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General Sessions:
Once Upon A Time ... The
End
Pushing the Boundaries of Everyday Radio
Featuring ... The Feature
Trespassing
Rocks, Riptides and Buoys: Radio in the Play of
Airwaves
These Are A Few of My Favorite Things
Breakout Sessions:
Music
Interview
Voice
Airtime
Audio Doctor Sessions
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So, you've got your assignment. You've done your research, you've collected
your tape and now it's time ... ("Oh god...") to write. In this session we
examined the Everest and K-2 of story telling: How to Begin and (assuming you
can get past that one), How to End. Do you invent a tentative start and finish
before you begin? What if you have one, but not the other? Which is more
important? (1:23:00)
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Diamonds are made under pressure! For this session,
Priya Ramu and Steve
Wadhams from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation presented their
advice on how to make daily radio that shines and delights. Using examples from
a wide range of daily information programming, they offered ideas and
approaches to make interviews, news spots, and long-form reports more lively
and memorable, no matter how tight the deadline. (1:26:41)
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The radio "feature" is a long-standing tradition of the European airwaves, and
is a format with a style all its own — quite different from the feature format
broadcast across America. Kaye Mortley, an independent producer
based in France, gave an introduction to a variety of feature work being
produced in Europe today, including her own.
Mortley described the feature this way: "These pieces are mind movies - road
movies sculpted out of reality. The information they convey is lateral, quirky,
personal, not giving answers but inviting the listener to interact with the
different worlds into which they beckon ... they are pieces where form is born
of content and content shapes form." (1:26:59)
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Jay Allison led a discussion about the ways in which
documentarians must be skilled in the art of trespassing — into the lives of
others, between mediums and across boundaries that exist within their own roles
as journalists, historians, interpreters and storytellers. (1:24:09)
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Longtime proponent of radio as a fluid and flexible medium, Gregory
Whitehead played a variety of work from around the world, opening into
both a philosophical and pragmatic discussion about the role of imaginative
radio in an increasingly congested media landscape. (1:19:09)
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Ira Glass played and talked about radio and print journalism
that has inspired him, including some surprising 1970's-era NPR documentaries
which may be long forgotten by most, and some recent work by younger radio
producers. (1:24:11)
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Music and sound bring layers of meaning to your work. Incorporating them most
effectively starts with looking for the movement and metaphor in your
materials. Using examples from her own features, Sherre DeLys presented
different approaches to integrated sound design. (1:13:09)
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With a little savvy and practice, magic can happen between two people and a
microphone. Taki Telonidis and Hal Cannon outlined
the basic elements of conducting an interview, both in technical and human
terms, by playing great examples and bringing in the wisdom of master
interviewers on public radio. (1:24:40)
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The three legs of the tripod of radio — voice, text, and sound — are
interdependent, and all contribute to the "voice" of any radio piece.
Independent producer Karen Michel discussed what makes a unique
voice and presented work that demonstrates different styles of voice. (1:21:06)
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What does it take to get your work on the national airwaves? Representatives
from NPR, PRI and the Public Radio Exchange explained how to get work on
national programs and how to distribute stand-alone specials and series. They
addressed such important issues as pay, producer credits, rights and editorial
control. (1:06:51)
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This year many conference attendees had the opportunity to bring their work
(completed or in progress) to a private editing session with an accomplished
producer. Appointments were determined by lottery, selected from those who
indicated interest when they registered for the conference.
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