Media lecturer Dr Dann has won two awards at the leading industry showcase for podcast, radio and audiobook production.

Lance  won the Gold Award for Best Entertainment Producer, and a Silver for Best Comedy Producer at the 2021 Audio Production Awards, beating off competition from producers at BBC Radio 1 and Radio 4 among others. He was also the only winner of both a Gold and a Silver Award in the 21 production categories honoured at the awards.

Both prizes were in recognition of Lance’s audio production work on The Rez, an Arts Council-funded sci-fi podcast drama/digital comic book creation using stories to engage children with positive messages about mental health and kindness – and featuring a cast including current  ‘Hamilton’ West End lead Karl Queensborough, as well as BAFTA award winners Emily Burnett and Juliet Aubrey.

The Rez unites people at both the University of Brighton and University of Sussex. Dr Dann co-created the project with Professor Martin Spinelli – Professor in Podcasting and Creative Media (Media and Film) at Sussex – alongside Brighton colleague Tim Pilcher – comic book editor and creator of Brighton – The Graphic Novel. University of Brighton psychologist Dr Mark Wright  and Professor Robin Banerjee, the University of Sussex’s Professor of Kindness, provided further input.

Dr Dann, a Senior Lecturer in the University of Brighton’s School of Art and Media, said: “The Rez was a huge project where Professor Spinelli and I brought together the ideas of children, creatives, psychologists to create a series that would keep children entertained – even through the darkest days of 2021’s lockdown.

“It is filled with positive messages of hope, about friendship, and just being kind to each other.  Children were part of making the show, and these awards show that academics, creatives and kids can work together to make something that is full of fun, humour and a few fart gags, while underneath carrying some serious and worthwhile messages!”

In addition to lecturing in Audio and Digital Media at the University of Brighton, Dr Dann works  actively in the wider audio industry, including producing music and drama with BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4. In 2017, he created the award-winning audio drama series Blood Culture, which won the Gold Award for Best Drama Producer at the Audio Production Awards, and Silver Award for Fiction at the British Podcast Award. In 2018, he also presented a Radio 4 programme on miniature art.

Together with Professor Spinelli he published one of the leading books that examined podcast, Bloomsbury’s Podcasting: The Audio Media Revolution. His next project is Audible’s The Day the Earth Didn’t Die, a comedy thriller set on a University campus in the week after an apocalypse that doesn’t happen, which is due to be released in the coming weeks.

Twitter: @LanceDann