A Producer + an Editor = A Preditor. Two discrete roles got combined through circumstance and technology into one efficient super-being working alongside its predecessors. But don't be afraid, there is another new skills hybrid emerging to enter the battle for podcast production supremacy. We hunted, and bagged some of these different species and got their views on what they do best - and what's coming over the hill. On behalf of creators becoming potential clients, we asked 'Which combination of skills do you need in your producer? What are they ? and how to work with the right person'. In this episode we cover: What does a producer do? What does the client bring as a starting point for a podcast? What should potential clients expect from their podcast producer, and what’s their remit? Lead Producer, Martin Franklin from East Coast Studio gets some quality Zoom-time with fellow producers, Courtney Carthy, Nick McCorriston, and Louise Poole to explore the different dimensions of production on Planet Pod. Links Courtney Carthy (Linkedin) Nick McCorriston (Linkedin) Louise Poole (Linkedin) Independent Music Podcast (Apple Podcasts) State 51 (WWW) Transcription Martin Franklin Hi, Welcome back to Metapod. This is Martin Franklin from East Coast Studio. And we are still deep diving into the world of podcasting and finding our things tick. So my question for this episode, what does a producer actually do? I noticed that there's quite a variety of approaches to production within the podcasting world. And I was kind of curious about how different people do it. I wanted to produce some sort of guidance for people who are perhaps thinking about producing a podcast or appointing a producer to produce their podcast, so that we just had a little bit of an overview of what what could you expect and the different approaches that different people take to, to do that work. Once again, I canvassed, the Australian Podcasters group, and I had three sterling individuals step forward, willing to talk to me and just share their thoughts in a conversation. So in this episode, I'm talking to Courtney Carthy, from Nearly Media, Nick McCorriston from Sound Boy Audio, and Louise Poole, from Welcome Change Media. And I'm really happy with the conversations that we had, because each of them takes a slightly different approach to the craft of being a producer, which is shaped by their background and their particular aptitude and take on what they what they do best. So we get into what's next for podcasting, music, copyrights, content strategy, and a whole load of other stuff, which, honestly, I hadn't expected to talk about before I hit record on the conversations. Courtney Carthy - Hearing the Potential Martin Franklin 2:07 So let's jump into the first conversation I had, which was with Courtney Carthy from Nearly Media, he's got a really strong radio background, spending almost a decade as a producer for ABC, he very kindly squeezed this interview into his journey from one place to the other in his car. So you will hear the sound of the car in the background. And I did think I could spend a bit of time cleaning up the audio and removing the various traffic noises that are in the background. But actually, I kind of like how it, how it sounds, he's in the car, and he's talking to me through his Airpods. And this is what it sounds like: Radio Production Martin Franklin 2:50 I know your background is originally as a reporter, and then producing in radio, I wonder if you could just give me your take on what's involved in the producer role for for radio. Courtney Carthy 3:04 It's basically everything but speaking on air, is how I used to think of it. So I didn't sort of get myself boxed in about, you know, what was or wasn't part of my job. I think before I worked in radio, I really didn't appreciate or media, you know, Southern first media sort of, like, role that I had was student radio. But I never appreciated how much work there was outside of the final product. And whenever I hear producer, I just think, you know, like, the person that does everything that knows what's going on everywhere. You know, that can that can yell at someone, not that I yell at people, but you know, that can identify, can see the end but knows where to start? Martin Franklin 4:02 Yeah. So in terms of the shows that you worked on, could you just kind of go into what's involved in from a production point of view? Courtney Carthy 4:14 Yes. The bulk of my time at ABC Radio, and, you know, radio in general, was as a live radio producer. So that would be like, you know, finding stories briefing, the host briefing the talent, deciding how we were going to cover a story. So, you know, effectively acting like a bit of an editor you know, sort of more like a newspaper editor, not an audio editor. And then, you know, pushing the boundaries of, you know, what, sort of, you know, angle we might take or, you know, how we respond to something or what the audience might like, and thinking about how that fits into the overall show in the overall context of, you know, where we were, you know, broadcasting. It would be physically, you know, physically getting on the phone, calling people, you know, as fast as you can, so that you can get people booked on that show, either the same day or the next, you know, couple of days. And then live producing the show. So that would be directing the host, updating the host, managing guests coming in and out. Cutting audio, getting audio, dealing with technical problems, answering the phones, pushing the buttons on the desk, sometimes dealing with legal issues, choosing music. You know, there's a whole host of stuff that goes on, as you know. Podcast Context Martin Franklin 5:52 Yeah. So that's, that's great. So can we move on to how does that roll transfer into the world of podcasting, as far as how you do it? Courtney Carthy 6:02 Well, the ability to conceptualise and then conceptualise audio, and hear it before you've heard, it is probably the biggest thing, I spent so much time explaining what shows will sound like and show formats, how they'll run to clients or, you know, just people, you know, that don't work in podcasts. But you know, we'd like to have a podcast made or, you know, helping me with a podcast show. People can't perceive what it'll be like, you know, if you say, you know, we'll have a cold open where you're speaking for maybe 30 seconds, and then we'll hit some music, and then that'll fade out into a second introduction that's got, you know, the proper sort of show, you know, theme and this and that. And then that'll go into the interview. And then we'll do a little bit of voiceover in the interview, you get through all the details, and people just can't hear it, like people that work in you know, radio, or podcasting or audio production can hear it Martin Franklin 7:05 With you taking such experienced role in shaping the podcast, what did the clients bring to you as a starting point? Courtney Carthy 7:15 They usually want a story told or a message conveyed. So they want they want to tell people about how, yeah, their customers that had a great experience, or that they're, you know, Senior Manager is really knowledgeable about something or update their staff on, you know, weekly things. Often, it's something that they're interested in. And you know, that's, that's fine. But it usually often often has to be shaped a little bit to make it interesting beyond their immediate team. And, you know, what's interesting in one context is absolutely uninteresting in another context. And that's, that's not saying that any context is better than another. But podcasts traverse, you know, several contexts, whether that's online, somebody's listening, you know, privately or, you know, you're trying to get listeners publicly. Martin Franklin 8:22 You know, a few years ago, I worked in the culture sector in the UK, and for one of the organisations that I used to work for, we had a media company come in to do some consulting on a project. And they started saying to us, "you need to find a preditor" to do a particular role. And this is the first time I've ever heard this amalgamation of two roles. It's producer, editor, so someone who can conceptualise your content, and then actually create it and edit it gets you from the start right to the finished content. So we've heard from Courtney Carthy, who I think is very much coming from the producer direction. And now we're going to hear from Nick McCorriston, and then coming up after Nick, there's an indication I think of a fourth roll, which is somebody who can do that end to end production, plus, do a little bit of strategy around it as well. And it's probably one of the things that we do here at East Coast Studio. Nick McCorriston - Game Community So let's jump into the interview with Nick McCorriston. When you popped up on the Facebook thread, you kind of introduced yourself as an engineer and editor. Yeah. And I know I've just had a quick look on your, your website and you've got production duties as well. How do you see the difference between those different roles? Nick McCorriston 9:50 It's interesting because I do generally prefer the editing side of work. I like the that's the where I feel skilled. And that's where I feel creative. I feel as though in the industry these days when a company says they're looking for a producer, they're looking for someone who's a script writer, they're looking for someone who is ready to write copy that is ready to churn out more of a commercial, the commercial end of a product, as well as have some skills in digital editing and in in, yeah, digital production and, and generally, some sort of an idea of how to make something sound good. But that's definitely not a priority. So I tend to step away from jobs that pitch specifically as looking at looking for a producer, I like to focus on making the shows that I work on sound go
