Würdsmith is proud to welcome a new client into the fold. Discovery Digital Studios hired us to write scripts for five webisodes for their web series MoonshineHERs. Jamie Joyce, Author of Moonshine: A Cultural History of America’s Infamous Liquor, details the role women have played in moonshining and bootlegging through the years. We helped develop the questions that would be asked in the interview of Ms. Joyce, and then combed through the transcripts to build out a cohesive narrative for each of the webisodes. The five webisodes will be rolled out over the course of the next few weeks.
I’ve always found using interview sound to be a great way to build a compelling storyline, especially when working with non-actors. It allows you to get authentic, unrehearsed responses that don’t sound canned. I’ve used this technique multiple times over the years, especially during my time at TLC. The narrative of the Police Women of Cincinnati spot was built off interviews with the cast, supplemented with staged scenes that we shot specifically for the promo. It was actually the first time I got to use a stunt man in a spot! But you don’t necessary need your own interview to get great sound, especially when working with reality TV. So much of the reality formula relies on “confessionals,” where you have the opportunity to hear from your characters directly. The skill comes in being able to weave a coherent narrative from the various sound bites. This is how I wrote and produced the character profiles for the first season launch of Breaking Amish, which relied on show audio.
I’m excited to work with the team at Discovery Digital Studios, and we look forward to branching out more into the digital content space!
