Sound Rich Local Stories with Points North | CAC November Newsletter
It's officially been two years since CAC's first Zoom Meeting, thanks for sticking with us! Here's what we've got for you in this month's newsletter:
- Lessons from Dan and Ellie, producers of Points North, including an opportunity for paid work if you pitch a story
- Silence Speaks with John Fecile is in less than two weeks!
- Plus events from other local audio-based organizations coming up in the next few weeks
- Congrats to Chicago producers who recently won awards!
- A few job postings that have come up in the last couple weeks
Points North with Dan and Ellie
Points North is a window into life in the Great Lakes. A smooth-talking stone skipper. A woman forced to sell her family sawmill. A scientist who stumbles on a tree that shouldn’t exist. The show takes you into the woods, onto the water, down a back road, or into the life of someone who calls this place home.
Dan Wanschura and Ellie Katz, producers of Points North from Interlochen Public Radio, joined us for this month's CAC Zoom to talk about their work.
Dan described Point North stories as fitting into three categories: Science and conservation, outdoor adventure, and history and culture. Taken together, Points North is about embracing a part of the country that usually doesn’t get a lot of attention, the Great Lakes region. In the meeting (full recording below), Dan and Ellie shared clips from two very different styles of episodes:
Learning to Speak Owl
The first clip is from the episode Learning to Speak Owl, written and produced by Dan:
“Owls can recognize one another by voice alone,” writes Ackerman.
I don’t totally know why, but that blows my mind. Maybe it’s because I’ve encountered so few of these birds in my life.
On a snowy night this spring, I hoped to change that. I went to the woods to try to talk to barred owls, with the help of a few birders.
The goal of this story is to immerse the listener in the natural world in a way that will stick, which audio is particularly well suited for. For this piece, Dan brought multiple mics out into the field, a shotgun and a stereo recorder. He and another producer at one point placed two mics ~100 feet apart in the forest, attempting to capture owl calls.
As you'll hear in the episode, they succeeded mightily, and were able to create a rich soundscape.
Going, Going, Gone
In this piece, produced by Ellie, you hear the story of Nancy Tulgestka:
Small, family-owned sawmills and logging businesses have given way to bigger ones. The Tulgestkas tried to keep their mill open. They refinanced their home and borrowed against some land they own. It didn’t work.
Now the sawmill is up for auction.
Reporting this story presented a number of challenges, firstly, getting Nancy to trust and open up to Ellie in her reporting. To prepare, Ellie drafted a long list of thesis statements: Someone does something because x but x, a technique she learned at a Transom workshop and found incredibly helpful.
As you'll hear, Ellie was able to find a way of interviewing Nancy that drew out the emotional undercurrent of the story, set amid the auction where pieces of her life were being auctioned off.
Finally, we spoke about some new strategies the Points North team has used to build up the community around their show. They first tried giving presentations about the show at local libraries but found that didn't resonate much. Since then, they've been hosting Great Lakes Trivia Nights. Psst... keep an eye out for one of these possibly in Chicago next year.
In these trivia nights ~30% of the questions are sources from Points North episodes. Listeners will have a leg up, but all are welcome. For a locally targeted show, it's been a great way to draw in the community, enabling them to also create a Points North Fan Club!
Pitching Points North
Here in Chicago we’re part of the Great Lakes region and Points North would like pitches from us!
Below you'll find a pitching form/guide including information about pay rates. Check the recording to hear Dan and Ellie's advice on what makes a good pitch.
Meeting Recording
Silence Speaks (just over a week away)!
Presented by the Chicago Audiomakers Collective in collaboration with The Understudy - a cafe, bookstore and event space dedicated to celebrating, fostering, and uplifting artistry in all its forms.
Join us for a listening party and conversation with Snap Judgment’s John Fecile!
Together we’ll listen to Silence Speaks, a story about a famous mime in 1960’s Russia. At a time when words were dangerous, he found a way to speak up by using silence. Snap Judgment’s John Fecile wanted to tell this story but he faced a challenge: how to translate an inherently silent art-form into audio. John will be on hand to discuss the making of Silence Speaks and to answer your questions about the art of audio storytelling.
John Fecile is an audio producer, filmmaker, and storyteller. His work has appeared on NPR and been featured in The Guardian, The New York Times, and Al Jazeera. He has won awards in the US and UK, including Bronze at the 2017 Third Coast International Audio Festival for his documentary Blink Once for Yes.
- What: Silence Speaks: Writing Visuals
- When: Wednesday, November 18 / Doors 7pm / Program 7:30pm
- Where: The Understudy / 5531 North Clark
Tickets for this event are available now, we hope to see you there!
More events this month and next:
From other Audio related groups in the Chicago area...
Recent Chicago Award Winners
It’s awards season and Chicago talent continues to produce award winning incredible work!
Congratulations to Derek John for winning two Signal Awards, both in the Documentary category for his work on Allison after NXIVM and Lawless Planet!
Congratulations also to Annie Rosenthal and the whole Signal Hill team for winning Best Documentary Gold for their piece Caterpillar Roadshow at the most recent Third Coast Competition!
And, of course, congratulations to our guests for this month, Dan and Ellie for their recent awards for Points North, including a story that won a national Edward R. Murrow Award and especially to Ellie for winning an International Women's Podcast Award from Tink Media.
If we’ve missed your award, please let us know! We’d love to shout you out! Send us an email at info@chiaudiocollective.com.
Chicago Audio Jobs
Finally, there's a few new jobs that have been posted in the Chicago area this month. If you're looking for new work, consider subscribing to our new jobs newsletter published every Monday morning (when there's new postings).