Star Wars Audio Productions: Interview with Nick Martorelli

Star Wars audio dramas reintroduced the fans to an audibly immersive level of storytelling from a galaxy far, far away that hasn’t been heard since the early 1980s. Beginning with Dooku: Jedi Lost, the Penguin Random House Audio team has now produced a total of four Star Wars audio dramas—retelling an extended version of Doctor Aphra’s origins, revealing the fate of Tempest Runner Lourna Dee and recently bringing the first wave of The High Republic Phase II to its epic turn of events with The Battle of Jedha. Executive Producer Nick Martorelli reflected on his experience working on Star Wars audio dramas with Tatooine Times: “The experience on Jedha was great. This is now our fourth one, and they are a lot of fun. They’re always the biggest Star Wars things we do all year. I am a big fan of old time radio dramas and a big fan of the Star Wars productions that NPR had done in the early 80s. And so once I joined [Penguin Random House Audio] and started working on Star Wars, I was putting in people’s ears that I’d love to do audio dramas. Finally, the opportunity came up to tell Dooku’s story. Dooku: Jedi Lost became the exact right project to do in a more present way of narration.”

Over the course of years, these Star Wars audio productions have evolved thanks to the creative ideas each author brought to the table. Cavan Scott was the first writer to come onboard, bringing a noir vibe to Dooku: Jedi Lost and the wild and relentless characterization of Lourna Dee (credit must also be given to Jessica Almasy for her outstanding voice performance) in Tempest Runner; Sarah Kuhn’s deep understanding of the rogue archaeologist translated through Emily Woo Zeller’s fun portrayal in Doctor Aphra; and George Mann gave High Republic fans the epic battle they’ve been waiting for in The Battle of Jedha. “We really are serving the author. However the author is choosing to write the story, that’s our North Star, our sort of lantern in the dark as to how we’re going to do it,” Martorelli said.

Whereas audiobooks are usually narrated by one voice (with a few exceptions), audio dramas corral an All-Star ensemble of voices—Marc Thompson, January LaVoy, Jonathan Davis, Sean Kenin Elias-Reyes, Saskia Maarleveld, to name a few. Besides the recurring Star Wars voice actors, Nick Martorelli shared that “a lot of the new to Star Wars performers have worked for me on other audiobook projects—Raphael Corkhill, Kristen Sieh, Catherine Ho. Our Director Kevin Thompson also knew Brandon McInnis, John Pirkis, and Salli Saffioti. We always start with the core voices, the five or six or however many voices that are going to be anchored at the center of the piece, for Jedha Creighton, Aida, Silandra, Keth, and then we start filling in around their edges.”

Martorelli explained the complexities (long Excel worksheets) of putting together all the actor performances during recording and editing so that in the final product all characters feel like they are in the same place at once. Dooku: Jedi Lost was recorded in 2019, where everyone was able to work within eyesight of each other in the studio. However, 2020’s beginning of the pandemic forced everyone to take on a remote approach. “One major exception that year was that we got Emily [Woo Zeller] and Nicole [Lewis] together to play Aphra and Sana Starros at the same time for Doctor Aphra. They weren’t together physically, but they were connected on Zoom … they could hear each other and play the scenes together in real time. It worked so well for the actors that we took the same approach in the last two years. In fact, we recorded the majority of [The Battle of Jedha] with just Raphael, Kristen, Catherine, and Brandon.”

Star Wars audio productions have distinguished themselves from others outside the beloved franchise by incorporating exciting soundtracks and sound effects—elevating immersiveness and authenticity to every audiobook and especially audio drama. Martorelli explained, “we have access to sound and music libraries that we can use for our audiobooks. The Director Kevin Thompson and Sound Designer Paul Goodrich [of Merlin Studios] go to these libraries and find things that are John Williams-esque, that feel like they might fit in Star Wars without being too different, but obviously you need to branch out a little bit and bring new things in. Something that Kevin and Paul also really do well is know the moments when it is time to use music from the movies. This scene isn’t the Trench Run, but using the Trench Run music gives you that same kind of tension because it is so familiar. You do not overly rely on the Asteroid Field from The Empire Strikes Back, eight times in a book is too many, but you gotta use it at least once.” He added, “The same goes for the sound effects. We have the artwork for various ships and concepts so we borrow sound effects from the Star Wars movies and sometimes make our own … What do the bells on Jedha sound like? We have the artwork, so we can imagine what those bells sound like. Same thing with the throwing of [Silandra’s] shield … What would Captain America’s shield sound like if it were a little Star Wars-y?”

Star Wars is a multifaceted franchise that is continuously being explored within various kinds of mediums. Audio dramas bring so much more to the audible experience of Star Wars storytelling, and if these first four installments are a testament to the quality of the production, then we can only imagine what will come next. What are your favorite Star Wars audio dramas? Let us know on our social media channels and don’t forget to follow Nick Martorelli on Instagram to stay up to date with new exciting Star Wars projects and beyond.