be as professional as we can. But the reality is we’re pulled in so many different directions with job, family, life that the way to keep the stress off of producing an audio drama, and to keep to that oh-so-important consistency, is to have a cushion that is ready to catch you when Canada sends home it’s worst germs.
-Chrisi (aka Madison)
