About National Audio Theatre Festivals

The National Audio Theatre Festivals, Inc. (NATF) is an organization for emerging and established creators and enthusiasts of audio theatre, audiobooks, radio drama, and radio theatre. NATF began in 1979 as the Midwest Radio Theatre Workshop (MRTW) and is a fully qualified 501(c)(3) non-for-profit corporation based in Missouri.

In 2013, NATF began producing the Hear Now Audio Fiction and Arts Festival, featuring live audio theatre performances, a juried competition for recorded works, panel discussions, and networking opportunities. The educational experiences offered by MRTW live on in HEAR Learn workshops at the festival and throughout the year.

Thousands of participants at MRTW and HEAR Now have been inspired by both the accessibility of the art form and its tremendous creative possibilities. Scores of new audio theatre groups have emerged all over the country as a result. NATF continues to grow and expand its scope by taking advantage of internet connectivity as well as the increasing interest in podcasting and voice acting.

Our Mission

The mission of the National Audio Theatre Festivals, Inc. is to serve the advancement of audio theatre and evolving media arts through education and presentation. NATF promotes, supports, produces, and educates within the audio theatre genre and hosts education- and workshop-based programs through the Hear Now Festival and other events.

NATF and Hear Now are committed to fostering diversity, and welcome participants and workshop leaders regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, and ability.

About the Hear Now Festival

The Hear Now Festival is a gathering where the work of master storytellers in audio is celebrated and shared. Hear Now also introduces audiences to developments in audio preservation by showcasing restored and archived award-winning audio dramas.

Hear Now is the audio equivalent of a film festival for contemporary audio storytelling in all its forms:

Staff

Board of Directors

Jackie Casteel, Interim President – Columbia, MO
Ellen Stewart, Treasurer – Sonora CA
Angela Elam, Secretary – Kansas City KS
Eric Doades, Bloomington IN
Nick Krohn, Bloomington IN
Michael Brainard, Los Angeles CA
Steven Brown, Salem WI
Ray Archie, San Francisco CA

NATF Advisory Board

Charlie Potter (Chair)
Butch D’Ambrosio
Mac Chamblin
Helen Engelhardt
The Firesign Theatre
Roger Gregg- Crazy Dog Audio Theatre
Jeffrey Hedquist
Simon Jones
Tom Lopez- ZBS
Brian Price- Great Northern Audio Theatre
Don Priest – Community Radio – Fesno, CA
Ben Taylor – Recording Engineer – Tempe, AZ
Randy Thom- Skywalker Sound
Vanessa Whitburn- BBC
Robin Whitten- Audiofile Magazine

Programming Committee

Russell McGee
Angela Elam
Ellen Stewart
Bonnie Bogovich
Thomas Tiggleman
Mike Brainard
Steven Brown
Ray Archie
Tony Brewer
Meredith Ludwig

NATF Board of Directors

Steven Brown

Tony Brewer

Thomas Tiggleman

Russell McGee

Ray Archie

Michael Brainard

Eric Doades

Ellen Stewart

Angela Elam

Bonnie Bogovich

Renee Pringle

1953-2022

For many of us who worked with Renee over the last 30 plus years it’s been a very difficult loss. She loved working with audio in all its many guises and would do anything within her ability to make it happen. Her smile, twinkling eyes and can-do approach to our many audio adventures will be missed by all of us whose lives she touched.