Augustine Institute Studios

06/06/2026

Meet Senior Director of Creative Content PAUL!

Paul McCusker is a writer and dramatist best known for his work on the long-running children’s audio program Adventures in Odyssey and award-winning Radio Theatre productions for the Augustine Institute and Focus on The Family. His published works include The Adventures of Nick & Sam first-reader series; The Virtue Chronicles series for 10-13 year-olds; The Imagination Station book series, the Passages series (tie-in novels to Adventures in Odyssey); adult mysteries and thrillers; biographies; plays and musicals.
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His audio drama work for the Augustine Institute includes Brother Francis: The Barefoot Saint of Assisi (winner of the 2018 Audie Award for Best Audio Drama), The Trials of Saint Patrick, Ode to Saint Cecilia, The Victory of Joan of Arc and The Legends of Robin Hood.

He is the writer and director of the new children's audio drama series Welcome to Hope Springs (Bronze winner for Entertainment: Children/Young Adult Program in the 2026 NY Festivals Radio Awards).

Paul is currently Senior Director of Creative Content for the Augustine Institute in St Louis. He lives in Missouri with his wife and daughter.

06/05/2026

We are thrilled to announce that Welcome to Hope Springs is now officially an AWARD-WINNING audio drama series! Welcome to Hope Springs is a 2026 winner!

🥉The series was awarded a Bronze trophy in the "Entertainment: Children/Young Adult Program" category & was considered a finalist in both the "Entertainment: Drama Special" and "Podcast: Drama Podcast" categories.

This is the first production the Augustine Institute has submitted to the New York Festivals and we are humbled by the results! Congratulations to the cast, crew, and creative team involved with Welcome to Hope Springs, especially writer/director Paul McCusker. Sincere thanks to the New York Festivals Radio Awards Grand Jury for this recognition, which places the Augustine Institute alongside the world's finest audio storytellers.

If you love entertaining children's content that's fun for the whole family, go listen to this award-winning audio drama series! Seasons 1 & 2 are out NOW! You can find Welcome to Hope Springs everywhere that you get your podcasts. 🎧🎙🏔

Learn more at www.hopesprings.org!

05/29/2026

Exciting news! This year our team earned 10 wins in the 47th Annual Telly Awards! 🏆⁠

⁠Foretold took home 2 Silver 🥈& 4 Bronze awards🥉
The 3rd Season of What Catholics Believe - one Bronze🥉
How to Advent - 2 Bronze🥉
Drawing Closer to God - one Bronze🥉

For the first time ever, we took home a for the Craft of Writing for our production of Foretold!

For the full list of Telly Award winners, go to www.tellyawards.com/winners/. Congratulations to all of the amazing production companies who won this year.

We’re grateful to keep sharing stories that help Catholics understand, live, and share their faith & we're honored to receive this recognition from the Telly Award judges.

05/20/2026

🎧Have you listened to our newest audio drama yet? 🎙

Growing up can be an incredible adventure. And that’s before you throw in the lost treasures, mysterious messages, and podcasting rivalries. But hey, that’s just life in Hope Springs, where even the ordinary becomes extraordinary. An original audio drama podcast series from the Augustine Institute and award-winning author Paul McCusker, Welcome to Hope Springs will delight children ages 10-12 with its faith, charm, and wonder.

If you loved Season 1, you'll be excited to hear that all 9 episodes of Season 2 were released on Monday! You can listen to both seasons wherever you get your podcasts or on Formed. Now that kids are out of school and vacations are on the horizon, It's the perfect show for summer listening with your whole family.

Follow on your favorite podcast platform and give the show a rating & a review. Go to hopesprings.org to find out more (link in our bio). 🚂🛤🏔

Tune in to Hope Springs, an Augustine Institute original audio drama podcast following the adventures of Catholic kids.

05/20/2026

Meet Editor and Director, SOLENNE!
Ever since she was little, Solenne has been enamored by the beauty of God’s creation and has always tried to capture it - whether that literally meant scooping up a butterfly in a net or sitting behind a camera to film and preserve a moment in time. These combined interests of nature and video eventually found their outlet on YouTube, where she began creating educational content about exotic pets. After growing her channel to over 100K subscribers and graduating from Olympic College with her Associate in Arts, she joined Augustine Institute Studios in 2022. Today, she works as an editor and director, and occasionally pops up on camera as the host of How To Advent and How To Lent on Formed. She loves getting to make beautiful content for Jesus - and when she doesn't have a camera out, she can be found hiking, playing Catan and Scrabble, or tending to her small menagerie of critters.

05/11/2026

Our favorite team bonding activity? Building apple boxes! 🍎📦

Thanks to an awesome woodworking lesson from Justin, our team successfully built our first apple box together. We can't wait to build more to use on set!

05/01/2026

Meet Editor JACOB!
It didn’t take Jacob long to decide what he wanted to do with his future after getting hold of a camera as a kid. Growing up in Colorado, he spent countless afternoons photographing the scenic landscapes which quickly evolved into the love of storytelling and the cinematic language of narrative film. Graduating from John Paul the Great Catholic University in San Diego, Jacob studied production and screenwriting and received the Cinematic Arts Award for his senior thesis, The Purple Heart – a short film exploring the themes of loss and forgiveness through a guilt-ridden soldier returning home from the second world war. He joined the Augustine Institute Studios in 2023 as an editor and specializes in color grading and gaffing. He continues to write spec scripts on his own time and loves collecting his favorite films on Bluray.

04/21/2026

🎞 Go Behind the Scenes of SYMBOLON: THE FAITH OF THE CHURCH

Celebrating its refreshed debut, the Augustine Institute's foundational faith formation series Symbolon is new and more relatable than ever. Unlock the profound beauty and depth of the Catholic faith with Symbolon: The Faith of the Church. Join Taylor Kemp, Noelle Garcia, and Augustine Institute theologians on a transformative journey across America, delving into Catholicism's rich history, core teachings, and spiritual practices. This 16-episode series, guided by the Creed, explores everything from the sacraments to inspiring saintly stories, empowering you to understand, live, and share your faith confidently.

Head over to Formed to watch the whole series! Enhance your experience with leaders and participant guides, featuring discussion questions, scripture, artwork, and guided prayer meditations. Get yours today at Catholic Market!

04/15/2026

Meet Producer and Talent Coordinator MADISON!
Born and raised in Houston, TX, Madison stepped onto a stage for the first time at age 5, and her lifelong love of the arts began. Madison holds a BFA in Theatre Performance and Production from Texas State University and has worked professionally for arts and educational nonprofits across the country over the past decade. A few years after undergrad, she felt called to pursue theological studies full-time, and went on to earn an MA in Pastoral Theology from the Augustine Institute. She couldn’t stay away from the arts for long. As a student, she worked part-time for Studios and gladly accepted an invitation to join the team full-time after graduation. Madison goes to the theatre as often as she can, and you'll often see her out and about attending local productions in St. Louis. She also loves immersing herself in the wonderful world of audio content—especially audio dramas! Madison is an Associate Producer of the newly released audio drama series Welcome to Hope Springs and is responsible for casting the first three seasons of the show. Madison loves going to the beach, lattes (both hot and iced), breakfast tacos (at any time of day), and watching SNL every Saturday night with her husband, Kyle.

04/08/2026

🖍Go Behind the Scenes of DRAWING CLOSER TO GOD

Journey through the Bible with the whole family! Join art teacher Ms. Kim as she teaches children to draw different scenes from Scripture, including the Annunciation, the shepherds' visit, the Nativity scene, Jesus' Passion, Resurrection, and more. With compelling storytelling, Ms. Kim points out key details from Scripture and Catholic tradition.

As kids follow along and learn new art skills, they also learn to see the connections between the big picture of God's story and their place within it.

Head over to Formed to draw along with Ms. Kim! watch.formed.org/drawing-closer-to-god

Make sure to also check out the Drawing Closer to God Coloring Book and Digital Coloring Book — both can be found at catholic.market.

"Do your best, and let God do the rest!"



📸 Amy Frazier