Acast, an independent podcast company, has revealed the three brand-new podcasts that will be developed as part of its Acast Amplifier programme, which launched in the UK earlier this year. The winning podcasts are Damian Kerlin’s ‘Memories From The Dancefloor’, Poppy Greenfield’s ‘Call me Disabled’, and Amanda Kingsley and Ziporah Banda’s ‘Stacked’ — and all three will launch under Acast’s guidance and mentorship, says the company.
Acast say that their Amplifier podcast incubator programme was created to discover and invest in the next generation of podcasters. As the podcasting industry continues to grow, Acast wants to provide an opportunity for tomorrow’s creators to get their ideas off the ground and into the world.
More than 600 podcasts applied for the programme, which will see the three winning ideas produced and launched as fully fledged podcasts. These creators will also receive additional benefits, including equipment from Focusrite and Shure, and a £2,500 grant, says the company.
Acast had the following to say about the winning podcasts:
Memories From The Dancefloor
Damian Kerlin is a writer and journalist hailing from Cardiff, and creator of the Memories From The Dancefloor podcast. The show takes listeners on a journey to unravel the forgotten history behind LGBTQ+ nightlife across the UK.
From London to Birmingham and beyond, Damian unpacks the renaissance of 20th Century queer culture with the opening of iconic superclubs. Through the podcast, Damian seeks to open dialogue about the coded expressions of queer identity and the real lives of the community behind those closed doors.
Memories from the Dancefloor will be produced by Hunter Charlton, who’s produced shows including, Shaun Keaveny’s Creative Cul-De-Sac and Working Hard, Hardly Working. Hunter also won Best New Producer at the AudioUK Production Awards, and was a Charles Parker Prize finalist.
Stacked
Stacked was conceptualised through two friends' shared love of literature. Amanda Kingsley brings dystopian and science fiction, while Ziporah Banda has a heart for literary and historical fiction of all kinds.
The podcast discusses books and how they’ve influenced and shaped us — how they challenge us and can even disappoint us — and will cover the intersection between literature, pop culture and politics.
Stacked will be produced by Aiwan Obinyan, who’s produced podcasts including Growing Up with gal-dem, Small Axe Podcast and Queer Me Out.
Call Me Disabled
There are 11 million disabled people in the UK, and Poppy Greenfield — creator of Call Me Disabled — is telling their stories. Poppy wants to highlight that disability is part of the human life cycle, and show people how rich their experiences and perspectives are.
Each episode, Poppy will interview a disabled person — including influencers, models, advocates, writers, directors, creators and trailblazers with a unique and captivating story to tell.
Call Me Disabled will be produced by Eliza Lomas, who’s worked with the BBC, Crack Magazine and Tate Modern.
Sam Shetabi, UK creator network director for Acast, said: “Podcasting is a space where vibrant and important stories come to life, and we couldn’t be happier with the winners we’ve chosen. It was important for us to pick a diverse group of creators who were reflective of the wide range of voices and realities in the UK today.
“Podcasting has proven a disruptive platform, where there’s no barrier to entry for any voice to be heard — unlike on more traditional broadcast mediums like radio or TV, for example. As the largest independent podcast company — not just in the UK but worldwide — we have a responsibility to do everything in our power to maintain and protect that, and help all creators to thrive.”
Damian Kerlin, creator of Memories From The Dancefloor, said: “When you have an idea for something you know could be great, it can be difficult to know where to start. To have the backing of a platform like Acast's Amplifier incubator programme, and for industry professionals to see the potential of Memories from the Dancefloor has given me confidence, but will also provide that much-needed guidance to bring my idea — which I've researched over the past 18 months — to fruition. This is only the beginning, and I can't wait to get started.”
Amanda Kingsley and Ziporah Banda, creators of Stacked, said: “Winning the Acast Amplifier podcast incubator has been a godsend for us because it removed a lot of the hurdles that were preventing us from actualising our podcast dream. The support provided by the Acast team has been invaluable in helping us further develop our podcast, and their expertise and passion for our idea has only made the podcast feel all the more special. Our dream is to help further diversify the publishing industry and the conversations happening around it, and this incubator programme has made that a reality.”
Poppy Greenfield, creator of Call Me Disabled, said: “Winning the Acast Amplifier is so deeply meaningful to me. It’s very rare for companies to want to invest time into acknowledging disabled people as a creative and valid community — despite 25% of the world experiencing disability in some way and being the biggest marginalised group that anyone can become a part of at any time. I want to use this opportunity to amplify the many intersections of disability and hold a place to share our disabled pride.”
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