We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ashley Lanna a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Ashley thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
From a young age I always wanted to have a career where I could express my creative side. In grade school I knew I wanted to pursue acting which lead me to taking acting classes early on. As I grew up I developed a passion for creating radio shows where I voiced all the characters. This form of art expression led me to create a podcast where I got to examine true crime cases in an exciting way that allows the audience to become immersed in the art of storytelling and acting together in a podcast. My goal is to discuss the intricacies of what has occurred in the world of crime.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
“Lullaby: The Fear Podcast” is a true crime show that allows the listeners to learn the patterns of criminals and understand the criminal psyche through in depth research. Serial Killers especially all have patterns that they develop early on, I use my podcast to learn these patterns and discuss them with my listeners.
I also touch on historical events as well to learn more than the basic surface information ( ex. the RMS Titanic, Ancient Egyptian King Tut, and Alcatraz Prison). Topics that are interesting and have so much more to dissect.
I believe it’s important to engage the listeners so they feel as though they are in the same room. Asking questions, breaking the forth wall, and separating serious storytelling moments with off book discussions and dramatizations.
I truly believe it is those aspects are what make “Lullaby: The Fear Podcast” stand alone.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
The amount of time and planning it takes to produce a quality episode. An hour long episode takes much longer than an hour to create. Especially when you’re a one woman team. I take a week alone to research a topic. I find trial documents, archive files, witness reports, and footage. I never use one source, I average roughly 10-15 so I can cross reference and make sure I have accurate information. I myself love to study and read but that is not a fast process alone. Then I have to create a script for the dramatizations in an episode and schedule a time for my actors to record.
Once the research portion is done I record. Editing is a shorter process compared to the research but it takes 24 hours to finalize. For one episode I need two weeks to produce, since it’s a solo process. It’s work, but I’m very passionate therefore I love it!
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I adore learning about my listeners after an episode is released. I call them the Lullaby “Fear Cult”. An absolutely supportive and amazing group of loyal listeners who never fail to reach out and discuss the topics. I incorporate listeners to partake in the dramatizations so they can be apart of the podcast. It’s rewarding when anyone tells me that they took away something new from an episode. I value learning which makes my job as a storyteller that more rewarding. Fear Cult this one is for you!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/lullabythefearpodcast
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/lullabythefearpodcast
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lullabythefear