Story by Sydney Schettler | Contributing Writer
Middle Tennessee State University Student Newt Schottelkotte created a podcast called “Where the Stars Fell” in the pandemic as an opportunity for artistic expression.
“Where the Stars Fell” is a supernatural fantasy podcast that has two seasons out on platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Google Podcasts.
Schottelkotte, studying commercial songwriting and film, said they first had the idea for the story in high school.
“I’ve been working in podcasting especially fiction but also nonfiction since I was about 15 years old that’s when I started my very first one. It ran for about three seasons it was called ‘InkWyrm.’ That wrapped up around my senior year of high school which was spring of 2020,” Schottelkotte said.
Schottelkotte came to MTSU during the pandemic when everything was shut down and noticed a demand for acting opportunities from theater students.
“I needed to go about casting. I already had a couple remote actors, but I wanted to try and cast a bunch of MTSU theater students. I figured ‘well hey, there aren’t a lot of opportunities to go and connect with other people right now we’re pretty remote, so might as well do this’.”
It all came together while Schottelkotte was taking American Media and Social Institutions, a prerequisite for media majors. Schottelkotte said that they presented the idea in class one day for any students who wanted to participate. Tyler Petty reached out and became a co-music producer with Schottelkotte for the podcast.
The experience of producing music for a podcast was new for Petty. “It’s been a challenge for me because up until this point I’ve done rock music in a band. It’s why I stepped into this because it’s different. It’s been a learning thing for me. ” Petty said.
The voice actors found out about the position through flyers that Schottelkotte posted around campus. Max Fleischhacker, who plays “BB,” said that he saw a flyer posted and auditioned by sending a voice clip to Schottelkotte through email.
John Hardcastle, the voice actor for the character “Lincoln,” said “I was out in front of the library talking with a couple of pals and I believe [Schottelkotte] came up to my boyfriend and handed him a flyer and talked about it. I come over and I’m like ‘Hi, hello’ and I see him holding the flyer and he hands it over to me and he said, ‘I knew you were talking about something like this.”
The voice actors had to adjust to a new form of acting. They said they were used to performing on stage and moving around.
Quote: “It was a new learning experience for sure,” Kyle Street, the voice actor for “Mike” said.
“Specifically how to not ever ever move your hands while you’re talking,” Hardcastle said. He said that you couldn’t get to close the microphone but also couldn’t be too far away from it.
Schottelkotte said that they are in the middle of production for season three of “Where the Stars Fell” and has the fourth season planned out.
“I love the fact that I’m able to make this as one of my last years at college it’s very much like a bittersweet thing.” Schottelkotte said.
To contact Lifestyles Editor Ethan Pickering, email [email protected].
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