MADIVA PODCAST 405 - Lory Martinez and Multi-Lingual Podcasts - Mija and beyond...

Hellllooooo voice actors of audio joy and audio drama lovers everywhere!

This week I have the hugely inspirational LORY MARTINEZ of Ochenta Podcasts on the show, and we talk all things.... her ways in to creating Mija and then the founding of the company - Ochenta Podcasts and beyonnnddd. We talk how she voice acted through accents and language. and was able to bring to life  her own family story, dramatising it, and voicing in several languages, battling imposter syndrome, and building success!

If you too would like to join in the OCHENTA PODCAST fun, she does do a call to arms for voice actors - yes! So feel free to email them with your voice reels and experience - to OchentaPodcasts@gmail.com.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING! Please do share this so other folks can hear it and feel thusly inspired by all my amazing guests!

HUZZHAS FOR MY PATREONS who continue to help me create some truly - I think - groovy things on the audio landscape...

HAPPY LISTENING, ACTING AND CREATING ALL


Sarahx

Links to Lory's Works
Ochenta Podcast
Mija Podcast
Lory Twitter
Lory Website

Other Links of audio funnn
A reddit list of French audio fiction shows
Some info on German Horspiel
Learn Italian with these short stories anyone?!
A study on the impact of multi-lingual audio drama
some more French coolness

Sarah's links of audio joyyy
Sarahs Twitter
Sarah's Quirky Website
ADWIT Podcast
Fiction Podcast News Weekly
Sarah's KO-FI account of funding alllll her projects for TRYING to pay her actors n crew

Chapters

• 4:08 How family life inspired Mija
• 11:48 The style of Mija Podcast
• 19:02 Some European audio fiction recommendations
• 31:23 Why should YOU just get on and voice act your own stories!?
• 39:18 A CALL TO ARMS FOR VA'S EVERYWHERE

Transcript

MADIVA405_LoryMartinez and Multi-lingual Podcasts

[00:00:00]
GROOVY MUSIC: MUSIC KICKS IN GROOVILY

Sarah Golding: HOLA GODEG HAI GUTEN TAG HALLOOO AND WELCOME TO TODAYS MODERN AUDIO DRAMA INDIE VOICE ACTING PODCAST WITH ME Sarah Golding. TODAY’S WONDEROUS GUEST IS ONE OF THE MOST INSPIRING AND BRILLLIANT FOLKS ON THE INDIE SCENE - CEST VRAI - LORY MARTINEZ OF OCHENTA PODCASTS… AND WE TALK ALL THINGS CREATING MULTI LINGUAL PODCASTS  AND MMORE! 

 ENJOY! 

GROOVY MUSIC: MUSIC ENDS

Sarah Golding: All right. Well, I would love to welcome today to MADIVA - I'm VERY  excited to speak to you finally, the wonderful Lory Martinez. Hello? 

Lory Martinez: Hello. Thank you for having me...

Sarah Golding: Ahh, it's so, so great to catch up with you. It's been a little while since I said I'd love to -it's a couple of podcasts festivals ago. I think. 

Lory Martinez: A pandemic ago,  at least.

Sarah Golding: At least, at least! But... Those of you who, for some reason have had your head in the sand, I would love to introduce you to the fantastic array of work coming from, from Lory and friends. Uh, you are, as far as I understand it, a Colombian American journalist [00:01:00] podcast producer. Founder of multi-lingual podcast awesome Studio Ochenta, you host the wonderful, uh, and it's not just in, in one language, it's in many, the 'Mija Podcast'. And, uh, you also just do so much for the, uh, audio drama community, audio fiction community, and I've heard you speak at various events too, so, so hugely massive welcomes to you. 

Lory Martinez: Thank you - What a great intro. 

Sarah Golding: Grand. And I'm very excited to see. You just mentioned before we started to record that that Mija is, is, is doing more. 

Lory Martinez: Yes, we're doing our third season and, um, we haven't actually officially announced that yet, but by the time this comes out, it'll all be already published. 

Sarah Golding: So exciting. 

Lory Martinez: And... It's about an Arab. Uh, Egyptian British Mija. So she's on your end and your side of the pond. 

Sarah Golding: So exciting Superb.. And just to sort of look at the roots of, of that podcast - it's a, a wonderful show. If you [00:02:00] haven't found it, I highly recommend going and binging it right now, but isn't it right that you  went to the Hearsay festival, which is a beautiful festival in Ireland and that inspired you to start Mija? Is that right? 

Lory Martinez: Partially. Yes. Um, I actually had...Already started doing interviews with family members. And I kind of wanted to create a documentary about their immigration journey. It was a way for me to connect with them, but I wasn't sure which way I was going to go with, with the audio I already had recorded.

Um, and I, I was kind of toying with the fiction side and at that festival, I kind of... had all these doubts about whether I should dare to make this show in the first place and my idea of living it in Spanish, English, and French and all of that. And I was just surrounded by all of these producers that I admired so much from a distance, right in my ears, you know, meeting Helen Zaltzman, I'm meeting, Caitlin Press people who would inspire me so much when I was coming up in podcasting [00:03:00] and just seeing them having the same struggles and, you know, posing the same questions. Do I dare? Um, so I. After that festival, I went home feeling so inspired. I felt like I can do this. If they're asking themselves those questions and I can in my little corner, do my own thing. And after that, I really just kind of put pen to paper and started turning that documentary into a fiction podcast. And that became Mija!? 

Sarah Golding: Yes, superb ..And so how exciting is that? Is it so important to connect? Isn't it? Um, and by listening to others, you've just been inspired to just get on and do it. And I absolutely love that. And, and the fact that, uh, it is from your own life -members of your real life, own family, but slightly dramatized in these short... beautiful episodes of around 10 minutes long each. Um, can you talk to us a little bit about how your own life has inspired the storyline of this and , and the development of it? Like, did you interview family members or did you know these stories [00:04:00] from, from long ago? Um, yeah. What was it like to, to get behind a mic n...record it all??

Lory Martinez: Yeah. Um I had initially wanted to do a documentary and so I went through the.... process of interviewing all of my family members about their immigration journeys. It was kind of a way for me to understand their history so that I could better kind of deal with these cultural questions. I was even asking myself as an immigrant here now in France.

Sarah Golding: OK, yes...

Lory Martinez: Um, and so I listened to their stories for the first time. And it's not something that you really think to ask, um, you know, you grow up and you're just like, Oh yeah, my dad is American, but I didn't remember. Or like ever think about, okay, what was his actual like immigration journey when he came here, and what was his first job? How did he learn English? Um, You know, how, how tough were those first years? You know, what was it like before he left Columbia? Um, and the same for my mom, you know, I never really thought about, okay, so what was her, what was that last day like before she left? Um, and [00:05:00] so in the interviews that I conducted, I had gotten all of that down and basically dramatized it as... a novella because it kind of felt like that when I'm talking to them, actually ...they dramatised it. I knew it wasn't the way that that happened, but I mean, the way that they explained it, it just felt so grandiose that I felt like, um, it could only be told in a fiction way.

Sarah Golding: Right. And it's so moving as well. You know, some bits it's like joyous and you just think, gosh, this sounds amazing. And the hardships as well are there. And just some of the way you've conveyed the, you know, the, the drama and the real life of things. It's just beautiful. So, so yeah, I think it's a wonderful podcast...and...howhow was it  to, to voice Mija yourself as well?

Lory Martinez: It was, it was a great experience because I was. I had laid down, um, uh, tracking just to do the sound design. And then I did the final reporting mainly like right every week. Um, it's not the best way to produce, obviously, because you're really like on a, the deadline [00:06:00] for that...

Sarah Golding: It's hard isn't it? 

Lory Martinez: Especially cause I was doing it three times for English, French, and Spanish for that first season.

Sarah Golding: That's amazing! So you did each of those languages in the one week as well?

Lory Martinez:  Yeah. I mean, it was, it was like the most indie thing to do. Right. Because I had no budget for other actors in that first season. And then thankfully the success of that season, let me hire actors from, from the seasons onward. Right. But, um, yeah, for that first season, I was recording every week. And it was such a great experience because, you know, I was publishing it and I got so connected to my family, despite being so, so far away from them. Andwhen it ended,  I cried, I had such a..like...gut wrenching moment. It's almost like when you finish it a drama also, like when you finish like an novella and like it's the happy ending, and you'd feel like a little bit sad because it's over. And I had that same feeling when I was reading it. So writing it and recording it and all of that was very, very emotional and it. And it, I mean, I'm glad it came across as well, you know? 

Sarah Golding: Oh gosh, absolutely! And also you know that the [00:07:00] power of music from, you know, your roots as well. I was very much enamoured by, because I know pretty much nothing about Colombian culture and American, uh, experience of, of that. Kind of, uh, you know, immigration. So, so it was really wonderful to listen to just this real intense moments and, and development of, uh, a legacy, which is you. really. Isn't it? Um, so yeah, the music who did the music for you is that or was that found from things that you loved or family loved or?

Lory Martinez: So, um, the music is an interesting mix of foley from, you know, buskers in Jackson Heights, a mix of street sounds obviously that have been blended with, um, some samples that I found online. It was actually my first foray into sound design myself. I have been a radio journalist before, so I'd produced, y'know, regular documentaries, very simple stuff. But yeah. Um, I had never done fiction sound design, which is a completely different [00:08:00] thing.

Sarah Golding: Isn't it just! 

Lory Martinez: And I was also with a very particular challenge of one voice. I don't have any other actors. How can I make... scenes? It was really challenging. Um, but it was really fun to, to kind of look into each time period. So what I did was I created soundscapes for each time, like decade of the story took place in. So, um, in the 1940s of Columbia, there's these boleros that were very popular and I remember my grandfather used to sing some of them. Like to himself. So I kind of took those references and found songs that were similar. Um, and then in the parts where like the eighties and New York, like, and you got, I know what that sounds like the nineties in New York. I know what that sounds like. Um, and the same for, you know, Columbia and in the late seventies, eighties, before my parents left, like, what was their music? Um, what were they dancing to, etcetera, etcetera. It was really, really cool to kind of think about their, their musical [00:09:00] universe. 

Sarah Golding: That's it. Isn't it? We are taken to places so quickly via the medium of music. Brilliant. And, and did you get your folks to listen -did your family, listen and feedback to you? Like how did they enjoy? 

Lory Martinez: I mean, You know, they felt like they were each of the stars of the show. Right. 

Sarah Golding: YeAHHHH, good work!  

Lory Martinez: That was really cool, but I really believe that dramatize versions of themselves to be true, which is really funny. I also think that a lot of the feedback that I got from my family was then I gave them the endings that would, they would have dreamed of, which is really nice. 

Sarah Golding: Ahhh yeah. 

Lory Martinez: Because they are like mini biographies, but they're not what really happened to those people in true life. For some, for some folks, they got better endings. Some of them got, um, Closure that they didn't have- things like that. So, so that was a really cool creative license, but my family thankfully gave me ....to adapt. Yeah. And even in creating the second season as well, we had the same, um, creative license with the writer that worked on the second season on [00:10:00] her family's immigration story.

Mija has a very particular space because you can play out these kinds of. Dream scenarios that you would hope could happen, right? 

Sarah Golding: Oh gosh. If only we could wish hard enough and they would sometimes be real. Right. I, I feel that I, day dream too much. And so when you sort of started off on the creating of it, who really did you make Mija for what ... what kind of is your aim to, to put it out into the world.... and...

Lory Martinez:  I think it was firstly, it was a very selfish reason. I think when I first made it in my mind when I like the first thought of it was to make it in Spanish and because the interviews were conducted in Spanish in the initial version of the show.

Sarah Golding: Yeah. 

Lory Martinez: It was selfish in the sense of trying to capture my own family's history and trying to better understand myself. 

Sarah Golding: Right, right. Brilliantly though.... Yeah. 

Lory Martinez: It became so much bigger. Once I started thinking about the translation aspects [00:11:00] and turning it into the show that it became, it became more of a goal of let me make something that people can relate to and see themselves in.

And let me tell a story that hasn't been heard before. Let me inspire others to share their stories. You know, it was more like, okay, I'm universal across cultures. I know someone else can. And let me, let me use this as a basis for what I want to build with my company as well. Right? Yeah. Yeah. So that was the secondary goal.

Sarah Golding: Amazing. And, and like you decided as well on the 10 minutes sort of format to tell someone's story, and that's always sort of repeated how hard was it to stick to that? And, uh, and how long did it take you to, to write and perfect and then perform all of the elements? 

Lory Martinez: Um, I think. I wrote these when I was starting to write the scripts, I wrote them in very long sentences that were very descriptive and had a lot of things. And then I realized that I couldn't read all that. [00:12:00] And, um, I ended up like, Basically falling upon this kind of staccato poetic speech. So if you, if I were to ever show you the scripts of Mija, you see that there's maybe not more than 10 to 12 words in a sentence, and that it's very much broken off into a very paced staccato sentence structure.

So that each line is an image. And each line is telling you something important. As a detail. When I found that style, I realized that it could be very easy to create that. And. You know, build scenes out and we bring it to a satisfying conclusion, almost like a poem that ends at the end. Right? Yeah. 

Sarah Golding: And how, how much of a harsh task master were you on yourself? Because obviously the onus is on you to get all these different language versions done too. And as an actor, what kind of other things did you do to, to prepare for - for playing her?? 

Lory Martinez: Um, one of the things that I had to do [00:13:00] was. Speak more Spanish, more, more times in the day. So normally, I mean, other than France on speaking French all the time, because my husband is French. And so that is a language that I have practiced a lot. Right? But obviously when I code switch too, back to English, my English is kind of funny because I've been speaking French all day or Vice-versa, so  when I did my recordings, they had a lot of issues with, okay, I need to switch... to this language. Um, and so I would speak that language for at least two hours before just like unconsciously, but kind of consciously so that when I started doing the recording, I wouldn't sound funny or have weird pacing issues.

Sarah Golding: That's fascinating to me because I'm not sort of bilingual. I have a very... dashings of French and Danish. I can kind of fall back on and understand, but I could never hold full conversations. And I don't know how it would be to act through or in... another accent. So I find that absolutely [00:14:00] exciting and astounding. So ...was any one angle of, of performing in any of the accents sort of..more difficult ?

Lory Martinez: Do you know something... The one that was the most difficult was actually the Spanish, which I think was going to be the most difficult actually, because it's, my mother taught me. It was the first language I spoke. My parents are Colombian and they spoke Spanish at home.

So I learned Spanish first. Right. But, um, No. I actually had such difficulty because not only have I been living here for a couple of years now, and I don't speak Spanish every day anymore, except for when I speak with my mother on the phone, I also had never really done. Narration in Spanish before, right?

Because one thing is, you're a native Spanish speaker. Another thing is to actually be an actor and speak in that language and like do text. Right. And the thing is I have a particular kind of Spanish, which. Is something that I know, because you know, sometimes I don't know what the word is for something, because I've heard it only in English with an accent in Spanish.

[00:15:00] I've heard I speak Spanglish. And even when I'm working with, when some of my producers on Ochenta stuff, and we're looking at scripts, I'm like, Well, I would say it like this and she's like, no, but the real word is this. And I say, Oh, like my ego takes a check, but it's, it's true. You know, I have my various specific kinds of Spanish.

And so, um, when I was doing the narration, I definitely was very aware of like, what parts would sound more? How do I put those beinga, which is like, how, how do I sound like very American when I pronounce this? And sometimes it would exaggerate those points on purpose because. This girl would definitely have those problems in Spanish the same, you know, when I was pronouncing things and just general like rhythm, um, I had a lot of trouble with pauses.

So like the staccato text, the way that it was written in English, it works in English, but like the poetry of it, it has to be correctly translated in [00:16:00] Spanish. And so the pauses are in different spaces. Um, comments are in different places, et cetera, et cetera, sometimes sentences are longer. Um, but it was definitely the most rewarding to work on because I was the most emotionally attached to it because it's my mother tongue.

Right. So for me it was so, so valuable to have that version. And it was the version of me, how that I produced first. So when I was doing the editing and all of that, I was editing Spanish first because that was the one that for me was the truest version of the show. 

Sarah Golding: Yeah. I absolutely love that. I mean, what advice would you give to someone who is doing the same? Cause I don't know what the scene is like in, in Europe, really, as far as, uh, how much audio fiction there is. Um, but obviously over here, most things are. I listen to are in English as well. So what, what advice would you give to someone who is multi-lingual and wanting to, to act through all accents that they might be able to?. 

I think 

Lory Martinez: it's really being aware of your specificity is [00:17:00] because, you know, some people are bilingual and we learn this a lot with Ochenta stories, which is the show that you've thankfully worked on as well.

Sarah Golding: I LOVED doing that...So much. Thank you. Yes, it's great fun, we'll talk about that more in a sec.

Lory Martinez: Ochenta stories is now multilingual, um, fiction nonfiction, uh, Crowdsourced series. And so each episode is a three to five minute episode that is produced in multiple languages. And, um, some of the creators, they speak two languages.

So it's very simple, but other times we need to hire actors. Um, what's funny is that sometimes people speak two languages, but they don't necessarily specify that they're non native speakers. Right. We received like a French audio and it just doesn't sound like a French person. And then we're like, Oh, we didn't double check with the person. And it's actually a Haitian accent. And it's like, so cool. But we didn't know that was how they spoke...their French.... Their French isnot the same. It's not even. It's not the same French. Right? 

Sarah Golding: Amazing. Yeah. Anything you think about, I suppose if you're   asking for French and all the different [00:18:00] places that speak.

Lory Martinez: Yeah. Yeah. So it was super interesting to hear the variations on the languages as we would expect them to be... recorded.... So I can say what I've been seeing a lot, at least in the Spanish speaking world, because in Spain, there's quite a lot of audio dramas, which is really cool. All of them are in Spanish, Spanish, but I've seen a couple that are now experimenting with doing Spanish English.

And it's really interesting to kind of blend those two together because you're kind of assuming that the listener has at least knowledge of some of, one of the language. Right, right. Yeah. Finding the blend is really difficult. But I've seen a couple of bilingual podcasts that have done that really well with nonfiction and with teaching in Spanish, English.

Sarah Golding: Was there any tips you can give for people to look out for, for audio fiction specifically shows? 

Lory Martinez: In...Terms of, um, in terms of what, in terms of language stuff?

Sarah Golding:  Yeah,  multi-lingual, podcasts ?

Lory Martinez: To record? Like as, as voice actors?

Sarah Golding:  [00:19:00] As in to listen to ...

Lory Martinez: Oh! Recommendations that i think are Great? Um,Gil Ardress is a really good one in Spanish. It's only in Spanish, but uhm a really good audio fiction coming out of Spain. Um, I guess I can really just talk about the European scene. There's one that, um, was recently launched by this. Really amazing producer. She's like a machine. She...She produces a ton of fiction in French, and she's done an English French podcast. Um, her name escapes me now, but I'll send it to you. Her name is Penelope.

Great. 

And if you look her up, basically she has like nine different fiction podcasts and they're all like amazing. Um, great. And she's done a blend of English, French on her, one of the most recent ones. 

Sarah Golding: Okay. Super so there is excitingly a quite active European core of fiction that perhaps people haven't even opened that box yet. So have a hunt people that I'll put some links in the show notes that, uh, that Lory   is able to send and we'll ping those out to you. [00:20:00] So then, so you're talking about sort of world appeal and things. What kind of reception feedback did you get from Mija from perhaps a different folks all over the world. And, and how did you connect with those audiences as a voice actor and producer? 

Lory Martinez: I think it was really....Unexpected how much that show ended up being successful because it's so specific and yet, so universal  at the  same time, because a lot of people have immigration experiences where they kind of don't necessarily  understand their culture or have an identity crisis regarding that, or, you know, would have wanted to have had the, or understood the history of their family in a specific way.

And a lot of people love drama, you know? So I was really pleasantly surprised at the success of the show and in terms of feedback that I got, it was very much, um, I saw myself in this character, or I saw my dad in this character or I saw, um, and, and, you know, finding that relate-ability. It was really, really great to hear because you [00:21:00] know, those, those were characters that are based on real people, obviously they're romanticised and fictional versions of them, but it was cool to say, you know, we made you feel seen. And that, that was really rewarding to hear .

Sarah Golding: Brilliant, and it is to me, it's like a, a  love letter of a legacy, not just for you, but all folks who might well have had different or similar touching experiences of being an immigrant family. Perhaps. And how did it feel to then go on to, to make Mija and series two and now Season...season  three coming up, um, including, you know, now you have there the Chinese, Asian culture as well. And you're talking about the Egyptian English culture. I think that's so exciting. So yeah. How, how has that been to, to work on those??

Lory Martinez:  I think it's been really cool to be able to pass on the mic to someone else and kind of share that vision with another creator. And also to kind of enter those soundscapes and show another underrepresented story in a different way.

So for season two was really [00:22:00] cool because we, we had this entire, I mean, Chinese culture is like, Insanely amazing and super, super complex and interesting. 

Sarah Golding: So we're actually talking on Chinese new year. We actually, yeah. 

Lory Martinez: Yes! Had a, an episode about Chinese new year on Mija too, if you want to listen it's  the Paris  episode and listen to that in English, French, Spanish, or Mandarin...

See,  and 

Sarah Golding: that's just beautiful. I absolutely love that. So if you're learning languages as well, what better way than through Lory's podcast, - it's wonderful! 

Lory Martinez: You can listen to any version you want and they're all have their transcripts on online, so you can follow along. Even if you don't know that language. Which is   also like one of the.thingss that we believe in at Ochenta making sure it's accessible to everyone.

Sarah Golding: Yes!Which is absolutely brilliant. I think what you're doing is fantastic and long may it continue to build...

Lory Martinez:  Thank you. But yeah, the Chinese version was really cool to do. And I think in terms of experiences, It was [00:23:00] very rewarding to take a back seat and kind of respectfully do a lot of research and then know that that research is full of holes and have someone really come in and say, no, no, this is the way that it happened in that time. I asked my grandma and she explained it and all of these things, and it was really, really cool because, you know, we did all this research about...chinese history up until this might be from the thirties on and, you know, post revolution, pre- revolution, et cetera. And it's so, so interesting to see how different, like versions of the story had to be adapted.

For example, in the Chinese version, we had to change certain details. Um, And so that it would be more relatable to someone on the mainland basically.

Sarah Golding:  Yeah, no, I mean, I love it. And again, because it's a scenario that I, you know, a box I haven't opened much at all. They are various Chinese friends and grew up in an area where there were as a Chinese contingent of friends and things, but [00:24:00] yeah. Uh, yeah, I just, that's why I love this podcast so much because you know, the, the soundscapes are so rich and the authenticity of the voices and so on, just lend it to you, immersing yourself in imagining these people and these things, and it's done so beautifully. So, so, yeah. And, and, and regards to, you know, every podcast, like we talked a little bit about earlier, but, um, when did you officially feel like you were, uh, fully, uh, Paid up real podcaster, real voice actor.

Um, cause we all battle that imposter syndrome , eh, when you think God, what am i doing? I'm in over my head, um, kind of scenario. So how have you overcome any more of this sort of challenging moments of, of life and work life balance? 

Lory Martinez: In Terms of feeling like I'm a legitimate voice actor? I think the one thing would be the Mija podcast because I had never done voice acting before I had done narration as a journalist, as you know, I'm posting the news [00:25:00] piece, but not as a voice acting. And I realized actually, when I was seeing the feedback of the show and all of these things, the Austin, the authenticity of someone who's not necessarily a trained voice actor is really interesting because a lot of the time, even now, as a producer, working with corporate clients and all of these things, a lot of the time they're asking me for authentic voices, And they're so hard to find because a lot of people have a very particular commercial style, like trained voice actors, do very specific things, but then there's also the emerging... amount of voice actors who are in the podcasting scene, who have very interesting variations on those styles. And just seeing that those are also people that I, you know, I'm, I'm so excited to give those people work as well. And even with our, our shows, like Ochenta stories, because those are also authentic voices that are ...are worth hearing and that's been really, really rewarding to be able to  do. 

Sarah Golding: Brilliant! How did the  progression to Ochenta podcasts [00:26:00] come about? What collaborations has it kind of led to as well? What's uh, what's your ambition for Ochenta...future?? 

 Oh, my goodness. 

Lory Martinez: I was just having a conversation about this too. Um, no, I, I basically was independent all by myself, consulting as a producer for a couple of years here in Paris. And because I'm trilingual myself, I speak English, French and Spanish. I was working in the three languages, like separately for different podcast projects, um, both independent and also for friends. And I, you know, got to the point where I knew that I was going to have... quite a lot of work and I wanted to create something like I wanted to create a company.

And for me, Mija was the way to create that company and really establish a voice in the vision that I was looking at. Um, but it was a long time in the making, you know, my company has been around for maybe what is it a year and six months, September, 2019. But, um, it's. It's a lot of [00:27:00] years in the making. And it was the amount of immigration time that I've been here..., which was like five and a half years.

Sarah Golding: Wow, yesss! 

Lory Martinez: And it's all slowly building expertise, you know, and here I actually became. Not necessarily, I would say, like I became known for, um, a few independent shows that I produced that did really well as such as just, you know, interview podcasts that were, you know, the top food podcasts at brands, for example, things like that, things that, got a lot of attention here and yeah, 

Sarah Golding: That's amazing! Congrats! 

 It helps me kind of build a name for myself as a, as an indie producer, you know, and going from there and really just kind of... selling myself like selling my brand ..

Networking out there... 

Lory Martinez: Networking which, I hate...that   word, but it's true. It really helps because I'm very humble in that process because it was so, you know, solo, right. When you're in India producer, you're looking for, for work like all the time. 

Sarah Golding: Oh yes!  

Lory Martinez: So you're always trying to connect with new people. And that really [00:28:00] was a really good time for me to, to establish links and really build what I... what ended up being the foundation for what I did here with Ochenta. 

Yeah. Brilliant, 

Sarah Golding: brilliant, brilliant. And, and which areas of the world have you not yet had sort of anything, uh, any languages or, or countries kind of... to work with on Ochenta podcasts? And who would you like to hear from -what kind of storytellers or actors? Cause I know you do run your script writing pleas  now and then for, for new work. So who would you love to hear from the most? 

Lory Martinez: You know its really interesting, we did a count on the Ochenta...Like basically across all the shows ...we're at 19 languages represented, which sounds like a lot, but it's not, it sounds like a lot because already three languages was like, Oh my God, mind blowing for a lot of people. It is like nothing. That's just the readings, the three countries. Like I'm not the same, like I'm not thinking of like [00:29:00] world domination  at all. My vision of like...

Sarah Golding: Why not??!! 

Lory Martinez: My vision of global podcasting in that sense, in the way that Ochenta  looks at languages is really about representation. And like having that, that voice be heard in a context where it normally wouldn't be, right? So for me, I love the feeling of knowing that someone who's like, I don't know, somewhere in the States, Like who would never, ever go to Zambia would hear the Shona language. And that's like the first time they would ever hear it. Um, and that's really cool. Right? And then to have the translation and also the actual like language.

Yeah. That they could hear. Um, so for me, it's, that's really satisfying, but in terms of countries we haven't had yet. Oh my gosh. So what's really cool. Is that the show was initially, like, I think we had said like five languages and we just stopped..... asking. She said, well,  what language do you want to do...  What other language do you speak? We're going to do a Tagalog episode soon. We're going to do ...like...it's...it's  [00:30:00] crazy. But, um, no, I think the main thing that I would really love to, which I have not yet, I plan on doing it with one of the shows that I'm working on, which we can't mention. Sadly, the one that you were working on...

Sarah Golding: Ohhhhh... 

Lory Martinez: ...the secret one, which... I think by the time this comes out, and the only reason I'm saying secret is because of the date might change. Um, that show is going to have, uh, indigenous language in it. So that's something that I really want to work on is having more indigenous. Languages represented,   on, which is the shows because we have all the, the main, main languages, but more like the smaller even tribal languages. That's super interesting to me. So I think it's a really good space to be able to represent that.

Sarah Golding:  I agree. And I think the more coverage we can get for, for those languages and keep them ticking in people's ears is just, yeah. Beautiful. Brilliant. And so why should, if a voice actors listening to this who also has a storytelling [00:31:00] soul, right. And they're thinking I I've either my family or myself, I've got a story to tell ...why, why should they just take the leap and record? What are the rewards... that you would reap? And what advice would you give them? 

Lory Martinez: Oh my gosh - I think a lot of indie producers have this doubt that it's worth telling their story. Right. Um, and I, I assure you, I also had this doubt. I also didn't know if Mija it was going to be successful. And in fact, I will be very honest. I launched that show and thought that it was going to be like, The extra show in the slate of shows we used to launch Ochenta, I thought it was going to be the one that people didn't listen to...

Wow... 

Because I launched with two influencers for the other two shows that we did. And they already had a social following, they were like...Like semi famous. And I'm, I'm nobody. I I'm just the woman who started the company in my, mind when I did that I was like, oh!...They're not gonna listen to Mija. Like maybe, maybe, maybe I'll have an audience, but what ended up actually happening was...Different thankfully. And, um, I'm very, very grateful that... [00:32:00] the show found its audience. And I think, you know, I had faith in the story and I had faith in what it was doing for me. And I thought that it could do something for others. And one, one, one, when, it was published it  did that. So I think if you believe that it's worth hearing. Don't stop yourself from doing it.

Um, the don't I guess don't be afraid to fail because my show could have just as well, like disappeared into the ether. It didn't, but it could have, because I didn't have the same marketing budget as like, you know, big, big companies because I'm small indie  company. Yeah. But yeah, I think thankfully the internet is a place where this kind of thing can still happen. You can still have like crazy overnight indie successes!. Um, I mean, my show was not at all an indie success overnight. Obviously it was a success over many, many months. It took a long time before it to find its audience. But I mean, in the first couple of months it was like audience building and all of these things. But, um, all that to say is that.

Just do [00:33:00] it, just do it, 

Sarah Golding: Just do  it, people 

Lory Martinez: Yeah..., everybody, everybody asks themselves if they can, everybody has his doubts. Even the biggest podcast, producers doubt themselves.

Sarah Golding: Lory has spoken and I  mean it is so  exciting to, to, yeah. Just hear your success story. And, and where did you put the podcast out first actually, just out of interest?. Where, where did you market it or what did you do to get it out into the world? 

Lory Martinez: You know, I think the thing that I was really rely on relying on to help promote it was the fact that it was one of the first trilingual fictions. So I simultaneously like published all three versions. And I thought that was that I hoped in my heart that that would be enough of a journalistic pool because it was different enough, you know? And I think that's one of the things that, um, helps a lot of creators in your mind is like, what, what hole are you filling in terms of... Like content, you know, w how does this not exist yet? Or, um, you know, do your research in making sure your show is [00:34:00] very, very unique. Right. 

Sarah Golding: Great advice. Yeah. And is there anything you'd do any different, like if you were to kick in again with doing the same thing, but was there anything you would do.... differently. 

Lory Martinez: Um, I would have done it in Chinese for the first season. I don't know. I kind of feel like I would've liked to have had the version for that last, for that first version of the show. 

Sarah Golding: Groovy ....someone ...someone's building you a new audio fiction podcast room studio in the background now I think.

Lory Martinez:  Yeah. I think what I would do differently would be... well, I guess, like I say that I would have done the Chinese version of that, like financially was not possible to do that for sure.

Um, when I was first launching, so I don't regret not doing it in a fourth language, but I do think that maybe I would have enjoyed, I don't know, I guess like, I was doubting so much that it would be successful that I didn't revel in it as much as I could have. 

[00:35:00] Right.Ok...right...enjoy it,  while you're 

Sarah Golding: in it kind of thing.

Lory Martinez: Yeah. Yeah. And I think like, I didn't realize like what an, what an experience it was until the very, very end when I finished and published the last episode of that season.

Aha, aha... Yeah. So 

Sarah Golding: soak up every moment of your creative, fun people. You're doing great things. Probabl without even knowing! 

Yeah. Like 

Lory Martinez: you'll when you're finished with something, like, it felt like it was the end for me when I finished Mija Podcast,  and then I did this and then I like took a couple of months of like mourning for the end of that show.

Ahhhhh... 

Then I decided, okay, maybe I can give it to somebody else because there was nothing more to say for me for the rest of that, that series was very much like... this is eight episodes, that's it! No more,  a closed circle, this thing. Um, but yeah, I think I would have... Probably like enjoyed it more, if I had realized how value, what it was doing to me, I guess he was giving me so much mental joy that I didn't realize I was having until the end, you know, it's so sad it was over. So [00:36:00] basically just, yeah, you're all stressed out while you're doing this thing. But remember that you're also getting a lot of joy from it. So don't forget that while you're producing, because I think I do that a lot. I forget because. So much stress there's so much stuff to do, but like, yeah, it's very satisfying to work on something that you love.

Sarah Golding: I feel that - I've  been recording today with my lovely friend, Fiona Thraille  on something that's a really good fun script and Oh, it was my solace, you know, my, my soul food. I was just the happiest doing that. So, so yeah, I agree that it's just enjoying that the play... playfulness as you're going -no  matter how harsh those deadlines are on your tails. Just. Yeah,  enjoy! So, yeah. So what's next for you? Are you doing anything? Are you doing any more voice acting? Are you doing any more, other fun, groovy creative projects? 

Lory Martinez: Well, I appear on the Amelia project, yes!  

YYYYaaaaayYYYY! 's  one of  my 

Sarah Golding: favorites ever in the whole world. That's very exciting.

Lory Martinez: My Character's, Savannah. She's the first time that I've played a character with a heavier Spanish accent, and it's been really [00:37:00] fun to kind of experiment with my range that way. 

Sarah Golding: Ohhhh see, so that's  exciting. So if you need any multilingual voice actors, then if Lory's got two and a half minutes spare... You know where to find her! And... Finally, how on earth do you say? 'ochenta podcasts are truly groovy and  everyone should listen' in Spanish, Spanish, and French and anything else.?

Lory Martinez: Oh my goodness. I should have prepared this!  You say that phrase again?

Sarah Golding:  Yes. So how do you say 'Ochenta  podcasts are truly groovy and everyone should listen', 

Lory Martinez: Ochenta Podcast...Uh, in French, it would be...'Ochenta Podcast c'ent geniale, et tout le monde de vrai ecouter' 

Sarah Golding: Lovely - TRES BIEN! . 

Lory Martinez: In Spanish, it would be... Would be ...'Ochenta Podcast, des podcast des Ochenta sens geniales....

Sarah Golding:  Oh, it's beautiful. I wish I could speak 

Lory Martinez: ...and in English... well, it's in  English... 

[00:38:00] Sarah Golding: Yes....! We , we, we, well, um, I do hope people, if they haven't already heard Ochenta  podcast or Mija,  jump on straight away and have a listen.... Cause they're beautiful seasons, all of them. I think, you know, the fact that you can listen to one in one language and enjoy the others.

I was listening to some like in the language that I didn't understand first, just because I just love that. And then when you listen again, you still have the same vibrancy, but obviously then can understand a little more. 

Lory Martinez: Yeah, no, it's always really fun to work on the sound design too. Cause you see the parallels in both , and then, as  the listener, you can hear the parallels and see like okay, in that moment, that's what I was listening to before. 

Sarah Golding: Yeah. Yes. Yes. It's beautiful. So long may your creativity ooze from your pores and, and success be your friend. I hope you continue to work on some fun things that you love. And, um, I love your, your passion and your work. So thank you for spending some time with us today -it's  been fabulous to talk to you. So, so happy creating. 

Lory Martinez: Thank [00:39:00] you!  I would say just as a final note, um, I wanted to say if you're a voice actor and you have... A reel or anything, definitely send it to us because we're always, always looking for voice  actors at Ochenta.  

Oh my goodness! 

Actually, I am so  excited because we've gotten, um, from these multiple projects that you've been mentioning promotion, the stories, which Putchen Da Fuentos, which is the Spanish version of that series. Um, Mija podcasts and all of that, we're really. Kind of expanding the fiction side of Ochenta.... So for me, I, you know, the more VAs that we know the better. So if you wanted to reach out, you can send us an email  at OchentaPodcasts with an s @gmail.com   with your reel, and just a quick note about who you are and your background.

And we'll add you to our list of VA's, because we we're always looking for people... 

Sarah Golding: ...and they are a wonderful company to work for folks. Well, I'm very excited. The flood Gates will open and all five of my listeners will [00:40:00] come in. I was just joking. If you're listening to this, I really hope that you do jump on this opportunity because yeah, I think you will have the best fun doing, doing what your soul loves too, perhaps. Superb, well  thank you, Lory. Have a wonderful everything and, uh, yeah. Keep on creating. It's great to see whatever happens next. 

Lory Martinez: Thank you. All right, you have a good one.

Sarah Golding: Super!

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