Ready to listen to an off-the-cuff tale from Adam McKay as you drift off to dreamland? Of course you are.
In the forthcoming podcast “Bedtime Stories With Adam McKay” from Sony Music Entertainment, the filmmaker, writer and comedian will deliver an “immersive and lulling auditory experience” — one that McKay will make up on the spot, the company says. It’s part of Sony Music’s new original podcast slate, announced Wednesday as part of the IAB Podcast Upfronts.
Each episode of “Bedtime Stories” will feature McKay delivering an improvised story, based on one word chosen at random by his producer, Harry Nelson. The series is produced by McKay’s Hyperobject Industries shingle.
To be clear, “Bedtime Stories With Adam McKay” is not intended for children. The topics, language and sarcasm in the podcast will be tailored to adult audiences.
“Every episode, I will take one suggestion and I will improvise a story that hopefully you can go to sleep to,” McKay said during Sony Music’s podcast upfront presentation. “We’ll have guests and all kinds of different stories. Some will be strange, some will be funny, but all of them hopefully will succeed in engaging you and fail in hopefully putting you to sleep.”
Popular on Variety
Also in the SME lineup from Hyperobject Industries is “Réunion: Shark Attacks in Paradise,” described as a cautionary tale about an unexplained surge in shark attacks around the French island located in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
Here’s a rundown of highlights from the rest of Sony Music’s upcoming podcast slate:
- “Defining Diego” (Somethin’ Else): Explores the rise and fall of international adoption, told through the story of one adoptee and his mom, a journalist who has documented their journey from his earliest steps.
- “Good Words With Kirk Franklin” (Somethin’ Else): Returns for a new season featuring conversations with celebrities across music, TV and entertainment.
- “Hill Crazy” (Truth Media): When your friend is accused of murdering one of Humbolt County’s largest pot growers, what do you do? Well, you go figure out whether he’s guilty.
- “Smoke Screen: Puppy Kingpin” (Neon Hum): Follows Jolyn Noethe, a secretive businesswoman from Iowa accused of laundering puppies much like drug money. Investigative reporter Alex Schuman exposes the scheme and an underground part of the industry bringing us the pets we love.
- “Spectacle: True Crime” (Neon Hum): New season delves into the history of true crime — from the cases that shook us to our core, to its passionate audience, and what narratives and stereotypes it reinforces in our culture.
- “The Evaporated” (Campside Media): An investigative probe into a spree of highly mysterious disappearances across Japan.
- “The Fringe Network: Alien State” (Somethin’ Else): Publicly, the government once called UFOs a waste of time, but new evidence and uncovered documents prove that the U.S. government is — and always has been — very interested in the UFO phenomenon. This podcast digs into who the people coming forward with these government secrets truly are.
“Sony Music has believed in the power of the voice for as long as we’ve existed, and we’re proud to work with some of podcasting’s best storytellers to bring their ideas and voices to listeners around the world,” Steve Ackerman, EVP and co-head of global podcasts at Sony Music, said in a statement.
SME’s current lineup of original series includes “Chameleon: Wild Boys,” “Bad Blood: The Final Chapter” and “The Just Enough Family.”
