Hobo Code Audio Drama Debuts: When Is A Coffee Can A Young Girl's Best Friend?

When any genre of art or media is described as "different," there is a logical next question. Good different? Bad different? Weird different? Breathtakingly different?

That last description is the one I'd use for Hobo Code, which is a four-part limited "magical-realist" series about two hobos (an acerbic rambler and a self-ordained monk) and a young girl with a best friend who lives in a coffee can. It's a journey spanning from the Roaring Twenties to the Great Depression, all the way to the Great Recession of 2008, that examines human cycles - whether it’s generational trauma or economic crises.

If that isn't different enough, the audio drama also features an ancient, blind, half-senile/three-quarters-feral hobo mystic. Even without description of dramatic chaos and entropy, this audio drama is funny, endearing, sharp-witted, and an acerbic commenter on the human condition.

This superb audio drama stars Becky Poole (Strange Planet), Corey Rieger (Out of the Furnace), and Jake Robertson (The Sound of Liberty) and features Bill Pullman (The Sinner, Independence Day, While You Were Sleeping) and Susan Ruttan (LA Law, Sprung). These are esteemed and talented actors, and they display their acting chops with a ferocity that can hypnotize listeners.

The music acts as its own character in this audio drama, with an original score steeped in folk/Americana music made by Maesa Pullman.

The audio drama was written by Paul Pakler and Emmy-nominated screenwriter Shane Portman, who comes primarily from the animated kids world. Hobo Code was independently funded through Portman's production company, Hammer Canyon, in collaboration with executive producing partner David Switzer.

Portman explains: "The idea for Hobo Code sprang from an idea that Paul Pakler and I were carrying around for a while. The concept revolved around these three characters; a displaced young girl with a mystical friend in a coffee can, an acerbic gadabout, and a self-ordained monk. We didn’t have a story for them, but we knew we wanted to place them in the 1930s. So, while building out the character’s backstories, we also started delving into research of the time period. And those two avenues converged into the idea of exploring the cycles of generational trauma and economic crises."

Perhaps Portman's unique childhood had something to do with his distinctive artistic voice. Shane Portman was born at the New London naval submarine base hospital in Connecticut. Just three months later, his father was transferred to Norfolk, VA. He grew up in various homes in Norfolk before moving to Leesburg, VA and, then, finally winding up in Windsor, OH.

 Shane Portman is also the director of development for Bix Pix Entertainment, the award-winning stop-motion animation studio in Sun Valley, California.

He also wrote the book Allister Cromley's Fairweather Belle (Bedtime Stories For Grown Ups to Tell).

Portman explains their strategy with the actors this way: "Due to the large cast (and indie/SAG-scale budget), we knew we needed two types of actors – those who had chameleon-like voices that could play multiple parts or those with incredibly singular voices. We and our producing partner Ruth Gamble, who is also my wife, are fortunate to have made a web of lovely performer friends throughout our collective experiences in theater, improv/sketch comedy, film/TV, and the Hollywood Orchard, a volunteer organization and community. We put together a list of who could play what, showed each person the script, crossed our fingers, and were so appreciative that everyone was up for it."

When I asked Shane about the comfort level of the actors with
audio-only acting, he answered, "Our fabulous sound engineers -- Kevin Cleland in LA and Erik Nyquist in NYC -- were able to create setups so that our actors could record scenes together in real time. On top of that, a majority of the actors already had voiceover experience. So, the record sessions were intimate and connected."

The sound production of Hobo Code is inspired and technically brilliant with One Thousand Birds (OTB), an award-winning Los Angeles production studio, creating the sound design.

Shane adds: "We wanted Hobo Code to be as immersive and lived-in as possible, and OTB took that note and really elevated the series in equally vast and subtle ways."

I asked Shane about the use of the word "Hobo" which is not well known today and reflected a world long gone.

"How did you overcome that generational distinction?" I asked.

Shane replied: "That’s a great question. Honestly, the mystique and folklore around hobos, the Dust Bowl, and the 1930s in America are topics that really fascinate us. This quintessentially American idea of escaping to ride the rails is filled with such a sense of adventure and independence. We also love Woody Guthrie! Maybe Paul and I just have weird historical obsessions…"

Shane continues: "The writer William Faulkner said, 'The past is never dead. It’s not even past.' Our goal was to create vividly interesting characters and steep them in this rich setting, while simultaneously punching holes in that mythology to expose the deeper historical and emotional truths being glossed over. And while people might not have an awareness of this specific subculture or name, the emotions, themes, and experiences will be (hopefully) universal."

Podcasting is no different from any other medium. Copycatting is often the most frictionless way to success, exerting the least amount of creative effort. Podcasters want to be the next Joe Rogan (aim higher), Alex Cooper (aim much higher) or the three Smartless celebs (appropriate mentors).

Hobo Code is an audio drama that breaks all the rules, mixes and matches genres and generations, and transforms familiar themes into proto-magical mythologies that define us. Since when is a coffee can an imaginary friend?

It is a trailer and four episodes of pure creative effort. Listen. Be different in a good way.