A supernatural neo-noir audio drama set in 1990s NYC about corruption, murder, and the things that haunt us.
the story
CITY OF GHOSTS is a supernatural neo-noir that follows El Rivkin (Brigette Lundy-Paine), an information broker who makes a living collecting and selling the dirty secrets of New York’s elite, assisted by her business partner and only friend, the agoraphobic internet whiz Prizrak (Moises Arias). After they are hired to investigate a journalist’s murder, El begins to untangle a web that takes her from a burned-down apartment building to the highest levels of New York society - a world her sister Talia (Erin Darke) is marrying into, as she weds the old-moneyed James Chapman (James Scully).
The deeper she presses into the investigation, the more she is forced to confront her own history of trauma and mental illness. What if the ghosts that hover in the corners of her apartment aren’t mere figments of her imagination? The answer to that question will alter the course of El’s life forever, especially as one voice rises above all the others: Sahar (Golshifteh Farahani), the murdered journalist herself.
The Production
City of Ghosts is a labor of love, developed and written by Carina Green and Ryan Patch over a period of nearly three years. Just as they were making headway into writing the back half of the season, COVID-19 hit, giving an opportunity for a series like CITY OF GHOSTS which could be recorded completely in quarantine, from the comfort of the actors’ own bedrooms.
With almost all other productions shut down, many actors were eager to work and create, and an all-star cast was assembled who wanted to work on something meaningful while they sheltered in place. Gotham Sound in NYC helped the production team assemble 10 personal recording kits of a Zoom H6N recorder, Shure SMb7 mics, a pop filter, pro headphones, and some advanced cable routing. These kits were sent all over the country (and the world) and the cast had to learn, via video instruction, how to create their own recording studio in their homes.
The directing and recording happened completely over Zoom, with actors spread over four time zones in Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, Florida, New York City, and even Ibiza.
