Pin Drop Studio is an arts and entertainment studio founded in 2012 by Simon Oldfield and Elizabeth Day, with a particular focus on short fiction.[1][2]

Pin Drop Studio
IndustryArts & Entertainment
Founded2012
FounderSimon Oldfield & Elizabeth Day
HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
Area served
Worldwide
ProductsBooks, podcasts, live events and adaptation
BrandsPin Drop Productions, Pin Drop Podcasts, A Short Affair, Pin Drop Live

Pin Drop Studio publishes short fiction, stages an annual short story award for new writing in association with the Royal Academy of Arts, has a podcast series and hosts live events in major cities around the globe with authors, actors, artists, cultural commentators and original thinkers.[3][4]

Pin Drop Productions commissions original fiction from new and established writers.

Books

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A Short Affair is an anthology of original short fiction from Pin Drop Studio, published in hard-back in July 2018 by Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, and edited by Simon Oldfield. The book contains eighteen original short stories by best-selling authors alongside new writers from the annual Pin Drop Short Story Award, with a foreword by Tim Marlow. The cover design is by White Cube artist Eddie Peake, and each story is accompanied by a unique contemporary artwork, created by artists from the Royal Academy Schools.[5]

A sequel to A Short Affair is in development.[6]

Pin Drop Short Story Award

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Actor, Gwendoline Christie, reading the 2018 winning story from the Pin Drop Short Story Award at the Royal Academy

The Pin Drop Short Story Award is an annual writing prize for new original short stories. It is a free-to-enter, non-commercial, open-submission competition for both published and unpublished writers, and receives over 500 entries each year from writers across the globe. Regular judges of the award include the artistic director of the Royal Academy, Tim Marlow, along with the Pin Drop founders, Simon Oldfield and Elizabeth Day.[7]

The winning story is presented each year at a ceremony at the Royal Academy, where it is read in full to a live audience by a notable actor.

Previous award winners:

2015 - author Bethan Roberts won with her short story, "Ms. Featherstone and the Beast", which was read to a live audience by Stephen Fry.[8]

2016 - author Claire Fuller won with her story, "A Quiet Tidy Man", which was read to a live audience by British actress Juliet Stevenson.[9]

2017 - author Cherise Saywell won with her story, "Morelia Spilota", which was read to a live audience by British actress and Downton Abbey star Dame Penelope Wilton.[7]

2018 - author and actress Sophie Ward won with her story, "Sunbed", which was read to a live audience by British actress and Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie.[10]

Pin Drop Podcasts

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Pin Drop Podcasts is a series of live audio recordings of original short fiction and interviews with notable authors and actors, made available free of charge.[11]

Short fiction portfolio

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Pin Drop Productions holds the rights to a library of original short fiction and regularly commissions writers to produce new stories for publication and for film and TV adaptation.[12]

Pin Drop Live

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Pin Drop Studio bookmark given away to fans

Pin Drop Live stages events at venues such as BAFTA, the Royal Academy, Hauser & Wirth Somerset and Soho House in London, New York, Los Angeles, Paris and other major cities. Typically an original story is read in its entirety to a live audience by an author, actor, artist or thinker, followed by an interview.[13]

Guest readers have included, Stephen Fry, Ben Okri,[14] Russell Tovey,[15] Juliet Stevenson, Sebastian Faulks,[16] William Boyd,[17] Julian Barnes,[18] Richard Dawkins,[19] Princess Julia,[20] Selma Blair,[21] A.L.Kennedy,[22] Dame Sian Phillips, Dame Eileen Atkins,[23] Dame Penelope Wilton, Tom Rob Smith, Peter Blake, Gwendoline Christie, Will Self,[24] Maura Tierney, Graham Swift,[25] Sue Tilley,[26] Molly Parkin, Tuppence Middleton, David Nicholls, Ed Stoppard,[27] and Curtis Sittenfeld.

References

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  1. ^ Baker, Sam (18 May 2014). "The irresistible rise of the short story, featuring Pin Drop Studio". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  2. ^ "Salon society: highbrow nights out". Evening Standard. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  3. ^ "Why should we read short stories?, Monocle Culture with Robert Bound 327 - Radio - featuring Elizabeth Day from Pin Drop Studio". Monocle. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Pin Drop Studio: An antidote to the dreaded 'reading'". The Globe & Mail. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  5. ^ A Short Affair. 12 July 2018. ISBN 9781471147326.
  6. ^ "A Short Affair and the collaboration between art and literature is discussed by the book's editor Simon Oldfield and contributors Jessy Jetpacks, Ben Okri. The Monocle Weekly - Radio Podcast". Monocle. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Podcast: Dame Penelope Wilton reads the winning story from the 2017 RA & Pin Drop Short Story Award by Cherise Saywell. Plus interview by Tim Marlow and Simon Oldfield". www.royalacademy.org.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  8. ^ "Podcast: Stephen Fry reads the winning story of the 2015 RA & Pin Drop Short Story Award by Bethan Roberts". www.royalacademy.org.uk. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  9. ^ "Fuller wins 2016 Royal Academy & Pin Drop short story prize | The Bookseller". www.thebookseller.com. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  10. ^ "Actress and author Sophie Ward's 'perfect' short story wins 2018 Pin Drop literary award". Goldsmiths, University of London. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  11. ^ "Pin Drop Studio Podcasts - multiple sources "free"". Listen Notes. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  12. ^ "News | Pin Drop Productions commissions original short fiction for adaptation". Pin Drop. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  13. ^ "Events — Pin Drop at Hauser & Wirth Somerset". www.hauserwirth.com. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  14. ^ "Podcast: Pin Drop with Ben Okri | Royal Academy of Arts". www.royalacademy.org.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  15. ^ "Burberry Hosts Pin Drop - A Live Reading By Russell Tovey At Thomas's". Getty Images. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  16. ^ "Podcast: Pin Drop with Sebastian Faulks. Royal Academy of Arts". www.royalacademy.org.uk. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  17. ^ "Londoner's Diary: William Boyd & Pin Drop Studio at BAFTA". Evening Standard. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  18. ^ "Pin Drop with Julian Barnes. Royal Academy of Arts". www.royalacademy.org.uk. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  19. ^ "Londoner's Diary: Pin Drop with Richard Dawkins". Evening Standard. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  20. ^ "Princess Julia could tell you some stories at Pin Drop Studio". I-d magazine. 20 September 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  21. ^ "Selma Blair at Pin Drop, Soho House, Los Angeles". SelmaBlairStyle.com. 6 April 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  22. ^ "The Book Show on Irish national broadcaster, RTÉ Radio 1. Sinead Gleeson interviews A.L.Kennedy at a Pin Drop Studio salon. Broadcast on Saturday 15 February 2014". The Book Show. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  23. ^ "Pin Drop: short stories with Siân Phillips and Eileen Atkins | Royal Academy of Arts". www.royalacademy.org.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  24. ^ "Will Self reads The Shore for Pin Drop". Will Self. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  25. ^ "Pin Drop with Graham Swift. Royal Academy of Arts". www.royalacademy.org.uk. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  26. ^ "Sue Tilley at Pin Drop". Radio Wolfgang. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  27. ^ "Pin Drop with William Boyd and Ed Stoppard. Royal Academy of Arts". www.royalacademy.org.uk. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
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