Hello, everyone! My name is Jerry Robbins and I started in the world of audio drama (back when they would be released on cassette tapes!). My company was called The Colonial Radio Theatre and we produced about 700 productions over 25 years (I wrote 480 of them). We dramatized some of the classics (20,000 LEAGUES, TREASURE ISLAND, CAPTAIN BLOOD, KIDNAPPED) historical dramas (THE ALAMO, LITTLE BIG HORN, OLD IRONSIDES), and some original series (BEACON HILL, YANKEE CLIPPER, TICONDEROGA). Full cast, original music scores, and thousands of sound effects.
I was also fortunate to have worked on four audio dramas with Ray Bradbury. Talk about an amazing experience! In a phone call, I told him I was stuck on a script -- writer's block. He replied "There's no such thing. If you have writer's block, you don't have a story." I don't know if that's a famous quote of his, or if he came up with it on the spot, but I never forgot it.
After a couple of years, we were asked to go on XM Radio with a daily show; we were on for eight years until they sold the channel (things were never the same after they joined with SIRIUS)
Our most popular program was a western drama called POWDER RIVER, which ran for 13 seasons and 178 episodes. From POWDER RIVER sprang a Western script that won Best Screenplay in the WILD BUNCH FILM FESTIVAL and was sold to Lionsgate. The script was based on a three-episode arc from the audio drama.
My second movie, THE LEGEND OF LAKE HOLLOW will be released on Mar. 26th, and it was great news to see that FILM THREAT gave it a good review! The movie was made by Penumbra Entertainment (their first feature), and is being distributed by Vision Films. It's VOD.
Screenwriting is by far the hardest writing I have ever done. When I started my first script I had no clue about formatting or structure (it's not the same as audio drama!). After some brutal coverage notes (and I mean brutal), I picked up some recommended books and buckled down. That's when the audio drama scripts began to take a back seat. After a few years my screenplays were getting better and started to win some contests, and I also received a couple of options (which lapsed, but it was still huge encouragement).
I was able to land a manager who helped a great deal in getting my scripts through doors that I couldn't open myself, but sadly it was on the heels of the COVID shut down, and then we hit the strikes; and now she has decided to retire, so I am once again looking for representation. To date, I've completed 28 screenplays in different genres (I figure SOMETHINGS got to stick!), and I love it.
So, that's my story so far.
One last thing -- I always hated it (and still do) when someone says to me "Follow your dream," or "You're living the dream." I respond with "It's not a dream, it's a mission." I still have a long way to go, and it's not easier even with produced movies under your belt... but the mission is far from over!
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Hey Jerry Robbins , thank you for sharing your super-inspiring story. Wow! You are one prolific guy! Looking forward to the release of THE LEGEND OF LAKE HOLLOW. I hope you'll post a link to it.
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Congrats, Jerry. This has been in the works for years. Happy to see it finally make it to the screen. Fun and creepy story.
Browsed production stills on imdb. They did great justice to your text.
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Congrats Jerry Robbins! What a path you're on, thank you for sharing. I LOVE audio drama, that "theater of the mind" art form has always fascinated me. I took an audio production course in college back in the 90's. Splicing tape, making it sounds cohesive, using different voices and sound FX etc. Super cool. And now it sounds like you're having success in film, keep it up!
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Congratulations on all your success and "The Legend of Lake Hollow" being released soon, Jerry Robbins!
Man, screenwriting was SO hard when I started. I didn't have screenwriting videos, screenwriting webinars, and Stage 32 back then. And I didn't read scripts or get feedback back then.
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“You don’t have writers block, you haven’t found your story” - what a GREAT line. Nice to meet you!
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Thank you, Amanda Toney... and it's great to meet you, too!
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Thanks, Nick Phillips - audio drama is a lot of fun and hard work (as you know). I've had my fill, though, lol.
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Thank you, Robin Gregory . I sure will!
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Maurice Vaughan Thanks. An interesting parallel is when I started Colonial Radio Theatre I had no idea if anyone else in the country was doing audio drama. Internet in the home was not the norm - it was just getting started - and my scripts were done on a word processor and stored on floppy disks! I had no idea how to write an audio script, but soon developed my own method that worked fine for the next 25 years.
The tough part was making the transition from audio to screenplays. The "less is more" rule in screenplays does not hold true in audio, and I had over 400 scripts to unlearn. It took me a long time and many, many, drafts!
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It's great to meet you, Jerry Robbins. I am a fan of audio drama and have been blown away by the creativity that I've experienced in that format. What a cool part of your mission as a story teller. I just checked out THE LEGEND OF LAKE HOLLOW on IMDB. - looks like a terrific cast - wishing you huge success with it and continued success with all of your creative endeavors.
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haha yeah i totally get it Jerry Robbins! Well you're in the right place to forge new paths!
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Thank you, Sam Sokolow !
You're welcome, Jerry Robbins. I wrote a radio play way back. I'm guessing that's the same thing as an audio drama or something similar. Writing a radio play is a lot different than writing a script. And it definitely was tough to make the transition. It was fun writing a radio play though.
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Dude awesome! Congrats on the upcoming release! One week away, that's so exciting and good luck with it! Not a dream anymore, it's a mission!
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Maurice Vaughan yes, same thing as a radio play. Today everyone seems to call it "audio drama." My company was called Colonial Radio Theatre, and a few times some of the competition took cheap shots at us saying we were "old fashioned" by saying "radio." After just a few years though, we were on many AM and FM stations across the country as well as SiriusXM Radio where we were the most listened to show on the station we were on - so I had no shame in calling us "radio." Nowadays, I say audio drama because when I say radio plays I get blank stares.
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Thanks, Pat Alexander !
Guess I better start calling them audio dramas, Jerry Robbins. I might write another one. It's been so long since I've written one, I'd definitely have to research how to write them.
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Thanks for the info, Jerry Robbins. And thanks for offering to send me your scripts. I'll message you if I write another audio drama.