Third Coast International Audio Festival

Third Coast International Audio Festival Enter the 2024-25 Call for Entries! https://2425thirdcoastcompetition.paperform.co
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An Update from Third Coast's BoardDear Community, You may have noticed that things have been quiet around here at Third ...
11/05/2025

An Update from Third Coast's Board

Dear Community,

You may have noticed that things have been quiet around here at Third Coast. That’s because as of mid-August, Third Coast is an entirely volunteer-run organization, and to be honest, we’re still catching up to that reality.

If you entered your work into the 2024-2025 Competition, know that it’s still in consideration. We’re currently screening entries: a glorious 463 works from 38 countries in 31 languages, with a total length of 675 hours! It’s going to take longer than usual to award winners, but we hope to be able to do so in style in 2026.

So what got us here? Like many small nonprofits, Third Coast has dealt with a difficult financial reality since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. Community support has been a bright spot - like 2024’s successful crowdfunding campaign - but it can’t completely fill the gap left by foundation and government grants that have decreased, delayed, or ended. We were hanging on and making it work until it couldn’t work anymore, at least not with paid staff.

And those staff were wonderful; over more than two decades, they made Third Coast what it is. Third Coast staff created a wealth of knowledge and relationships and care for our audio community – and stewarded an archive of audio treasures.

This year is Third Coast’s 25th birthday. We still believe in supporting the independence, creativity, and bold risk-taking of audio storytellers around the world. We still aim to honor and elevate the medium of audio as an art form. The way we build and interpret our world in sound - and the means by which we do it - matters now more than ever.

Our focus right now is on completing the 2024-2025 Competition. We’re grateful to all of you who have reached out, and given time and money to support Third Coast these past few years.

We ask for your grace as we move through this moment. All forms of support, including words of encouragement and offers of possible collaboration, are welcome. You can reach us at [email protected].

Thanks for reading, and for being a part of this community,

The Third Coast Board of Directors

The Early Deadline for the Call for Entries to the 2024-25 Third Coast Competition is tomorrow night at 11:59 PM CT! The...
01/13/2025

The Early Deadline for the Call for Entries to the 2024-25 Third Coast Competition is tomorrow night at 11:59 PM CT! These are our lowest rates of 2025, so if you’ve been thinking about submitting, now’s the time.

For more info about our Collective Pricing Rates for this deadline, plus everything you need to know to get your submission started, click here: https://bit.ly/2425ThirdCoastCompetition

We’re ready to hear from you! Enter your work to the independent 2024-25 Third Coast Competition now: https://bit.ly/242...
12/11/2024

We’re ready to hear from you! Enter your work to the independent 2024-25 Third Coast Competition now: https://bit.ly/2425ThirdCoastCompetition

It can be lonely out here in the world of audio documentary and storytelling. Especially right now. There aren’t a lot of financial resources, not enough support, and a serious vacuum of meaningful recognition for work that matters. But at Third Coast, we’re shouting it from the tree tops: audio storytelling matters, and your work deserves to be heard. We’re fighting for more room for risk-taking, experimentation, and play in the field. Because makers are also leaders in the field, and we want you to come first. This is why we’ve built the independent Third Coast Competition to be the kind of audio world we want to live in. We’re starting out by continuing to recognize the most outstanding stories of the year in nine historic categories as both Third Coast Winners and Finalists.

This is the call to send in your best audio stories to the 2024-25 Third Coast Call for Entries! It’s a chance for your work to be heard and celebrated, and a way you can help build and expand possibilities for all audio makers. Submit your best work and help to fight for a more creative, powerful, and inspiring audio industry accessible to all makers.

And don't forget the "We Need Third Coast" Flash Sale, now through December 17, with the lowest rates of this Competition cycle. These low rates ($40–$90) are available right now for both individuals paying for their own entries, as well as institutions covering the cost of entries. Take advantage of the Flash Sale this week: https://bit.ly/2425ThirdCoastCompetition

In honor of Giving Tuesday in the United States & with our Call for Entries launching later this week, we’re asking for ...
12/03/2024

In honor of Giving Tuesday in the United States & with our Call for Entries launching later this week, we’re asking for your support: https://bit.ly/WeNeedThirdCoast

All donations go toward our Collective Pricing Initiative and help us launch a “We Need Third Coast” flash sale with the lowest entry rates ever for all entrants this December.

Our audio ecosystem is interconnected & creativity in audio is increasingly endangered. Never were we more struck by this than recently, when the cancelled its longtime & beloved show Short Cuts Podcast. A stronghold for creativity in the field, Short Cuts has been the incubator and the home of many, many Third Coast Winners over the years. If you haven’t read the open letter from audio makers about its cancellation or signed the petition to save Short Cuts, we encourage you to do so: https://bit.ly/SaveShortCuts

Third Coast’s independent Call for Entries & Competition is also all about fighting to protect art, experiment, risk-taking & play, and grassroots community-building in audio. Donate to Third Coast today to make an impact on the audio industry at large: https://bit.ly/WeNeedThirdCoast

In honor of Giving Tuesday in the United States & with our Call for Entries launching later this week, we’re asking for ...
12/03/2024

In honor of Giving Tuesday in the United States & with our Call for Entries launching later this week, we’re asking for your support. All donations go toward our Collective Pricing Initiative and help us launch a “We Need Third Coast” flash sale with the lowest entry rates ever for all entrants this December. Check out the link in our bio to donate!

Our audio ecosystem is interconnected & creativity in audio is increasingly endangered. Never were we more struck by this than recently, when the cancelled its longtime & beloved show . A stronghold for creativity in the field, Short Cuts has been the incubator and the home of many, many Third Coast Winners over the years. If you haven’t read the open letter from audio makers about its cancellation or signed the petition to save Short Cuts, we encourage you to check out and do just that.

Third Coast’s independent Call for Entries & Competition is also all about fighting to protect art, experiment, risk-taking & play, and grassroots community-building in audio. Donate to Third Coast today to make an impact on the audio industry at large.

Ahhh, we did it! YOU did it!When we launched the campaign in May, we weren't sure what the response was going to be. T...
08/02/2024

Ahhh, we did it! YOU did it!

When we launched the campaign in May, we weren't sure what the response was going to be. The campaign was our public call to raise money for one of our longest-running programs — the Third Coast Competition — in the wake of an abrupt decision by our longtime funder to no longer support the program.

But this launch also signaled the beginning of a very important year for Third Coast — a year in which we are fundraising to build widespread investment in Third Coast to keep our programming relevant, independent, and accessible to our community. We believe that Third Coast's work is fundamental to this industry, and we want to be able to do more of it.

This week, we exceeded our goal for the public campaign: We raised $52,635 from you, our community. We are so excited to use this momentum to build the newly independent Third Coast Competition and launch it this fall. We are so excited to continue to offer more Audio Doctor appointments. And we are so excited to continue to fundraise — a little more behind the scenes now — to build a stronger Third Coast so that we can better give back to you, our community.

But for now? We want to celebrate, and thank you all for reaching this tremendous milestone.

This is officially your *last* reminder from us to donate to the Campaign before our 11:59 PM CT fundraising deadline ...
08/01/2024

This is officially your *last* reminder from us to donate to the Campaign before our 11:59 PM CT fundraising deadline tonight! We hit our $50K goal earlier today, but every, single dollar adds up — and we know there are a lot of you out there who are great with hitting a deadline! Link in bio to donate.

Illustration by .studio / Design by

We’re winding down the Campaign, with less than 6 hours before our fundraising deadline at 11:59 PM CT tonight. While ...
07/31/2024

We’re winding down the Campaign, with less than 6 hours before our fundraising deadline at 11:59 PM CT tonight. While we hit our $50K goal earlier today (!), every dollar adds up. So if you’ve been meaning to donate, you’ve got a few hours left! Consider this one of your last reminders!

Link in bio to donate.

Illustration by .studio / Design by

Wow! Overnight we reached our $50,000 campaign goal! We have just under 12 hours left before our fundraising deadline ...
07/31/2024

Wow! Overnight we reached our $50,000 campaign goal! We have just under 12 hours left before our fundraising deadline at 11:59 PM CT tonight, and we want to see how much we can raise for Third Coast before this phase of our fundraising campaign ends.

Every dollar we raise goes towards building the kind of inspiring, accessible field-building programming that we are known for — and creating new pathways for audio makers to discover. Link in bio to donate before our deadline.

Just 36 hours left in the campaign & ONLY $1,275 left to raise! The end is IN SIGHT. If you’ve been waiting to donate,...
07/30/2024

Just 36 hours left in the campaign & ONLY $1,275 left to raise! The end is IN SIGHT.

If you’ve been waiting to donate, now’s the time — the campaign officially ends at midnight CT tomorrow, July 31! Donation link in bio.

Illustration by .studio / Design by

We’re in the FINAL stretch! With just 4 days before the end of the campaign, we have only $2,595 left to raise. And la...
07/28/2024

We’re in the FINAL stretch!

With just 4 days before the end of the campaign, we have only $2,595 left to raise. And last night, we hit a pretty incredible milestone: We received a donation from our 200th campaign donor (and then our 201st and 202nd)! Seeing the donations (of any amount) add up like this from our community reminds us of just how impactful Third Coast’s work is.

Can you help us get to $50K by July 31?

Illustration by .studio / Design by

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