Our Story

Sound is a powerful sense.

It gives us an awareness of the world. A sense of space. We find comfort in the sounds of stillness because there is safety. We can isolate different noises and pinpoint their origin point, identify what each distinct sound is, and most importantly if there are any threats.

We learned to paint the world around us in our minds. Where could a danger strike from? Where do I go? We learned to plan, strategize, and imagine. We used sounds to communicate with each other, passing on what we’ve learned, and what we should do. We formed communities with each other finding what connected us to each other. We figured out how to tell stories; informative, parabolic, historical, and fictional. Passing on truths, literal and emotional.

Our language evolved, we grew in complexity with our vocabulary. Information flowed, as our technology improved. We learned to craft instruments and produce beats and notes we could arrange with rhythm and melody. We debated ideas and structures, examining ideas and systems critically. Our imagination guided us, suggesting new words, new solutions, new songs, new futures.

Sound Escape Productions is a collective with a passion for audio in all it’s forms, and it’s uses. How words, music, and sounds can transport you to new locations and scenarios. We are designed to support our productions sustainably through our structure, knowledge, and resources. We are a home of artists and storytellers, who put our people first.

Stories change the world. Make a sound escape with us. Come back different.


We are Creatively Powered

Sound Escape Productions is a passionate fire. We make podcasts because we have something to share. We enjoy other’s work because we see the passion in others. Inspiration can come from anywhere, and we love sharing what inspires us, and what we make.

We are a collective of podcasts under one umbrella that share resources and branding, with a core identity around bringing the audience into an experience through sound. Our mission is to create innovative and sustainable audio productions.


We Make Each Other Stronger

As a collective, we want to offer a place where when someone asks how to make a podcast. We have the answer. We’d like to be seen as unique, innovative and immerse, displaying our passion and skill to make our audience escape into sound.


We Offer a Space for Podcasters to be Independent Together, Without Sacrificing Creative Control

It is hard to be an independent podcaster. Our goal is to form a collective of independent productions guided by a production framework and a community of skilled individuals who they can rely on for knowledge and resources. We love helping people, and we like working with each other.

Each show operates as its own project under showrunners. Showrunners make final decisions on their show and choose to bring on people to help make the show possible in the capacities that are needed.

The collective offers a support structure to showrunners by establishing an operational framework, greenlighting shows through phases, pooling resources and maintaining a community of talented individuals. Additionally, they offer website hosting, develop fundraising strategies and negotiate with advertisers.

The collective is helmed by the executive producer for Sound Escape Productions, with all showrunners, and department heads serving as a collective board underneath.

The Executive Producer pushes forward productions, helping develop frameworks and keep things moving smoothly, but also recognizes when team members need a break and self-care.

The Collective Board decides matters with a majority vote, from approving a show join the collective, greenlighting development on a project, approving production beginning, and ready to release, electing a new executive producer, and removing members if necessary.

Department heads review, and consult on matters involving their respective departments for quality. Department heads operate as educators, guiding those in their departments. Department heads are an elected position and their department will vote on who holds that position.


Our Collective Board includes

Landon Beall

Webmaster Department Head
Story Bake Showrunner

[he/him] Landon’s been creating podcasts since 2011. His love for stories grew out of playing Myst (aka the greatest game ever made) and growing up on a farm in Tennessee. Exploring those worlds made him someone deeply passionate about storytelling’s ability to translate the human condition, and Story Bake could not exist without that inspiration. The opportunity to work with the crew at Sound Escape is exciting; and for Landon, the possibilities for positivity are endless.

Trace Callahan

Music Department Head

[she/they] Trace has been composing music in one form or another since 1991, and after a rather long time spent trying all sorts of musical and artistic adventures has found their home in video games and audio drama where they create music and sound design, adding noise to imaginary worlds. She is the composer, sound designer, and time-slicer for This Planet Needs a Name as well as the voice of Izley Kolian, and has composed music for two other audio dramas currently in production.

Ali Fuller

Marketing Department Head

[they/them] Ali is a Digital Marketing Strategist with a background in content creation, marketing automation, and web development. Over the last few years, they have been helping smaller brands grow with organic content and their online community. When Ali’s not busy talking about code or social media, you can usually find them catching up on the latest podcasts or taking photos of their tuxedo cats.

Colin J. Kelly

Executive Producer
Walking in Wonder Showrunner

[he/him] Colin won an iPod in a raffle at 14 and fell in love with audio fiction podcasting. He’s had the fortune to be involved with several productions over the years, debuting as a voice actor in 2008, a writer in 2009, and a sound designer in 2011. Sound Escape is a combination of everything learned from others and is an effort to create a sustainable audio fiction collective that does right by its people.

Ryan James Horner

Dialogue Editor Department Head
Act Natural Showrunner

[he/him] Ryan James Horner is a writer, podcaster, and voice actor from SoCal with a lifelong passion for storytelling. He is the creator and director of Act Natural, a sci-fi anthology series where he indulges in his love for all things spooky and funny. Find him buried under his many cats, scattered fragments of notepaper, or a pile of blankets with a scary movie. If he isn’t in any of those places, he’s probably lost in one of his many projects and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Find out more about Ryan at ryanjameshorner.carrd.co.

Anna Rodriguez

Sound Designer Department Head

[she/her] Anna is a Sound Designer who got her start in fiction podcasting. With a decade of sound editing under her belt, Anna has had remarkable opportunities to work on several Audio Fiction podcasts, short films, and most recently, a feature-length documentary. Anna proudly came up with “Sound Escape” but will humbly credit Colin with doing most of the leg work.

Jesse Schuschu

Script Editor Department Head

[he/they] Jesse Schuschu is a writer and director of audio fiction with a love for science, storytelling, and podcasting. He co-creates a sci-fi audio drama “Tides” with his partner, Ayla, and spends most of his free time trying to think of puns.

Andrew Siañez-De La O

Writer DEPARTMENT HEAD
Tales of the San Patricios Showrunner

[he/they] Andrew Siañez-De La O is a Boston based Mexican-American playwright and podcaster. He is currently a Playwriting Fellow with the Huntington Theatre Company, a Latinx in Publishing mentee, and a Scriptwriter for the Latinx young audiences podcast, “Timestorm.” Originally from El Paso, TX, his work commonly focuses on the Borderlands and has been developed through residencies and fellowships across the country. Notable affiliations include The Playwrights Realm, Echo Theater Company, and Milagro Theatre. He is excited to be joining Sound Escape Productions as the showrunner for “Tales of the San Patricios.”

Talon Stradley

Director Department Head
Desert AT NIGHT SHOWRUNNER

[he/him] Talon is a producer, writer, and musician based out of Long Beach, CA. Talon is the creator of the Newton’s Dark Room podcast studio where he produces both fiction and non-fiction podcasts. NDR’s flagship show, Newton’s Dark Room Presents, was awarded two Audio Verse Awards in 2020. When he’s not making podcasts, Talon creates custom cassette releases for independent bands.