It’s a true-life David vs Goliath story – a small cargo ship – the San Demetrio, damaged by a Nazi battleship in the Second World War. The tale has been turned into an audio movie by Ojai-based filmmaker John Mawson.
"So an audio movie? Imagine that you've got something that has got movie quality sound, movie quality actors, movie quality music specifically written for it, every bit as good as you would get in a movie house or a top budget movie, but without any visuals. It's all for the ear. It is totally immersive," explained Mawson.
"I used to be in the Merchant Navy, so I know the sounds the ship makes. I know what it's like to be in an engine room or on a bridge or outside, or in a lifeboat. So I know that sound environment, and I was able to to give the actors that kind of environmental information so that they knew what environment they were in and creating," he told KCLU.
The finished result is so much more than a podcast, explains actor Paul Telfer, who plays Callum McNeil.
"It's almost like being a kid again and getting into that really pure sense of play," said Telfer. "To just be a part of reminding everybody of how high the stakes were during that period of history, and how ordinary people's lives were utterly upended by that conflict. But also lives were made and legends were made and incredible stories. You know, it's just one of those classic tales of daring do," he said.
There’s a cast of over 37 actors playing over 100 roles, including Golden Globe winner Brian Cox.
"It's an astonishing tale and a tale of the best side of British seamanship," said Cox. "So I have done radio all my life. Radio is something which - you don't have to dress up. You don't have to wear makeup, you don't have to learn your lines because it's all here. I love the radio," he said.
It also stars Academy Award nominee John Malkovich.
"I played Chief Engineer Charles Pollard, who is the chief engineer of the San Demetrio," said Malkovich. "He, like a kind of extraordinary number of his crew, is someone who just gets on with it and they go through the most unimaginably horrific circumstances and they just keep going," he said.
As it was recorded during COVID, they all had to be recorded separately and stitched together. Actor Blair Redford plays Oswald Preston and says they were able to create this entire world using their imaginations.
"You're just using pure imagination and you just immerse yourself into it, and it takes you back to this kind of childhood place of wonderment, almost like sitting around a campfire telling a ghost story. And the next day you could swear you have images of it in your head, yet you never really saw anything," said Redford.
Creator, Director and Showrunner Misha Crosby says that the immersive Dolby Atmos sound design brings the compelling story to life.
"The only limitation becomes your imagination to an extent," said Crosby. "We worked with some of the finest people in the game in the sound design, and they've been doing things like James Bond, Harry Potter, Band of Brothers," he said.
"Initially I'd said to John [Mawson], 'Listen, if this is something we're going to approach, we want to make it absolutely as good as it could be to the highest cinematic standards possible'. And that was what we hope to achieve, and I hope it's what we've been able to put out," said Crosby.
Unsinkable is out now on Wondery.
