The Gray Area Edward Champion

We've just launched a bold new experiment in independent podcasting and micropayments. It's called onlychatter.com. Our creator Edward Champion outlines the details of this new venture and unveils the first episode of a new comedic investigation podcast he's producing called HOW THE WORLD MAKES US.  Please go to onlychatter.com and consider becoming a member today! For the price of a pint, you'll have instant access to 40 new episodes of lively podcasts!

We've intercepted an alarming transmission from Universe 224B. Something about attending the 302nd Bureaucosmological Conference on October 16, 2021 at 7:00 PM at the Gene Frankel Theatre.  We pass this information onto you so that you can make sense of this.

Our intrepid heroes visit the New York Public Library to meet up with visiting literary scholar Merrill Malone, an eccentric and the foremost expert on Virginia Gaskell’s life and work, to get, once and for all, all the answers about the portals. What they don’t realize is that shocking personal revelations and the very ground beneath their feet will alter forever within the library’s seemingly pristine walls. (Running time: 55 minutes, 43 seconds.)
Written, produced, and directed by Edward Champion.
CAST:
Chelsea: Katrina Clairvoyant
Emily McCorkle: Belgys Felix
Professor Malone: Robert Garson
Jenna: Devony DiMattia
Miss Gaskell: Chris Smith
Maya: Tanja Milojevic
Ed Champion: Edward Champion
The Executive: Rachel Matusewicz
Audrey: Amanda Rios
Romero: David Ault
Joe: David Sinkus
The Guard: Graham Rowat
and Zack Glassman as The Receptionist
 
Incidental music licensed through Neosounds and MusicFox.
Additional music composed by Edward Champion
 
Sound design, editing, engineering, and mastering by a bald man in Brooklyn who clearly has some corporate identity issues to work out.
 
Thank you for listening!

Our showrunner Edward Champion discusses Part 3 of "Pattern Language." Subjects discussed include WandaVision, the careful balance between realism and pastiche, the Faulkner short story as a starting point, Love and Rockets, why the memory of an inspiration is often better than closely examining the source text, designing the 1970s announcer voice, using 1970s television effects to create a sound design, being careful with laugh tracks, why Carol Jacobanis is an extraordinary actor, the advantages of recording with Belgys and Carol together in the same room, an abandoned first season script set within a talk show, Eric Bogosian's Talk Radio, avoiding rehashes while writing, inverting the Neil LaBute/David Mamet formula for women, the strange Italian references throughout The Gray Area, Heath Martin, Louis CK's apology, creating walla sounds for the journalists, how Carol struck the perfect balance between realism and stylized voices, the need to know where a story is heading within five minutes, story beats, the candid dialogue, growing up in a prudish household, both-siderism vs. all sides in journalism, statements on the public record, bullies and therapy, young people who talk down at older people, the impossible behavioral ideal in the digital age, Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, the fajita demon origin story, why Pompano made an appearance here is an NYC restaurant, fish metaphors, The Shawshank Redemption, meeting Frank Darabont as a young man, behavioral patterns and therapy, paying respectful homage to Richard Russo, the great versatility of Monica Ammerman, how a recording accident created an opportunity for greater authenticity, the Chico State backstory, how his California origins influenced the script, fluid sexuality, ghost writing, why alcoholics keep cropping up in The Gray Area, annoying the audience, animal sounds, Catholicism, why the ukulele was used in a music cue, Jeff Russo's Fargo cue, Tarantino and surf music, balancing demons and humans, Evita and fascism, Argentine history, the disadvantages of being a horror movie fan while doing sound design, beta listener feedback, arriving at natural storytelling beats, the importance of the cart sound effect, electromatter sound design, learning the keyboard and composing primitive music, the high price of music clearance, barking dogs and the "black dog" of depression, being careful with storytelling explanations, wordplay as a source of creative inspiration, double-tracking to get vocal effects, creating ethereal sounds from homegrown recording, how using a keyboard altered the sound design, the responsibility of following up on storytelling points, a minor story problem in "An Iris for Emily," Johnny as Ed's dark half, and overly dramatic performance vs. melodrama.
(Running time: 30 minutes, 27 seconds.)

Emily McCorkle has landed the media appearance of a lifetime: a guest spot on the most respected talk show in America. But why is the host so concerned with her private details? And why are so many skeletons from her past making guest appearances? And who is the strange man with the hot dogs? (Running time: 38 minutes, 1 second.)
Written, produced, and directed by Edward Champion.
CAST:
Emily McCorkle: Belgys Felix
Ophelia Kakanakis: Carol Jacobanis
June: Monica Ammerman
The Fajita Demon: Pete Lutz
The Cunning Demon: Leanne Troutman
Morris Pressman: David Tao
Jimmy Markson: Heath Martin
Johnson: Hilah Hallaway
Emily's Mom: Melissa Medina
Emily's Dad: David Sirkus
Chelsea: Katrina Clairvoyant
Maya: Tanja Milojevic
Ed Champion: Edward Champion
Reporter #1: Glenn Bulthius
Reporter #2: Alice Fox
and Zack Glassman as The Receptionist
Creature Voices by Samantha Cooper and Rachel Baird
Incidental music licensed through Neosounds and MusicFox.
Additional music composed by Edward Champion.
Sound design, editing, engineering, and mastering by a bald man in Brooklyn who has become a TikTok junkie seemingly against his will.
Thank you for listening

Our showrunner Edward Champions dives into the second chapter of "Pattern Language."  Subjects discussed include creative dissatisfaction, basing the story arc on being personally libeled by a journalist, writing as an act of being peace, resisting the temptation to write from revenge, fantasy as a genre where real-life people incapable of empathy express it as new characters, designing the telephone muttering, invasion of privacy, when culture doesn't allow people to change, how Belgyis Felix landed the role by staying in character as a demon during a play, the Adelphi school of acting, the remarkable acting range of Belgys Felix, how McCorkle's recalcitrance reflected his own arrogant past, the immaturity and narcissism of star journalists, the public profile vs. the private character of a person, the "worst X" as a headline, wishful thinking about editorial standards, Kevin Fogelberg and Dan Fogelberg, allusions to the Hulk Hogan Gawker suit, the New York Times vs. Sullivan standard and libel, advertorial articles and puff pieces in the magazine industry, ideologues who claim to be journalists, basing Morris Pressman on Ben Hecht plays, larger-than-life characters, Slate reporters who manipulate content for white-collar workers, floral allegories, the influence of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, his tendency to write stylized men, recording subway and New York sounds, tying the many loose strands together, the Ed and Maya conversation as a callback to "Dearer than Earsight," why it's important to cast someone better than you if you appear in your own audio drama, addressing the events of "Fuel to the Fire," why he had to hire a German translator, why Tanja Milojevic is brilliant, scouring for German idioms, why there are so many Receptionists in the main universe, the influence of Stranger than Paradise on music licensing, casting a real estate broker as a corporate tycoon, the parallels between Chelsea and The Wizard of Oz's Dorothy, location audio in Midtown, the tendency to run into random people quite frequently in New York City, coincidental run-ins in stories, clarifying previous story details, chase scenes, the crazed amount of Tony Danza research done for The Gray Area, Christopher Alexander and "pattern language," and demon transformation.  (Running time: 26 minutes, 8 seconds)