Update: Very proud to say that Albert Dayan and I won 2nd place for this piece!!

Check out the finalists on KCRW.com at:
            http://blogs.kcrw.com/ipp/?p=1448
and it aired on "UnFictional" as part of the top three:
            http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/uf/uf13090624-hour_radio_race_2

Contestants were given 24 hours to create a radio piece based on the theme "The Last Thing You'd Expect".

The result is what Albert and I came up with in that long day and night...

Produced by Albert Dayan & Eric Drachman (Team "Mic & Ike")
as part of the 24-hour Radio Race from KCRW's Independent Producer Project

Photo by Peter Konerko

Albert Dayan has a BA in acting from Cal Arts. He lives in Los Angeles and writes with the award winning Burglars of Hamm, a theatre company that has been called “Los Angeles’ goofiest social satirists” (LA Times) and “Maybe the closest thing LA has to the Pythons.” (Backstage West). He's a husband, dad, writer, actor, director, visual artist, teacher, and now, for the first time... a radio producer.

After high school, Eric Drachman did an internship with a local radio station, getting up early and working for the morning shock jock. He got a degree in psychology, then acting, then started publishing children's books and audiobooks under his own imprint, Kidwick Books. He co-produced his first radio piece. Then last Fall, Eric went to Cape Cod for the Transom Story Workshop and is now chomping at the bit to make more radio.

MIC & IKE: State Of Overwhelm

Dante Pope loves skateboarding. The 22-year-old comes down to the Venice Beach skate park as often as he can. It's more than just flipping his board and doing tricks – it's limitless. Dante also produces beats — under the name "MeekMouth". (You can find him on SoundCloud).  --Produced by Eric Drachman

Limitless at the Venice Beach Skate Park

Paul is 41 years old and has been coming to the Venice Beach drum circle for more than 20 years.  "For me it's like church," he says. -- Produced by Eric Drachman

The Venice Beach Drum Circle

What does it take to track 20 aircraft at Los Angeles International Airport? Hear firsthand from Jack Brine, supervisor at the Los Angeles tower. "You don't take risks," he says. --Produced by Eric Drachman

Air Traffic Control at LAX

Joseph Diaz Jr. was a little kid and got bullied in school. So his dad took him to a boxing gym to learn some self-defense skills. Now "Jojo" is a professional boxer with an undefeated record, but he's still "kind and friendly." -- Produced by Eric Drachman

The Boxer

Silver Spur Stables in Glendale, CA, at the foot of Griffith Park, feels like "country in the city". The beautiful old barn is full of happily rescued horses and just about every other farm animal you could think of. Diane Cordingley is not alone in having found a community here that is welcoming and healing. She loves all animals and visits her horse, Jasper, at the barn, most days. -- Produced by Eric Drachman.

Silver Spur Stables

The moment before the concert, when the orchestra finishes tuning and a hush falls over Disney Hall is still exciting for Martin Chalifour. As principal concertmaster for almost 21 seasons, he has played over 2,000 concerts with the LA Phil. -- Produced by Eric Drachman.

When the LA Philharmonic Tunes

Jennifer Thompson wakes up at 5am twice a week to drive to Wolf Connection in the Angeles National Forrest and help care for rescued wolves and wolf-dogs. While there, she says, time seems to stop. You look into the eyes of these wild animals and what is really important, becomes clear. -- Produced by Eric Drachman

A Wolf Connection

John Wakefield is a classically trained percussionist. Among other places, he performs in the orchestra with the LA Opera. Besides hitting drums, though, John likes to unwind by punching a bag in his drumming/boxing gym. Part of the draw of the boxing gym is all of the percussive sounds and rhythms he finds there. John has started to combine these two passions by training professional boxers using the lessons that he’s taken from his expertise in percussion. -- Produced by Eric Drachman

Finding Rhythm in the Boxing Gym

Geoff Yamamoto has practiced karate with the Maryknoll Karate Club on and off for 53 years - since he was in the 6th grade. In karate, he says, there’s always something you can polish in yourself. — Produced by Eric Drachman

53 Years of Karate Club

Audrey Sachs has been climbing since she was a toddler - whether it was escaping her crib or climbing up the walls or trees or rocks or now – training as a competitive climber at Rockreation in Los Angeles. Audrey is focused and determined and she loves to “…jump up to things and reach for things and be swinging in the air”!    — Produced by Eric Drachman

'Reaching for Things' at the Climbing Gym

Abbot’s Habit was one of the classic Venice hangouts. On Abbot Kinney Blvd., right in the thick of things, this coffee shop / cafè dive welcomed all comers - locals, tourists, young and old, creative types, rich and homeless. Nina Sant’Angela, owner for the last 17 years cared for her eclectic clientele and they cared for her. She held out against gentrification until it finally rolled over Abbots Habit, shuttering one of the last remaining Venice Beach originals. — Produced by Eric Drachman

Venice Loses Abbot’s Habit

On the weekdays, Anne Woollett is curator in the Paintings department at the Getty Museum, but by Sunday morning, she’s deep in the melée and cacophony of Polo. She still works with her coach and learns as she plays, but she carries her passion and perspective with her during the week. — Produced by Eric Drachman

The Intensity of Polo

Jonathan Michael Vasquez got a BA in History and a minor in American Studies, but today he’s working as a plumber, installing a sewer line. Jobs were scarce when he graduated in 2008 and Jonathan had looming student loans, so when his friend offered to teach him a trade, he hopped in the van. — Produced by Eric Drachman

The Ups and Downs of Being a Plumber

Jeff Craig is the senior network analyst for physical plant management at CSUN. He’s also an alum – he graduated in 1970 and he’s been part of CSUN for more than 50 years. When he arrived, the ringing of the carillon (sound of bells) throughout campus brought back a happy childhood memory, but then it stopped working. Jeff took responsibility for it, raising money to have that large collection, of what are really amplified tuned rods, repaired and moved to a better location. He has continued as the “unofficial / official caretaker” of the campus carillon system for the last 35 years. — Produced by Eric Drachman

CSUN's Caretaker of the Carillon

Angel Solis is a sophomore at Alliance Dr. Olga Mohan High School in Los Angeles. He is encouraged and motivated by his parents and his older sisters, but he found another family in “Students Run L.A.” (SRLA). Students from around Los Angeles train to run the LA marathon. In the process, Angel has found that SRLA is changing him - not just his physical endurance, but his drive to build a good life, step by step, mile after mile. — Produced by Eric Drachman

Photo by Pauline Nazareno: Angel Solis and Andres Martinon, SRLA runners at Alliance Dr. Olga Mohan High School, show off their LA Marathon bib numbers two days before the race.

Link to SRLA: https://srla.org

Special thanks to teacher and SRLA coach, Pauline Nazareno, for bringing this story to our attention.

The Marathon of Life- Motivating Students

Mrs. Perez’s second grade students have been waiting for this day for THREE WHOLE WEEKS! Today, the eggs in the incubator have started to hatch. She believes that “Every day can be something new and just sparkly” and going to the effort to hatch chicks in her classroom is just one of the many ways that she makes that happen for her students. — Produced by Eric Drachman

Hatching Chicks and Inspiring Second Graders

Peter Lee grew up in the heart of Los Angeles while his Korean immigrant parents built a life and a family business (LA Speedy Apparel Manufacturing). — Produced by Eric Drachman

https://www.laspeedy.com

Products of their American Dream

Martina Blumenthal has found passion in cycling. She loves the terrain and the views and the weather here for riding her bike. She is driven to improve, but still, it reminds her of the freedom and joy of riding her bike as  young girl in Germany. — Produced by Eric Drachman

Pushing her Limits on her Bicycle

ERIC DRACHMAN: Wife and Wife

Jamie and Marisa’s love is irresistible. It’s so sweet, Jamie worried it would sound saccharine, but it’s true and kind and generous. And it’s about to be celebrated by their "favorite dearest sweetests" at their wedding. Even a  few years ago, they wouldn’t have been able to legally marry each other, but today they are glowing with the anticipation of celebrating with family, friends, and even the state.

Special thanks to my brother, Evan Drachman, for the use of his beautiful cello recording of “Menuets - Bach Suite No. 1 In G Major” from his album, “Full Circle”!

Photo by: Matt Sumell

ERIC DRACHMAN: Wife and Wife (2016 Radio Race)

Dennis Clemishaw has been farming cranberries for 30 years – something he never would have expected when he was younger. Now, Dennis and his wife own three bogs of their own and are depending on them for their retirement. This piece follows the Fall 2012 harvest and we learn about some of the risks the Clemishaws will have to navigate.

To license this piece, please find it on PRX:

http://www.prx.org/pieces/89556-cranberry-dreams#description

This piece was produced as part of the Transom Story Workshop: http://transom.org/?page_id=26554

Cranberry Dreams

I am an independent radio producer and children's book author/publisher living in Los Angeles, CA. I founded Kidwick Books (http://www.kidwick.com) where I write, publish and produce picture books and audio for the younger set. (3-7)

I completed the Transom Story Workshop in the end of 2012 and am honing my craft and finding my voice, just like my character, Ellison (the elephant).

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