Audible Sound Bites with Nic Dacre

Nic Dacre is a Production Coordinator for Audible UK’s Production and Studios team. Based out of our London hub, he works closely with our in-house director and producers, and our external production partners, to ensure UK podcast production milestones are met. As part of Audible’s community impact work, Nic has also taught storytelling and podcast-production sessions for young incarcerated adults. Get to know more about him and the team here!

Can you describe your role, day to day?

In addition to supporting production on our podcasts throughout each of their lifecycles, I support the wider production team and our in-house studio facilities. My role is a diverse one, including production management, freelance/talent negotiations and contracting, studio management and crew bookings, and legal and deliverable asset-checking to ensure successful deliveries of our productions.

I work across a broad range of genres including: non-fiction, true crime, family listening, comedy and entertainment. My role can be very fast-paced and detail-orientated, and it’s imperative in ensuring our productions are release-ready for our customers.

What’s life like at the hub you are aligned to?

Our office is in the Barbican area of London, where our studios are also housed. Our studios include state-of-the-art facilities with a Dolby Atmos-certified mixing studio, a large drama studio, video promo studio, green room and dressing room.

I feel very fortunate to be part of our very open, positive and inclusive company culture. In addition to daily communal staff lunches and weekly after-work drinks and events, we have many ongoing community impact projects. I hosted a series of storytelling and podcast-production sessions across 2023 for the Young Offenders Institutes program, and members of our team also volunteer across impactful projects for Riverside Radio, The National Theatre, The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). We also host and manage workshops for individuals who aspire to a career in audio production.

What inspires you in your role?

Being a member of our Production and Studios team gives me the opportunity to be at the forefront of our creative decision-making processes. Our team strives to push the boundaries for every title that we release, whether through high-end Dolby Atmos mixes, original music compositions or contracting award-winning talent. All these important decisions add up to excite, surprise and impress our customers. I have studied and worked in studios my entire career, so having the opportunity to play a role in such impressive and large-scale audio productions on a daily basis is an ever-growing inspiration for me.

How does the work you do affect Audible listeners worldwide?

Included within our UK Originals podcast slate, I have localized specific productions to be released globally across all our worldwide territories. Along with my manager, I worked alongside our US, French, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian, German, Japanese and Indian production teams to ensure all localized scripts and translated audio were reviewed for the highest quality prior to recording and release. Having the internal Audible teams and tools in place to localize productions gives our worldwide listeners the opportunity to enjoy some of the exciting UK productions that we have to offer.

Have you participated in any of our impact activities in the community, and what has it meant to you, personally?

In 2023, I hosted a series of podcast production sessions for the Young Offenders Institutes program in the UK, teaching young adults in London Feltham and ISIS prisons. We initially brainstormed concepts, structure and scripting ideas for their podcasts. I taught them how to use our recording equipment and, once everything was recorded successfully, I edited, mixed and mastered the audio. The audio was then shared with them on a CD, alongside songs that they had also recorded during the sessions. Working with and inspiring young people to follow their passions, and to show them that there are great opportunities out there for them, is an extremely rewarding experience.

Also, a number of the UK Audible team formed a band to perform at our Age UK Christmas charity event in December. The rehearsal process of us all getting gig-ready during our lunch breaks leading up to the event was a true delight.

What’s a quality someone interested in working on the Studios team needs to be successful?

Be extremely customer-obsessed in relation to our production partners, crew and talent. We aim to be the partner of choice for our creators, offering the highest level of experience possible for all on-mic and off-mic individuals that we offer production services to. Cultivating strong relationships with all our production partners is a key quality required within our team.

Lightning Round!

Favorite genre? Non-fiction/Crime.

Listening from a speaker or headphones? Headphones.

Favorite activity while listening? At the gym.

Morning person or night owl? Early birds get the worm!

Favorite snack? Cadbury Double Decker.

What’s your favorite listen?

Derren Brown's Boot Camp for Emotion

In this series, top scientists and diverse experts reveal how we can control the emotions that often hijack our rational thinking. I worked closely across the production of this project, so being able to listen to the final Dolby Atmos mixes was an absolute pleasure.