‘ConSensual’ tells modern love stories
When Valparaiso University Class of 2017 alums and friends Becca Grischow and Rachel Borgo decided to collaborate on a media project to bring stories of romance and strong female perspectives to both eyes and ears, they wanted unique voices and dialogue to appeal to both imaginations and emotions.
Started in June 2019 at a brewery in Chicago’s Ravenswood neighborhood as a discussion, while poring through gathered three-ring binders of research and ideas, “ConSensual” is a new fictional romance podcast with characters both believable and beloved by listeners.
“Our media greatly influences our perception of our own life, and I wanted to tell stories that featured strong women in healthy, consensual modern relationships,” said Grischow, 25, a Geneva native who is co-creator of “ConSensual” with Borgo.
“There are no shades of gray here in our work. No Fabio book covers.”
After a July launch, the season finale installment of “ConSensual” was released Sept. 23. All 14 episodes, around 30 minutes or less, are available free, and the series is based on the 96-page digital novella “Ten Week Turnabout,” also released on Amazon for download Sept. 23, written by Amelia J. Rose, who is another graduate of Valparaiso University.
“I set off on my own to bring to life love stories that are more authentic to me,” said
Grischow, who like Borgo, also 25, remained in the Chicago area after their college graduation.
“There are a number of inspirations for the project, some more serious than others. I’m a huge fan of podcasts and a huge fan of listening to romance audiobooks. I wanted to combine the two in a way that appealed primarily to 20- and 30-something listeners. On a more serious note, my own history of sexual assault led me to want to create a better culture of consent with the romance industry.”
The main characters of “ConSensual,” as well as the written sister work, “Ten Week Turnabout,” include Ingrid Wheeler, who grew up in small-town Indiana and later fled to New York City for college without regret.
“Some fans might describe Ingrid as ‘stuck up,’ while others say she ‘just has high standards’ and is never one to mince words, while always putting her career first,” Grischow explained.
“Ingrid’s love interest, Noah Bloom, is an old flame from high school and he was her date to the turnabout dance senior year. They haven’t seen each other since graduation and Noah is now a history teacher at their old high school.”
Grischow said Noah’s dream to open his own brewery in their hometown brings him to New York for a 10-week business management program. During his visit to the Big Apple, he happens to reconnect with Ingrid at a rooftop event. The podcast episodes, and the coinciding chapters from the novella, follow Ingrid’s experiences as a guiding force for Noah during his East Coast visit as he attempts to understand the fast-paced social circles of the city, while Ingrid must sort out the return of both memories, and a man from her past.
Borgo, who serves as the director for the podcast, said all of the episodes were recorded in one month in January.
“During the process, one of my jobs is to edit drafts of the chapters to create the recording scripts,” Borgo said.
“I take notes to explore what kind of sound atmosphere we can create for our listeners, sometimes suggesting additions be made to the novella and to the author, since it too, was still a work in progress, as the podcast was being developed.”
Borgo said the time and attention devoted to molding the novella into an audio experience for listeners was less about “adapting it into a script,” and more about “transcribing it.”
“The podcast supplements the story with captivating performances and immersive soundscapes,” Borgo said.
“It’s loads more fun. If someone were to sit and compare the novella to the script itself, they would notice the addition of sound directions meant to inform John, our sound engineer, of the effects or atmosphere each chapter calls for. One of the many advantages of working with talented voice actors is they each offer a distinct tone and personality, so there is no confusion as to who is saying what over a group scene, such as the characters dining at brunch.”
John MacNeil, 25, of Crown Point, a 2017 Valparaiso University graduate, is the project’s sound engineer, and Allison Grischow, 27, a 2015 Valparaiso University graduate and Becca’s older sister, is one of the female vocal talents paired with Travis Donahoo, a voiceover talent from Chicago who brings to life the male characters.
Becca Grischow said she recalls a memory from her elementary classroom days when her teacher had the class listen to Orson Welles’ riveting “The War of the Worlds” CBS broadcast from October 1938.
“I remember I fell in love with the backstory of the listeners tuning in late (to that broadcast) and thinking that the story was real,” Becca said.
“We wanted to bring as
much of that to our audio series as possible, that real life, immersive feeling. John did a brilliant job creating a soundscape that pulls the listener onto the streets of Manhattan, a brewery in Williamsburg, and wherever the story takes the listener. And unlike other romance audiobooks or podcasts, ‘ConSensual’ is creating immersive stories that you can engage with on multiple platforms. Not only can you stream the stories for free, you can also follow along with our main characters on Instagram as you listen.” On Instagram the characters’ names are @TheIngridWheeler and @TheNoahBloom, and the podcast has an Instagram account as well at @ConSensualPod.
Borgo and her co-collaborator are also quick to remind that “ConSensual” does not carry the same “general audiences” rating as the radio shows of yesteryear.
“The story features young 20-somethings in New York City, and like the novella, ‘Ten Week Turnabout,’ it can be enjoyed by any age group 18 and older,” Becca said.
“Unlike many other romance novels, ‘ConSensual’ and the storylines are rooted in feminist values, featuring characters who are the strong women we’d all like to be. We feature strong women who are calling the shots. And yes, we’re rated R, for sure. This is not for listeners under 18. But as far as the explicit stuff goes, you’re not hearing any sort of sound effects. We keep it to the narration and dialogue only.”
The creators are continuing their collaboration while working on the second season of “ConSensual,” which is subtitled “Hookup State of Mind,” and features the Ingrid character’s “loud-mouthed” best friend Cleo, also featured in the cast of the first season.
“Cleo is definitely another of our listeners’ favorite characters,” Becca said.
“Our second season is already written and partially cast. The story has Cleo, a New York City hopeful actress and parttime nanny who lands herself on the set of her first major film shoot and deals with an innocent Tinder match which quickly gets complicated.
“We want to start recording this October and we’re currently raising money for the production on our GoFundMe page.”