It has been much longer than I ever anticipated between the end of season 2 and the beginning of season 3, but it is finally time to officially announce the season 3 premiere date.

SEPTEMBER 12!!

Not only that, but there will be a new release of the Patient Zero miniseries as a supercut on August 15, AND a short season 2 recap on August 29 (which holds a small surprise at the end).

Also, if you want your episodes early and ad-free, become a Patron. You’ll get a bunch of bonus content and feel good about supporting indie creators.

Join Patreon

I hope you’re all subscribed to the show feed and have told all your friends about it too! I can’t wait for you to hear the new season.

Cheers!

Faith

OK, that is unfair. I don’t actually dislike social media. I love interacting with it. I love memes and funny posts and reels and pictures. I strongly dislike the pressure of being consistently present on social media.

I’m sure this is because of my inability to form solid routines. Not only that, when I post on social media, I feel the strong desire to be extra. I want everything I post to be as funny, as witty, as bold, as colorful as possible. That is exhausting. I can hear everyone now. “Faith, you don’t have to do that.” Yes, I know. But you weren’t raised in my household, and I was raised to always do everything at 200% so that’s just how I function. Either you get all of me or none of me. I’m working on that, I promise.

Because of this mindset, I been wanting to explore a different way of engaging with my listeners. Or rather, hoping that I could successfully engage with my listeners in a different way. I’m not trying to event something new, mind you. I just wanted to find out if I could lean more into long-form writing via newsletters and blogs and back away from social media overachieving and still stay engaged with my people. The best way to find out was to ask, so I ran a survey from February 20 to March 15, 2025 and gathered responses from my mailing list, Patreon, Reddit, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Bluesky, and Facebook. Did I miss any? Oh! Maybe I posted on Discord too.

Ready to see what everyone told me? If you’ve read this far, you’re definitely ready for the results! Or you skipped that whole bit up top and just went to the bullet points. (Leave a pie emoji in the comments if you read the whole thing.)

Demographics

Age Distribution

• 3% are 18-25

• 27% are 26-35

• 49% are 36-50

• 14% are over 50

• 7% preferred not to answer

Gender Identity

• 42% identify as women

• 34% identify as men

• 13% identify as non-binary

• 5% identify as gender fluid

• 6% preferred not to answer

Geographic Distribution

• 76% live in North America

• 21% live in Europe

• 2% live in Australia or Asia

• 1% preferred not to answer

Listening Habits

• 55% of respondents identified as "avid audio drama listeners"

• 40% listen to audio dramas "occasionally"

• 3.7% don't listen to fiction podcasts but do listen to other podcast formats

• 1.2% don't listen to podcasts at all

Social Media Preferences

• Bluesky (64.6%)

• Instagram (54.4%)

• Discord (49.4%)

• Facebook (46.8%)

• Reddit (46.8%)

• Tumblr (35.4%)

• X/Twitter (24.1%)

• TikTok (17.7%)

Several respondents also mentioned using other platforms like YouTube, Mastodon, LinkedIn, and Threads.

Information-Seeking Behavior

When looking for more information about audio dramas they enjoy:

• 49.4% go to the main website

• 39.7% turn to social media

• 13.9% don't look for more information; they just like to listen.

Discovery Methods

How do people find new shows to listen to? (Multiple answers were allowed)

• 81% through recommendations on social media platforms

• 62% from friends/family suggestions

• 27.8% from newsletter recommendations

• 32.9% from suggestions on their podcast app

Newsletter Engagement

Newsletters remain an important communication channel:

• 70.9% subscribe to newsletters

• Of those subscribers:

  • 7.6% read every single newsletter

  • 64.6% sometimes read newsletters

  • 10.1% don't read but subscribe to support creators

• If favorite creators only provided newsletters as communication:

  • 44.3% would sign up

  • 41.8% might sign up

  • 13.9% would not sign up

So, this is what I got from the survey: the audio drama community is a mix of listeners and creators connecting across multiple platforms in almost equal amounts. (I know TikTok is showing low numbers, but I’m blaming that on the fact that I just don’t spend all that much time on TikTok. I’m sure there’s an AD community of some sort forming over there.)

Most importantly, the survey revealed that social recommendations drive discovery (through social platforms, friends, and family), while websites serve as crucial information hubs. This is your sign, creators. Make a website!

Bluesky and Discord have emerged as community favorites, suggesting a shift toward more intimate spaces, though traditional platforms remain relevant.

Newsletters seem to be important to people, but social media still reigns supreme. As a friend of mine said, even if you want to have a smaller social media presence, for the purpose of media-led businesses like podcasting, you can’t fully escape it. And the survey supports her wise words.

Even if I prefer to have longer conversations with you (and yes, I want them to be conversations), I’ll still have to let you know about those conversations on Reddit, Bluesky, and Instagram (where I spend a lot of my time) as well as Facebook, Tumblr, and LinkedIn (where I show my face every once in a while).

Thanks again to all that participated. If you are a creator, I hoped this info helped you out a little as well. All the best!! (And don’t forget to leave me a pie!)

Faith

I’ll either go weeks without posting anything, or I’ll do a whole bunch of generic (but always pretty) posts that will hopefully please the algorithm gods.

It’s not fun. It’s not incredibly engaging. And it feels like I’m phoning it in. If you know me personally, I don’t phone things in.

Why am I telling you this? Because I want to stay engaged with listeners and fellow creatives, but I want to make sure I’m meeting you where you are. And I want to make sure my content is tailored to the kind of person you are! How do I find this out? By asking you of course!! So…if you would be so kind as to take a couple of minutes and fill out this survey, I would appreciate it immensely.

Take the Survey

I will have it available for the next month, so if you cannot get to it today, set a reminder to do it before March 20. And once you’ve filled it out, please pass it on to someone else you know that listens to podcasts.

If you are a creator and are interested in the results of this survey, I will gladly share with you. My email address will pop up once you’ve submitted, and you can send me a quick message.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to fill out the survey and spread the word!

Take the Survey

Cheers!
Faith

Amanda will still be around to help out, but I’m excited to have Van in this role. He’s worked on many Observer projects, and I know that he will be a great partner in our future endeavors.

Second of all, Apollyon is still on hiatus. I know this isn’t the news you wanted to hear, but it is something that cannot be helped at the moment. Apollyon is fully funded through donations, and right now, we just don’t have the money to make season 3. I’m hoping that we get there early next year so season 3 can be in your ears in 2025.

Wanna know a great way to help that is completely free? Listening to the new drops on the Apollyon feed!

Alpha 8 - a family-friendly sci-fi show about a family dealing with an alien takeover in their home

The Vanishing Rose - a “true” crime story inspired by the Grimm Brothers fairytale “The Robber Bridegroom.”

To the Moon and Back - When human traffickers kidnap cousins Amari and Mae, they have no idea what they’ve gotten themselves into.

Highway Chile - In 1970 Southern California, hitchhiking was the norm…but is that stranger in the car a person you should be alone with?

Lastly, I’ve also got some projects in the pipeline that I can’t talk about just yet, so you will be hearing from writer-Faith in the new year as well!! I’m really excited about all of them and can’t wait to share the news!

For those who celebrate, Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas! To everyone else, have a wonderful rest of the year! Talk soon!!

Faith

1. This is a list of what shots will be done on a particular day. It also includes what cast and crew will be on set that day.

   1. Call Sheet

   2. Script Breakdown

   3. Production Report

   4. Cover Set

2. The Location ___________ is responsible for finding and securing locations for a shoot.

   1. Assistant

   2. Person

   3. Scout

   4. Producer

3. Shooting in Centennial Park in the morning, and then shooting at The Art Institute later in the day requires a ____________ to be listed on the shooting schedule.

   1. Company Move

   2. Mini Move

   3. End of Day

   4. Blackout

4. What is the industry term for successfully completing a day of production?

   1. Wrapping the Day

   2. Martini Shot

   3. Making the Day

   4. Finishing the Day

5. In Tennessee, which of these locations requires a film permit?

   1. Your parents’ house

   2. A private high school

   3. 5th Avenue in Downtown Nashville - In Tennessee, film permits are only required for public property

   4. The Campus Video Studio

   

6. SAG-AFTRA, WGA, and DGA are examples of what?

   1. Unions

   2. Contests

   3. Investors

   4. You just wrote random letters, didn’t you?

7. What is the first major phase of filmmaking?

   1. Preproduction

   2. Production

   3. Development

   4. Post-Production

8. A breakdown sheet is required for every ________ in a script.

   1. Scene

   2. Page

   3. Location

   4. Character

9. How long does a producer work on a production?

   1. During development and pre-production

   2. During production and post

   3. During pre-production and production

   4. From development to post-production - honestly the producer works on the film until it hits theaters, film festivals, streaming

10. Which of these scenarios only needs three crew members?

    1. One location, sync sound, natural light

    2. One location, non-sync sound, available light - director, director of photography, and script supervisor (This is definitely arguable because you might want an assistant camera person or a PA or second AD…but minimal requirements in my class would be those three people.)

    3. One location, sync sound, minimal lighting

    4. One location, non-sync sound, minimal lighting

I am in the process of cleaning out my former office closet (pray for me), and I came across some old midterm exams from way back when (2017 to be precise). I’m curious how many of these questions you could answer.

Ready? Here we go!

These are from my Fundamentals of Producing & Directing class:

1. This is a list of what shots will be done on a particular day. It also includes what cast and crew will be on set that day.

   1. Call Sheet

   2. Script Breakdown

   3. Production Report

   4. Cover Set

2. The Location ___________ is responsible for finding and securing locations for a shoot.

   1. Assistant

   2. Person

   3. Scout

   4. Producer

3. Shooting in Centennial Park in the morning, and then shooting at The Art Institute later in the day requires a ____________ to be listed on the shooting schedule.

   1. Company Move

   2. Mini Move

   3. End of Day

   4. Blackout

4. What is the industry term for successfully completing a day of production?

   1. Wrapping the Day

   2. Martini Shot

   3. Making the Day

   4. Finishing the Day

5. Which of these locations requires a film permit?

   1. Your parents’ house

   2. A private high school

   3. 5th Avenue in Downtown Nashville

   4. The Campus Video Studio

6. SAG-AFTRA, WGA, and DGA are examples of what?

   1. Unions

   2. Contests

   3. Investors

   4. You just wrote random letters, didn’t you?

7. What is the first major phase of filmmaking?

   1. Preproduction

   2. Production

   3. Development

   4. Post-Production

8. A breakdown sheet is required for every ________ in a script.

   1. Scene

   2. Page

   3. Location

   4. Character

9. How long does a producer work on a production?

   1. During development and pre-production

   2. During production and post

   3. During pre-production and production

   4. From development to post-production

10. Which of these scenarios only needs three crew members?

    1. One location, sync sound, natural light

    2. One location, non-sync sound, available light

    3. One location, sync sound, minimal lighting

    4. One location, non-sync sound, minimal lighting

Comment with your answers. I’ll share the correct answers next week!

Leave a comment

OK, gotta get back to the cleaning. Have an amazing day!

The Good News

All current episodes for Chronicles, the Apollyon miniseries, are live now. You can listen everywhere you get podcasts and ad-free through our Patreon. I may or may not talk to bring in more writer-friends and have additional episodes out in the fall. No guarantees!

We are just under $2000 shy of reaching our goal for funding Apollyon season 3! If you would like to help us reach that $10K goal, visit observerpictures.com/fund to find links for Patreon, Ko-Fi, and the merch shop. If you cannot afford to donate, re-listen to Apollyon and all of Observer’s shows. Those listens help us out.

I have had some amazing writing opportunities come my way recently, so I’ll be involved in a couple of wonderful projects for the next year and a half.

I’ll be speaking at Austin Film Festival’s Writers’ Conference in October. If you are a writer (for screen or audio), you should try to come! It is an incredible experience. I always feel energized while I’m there and for weeks after. Plus, Austin’s weather in October will not melt your face off.

The Bad News

Because we haven’t reached our production goal, AND I have these new writing opportunities, Apollyon is going to have to take a backseat for awhile. Once I have a better grasp on finances and schedules, I will be able to give you a return date. Right now, I’m thinking Spring 2025. I will still be working on outlining and writing the season. With all the the extra time, I hope to make it well worth your wait.

This is most likely the last newsletter you’ll see for the next 3-6 months. As I said before, I’m really bad about consistency. That doesn’t mean things won’t be going strong in the background.

You can follow Observer and Apollyon on social media where there’s a bit more activity. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and occasionally Twitter at ApollyonPod and ObserverPix. Insta being the most active.

All right, then. I’ll let you get back to whatever you’re doing today, and I’m going to go back to writing.

Cheers!

(By the way, I hope you’re all having a relatively stress-free holiday season. If not, I’m sending you all the hugs and love.)

As I’m sure most of you know, the crowdfunding campaign was not the success I was hoping for. We raised just under $5,000 USD. This means that we will not be going into production this winter. I am definitely sad to be putting off the final season of Apollyon, but I do know that the extra time will mean that the final season will be as great as it can be.

And, because I am the type of creative who HAS to be doing something, I am working on another mini-series for the hiatus. I’m not quite ready to share with you what it will be, but I can let you know two things: 1) it will expand the world of Apollyon; 2) I will have some help from extremely talented people to make it happen. I will make an official announcement in January, so be on the lookout for that!

In the meantime, enjoy the final act of 2023. May your 2024 be brighter and better. #CreateMore

The weather is finally turning cooler. Pumpkin spice swirls through the air. People are pulling out fluffy sweaters, sitting around cozy fires sipping cider. And I’m gearing up for a very busy month, including preparing for the third and final season of Apollyon.

Hello everyone!!
The crowdfunding campaign for the final season of Apollyon officially starts Sunday, October 1. But the campaign is actually live now. If you would like to get a head start and be the first to donate, I would very much appreciate it.

Donate Here

If you are unable to donate, that is totally OK. Taking care of yourself is far more important than donating to this campaign. But there are so many completely free ways to help us out: sharing the campaign (starting October 1), continuing to tell people about Apollyon and all of Observer’s content, interacting with us on social media, and listening to all of our podcasts!

You are all amazing.

Cheers!!

Faith: You and I have been working together since 2017 I believe.

Joshua: It’s been that long already?

It has, which is crazy. You sound designed Boom, Margaritas & Donuts, and now Apollyon. And also “Highway Chile” and “Outpost Teahouse.” That [“Outpost Teahouse”] still is my best work to this day.

I really enjoyed that. Maybe one day we’ll expand that. Not a series, but maybe a podcast movie. That would be fun. Hands down, that was my best work.

So tell me how you got into audio. Well, if you want to wind the clocks way, way back. I was the only one in my family that ever did anything music related. I have a very music-loving family, but nobody plays an instrument or anything like that. So my roots with all this stuff kind of stems from that. My parents were—are—big classic rock fans, so I kind of grew up on that.

I’m the youngest of four, so when my older brother and sister were in college, they were bringing the music and stuff that they were listening to back at that time. I was deejaying and breakdancing, so I was discovering hip hop. I started playing drums, was in bands, and stuff like that.  And I remember it was my senior year after prom, I was talking to a friend’s dad, and he’s like, “Well, my nephew went to Ohio University for doing film work for sound.” And I had started getting into sound—live sound and things with our drama department in high school, and was like, this is cool. I feel like I could do something with this, and then just decided, hey, I’m just going to go all the way: do two years of community college, save some money, then transfer down to Ohio University to finish my degree out. So I ended up doing that. But while I was at community college, I took a sound for film class, and it completely blew my mind. And I’m like, I really want to do this to the point where I transferred in as a music major at O.U. but changed my major to audio post-production and sound design, and I picked up a film minor with that. So I just realized after watching so many movies and specifically examples that they were picking out from, like, Apocalypse Now with syncing the music at the beginning with the helicopter blades and the ceiling fan I’m, like, that’s really, really cool. I want to do stuff like that.

Do you prefer doing film or audio drama, or is it just all the same? In a sense, it’s all the same. My approach for film and the audio dramas are very similar. But what I like about the podcasting is, without a visual component, I’m kind of free and do whatever I want. So following your script—unless you specifically mentioned direction of action and things like that, I had to figure out, okay, who’s perspective is this scene? Is it somebody that’s coming in the room up to our character? Are we as the character walking in the room to somebody else? So obviously that’s going to change what the room in the situation is going to sound like. So I’ll go in and approach that way. Whereas with a film, I have to essentially match what’s going on on screen for it to make sense and seem organic for the scene.

Of the projects we’ve done together—outside of “Outpost Teahouse” because you’ve already said that that’s your favorite—what’s your second favorite thing? Boom was a big one for me in large part— Not just the fact that it was the first big project that I had the chance to work on living in Nashville and all that kind of stuff, but over just the expanse of the seasons my sound design got better and more organic. And overall, I just enjoy the process more because  I feel like the earlier episodes, I was certainly a bit heavier handed with some of the design work, but as we realized the progression of the storyline, we adjusted the sound design, the taste, and I felt that I was doing much more organic, better work. And then you gave me the opportunities to add the, you know, the nightmare kind of stuff in sporadically, which made it that much better.

There are so many shows that I listen to that I love that just have minimal sound design. Sometimes I have trouble placing myself in shows like that because I don’t hear any environmental sounds. I’m like, where are they? You have sounds for Gabriel’s apartment and Theo’s apartment and the labs. It helps me be familiar when we’re in that space. Take that from film. If you’re conditioned to hear that, you know over time where you’re at when you hear those specific background elements.

That also reminds me of the episodes we would do from Boom, where they were just in the psychologist’s office. There was no other action but them having a therapy session. They tend to be more difficult because there’s nowhere to hide, if you will. It can be the same thing musically. If I’m recording or mixing just, like, a guitar and a voice or something like that… If there’s problematic spots, I can’t hide them underneath the drums or something like that because there’s nothing there. So that being all diegetic, you know, the background sounds are there pretty much continuously, but it’s a lot of the Foley movement to help create “I’m very uncomfortable.” How does that sound and how does that translate into the Foley sound of me moving around on the couch and things like that? Those are challenging because less is more, but again, you’re going to hear everything regardless of what’s going on.

I think that’s the thing that a lot of people who don’t do this work don’t realize is that those scenes where it’s all in one place and just two people talking can be just as difficult to design as when people are moving around and you’re like, oh, we’re taking a hike and we’re climbing rocks and we’re doing all that. Yeah.

If I could start Observer Pictures as a full blown company, could have employees, would you work for me? Of course! Again, you are part of why I’m where I’m at right now, so I have to thank you for that. In part giving me my first break in Nashville, but the full podcast pivoting is in large part because of you.

Oh, I’m happy, and I’m happy you’re doing what you’re doing and loving it. Me too. Glad I’m in a position where I can earn a great living, but I can also be creative and not hate getting up for work every day.

And that’s literally the dream. That is the dream. I don’t hate what I do, and that makes me happy.

Awesome. And I think that’s a great way to end this. That was brilliant. Thank you so much. I had a lot of fun.

If you want to know more about Josh, make sure to follow him on Instagram @JSSStudio and check out his website https://www.jssaudio.com

If you have questions for me or Josh or just want to share something, please leave a comment!

Leave a comment

THE CURSED HAT

As I hope all of you know, Observer has merch. All of it is designed by me, and I get really excited when new items become available. Last year, Spring added hats to their lineup, and I really wanted to add those. As I do when I add most new items, I ordered samples…in March.

March goes by. No hats. Halfway through April, I send a message to Spring informing them of my lack of hats. They apologize and send out two hats. I did, in fact, order two hats. One baseball cap and one knit cap. Spring sent me two knit caps.

I write to them again. I’m missing my baseball cap. Again, they apologize and say they’ll send it out ASAP. Last week, I finally received my hat. A black baseball cap with Apollyon stitched in black thread. *sigh*

I write to them again. I wanted white thread on a black hat. Again, they apologize and say they’ll work on fixing it. Meanwhile, another delivery shows up with this hat.

While I can now read the lettering (plus it does look pretty cool), it is still not the hat I ordered. They finally write back to me saying they’ll refund my money.

Long story a smidge longer, Apollyon baseball caps are not for sale in the shop.

Please don’t let this story put you off to getting things from our Spring shop! This situation was an anomaly! Please feel free to get yourself a knit cap, t-shirt, mug, whatever. They’re all quite nice. :)

Visit the Premium Shop

SAVREEN’S AWARD

In episode 18 of Apollyon, we find out that Savreen is being honored with the Hadiyah-Nicole Green Award of Excellence. Here’s the story of why I chose that particular name for this award.

In 1997, my aunt Faith Fancher was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was in remission by the time I got married in 2002, but the cancer returned full force soon after. She passed away in October of 2003.

Auntie Faith was my hero. She would brighten any room she walked into. She loved a good party and loud music and dancing wherever and whenever the mood struck her. She was the first person in my family to support my love of writing and film. (She, in fact, kept the first story I wrote on one of her legal notepads: “The Purple Princess of Purpleville.”)

She was the first Black TV reporter in Nashville (on WSMV) and went on to do work in New York and spent the remainder of her career on KTVU, the Bay Area Fox affiliate. She also founded “The Friends of Faith” to support low-income people going through breast cancer treatment. 20 years later, The Faith Fancher Breast Cancer Fund is still providing support though the Women’s Cancer Resource Center in the Bay Area.

I miss her every day, and she is why I’ve done so much reading about cancer research. All that reading lead me to the inimitable Dr. Green.

Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green was the first Black woman to earn a PhD in Physics. She also developed a treatment that uses lasers and nanotechnology to eliminate cancer in mice after only ONE 10-minute treatment. If you’ve been following Apollyon, you know that trials on mice is a good first step, but treatments cannot be approved until successful tests happen on higher mammals and humans. Dr. Green founded Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation in order to raise money and continue work on this treatment. In my future, she was successful and eradicated many forms of cancer. So the Green Award of Excellence is the most prestigious award the ICRS gives.

If you would like to learn more about Dr. Green’s work (and possibly donate), visit OraLee.org.

WHAT I’M WATCHING

It’s hot, hot, hot outside, so I spend a lot of time in my air conditioned house and movie theatres. Here are my top five favorite things I watched in July.

1. Barbie - It was so beautiful and so fun. I loved it!!

2. Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, Part One - The MI films are my second favorite franchise, so I might be a little biased. This was not as good Fallout, but it’s pretty close.

3. “The Horrors of Dolores Roach” - This is based upon the fiction podcast of the same name, and it is just as twisted and crazy. If you like some humor in your cannibalism, check it out. (watch on Amazon)

4. They Cloned Tyrone - John Boyega, Jamie Foxx, and Teyonah Parris are on fire in this movie. The dialogue, the story, the costume designs are all on point. If you liked Attack the Block and Sorry to Bother You, you’ll be into this. (watch on Netflix)

5. “Hijack” - This thriller takes place mostly on the hijacked plane, but there’s intense situations on the ground too. I have no idea who’s pulling all the strings, and absolutely no one seems safe. Not even Idris Elba. (watch on Apple+)

What are you all watching?

Leave a comment

OK, friends, that’s all I’ve got for this month! See you again in September! In the meantime, please continue listening to our shows and telling all your friends, family, colleagues, and random people on the street.

Thank you for being a part of this community!!

Subscribe now

Right now, we’re still in post-production on Apollyon. After that wraps, I’m going to take a short breather to work on some other projects, and then I’ll be back at writing season three!!

In the interim, I want to bring some fun and interesting content to the podcast feed but also (and mostly) to the newsletter. While putting together a newsletter is still a lot of work, it’s less time consuming than putting together new audio content on the regular…especially when I want to have the majority of my focus on getting season three the best it can be.

So after the L O N G introduction, what I really want to know is what you want out of this newsletter. I moved to Substack so that I could create a better community for my listeners. So please let me know what you want by choosing one, two, or all the things in the poll (It will only be active for one week, so don’t wait!) I also highly encourage you to leave a comment!

A Final Note

Many people have been asking me if I’ll be putting together a scriptwriting course. The answer for the longest time was “I don’t know,” but I think everything Substack has to offer might have changed that answer to “I’m figuring out the logistics.”

So…if you are one of those people who’s asked me about a writing course OR you would be interested in a self-guided course by me. Please let me know.

Leave a comment