Lauren Shippen on Audio Drama Craft, Silent Movies, & Widening the Pool
"I am not out there hawking at the street corner trying to get people to listen to my thing. I am arriving at a potluck with food."
Lauren Shippen has been making audio drama since 2015, when she launched the Bright Sessions and helped kickstart a new wave of fiction podcasting in America. In this conversation, we talk about how the landscape has shifted in the decade since, from the community that's kept the medium alive, to the money that came and went, to why she's not particularly interested in making TV shows. We also get into the craft side of things: what silent films taught her about rhythm and silence, why acting is everything in audio drama, and what it actually means to widen the pool beyond the listeners you already have.
