The world of independent fiction podcasting 🔮 with Samy Souissi

Eurowaves #19 Interview

Samy Souissi is a fiction podcast creator based in London. He's always been passionate about sitting on a chair for long periods of time so when he first found out about writing and sound editing, he was thrilled. He has produced two ensemble cast audio dramas and is currently working on a third.

You can connect with Samy on LinkedIn here.

What's been your journey in fiction podcasting so far?

I first started fiction podcasting in 2020 during the pandemic. I really needed something to channel my creativity while staying at home, and having always loved audio storytelling, it felt like the right time to give it a shot!

I started with just a laptop, a headset mic, and a few friends who were up to voice act over Zoom. We went on to make 2 seasons of an urban fantasy show called Desperado, and like a lot of fiction podcasts, it sort of found its audience on its own, which was really exciting! Since then, I’ve been writing and producing on a couple more fictions, and I hope I'll get to keep making more!

Desperado has been featured by NPR and the BBC. Congratulations! What advice do you have for independent creators who want to collaborate with public broadcasters in Europe to bring stories to a wider audience?

Thank you! To be honest, I think broadcasters in Europe are a little afraid of taking chances on fiction at the moment, especially beyond the scope of what has already been proven successes (big IPs, big names, retellings, etc.).

I think the best way to do it is to start! Make your show, find your audience, and get to know people within the fiction podcast world. Podcasters truly love their medium, and we know what it takes to make a show, so there is a lot of community to find by just taking the leap and telling a story that matters to you.

The people you’ll meet and the audience responses are what will give you something to show for when you feel ready to reach out to bigger broadcasters. Tell a great story and let people know it exists. Someone’s looking for it.

What would you say are some key elements to making a story resonate with listeners from different cultural backgrounds, Europe-wide?

By making it personal, you make it universal. Say, for example, that a character gets teary-eyed upon hearing a song on the radio. It’s a song their mother used to hum herself—one they haven’t heard in many years. The song choice matters very little. It’s the feeling of nostalgia and homesickness you’ve tied to it that resonates. There is a song in your listener’s native language, culture, or personal experience that evokes the same reaction in them. Start pulling on your own heartstring; you’ll pull others’.

Levian recently launched and is already award-nominated! What challenges did you face in funding and distributing a fantasy series independently in the UK, and how might that apply to European podcasters?

Yes! We’re very proud of the work we’ve done on Levian, and it’s so rewarding to hear that people are enjoying it! The biggest challenge when making an independent show is having to manage everything else around it. It’s saving money to put together a budget with other creators while finding the time to write, produce, and edit on top of other responsibilities. Distributing it is a lot more pleasant; as I mentioned, there’s a lot of collaboration within the indie podcast sphere, so a lot of creators promote and support each other, both on podcast feeds and on social media. Promoting your show through adverts on popular podcasting platforms is also a good way to get the word out.

Looking at the landscape of European audio fiction, where do you see the most opportunities happening? Is it in independent podcasting, public broadcasting, or in collaborations across the industry?

I definitely see more opportunities in independent podcasting at the moment. Levian, my latest project, wouldn't have been made without the unwavering support of Hug House Productions. Independent companies like them are what champion fiction podcasting in my experience. Public broadcasters, on the other hand, are currently scaling back on fiction across Europe. I think they don’t quite understand the medium’s scale and potential yet.

A fiction podcast’s impact is not measured on how its numbers compare to a talk-show podcast or weekly interview formats, but I think the industry at large still makes the mistake of putting them in the same field. A lot of opportunities have been axed based on that measurement. Collaborations across the medium are what, in my opinion, hold the most potential. If independent podcasters can make their shows climb the charts with just their own individual resources, it's no surprise when they achieve great things in public broadcasting.