On Tuesday, 3rd May we – an independent, female-run audio business that’s just 4 years old, won the Creative Innovation award at the ARIAs for our own show Life Sentence, as well as the Best Commercial Partnership for Puffin: Mission Imagination.
Hosted by Rylan and with a live voiceover from Fleur East, the stars of the audio industry were out in full force to celebrate a year of achievement in person for the first time since the pandemic.
We were nominated in four categories, alongside the likes of the BBC, VICE & Audible, which included:
- The Impact Award – Life Sentence
- Creative Innovation Award – Life Sentence
- Best New Show – Life Sentence
- Best Commercial Partnership – Puffin Podcast: Mission Imagination
As the only independently funded show in the Creative Innovation Award category, we came away with the Gold Award for Life Sentence.
The judges said: “The gold winning entry provided great theatre of the mind, noting its impressive production and cast, as well as the on-point sound design.”Drawing on music, spoken word and evocative sound design, Life Sentence, a Mags Original, is a powerful story of the climate crisis told through some of the most iconic figures of our planet: a tiger, elephants and a polar bear make up just some of the storytellers on the journey.
Megan Hill-Smith, Executive Producer of Life Sentence said: “We launched Life Sentence to coincide with the COP26 Summit in Glasgow, at a time when stories about the savage destruction we as humans are wreaking on the planet were heightened. I’m not going to make grand claims that podcasts and stories are the silver bullet for the world’s most urgent issue, but I believe in the collective, community building power of audio, as a catalyst for sustainable behaviour and action. If, in the case of Life Sentence, with the help of the wonderful team and penmanship of Tabitha Mortiboy, we were able to harness this medium to raise even an ounce of understanding or urgency, then I am immensely proud. Thank you for all those who listened and for all who believed.”
Accepting the award alongside Megan included Kelsey Bennett, Supervising Producer, Kit Milsom, Head of Audio, and Tabitha Mortiboy, Writer of Life Sentence.
Partnering with Puffin, Mission Imagination achieved Gold for the Best Commercial Partnership. The award was presented by BBC Radio 1’s Breakfast favourite, Greg James.
Mission Imagination whisks listeners off to a different magical world created by a fantastic Puffin author. Launching over the summer holidays, the podcast aims to keep pen in hand and stimulate the creativity of its young listeners.
Leading Mags Creative Producer, Amber Bateman accepted the award alongside host Babatunde Aleshe, Puffin’s Brand Marketing Manager Sarah Maclean, and Digital Marketing Manager Cara Evans.
Life Sentence is available to listen on all podcast listening platforms.
Puffin Podcast: Mission Imagination is available to listen on all podcast listening platforms.