FANWORKS FAN AUDIO AWARDS ANNOUNCEMENT CEREMONY

[Nathan Butler]

Hello, fan audio fans. On behalf of Star Wars Fanworks and StarWarz.com, allow me to welcome you to the 2004 Star Wars Fanworks Fan Audio Awards announcement ceremony. It's nothing fancy, but it works.

Starting in about five minutes, at 5:00 p.m. ET, we will begin announcing the winners of the first-annual fan audio awards. We will begin with the Founder's Choice Awards, covering special recognition for projects released before 2003. Then we will move on to the People's Choice Awards, the awards voted on via online polls here at the Galactic Senate Fanworks board. Finally, we will move into the set you've all been waiting for, the prestigious Fan Audio Academy Awards, the set chosen by a panel of seven fan audio community members that took their time to listen to all nominated projects, judging each as impartially as possible, with no active ties to any released 2003 projects.

Following the ceremony, the Fanworks site itself will be updated to include a new Features area that will include listings of each set of awards and their recipients, with links to People Directory profiles for all winning individuals and active links to project pages for winning projects. This will also kick off the first in a series of short recorded interviews with winners from the Fan Audio Academy Awards, which will be released approximately once per week for the next two months or so.

Winning projects and individuals will bear a special accolades section on their project and people profile pages, along with bearing a special awards image prepared by Fanworks' Rich Sigfrit.

Feel free to discuss the ceremony in this thread, even while announcements are being made. New announcements will be made in boldfaced red text, making them easy to spot. Just hit the refresh button every couple of minutes to ensure that you have the most recent announcements.

And, after the ceremony, keep an eye out for a special fan audio awards edition of Requiem of the Outcast, coming in early March, and be sure to drop by www.swendirect.com for the live broadcast of Star Wars en Direct's newest episode, which will begin airing at 7 p.m. ET.

[LizAscot]

*smiles nervously* Well, here it is. I'm so excited!

[Nathan Butler]

Alright, ladies and gentlement, by my clock, it's 5:00 ET, so let's get started.

First, I want to extend my thanks and congratulations to all of those nominated for the 44 separate awards to be given here tonight. The past year has been an amazing one for fan audio, and all of you have been part of building a foundation that will take us into uncharted territory in the years to come.

That being said, it's only fitting that we begin with the <span style="color:red">Founder's Choice Awards</span>.

The FCA series is a group of awards meant to recognize outstanding early achivements in the birth of the Star Wars fan audio genre in the years from 1998 - 2002. These projects were deemed worthy of recognition, but were not elligible for the FAAA or FPCA series, as they were released before 2003. Awards were chosen directly by Fanworks founder Nathan P. Butler. (This series is a one-time event, which will not be repeated in subsequent years.)

The categories chosen to be presented were:
Most Influential Radio Show
Most Groundbreaking Parody
Greatest Multicultural Effort
and
Most Original Early Production

And the winners were . . .

[LizAscot]

First, I want to extend my thanks and congratulations to all of those nominated for the 44 separate awards to be given here tonight.

Here, here! style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Most Influential Radio Show</span> for the pre-2003 broadcast years, we have one of only two ties in any awards tonight . . .

The awards goes to . . .

<span style="color:red">Jedi Talk</span>, the inspiration for Star Wars en Direct

and...

<span style="color:red">Digital Llama Radio</span>, the inspiration for ChronoRadio, Requiem of the Outcast, and Digital Llama 2.0

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Most Groundbreaking Parody</span>, the award goes to . . .

<span style="color:red">Star Wars: The Radio Play</span>, the first-ever SW fan audio parody production.

[LizAscot]

*claps* Those projects, especially the latter, certainly deserve some recognition!

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Greatest Multicultural Effort</span>, for bringing fan audio to new audiences, new communities, and a new language, the award goes to . . .

<span style="color:red">Star Wars en Direct: French Edition</span>

[Nathan Butler]

Finally, for <span style="color:red">Most Original Early Production</span>, the award, probably much to Adam Bertocci's delight, is one of his favorites . . .

<span style="color:red">Star Wars: The Musical</span>

[Darth Seth]

style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/bigsmile.gif

[LizAscot]

Yay Canada!! style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif (En Direct)

[Nathan Butler]

That closes out the Founder's Choice Awards for 2004.

Moving on, we reach the <span style="color:red">People's Choice Awards</span>.

The PCAs were determined by online polling, open to anyone registered on the boards. They reflect the choices of both listeners and creators (who are also listeners), and are a one-time event, held in 2004. Votes were tabulated this afternoon to include both the online polls and emailed votes from those with posting problems.

And the winners are . . .

[Nathan Butler]

For the three Radio Show categories, we have awards for Best Radio Show, Best Radio Show Composition, and Best Radio Show Host.

For <span style="color:red">Best Radio Show Composition</span>, the winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">ChronoRadio</span>

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Radio Show Host</span>, the winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Christopher Hanel</span> of Digital Llama 2.0

[Nathan Butler]

And, finally, for <span style="color:red">Best Radio Show</span>, the winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">ChronoRadio</span>

[Darth Seth]

congrats

[Nathan Butler]

Moving into the People's Choice Awards for Audio Parodies, we have five categories: Best Audio Parody; Best Writer for an Audio Parody; Best Mixer for an Audio Parody; Best Actor in an Audio Parody; and Best Actress in an Audio Parody...

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Actor in an Audio Parody</span>, the winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Michael Smith</span>

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Actress in an Audio Parody</span>, the winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Elizabeth Ascot</span>

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Writer for an Audio Parody</span>, the winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Jeff Roney</span> of Tatooine TV

[doggans]

Congratulations, Elizabeth! style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/inlove.gif

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Mixer for an Audio Parody</span>, the winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Jeff Roney</span> of Tatooine TV

[LizAscot]

*claps* Good for you Micheal!

(Hi David! style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif)

[Nathan Butler]

And finally, for <span style="color:red">Best Audio Parody</span>, the winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Tatooine TV</span>

[LizAscot]

style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif Thanks David! The awards I'm really looking forward to are the Academy Awards... *crosses fingers*

[Nathan Butler]

Before we move into the Audio Drama categories of the People's Choice Awards, we will take a moment to cover a category shared by all three genres: parodies; radio shows; and dramas.

For <span style="color:red">Best Portrayal of an Established Film Character</span>, the winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Elizabeth Ascot</span> as Padme Amidala

[Nathan Butler]

And now, the People's Choice Awards for Audio Drama categories.

In this genre, the following awards exist:

Best Audio Drama (Shortform)
Best Audio Drama (Longform)
Best Writer for an Audio Drama
Best Mixer for an Audio Drama
Best Director for an Audio Drama
Best Use of Music in an Audio Drama
Best Actor in an Audio Drama
Best Supporting Actor in an Audio Drama
Best Actress in an Audio Drama
Best Supporting Actress in an Audio Drama
and
Best Original Audio Drama Character

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Original Audio Drama Character</span>, the only category awarded to a fictional being, the winner is . . .

Our second and last tie of the evening!

<span style="color:red">Arilus Dehrahn and Shista Ti'lana</span> of Second Strike, as portrayed by Clay Kronke and Kate Chappell, respectively

[DarkLordofSmith]

Way To Go Elizabeth

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Use of Music in an Audio Drama</span>, the winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Christopher Hanel, Nathan Butler, Jen Armstrong, and Ian Bowie</span> for Second Strike

[LizAscot]

style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif Thanks a lot! *applause for everyone else*

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Writer for an Audio Drama</span>, the winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Nathan Butler</span> for Second Strike and Anthology

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Mixer for an Audio Drama</span>, the winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Keith Abbott, David Jacques, and John Reeves</span> for Rise of Nobility

[LizAscot]

Hey Nathan! *claps* Second Strike seems to pretty popular with the 'people', huh?

[DarkLordofSmith]

WTG Rise of Nobility

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Director for an Audio Drama</span>, the winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Nathan Butler</span> for Second Strike and Anthology

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Supporting Actor in an Audio Drama</span>, the winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Michael Smith</span>

[LizAscot]

Ooh--great job Keith, David and the gang!

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Supporting Actress in an Audio Drama</span>, the winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Linda Lyons</span>

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Actor in an Audio Drama</span>, the winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Clay Kronke</span>

[LizAscot]

*claps for Actors and Actresses*

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Actress in an Audio Drama</span>, the winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Elizabeth Ascot</span>

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Audio Drama (Shortform)</span>, which is for any audio drama under 30 minutes, the winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Dreamscape</span>

[Nathan Butler]

And, finally, for <span style="color:red">Best Audio Drama (Longform)</span>, which is for any audio drama over 30 minutes, the winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Second Strike</span>

[Nathan Butler]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand now, the <span style="color:red">Fan Audio Academy Awards</span>.

The most prestigious set of awards, the FAAA series is determined by an academy of seven fan audio community members. None of these academy members could have participated in any projects released in 2003, allowing the awards to be as impartial as possible.

This year's academy consisted fo Dan Bouteas, Teague Chrystie, Michael Galasso, Michael Sheridan, Parker Patton, Jamie Goodwin, and Heather Haskett. If you're clapping at home, you should give them all a round of applause and a tylenol from listening to everything out there in a short period of time for consideration.

Here, the categories were identical to those in the People's Choice Awards.

We begin, again, with Radio Shows . . .

[DarkLordofSmith]

Way To Go Elizabeth again

[LizAscot]

*claps, hands out tylenol, and prays quietly*

style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Radio Show Composition</span>, the 2004 FAAA winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">ChronoRadio</span>

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Radio Show Host</span>, the 2004 FAAA winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Christopher Hanel</span> of Digital Llama 2.0

[Nathan Butler]

And, for <span style="color:red">Best Radio Show</span>, the 2004 FAAA winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">ChronoRadio</span>

[Nathan Butler]

Looks like the People agreed with the Academy on the Radio Show categories this year!

Moving on into Parody categories . . .

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Writer for an Audio Parody</span>, the 2004 FAAA winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Jeff Roney</span> for Tatooine TV

[LizAscot]

Wow, yeah. Congrats!! *claps*

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Mixer for an Audio Parody</span>, the 2004 FAAA winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Jeff Roney</span> for Tatooine TV

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Actor in an Audio Parody</span>, the 2004 FAAA winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Jeff Roney</span>

[LizAscot]

*more applause*

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Actress in an Audio Parody</span>, the 2004 FAAA winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Katy Tyzskiewicz</span>

[Nathan Butler]

And, finally, for <span style="color:red">Best Audio Parody</span>, the 2004 FAAA winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Tatooine TV</span>

Sounds like Jeff Roney and the gang are having a REALLY good night.

[LizAscot]

Yay Katy--great job! style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Portrayal of an Established Film Character</span>, the 2004 FAAA winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Ben Fletcher</span> for his portrayal of Darth Vader in Resurrection

[LizAscot]

*claps* Hats off to Ben--he did an ubelievable job!

[DarkLordofSmith]

Well deserved award for Ben Fletcher.

[Nathan Butler]

And now, we move into the hotly contested Audio Drama categories. I don't have to tell you that there were a lot of great entries this year, including Rise of Nobility, Betrayed Federation, Resurrection, Second Strike, and five Anthology episodes.

In several of the awards to follow, winners came down to a tie-breaker, where votes of 3 to 3 to 1, or 2 to 2 to 2 to 1 ended up requiring a second round of voting among the tied front-runners.

After all tie breakers were said and done, here's how the Fan Audio Academy decided . . .

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Original Audio DramaCharacter</span>, the 2004 FAAA winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Shista Ti'lana</span> of Second Strike, as portrayed by Kate Chappell

[LizAscot]

*holds breath*

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Use of Music in an Audio Drama</span>, the 2004 FAAA winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Christopher Hanel, Nathan Butler, Jennifer Armstrong, and Ian Bowie</span> for Second Strike

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Director for an Audio Drama</span>, the 2004 FAAA winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Nathan Butler</span>

[LizAscot]

Way to go Nathan!

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Mixer for an Audio Drama</span>, the 2004 FAAA winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Nathan Butler</span>

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Writer for an Audio Drama</span>, the 2004 FAAA winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Nathan Butler</span>

[LizAscot]

:O Wow Nathan!

[Nathan Butler]

And now for the big six! Best Supporting Actor and Actress, Best Actor and Actress, and the two Best Audio Drama awards . . .

[doggans]

Nathan, you aren't cheating, are you? style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif

[jerrodd]

A good night for Nathan, too. Great job!

[Nathan Butler]

Beginning with our two supporting categories . . .

For <span style="color:red">Best Supporting Actor in an Audio Drama</span>, the 2004 FAAA winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Brian Bisetti</span>

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Supporting Actress in an Audio Drama</span>, the 2004 FAAA winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Kate Singleton</span>

[Nathan Butler]

Into the Actor and Actress categories . . .

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Actor in an Audio Drama</span>, the 2004 FAAA winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Matthew Gordon</span>

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Actress in an Audio Drama</span>, the 2004 FAAA winner is . . .

<span style="color:red">Amy Ferrell</span>

[Nathan Butler]

And now, the final two awards, each for Best Audio Drama. One for shortform (under 30 minutes) and one for longform (over 30 minutes).

And the winners are . . .

[LizAscot]

*polite applause*

[Nathan Butler]

For <span style="color:red">Best Audio Drama (Shortform)</span>, the 2004 FAAA winner is, after an intense round of tie-breaking . . .

<span style="color:red">Responsibility</span>

[CeeWulf]

Responsibility was really well done. Most deserving.

[Nathan Butler]

And, finally for <span style="color:red">Best Audio Drama (Longform)</span>, the 2004 FAAA winner is, after the most intense round of consideration, tie-breaking, and otherwise stressful decision-making on behalf of the academy . . .

<span style="color:red">Second Strike</span>

[doggans]

Congratulations to all the winners, and good luck next year for everyone else. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif

[Darth Seth]

way to go nathan congrats

[LizAscot]

Yes, congratulations everyone! They were all awards well won. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif

And thanks to Nathan and the others who organized it all!! *applause*

[scribe88]

Second Strike is an excellent piece of work. Congratulations to everyone who worked so hard on it, and all the other winners as well!

I'm really shocked about that people's choice award. I didn't even vote for myself on that one, and I don't believe I deserve it.

[Nathan Butler]

And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Finally, all 44 awards for the 2004 Star Wars Fanworks Fan Audio Awards.

Now, as promised, you can check out www.starwarsfanworks.com in the Features area for a complete listing of all of tonight's winners, along with the first in a series of FAAA interviews, which begins with Amy Ferrell.

Now, the announcements end and discussion begins!





So . . . what'd you all think?

[LizAscot]

I was surprised too Linda! style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif

[Nathan Butler]

Thanks all around, everybody. If you're curious which were the closest of the FAAA series, let me know. Some of these were IN-FRIGGIN-TENSE.

[doggans]

I don't think anybody voted for me at all in the people's choice awards. Not that I'm too surprised; I was always either an annoying kid or an old flanneled guy. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif

[Nathan Butler]

I know you had a vote or two in the FAAAs.

[jerrodd]

Thanks so much for the awards. What a great honor, guys and gals. Thanks for letting an old guy of 40 in the group to share humor and a love for Star Wars with ya. Congrats to all who won. I also want to give kudos to everyone who wrote and edited scripts, recorded lines, slaved over an editor to see their scripts come to life. Whether its a radio show, parody or drama. We all have stories to tell and things to share. Keep it up!

[DarkLordofSmith]

Well Done everyone.

And I'm well... speechless at Winning 2 Awards.

[Nathan Butler]

GROUP HUG!

style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/grouphug.gif

[Nathan Butler]

Linda: On the Supporting Actress award, you apparently deserved it quite a bit. You didn't just win it in the PCAs, but the FAAA came down to a tie-breaker with Singleton.

[Nathan Butler]

Well, I'm partway done with putting award pages and such on various project pages. The individual profile links will come later.

[Danath Vel'triarr]

Congratulations to the winners and major props to the Oakmeister, Mr. Nasty Butler for organising the whole shebang!

It was an honour to be a part of the voting process and I hope to participate again next year. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/bigsmile.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/grouphug.gif

[Nathan Butler]

I will never live down the Mighty Oak.

[T-bone]

FIX!!!

style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif

[pyanfar]

"The Mighty Oak"? ok, that's an inside joke i'd like to hear!

anyway, congrats to everybody! you guys are all such a great group of incredibly talented people! and then there's me, hahaha ;oP

still can't quite believe i won anything style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blush.gif but, "I'd like to thank the Academy...."
*giggle*

;oD

[goodwije]

It was a lot of fun, and i was really happy to be involved. I would like to sencond to thank everyone for entertaining all of us this past year and I am definantly looking forward to this year, we have already got a great start. I was glad to hear that as we Academy members voted there where very few catagories that we all chose the same person.

It was a blast spending the few weeks listening and relistening to all the work out there. I hope we can all do it again next year.

[KarvoZem]

I still think Betrayed Federation should have won something style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif

[Nathan Butler]

Hey, I voted for Mollmann for Best Director. That, Best Mixer, and Best Radio Show Composition are the ones I picked up that I voted for others on in the PCA's.

I dunno, I just think getting the comedic timing of "Kenaaaaaaaaarigan" took some work.

[Nathan Butler]

In case you missed it, the Amy Ferrell interview is up as of last night.

We'll be releasing a new interview from the FAAA winners every weekend as we go along here, so next week, we'll probably be kicking off the Radio Show categories with Christopher Hanel.

We've already got interviews recorded for Matthew Gordon, Jeff Roney (also accepting for Katy), and Brian Bisetti as well. We're recording mine today with Rich, and sometime in the very near future, I intend to get the interviews done with the two Kates and, hopefully, if not Ben then Ted Alderman, who headed up Ben's project.

So, yeah, every weekend from now through mid-to-late April, keep an eye out for new interviews going up.

[Steve Mollmann]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>I still think Betrayed Federation should have won something [/b][/quote]
Indeed it should have. It appears that the Audio Academy members all pocketed my bribes and then turned around and voted for other productions. Well, they're certainly not getting any money next year...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>Hey, I voted for Mollmann for Best Director. [/b][/quote]
Thanks, Nathan.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>I dunno, I just think getting the comedic timing of "Kenaaaaaaaaarigan" took some work.[/b][/quote]
Not really... mocking Adam has always come quite naturally to me. The hard part was devising a name so horrendous that it would open itself up to mocking by the entire galaxy-- a mocking each person seems to have developed on their own, mind you.

[Nathan Butler]

Hmm, given that I've had a few people ask, I figure I'll go ahead and say who I voted for in the PCA's. It won't matter given that next year will be different project elligibility and such, I presume.

1. Best Radio Show: ChronoRadio (cuz I make what I like to hear)

2. Best Radio Show Composition: Star Wars en Direct (live broadcast setup put that one over the top for me)

3. Best Radio Show Host: Chris Hanel (yeah, the Park and Bulloch interview coolness)

4. Best Audio Parody: Coruscant (Made me laugh hardest consistently on re-listening)

5. Best Mixer for an Audio Parody: Jeff Roney (very clean with multiple sources)

6. Best Writer for an Audio Parody: Jeff Roney (way too many concepts for me to have come up with if I were in his shoes)

7. Best Actor in an Audio Parody: Jeff Roney (Dr. Phil did it)

8. Best Actress in an Audio Parody: Elizabeth Ascot (first I heard of her Padme)

9. Best Audio Drama (Longform): Second Strike (again, very proud of that one)

10. Best Audio Drama (Shortform): Dreamscape, since it was so cerebral, and I like listening to it after completion, unlike some other ones I just sit aside

11. Best Writer for an Audio Drama: Nathan Butler (cuz it's what I do, and I feel like a lot of writing falls flat in fan productions, not any in particular, so I write what I want to hear)

12. Best Mixer for an Audio Drama: Keith Abbot et al (very clean, very good ambient sound)

13. Best Director for an Audio Drama: Steve Mollmann (comedic timing especially)

14. Best Actor in an Audio Drama: Michael Haspil (just barely over Gordon because I like Haspil's various accents)

15. Best Actress in an Audio Drama: Amy Ferrell (because she scared the hell out of me with her end of 2S:2 recordings)

16. Best Supporting Actor in an Audio Drama: Brian Bisetti (good range and age for his age)

17. Best Supporting Actress in an Audio Drama: Kate Singleton (plays well against surroundings)

18. Best Use of Music in an Audio Drama: Bryan Henry (because they had theirs originally composed)

19. Best Portrayal of an Established Film Character: Ben Fletcher (because he's the king of Vader)

20. Best Original Audio Drama Character: Zirik Pahl (cuz a justified anti-hero is fun)

So, I guess that at least shows that I didn't put in my two cents on any calls out there, seeing as how I got so many different.

I really appreciate all the support of 2S, CR, DS, and Resp. I can't wait for next year to see how I fare with far less projects in the running. I'm betting in 2005's awards, I'll only really have CR and Nothing Changes up for consideration.

My predictions for 2005:

I think (hope!) CR will be snagged again for Best Radio Show, though I doubt for the other two. I REALLY hope Nothing Changes is able to nab Best Audio Drama, though I bet it'll all be one category since I only know of one longform (NC) coming out in 2004. I'm betting on Steve Fluharty for Best Audio Drama Mixer, and I'll go ahead, for now, and put my money down on To Overcome's Fluharty and Walker for Best Use of Music.

Otherwise, gah. It's way too early to even tell. We only have SWD, ROTO, and CR so far for radio shows, TTV for parody, and TO and NWO for audio dramas out so far, if I'm remembering right.

Hopefully next year we'll be able to get these things done a lot sooner than February. Like maybe I can have stuff all set to go by Jan. 1, and have an academy assembled by then. I figure of our 2004 academy, though, we'll be losing at least Galasso, Sheridan, and Haskett from CR appearances, The Logan Chronicles, and SWD appearances.

Ah well, we've got a year. I'm just still doing the interviews for this time around.

[scribe88]

I have to say that I still don't get my win. I have a commentary up on the RON site about what happened while I was doing that part. (But wait til Keith fixes the mistakes in it before you go read it ...) Believe me, I am no actress!!! If Pam didn't run such a relaxed rehearsal and taping, I never would have made it. I'm afraid I do a much better job writing than acting.

I also have to say that I am very sorry to hear that the people's choice awards were stacked. Going by that measure, RON shouldn't have won any awards. I regret it if we won anything we didn't deserve.

I would like it known that I for one did NOT ask anyone to come in here to vote for us, and discouraged my bf who wanted to do that, and bring a gang in here to vote, from doing so.

Congratulations to the winners. Excellence speaks for itself.

[keithabbott]

Originally posted by scribe88@Feb 17 2004, 12:13 AM
I have to say that I still don't get my win.* I have a commentary up on the RON site about what happened while I was doing that part.* (But wait til Keith fixes the mistakes in it before you go read it ...)* Believe me, I am no actress!!!* If Pam didn't run such a relaxed rehearsal and taping, I never would have made it.* I'm afraid I do a much better job writing than acting.

I also have to say that I am very sorry to hear that the people's choice awards were stacked.* Going by that measure, RON shouldn't have won any awards.* I regret it if we won anything we didn't deserve.

I would like it known that I for one did NOT ask anyone to come in here to vote for us, and discouraged my bf who wanted to do that, and bring a gang in here to vote, from doing so.*

Congratulations to the winners.* Excellence speaks for itself.
Well, Linda...you didn't get my vote for Best Supporting Actress! style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/devil.gif

One reason I voted for Pam was cause so many people said they couldn't stand Nordey. That means she was definitely a Gungan in every sense of the word. hehe. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/censored.gif Plus I do think she made the character very original which I know was hard to do considering the similarity to Jar Jar's speech patterns.

Actually, in post #594 on the egroup Linda you did allude to getting out and voting for RoN. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dictator.gif hehe. And I announced the awards and to go and vote, but I hoped people would listen to the other projects. In the end though, it really didn't matter since not many people from RoN voted at all. It's obvious that a lot of the other categories were stacked too with votes. But that's just the nature of award presentations. I just don't really care for these things much at all....as you can see why.

But I don't believe the results you saw from the PCA or FAA really reflect the hard work that we put into our audio drama. Listen to it again Linda. Listen to all the intricate plot devices...tie-ins if you will. We tied a lot of things together making an intricate story, not only with dialogue but effects and music. Small nuances that may have gone unnoticed but in my opinion made the overall audio drama even better.

Second Strike is a much different audio drama than RoN. On the other end of the spectrum in fact. And then you have Resurrection and Betrayed Federation and the Anthology series which kind of fill the gaps in between. Not everyone wants to hear non-original characters that aren't the original actors. There could be other reasons why we didn't win. But don't let the awards results get you down. The results you see here would most likely be different if you went elsewhere. Everyone is just different that way.

Here's how I voted:

1. Best Radio Show: SW Endirect (I just like call-in/call-out talk shows better)

2. Best Radio Show Composition: Requiem of the Outcast ( I like the segmentation/structure)

3. Best Radio Show Host: Sebastien Mineau

4. Best Audio Parody: Coruscant? (Sorry Jeff but I still very rarely laugh during any of your episodes)

5. Best Mixer for an Audio Parody: Jeff Roney

6. Best Writer for an Audio Parody: Jay Chipman (Coruscant? was just too funny)

7. Best Actor in an Audio Parody: Ted Millikan (I just liked him the most as Obi-Wan. He had a dry sense of humor)

8. Best Actress in an Audio Parody: Katy Tyszkiewicz (I liked Leia what can I say)

9. Best Audio Drama (Longform): RoN

10. Best Audio Drama (Shortform): Resurrection (I just liked the story so much and of course Ben was in it)

11. Best Writer for an Audio Drama: Linda (RoN)

12. Best Mixer for an Audio Drama: me, David and John. How could anyone vote otherwise this year? style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/banghead.gif

13. Best Director for an Audio Drama: Pamela Kinney (she turned non-actors into passable actors. that aint easy, and look what she did for Elizabeth!!!) style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dictator.gif

14. Best Actor in an Audio Drama: Jeremy Caldwell (dang he did a great job as Xizor)

15. Best Actress in an Audio Drama: Elizabeth Ascot cause she covered the RANGE of emotions and carried an entire 45 minute audio drama on her back FROM CANADA no less which is no where near Virginia hehe.

16. Best Supporting Actor in an Audio Drama: This one was REALLY tough..I really really really liked what a lot of our actors did...but in the end I picked Abe Dieckman for his role as Prince Veruna. I just thought he really portrayed what we were looking for to the letter. Amazing work for so little direction. He's a natrual.

17. Best Supporting Actress in an Audio Drama: Pamela Kinney (see above)

18. Best Use of Music in an Audio Drama: Me (Believe it or not I did a lot of music editing on RoN. Some of the songs were changed up quite a bit from their original form. I also think the music fit the mood). Plus I'm a purist. I don't believe in putting non-Star Wars music into a Star Wars audio drama/fan film. To me, that doesn't help establish the Star Wars universe. It's fine, however, in films with Earth in it like Star Geeks, The Formula, etc. Of course, this is just a personal preference.

19. Best Portrayal of an Established Film Character: Elizabeth (cause Ben has done tons of work already and I don't think he really stretched his abilities in Ressurection)

20. Best Original Audio Drama Character: Red Beard (i think he's the funniest character I've heard yet, even during production I couldn't stop laughing)

PS: Linda, I'll fix that commentary (well I can only fix part of it since I lost that one paragraph, unless you can resend it to me). I thought I had it right. Ah well.

[Nathan Butler]

Let's see if I can play post-game analysis:

I can't speak for the Academy, so hopefully they'll chime in at some point.

Originally, there were only one set of awards intended, which would've been the FAAA series. When discussing the ideas, though, we started to realize that if we wanted each year to be consistent, we could only include 2003 releases, hence the desire to create an FCA series to recognize some of the early productions. We were divided on whether or not to do online polling because we figured any or all of the following could skew things.

The biggie was that creators could do "get out the vote" campaigns in unequal measure. Say, if one project didn't have many people in it to contact about the awards or if one project's contact list is no longer up-to-date, or if a radio show were to mention the awards when there are other radio shows without new episodes before then.

I think we did a pretty good job of mitigating that for the Radio Show categories, but you can still tell there were some issues. We were able to make sure that each ongoing radio show got in one episode to mention the awards before voting ended, but that ended up leaving out DL 2.0 because the show hasn't had new episodes in, well, a while. On the other hand, I think that was partly mitigated by the fact that I'm certain that immediately after parties on that side of things were told about the awards, a bunch of that circle of friends came by and voted. If you were paying attention in the first few nights of voting to the votes for Hanel and Wasta, you would've seen what I'm referring to. However, most people who voted for radio shows, I'm assuming, have heard at least a few episodes of each show. The boards should also be fairly neutral ground for the other three shows, as it's linked as the official board for all of them, even SWD, which links to the GS board from their website.

For the Parody categories, I'm not sure it made much of a difference. It seems like parodies have the smaller audience of the three different genres, and with such a small team on both projects and the fact that there were only two in the running, I'm not sure there was much to it. The fact that TTV airs on SWD *might* have played a role, but I sincerely doubt it.

The audio dramas were another matter. The vast majority of new registered users (which I'm happy about, so hopefully they'll keep posting) were from audio drama projects. I can say for certainly only on my behalf for 2S and Anthology that because of how voting without listening to other projects could skew things, I didn't make any effort to send out email notifications to the crew or anything to get them in to vote. I figured if they were part of the fan audio community actively and actually might've heard a lot of things, then they'd already have heard of the awards, and I wouldn't, in good conscience, feel right saying "Hey, guy who did a voice for me two years ago that I haven't talked to in ages, I know you haven't heard jack of anything out there other than our stuff, if you've even bothered to hear our stuff, but come vote for us as part of the team."

I did, however, receive at least a few emails from members of other projects (we'll stay general here) where people were essentially asking, among other things:

1. Is it possible to register more than one user from the same house? (Because they wanted to register every brother, sister, and other family member in the house to vote.) I don't know if the GS does userblocks by IP, only by username, so if that went through, it would've been a skewing factor.

2. Do we *have* to register in order to vote? I'm getting people at my work to vote for us, but I don't know if they'll want to register, since most have only heard ours, or might not have heard any, and they probably wouldn't want to post ever again.

Those were the two biggies that pushed me across the edge on that one. It's one thing to put out a call to people involved in a project. They have every right to vote for their own works, even if I think it is only fair that people listen to ALL works before voting. But that's just the nature of People's Choice Awards of any kind. But what amounts to active recruitment from people who wouldn't know an audio drama from a pop tart just to garner more users is something else entirely.

Now, I have no way of knowing if any of those people that were being asked about even voted. I'd like to think that they didn't. But once that doubt is raised, to me, it ruins a lot of the "good faith" spirit that goes with any public polling awards. It absolutely soured it for me, and that's not something I intend on dealing with every year. So, do I think the PCA's were skewed? I think there might have been SOME skewing, but for the most part, the results were close enough on most awards that I don't think the skewing, if it took place, made enough of a difference to REALLY foul things up. I just don't want to deal with that question in the future. I want the awards that are given to definitely mean something.

Linda's comment above is precisely why I don't intend to bring back the PCAs. Essentially, she feels that there's a chance some of her or RON's awards were undeserved if there was skewing going on. I don't want ANYONE having to have those doubts in the future. I think the PCAs and FAAAs gave us a wide scope on fandom preferences and, if anything, showed us how amazingly close some races were. I mean, you should've seen how many awards wound up being decided by one vote or a tie-breaker when the Academy results were tallied.

Every single one of these categories had a tie as of either the last set of votes still coming in, after all votes were in, causing a tie-breaker:
Best Radio Show Host
Best Audio Drama (Longform)
Best Audio Drama (Shortform)
Best Supporting Actor in an Audio Drama
Best Supporting Actress in an Audio Drama
Best Portrayal of an Established Character (I believe)

There was only *one* category in the entire FAAA voting that had a straight win from each of the first four voters, closing that category in record time, and that was Best Actress in an Audio Drama. Ferrell swept that one with 4 votes straight. Once we had a category with 4 votes for anything, given that there were 7 votes total, we closed it, so we have no way to know, unless we ask the Academy here, if it would've been 4/3, 7/0, or anywhere in between.

Point being: There was an INSANE array of talent going into things this year, and it shows in how hotly contested some awards were and how passionate opinions still run.

Do I think I could explain why some performances won out over others? Probably. But that's the problem of being the guy running Fanworks. I don't want to alienate anyone or otherwise put off anyone by writing my own reviews of fan audio materials. I could, and I did, long before Fanworks came into being, but I don't think it'd be right at this point to discuss specifics.

If that seems nuts, I'll try to rationalize, but I'm pretty sure the Academy members could do that pretty well themselves, if they so desire.

So, I'm glad we got started out with three sets of awards, but now that there's no need for FCAs and there's such questions and doubts about PCAs, I think we'll stick to FAAAs in the future, perhaps, if possible, with a larger Academy as the number of fan audio fans grows.

It was a great year, and while no one, not even me, could see all their favorites take honors, that's the nature of award shows. Just ask Keifer Sutherland.

[goodwije]

As an academy member i surely hope no one is disappointed. I personally do not know on any level (except for seeing Heather in chat for En Direct) any of the other members. I voted for what i considered the best of the year. From the updates we saw that in a lot of catagories we didnt agree on much, whichis exactly how it should be imo.

I do see Nate here often, as i am an everyday poster here at the GS, but that did not sway my vote. And while i think he is doing some amazing work and all of the awards where deserved, i know a lot of other people are too. Personally i think everyone deserves an award, and in way you hae got one, whether or not you actually received the most votes. Your hard work and talent have delighted and increased the level of fandom for many of us out here who have nothing whatsoever to do with FA.

I say again.. Thank You to everyone who was involved last year, and i am looking forward to what is to come.

[Nathan Butler]

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Rise_of_Nobi...ity/message/628 (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Rise_of_Nobility/message/628)

That's all I'm going to say. My response has been posted on the Yahoo Group for RON, and may or may not end up being approved for posting. Either way, anyone who voted, particularly the Academy, should see how well their efforts are being appreciated.

I would've expected more from an adult.

:shrug:

[JaggedFel]

I don't know about that whole anyone and his brother to vote thing. Maybe it was true. Maybe it wasn't. I heard about the awards on Chronoradio, and decided it sounded like a cool thing. A nice way to give back to all the people who worked so hard to give to us. So, I went back and listened to all the audiodramas again, and I went and voted my honest opinion. I loved Second Strike, but I'm a guy, and I'm not afraid to admit that action is one of the first things I look for in my entertainment. But it also had great characterization. I also throughly enjoyed Rise of Nobility, just not to the level I did 2S. I voted my honest opinion, as I imagine everyone did, or at least should have. And lest we not forget, this is a Comunitty. We came together for our love of Star Wars, and we stay for our love of Star Wars. It brought us together, let's not have it tear us apart.

[Nathan Butler]

(For the record, no, Wil there is not an FAA member, but must've voted in the PCAs.)

[goodwije]

style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif

I knew this would happen. It was supposed to be fun.. thats it. I did vote for RoN in some catagories. I really enjoyed it and thought it was a great production. Of course those of you involved in any particular production are going to hold it close to your heart and be deeply invested in it, i understand this. It just really hurts when you claim that because Nate was the one who asked us to vote that we would automatically vote for his productions. I cannot speak for the other FAAA members, as i said i do not know any of them, but that was certainly not the case for me. I voted for what i thought was the best in each particular catagory. I listened to RoN i think 4 times to get a better grip on the script and individual characters because many of the catagories where really tough to choose.

One other thing, i can think of no one who has done more to promote and improve Fan Audio than Nathan, infact, that is what this award show was all about.

[keithabbott]

If I could vote to not do awards next year, I'd vote for that. It's just not good to do this. People begin to doubt their own abilities when you put pressure on folks to choose one way or another. Especially if you have to choose from people within your own production.

I almost didn't vote this year. I really didn't want to, but I gave in and voted because I wanted to let my peers know know that I thought they did an excellent job. But next time I'm gonna just stay out of it and continue to let people know on a personal level how I feel.

I definitely learned from my mistake this time. It's easy to get emotionally entangled in something like this, even if you would rather not.
Keith

[Steve Mollmann]

Personally, I voted only for "Betrayed Federation" in nearly all categories (and I feel bad for this now), but it's not like it affected anything as far as I can tell, since I didn't "get out the vote" because of bad experiences I've had with campaigns like that. What gets me is how people complained RON only recieved four awards, while BF was the only 2003 drama not to recieve any award at all...

[Nathan Butler]

I mentioned that in the post that I had Keith go ahead and not approve for the RON group.

If you look at the stats, I think it works out like this:

There were 44 total award categories and 46 awards given out.

Of those awards, 4 were for pre-2003 projects (approximately 9% of the awards), 10 were Parody-only (23%), 6 were Radio Show-only (14%), 2 were open to all three categories (5%), and the remaining 22 were open to audio dramas only (50%).

The FCA's amounted to 9% of the awards, while the FAAA and PCA series amounted to, obviously, 45.5% each.

FOUNDER'S CHOICE
Of the FCAs, if we count the tie as 0.5 wins for each of those two parties, then SW:TRP received 25% of the FCAs, SW:TM received 25%, SWD:F received 25%, JT received 12.5%, and DLR received 12.5%. That is, a percent of the awards they were elligible for, as they were inellilgible for the PCA and FAAAs due to their release dates. By contrast, if we want to talk about unrecognized projects from the pre-2003 elligibility period, then DLPG, E3S, SB, early CR, and TAOLS received 0% each.

PEOPLE'S CHOICE & ACADEMY
In the PCAs, TTV won 80% of the Parody categories, while Coruscant won 20%. By contrast, in the FAAAs, TTV swept all 100% of the Parody categories. The PCAs and FAAAs were in 60% agreement, with only the Best Actor/Actress categories being different, and only one of those being from a different project between award sets.

In the PCA and FAAA radio show categories, CR received 66.7% of the awards for both, while DL 2.0 received 33.3% of the awards for both. The PCAs and FAAAs were in 100% agreement.

In the Established Character category . . . In the FAAAs, Resurrection won 100%, while in the PCAs, Rise of Nobility and Coruscant can both claim to have taken 50% with Ascot's win. On this one, as there is only one category, there was a 100% difference in the results of PCA and FAAA.

In the Audio Drama categories, there are a lot of stats that we could break down.

In the overall PCAs, 2S won 4 awards alone and shared 3. RON won 3 awards alone and shared 1. Dreamscape won 1 award and shared 3. Doubts Cast shared 3. The Mob shared 2. Addiction shared 2. Responsibility shared 2. Betrayed Federation received 0. Resurrection shared 1 (which I think I forgot to mention on the awards page, so I’ll fix that).

In the overall FAAAs, 2S won 4 and shared 5. RON received 0. Dreamscape shared 5. Doubts Cast shared 4. The Mob shared 3. Addiction shared 3. Responsibility won 1 and shared 5. Betrayed Federation received 0. Resurrection received 0.

That means …

In the PCAs, 2S won or shared 71%, RON won or shared 36%, Dreamscape won or shared 36%, Doubts Cast won or shared 27%, The Mob won or shared 18%, Addiction won or shared 18%, Responsibility won or shared 18%, Resurrection won or shared 9%, and Betrayed Federation won or shared 0%.

In the FAAAs, 2S won or shared 82%, RON won or shared 0%, Dreamscape won or shared 45%, Doubts Cast won or shared 36%, The Mob won or shared 27%, Addiction won or shared 27%, Responsibility won or shared 55%, Resurrection won or shared 0%, and Betrayed Federation won or shared 0%.

Now, those crossovers foul with the numbers. Michael Smith in the PCAs, for instance, contributed to the win totals of 2S, RON, DC, DS, and Resurrection. Matthew Gordon in the FAAAs contributed to the 2S, DS, and Responsibility totals.

So, we pull out the crossovers, and it looks like this:

PCAs:
2S = 36%
RON = 27%
DS = 9%
The other 28% was shared.

FAAAs:
2S = 36%
Responsibility = 9%
The other 55% was shared.

Finally, we get into individuals.

From the overall 40 FAAA and PCA categories:

Nathan Butler was eligible (on his own or shared) for 24/40 and won 15/24.
Christopher Hanel was eligible (on his own or shared) for 16/40 and won 6/16.
Amy Ferrell was eligible for 4/40 and won 1/4.
Kate Chappell was eligible for 4/40 and won 1/4.
Keith Abbott was eligible for 4/40 and won 1/4.
Elizabeth Ascot was eligible for 6/40 and won 3/6.
Jennifer Armstrong was eligible for 2/40 and won 2/2.
Ian Bowie was eligible for 6/40 and won 2/6.
Clay Kronke was eligible for 4/40 and won 2/4.
Linda Lyons was eligible for 6/40 and won 1/6.
Kate Singleton was eligible for 4/40 and won 1/4.
Jeff Roney was eligible for 8/40 and won 7/8.
Ben Fletcher was eligible for 4/40 and won 1/4.
Matthew Gordon was eligible for 4/40 and won 1/4.
Brian Bisetti was eligible for 6/40 and won 1/6.
Katy Tyszkiewicz was eligible for 4/40 and won 1/4.
Michael Smith was eligible for 4/40 and won 2/4.

Now, looking at the eligibility vs. the number of wins, I don’t think we can say that any one person swept the awards overall. The statement about “Nathan winning everything” or whatnot seems a bit off to me, particularly in that saying that assumes that somehow I’m the reason that anyone else from my teams won, or that somehow it doesn’t make a difference that most creative teams only had one project in the running, while I had seven projects released in 2003 up for consideration (eight if you include my appearance as Palpatine in Resurrection that lost).

To me, the math doesn’t bear out the angst in some areas.

But, for those that are annoyed with the results somehow, look at it this way: Next year, there’ll be 20 awards total, and, as far as I know, I’ll only be eligible for 6, as far as I can tell right now. Heh.

In general though, looking back at the numbers, it seems the epitome of ungrateful, unappreciative, bad sportsmanship to come off as ranting and raving about winning 5 (not 4) *very* high-up-there awards (Best Portrayal of an Established Character, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Actress, and Best Mixer in the PCAs) in the face of several projects, and a ton of individual people, that won less than five or perhaps none this year. I would have just as soon simply heard a nice "thank you to the people who voted" from someone (see the yahoo group link above) that had won an individual award in one of the closest FAAA and PCA categories out there (Best Supporting Actress), rather than a blanket "screw it all" that flips the bird at all the other hard-working, passionate people out there, both who won more, and won less, than that winner did. It's just bad sportsmanship to me.

[CeeWulf]

While this kind of bickering was a little predictable, I think it's pretty sad.

I was an "academy" member, and did NOT vote in the people's choice awards - figured I'd already made my contribution and wasn't going to vote twice for the same things.

I don't get why everyone's taking this all so seriously. You all created projects that you are proud of, that you had fun creating - I hope - and it's out there for people to listen to. What difference does a vote make? Does that somehow mean your work is devalued?

Heck, I've got a project that I'll have done soon which I enjoyed making, am looking forward to releasing, but am completely unsure how people will respond. If they like it, fine. If they don't, oh well. I had fun, that's what counts.

Congrats to all the winners, and congrats to all the non-winners. You all did a great job and keep up the good work.

[Nathan Butler]

Is that a "stop being anal retentive, Nathan"?

j/k

I'm curious. Now that the awards are done with, is there anyone that wants to write some reviews of the 2003 projects again? We've only had a few posted on the site, even though several have said they were up for it.

[keithabbott]

Hehe. Goodness Nathan. You mentioned you teach for a living if I recall correctly...you don't happen to teach Math or Statistics by chance? style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/devil.gif

Anyhow, like I was telling Nathan last night I was very surprised how the voting turned out. Not just regarding RoN, but also regarding SWEndirect, Reqieum of the Outcast and Coruscant?.

I personally felt some of those guys should have won some awards because of the quality of their productions, but that's just my opinion and that's why I voted for them. Anyone who knows me, knows I'm quite opinionated. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/devil.gif As are some of our other crew members from RoN.

We got very very close to this project. 4 years is a long time to invest and it was like a child in a way. Yeah, I was dissapointed with the FAAA results throughout all three categories, as was Linda (I haven't talked to Pam yet), but I got over it. I knew it was coming so it really wasn't a shock. I can't speak for how Linda feels. She may have upset some folks, but if she has anything to say I'll let her address it herself.

Anyhow, like has been said here before..there's a lot of talent walking around these forums. And I think it's a good thing to acknowledge these people openly for their work. We've come a long way in the last year from a small contingent on Fanfilms.com's forums to here at StarWarsFanworks.com and GalacticSenate.com. I think Fan Filmmakers better watch out. The acting and audio work involved in these projects is going to, if not already, surpass what they are doing, and all because they're too focused on CGI and visual effects.

One day, they will realize they are missing out and hopefully will start to pay attention.

Keith

[Nathan Butler]

Nah, Keith, I just am an anal retentive fanboy. ;-)

And a supergenius mad scientist.

I was very surprised by the issues with ROTO and SWD, myself. I think part of that was limited by the number and types of Radio Show Awards. Maybe we can come up with some other categories for next year? I mean, this year we had four shows in the running for only 3 awards. What about parodies? Should we have more categories there? If so, what kind?

My biggest fear as far as the response to the awards and the negativity isn't so much that it bothers me personally. I knew that kind of thing was about to happen the moment I realized that I had seven or eight projects being voted on when all other teams had one project each, unless they had crossover people. I figured I'd end up with some, but not as many as I did, and was more interested in seeing who got what otherwise. The fear though is that the negativity after THIS year might somehow cast a pall over some people's projects for next year. I'm hoping that won't be the case, but I think right now, I'd be hard pressed to think that the negative reaction from several parties (not just Linda) might not leave a bad taste in some people's mouths when it comes time for voting on their projects next year. I wouldn't want that to happen, and I'm hoping our academy next year (which will have to be almost entirely new, most likely), will keep objectivity in mind.

Speaking of which, any thoughts on how many to add to the academy next year? And what about the "not having ties to productions" issues? Should we divide it up so people who didn't work on radio shows, but did on audio dramas, could vote on radio shows? Should we say that you can't have participated actively in 2004 for next year AND you can't have participated BEFORE 2004 in them? Like, let's say that Digital Llama Radio *doesn't* come back in 2004, like it's supposed to. Could Hanel then vote as part of the academy for 2005, or would he be disqualified from taking part in Second Strike, since he would've worked with me in the past, but not on any projects eligible that year?

Also, if we had issues with academy choices, at least from what I'm reading with some of the RON group responses, and apparently a group consensus and discussion on the academy membership wasn't good enough or clean enough this year, what should we do to pick the academy next year? Same process with a poll rather than a thread discussion? Have people agree to specific terms? What?

As to fan audio rising up as its own genre, I couldn't be happier. If you haven't read the Years in Review at Fanworks, take some time to do that. You'd be amazed at how far we've come since 1998. I'm already exicted for the Year in Review for 2004. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/alien.gif

[keithabbott]

Originally posted by Nathan Butler@Feb 18 2004, 02:21 PM
Nah, Keith, I just am an anal retentive fanboy. ;-)

And a supergenius mad scientist.


I won't argue that! style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/devil.gif Gosh I'm feeling evil lately. Must be time to put on the stormtrooper gear again. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/devil.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/devil.gif

As for the awards, I'm staying out of any potential planning and participation of the academy. It would be the best thing for me considering how emotionally wrapped up in my projects I get.

But I tell ya, right now I'm really looking forward to The Logan Chronicles. Michael, one word of advice....what I really loved about the trailer was the quality of the sound and use of the left and right speakers with the gunfire....but watch out while in the drama itself as it can get a bit distracting, especially when you've got dialogue going on. I delt with that issue a lot in RoN and eventually decided to play more towards the phantom center channel. I'm still not sure if I want to convert RoN into a 5.1 surround mix. I've got two scenes done but..still such a long way to go.

Keith

[Jans_Walker]

Perhaps the word "Best" should be left out of next year's categories. How about "Recognized for..." or something like that. Something that doesn't imply superiority.

Keith I have to hand it to you. I really appreciate that you've been keeping a positive and optimistic attitude with these awards presentations.

And I really like this icon! style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dictator.gif

[Nathan Butler]

Heh, we could do a 1st and 2nd place next year.

Called . . .

"Impressive"

and . . .

WAAAAAAAAAIT for it!

"Most Impressive."

style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tie.gif

[keithabbott]

Well Chris...I dunno. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif It was a bit difficult to deal with right before the votes were in, but now that it's over I'm really relieved that it's over. Now, in my mind, it's back to normal again.

I'm looking forward to having Pam look over the aSD script. I really want to get her input on it cause ultimately I need to make sure we're on the same page before she reams me for my bad acting. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif

As for style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dictator.gif ..yeah that's a great icon. Especially with Elizabeth on the boards.

If Doggans were reading this..he'd be posting... style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dictator.gif and style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/inlove.gif for Liz hehe.

Keith

[cinemafreak]

You know, first off I like the fact that there is a competition. This means that we have to get better. RotO didn't win, but some people liked us over DLR, which is the best compliment we could've gotten. The People's Choice was a popularity contest. That was proven by people with a 1 second bit in a program with one to two lines won over people who gave their hearts in a much larger part. I think the Academy voted as fair as they could, but lets face it. There weren't many non-Butler projects out there. And besides that, they are good. I am very critical about projects, some of you know that. I tell Nathan about everything I find wrong with his projects, and you will hear that in the upcoming months as RotO reviews not only Second Strike, but the Anthology series. We have been somewhat harsh on one project, and though they told us their opinions of us, they also listened to what we had to say, and fixed a major hole. We aren't perfect, but we are unbiased. We didn't deserve to win because we had a basic format. We did the normal stuff. But, we are adding to our show. New, unique segments and bits, so we can bring a potentially award winning show to the table in the 2005 awards. But then again, we're about advertising and improving productions. Not winning awards.
Yes, some people received awards that didn't deserve it. But the majority of the people that won Academy Awards did. So if you didn't win, do what we're doing. Try again. Help to make a larger playing field, with more candidates that would EARN the award.
I will admit that there where a few categories I didn't vote on, because I couldn't make an educated vote. And I think that there were some projects that were robbed. But I stand by the Academy, and I stand by Nathan. He is very serious about the entire process, and was genuinely worried that people would think that the process would appear rigged. If you think that, just look at the differences between the Academy and the People's Choice awards. Then listen to who won each, and decide for yourself, unbiased. You may not like the winners, but you can see why each was chosen.

[CeeWulf]

I think the issue of contest only serve to push people to do better. I mean, there have been some good audio dramas, but come on - some aren't that great. If a contest perhaps gets people to think about quality, then we're all better off.

All contests are open to "sabotage", as it were. I mean, heck, look at the Oscars. There have been plenty of occations were people are nominated - or not - because of one reason or anther that has little to do with quality.

As for keith's point, yes: One of the issues that I noticed with the trailer - available here at Star Wars: Myth & Magic (http://www.sheridanrealm.com/starwars/swaudio), which now features a completely overhauled Message Board (http://www.sheridanrealm.com/starwars/forum) style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blush.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif - was that the dialogue sank below the sound of the fighting. The trailer was a bit of a test run as much as a way to promote the virtual "one man show" project.

The project is coming closer to the finish line, so we'll be able to discuss how it works out then.

[Nathan Butler]

Ooooooooooooh my gawd.

I just got done listening to the unedited, rough copy of ROTO's March episode that is a straight Fan Audio Awards show. Absolutely hilarious. The team has SO hit a new level on this one. You're gonna love it.

[keithabbott]

Originally posted by CeeWulf@Feb 18 2004, 11:23 PM
As for keith's point, yes: One of the issues that I noticed with the trailer - available here at Star Wars: Myth & Magic (http://www.sheridanrealm.com/starwars/swaudio), which now features a completely overhauled Message Board (http://www.sheridanrealm.com/starwars/forum) style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blush.gif* style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif* - was that the dialogue sank below the sound of the fighting. The trailer was a bit of a test run as much as a way to promote the virtual "one man show" project.

Actually Michael, what I was meant wasn't so much regarding the dialogue volume level, but rather the use of left and right channels during dialogue. What I noticed with RoN, was...if I used a lot of panning either when:

a) putting characters in one channel or another to indicate distance

or

b) putting the effects in either the left or right channel only

then the panning effects would detract from the importance of the dialogue. So I ended up toning down the panning to include only effects scenes with very little dialogue (if any). Basically only action scenes or the beginning of scenes that had no dialogue.

Like I was saying, the action sequence in The Lost Patrol trailer at the beginning with the gunfire was awesome, basically the use of the left and right channels. But once the intense dialogue comes into play, my suggestion would be to eliminate the panning (if you haven't already) so you can focus on the importance of the dialogue.

Of course, this is mute if you are thinking already like I am. But I wanted to throw it out there just in case you used panning throuhout the audio drama. It was a large part of your trailer, so I have no idea how much of a part the effect will be given in the entire audio drama. Hope this clarifies things a bit more.

Keith

[cinemafreak]

Originally posted by pyanfar@Feb 16 2004, 02:52 AM
"The Mighty Oak"? ok, that's an inside joke i'd like to hear!


that is a reference from Episode 5 of Requiem of the Outcast available at the Home of Internet Fan Audio, www.starwarsfanworks.com (http://www.starwarsfanworks.com/requiem.html)

[CeeWulf]

That's basically what I meant, keith. I'm still fiddling with sound levels and panning, but I think I've found a good balance for it.

[Nathan Butler]

Don't worry, Amy. You're still Queen of the Mighty Oak. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/inlove.gif

[pyanfar]

ah Nathan, you shouldn't say such things. people will think my award was rigged.

style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unhappy.gif

[Nathan Butler]

I think we've covered those.

Besides, everyone's Queen of the Mighty Oak when other queens aren't around.

style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif

I mean, uhm...

Nah, I figure that's one award that for the most part, isn't questionable at all. I mean, the Academy can speak, but I think the end of Second Strike: All Fall Down pretty much cinched it. Like I said, yours was the only category where the Academy voted straight unanimous on the first four ballots. First category closed, days before the others.

[scribe88]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Rise_of_Nobi...ity/message/628

That's all I'm going to say. My response has been posted on the Yahoo Group for RON, and may or may not end up being approved for posting. Either way, anyone who voted, particularly the Academy, should see how well their efforts are being appreciated.

I would've expected more from an adult.

:shrug: [/b][/quote]

Thanks so much for calling that to everyone's attention, along with the insult which followed.

What happened was that I was sad and upset, wrote it, and then immediately felt that I'd been an ass, and wrote Keith and asked him to delete it. The group is moderated, so it should have been deleted before it ever went up. I'm sorry it wasn't, and I'm sorry I ever wrote it or even felt that way to begin with.

The truth is that I feel mostly attacked and disliked here (and I'm sure it's 10 times worse now) so I'm just way too sensitive. A better person would never have reacted that way to begin with, but I'm just not that better person. So I apologize for the remarks.

I wish none of this had ever happened. I seem to have alienated everyone, which upsets me considering that I only ever came in with good intentions. Sometimes I just don't express myself in the most considered or thoughtful manner, sometimes I write when I am upset and shouldn't. I wish I weren't that way, but I am.

I'm very sorry for everything I've said on here that offended anyone. I still believe that it isn't stupid, bad, or wrong to try to start a group project without first finishing a script, that it can work well, and that I am not an idiot for doing so. Perhaps I am wrong, but I still think it. If you think I'm an idiot for that, so be it.

In any case, I never woke up one morning and decided to come in here just to be rude to everyone, and I'm very sorry for some of the things I've written that were done in a fit of emotion or not thinking through how they might sound. I may not be an adult, but at least I can come in and offer my sincerest apologies.

My participation here has gone horribly wrong, so it's time to end it. Nathan, please ban me, delete my profile, delete my thread, and take my name and likeness off your website. I'd also like to formally decline the award I received. I don't believe I deserved it to begin with, and now in light of my behavior, I really don't deserve it or want it.

Obviously I've really messed up here, so I'm not sticking around. Again, my apologies to everyone here.

[Danath Vel'triarr]

I dont want to sound pompous but, ahem "nobody is beyond redemption."

Okay, you said something you shouldn't have but you've realised it's a mistake so let's learn and move on.

I'm willing to put it behind me and I hope the others are too. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif

[Nathan Butler]

Y'know, I'm going to chalk this up with the last one. Diappointment, overreaction, offense, apology, reset button.

As for the award, it deserves to be recognized, as not doing so effectively says the people who chose, chose wrongly, or that the Academy, where it came down to 3-3 before the final vote set came in, heard wrongly. I don't believe that's the case.

As for anything else, we strive to properly credit fan audio projects on Fanworks, be it affiliated or not. We wouldn't be properly crediting RON to leave off the writer's name, anymore than if we left off Keith's or Elizabeth's. The same goes for the Dragon*Con panel, as it's not as if Michael is going to go back and edit people out of it (heh).

Generally speaking, there have been instances in the past of fan audio participants (ex: Jeff Yankey) participating in something (2S and CR in Yankey's case), then somehow alienating or crossing a line that angered a lot of people. But that does nothing to negate their past participation in the genre. Much as I hate to say it sometimes, at the time that I did the CR interview with Yankey or had him in 2S as our Gaurdsman, Cor Javos, I considered him a stand-up guy. Then came the whole TFN LLC/CR issue with his false accusations and such, but that just effects how I'd feel about having him on the show or involved in a project now, after the fact, not before.

You worked for your place in the genre, and deserve the recognition for it. Whether you stick around the boards at all is your call. If the username becomes one of those that just ends up going inactive and stops at the current post count, that's your call. But, as I said the last time around, we do not ban people, excise people, or delete people, based on indiscretions unless they violate the GS Terms of Service, which you haven't, nor do we do so by request, particularly in "heat of the moment" reactions, as that, at times, has ended in people returning and wanting to use their usernames again, only to find themselves unable to do so.

So, stay, go, that's your call. Fanworks is essentially a news and information site, outside of the Feature Section's editorials. That means we try to cover all projects, awards, announcements, and so on, in a fair and balanced fashion. The GS, as long as the terms of service are being abided by, strives to be one of the more open forums for a major SW site. Neither of those has changed, and it is not my intention to do so anytime soon.

So if that's your last post, goodbye, and we'll all keep an eye out if that new project of yours ends up going forward, and next year, if the project doesn't go forward, you'll drop by to encourage former RON team members like Keith, Elizabeth, and Michael Smith in their future projects.

Now, if that matter is closed, I again ask if anyone has suggestions on how to make the awards, ceremony, and whanot, better next year.

I guess one thing that hasn't been asked: What does everyone think of the award images that Rich did up for the site? Should the same ones be used next year with the year changed in the background? All-new? Thoughts?

[Keiran_Horn]

Turning to self-loathing will accomplish nothing.

Move on, but don't leave the community unless you really want to. In the end, you're both adults, so this should have been handeled privately in the first place. PMs are your friend, so in the future... style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif

[pyanfar]

i, personally, don't think you're an idiot. in fact, i'd rather work colaboratively on a creative project like that. *grin* i think i'd be awfully nice to have your own cheering squad!

and, well, you're not the only one who has said, done, and written things she later regretted in the midst of strong emotions. i seem to find myself doing that on quite a regular basis, rather to my own dismay... and i've actually alienated quite a few people that way. the point is, i'm sure i'm not the only here to have done so. and so i'm sure i'm not the only one here who can understand where you're coming from.

i, for one, hope you don't leave. any place at all is boring if it is populated entirely by people who only agree with everything every other person says.

more importantly, groups of creative people who are able to produce works of art amongst themselves can't afford to lose any of their number. which sounds really cheesy and overly dramatic, but there it is.

for myself, i've never felt offended or insulted by you. and i guess i should explain: the remark i made earlier really only had to do with me. as anyone who knows me well at all could easily attest, i may possibly have the world's worst sense of self-esteem. i am always ALWAYS, without fault, always hyper-critical of my own efforts. acting especially. i suppose because it means the most to me. and because i really find it much too easy to spot my own mistakes, and much too difficult to find any worth or credibility in what i see and/or hear of myself. which would be why i didn't vote for myself in the PCA's. for that matter, i didn't even vote for Responsibility. too much ME, i'm afraid.

so, for what it's worth, i don't hate you. i feel no animosity toward you at all. and i'm certain i'm not the only one. for that matter, i know Nathan doesn't hate you either. groups of people this size can be awfully clique-ish, even when they don't want to be, and loyalty often comes in ugly packages, regretably enough. and so, while it seems that people may be taking sides against you (and in some ways, perhaps they are), i feel confident in saying that no one here means anything personally against you.

*chuckle* of course, being of the much-too-sensitive type myself, i wouldn't believe that either. but i hope that perhaps you might...


:o)
amy

[Lunatic]

Ive been reading your comments, and some of you are taking this to much at heart. Waaay too much!

You don't have to win something to have a great production or a great performance. SWD didn't win one of the big awards, and we didn't put that much attention from the get go, because we know most of the fans listening like what we do. That is the ONLY thing that matters for us. Like Nathan said from a received e-mail of the last CR... "its all about giving back to the fans." Period. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif

We're doing this because it's fun, not to win an award. Recognition is cool, but not necessary.

[keithabbott]

Originally posted by scribe88@Feb 19 2004, 11:05 PM
What happened was that I was sad and upset, wrote it, and then immediately felt that I'd been an ass, and wrote Keith and asked him to delete it. The group is moderated, so it should have been deleted before it ever went up. I'm sorry it wasn't, and I'm sorry I ever wrote it or even felt that way to begin with.



Argh, I never got that email Linda. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif If I did I would have certainly deleted it. At first I questioned it, thinking you were angry and upset. Then I re-read it and thought differently...that you were more upset at yourself for whatever reason. That's why I approved it. But I would certainly have deleted it had I received your email telling me to do so. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif Either that, or I received the email and it had other comments in it as well and perhaps overlooked it inadvertantly. Either way, I'm sorry the message got posted if that was not your intent. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/banghead.gif

[Nathan Butler]

And breaking the tension . . .

The second FAAA series interview is now up, featuring Chris Hanel of DL 2.0, the "Best Radio Show Host" winner for this year.

http://www.starwarsfanworks.com/features.html

[Kehleyr]

*goes to download*

[pyanfar]

yay Pookie!
will download as soon as i get home from work!
in another....
5 hours.
bleh

[Nathan Butler]

Since the first was an audio drama one, then this one is a radio show one, I'll probably make next weekend's Katy Tyzskiewicz. I'm wanting to alternate some, y'know?

Then I'll come back to dramas and probably put up Bisetti, then leap back to parody for Roney.

Then I'll be kinda stuck. I'll put mine up last, and I want to hold off on Fletcher until I'm sure whether I need to use Alderman instead or not. So, looks like:

1. Ferrell
2. Hanel
3. Tyzskiewicz
4. Bisetti
5. Roney
6. Gordon
7. Singleton
8. Chappell
9. Fletcher / Alderman
10. Butler

Sound good?

[Danath Vel'triarr]

yup, sounds good to me style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif

[Nathan Butler]

Just got the Katie Singleton interview done a few minutes ago, so that's ready for its release week. That only leaves Alderman or Fletcher for Fletcher's award.

Also, last night, I released the Katy Tyzskiewicz interview, which was #3.

[Nathan Butler]

Alright, folks, REQUIEM OF THE OUTCAST #6, the OFFICIAL FANWORKS FAN AUDIO AWARDS SHOW is NOW available!

http://www.starwarsfanworks.com/requiem.html

[Nathan Butler]

Fan Audio Academy Award Interview #4 is up. This time, it's with Brian Bisetti, Best Supporting Actor in an Audio Drama.

[Nathan Butler]

Huzzah! The last interview is conducted. Now it's just a matter of releasing each weekend.

This weekend: Jeff Roney.

[Nathan Butler]

And, the Jeff Roney FAAA Interview is now available!

That's half of the series down! Next weekend: Matthew Gordon.

[Nathan Butler]

Matthew Gordon interview is up. Next week: Singleton.

[Nathan Butler]

Put up TWO interviews for this weekend: Singleton and Chappell.

Next week, I'll end with Alderman and Butler.

[Kehleyr]

*goes into hiding*

[Nathan Butler]

Alright, the last two are out: Ted Alderman for Ben Fletcher, and Nathan Butler.

That's the end of this series, folks.

[Nathan Butler]

Just so everyone knows, the interview audio files have now been removed for 2004.