Portia's Call From Home

The official account for the three episode audio drama series created by Ella Ladon about a college student who finds out she's an alien. Find us on YouTube at Mavil Lake Studios or check the carrd. https://pcfh.carrd.co/

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FAQ

Answers to questions that might be asked!

What is Portia's Call From Home about?

A college student who finds out she's an alien and has to choose whether to stay on Earth or go to her home planet.

How many episodes?

Three! They're between 30 minutes and 1 hour long!

Is there diverse representation?

Female black protagonist who is unclear on her own gender/pronouns and sexuality. She also deals with anxiety. One of her friends is a queer black woman. Gender blind casting was used for the alien parents. The aliens in this series don't have a labeled gender or sexuality. And Ella Ladon, the writer/creator, is a black gender non-conforming creative.

Parental Rating?

PG 13, but it's recommended for 16 and up

Content Warnings?

Can be found near the bottom of the description of every episode and it's now on the carrd website!

Where can I listen?

Currently on YouTube, other platforms still pending until audio cleanup is finished.

How can I download and listen?

Although there's the known YouTube Premium (which costs money), you can actually download the youtube music app and listen and download the podcast for free.

Why wait to release on other platforms and RSS feed?

I, Ella, have worked on many different forms of media. However, solely audio is a first and I knew there would be some bumps with audio. It's easier to get professional opinions on a finished product rather than ask for help mid process. YouTube has many extensions and ingrained audio assistance that makes things easier to listen to. However, if I want an audio drama that people can export to their devices, I would rather wait and come out with something that has greater audio quality now having a better understanding of the audio process. It's similar to how video games wait a bit before releasing the OST. Plus, audiences who watch on YouTube can also give suggestions in comments unlike other audio platforms. I am currently enrolling in classes and coaching for audio engineering to learn more! Keep a look out for updates!

Who runs the social media accounts?

Me, Ella Ladon (for now)

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Character Playlists

During the recording process, some of the actors were asked to make a playlist for their characters as a character development exercise. Those won't be shared without permission, but here are playlists created by the director/creator of PCFH!

PJ's Playlist: Mixture of hip hop, emo, alt, rock, indie, musical theatre, female rage, etc. Just like her, it is a jumble of many emotions and ideas. From rage, to sadness, to happiness, and back again. It also explores her insecurity and self loathing.

Nat's Playlist: Mixture of rap, hip hop, R&B, and some music from her teenage tumblr days. It is strong in it's identity. It shows off her independence, pride, and how she sees herself today (for better or for worse).

Aaron's Playlist: The running gag is that Aaron only listens to movie soundtracks so that is what this playlist consist of. However, there are songs at the start that show his story and personality more. If he expanded beyond soundtracks, it would be filled with sad indie vibes.

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If you'd rather listen to these songs elsewhere, here's the entire tracklist for the characters!

Tracklist 1

Tracklist 2

Tracklist 3

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PJ does not know how to drive. She doesn't have a car. She gets places by riding her bike. Her parents fully intended to gift her a car for her Sweet Sixteen, but after numerous panic attacks from practice drives they just got her a bike.

She did have her learner's permit though!

Keyword: "Did"

When she was 20, she tried to get her license before her permit expired. Nat and Aaron offered to help since it wasn't going well with her parents. It ended up with her having to pull over to cry multiple times.

Needless to say, her permit is expired and she continues to ride her bike everywhere. And she gladly accepts the title "passenger princess."

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Despite being a smaller project, the podcast has been fed into chatgpt or some version of it so someone could paste an AI comment in support of the show. Please don't do this. There's a statement in the description of the episodes prohibiting it, but aside from that it is disrespectful to the work.

If you want to show support and you don't have the time to listen, just sharing it is enough! Or supporting any of the cast and crew by following them in their endeavors! There are more audio dramas out in the world than time in the day so if you aren't able to listen, that is perfectly fine! But please, don't feed any elements of the show (voices/writing/etc) into gen ai machines. It is very discouraging.

Thank you!

- Ella Ladon

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What is Portia's Call From Home about?

The basic synopsis is PJ, a college student, lives an ordinary life. She works, goes to school, sleeps, and the cycle repeats. When she recieves a call from outer space, she realizes there might be a chance to escape her current life.

But what lies underneath the surface of this audio drama?

The focus is on identity. Each of the characters surrounding PJ are solid in their identities and goals. They act as a foil, emphasizing the lack of identity PJ has. Not only is she adopted, but she is adopted by parents who don't share or quite understand the struggles she deals with. Although the episodes never explicitly discuss race, it does play a huge part in PJ's behavior. College is the time for people to express themselves and figure out who they are. Many college students already face challenges with finding their identity. However for black people who grew up in predominantly white institutions, especially black women, it's difficult to get a grasp when you are constantly switching personalities to appease others. Once they are outside of pwis, they have the opportunity to be authentic in who they are, but they are years behind and everyone "seems" to have figured themself out except for them.

Feeling lost in life and identity, the next best thing is escapism. Escaping into books, movies, tv shows, etc. What if I was saved? What if someone loved me like that? What if I was stronger? What if?

This audio drama answers the what if question. PJ is presented with the opportunity of a better life. Safety, acceptance, and love. It's the answer to every protagonist's prayers. My life changing for the better. The escapism that's dreamt about is right at her fingertips. All she needs to do is go with her alien parents and abandon all that she knows.

PJ's been living so long, hating her life, that she forgot all the things she loved on Earth. She forgot the people that care about her. She lacks an identity yet her friends and family can name off all her quirks. They can answer questions about her that she didn't know herself. She is loved on Earth.

This leads up to the ultimate question. Is it better to lose all that you know for a chance at a better life or stick around and see what happens for better or worse?

This is the short of it. There are more details within the script/episodes that lead to spoiler territory including discussion about character creation which will be saved for another day. But if any of that sounds interesting to you, please check out Portia's Call From Home!

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Clip from episode three of "Portia's Call From Home!" Coming out is never easy, especially when you're trying to reveal you're actually an alien. But assumptions derail it. PJ tries to have a serious conversation with her parents about leaving Earth and it goes as well as one would expect from them. Hear the entire conversation on the Mavil Lake Studios youtube channel!

Featured Voices: Auri Streets, Gemini Starfielder, and Donna Walton

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Happy Valentine's Day from Portia's Call From Home! We hope you have a great day with the people you love! <3

Art by @godsveins

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Still keeping with the Valentine's Day theme, here are more romance charts with PJ and her friends!

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Hey, I'd strongly recommend releasing your show on an RSS feed! It'll mean anyone on any platform can listen to your show around the world, which should first of all triple to quintuple your audience. Plus, if you're releasing exclusively on Youtube, Youtube is monetising essentially 'exclusive' content from you by running ads on it and making folks pay for Youtube Premium if they want to keep listening, and then Youtube isn't giving you any of that money. It's a really common way both Youtube and Spotify are monetising and exploiting new creators, and you don't deserve to get caught in that trap! Good luck with the creating, can't wait to listen to the show.

Hey! Thank you for the advice!

There was a tease of an RSS feed in the future, but it is definitely on it's way! YouTube has become the main host because of it's accessibility and ingrained compression/volume stabilization. However, you are very correct in what YouTube does and we want to get this audio drama onto different platforms to reach more people! We're currently learning how to clean up sound and audio in a way where we don't have to depend on platforms to fix any potential issues so we can make it a better listening experience!

Luckily, at this point in time, YouTube is not running ads because the channel is not monetized and it hasn't reached a certain view count. There isn't a definitive date when the RSS feed will be made, but it is coming!

Thank you for the support! Updates will be coming soon!

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In honor of the Valentine's Day season, here is a romance meme with all the characters (with art) from Portia's Call From Home!

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And that's a wrap on Portia's Call From Home! All three episodes are now released on YouTube. You can listen to the trailer, promos, and episodes in this playlist. You can even listen to it as a podcast on YouTube. No idea what the difference is, they both offer the same content, but it's linked anyways! All of it sums up to three hours of listening content.

We'll be working on releasing it on other platforms after we clean it up to make it even better for audio only listeners! Maybe Pinecast? Even a RSS feed? Who knows! Hopefully there will be more updates on that coming in the next few months!

If you like fiction podcasts with satire, comedy, sci-fi, found family, fluff, drama, angst, escapism, eccentric parents, female black protagonists, and 22 year old college students who have no idea what to do with their life then this might be the audio drama for you!

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The final episode of "Portia's Call From Home" will be premiering in three hours on the Mavil Lake Studios channel! Go listen to the other episodes before then!

Link to third episode

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Animated Loop for Episode 2 of "Portia's Call From Home"

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When someone makes an audio drama, it means they care for the art form. They truly care for the stories they're creating. The audio drama market is saturated and there usually isn't a big profit from it. And that's why I love it. I love all the audio dramas I listen to whether they're big budget, recorded on blue yetis, or even recorded and edited from a phone. I love how these audios captivate my attention with just their words and sounds. I love being a part of these niche communities on Tumblr and I can't wait to add to it!

- Ella

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Clip from episode two of "Portia's Call From Home!" PJ has a conversation on the phone with Nat and Aaron, her very supportive friends. Find more on the Mavil Lake Studios youtube channel! Listen until the end 🤭

Featured Voices: Auri Streets, Vinni, and Sophia Cymone

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I appreciate all the audio drama blogs following this account! This is a group sideblog so I can't follow you guys back, but I will be listening to your podcasts. 🥰

- Ella

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You find out you're an alien and you have the choice to stay on Earth or go back to your home planet. What do you choose? You only have a couple of days to pick and you're locked into whatever choice you make.

Stay

Leave

Voting ended onJan 25