2018 Mark Time Award Winners
18/06/18 21:52
Mark 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 Finalists
28/05/18 19:35
Mark 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 Open
13/02/18 17:02
2018 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 > 2018
20/03/17 16:56
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 - 2016
16/06/16 16:38
Winners 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