Happy Last-Week-Of-November, everyone!  I have some good news and possibly not-so-good news. The not-so-good: there’s no new MAT Feature tonight. But we have a good reason, and it leads us to our good news — we have a full show with the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company tonight, as they share with us some stories that fit into our last week of focus on family and remembrance.  Admittedly, those of you in the U.S. will note that this episode aired the day (or two) after Thanksgiving – but between Black Friday madness and the horrors that have come to light in the news this month, it only seemed fitting that we take the extra time and sit with these themes once more before the holidays.

Oh, and we have another piece of good news for storywriters!  It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for – we’re kicking off our 5th-Annual Scriptwriting Competition, officially starting today. This is the point in the year where we try to get you, the listener involved – by encouraging people of all ages and stories of all genres to try their hand and radio drama writing. The winning stories chosen in this competition will have their works produced and aired on Midnight Audio Theatre in 2016 for all the world to hear!

Writers should note that there are a few restrictions to this competition:

• Submissions should be no longer than 20 pages, with the full story being no longer than 20 minutes
• The story can have up to 4 central characters with 2 additional supplimental characters if necessary (supplimental characters should be treated like ‘extras’ in a film, for background purposes only)
• Content rating for your piece should be no higher than PG-13 and devoid of any obscene material. Language restrictions don’t apply since we air MAT after FCC monitoring hours, but we do ask that the explitives are kept to a minimum.
• You can find our complete list of ‘Rules and Guidelines‘ for more information at our info page

And that’s it! No genre restrictions, no experience restrictions. So whether you are a grizzled veteran to storytelling or are brand-new to the craft, we encourage all people to get their imagination in gear and send us your stories!

Now, back to tonight’s tales. ARTC has graciously provided us with four heartwarming (and heartbreaking) tales as we wrap up our November theme. A story about saying goodbye, another that gives a hard look at the actions of our forefathers in the U.S., and two that reflect the hopes and losses of war.  We start with a tale from ARTC’s series Bumpers Crossroads, entitled “Bradbury’s Funeral Home“, followed by “Blazing the Trail of Tears“, “Grandmas Diary” and “Chief Burnley’s History Lesson“.

 

Don’t Forget to Check Out:
– Atlanta Radio Theatre Company
– MAT Scriptwriting Competition 2015
– MAT Features (past winners of the scriptwriting competition)