Where the Leaves Fall Purple podcast team from left to right: Corey Hendricks, Ashleigh Burns, Kimberly Billinton, Aaron Johnson, Godfrey Cooke.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Kimberly Billinton

A gripping, dramatic podcast that began in a basement in West Kelowna in the midst of the pandemic is gaining traction.

Where the Leaves Fall Purple is an audio drama with true crime elements.

“It is about a university student running a failing crime podcast who asks a friend to stage a disappearance so he can document the fake case,” said executive director Kimberly Billinton.

“But then she actually goes missing.”

For a year and a half, Billinton and a dedicated crew, including 30 local actors, have been working tirelessly to complete the 11-episode drama series.

They started releasing episodes in July and are now starting to wrap up the mammoth project, with hopes to end it with winning an international award.

“I took this on during the pandemic when people weren’t creating,” Billinton said. “It was a safe way to create on a small budget, with a dedicated cast and crew working to do something new. We’ve realized what a massive undertaking it is.”

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Billinton said she partnered with Beautiful Happy Productions which wanted to invest in the project.

“True crime podcasts were the most popular genre but I wanted to add a diverse group of young fictional characters who are developing and finding themselves amid the disappearance of their best friend. 

“We are getting some great online traction.”

Billinton writes and directs for the podcast and does the voice of Jaime, the character who goes missing.

“I graduated with a business degree in 2020 and always wanted to get into the TV world,” she said. “I didn’t want to wait for that, I had stories to tell and wanted to tell them right away.”

“As far as I know no one has done a full-length audio drama in the Okanagan.”

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Where the Leaves Fall Purple is nominated in several categories for The Audio Verse Awards, an international, annual celebration dedicated to people and productions in immersive audio fiction.

Billinton said supporters of the podcast pushed her to apply. The winners are user voted and anyone can vote.

When asked what winning an international audio award would mean, Billinton said the promotion would be nice, but there is more to it than that.

“It would show that there is a lot of talent coming out of the Okanagan,” she said. “We have so much talent here and not enough projects to showcase. It would show the Okanagan can go up next to a world stage.” 

The podcast episodes are released biweekly with episode 7 to be released this week.

“I wasn’t expecting just how much work it was going to be and how much it really takes for a team, but I learned so much along the way. It shows no matter where you are in life you can make your own opportunities.”

Go here for more information on When the Leaves Fall Purple podcast.

Go here to cast your vote at the Audio Verse Awards.

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