How did it all start?
Many summers ago I moved to California with very little capitol and the dream of becoming the next great screenwriter. Well things didn't turn out as well as I hoped, and I returned to my native home of New Jersey, to lick my wounds and get a real job. That was fifteen years ago now and a lot has changed, but let us take a short trip threw the mist of time shall we? Call H.G. Wells and queue the time machine.
Growing up I spent much of my time watching, analyzing, and discussing movies. It didn't matter if it was Citizen Kane or Driller Killer, I consumed it all with the same feverish voracity. I can probably blame that particular character flaw on Star Wars. Sitting in a darkened theater watching the adventures of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, at the age of seven, was a life altering experience. I dove into the works of John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock, John Huston, Howard Hawks, and Akira Kurosawa. I recorded or rented anything I could get my sweaty little hands on.
Then I began writing scripts. First I wrote shorts that I planned to film myself. Then I began writing features, thankfully, most have disappeared over the years. As I learned the format I began submitting my drafts to agents and independent studios, with little or no success. As the years marched on I married, had a son, and took a respectable job. That left little time for writing. I began to let my creative side slip away.
Then one day my wife bought me an Ipod. Why? I can't recall, I think I must have complained about my CD player skipping while working out. At first it was just for music then I made the monumental discovery that you could download audio dramatizations, also known as Audio Theater. I had the BBC's version of Lord Of The Rings on tape for years, playing it over and over again till the tape wore out. But it just never occurred to me that there was a whole other world out there ripe with great audio theater. I began to download with a vengeance.
Then I had an Idea. I had collected all these great stories why not start a internet radio station? Well, unfortunately there is such a thing as copyright and that spelled the end of my ill-fated radio station. But then I had another Idea! Why not start my own Audio Theater Company?
I contacted my friend Rob, now engineer and producer, babbled a bunch of excited incoherent nonsense about the greatest idea I had ever had, and so began the Twilight Audio Theater. We researched the history, tools, and tricks of the trade. First we purchased two basic radio shack microphones, a mixer, and cheap editing software. We downloaded some old time radio scripts and recorded some of the worst acted audio theater ever made( you can listen to some of it on the sound page), but it was a scream. I enjoyed being involved in every aspect of the production, something I never would had been able to do in film.
We have now reached the second stage of what is truly a very exciting time at Twilight Audio Theater. Armed with better equipment, our own website, and some exciting scripts, we are just beginning to write our history.
See you in the twilight,
Neil Gustin
Summer 2007
