Brad Williams is an actor and multi-award-winning writer, sound designer, and editor. He wrote his first teleplay in 1990 while working on the Syracuse University campus sitcom “Uncle Bobo’s World of Fun.” His debut audio fiction project, “Once Upon a Wasteland,” launched in October 2021. A post-apocalyptic science fiction romance, this independent audio drama has achieved more than 650,000 IAB-certified downloads and won nine Signal Awards. Brad has also appeared in several popular audio dramas as a voice actor, including “CHAD: A Fallout 76 Podcast,” “The MODUS Files,” and “True Vault Escapades.” He is a member of The Podcast Academy and has served as a Blue Ribbon Panel judge for the Ambies and a juror for the 2024 Audio Verse Awards.
How many years have you worked in podcasting or audio?
3–5 years
What is your current role, in your own words?
Audio drama creator
What types of projects do you typically work on?
Scripted fiction podcasts
How many years have you been a Signal Awards judge?
1–3 years
What excited you about joining the Signal Awards Judging Academy?
I love podcasts. I love the medium, I love the blank canvas they provide for people to exercise their creative vision. Seeing all the disparate ways that people do that is inspiring and being in a position to evaluate those projects makes me both a better creator and a better consumer of podcasts.
What is one recent podcast you’ve loved and would recommend?
I’m a long-time fan of “How Did This Get Made.” I’ve seen them live and can’t recommend the show more highly.
What separates good audio storytelling from great audio storytelling?
Immersion. An audio drama that makes you feel like you’re part of the goings on and doesn’t jar you out of it is my platonic ideal. A lot goes into that; making people sound like they’re in the same room even if they’re not, sound design that’s just so, and, of course, great writing are all vitally important. But it all comes back to immersion.
What project are you most proud of and why?
I’m most proud of “Once Upon a Wasteland.” It’s won several awards and has opened doors to me that I never thought would open (including being a Signal judge). It’s entirely self-funded and I did all the writing, so it’s very personally gratifying to see how it took off, and that people are still discovering and listening two years after our final episode. I purposely left the door cracked to bring it back, and it’s entirely possible that I’ll do just that, as long as I can come up with a storyline that does the project justice.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to emerging creators?
Keep going. There will be times when it’s a slog, times when it feels like it’s barely worth it, and times where it’ll be easier to just podfade away. Don’t do it.