In the Middle, No Longer Stuck

What’s Poppin’, Thegronis!?

We’ve almost reached the mid point of Season Four, so I thought this would be a great time to check in! Please retain a beverage and come along...

It’s a Franchise

As we move into the mid-point of Season 4 I think it’s safe to say that THERE’S A LOT GOING ON. We have opened many a can of worms this season and we’ve decided to just dump them all out and let them wriggle. With every episode of Midnight Burger, the world we’re creating gets more and more expansive and this season we plan to expand it more than we ever have.

We’ve talked before on the show about The Shores of Ignorance; how, with every bit of knowledge gained, it brings about a larger world wherein there is even more to know. “The more you know, the more you need to know, y’know?” This idea directly applies to our show. With everything we learn about the world of our diner, the more we need to learn.

Sometimes people will ask me “How long can you keep this up, Joe?” To which I usually respond: “It’s not my fault! It just keeps going!” We sometimes like to think of stories as being these nice, neat little packages with a nice neat little beginning and end that we can smack a bow on and put up on a shelf, but I think this is a pretty conventional way of looking at things.

“It’s not a small business, it’s a franchise.”

Which leads me to…

-Joe’s Totally Skippable Thoughts on the Art of Audio Drama-

In the world of dramatic writing, the clock is always ticking: a movie can (should?) only be so long. A play is constrained by the attention of the audience and how comfortable the seats are, a TV network will only pay for so many episodes, etcetera. What happens to dramatic writing when those restraints are removed? Audio Drama (at least, the type of indie, subscriber-supported Audio Drama that we make) episodes can be as long as they want to be. A season can be as long as it wants to be.

With that being the case, what does that do to the classic elements of dramatic writing? Things like the three-act screenplay structure or the classic A,B,C, and D story of a television episode are things we regard as “good story telling” but they arose out of the constraints of a different environment (asses in seats) and a different funding model (ticket sales, ad breaks, and studio budgets). When you aren’t constrained by these things, how does that effect the way you tell a story? Do you even need those “good story telling” rules anymore? If not, where does that leave us in regards to the “good story telling” rules of Audio Drama. Is it possible the only rule is “Don’t Suck?”

This thought is on repeat in my head.

Thank You so Much to All of the Artists Who Submitted to our Story.co Project!

As we’ve been talking about over on ye olde social media, we’ve been putting together a pretty exciting project with our friends over at Story.co and we have been FLOORED by the amazing art that people have submitted! We’ll be making our decision very soon about which artists we’ll be working with first, but before we do that we wanted to just say a very large “Thank You!” to all the artists who jumped in and sent us their amazing work. If you’d like to see this amazing stuff just head to our page and check them out, they’re fantastic!

Breaking News: Podcast Downloaded.

We're beyond excited to share that we've surpassed three million downloads this year alone - and we're not even halfway through our new season! Your support continues to astound us, and we're grateful for every listener who joins us on this wild ride.

Fan Art Roundup: Who Hath Arted?!

Speaking of fan artists, it’s once again time for our favorite segment - the Fan Art Roundup! The creativity of our listeners never ceases to amaze us. Let’s see some!

The Future of Midnight Burger: Expanding Our Menu

While Midnight Burger will always be first and foremost a podcast, we’ve been thinking a lot lately about expanding our story into new realms and creating a world that exists in many forms and in many mediums. In the coming months and years, we'll be making moves to bring the world of Midnight Burger to life in exciting new ways.

Picture holding a Midnight Burger graphic novel in your hands, or experiencing a fun live show, or sitting down at a table with your friends and taking them through your own Midnight Burger rpg adventure. One of the greatest parts of this whole experience for us has been watching all of your creative minds interact with our world, and we want to offer you as many ways to do that as possible. We're exploring opportunities in print, gaming, multimedia, live events, and more. The possibilities are as endless as the dimensions our diner visits, and we can't wait to share these new experiences with you.

Keep your eyes on this space for updates on the ever-expanding world of Midnight Burger. The best is yet to come, and we're thrilled to have you along for the ride.

Until next time, remember: we're out there, somewhere, lookin' for ya'.

-Joe

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What’s up next?!

Public Feed:

August 13th: Midnight Burger, Chapter 37.
August 27th: Welcome to the Horizon Part 5.

Subscriber Feed:

August 15th: Midnight Burger, Chapter 38.
September 1st: Welcome to the Horizon Part 6.