Hosted by the creative mind behind BlackStar Projects, Many Lumens with Maori Karmael Holmes is a podcast that explores the intersections of art, social change and popular culture. With one season already out in the world, Rowhome was approached to raise the production values of the show and help bring season two to a wider audience.

Shedding Light with Many Lumens

Research / Strategy / Podcast Production / Sound Engineering & Design / Mixing & Mastering / Project Management

Client

BlackStar Projects

Services

Black and white photo of a woman with long dreadlocks in a striped shirt, sitting outdoors with her eyes closed and her hand near her face, with colorful design elements and text overlay about a podcast episode.

Overview

Rowhome and Many Lumens are both influenced by groundbreaking artists and change makers in the city of Philadelphia and beyond. Our shared desire to amplify these voices yielded an authentic, inspirational collaboration and product.

Season Two’s 12 episodes feature conversations with a wide range of visionaries like poet and activist Sonia Sanchez, musician Camae Ayewa, filmmaker Terence Nance. Through lively, engaging interviews with Maori they share stories and insights around topics such as race, gentrification, and family through the lens of art, identity politics, beauty practices, and more.

The word 'BLACKSTAR' in outlined uppercase letters.
An empty white background with a large black diagonal line.
Group of diverse people gathered together, smiling, outdoors at night with city lights and building windows in the background.
Diagram showing the process of creating a recording studio, including components like podcast production, project management, research and strategy, sound engineering and design, and mixing and mastering, with various icons and arrows.

Podcast

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In order to boost the production value, Rowhome collaborated with BlackStar to research and book guests, prepare the host for interviews, improve the audio quality through editing and sound design, and prepare each episode for distribution. While working together it became clear that the best way to improve BlackStar’s recording capabilities would be to turn part of their office into a podcast recording studio. Rowhome created the new recording space by identifying the necessary gear, setting up all of the recording equipment and helping to sound proof the space. This allowed BlackStar to record higher quality in-person and remote interviews for the podcast. To further increase the podcast’s reach, we identified several potential marketing consultants so that BlackStar could choose one to help identify new potential listeners and grow the audience for Many Lumens.

Rowhome Productions helped create this recording studio by identifying the necessary gear, setting up all of the recording equipment and helping to sound proof the space.

A woman with dark hair and a colorful patterned shirt, standing outdoors near green plants and white shutters, with text overlays for 'Many Lumens Season 2,' 'Episode 10,' and 'Atria Suparak.'
Black and white photo of a group of young people, one in focus with braided hair and serious expression, holding an umbrella, in front of a chain-link fence. The image features colorful overlay text indicating it's from the show 'Many Lumens,' season 2, episode 12, titled 'Telfar Clemens & Babak Radboy.' Bright green star-like graphics are also present.

The Results

The overall audience has increased nearly 2x as compared to the first season, providing a larger platform for these vital (and vibrant!) conversations. The new and improved recording studio has allowed BlackStar to more seamlessly conduct interviews and bring Many Lumens to a whole new level.


Special thanks to our team including Producer, Imani Leonard and our Production Fellow, Dallas Taylor

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