About Fred

"No ideas but in things." - William Carlos Williams

Fred Greenhalgh has been writing stories since his childhood in downeast Maine. His determination to leave his home town got him as far as the University of Southern Maine, and two years later he took a university-sponsored exchange to the University of New Orleans.

As he studied film in New Orleans he became entranced with the vibrant, melancholy, and exuberant local culture. Living in the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood, he completed an independent project on the street culture of New Orleans.

After Hurricane Katrina, Fred returned to Maine feeling like he still had a lot to say about his adopted and beloved city. These ideas coalesced into his first radio drama (and senior thesis), Day of the Dead. Day of the Dead was released in May 2006, the same month Fred graduated USM with a BA in Media Studies with University Honors.

Having found his calling in radio drama, Fred continues to produce his own short stories and those of other fine writers as FinalRune Productions (see Why FinalRune? if you want the story on the name). He now applies on-location recording principles similar to what he learned in film school to audio drama.

Fred's pursuits to master the craft have brought him to the National Audio Theater Festivals' week-long workshop in 2007, and then in 2009 to Ireland to visit his friend and mentor Roger Gregg. He is currently studying audio engineering with Dave Moulton at the University of Maine Augusta and guest-lecturing on a sound design course at his alma mater, the University of Southern Maine.

With the publication of a front-page Wall Street Journal Article on February 25, 2010, FinalRune's work has been catapulted into the national spotlight. Current audio projects include ongoing collaborations with The Mad Horse Theater Company, audio adaptations of the work of Archer Mayor, and, of course, work on his own writing projects!

Meanwhile, Fred is working to develop academic programs teaching audio drama in high schools and universities, and is interested in seeking grants to capture storytelling cultures across the globe and retell local legends.

Outside of his work with FinalRune, Fred is the online marketing manager at Maine solar power installer ReVision Energy. He lives on an off-grid homestead in rural Maine.

Audio Credits

• 2006 - Day of the Dead, The Blind Man's Confession
• 2007 - Tales from Williamsville, Fall of the Hero, Begathon Special
• 2008 - Waiting for a Window
• 2009 - Begathon Shorts, Mad Horse OTR Project, Live Halloween Radio Show
• 2010 - Joe Gunther Audio Pilot, Live Radio Drama and Bean Supper

Writing

• Some Road through the Desert
• Day of the Dead – The Fiction Story (Part 2 of 2)
• Day of the Dead – The Fiction Story (Part 1 of 2)

Poems

• I’m not religious, but
• Song of a Cajun

Visual

• Joe Gunther Videos
• Halloween 2009 Video
• Street Scenes of New Orleans

Here's the latest from FinalRune Productions - upcoming and ongoing projects, and what other people are saying about us!

• February 25 - FinalRune Productions Featured in Wall Street Journal!
• January 24 - FinalRune and Mad Horse to Offer Bean Supper and Live Radio Drama in February
• January 22 - Video from Live Halloween Show Now Available
• December 25 - Our Christmas Gift to You: “Three Skeleton Key”
• December 22 - Holiday Goodies Coming Soon from FinalRune
• October 31 - Live Halloween Show 2009
• October 25 - Directions to Halloween Show
• October 15 - Coming Oct 31: Ghoulish Sounds to Haunt Portland in Live Halloween Radio Drama
• September 27 - “The Most Dangerous Game” Now Available for Download
• September 16 - Recording Wraps on Mad Horse OTR Collaboration Project

Learn some more about the people behind the productions. After all, without much talent, luck, and dedication, none of the stories would be here for you to hear.

Producer/Writer/Director:

• Frederick Greenhalgh

Voice Actors/Actresses:

• John Hickson
• Christine Marshall
• Janice Gardner
• Burke Brimmer
• Toby Paradis
• CarlaRose Dubois
• Ed Patterson
• Kristi Deville
• Chris Newcomb
• Charly Duley
• Joe Duley
• Bill Dufris
• Philip Hobby
• Errol Murphy
• Mark Krasnoff
• Nathan Amadon
• John Coons

Crew:

• Paul Drinan
• Randall Farr

Musicians

• Barbara Truex
• Myron Samuels
• Primal Musik
• Claude Galinsky
• Anthony Michaud

Want to take part in our productions? We'd love to have you!

Working with FinalRune is an offbeat and educational experience -- lest you doubt that, check out some of our photos (Flickr). It is, however, unpaid. You must live in the Greater Portland, Maine area because we work on location. Trust me, it works better that way.

You will get fed, you will make friends, you will be challenged and treated well. You will expected to show up, take direction, and put your heart into the work.

We're always looking for:

• Actors/Actresses
• Musicians
• SFX Wizards
• Someone to Make YouTube Videos

Thanks for your interest!

FinalRune is generally not interested in unsolicited scripts. We've got too many projects and too little time already!

FinalRune - Mystery and Meaning

Breakthrough - Transformation - Day: Dagaz

Here is the final Rune belonging to the Cycle of Initiation. Drawing Dagaz often signals a major shift or breakthrough in the process of self-change, a complete transformation in attitude, a 180-degree turn. For some, the transition is so radical that they are no longer able to live the ordinary life in the ordinary way.

The Book of Runes by Ralph H. Blum

I stumbled across this bit of text years after I'd been using the moniker "Final Rune." It was a completely random set of words to choose, originally, but the phrase seemed to fit, was easily memorable, and no one else on the Internet was using it.

The more I've learned about runes and particularly Dagaz, the more the symbol fits with my ambitions as an individual artist and as part in creating an entity that will hopefully transcend me. Long before I thought about using radio drama as the means of my art, I was committed to stories that dashed off the beaten path of literature, flirted with the boundaries of genre and twisted the naive heads off the rules while they weren't looking. I enjoy fiction that is surreal, even psychedelic, yet rooted in mysticism, mythology, and folklore. "Final Rune" embodies a boundary between the physical realm and the mystical one, between history and future, between something ancient and the thoroughly modern. I attempt to create stories that dance this fine line.

Though I hope my work is not as misunderstood or lost in the annals of time as the true runes, I do reverently respect their mystery and hope that at times I can reach in that next realm to steal a nugget of wisdom. It is a risky dance, with cliche on one precipice and obscurity on the other, but conjuring one sublime moment to one person along the way would be more repayment than I might ever ask. In the meantime, I hope to entertain in the best way I can.

Producer Fred Greenhalgh's off-grid home studio is powered by solar. This photo was taken during a power outage... for most people, that is!

In addition to being really fun to both record and listen to, FinalRune's audio stories are produced using clean energy from the sun.

Producer Fred Greenhalgh lives a pretty unconventional lifestyle at a homestead in rural Maine.

When he's not writing or producing radio plays, you can often find him in the garden or milking a goat. His small off-grid house uses only about 2KW/hr of power a day, about the same amount as a regular light bulb if you left it in all day!

In addition to just really being psyched about living a sustainable lifestyle while doing what he loves, Fred also works as the online marketer for leading Maine solar power and solar hot water installer, ReVision Energy.

A low-impact, buy local, sustainable living and art philosophy is at the heart and soul of FinalRune.

The energy you're using to listen to it is clean, too, right?