Award-winning showrunner Brad Williams expands from Fallout fan fiction into an original supernatural horror-comedy audio universe.
-- Brad Williams, the independent creator and showrunner behind the acclaimed audio drama Once Upon a Wasteland, has announced Dark Road Diaries, an original supernatural horror-comedy series that marks his first fully original audio fiction universe. The announcement caps a five-year evolution in which Williams grew a passion project into a nationally recognized body of work, earning nine Signal Awards, hundreds of thousands of downloads, and official recognition from Bethesda Game Studios, the company behind the Fallout franchise.
From Passion Project to Recognized Series
Once Upon a Wasteland began as an independent, fan-produced audio drama set in the universe of Bethesda's Fallout franchise. Set twenty-seven years after the bombs, the series follows Elizabeth Kirby, a Vault Dweller, and Odessa Valdez, a spy and Scribe, as they work to uncover a threat to Appalachia and to civilization itself. What started as a labor of love inspired by a world Williams admired steadily developed into a serialized production with the scope of television and the intimacy of classic radio drama.
Over five years, the series attracted a substantial audience and drew attention from the broader audio industry. It has earned multiple Signal Awards for scripting, writing, editing, and show art, and it received an official Fallout Community Spotlight from Bethesda, which profiled the production and its approach to storytelling within an established universe. That recognition is documented in a Fallout 76 Community Spotlight published by Bethesda.
The series demonstrated that an independent creator could build something meaningful, find an audience, and earn industry recognition without the backing of a traditional studio or network. It also led to a relationship Williams had not anticipated: recognition from the very creators of the world that inspired the project.
Building an Original Universe with Dark Road Diaries
With Dark Road Diaries, Williams applies everything he learned building Once Upon a Wasteland to a world that is entirely his own. The new series is an original supernatural horror-comedy that blends memorable characters, an expansive mythology, and a distinctly offbeat sense of humor. It carries forward the cinematic storytelling, rich characterization, and immersive sound design that have become hallmarks of Williams's work, while giving him complete creative freedom over the characters, mythology, and setting.
The shift from an established universe to an original one represents a significant creative milestone. Working within the Fallout universe provided a foundation of established lore and an audience familiar with the world, but it also came with the responsibilities and boundaries that accompany working inside another creator's universe. Dark Road Diaries removes those boundaries and asks Williams to construct a world, its rules, and its inhabitants from the ground up.
"Creating Dark Road Diaries has given me the opportunity to take everything I learned building Once Upon a Wasteland and apply it to a world that is entirely my own," Williams said. "I started out simply wanting to tell a story, and that eventually led to industry recognition, relationships I never anticipated, and the chance to build something original from scratch."
More information about the new series is available at the Dark Road Diaries website, while details about the original production remain available at the Once Upon a Wasteland site.
A Showrunner's Approach to Audio Fiction
What sets Williams apart is that he approaches audio drama as a showrunner rather than simply as a writer or podcaster. He is involved in every part of the process, from creating characters and building worlds to directing performances and shaping the sound of the finished production. That comprehensive involvement allows a consistent creative vision to carry through each stage, from the earliest script drafts to the final mix.
This approach requires a broad set of skills. Williams writes and directs, coordinates remote voice casts, and oversees the sound design that gives his productions their cinematic quality. Directing remote performers presents particular challenges, since actors often record in separate locations and the showrunner must shape a cohesive ensemble performance from those individual sessions. Williams has refined that process over multiple seasons.
The results have been recognized across the industry. Williams's productions have won nine Signal Awards, including honors for Best Scripted Fiction and Best Writing. The Signal Awards recognize excellence in podcasting and audio, and the organization profiled Williams's methods in a feature on creating an audio fiction universe. His broader body of work is also cataloged on his industry profile.
A Growing Role in the Podcasting Industry
Williams's work has given him a role in the audio industry that extends beyond his own productions. He is a member of the Podcast Academy and serves as a judge for both the Ambies and the Signal Awards, two of the most prominent recognition programs in the field. These roles allow him to help identify excellence across podcasting and audio while continuing to produce ambitious independent work of his own.
That dual perspective is unusual. Williams remains an active creator still building new productions, and at the same time he evaluates the work of other creators across the industry. It gives him insight into the trends, techniques, and storytelling approaches shaping audio fiction today, as well as the standards by which such work is judged.
Williams is a graduate of Syracuse University's broadcast journalism program and brings experience as an interviewer, panelist, public speaker, writer, director, and voice actor. He offers a fan-focused perspective on audio storytelling, worldbuilding within established universes, writing compelling characters and relationships, directing remote voice casts, and producing independent fiction without traditional studio support.
What the Journey Represents
The arc from Once Upon a Wasteland to Dark Road Diaries reflects a broader shift in the opportunities available to independent creators. Williams began with a story he wanted to tell and, over five years, built it into an award-winning production with a national audience and recognition from an industry that once required studio or network backing to enter. The path led not only to awards but to relationships with the creators of the universe that inspired him and to a seat among the judges recognizing other creators.
Dark Road Diaries now represents the next stage. By taking the lessons of serialized storytelling, character development, directing, and sound design and applying them to an original universe, Williams demonstrates how independent creators can build meaningful, lasting work and find an audience on their own terms. Audiences can follow updates through the series accounts on Instagram and Bluesky or by contacting the studio directly at brad@onceuponawasteland.com.
About Once Upon a Wasteland Productions
Once Upon a Wasteland Productions is an independent audio fiction studio founded by Brad Williams to create cinematic, character-driven audio drama that combines the scope of serialized television with the intimacy of classic radio drama. The studio's flagship series, Once Upon a Wasteland, is a fan-produced audio drama set in the Fallout universe that has earned multiple Signal Awards and an official Fallout Community Spotlight from Bethesda. Its latest production, Dark Road Diaries, is an original supernatural horror-comedy that expands the studio's storytelling into an entirely new world. The studio is based in North Carolina.
Contact Info:
Name: Brad Williams
Email: Send Email
Organization: Once Upon a Wasteland Productions
Website: https://onceuponawasteland.com
Release ID: 89199262
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