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Benztown’s scripted audio drama American Afterlife has won Silver for Best Voice Acting in the Limited Series & Specials category at the 2026 Signal Awards. The honor recognizes the most compelling and vivid performances by a voice actor or ensemble.

Adapted from Pedro Hoffmeister’s bestselling novel of the same name, American Afterlife follows Cielo, an undocumented 15-year-old searching for her mother after a devastating earthquake strikes Eugene, Oregon. The series brings together survival, suspense, and family drama through immersive sound design and a powerful ensemble performance.

“As a director, the actors made my job easier. They all understood their characters which formed the story and drew in the audience,” said William Stuart, director of American Afterlife and a producer of the Academy Award-nominated action blockbuster The Rock, starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage.

The cast is led by Scarlett Estevez as Cielo. Estevez recently appeared alongside Sunny Sandler in Netflix’s Don’t Say Good Luck and is also known for her role as Trixie in Lucifer. The principal cast includes Josh Mesnik as Lucas, Ted Evans as Charles, Angeline Santana as Cielo’s Mom, Estefania Padilla as Teresa, and Phil Leavitt as Adam.

Supporting voices include Ashley Song, Darren Silva, David Greer, Francesca Calvo, Jake Urbanek, MJ Bloch, Robby Gessel, and Susan Aksu-Magarian.

“American Afterlife was a labor of love, and this recognition from the Signal Awards means a great deal to us,” said Dave “Chachi” Denes, President of Benztown. “Our cast and production team poured their talent and creativity into bringing this story to life, and we couldn’t be prouder of what we accomplished together.”

Produced at Benztown’s studios in Glendale, California, American Afterlife was directed by Stuart and produced by Benztown’s Dave “Chachi” Denes and McVay Media’s Mike McVay. The series was written by River Donaghey and Allyson Dwyer.

Jacob Urbanek handled sound design, mixing, and editing, with Darren Silva serving as engineer. Susan Aksu-Magarian oversaw production management and marketing, with additional marketing by Robby Gessel.

Winners are selected by The Signal Awards Judging Academy, an esteemed collective of the medium’s architects, instigators, and trailblazers. Featured Academy members this year include Shayne Topp, host of Smosh Reads Reddit Stories; Dan Roth, Editor in Chief and Vice President, LinkedIn; Crissle West, co-host of The Read; Asma Khalid, co-host of BBC World’s The Global Story; Bobby Finger, host of Who? Weekly; Graham Litten, Podcast Partnerships, YouTube; and Stephanie Kuo, Vice President of Content, PRX. A complete directory of judges is available at signalaward.com/judges.

“Podcasting is no longer defined by a single format, platform or approach to storytelling, and this year’s submissions make that evolution impossible to ignore,” said Jemma Brown, GM of The Signal Awards. “Charts and download counts can only tell us what’s popular. At Signal, our role is to notice the creative risks that are quietly changing what everyone else makes next. This year’s Winners offer a first look at podcasting’s next chapter.”

Each year, The Signal Awards present Gold, Silver, and Bronze honors, while the listening public votes for their favorite finalists to receive the Listener’s Choice Award in each category. In 2026, Listener’s Choice voting drew more than 260,000 votes from 94,000 listeners.