Best-selling German author Markus Heitz writes an Audible Original audio drama

Berlin, Germany—Media company Audible presents the new original audio drama Die Meisterin ('The Champion’), written by thriller and fantasy author Markus Heitz and starring Bettina Zimmermann and Stephan Luca.

When Audible asked the successful author to produce an audio drama, Heitz didn’t hesitate: “The project has inspired me from the beginning. Writing for audio is a new challenge, and so I had to pay attention to new techniques, such as to keep the amount of speakers low or not constantly jump between locations. I’m a big audio drama fan, and have loved this form of entertainment since my childhood.”

The audio drama stars known actors Bettina Zimmermann and Stephan Luca. They recorded together in the studio alongside thirty other voice actors, making for a real movie-set atmosphere. The drama also stars Uve Teschner, one of the most popular audio book narrators in Germany. The result is a ten hour audio drama, offering an epic listening experience.

“Working on Die Meisterin was a lot of fun. The first time I read Markus Heitz’s story I was captivated, and I really wanted to do it. To tell the story only using your voice was a great challenge that I gladly accepted”, says Bettina Zimmermann.

“I only realised while working in the studio how complicated audio dramas are to make”, says Stephan Luca. “They’re a great form of entertainment with a huge fan base, and it’s fun to participate in something that appeals to so many people.”

Torsten Surberg, Head of Content Audible Germany, said: “We’re thrilled that, with Markus Heitz, we’ve one of the most successful authors on board for Audible Originals. Our plans are to continue developing creative work like this, along with the best writers, actors and narrators. Broad-based and entertaining audio dramas are just one of the exciting work ahead.”

Audible has also developed an Alexa skill. In an interactive version of the story, made up of different subplots of the drama, fans can navigate their own way through the story independently. “Die Meisterin” can be enabled in the Alexa app.

Translated from the original German by Google Translate and Podnews