BBC Sounds names new group of creators for BBC Sounds Audio Lab

BBC Sounds has named a new group of creators who will take part in its Audio Lab programme to turn their ideas into podcasts.

The project, which was launched in 2022, helps up-and-coming audio creatives develop their skills, increase confidence and connection, while also improving writing, recording, performance, and promotional skills.

Former alumni have seen great success, with an ARIA Gold award for Best New Podcast as a result of the first Audio Lab, and three nominations at this year’s British Podcast Awards.

Four new creators from under-represented backgrounds have been chosen to turn their ideas into podcasts as part of BBC Audio Labs. They are Hugh Sheehan, Mia Thorton, Jay Behrouzi-Sneade and Meg Elliot.

Hugh Sheehan is an audio producer and musician/composer originally from Birmingham. Much of his work explores questions around gender and sexuality, desire and shame, assimilation, and radicalism.

Working with London Reduced Listening, Hugh’s podcast will focus on lesser-known modern legal cases or pieces of legislation that concern the lives and rights of LGBTQ+ people in the UK. It will chronicle the legal proceedings and the events surrounding them, and explore how each have become a part of the struggle for queer liberation.

Meg Elliot is a writer, zine-maker, and mountain biker from Shropshire. She is fascinated by story, folklore, and the way memory lives in landscapes.

Production partner, Cardiff Overcoat Media, will help Meg’s successful pitch, which hooks into the resurgence of a cult fascination with the ancient past and folk traditions; how our identities are formed and how landscapes inform – in part – a lot of what makes us ‘us’.

Mia Thornton is a creative producer currently based in Liverpool. Mia is driven by a passion for storytelling and a commitment to amplifying black voices.

Working with Audio Lab’s production partner, Manchester Reform Radio, Mia’s podcast will explore how black culture has helped shape different music genres. Featuring archival content, covering pivotal moments in history, the impact on the global music landscape, as well as interviews with industry experts, musicians and cultural commentators.

Jay Behrouzi-Sneade is a Filipino-Iranian journalist from Liverpool hailing from a long line of passionate cooks! Replicating global cuisine at home was a big part of her upbringing as a part of her a multi-heritage expat family in the United Arab Emirates.

Working with production partner, BBC Audio North, Jay is hoping to reconnect with her heritage, by creating a positive, food-science documentary. Each episode will explore a different chemical principle, experimenting with Filipino recipes, talking to guests, and discussing the British-Filipino experience.

Chosen from hundreds of applicants, starting next month these four successful applicants will take the next steps in their creative journey, supported by professionals at BBC Sounds and from the wider podcast industry.

Khaliq Meer, Audio Lab Commissioning Executive says: “It’s thrilling be at the starting line again with a new cohort of fresh talent – poised for a development experience like no other.

“It’s been a joy getting to know Meg, Mia, Hugh and Jay. We’ve teamed them up with some of the UK’s very best audio producers so they can be led and supported to realise their creatively ambitious ideas whilst growing their skillsets on-the-job.

“I can’t wait to press play on what they dream up. Best of luck Audio Lab Class of 2024 – you’ve got this!”

In addition to the four multi-episode projects, Audio Lab is partnering with Multitrack, a charity working to raise awareness around diversity, equity and inclusion in the audio industry, by sponsoring its award winning 12-week Fellowship programme, supporting fourteen full-time paid placements, creating three additional part-time placements for producers outside of London, and helping fund two commissions for BBC Sounds.