When I first started my Audio Drama, Chain of Being, back in October of 2019: I did so as a hobbyist. I of course had fantasies of getting as big as Welcome to Nightvale or Wolf 359 but realistically I never really felt like I would be able to eat off of my passion project or even earn money within the audio drama podcast space. However, as time went on and I began to meet more people within the space and joined a podcast network run by two very encouraging and Americans I started to think that perhaps it wasn’t such a fantasy. I have met and worked with people who make it a career to edit for audio drama and already I’ve received a handful of sound design and dialogue editing jobs, just 3 or so years into becoming a part of the Audio Drama community.
It only seems to be getting more likely as well as big studios like DC are dipping their toe into the water and seeing some pretty good success, and with the likes of Stephanie Beatriz, Alan Cumming, and Helen Hunt entering the space it feels like we’re at the start of a new expansion of the Audio Fiction world with new opportunities on the horizon and hopefully more attention which ultimately leads to new listens and financial opportunities. I don’t want to lose sight of why I got into AD in the first place though, I love the medium and the chance it afforded me to tell a story that I wanted to see being told. Too often capitalism ruins art and we see success both financially and artistically despite its systems and not because of them. So while I welcome more money coming through the space, I am also wary of what changes that might bring and how that might affect its openness.