eric

THE VENUS RADIO THEATER is about telling authentic, artist-driven stories.

The big entertainment companies have become nothing more than highly profitable mortuaries. They take good ideas, remove them from their vital organs, stuff them with formaldehyde, and present the finished product to the world in a harmless and inoffensive open casket. These morticians would tell you that they are fighting for the interests of the “average viewer.” I don’t know about you, but I’d hate to be referred to as the “average viewer.” In fact, in my experience, humans are surprisingly and endlessly interesting. Yet, the industry by and large treats “interesting” as the outlier in favor of “average.” And as such, the artist is cast aside for the committee, but at VRT, every production artist reigns supreme.

But why is it so important to tell authentic, artist-driven stories? My parents are deaf, and later in life, I would be diagnosed with Bi-Polar 2 disorder.

When I look back on my childhood, I can’t help but think of all the people who wouldn’t talk to my parents, ignored my parents, or abused them because of their disability. I wish I could tell you this isn’t normal behavior, but the truth is, it was. And as a child, I felt helpless. I hoped that I would see a story in the movies that represented my family’s story. Instead, the few times deaf people enter the pop-culture, it’d always be as outsiders and, worse, how they affected “normal” hearing protagonists.

And as I grew older and moved away from Rhode Island to the big city of New York, and I began to make diverse friends, I realized how many other people were waiting to hear their stories and from their perspectives. But also how these amazing artists wanted safe workplace practices and respect. And I set out to create an organization that places the artist first and provides them with the resources they need to tell the story they want.

Due to the advent of smartphones and ubiquitous audio services, the audio theater has come roaring back to life after spending the better half of the last century in deep slumber. We love audio because there’s no limit to our imagination or where we can go. The only thing that limits us is our own will and talents. The Venus Radio Theater stands for excellence in quality and advocating the voices of all its artists.

I am proud to say that two years into this project, we’ve created a community of over one hundred talented artists who believe in this dream. Our initial first season of productions features stories written by PoC, LGBTQI, Female, or Person with Disabilities. Out of the over thirty actors we have employed on various productions, over two-thirds have been either PoC, Women, or LGBTQI. But most importantly, we acknowledge we can do better, and we continuously strive to be better. We are incredibly grateful for all the other wonderful folks in the space that have been a beacon to us as to what we should be striving for.

Specifically, I want to shout out to The Parsnip Ship and its artistic director, Iyvon Edebiri. She and her team have been running an audio theater dedicated to diverse voices for over five years. And we thank them for the great work they do, and everyone should check them out. Also, shout out to the team at Radio Drama Revival. Reading and following folks like Elena Fernández Collins and Wil Williams has led me to discover so many other great audio dramas and be aware of what’s happening in the space.

I am incredibly excited for the future and to be part of this great community.

I hope everyone enjoys the fruits of our labor! Please keep tuning in every month to hear great new audio stories!

As we begin to gear up on promotion for “Destroy All Humans,” it feels like I’m saying goodbye to an old friend in “Calico M.D.” When I began work on “Calico MD,” it was in the midst of a crossroads in my life as I had just gotten out of a toxic relationship and didn’t quite know where my life was heading. I began working on this script with really no expectation of it actually being produced. And in many ways, I reveled in this reality. If it’s not going to be produced, then I might as well enjoy every minute of conjuring this strange world.

Many folks like to continually give advice and sell books on how “to sell” in Hollywood. And a lot of it, in my opinion, is really damaging poppycock as I find the most exciting stories are the ones that kick me on my ass and make me think. When I was crafting “Calico MD,” the two constant ideas that really lit the fire of my imagination are the idea of ambition with no hope as represented by Dr. Calico and of a community that survives despite its circumstances as represented by Cixious Village.

You may have noticed that there is only one identifiable character in Cixious Village, outside of Gris and Cecil, and that is Big Ant. Groups are funny things in that they often have distinct identities, and those identities are usually directly correlated with their stated ideals and goals. For that reason, it is almost a necessity to have a leader because it’s the leader’s job to harness the group’s collective strength towards a goal or ideal. The Big Ant character came into being to showcase what the weight of power does to the individual. Her job is to maintain the utopia, yet, in becoming the authority that protects the village, she also distorts the utopia into a dystopia.

Dr. Calico, unlike Big Ant, represents the individual. Dr. Calico is all consumed by her dream of being a doctor that she finds herself willing to go to any lengths to achieve it and finds herself utterly blind to the needs of those around her. So, in essence, Calico MD is about how even the most extraordinary dreams can go horribly awry. Again, I wrote the story while at a crossroads in my life. However, what I am most proud of when it comes to Calico MD is that even though it is a story with profound existential questions, it is perhaps one of the goofiest, silliest stories you may encounter.

I was fortunate to find like-minded artists in the form of our incredibly talented cast and crew. If I had tried to shop Calico M.D. to various production houses, I shudder to think what the response would have been. I can hear the comments now: “Is this for kids?” “This needs more adult humor! More Sex!” “It needs more gags!” I can only imagine what studio executives would have thought about birds named in reference to Joseph Cornell and Juan Gris. And yet saying all of this… I distinctly remember the fear I had leading up to our release of Calico MD. That perhaps people would just think this was all silly and not get what I was trying to do.

And this to me is the beauty of VENUS RADIO THEATER’S stage. An array of folks have approached me to tell me what they took from Calico MD, and to hear people just accept it on its own terms… has been incredible. While there is certainly a line between self-indulgence and artistic intent, it really is inspiring to see audiences coming to our material with an open mind and asking themselves, “what does the artist intend with” rather than merely a mindset of “ENTERTAIN ME! AND DO IT QUICKLY!” So, while I came to Calico M.D. with lofty goals and whatnot, my biggest take-away is… It’s amazing to see where audiences will go with you.