A Stormfire Productions Concept
The StorytellerProject
Once upon a time, storytellers traveled from hearth to hearth...
Bards, griot, ritual clowns, seanchaÃ, troubadours, minstrels, scalds, minnesingers, pinkerdds…for thousands of years, storytellers from around the world have shared the tales by the communal fire. They warmed hearths as well as hearts in the practice of one of the most human of all the crafts: wordsmithing.
But now our communal hearths have disappeared behind screens and skyrocketing rents. How does this impact our ability to share and receive new stories?
Rethinking Our Models
Indie audio drama creators frequently joke about how we circulate the same $20 to support each other’s projects. Our current financial channels are limited to crowdfunding, advertising, and giant corporations. These models are unsustainable.
But what if there were other ways?
An experiment with our collective investment in stories.
The Anatomyof a Story
Over the course of 5 days, I will create a story that is equal to the effort expected out of a part time job earning the living wage in my area: $23 per hour. I hope to demonstrate – in real time – what the anatomy of a story and investment in the arts can look like as traditional means fail us.
Day 1. 1 Hour. $23.
A collective tarot reading.
Day 2. 2 hours. $46.
A logline and moodboard.
Day 3. 2 hours. $46.
Script with sample audio.
Day 4. 1 hour. $23.
Finish script with concept art.
Day 5. 2.5 hours. $58.
Full mini episode with edited interview.
Reclaim the commons.
Support the Storyteller Project!Goal: $200
Project Updates
About the Storyteller Project
My name is Lisette Alvarez. I am the mind behind this project and behind Stormfire Productions. I am a full-time writer and fiction podcaster (or audio dramatist, if you prefer). I was inspired to conduct this experiment based on my fiction podcast industry and marketing experience, research into international development models, traditional bardic models of commerce, and the ‘gift economy’ described in Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass. My hope is to gain a deeper understanding of my own storytelling process and my relationship to my community as a storyteller.