Irish VO's Belfast Podcast Studio & Consultancy
We Make Podcasts* in Belfast
*award-winning.
We've been producing, recording and consulting on chart-topping, community-building podcasts since 2015. And we can help you with yours...
It started with a dose of Honesty
A Chart-topping Podcast, and a Trending PR Campaign
We made our first foray into the pod world in 2015, with the award-winning Honest Actors Podcast.
The show quickly became the UK’s Number 1 Acting Podcast, built a loyal listenership, and proudly sat side-by-side in the iTunes rankings with content from the BBC, the National Theatre and international media outlets. It peaked at number 6 in ‘Performing Arts’, and reached number 98 in all categories, outranking The Ricky Gervais Podcast and Alec Baldwin’s ‘Here’s the Thing’.
As the first step in a PR campaign aiming to secure sponsorship, after just 12 episodes, we announced that production would cease with immediate effect. Within an hour, on the same day as the Oscar winners and Olivier nominations were announced, #savehonestactors was trending on Twitter. Soon after, the story was picked up by The Stage – the leading industry publication – both online and in print. Twelve hours after the announcement, the hashtag had gained over 3 million impressions. The podcast’s supporters had spoken. The Honest Actors Podcast was worth saving. They wanted more.
They got what they wanted: two more series, sponsored by West End and Broadway ticketing app TodayTix. The show went on to be named on top podcast lists by Buzzfeed, The Independent, The Evening Standard, and won us a UK Blog Award for our efforts. It was backed by Equity, and was being recommended to acting students at RADA, LAMDA, and as far afield as New York University (NYU).
Ultimately the show earned us a spot as one of Acast's first fully-backed creators. In 2020, The Irish Times did a great article about the journey from tiny idea to global success. You can read it here.
For a few years now, people have been coming to us for advice about recording and launching their own podcasts. We're always happy to help. Read more about the advantages of our remote podcast recording service here.
What we can do for you
Consultancy:
- scheduling: matching resources with aspirations
- knowing your audience
- how to: the technical bit
- streamlining your workflow
- marketing and PR
- building a community
- monetising your hard work
Practical assistance:
- Copywriting, on-location recording, studio recorded narration and voiceover.
- Standard cutting/editing, sound mixing and mastering, conversion to standard file formats (.aif, .wav, .mp3), uploading/transfer as required
- Custom intros, outros and jingles
Portable Podcast Kit*:
- 2 x Shure MV7X
- 2 x Rode PodMic
- 1 x Rode Procaster
- 1 x Rode Reporter
- 2 x Audio Technica PRO70 Lavs
- Rode Rodecast Pro II Podcast Recording Console
- Zoom H5n Portable Digital Recorder
* We also have a fixed installation broadcast studio.
Good Vibes Only
NOW Recording...
We're currently lending our podcasting expertise to NOW, an award-winning social enterprise, based in Belfast, supporting people with learning difficulties and autism into jobs with a future.
When we sat down to discuss supporting a charity, it very quickly became apparent that we wanted to support an organisation that worked locally. Also, given the nature of our business - that our voices are how we make a living - we were also interested in helping those to whom speech and language can be a barrier to accessing employment.
Aside from proving whatever financial assistance we can - including directly funding new weekly 'NOW Drama' sessions - we also have several collaborations in the works, utilising our experience in audio production to spread the word about the amazing work the NOW Group is doing, while also helping more parents and young people access help.
We're working with the team at NOW on a pilot for their new show, with plans to go into production of a regular podcast in 2023. Stay tuned...
