IT'S HERE, IT'S HERE! When I emailed the producers of the Amelia project last week I seriously was not expecting a response. To my surprise, I got a response in only a few hours. I am in love with the Amelia Project podcast. Just having the chance to talk to the producers is a dream come true, but, learning more about them is something I never imagined. I proudly present Philip "Pip" Thorne and Oystien Brager.
South: Where did you get your inspiration for the Amelia Project?
Pip: Do you want the romantic version or the gritty version?
The romantic version: I was sitting at Les Deux Magots, a steaming cup of chocolat chaud in front of me, watching the world go by on Boulevard Saint-Germain, and The Interviewer wandered into my head.
The gritty version: I was on some industrial estate on the outskirts of Paris, teaching business English (a job I hated) feeling lonely and disconnected from my old theatre friends back in London, questioning the choices I had made that had brought me here, fantasising about starting over… If only an agency existed that offered such a service…
The truth lies somewhere in between.
Oystein: I only have one, true version, and it’s a romantic one: I was sitting at the Waterstones Bookshop Café in Hampstead, a steaming cup of Earl Grey tea in front of me, watching British TV celebrities go by on their way to the loo at the back when Pip suddenly says: “I’ve had this idea about a company that fakes people’s deaths.”
South: (Laughs) Three different stories, only two people. This is going to be good. If you could travel to any fictional book world, where would you go and what would you do there?
Oystein: I’d want to live in any book by Douglas Adams. I don’t care what happens, it’s bound to be hilarious and exhilarating. I’ll remember to bring a towel.
Pip: I’d go to the Shire and enjoy tea with the hobbits! (Or cocoa? Do hobbits drink cocoa? I feel they would.)
South: Pip, I completely agree with you. Hobbits have to drink cocoa. How long on average does it take you to write an episode of the podcast?
Pip: This varies hugely! Anywhere between two days and two months. Coming up with ideas for stories can be a process of several weeks or months. I usually have a vague hunch for an episode and just let it bubble away in the background for a bit. Once I have a firmer grasp on the idea, I sit down and plot it out by hand in a notebook. Then I open up my computer and work on a first draft (usually takes about three days). I take a break from it for a day, come back with fresh eyes, and assess what works and what doesn’t. I do a second draft in which I cut things down a lot, restructure and sharpen the jokes. This is actually my favourite part of the process! (Usually takes a day). Then I spend another day polishing, then send it to Oystein for feedback!
Oystein: I often start by going for a walk. Whilst getting some fresh air I start asking myself questions about the story, and then those questions gradually turn into ideas, sparking more questions et cetera. Many times along the walk I’ll start from the beginning of the story, telling it to myself again and again, until I know as much as I need to know to start writing. Then I go home, sit down in front of the computer and hammer it all out. Then I send it to Pip, he gives notes, and then there’s a whole lot of back and forth… sometimes that last process takes a couple of days, sometimes we keep tweaking and changing things for ages. Sometimes the episode slots into the current season, sometimes we put it aside and come back to it three seasons later. Yes - that has happened!
South: What is your preferred font to write your scripts?
Pip: Courier Prime. It has all the advantages of standard Courier (the monospacing means you can draw an equivalence between page and performance time) but it’s nicer to look at.
South: If you could change one thing in one of your published works what would it be?
Pip: Since Amelia is such a steadily moving train, I don’t really allow myself to think about that… (Right now for example we’re editing Season 3, writing Season 4, plotting Season 5…) I obsess about each episode right up until the second it’s published and then let go. Each episode is a product of the time and circumstances under which it was made, and the imperfections of one episode help to improve the next.
South: I completely understand that. What were you feeling when your podcast was first released?
Pip: It was super exciting! I remember spending the whole day obsessively refreshing stats and social media to see how many downloads we were getting and what people were saying. Up until that point all my work had been in front of a live audience, where you can instantly gauge how the work is being received. It was really weird not to have that immediate connection. But it was also exciting to see where the downloads were coming from. I remember getting a few random downloads from the Solomon Islands and being completely blown away that someone on the other end of the world had found us and was listening to what we’d made! I still find it magical to see where the downloads are coming from and thinking of all those people in various countries going about their daily lives, shopping, commuting, doing the dishes, jogging or falling asleep with our show in their ears…
South: I can say personally that I listen to the podcast while I play sudoku. Are you married to anybody?
Oystein: Yes. My wife and I met on a theatre production in Birmingham, UK. She was producing, I had the role of “outside eye”. Today we live in Oslo, Norway.
Pip: Yes. I met my wife at drama school in London. I was studying theatre directing and she was studying costume design. So we knew each other for three years but, in a masterstroke of timing, only started going out after graduation, a week before she moved back to France. But in the end it all worked out! Today we live in Paris.
South: Ooh, I love theater so much. Do you have any pets?
Pip: I don’t. I would like to have a monkey.
Oystein: I love cats. But the only pets I have at the moment are dust bunnies.
South: What is your favorite book?
Oystein: “Contact” by Carl Sagan. A book that helps me remember how small we are, how big the universe is, and what kind of possibilities lie beyond.
Pip: Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s “Good Omens” is a book that has been on my bedside table for the the past few years, and which I dip into again and again. It’s been a source of much joy, laughter and inspiration.
South: My favorite book is the basic Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. How did you feel when Amelia Project won the Audio Verse Awards?
Pip: That was a lovely surprise! We won awards for Audio Play Production, music, cover art, leading role, supporting role and writing. The Amelia Project is very much a team effort, so I’m really happy about the recognition for so many different aspects of the creative process!
South: I think this says a lot about a person, what is your favorite color?
Pip: Red.
Oystein: I don’t have one. When I was a kid it was two: Green and purple. And I loved the combo of the two next to each other.
South: If you could go back in time, what would you say to yourself when you first started writing the Amelia Project?
Oystein: “You’ll figure it out eventually.”
Pip: “Keep at it! It will all work out in the end!”
South: In your opinion, what is the closest thing to real magic?
Oystein: When I hear the finished episode and my brain is convinced these characters are in the same room interacting, when I know full well how it was recorded and that the actors were on different continents and not at all in a car or a jungle or a Russian prison.
South: What is the funniest thing that has happened to you while you were recording the Amelia Project?
Pip: The episode “Bartholomew F*ckface Chucklepants Knuckle-Cracker” is a very silly episode which contains an extended fencing scene with batons of rolled up newspaper. We staged it for real, in a studio, with the actors swashbuckling around two microphones. They really got into the spirit of it, darting around the small studio, whacking each other over the head with considerable force (the microphones took quite a beating too). Originally I was in the booth with them, in order to be able to direct the scene, but I was laughing so much, they had to send me out!
South: Oh that was one of my favorite episodes. What is the weirdest thing that has happened to you while you were recording the Amelia Project?
Pip: The first episode of Season 2 is set during a thunderstorm, and the Interviewer arrives late, drenched to the bone. The day we recorded this, there was a genuine storm and Alan (who plays The Interviewer) got lost on the way to the studio. He finally arrived an hour late and soaking wet. Reality was uncannily mirroring fiction…
South: What are your favorite snacks to eat while you are writing?
Oystein: I don’t eat when I write (in fact I can often forget time and only realise how long I’ve been at it when my stomach starts grumbling so loudly it interrupts my flow of thoughts). But I drink copious amounts of tea.
Pip: I tend not to snack while writing, but I bribe myself with coffee. I’m only allowed the next cup once I finish a scene.
South: How has Covid-19 affected your recording processes.
Pip: When the pandemic hit, we already had most of Season 3 Part 1 in the can. But for Part 2 (which has just launched) we had to experiment with new ways of recording. Some of our actors have home setups and could record their bits in isolation and send them to us to piece together in postproduction. For others we rented studios they could use individually, or sent them microphones and instructed them on how to build blanket forts to reduce reverb. More recently we’ve been using a software called “Cleanfeed” which is like an audio-only conference call that allows everyone to record together. It makes it possible to recreate some of the studio vibe.
South: Has it been difficult not being able to get together for recordings?
Pip: Yes! We used to record ninety percent of the show with everyone together in a studio. It was a nightmare to organise (we all live in different countries) and a big expense, but we felt it was important to physically get together, both as a creative team (lots of our best ideas come during coffee breaks or during dinner after a day of recording) and for the performance style. Since we come from a theatre background we’ve always loved being able to perform and direct live, and there’s an energy to in-person recordings that’s really hard to replicate when doing things remotely. Especially for comedy.
South: What good has come out of the pandemic?
Oystein: I’ve been on a lot of walks around the neighbourhood. I now have intimate knowledge of every street in a five mile radius to my house. Did you say good? Oh sorry. No, nothing.
South: I completely understand that. However, I am a very optimistic person the majority of the time so I always try and see the best in situations.
Pip: Now that we’ve got our cast kitted out with microphones and figured out how to use remote recording technology, it’s actually made our recording process faster, easier and cheaper. And rather than being limited to actors from the specific place where we’re recording (London or Vienna mostly) we can cast people from all over the world. So there’s a silver lining. But I still can’t wait to see the gang again…
South: Now most importantly, will we ever learn the Interviewer's name?
Pip: No.
Oystein: Yes.
Pip: Well, maybe…
Oystein: Probably in Season 4.
Pip: …not until Season 6 or 7 at the earliest.
Oystein: Are you joking?
Pip: What’s in a name anyway?
Oystein: That which we call cocoa by any other name would smell as sweet?
Pip: Exactly!
Oystein: Well… You’ll just have to wait and see I guess.
Pip: Amelia is all about the secrets!
South: Well that was very...confusing. I can't wait to find out! Thank you guys for letting me interview you.
Thank you again Pip and Oystein. I had a really good laugh reading this and writing it. I even went back and relistened to a few episodes. I will admit I specifically relistened to the Bartholomew episode. I was laughing so hard as I now know how it was made. For all my readers, I will be posting my review for the Ameli project in the coming weeks so keep an eye out for that!
Oystein Ulsberg Brager is a freelance theatre director, dramaturg and playwright. He is joint artistic director of Imploding Fictions and co-creator of the award-winning Audio Fiction Podcast The Amelia Project. Øystein currently works as a dramaturg at Unge Viken Teater in Norway. Part of his job is running the theatre’s young writers program. For more info see oysteinbrager.com.
Philip Thorne is a joint artistic director of Imploding Fictions and co-creator of the award-winning Audio Fiction Podcast The Amelia Project. He currently lives in Paris where he teaches English, commits fictional crimes and consumes copious amounts of cocoa.
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