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.


Whitey's Rules

Residents of a quiet Santa Monica apartment building remember their neighbor, Charlie -- also known as notorious Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger -- in this darkly comic piece.

Purple Purpose

FNSS (Friendly Neighborhood Surveillance System) delivers a report to Charles on Mrs. Smotherson, Mr. Eggerly, and Bruce & Denny.

The Gray Wisteria of Gilman Terrace

When we bought our dream fixer-up home on Gilman Terrace, my husband and I knew that it came with sad past--but we weren't prepared, when we unlocked the door, to find a house full of someone else's life.

Black Coffee

A personal musing about estrangement and its effects on language, cultural identity, and the meaning of home.

Out of the Blue

A college student describes the two sides of herself in her struggle with bipolar disorder.

Glass, Not Glitter

2012 ShortDocs Winner! Neighbors of the Murrah Federal building recall the 1995 bombing that altered the life and culture of Oklahoma City.

Redbricks and Weatherboards

I've lived in Melbourne's suburban inner west for five years, walked my street of redbricks and weatherboards every day, but never stopped to listen until now. This is my street.

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.

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.