By Oyinlola Awonuga
Two Nigerians, Oluwafemi Olugbade and Oluwaseun Shobo have been selected along with 18 others for the 2020/2021 Google Podcasts Creator Programme
Olugbade popularly referred to as Femi Bakes and TheSoundBaker, an experienced Voiceover Talent and an Audio Producer is known for helping clients articulate their brand stories through audio.
He has worked in the media industry for over three years, gaining experience in audio engineering, audio editing, vocal direction and sound design. As a seasoned audio producer, he is passionate about creating different perspectives as to how sound is perceived, using various audio engineering techniques.
Shobo, fondly called the BrandMASTER, is a sought after brand consultant, premium voice over talent and an inspirational speaker.
He began his career as a brand consultant whose passion is to build brands locally to gain global relevance. He has worked with various multinational brands. He is also responsible for the birth of many start-up brands; some of which have become conglomerates.
With over fifteen years as an active player in the voice-over industry; his passion for its growth and a need to groom African talents for global takeover inspired him to start the pioneer training hub for voice talents in Africa (The first-ever in Subsaharan Africa), The Voice Over Academy (www.voiceoveracademyng.com) as well as the continent’s largest and most professional pool of voices- The Voice Over Bank (www.voiceoverbank.com.ng.)
They were selected from thousands of creators from nearly 120 countries as the organisers only selected creators who had existing podcasts.
The selected teams represent eleven countries including Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Jordan, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, The United States, Turkey, and Zambia.
The podcasts are produced in 6 different languages: Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Turkish
Formats include audio drama and fiction, chat casts, personal chronicles and storytelling, journalism and reporting, and hybrid formats.
The selected teams will participate in 12 weeks of free, virtual training conducted by PRX alongside international industry experts. During that time they’ll get regular feedback on all aspects of their production; work on storytelling, sound design, marketing, and more; equipment and software to help meet independent production need amid the COVID-19 pandemic; and $12,000 in funding.
