Bad Movies

Hi folks,

Wishing you the very best for the coming week from everyone at Rusty Towers!

Firstly, a huge thank you to everyone who has purchased tickets to the first Rusty Towers Presents event: Bad Movie Society. There are still a few tickets available, so we have decided to open it up to Citizens and Knights after Nobles had first dibs. So, if you would like to watch a truly terrible horror movie, with special guests Alexander J Newall and Anusia Battersby, in Manchester, UK, on 30th March, head over to the following link to find out more and purchase tickets: https://rustytowerspresents.eventive.org/welcome

Next up, this week we will be sharing episode 5 of The Magnus Protocol, meaning we are now halfway through the first batch of episodes before we take a mid-season break. As a reminder, we have included planned season breaks throughout The Magnus Protocol release schedule to ensure our production team have plenty of time to work on upcoming episodes, avoiding “crunch” whilst maintaining our high standards. After episode 10, there will be a short break from episodes releasing on the feed, with episode 11 releasing on 9th and 11th April on Patreon and publicly respectively.

In this week’s episode, Sam is concerned and Gwen wants answers. The case in this episode was written by Jamie Petronis, who you may be familiar with from his show The Cellar Letters.

Meanwhile, on Neon Inkwell we’ll be sharing episode 3 of Inexplicables. This week, Harold sits in on a vampire support group and Meredith and Godbolt find they don’t see eye-to-eye. If you have been enjoying Inexplicables, don’t forget that all paying members here on Patreon can listen to the whole show now here on Patreon!

Finally, we have an update from one of our awesome creators from the RQ Network! Many of you will already by familiar with The Program Audio Series, a dark, cyberpunk fiction podcast with self-contained stories. With new episodes soon on the horizon, we took some time to speak to creator, IMS.

What happened with the show since the last time we spoke a bit over a year ago?

The Program audio series has been around for almost 5 years now, and received almost 800,000 downloads so far. Your readers might remember an episode that was published in The Magnus Archives’ feed last March and which brought in a lot of new listeners. I’ve released six more episodes since then - a drama about a missing father, two comedies about the trolley problem and about how evil intersects with free will, a very well received book of genesis reimagined in IT terms, and a manifesto of someone who’s either the Messiah or the world’s biggest terrorist. However, the episode that I think could appeal to Rusty Quill’s listeners the most is a creepypasta parable entitled “Infinite loop” - if anyone reading this remembers listening to it, I’d love to hear what you thought about it in the comments!

That sounds like a lot of new episodes!

Yes and no. On the one hand, it definitely is, as I’m the only writer and the show’s an anthology, meaning I start each story from scratch. On the other hand, it equates to one new episode every two months. But I realized early on that I will never be able to compete on quantity, so I give every episode my very best. This is a reflection of how I approach other works of art myself - I don’t consume content because I’ve got time and brain cells to kill, but because I want to read or listen or watch something that will make me ask questions or go through emotions I would have never thought about or felt otherwise. I hope The Program offers this experience, if only a bit.

What’s in store next?

I’m currently working on a rather ambitious trilogy that will further expand The Program universe. And I really hope 2024 is the year in which I manage to turn the series into my full time job. Thankfully the number of financial supporters has been rising, which is extremely important for an independent show. People sometimes forget how niche fiction podcasts are. Unlike a TV show that likely has hundreds of thousands of viewers, most audio dramas are lucky if they get a few thousand listeners who really dig it. Which is why it’s so important that if you’re one of those loyal fans, that you support the show you love, as it can truly make the difference between the podcast succeeding or not.

That is very true. Where can people support you and your art?
If you haven’t heard of The Program yet, you’re best off checking out the official website. With every episode being standalone, you can start anywhere and skip around. And if you happen to be one of those loyal fans I mentioned, The Program’s Patreon is here.

The Program Audio Series is available wherever you find podcasts, and on the Rusty Quill website, so if you’re interested in listening, or want to catch up on the new episodes, now is a great time to listen and support the show.

Here is our full schedule for this week:

Tuesday 6th February

The Magnus Protocol 5 – Personal Screening (Patreon & Kickstarter Backers) (4pm GMT)

Wednesday 7th February

Neon Inkwell – Inexplicables 3 – Public Speaking (Patreon) (4pm GMT)

Thursday 8th February

The Magnus Protocol 5 – Personal Screening (Public) (4pm GMT)

Friday 9th February

Neon Inkwell – Inexplicables 3 – Public Speaking (Public) (4pm GMT)

Have a good week all!

The Rusty Quill team