‘Reacher’ Star Willa Fitzgerald to Headline Pair of Scripted Podcasts for Fictionz (Podcast News Roundup)

variety.com:

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorIn today’s podcast news roundup, Willa Fitzgerald stars in Fictionz’s two narrative podcast series based on Aimee Bender short stories; influencer Tinx gets a podcast and radio show with SiriusXM; Spotify’s The Ringer deconstructs celebrity tabloid culture; the 2022 Ambies awards nominations are out; and more.Fictionz, the subscription app for narrative podcasts based on short stories, books and original ideas written by women, announced that Willa Fitzgerald (Prime Video’s “Reacher,” MTV’s “Scream”) will narrate and lend her voice to adaptations of two of Aimee Bender’s short stories, “Off” and “Call My Name.” Both are slated to premiere in April on the Fictionz app. “Off” is about a young rich woman at a party with a singular goal — to kiss a redhead, a blond and a brunette — but things don’t go exactly as she planned; her ex-boyfriend (and “the blond”) is being voiced by Will Roland (“Billions”). “Call My Name” is about a lonely woman’s adventure in craving attention and sex from a man who would prefer to watch TV game shows.

Bender adapted her short stories in collaboration with Fictionz in-house writer and producer Tommaso Fiacchino and directors Carrie Blank (“Off”) and Pesha Rudnick (“Call My Name”).

Other series on Fictionz are adapted from works by writers including Lisa Brackmann, Aliya Whiteley, Kelly Robson, Cidinha da Silva, Estella González, Christine Sneed and Laurie Faria Stolarz.

The first episodes of Fictionz’s titles are free; full series are available to paying subscribers ($3.99/month or $39.99/year). SiriusXM signed a deal with Tinx, the social media personality dubbed TikTok’s “big sister,” for a range of new audio content.