ShortDocs

Discover hundreds of short audio gems produced in response to a prompt from Third Coast for the ShortDocs Competition, hosted between 2003 and 2016. Each year ushered in a new set of rules, new creative partners, and ever-more magical results.

The Gray Area

After a grueling 35 min dance entitled "Little Mortal Jump" by Alejandro Cerrudo, resident choreographer of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, dancers Kevin Shannon and Alice Klock reflect on not only their young love duet but the thoughts that cross their mind after the lights have gone out.

Red Brick Houses

Here's a conversation with my 92 year-old neighbor Liza about how our neighborhood has changed since 1959, with "Mack the Knife" played on ukelele by fellow neighbor Tom Bassett.

2012
03:00
Carol Spindel

The Wine-Dark Sea

Homer's Odyssey re-imagined through my neighbors' experiences on the wine-dark sea.

2012
03:00
Whitney Jones

Mike Schmidt on a Purple Bike

Old friends and newly neighbors, Andy and Amanda stalk their Brooklyn block to uncover the mystique of a neighborhood legend who curiously resembles one of baseball's greatest Hall of Famers.

Crown the King: Red Takes Black

2012 ShortDocs Winner! One block from Adam Kampe's apartment sits the Capitol Pool Checkers Club where, each week, men with nicknames like the Hammer, the Pressure Man, and the Razor gather to trash talk over heated games of checkers.

2012
02:32
Adam Kampe

Sunset Ridge Brown

One morning I looked out my front door and...oh, my, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!?

2012
02:54
Bill Ratner

Romance at the Red Line Tap

Characters come out of the woodwork to take the stage at a weekly open mic at The Red Line Tap in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago.

2012
03:00
Tricia Bobeda

The White House

Living next door for years, they soon learn each other's ways, not only to be nosey but also for support.

2012
03:02
Daniel Baker

Red Beeps

A recollection of my aunt's past and current home.

2012
02:24
Aaron Arreguin

From Green to Gone

A tree is a precious thing in a city...but does anyone care when a tree in their own backyard is cut down?

2012
02:58
Hannah Ayers

The Color of Somebody's Skin

My neighbor Eddy Jr. shares his love and lament for the neighborhood he's called home all his life.

2012
03:00
Andy Mills

New Neighbor Blues

Susan and Joe discover just how much the ocean they grew up with meant to them when they are 3,000 miles from home.

White Noise

White Noise is about what happens to the residents when several construction projects invade one block at the same time.

Dancing Away the Teaching Blues

Life experiences told by my neighbor and colleague: Chris Nho, the breakdancing math teacher.

2012
03:00
Julie Ma

The Man With the Long White Beard

He's not just the Santa Claus-looking guy who walks his dog every day on my street--he's Larry Bauer: carpenter, man-of-letters.

2012
03:00
Scott Pham

Fwd: Have You Red the 'Welcome Back to the D' Thread?

My neighbors read their own words in this piece which spotlights excerpts from an e-mail thread that went out on our neighborhood list-serve, a source of fascination for all involved.

2012
02:53
Laura Herberg

Unobstructed Pink and Blue

A landlord and a tenant inhabit the same building on West 18th Street in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago.

2012
03:00
Jennifer Swann

Pretty in Pink

The girls upstairs are loud and fun, and one of them is Miss Wicker Park.

2012
02:52
Jessica Speer

The Yellow Living Room

Somebody gets a friendly new neighbor!

Oh, Where Have You Been, My Blue-Eyed Son?

Liza introduces her new love, Jonah.

2012
02:59
Belinda Lopez

A Cold Freezin Night - 13

Austin, Texas based experimental performance art group Happiness is a Choice use improvisation and their unique style of meta-theater to learn about each other and about the moments that they share on stage.