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Pitch US: UnFictional

Posted: May 28, 2020
UnFictional is a program of audio documentaries and long form storytelling, produced by KCRW, Santa Monica. It’s a part of KCRW’s Independent Producer Project, an initiative to support and cultivate independent and compelling voices.


show: half hour broadcast and podcast

segments: 5 to 25 minutes in length

compensation: $100 per broadcast minute is the base rate, with final compensation negotiated individually, based on complexity of the work and experience of the producer.

pitch: By email preferred. We’re looking for submissions that show a producer’s dedication to doing ambitious, unusual work and taking risks. Stories should be off-beat with a viscerally appealing log line. We want stories that sound new and freewheeling. We’ve done stories about mobsters on the lam, chronic dizziness, cults, narcolepsy, heavy metal, acid trips, etc, although we’ve done plenty of down-to-earth stories as well.

Our stories are firmly rooted in true events, if colored by the perceptions of the storyteller. The ideal UnFictional story should be one with a strong narrative, a sense of urgency, unexpected twists, and a MOMENTUM that holds the listener. It’s multi-faceted: intimate and emotional without being maudlin; If it’s a humorous piece, it should still have stakes and tension. The ideal submission should have elements of humor AND emotion.

Pieces can range in complexity from a single voice scored with music, to deeply researched, complex, multi-character stories. A final submission might come to us in the form of audio that’s been edited into a rough story, accompanied by a “paper” script, to be finished by us; or it could start with a simple one-line pitch, on which we and the producer will collaborate, building the story out of a thorough editorial process, at the end of which an experienced producer might deliver us a finished work.

contact: Bob Carlson, Producer, [email protected], [email protected]

mailing address: UnFictional, KCRW, 1900 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90205
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