Every year a radio show written especially for CONvergence is performed for a live audience on the Michael Sheard Memorial Mainstage just before Opening Ceremonies. Featuring the talents of locals such as Jerry Stearns, Tim Wick, and Windy Bowlsby, the show often incorporates a Guest of Honor or two as well. If you miss the live production, the recording will be available through Great Northern Audio Theatre.
The Mark Time Awards – 2011
The Mark Time Awards are given each year for the Best Science Fiction Audio Theater production, and the Ogle Awards are given for the Best Fantasy or Horror Audio Theater production. These are the 15th Annual Awards, for the 2011 Production Year.
GOLD
Brad Lansky and the 4D-Verse
Protophonic
Written by J. D. Venne
Producer, Dieter Zimmermann
www.protophonic.net
SILVER
My Other Self
Stagestruck Audio Theatre
Written & Produced by Bret Jones
&
Our Fair City, Season 2
HartLife NFP
Written by Clayton Faits & others
www.OurFairCity.com
EXCELLENCE IN ADAPTATION
The Martian Chronicles
Colonial Radio Theatre on the Air
Story by Ray Bradbury
Dramatized by Jerry Robbins
Producer, Seth Adam Sher
www.colonialradio.com
Logan’s Run – Last Day
Colonial Radio Theatre on the Air
Written by Jason Brock, William F. Nolan & Paul Salamoff
Producer, Seth Adam Sher
www.colonialradio.com
Ogle Awards
GOLD
Intensive Care
Final Rune & AuralStage Productions
Written by James Comtois
Producers, Fred Greenhalgh, Matthew Boudreau, Samantha Mason
www.finalrune.com/intensive-care/
www.auralstage.com/2011/10/intensive-care/
&
Ghost of a Chance
19 Nocturne Boulevard
Written & produced by Julie Hoverson
www.19nocturnebouldvard.com
SILVER
The Strange Case of Springheel’d Jack
Wireless Theatre Company
Written by Gareth Parker, Robert Valentine
Producers, Robert Valentine, Gareth Parker, Mariele Runacre-Temple
www.wirelesstheatrecompany.co.uk
The 15th Mark Time Awards will be presented July 5, 2012 at CONvergence, in Bloomington, MN. Representatives from four of the seven production organizations will be present to accept their awards, as will several past winners and four of the five judges.
Mark Time is a character created in 1970 by the Firesign Theatre. Phil Proctor and David Ossman of Firesign will also be attending CONvergence to help celebrate the occasion, along with their wives, Melinda Peterson and Judith Walcutt. Judith is a convention Guest of Honor, too. And they’ll all be participating in events throughout the convention, including the Mark Time Radio Show, just before the Opening Ceremonies.
We encourage you to look up the winners and give them a listen. You’ll find some excellent storytelling.
Thanks to the Geek Partnership Society for their sponsorship, and to Convergence Events for their support.
For more information about CONvergence: www.convergence-con.org.
For more about the Mark Time Awards: www.greatnorthernaudio.com/MarkTime/MarkTime.html.
2012 Mark Time Radio Show
Be sure to turn out for this year’s Mark Time Radio Show, on Mainstage at 6pm (right before Opening Ceremonies). The show, “Waiting for the Download,” will feature our Guests of Honor and two members of the renowned Firesign Theatre. We don’t want to give away too much, but expect it to be full of geeky humor and science fiction references.
Firesign Theater at CONvergence 2012
David Ossman and Philip Proctor, of the legendary comic foursome The Firesign Theatre, (sometimes called the American Monty Python), are attending CONvergence to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the Mark Time Awards for science fiction audio. Their prescient comedy album, “I Think We’re All Bozos On This Bus” is ensconced in the Mark Time Audio Hall of Fame. Mark Time is just one of the many oddball characters they have created in their more than 45 years together as a cultural landslide of comedy.
Individually they have made their marks as well. David Ossman, and his wife, GoH Judith Walcutt, were the team behind the 1988 50th Anniversary broadcast of the War of the Worlds on Public Radio. And Philip Proctor is one of the busiest voice actors in Hollywood, playing Howard in the Rugrats, and appearing in nearly every Disney animated film in the last 20 years.
On March 8, 2012, the world lost Firesign Theatre member Peter Bergman to leukemia. Best known as the man who invented the term “Love In” and former host of Radio Free Oz, he made people laugh and think for over 40 years. He planned to attend the convention this year, and we wish to honor him and his contributions to the world of fandom.