2BU Productions

22/09/2025

We're delivering a FREE Communication Coaching workshop for North Somerset's creative professionals and micro-businesses!
Communication Coaching for Creative Professionals
at Yatton Library | 🕘 2nd December 2025 | 10:00 AM – 1:30 PM
Discover how to strengthen your professional voice using the Voiceprint model. Our interactive workshop will give you practical communication tools you can use immediately in real-world scenarios.
This is part of a series - check out the other free workshops too!
Places are limited, so book early!
👉 Book now: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/nsceconomyteam/t-nolnqlz

Tickets are now available for Creative Shift: Creative Health Training Series at Clevedon Community Centre, Clevedon on Thu 6 Nov 2025 at 10:00AM. Click the link for further information and to secure your tickets now!

17/09/2025

Calling Bristol and South West creatives! 🎨📸🎵💃📝🎬
I'm excited to share that I'll be co-running this workshop.
As part of a project with , we're looking for artists, dancers, musicians, filmmakers, illustrators, writers, photographers and more for a paid workshop exploring the fascinating Wills Collection of To***co Antiquities at .
✨ What's involved:
🗓️ One day workshop - Tuesday 14th October 2025 (9:30-4:30pm)
🏛️ Hands-on time with heritage materials
🎨 Create your own artistic response
🍽️ Lunch & refreshments included
💰 PAID opportunity!
🌟 Open to all ages & backgrounds
Perfect if you love:
💫 Heritage & representation
🏥 Community health themes
📚 Working with archival treasures
🤝 Collaborative creativity
⏰ Apply by 12pm, 2nd October 2025
📧 Email: [email protected]
We're selecting just 6 artists from different mediums - could one be you?
Tag a creative friend 👇

06/08/2025

🎨 Exciting project alert! 🎨
Our creative lead Elspeth Penny is running a special workshop in Bristol this September - "Exploring Kidney Conditions Through Creative Arts"
We're looking for 6-8 people (18+) who either live with a kidney condition or care for someone who does. No arts experience needed - just bring your interest and willingness to explore!
We provide a £50 contribution for your time plus local travel expenses.
📅 Workshop dates: 24th or 26th September 2025
📍 Bristol
📧 [email protected]
This is all about using creativity to share stories and build understanding. Know someone who might be interested? Please share this post!
Application deadline: midnight 20th August 2025

16/06/2025

🎧 New research alert!
We've just published a fascinating study about using podcast storytelling to explore important health topics in a more engaging way.
Our paper "Tobias and Syd" looks at how we created a podcast audio-drama to discuss to***co use in society - not to preach or conclude, but to start meaningful conversations.
What made this special:

It was truly collaborative, involving many different voices
We paired the drama with educational webinars
It was based on real research and personal stories
It opened up new ways to think about a complex topic

This shows how creative approaches can help academic research reach and engage with broader audiences in meaningful ways.
Check out the full research: https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/rjao_00112_1
Published in Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media


(Note: Full access requires institutional or journal subscription - abstract available to all)

15/04/2025

Exciting progress with our Brigstow Seedcorn project! 📣 Looking forward to the second meeting of the Brigstow Seedcorn cohort 2024-25 this week. It's a valuable opportunity to share updates on our "Whispers from the Archive" project exploring creative approaches to kidney disease storytelling, and to connect with other innovative teams. Grateful for this collaborative community as we continue developing ways to amplify chronic illness voices through artistic expression.
Project details: https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/projects/whispers-from-the-archive-chronic-illness-creative-responses-and-

21/10/2024

At 2BU Productions, we are delighted to hear that the company have been shortlisted in the Global Awards Program for Corporate Live Wire, for the category, Media Production Company of the Year and have now been selected as their 2024/25 winner. Thank for this award, it means a lot to be recognised for our innovative work, bringing hidden voices of people living with health conditions, to audiences via inventive, quality content

18/10/2024

30/08/2024

There’s lots online at the moment about the smoking ban. But is flirting dependent on smoking areas still existing?

If you think so, then listen to the audio drama, Tobias and Syd. There certainly are links between s*x and smoking, though if you look a bit deeper, those links might benefit the to***co industry more than us:

https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/keir-starmers-outdoor-smoking-ban-will-kill-flirting-as-we-know-it-b1178935.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-gb

Tobias and Syd, the podcast drama, is free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcast platforms, or via www.2buproductions.org
***cotalk ***co **e **ng

The UK’s dating landscape is the absolute pits. Now, Keir Starmer is threatening to take the only thing we have left, chatting someone up while smoking a fag outside. Maddy Mussen on our lost liberties of love

30/05/2024

In Press! Our jointly written paper: "Tobias and Syd: a research-based podcast audio-drama" is now in Press with Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media, due to be published in January 2025 written by the Dream Team - Dr Alice Malpass, Professor Andrew Russell and myself. This will be my 3rd co-written paper, so grateful for such brilliant collaborators.
***cotalk ***cotuesday Elspeth Penny Green Ginger Super Culture ***co **e **ng

04/03/2024

29/01/2024

‘Audio drama is not just a poor relation of film or TV: it has a power of its own’ (Guardian Editorial, 20th January) it may surprise some people to learn that there is a fair bit of audio drama being made beyond the BBC. An example is ‘Tobias and Syd’ a four-part drama released in 2023 that explores the seductive but dangerous qualities of to***co. Unlike the assertion in this editorial that ‘voices and sounds are costly to hire and produce’ 2BU Productions, explored, researched and wrote the play for £23,000 from an Arts Council England project grant, supplemented by £16,000 from an ESRC Impact Accelerator Account administered by Durham University. The additional money paid for a recording venue, funds to secure the top-notch actors, and a webinar series we ran to explore topics from the play in more depth. Compared to the costs of a television drama or reality show we are talking peanuts. Making such work also offered experience and career development to team members which would have been impossible to secure through the BBC. The play has already been awarded three major prizes including Best Audio Fiction Standalone at the Sydney Webfest 2023, and Best Narration for an Audio Fiction Podcast at the Baltimore Next Media Fest (Ell Potter in her stellar role as Syd). It is currently available free on the streaming platforms Spotify and Podbean, as well as the Tobias and Syd website itself. ***cotalk ***cotuesday ***co **e **ng

Editorial: Their status has fallen since the great days of Under Milk Wood or The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, but we still need audio dramas

09/01/2024

We are so thrilled that in the final Webseries World Cup ranking 2023, our audio drama, Tobias and Syd, has come 3rd! It is also the top UK podcast! Well done team and thank you to all the international festivals who have awarded us as Winner, and Selected or Nominated the play, you have been awesome ***cotalk ***cotuesday ***co **e **ng

Listen to Tobias and Syd, the podcast drama, for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and via the 2BU Productions website (www.2buproductions.org), for free.