Winners of the 2016 Mark Time Awards Announced

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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

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