Audio Drama - National Emergency
Project Overview
National Emergency is an 8-episode psychological thriller audio drama that gives you the chance to bring a complex, fully realized character to life across an entire season. This is a passion project from an independent production, perfect for voice actors who want a substantial lead or supporting role that will showcase your full range and add a complete season performance to your portfolio and demo reel.
National Emergency follows mysterious emergency broadcasts that begin appearing on systems worldwide. No government claims responsibility. No one can explain their origin. And as the messages continue, society begins to fracture under the weight of paranoia and unanswered questions. But the broadcasts aren't just mysterious... they come with rules. And those who don't follow them start to disappear.
The story follows Owen Coleman, an everyday person thrust into the center of this global mystery, alongside Lisa Park and other characters navigating a world where the emergency broadcast system (designed to keep people safe) has become a source of terror and confusion.
This is character-driven horror that builds tension through atmosphere, dialogue, and the slow unraveling of what's real versus what we're being told. The tone is grounded and psychological rather than supernatural, focusing on how people respond when the systems they trust begin to fail them.
We're looking for voice actors who can bring authenticity and depth to these roles and are excited to be part of a compelling psychological horror series.
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IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ FIRST:
This is a passion project offering $100 for the ENTIRE 8-episode season. We know this is below industry standard rates, but we're an independent production working with limited resources. Please only apply if you're genuinely excited about the role itself and value having a complete lead performance in an 8-episode psychological horror series for your portfolio and demo reel. This is a substantial, complex character that will showcase your full range as a voice actor across an entire season's arc. If you're looking for standard rates, we completely understand and wish you the best with other opportunities!
Character Description:Owen Coleman, 32, is the emotional center of this psychological horror audio drama. A former school bus driver wrongfully imprisoned for his wife's disappearance during the first "National Emergency Event," Owen carries the weight of survivor's guilt and undeserved blame. Recently released from 11 months in prison, he attempts to rebuild his life only to become the focal point of multiple emergency events that claim more lives, including 23 children on his first day back driving.
Performance Requirements:We're seeking a voice actor who can convey:
- Deep emotional range - From quiet vulnerability to explosive frustration, tender memories to complete psychological breakdown
- Authentic trauma response - Hypervigilance, dissociation, panic, and the exhaustion of constant fear
- Layered complexity - Owen is simultaneously broken and resilient, guilty and innocent, terrified and determined
- Natural conversation - Must handle both intense dramatic moments and quiet, intimate character scenes
- Internal monologue - Significant portions involve Owen alone, processing events through whispered self-talk and internal reasoning
Owen begins shattered and tentative, moves through mounting paranoia and desperation, confronts mob hatred and federal investigation, and ultimately makes a potentially fatal choice to seek answers in isolation. The role demands someone who can make the audience empathize with a man everyone else sees as cursed, while maintaining the ambiguity of whether he might actually be connected to these supernatural events.
Estimated Commitment:8 episodes (Season 1), approximately 3-4 hours of finished audio Recording schedule: Flexible/Remote
- male adult
- male young adult
Thirteen months, Lisa. I was in there for thirteen months while she's still out there, somewhere, or... or worse. Do you know how many times I've replayed that night? What I could have done differently?
I couldn't save her, Lisa. I couldn't follow the instructions and now—
IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ FIRST:
This is a passion project offering $100 for the ENTIRE 8-episode season. We're an independent production working with limited resources. Please only apply if you're genuinely excited about the role itself and value having a complete supporting role lead performance in an 8-episode psychological horror series for your portfolio and demo reel. This is a substantial, complex character that will showcase your full range as a voice actor across an entire season's arc. If you're looking for standard rates, we completely understand and wish you the best with other opportunities!
Character Description:Lisa Park is Owen's childhood friend and lifeline - the only person who never stopped believing in his innocence. A fourth-grade teacher with deep roots in their small town, Lisa risks everything to help Owen after his release from prison, providing him housing and a job despite community backlash. Her fierce loyalty comes at a devastating cost as she becomes a target of the town's fear and hatred, with her home vandalized and destroyed by those who blame Owen for the emergencies.
Performance Requirements:We're seeking a voice actor who can convey:
Unwavering strength - Standing up to mob mentality, federal agents, and even calling Owen out on his self-destructive patterns
Layered vulnerability - Unspoken romantic feelings, fear for her safety, and the pain of watching a loved one spiral
Authentic frustration - From gentle patience to explosive anger when pushed too far or left behind
Warm nostalgia - Childhood memories and long friendship with genuine care and history in her voice
Building tension - From supportive friend to someone whose life is being destroyed by association, fighting between love and self-preservation
Lisa begins as Owen's stalwart defender, evolves through increasing danger and frustration as her life is threatened for helping him, and culminates in a devastating goodbye that reveals deeper feelings she can't quite voice. The role requires someone who can be both tender and tough, making the audience understand why she won't abandon Owen even as it costs her everything.
Notable Scenes:Confronting federal agents about Owen's treatment
Her home being destroyed while she's alone
Calling Owen out for his constant self-blame
Final goodbye scene with carefully restrained emotion
Featured in 6-7 episodes, approximately 2-3 hours of finished audio
- female adult
- female young adult
Some people think... some people think you got Anna killed. That you should have protected her somehow. That if you couldn't save your own wife, how can you be trusted with their kids?
IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ FIRST:
This is a passion project offering $100 for the ENTIRE 8-episode season. We're an independent production working with limited resources. Please only apply if you're genuinely excited about the role itself and value having a complete supporting role lead performance in an 8-episode psychological horror series for your portfolio and demo reel. This is a substantial, complex character that will showcase your full range as a voice actor across an entire season's arc. If you're looking for standard rates, we completely understand and wish you the best with other opportunities!
Character Description:Detective Roy Hutchins is the rare law enforcement officer who actually listens. Unlike the detectives who wrongfully convicted Owen, Hutchins approaches each emergency event with genuine investigative rigor and empathy. Harboring a secret debt to Owen (who saved him from drowning as children), Hutchins walks a tightrope between professional duty and personal loyalty, ultimately becoming Owen's protector against both mob justice and federal intervention. He's haunted by having to shoot Jim Reeves during an emergency - following protocol perfectly yet still failing to save him.
Performance Requirements:We're seeking a voice actor who can convey:
Professional authority - Commanding interrogation scenes, managing crime scenes, taking control of chaos
Sharp intelligence - Catching lies, spotting inconsistencies, building cases through careful questioning
Controlled intensity - From calm procedural work to explosive anger when confronting child killer Jenkins
Hidden vulnerability - The weight of owing a life debt, failing to save people despite following rules
Moral conflict - Struggling between protocol and humanity, law and justice, duty and what's right
Hutchins evolves from skeptical investigator to fierce advocate, using his position to shield Owen from the town's rage and the government's grasp. His investigation skills expose Jenkins's murders and uncover the deadly truth about isolation, but always arrives just too late to prevent tragedy. The role requires someone who can balance cop-show procedural delivery with deep emotional stakes.
Notable Scenes:Intense interrogation exposing Jenkins's lies about his children
Shooting Jim Reeves to prevent him from opening the coffin
Revealing his childhood connection to Owen
Discovering the classified truth about off-grid deaths
Featured in 5-6 episodes, approximately 2 hours of finished audio
- male young adult
- male adult
Mr. Coleman. I'm Detective Roy Hutchins. Are you alright? Do you need anything to drink? Water? Coffee?
Your bus had a security camera. Every bus in the district does now, after the ongoing incidents around the globe. High definition. Audio pickup. Saves directly to the cloud.
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