Looking for a way to get into the Halloween spirit? Look no further than this new spooky podcast written and produced by local Guelph creative, Oliver Pavia. Il Sagra dei Cuochi promises food, betrayal, and murder in a giallo-inspired horror set in an Italian mountain village during a culinary festival gone dark. In an interview with Pavia about the making of this spine-tingling podcast, you’ll get a behind-the-scenes look before its release on Friday, October 3.
What inspired the idea behind Il Sagra Dei Cuochi?
Honestly, it started as a joke in my head. I was amusing myself one day by imagining a horror version of Ratatouille “what if the rat got revenge on the critic?” That little thought became the seed for Episode 2, which was actually the first one I wrote. I also always loved Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid. While this podcast isn’t interactive in that sense, I wanted to capture that feeling of being dropped inside the story, where you’re almost the character yourself or at least a fly on the wall.
Is San Lucente based on a real place, or is it entirely fictional? How did you go about creating the world of the festival?
San Lucente is fictional, but it’s deeply rooted in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It’s a mountainous region with quaint little villages. I wanted it to feel authentic without being tied to one exact location. For this story I was inspired by the notion that a beautiful, picturesque place on its surface could be something dark on its inside.
Giallo is a very specific genre, especially popular in Italian cinema. How did you adapt its visual and stylistic elements to an audio format?
That was a fun challenge because Giallo is so visual. We really leaned into sound textures and layered audio. The scrape of a knife, pots and pans clanking, the echo of footsteps in an empty villa, even silence. And then the voiceovers, the inner thoughts of our characters really heighten the mood. I hope we do the genre justice because it’s such a unique specific style.
Were there any true stories or folklore that inspired some of the spooky elements of the podcast?
I was inspired by a real “Festival of Cooks” that occurs annually in October in the Abruzzo region of Italy. The idea of a horror podcast during October leading up to Halloween was an opportunity too good to pass on.
What was the process of developing and producing this podcast like from start to finish?
Very lonely haha (kidding) but what I mean by that is it was a lot of solo work in all aspects. I wrote the story as Prose first and then converted the dialogue into a script with sound effect cues, etc. From there each actor recorded their lines separately. While all that was happening our sound designer and foley Joe was busy figuring out sound effects separately. Most of the sound effects are home made or used from personal archives so it was a unique process. Also our composer lives out of province so his work was solo too. Lots of moving pieces coming together that hopefully sound good.
Were there any specific organizations, grants, or spaces in Guelph that supported this project? How important was that support to getting the production off the ground?
The Guelph Public Library’s Makerspace was crucial during the recording process. PSA: Having a space that is free in the city where you are able to record professional sounding audio is amazing!
How do you see Il Sagra Dei Cuochi fitting into or contributing to the broader Guelph arts scene?
I think Guelph has always had this strong arts culture, and I see this podcast as adding a new layer of audio storytelling. But for me it’s also personal. My Italian side of the family came to Canada and settled in Guelph. My grandfather was a chef at the University for years, and I grew up watching him cook in the basement kitchen of their house on Liverpool Street. So making a food-driven, Italian-inspired story here feels like it’s in conversation with both my family history and the city’s arts scene.
II Sagra Dei Cuochi will premiere Friday October 3rd. Episodes will be released each Friday afterwards during the month of October with the last installment releasing on Halloween for maximum spookiness! You can listen to the podcast on Spotify, Audible, and Apple Podcasts.
