HowStuffWorks unveiled its first foray into serialized audio drama. The show is a dark story called The Control Group that takes its inspiration from real-life events where the CIA’s funded and supported mind-control experiments. Filmmaker Bret Wood wrote and director the program. The first five episodes of the 10-part series will be released on June 27 and Apple Podcasts and other major podcast outlets.
“Just like true crime podcasts took off in this medium over the past couple of years, we believe that scripted series are one of the next big genres in this exploding industry,” HowStuffWorks President and CEO Conal Byrne said. “There is a really incredible interplay between scripted podcasts and the human mind, where a creator like Bret Wood can tell a story through audio, and then audiences use their own imaginations as the production crew, so to speak, to fill it out. We couldn’t be more excited to jump into this genre, and have several more like it coming across the next twelve months.”
”The audio-only format relieved me of the pressures that come from working with a large crew, and allowed me to focus more energy on script and performance, and challenge myself to find new ways to reveal a story through sound design and the listener’s imagination,” Wood said. “While I don’t think cinema is in danger of being outmoded, I do find that narrative podcasts are a medium with unlimited potential for creative storytellers.”