You Must Remember This is coming back this fall, but I am also going to produce a spin-off series tentatively titled “You Must Remember This Presents.” In this spin-off, I will curate and introduce researched stories written and told in the You Must Remember This style by other writers. I’m looking for freelance contributors to pitch me stories, which they will then write/report and read on the podcast. We have a budget to pay writers a decent wage for their contributions.
Each season will have a theme. The first season is called Make Me Over, and will focus on stories about the intersection of Hollywood and the beauty industry. I’m leaving this prompt purposely vague, because I want to see any and all interpretations of it. The only rules are:
Your story must fit into the You Must Remember This universe, which means it must have some connection to Hollywood in the 20th century. “Hollywood” encompasses movies, television, radio, popular music and the nightclub/vaudeville/ live performance circuit in Los Angeles. If you have a story you really want to tell involving other theater I’m open to it, but a pitch set solely in the New York theater world will probably not be successful. Same goes for stories about non-Hollywood film, unless there is some Hollywood angle. For instance, a story about Coco Chanel doing costumes for Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game would not be a great fit, but a story about Coco Chanel’s contract with Samuel Goldwyn could be, if you could find enough story there. Which brings us to the next rule…
You must be able to write a reported/researched essay of about 4000 words on this concept (or, if you’re a radio/podcast person and/or want to do something more interview-based, it will need to cut together into about 30 minutes of audio). Many YMRT episodes have a three-act structure, and all have a story arc. You need to convince me that there is enough material behind your concept to create a narrative podcast episode with a beginning, middle and end. Finally…
Ideally, you have a track record in long form storytelling, in print, radio, podcasting or online. With your pitch, please send a link to one thing we should look at or listen to that shows you can do the research/reporting and tell a sustained story. Again, most of these episodes will involve you reading aloud an essay that you wrote of around 4000 words, so you should feel comfortable writing at that length, and also comfortable speaking into a microphone—or at least, enthusiastic about learning how to.
Freelancers whose pitches are chosen will work with Karina to shape their story for the format, and will be given access to a studio in which to record. All of the writing and the recording will take place this fall. If you’re interested, please send a 1-3 paragraph pitch along with a link to an example of your previous long-form writing or radio work to youmustrememberthispodcast@gmail.com (subject line YMRT Presents) by September 10, 2019. If we’re interested, we will contact you for more information. Thanks!