What happens to the people left behind when part of society decides it no longer needs to live on the ground?
People of the Earth is an ongoing nine-episode solarpunk audio drama set in a future where enormous cities have been constructed high above the Earth, supported by massive structures that physically separate their inhabitants from the communities below.
But the story isn't simply about the people who left. It asks what happens to the world—and the cultures, communities and relationships within it—when those left on Earth are given the opportunity to evolve on their own terms.
From ethereal cloud cities to vibrant Earth communities, the series explores humanity, division, identity and the possibility of rebuilding connections between societies that have grown apart.
I created People of the Earth as a loose expansion of an idea I first explored in my short film The People Beneath the Clouds. Rather than simply extending that film's story, I used its central premise as the starting point for a much larger piece of speculative world-building.
I wanted to explore what would actually happen over time if one segment of society physically separated itself from everyone else. What kinds of communities would develop below? How would culture, technology and social relationships evolve without the influence of the people who left? And what would happen when those two worlds eventually had to confront one another again?
I wrote the series as an original serialized audio drama and perform the characters myself. To expand the cast beyond the limitations of a single performer, I incorporated AI voice technology into the production—not as a substitute for performance, but as a way of transforming my performances into different characters. I perform the dialogue, timing and emotional choices, then use voice technology to alter the vocal identity of selected roles.
That approach has allowed me to create a much larger dramatic world independently, combining writing, performance, audio production and emerging technology to build a continuing science-fiction series without the resources that a conventional ensemble production would require.