My RSS Feedhttp://marktimeawards.org/www/index.htmlHot News!en2018-06-18T21:52:41-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Fri, 22 Jun 2018 16:06:24 -05002018 Mark Time Award WinnersMark Time Awards2018-06-18T21:52:41-05:00http://marktimeawards.org/www/blog/files/mark-time-winners-2018.html#unique-entry-id-7http://marktimeawards.org/www/blog/files/mark-time-winners-2018.html#unique-entry-id-7Mark Time Award Winners
The twenty-second Mark Time Awards for Excellence in Audio Theatre were held in the Grand Ballroom of the Country Club Plaza Holiday Inn, KC, MO on June 7th as part of the Hear Now Audio Festival which is now in its sixth year of convening a forum for audio fiction producers and voice-over talent in the growing market of podcasts, recorded books, and dramatizations. (Audio of the 2018 awards presentation.)

The Mark Time Awards (www.marktimeawards.org) are given to recognize the producers of audio theatre in the genres of science fiction, mystery/detective, horror, fantasy, and comedy. The awards were founded by Jerry Stearns and Brian Price as part of the preeminent science fiction conventions Minicon and later CON-vergence.

The awards originally honored producers in the sci-fi genre only but, over the years, expanded to include the other categories. The awards ceremony moved to the Hear Now Festivals as a presentation venue in 2015 and the administration has been taken over by the Firesign Theatre family as a legacy project to encourage the continuation and development of the audio-driven art form while furthering the education of producers in the field.

This year, the awards were particularly competitive with 31 entries from twelve states nationwide and four different countries. They included a binaural production from the UK, the final episode of a twenty-year-long series from South Africa, and a Grand Master Award to local KC-area producer Darrell Brogdon for his comedy series Right Between the Ears. The ceremony was hosted by Firesign’s still-standing members David Ossman and Phil Proctor.

Continuing a tradition which began with the origination of the awards, the event included a live performance of an original “radio” play in the Sci-Fi genre, “Dialogue with Martian Trombone,” written by Brian Price and Jerry Stearns. The cast included David Ossman, Philip Proctor, Melinda Peterson, Richard Fish, Donna Postel, and Orson Ossman. Live sound was provided from the Foley table of Tony Brewer, with recorded effects by Jerry Stearns. The trombone player was Johnathan Curtman. The live show was directed by Brian Price with Sound Engineer Renee Pringle at the helm.

To encourage the highest quality production values, the Mark Time Awards will now be awarded every two years. The next awards will be open for submission in January of 2020. All Mark Time opportunities will be posted on the website.


Dedicated to our Dear Friends we lost this year:
Alan Gross, “Airship Al”, winner of the 2017 Bradshaw Award.
and
Robert Grossman, cover artist for the class 1970 Firesign LP “Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers.”

Audio of the 2018 Awards ceremony can be heard here.

MARK TIME AWARD


GOLD AWARD
Dieter Zimmermann, Protophonic, Cape Town, South Africa
Brad Lansky and the Result War

SILVER AWARD
Jason Hardcastle, Heorot Media LLC, Wilmington DE
Cerberus Rex

BRONZE AWARD
Erik Saras, Amity Bros., Jersey City, NJ
Marsfall


NICK DANGER PRIZE


GOLD AWARD
William Dufris, Pocket Universe Productions, S. Portland, ME
Sight Unseen

BRONZE AWARDS
Greg McAfee, Downstairs Entertainment, San Diego, CA
Rex Rivetter: Private Eye

James Wortman, Every Now and Then Theatre, Ventura, CA
Houdini’s Secret Life


THE SQUEEKY PICKLE


GOLD AWARD
Darrell Brogdon, Right Between The Ears, Parkville MO
Right Between The Ears: Over and Out Show

SILVER AWARD
Jonathan A. Goldberg, Roi Gold Productions, Westwood NJ
The Fall of the House of Sunshine


THE OGLE FOR FANTASY


GOLD AWARD
Michel Lafrance, The Owl Field, UK
The Fairy Tree

SILVER AWARD
Roger Gregg, Dublin, Ireland
The Muse Unbidden

BRONZE AWARD
David Benedict, Atlanta Radio Theatre
Nairobi Jack Rackham and the Lost Gold…Episode 8


THE OGLE FOR HORROR


GOLD AWARD
William Dufris, Dagaz Media, S. Portland ME
The Floodgates of Willowhill

SILVER AWARD
Kaitlin Statz, Fool and Scholar Productions, Sarasota, Fl
The White Vault (Season 1)

BRONZE AWARD
Todd Faulkner, Uncanny County LLC, NY, NY
Coulrophobia and The Boy Who Cried Martian


THE BETTYJO FOR PERFORMANCE


Julia Whelan, for her role as Amanda in Sight Unseen, from Pocket Universe Productions.


THE BRADSHAW FOR CONTRIBUTION TO THE FIELD


William Stout, the artist who conceived the Firesign Theatre character images used on this website.
and
Matthew Barton, Curator and collector of audio for the Library of Congress, now including the Archives of the Firesign Theatre.

GRAND MASTERS


Darrell Brogdon, for 32 years as writer and producer of Right Between the Ears, the comedy series on Kansas Public Radio.
and
Dieter Zimmermann, for the seven excellent episodes of the Brad Lansky science fiction series, from Protophonic.


The next Mark Time Awards will be held in 2020, so you have two years to write, record and produce your next Audio Theater spectacular show.

]]>2018 Mark Time FinalistsMark Time Awards2018-05-28T19:35:27-05:00http://marktimeawards.org/www/blog/files/MT_finalists_2018.html#unique-entry-id-6http://marktimeawards.org/www/blog/files/MT_finalists_2018.html#unique-entry-id-6Mark Time Finalists in All Categories
(Alphabetically by Producer)
Released May 8, 2018


Winners will be presented June 7 at the HEARNow Festival in Kansas City, MO. Ceremony will include a performance of Great Northern Audio’s Dialogue With Martian Trombone.

MARK TIME AWARD


David Benedict, Atlanta Radio Theater
Lone Star Planet, Parts 3 and 4

Jack Bowman, The Wireless Theatre Company, London
The Springhill Saga: The Lords of the World

John Eder, Los Angeles, CA
Swear Jar, (from “To The Manor Borne By Robots”)

Todd Faulkner, Uncanny County LLC, NY, NY
The Boy Who Cried Martian

Jason Hardcastle, Heorot Media LLC, Wilmington DE
Cerberus Rex

Eric Saras, Amity Bros., Jersey City, NJ
Marsfall

Dieter Zimmermann, protophonic, Cape Town, South Africa
Brad Lansky and the Result War


NICK DANGER PRIZE


William Dufris, Pocket Universe Productions, S. Portland, ME
Sight Unseen

Greg McAfee, Downstairs Entertainment, San Diego, CA
Rex Rivetter: Private Eye

James Wortman, Every Now and Then Theatre, Ventura, CA
Houdini’s Secret Life


THE SQUEEKY PICKLE


Darrell Brogdon, Right Between The Ears, Parkville MO
Over and Out Show

William Dufris, Audiocomics, S. Portland ME
Draculer RFD

Jonathan A. Goldberg, Roi Gold Productions, Westwood NJ
The Fall of the House of Sunshine

Cat Simril Ishikawa, N. Vancouver Canada
Cast


THE OGLE FOR FANTASY


David Benedict, Atlanta Radio Theatre
Nairobi Jack Rackham and the Lost Gold…Episode 8

Roger Gregg, Dublin, Ireland
The Muse Unbidden

Michel Lafrance, The Owl Field, UK
The Fairy Tree

Lamplighter Ministries, Mount Morris NY
The Giant Killer

THE OGLE FOR HORROR


William Dufris, Dagaz Media, S. Portland ME
The Floodgates of Willowhill

Todd Faulkner, Uncanny County LLC, NY, NY
Coulrophobia

Kaitlin Statz, Fool and Scholar Productions, Sarasota, Fl
The White Vault (Season 1)


]]>2018 Mark Time Awards Entry Now OpenMark Time Awards2018-02-13T17:02:38-06:00http://marktimeawards.org/www/blog/files/MTA_2018.html#unique-entry-id-5http://marktimeawards.org/www/blog/files/MTA_2018.html#unique-entry-id-52018 MARK TIME AWARDS ADDS NEW CATEGORY FOR BEST AUDIO COMEDY PRODUCTION—THE SQUEEKY PICKLE PRIZE
The Mark Time Awards are open for submissions for the 2018 competition. The MTAs recognize the best audio theatre productions in the genres of science fiction (Mark Time Award), fantasy and horror (The Ogle Award), and mystery/detective (The Danger Prize). The Runyon Award is open to a production in any of the competitive categories, produced by youth under 18 years of age. This year’s 2018 competition offers a new category for best comedy—The Squeeky Pickle Prize.

The Betty Jo Award is given to the best acting performance among the winning submissions, at the judges’ discretion and The Bradshaw is awarded out of competition, for “services to the field,” to an individual or group for outstanding contributions to the advancement and preservation of audio theatre arts. In its fourth year presenting at the HEAR Now Audio Fiction and Arts Festival, the Mark Time Awards celebrates its 22nd year of honoring good work in the audio medium. As a legacy project of the Firesign Theatre (www.firesigntheatre.com), the awards encourage creative use of the audio arts encompassing skillful use of writing, voice performance, sound effects, acoustic environments, musical elements, and technological tools of the trade. Both “live radio” performances and studio-based productions are eligible for consideration, so long as the entry has premiered to the public via broadcast or digital platforms between May 1, 2016 and May 1st, 2018.

The judging panel is made up of the surviving members of the Firesign Theatre family, the original founders of the Mark Time Awards, previous winners of the awards, and other professionals in the spoken-word, broadcast, podcast, and audio arts community.

New application guidelines and process are available at www.marktimeawards.org. The deadline for submissions has been extended to April 20th, 2018 with announcement of finalists no later than May 4th, 2018. Winners will be announced June 7 at the HEAR Now Festival in Kansas City, MO.

For questions, email oworld@whidbey.com with “Mark Time Awards” in the subject line, or call 360-331-2813, 9-5 PT.


]]>Mark Time Awards - 2017 > 2018Mark Time Awards2017-03-20T16:56:28-05:00http://marktimeawards.org/www/blog/files/Mark_Time_Awards_2017.html#unique-entry-id-4http://marktimeawards.org/www/blog/files/Mark_Time_Awards_2017.html#unique-entry-id-4


The Mark Time Awards will not be open to competition until January 2018.  All works  produced between June 30th 2016 and December 31st 2017 will be eligible for consideration. 

Entry  submissions will be accepted between January 1, 2018  and  March 1, 2018.

The 2017 Mark Time Awards will be given by the surviving members of the Firesign Theatre, David Ossman and Phil Proctor, to individuals whom they wish to recognize for contributions to the group's legacy.

Return to this site closer to the deadline in 2018 for updated application information and entry forms.

Thank you for your continued interest.


]]>Mark Time Awards - 2016Mark Time Awards2016-06-16T16:38:31-05:00http://marktimeawards.org/www/blog/files/Mark_Tme_Awards_2016.html#unique-entry-id-3http://marktimeawards.org/www/blog/files/Mark_Tme_Awards_2016.html#unique-entry-id-3Winners of the 2016 Mark Time Awards Announced,

KC Paseo Students Standout at HearNow Audio Festivals


Otherworld Media Executive Director Receives Corwin Award for Life Time Achievement



KANSAS CITY, MO – June 9-12, 2016– The 20th Annual Mark Time Awards for excellence in genre audio theatre were presented June 9, 2016 at the HearNow Audio Festival in Kansas City, Missouri.

The Mark Time Awards are a collaborative legacy project of the four-man comedy group The Firesign Theater and internationally renowned arts and educational production company Otherworld Media. They share a mission to promote the audio arts to a new generation of writers and producers, while rewarding audio theater producers currently striving for excellence in the medium. Firesign celebrates its 50th Anniversary in 2016, while Otherworld Media’s Executive Director Judith Walcutt has received the Norman Corwin Award Lifetime Achievement Award, honoring her 35 years as a writer, producer, and director in audio arts and education. The two forces––Firesign and Otherworld–– remain committed to promoting the sound arts across generations and genres.

Firesign’s David Ossman hosted the Awards and a number of winners were able to attend and accept their recognition in person. The first winner of the evening, Renee Pringle of National Public Radio and a guiding hand in many award-winning independent productions was presented with the Bradshaw for Service to the Field, honoring her for “Artistry in Engineering.” The Bradshaw is named in memoriam for the famous character played by Firesign’s Peter Bergman, acknowledged founder of the Firesign Theatre, who passed away in 2012. The prize honors those in the sound-driven media who have made a difference in the art form.

The Ogle Award, named for Charles Ogle, the first portrayer of Frankenstein’s Monster on screen, is given in two categories, Horror and Fantasy. The Gold Ogle for Horror went to “The Masque of the Red Death,” produced and directed by William Dufris, who accepted in person. The Silver Ogle was won by “To The Manor Borne by Robots, Episode 5,” written, produced and directed by John Eder.

Winning the Silver Ogle for Fantasy was “The Springheel Saga: The Secret of Springheel’d Jack,” from London’s Wireless Theatre Ltd., producers Jack Bowman, Mariele Runacre Temple and Robert Valentine.

The Mark Time Award for Science Fiction, named for one of Ossman’s Firesign characters, was won by Jonathan Mitchell of New York City, who was also named Producer of the Year for a trio of short pieces, “Visible,” “The Last Job,” and “Santa For President.” He appeared via Skype. In addition, Tom Ligon, in the role of Santa, won the Betty Jo for Best Actor. The Betty Jo honors Firesign’s Phil Proctor, man of many voices.

The Silver Mark Time went to the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company for “The War of the Worlds: The Untold Story,” produced by David Benedict.

Additional Finalists were John Holland for “The Cure,” Marty Durlin and KZMU, Moab, Utah for “Downtown Abbey, Episode 3: Denial in So Many Forms,” and Pete Lutz and Pulp-Pourri Theater for “The DNA Pit.”

The Nick Danger Prize honors Firesign’s Phil Austin in memoriam and his immortal character, known for his “third eye.” It is awarded for the best in mystery and noir detective genres. The judges withheld the Gold and Silver awards this year, since no entrant met  the necessary production values and criteria. There was a single Finalist, “Brass – A Steampunk Adventure Serial” from Battleground Productions, Seattle, written and directed by John Longenbaugh, sound design and production by Nick Abercrombie.

New Award for Audio Comedy Launched


Ossman announced a new prize for Audio Comedy, called The Bozo Knows, open for entries in 2017. Information on entries and the Mark Time Awards history, previous prize-winners, Grandmasters, and Hall of Fame can be found at www.marktimeawards.org.

The Awards Ceremony was held as part of an Otherworld Cabaret, which featured high school students from the Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts where the Mark Time SoundPlay audio workshop is in its second year of production classes and activities. Youth participants presented four short original audio plays which were written, performed, and sound designed by them, as part of the Mark Time Awards performance. Members of the 2016 Mark Time Academy included Carissa Stevens, Mel Jones, Kaden Vladimir, Travon Wainwright, Mahryn Barron, Trail White, Ethan Anissy, Marcus Robertson, and Kahlil Odums.

Young audio artists of the Paseo SoundPlay Workshop will be seen again as part of the Future Stages Festival at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, June 26th at 3 p.m. on the outdoor stage.

The Mark Time Awards and SoundPlay Workshops are made possible by a grant from the Leo Gilbert Wetherill Foundation with additional support from the Board of Directors of Otherworld Media.

Contact:


Judith Walcutt
Executive Director
Otherworld Media
oworld@whidbey.com
360-331-2813 land 253-740-1862 cell

]]>Finalists for the 2016 Mark Time AwardsMark Time Awards2016-05-11T14:29:56-05:00http://marktimeawards.org/www/blog/files/Finalists_for_2016.html#unique-entry-id-2http://marktimeawards.org/www/blog/files/Finalists_for_2016.html#unique-entry-id-2
Winners will be announced at the Mark Time Awards, June 9th, 2016, 9 p.m.  to 10 p.m. hosted by David Ossman in the Grand Ballroom of the KC Plaza Holiday Inn, at the HearNow Audio Arts Festival, in Kansas City, Missouri, June 9th to the 12th.  For more information about the festival  go to http://www.hearnowfestival.org/ 

Finalists are currently being reviewed by our distinguished panel of judges. Winners will be played back as part of the HearNow Festival, Friday, 3 p.m. at the Plaza Cinemark Movie Theatre.

FOR THE OGLE:


“The Cure”
Jon Holland / The Theater in Your Mind (Ponder, Texas)

“To The Manor Borne By Robots Episode 5 – Who’ll Stop Lorraine”
John Eder (Los Angeles)

“The Springheel Saga: The Secret of Springheel’d Jack”
Jack Bowman / Wireless Theatre (London)

“Santa For President”
Jonathan Mitchell / The Truth (NY NY)

“The Masque of the Red Death”
William Dufris /Pocket Universe Productions (Portland, Maine)


FOR THE MARK TIME:


“Visible” and “The Last Job”
Jonathan Mitchell / The Truth (NY NY)

“Downtown Abbey, Episode 3, Denial In So Many Forms”
Marty Durlin / KZMU (Moab UT)

“The War of the Worlds: The Untold Story”
Atlanta Radio Theatre Company


FOR THE NICK DANGER PRIZE:


“BRASS: A Steampunk Adventure Serial, Pts. 1 and 2”
John Longenbaugh / Battleground Productions (Seattle)


“PULP-POURRI THEATRE: The D. N. A. Pit”
Pete Lutz / The Narada Radio Company

]]>2015 Mark Time Award WinnersMark Time Awards2016-03-22T17:12:01-05:00http://marktimeawards.org/www/blog/files/Mark_Time_Winners_2015.html#unique-entry-id-1http://marktimeawards.org/www/blog/files/Mark_Time_Winners_2015.html#unique-entry-id-12015 Mark Time Awards Presented
At Hear/Now Festivals

KANSAS CITY, MO–June 12, 2015–The Mark Times Awards given annually to the best audio theatre in the Science Fiction, Horror, Fantasy, and Mystery genres were announced tonight at The Heartland Theater in Kansas City. The ceremony was held as part of the National Audio Theatre Festivals’ HEAR/Now gathering, now in its third year in the Kansas City.

The presenting organization of the awards, Otherworld Media, with funding from the Leo Gilbert Wetherill Foundation has moved the ceremony from Minneapolis, where it had been held for seventeen years at CON-vergence, the long-established science fiction convention, to Kansas City as part of the HEAR/Now Festival for the Audio Arts and where it is launching a national education initiative in the audio arts.
Mark Time Awards-2015
Ceremony host, David Ossman, founding member of the Firesign Theatre and whose original character “Mark Time” gave the awards their name, reminded the audience that the awards are intended to honor the art form of which the Firesign Theatre is a key proponent. All sorts of genres, satires, pop culture, and works of the surreal imagination lend themselves to the art and craft of the audio medium, he said, and were the basis of the Firesign’s unique production style and humor. The Mark Time Awards, Ossman stated, are a way to honor that legacy.

Paseo Academy Receives First Runyon Youth Award


Demonstrating their commitment to training and educational youth outreach on behalf of the medium, the presentation of the Mark Time Awards was preceded by performances with members of the Mark Time/SoundPlay production workshops conducted at Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts in Kansas City, by Otherworld Media producer Judith Walcutt in cooperation with Paseo faculty David Luby and Chris Odam, with additional technical and material support from the Wetherill Foundation.

Three short plays, a noir mystery “Stunning Blonde” by Etham Anissey, a horror piece, “The Affliction” by Carissa Stevens, and the Sci-Fi inspired “Death Battle Three” by Isabela Coleman and Zhyesia Jameson, were done live, with live Foley and sound design. Three solo voice pieces with sound elements, “Enigma” by Mushelle White, “Whispers” by Jordan Stewart, and “Gates of Heaven” by Byron Hyde, along with Eishenae Goldsby’s “We’re Doomed,” in which all voices and effects had been accomplished with smart phone apps, filled out the half-hour program.

The students from Paseo included Ethan Anissey, Isabella Coleman, Eishenae Goldsby, Byron Hyde, Zayesia Jameson, Ellia Johnson, Marcus Robertson, Keylisha Nelson, Khalil Odums, Miguel Ornelas, Elena Parker, Carissa Stevens, Jordan Stewart, Trayvon Wainwright, Mushelle White, and Ignacio Zollar.

The student production unit was awarded the first Runyon Award for Youth Audio Production for their work. The trophy was accepted by the students and their Paseo mentor, David Luby.

Mark Time Award Winners


Following the live performance, host David Ossman announced the winners of the Mark Time Awards, in all categories.

The Gold Mark Time went to “The Futurologist,” produced by Eliza Smith and Leon Morimoto, Snap Judgment Productions, Oakland, California.

The Silver Mark Time was awarded to producer Dieter Zimmermann, Protophonic Productions, Cape Town, South Africa.

Finalist certificates went to “Voyager Found,” produced by Jonathan Mitchell of New York and “To The Manor Borne by Robots,” produced by John Eder of Los Angeles.

The Gold Ogle for Horror was taken by Jonathan Mitchell for “Sylvia’s Blood,” and the Silver by “Clones In The Closet,” produced by Jon Holland for The Theater In Your Mind. Holland was in Kansas City to accept the award.

In the Fantasy category, the Gold Ogle was awarded to “Alba Salix, Royal Physician,” produced for Forgery League in Toronto, Canada by Eli McIlveen, who was also present at the ceremony.

Ogle Award Winners


Two additional Ogle Finalists included “A Prophets Guide,” produced by Matthew Boudreau, Aural Stage Studios, Buffalo, New York, and “A Journey With Strange Bedfellows,” produced by Forest Rose and Final Rune Productions of Monument, Colorado. The executive producer, Jan C. Jones was present to accept the award.

Nick Danger Prize Winners


The first Nick Danger Prizes, so named for the well-known Firesign character made famous by Phil Austin, were awarded in a very close contest. The Gold went to “The Audio Adventures of Big Dan Frater, Volume 1,” produced by Larry Blamire, Brian Howe and Alison Martin. Brian Howe acceptd the Prize by telephone. The Silver Nick Danger for “Blues For Johnny Raven,” produced for the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company by David Benedict, who also was in the theatre for the Awards.

Betty Jo Award


The Betty Jo Award for Outstanding Performance by an Individual went to Seth Lind for his performance as Spark in “Naughty or Nice,” and the Betty Jo for Ensemble Performance was taken by Chet Siegel and Peter McNerney for their work in Jonathan Mitchell’s “Voyager Found.” The Betty Jo honors Firesign’s Phil Proctor, creator of many characters male and female, including Nick Danger’s girlfriend, also known as “Nancy.”

Bradshaw Award


The last Award, another new addition for 2015, honoring Firesign Theatre’s founder Peter Bergman, is the Bradshaw, named after Peter’s signature character “Lt. Bradshaw” in the Nick Danger series. The Bradshaw is awarded for Service To The Field. Stage, radio and television actor Gary Sandy presented the Bradshaw to Foley Artist Tony Brewer, honoring him as “SFX Master of the Universe.”

Judith Walcutt, Executive Producer of the Mark Time Awards and Executive Director of Otherworld Media, had a final prize to give – the Mark Timekeeper – to Sue Zizza, the executive producer of HEAR/Now, the Audio Fiction & Arts Festival which included the Mark Time Awards in its weekend schedule. The Timekeeper – a wall-sized wall-clock with Mark Time’s image as drawn by renowned illustrator William Stout – honored Sue’s long-time administration of the National Audio Theatre Festivals.

See all the Mark Time Awards winners on this site.

Media Contact:

Otherworld Media
(360) 331-2813
(253) 740-1862

oworld@whidbey.com

]]>New Mark Time Awards EstablishedMark Time Awards2015-01-02T16:00:13-06:00http://marktimeawards.org/www/blog/files/New_Mark_Time_Awards.html#unique-entry-id-0http://marktimeawards.org/www/blog/files/New_Mark_Time_Awards.html#unique-entry-id-0New Audio Production Awards Established
to Honor The Firesign Theater’s Comedy
and Satire Legacy
FREELAND, WA – January 23, 2015 – The most prominent awards worldwide for original radio drama – The Mark Time Awards – are adding four new awards to honor the historic contribution of The Firesign Theater to radio and audio production. The new awards and the long-established Mark Time Award for the year’s best science fiction production and the Ogle Award for fantasy/horror will be presented during the 2015 HEAR Now Festival in Kansas City, Missouri June 12th.

“With these four new awards, we are celebrating a renewed interest in audio arts, which are thriving in the first decades of the 21st century in part because of the huge popularity of streaming and digital media,” said Judith Walcutt, Chief Executive Officer of Otherworld Media, which recently was selected to administer the Mark Time Awards. For the past 30 years, Otherworld Media has produced award-winning audio plays, radio broadcasts, and educational programming.

The new Mark Time Awards honoring The Firesign Theater are:


The Nick Danger Prize for the best audio production in the mystery/detective fiction category, which is named after Firesign’s famous satire of radio detectives of the 1950s. The original “Nick,” Phil Austin, and his wife Oona will be part of the judging team.

The Bradshaw, an award named after the late Peter Bergman’s cop character in the Nick Danger episodes, will be given for “service to the field” and chosen by the MTA’s advisory board.

The Betty Jo (But Everyone Knew Her as Nancy) prize honors the multi-gender vocal skills of Phil Proctor and will be awarded for best performances. Proctor and his wife, actress Melinda Peterson, will be among the judges for this award.

The Runyon, an award named for a beloved character created by Norman Corwin, the grand patriarch of radio theatre who died in 2011 at the age of 101. The Runyon will be given to producers younger than 18.

Audio Curriculum Pilot Launches This Spring


To support its commitment to inter-generational education, the Mark Time Awards is establishing an audio drama training program for young people and life-long learners to continue to foster new actors and new producers and to attract new audiences to audio theater. With development funding from the Leo Wetherill Foundation of Colorado Springs, Colorado, training classes will be offered this spring in Kansas City, Missouri under the direction of Otherworld Media’s Judith Walcutt. These classes will pilot the curriculum of a new, national education initiative in the audio arts.

“For audio arts to continue its momentum, it is important to provide tools and a creative platform for new generations to discover and practice the art form of theatre — and movies –– for the mind,” Walcutt said.

Mark Time Awards Competition for 2015


Entries for the Mark Time Awards for original audio theatre will be accepted from January 20th to March 20th, 2015. Submissions are limited to multi-cast productions completed by the March deadline. Judging will be based on originality of writing and adaptation, as well as overall production quality including performances, effects, music, and final mix. Guidelines and entry forms are available at www.marktimeawards.org. Awards will be announced on May 1, 2015 and presented at the HEAR Now Festival.

Now in its third year, the HEAR Now Festival focuses on the audio arts and industry, bringing together a consortium of audio producers and industry professionals from around the country. The 2015 festival runs from June 11 to June 14.

The Firesign Theater – “The Beatles of Comedy”


The Firesign Theatre comedy troupe performed for more than 40 years, producing dozens of albums, including three nominated for a Grammy for best comedy album. The troupe began performing on the radio in Los Angeles in the late 1960’s, and later was heard on National Public Radio, XM Satellite Radio, and the BBC. They toured nationally performing a live show that mixed new work from their Millennial Trilogy with their classics, such as Nick Danger, until the death of founding partner Peter Bergman in 2012.

The Firesign Theatre is known for unique, surreal and original satiric comedy, which changed the way people listened to and understood media — and the world –– around them, whether on radio, TV, or Internet. The Firesign Theater has been recognized with top awards at the New York International Radio Festivals for their ground-breaking show Fools in Space for XM. They were accorded the rare honor of having their 1970’s album Don’t Crush that Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers admitted to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress. This honor is given to recordings considered “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant,” and their album is one of only a handful of recordings that are comedy-based.

The award presentation from the Library of Congress called the Firesign Theatre “The Beatles of Comedy.” Entertainment Weekly dubbed them “one of the greatest comedy acts of all time.”

Mark Time Awards Recognized Worldwide


The Mark Time Awards were established 17 years ago as part of the opening ceremony at CONvergence, a major event for science fiction fans held annually in Minneapolis. Supported by the fan base and administered by audio writer-producer Jerry Stearns, with a regular live “radio” performance co-written with Brian Price, the Mark Time Awards achieved international success, with prizes awarded to producers from Ireland, Belgium, England, Canada, South Africa and the U.S. With Stearns’ retirement, the awards have found a new home with Otherworld Media and a new presentation venue with the HEAR Now Festival.

Judges Chosen to Evaluate Mark Time Entries


In addition to the three surviving Firesign partners – David Ossman, Phil Proctor and Phil Austin and their spouses, judges for the 2015 Mark Time Awards include Jerry Stearns, Brian Price and William Stout. Other judges and new members of the MTA’s advisory board include:

• Actor and director Candace Barrett Birk of Minneapolis
• Mort Castle, noted horror author and writing teacher at Columbia College, in Chicago
• Actor and producer Richard Fish of Audio Cinema Entertainment in Bloomington, Indiana
• Audio writer and producer Fred Greenhalgh of FinalRune Productions in Maine
• Writer and producer Tom Lopez of ZBS Foundation in New York
• Producer Ben Manilla of San Francisco and U.C. Berkeley
• On-line learning specialist Kris Markman of Harvard University
• Multimedia Technologist Skip Pizzi associated with NPR, Microsoft, and the National Association of Broadcasters
• Radio host Gretchen Steiner of Portland, Oregon
• Leo G. Wetherill, Jr., Executive Director, Leo Gilbert Wetherill Foundation

The Mark Time Award images, including the new Ogle image named after the first film actor to play Frankenstein’s Monster, Charles Ogle, have been designed by William Stout, long associated with the Firesign Theatre as album cover artist and illustrator.

Notices of Mark Time events will be posted at www.firesigntheatre.com and on Facebook on various pages devoted to The Firesign Theatre and its followers and fans of the audio arts. An archive of live Mark Time Radio Shows performed at CONvergence is available from www.greatnorthernaudio.com.

News about the HEAR Now Festival, June 11-15 in Kansas City MO, is here www.hearnowfestival.org.

Media Contact:
Judith Walcutt, CEO, Otherworld Media
360-331- 2813 / oworld@whidbey.com
http://www.otherworldmedia.com

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