We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Grey Hammond, Executive Producer of Hammond Audio Dramas, to discuss the studio's recent changes, upcoming projects, and their ambitious plans for a shared universe. Here is a transcription of our conversation.
Interviewer: Grey, in August, you announced a shift to a "leaner, faster, and way more fun" approach, including releasing projects in smaller, one- or two-episode chunks. How has this new strategy impacted the team's creative process and morale so far?
Grey Hammond: So the morale has been high because we've been able to focus specifically on individual projects and right now we're working on an episodic content of A Christmas Carol. We have not been focusing on preparing anything beyond that from the mainline story. However, we have prepared scripting a few smaller scenes, just little one-acts to be released alongside A Christmas Carol to help establish our Blackmore universe, the Hammond Universe in general, as well as give you guys a little bit more to listen to and engage with.
Interviewer: That's fantastic to hear! It sounds like focusing on individual projects has really energized the team. Now, let's talk about A Christmas Carol. The trailer has gained a lot of traction. What do you think resonated most with the audience, and what do you hope they take away from the full series when it's released?
Grey Hammond: The trailer itself is doing on average about a hundred views a day. We've got 300 views and we only released it three days ago. I believe that it's the incredible sound and and the incredible energy of our cast. It's something unlike anything you've heard of when it comes to A Christmas Carol. There have been modernized updates before and there's probably been modernized dramatic retellings in an audio format before, but I truly believe that with this team really behind this story that we very much love so much, we're all finally able to push out a version that we've all been wanting to hear and I believe that's the same version everyone else has been wanting to hear.
Interviewer: That's quite a lot of views in just three days! It's clear that the audience is responding well to your unique take on A Christmas Carol. Now, let's talk about Descent into Madness. The September announcement teased a shared universe, with events from one series impacting another. How did the idea for this interconnected universe come about, and what are the unique challenges and opportunities of building a world on that scale?
Grey Hammond: I've always been fascinated with the idea of a shared universe and when it came to Descent into Madness, originally it wasn't planned to be in a shared universe. We were creating this Phasmophobia video game fan fiction and eventually we realized we couldn't do it as a Phasmophobia licensed IP. We had to strip it down and make it our own thing. Turns out the reason we weren't allowed to is because Blumhouse is going to be producing a movie and they're wanting to keep their IP kind of separate, which I completely understand. Moving forward though, it was the thought process, "How can I get Pride and Prejudice to, you know, be engaged in this world as well? How can I bring Pride and Prejudice into the same world?" And it started to hit me that I can take little events from the story and piece them all together across multiple stories to reconnect everything, anything from just an event in the past to shared characters. It fascinates me that we can have a shared universe.
Interviewer: That's a really creative idea! It sounds like you're building a rich, interconnected world where different stories can influence each other in subtle and surprising ways. It'll be interesting to see how you weave those connections into the narrative.
Grey Hammond: Thank you. Yeah, I also think it's very interesting and I'm really looking forward to it. Like for instance in the Destiny series, there's a climax where Henry's mines collapsed and he's on the brink of ruin, but you know, if he works hard, he does the right things, he's going to see it through. We want to explore that a little bit more and we're going to use that as a key event of our city of Blackmore. And it will be hearkened into multiple stories including Descent into Madness, Pride and Prejudice, and of course, the upcoming huge anticipation of this Christmas Carol release this holiday season. It's going to be fantastic.
Interviewer: That's a clever way to tie the stories together! Using a major historical event like the mine collapse creates a sense of shared history and allows for interesting connections between characters and storylines. It'll be fun for listeners to discover those links as they explore the different series. Now, looking back at these two months, what has been the biggest success and the most valuable lesson you've learned during this period of growth?
Grey Hammond: The most valuable lesson I've learned is both patience and compromise. I originally wrote Christmas Carol as this big expansive, large thing and unfortunately, it's just really hard to get a huge active cast together. And while I have a great cast of around like 18 individuals, we were having to compromise scenes that just could not be produced. In the meantime though, I was able to really focus on individual actors' talents and create scenes and lines specifically crafted for them. One of the biggest successes we had is of course the trailer release as well as the huge anticipation of this Christmas Carol release this holiday season. It's going to be fantastic.
Interviewer: That's a great lesson to learn, and it's clear that your focus on individual actors' talents has paid off in the quality of the final product. It sounds like you've built a strong foundation for future success. Thank you so much for your time, Grey. It's been a pleasure learning about your vision for Hammond Audio Dramas.
Grey Hammond: Thank you for your time. I appreciate being here.