Battle of Backbone Mountain

Payne Lindsey is an American director, documentary filmmaker, Right Side of the Tree lead singer and podcast host.[1] He is best known for co-creating and hosting the hit investigative journalist and true crime podcasts Up and Vanished and Atlanta Monster.[2][3][4][5]

Early life

Lindsey was born and raised in Kennesaw, Georgia.[6][7] He obtained his first video camera at age 10 and later directed local television commercials and music videos.[7] As a child, he wanted to direct feature films.[8] Lindsey made a 13-minute documentary film about people that he met on a cross-country road trip and entered it into festivals.[7] He attended college on and off for a few years, but hated school. At age 23, his dad cut him off and he began focusing on creating and directing videos.[8]

Career

Up and Vanished

In December 2015, Netflix released Making a Murderer. Lindsey watched the show and realized that he wanted to do something similar.[7] With an early interest in investigative journalism, Lindsey was inspired to investigate the disappearance of beauty queen and school teacher Tara Grinstead,[9] a well-known cold case in Georgia.[10] At the time, Lindsey's intentions were to develop Grinstead's story into a documentary film, but he realized he did not have the funds to film interviews on location. Lindsey realized that he "could produce a podcast at home in my boxers," and created Up and Vanished.[7] Lindsey did not have access to police files, so instead scoured through old news articles and online forums to hunt out possible leads.[11] Lindsey's grandmother lived in Tifton, Georgia, near Ocilla, where Grinstead had gone missing.[12] Lindsey broadcast in real-time, week by week, in audio form. Within a 12-month period the podcast received over 50 million downloads,[13] which propelled Grinstead's case into the mainstream[14] media.[15] This helped uncover previously unnoticed evidence which lead to the decade-old case being cracked and two arrests made.[11] Lindsey began podcasting full time once Up and Vanished increased in popularity.[7] A second season of Up and Vanished covered the disappearance of Kristal Reisinger.[16]

Tenderfoot TV

After Up and Vanished, together with his business partner Donald Albright,[17][18] Lindsey launched the content creation company Tenderfoot TV which is based in Atlanta. Together with Tenderfoot TV and Oxygen[19] Lindsey and Albright developed a TV docu-series from Up and Vanished.[20][21] As of January 2020, Oxygen and Tenderfoot TV are working to develop a television special about Kristal Reisinger which will be produced by Lindsey.[16]

In addition to Up and Vanished and Atlanta Monster, Tenderfoot TV also produced the podcasts To Live and Die in L.A.,[22] Culpable,[23] and Somebody.[24] Meredith Stedman is the Creative Producer at the company.[22] As of June 2019, the company had over 400 million total downloads for its podcasts.[22] Tenderfoot TV is represented by United Talent Agency.[22]

Atlanta Monster

In early 2018, in partnership with HowStuffWorks,[25] Lindsey launched Atlanta Monster, a new podcast about the infamous Atlanta Child Murders, which occurred between 1979 - 1981 with over 25 victims murdered in Atlanta.[26][27] Lindsey had never heard of the case until his business partner, Donald Albright, told him about the murders.[28][29] Lindsey hosted the podcast and conducted the interviews featured on the podcast.[30] The podcast had over 70 million downloads.[30]

Radio Rental

In fall 2019, Payne Lindsey announced and released the first episode of a new podcast that features true stories with a fictional backdrop, Radio Rental.[4] Lindsey asked Atlanta citizens to reach out and share the paranormal and scary stories to share on the podcast.[30] The podcast is hosted by a fictional character, a 1980s-era video store employee named Terry Carnation, played by Rainn Wilson.[4] Lindsey and Wilson connected after Wilson tweeted that he loved Lindsey's podcast, Atlanta Monster.[4]

Personal life

Lindsey is from Georgia and resides in Atlanta.[4][31] In September 2016, Lindsey married Cassie House.[7][32] According to the Up and Vanished website, Lindsey has a brother, Mason Lindsey, who works as a producer for Tenderfoot TV.[33] He is the cousin of 98.5 The Sports Hub radio host Rich Shertenlieb.

Filmography

  • Just Like You (2014)[34]
  • Our People (2015)[35]
  • Thank Yo Mamma (2015)[36]
  • Up and Vanished: The TV Show (2018)

References

  1. ^ Miller, Laura (March 19, 2018). "The true-crime podcast Atlanta Monster is a meandering mess of a mystery with a hapless detective at its center". Slate. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  2. ^ "How 'Up and Vanished' Podcast Helped Solve Cold Murder Case". Rollingstone. 2017-03-17. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  3. ^ "How two men turned a Google search and $100 into a hit podcast and a TV deal". Washington Post. 2017-09-09. Retrieved 2018-03-01.
  4. ^ a b c d e Ho, Rodney (November 4, 2019). "Payne Lindsey's latest suspense-laden podcast 'Radio Rental' uses Rainn Wilson ('The Office') as fictional host". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  5. ^ House, Margaret Mitchell. "Billy Jensen in conversation with Payne Lindsey". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  6. ^ Bevington, Rickey (August 20, 2018). "'Up And Vanished' Season 2 Is 'A Deep Dive Into People'". Georgia Public Broadcasting. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Henry, Scott (April 12, 2017). "What inspired Payne Lindsey to create the Up and Vanished podcast". Atlanta Magazine. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  8. ^ a b Hutcheson, Susannah (March 20, 2018). "How I became a podcast creator: Payne Lindsey's hit series leads to TV deal". USA Today. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  9. ^ "Atlanta filmmaker reignites interest in Tara Grinstead disappearance". WRBL News. 2016-12-28. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  10. ^ Joyner, Chris (2017-03-16). "AJC Watchdog: Grinstead murder mystery hampered by Georgia secrecy". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  11. ^ a b "'How I helped solve a decade-old missing person's case with my podcast'". Cosmopolitan. 2018-02-05. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  12. ^ Bricker, Tierney (November 17, 2018). "The Shocking True Story of Up and Vanished: How an Arm-Chair Detective Solved a 12-Year Old Cold Case". E! News. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  13. ^ "Live stream: 'Up and Vanished' creator answers your questions live". USA Today. 2017-12-14. Retrieved 2018-03-03.
  14. ^ "Arrest Made In Decadelong Cold Case After Podcast Renews National Attentionn". Huffington Post. 2017-02-24. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  15. ^ "'Up and Vanished' podcast host on arrests in case, success of series". Fox. 2017-07-14. Retrieved 2018-03-03.
  16. ^ a b Czachor, Emily Mae (January 8, 2020). "Up and Vanished First Look: See Which True Crime Cases Oxygen Will Tackle This Season!". E! News. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  17. ^ "Atlanta filmmaker reignites interest in Tara Grinstead disappearance". USA Today. 2017-03-26. Retrieved 2018-03-01.
  18. ^ "A true crime podcast will explore the chilling disappearances and murders of over 22 children — and it will be your new obsession". This Insider. 2018-01-05. Retrieved 2018-03-01.
  19. ^ "'Up and Vanished' Co-Creators Dig Deep Into Atlanta Murders With New Podcast (Exclusive)". Entertainment Tonight. 2018-05-01. Retrieved 2018-03-01.
  20. ^ "Oxygen Expands Crime Development Slate With Four New Projects Including 'Up & Vanished' Based On Podcast". Deadline. 2017-11-13. Retrieved 2018-03-01.
  21. ^ Hernandez, Emma (February 15, 2020). "Up and Vanished's Payne Lindsey Uncovers 'Damning Stories' in Jodi Huisentruit's Disappearance". In Touch Weekly. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  22. ^ a b c d White, Peter (June 20, 2019). "'Atlanta Monster' Producer Tenderfoot TV Lines Up True Crime Podcast Series 'Insomniac'". Deadline. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  23. ^ "Tenderfoot TV and Black Mountain Media launch Culpable, a new true-crime podcast". PodNews. June 20, 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  24. ^ "INTRODUCING SOMEBODY EPISODE 1: COURTNEY". The Intercept. April 15, 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  25. ^ "Hear the trailer for new true crime podcast exploring the Atlanta Child Murders". Entertainment Weekly. 2017-09-07. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  26. ^ ""Atlanta Monster": In Pursuit of Justice and a Hit Podcast". The New Yorker. 2018-02-12. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  27. ^ "'Up and Vanished' Co-Creators Dig Deep Into Atlanta Murders With New Podcast (Exclusive)". CBS. 2018-01-05. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  28. ^ Larson, Sarah (February 12, 2018). ""Atlanta Monster": In Pursuit of Justice and a Hit Podcast". The New Yorker.
  29. ^ Ho, Rodney. "'Up and Vanished' podcaster tackles Wayne Williams, Atlanta missing child murders". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  30. ^ a b c "Payne Lindsey talks podcast news on Good Day Atlanta". Fox 5 Atlanta. September 2, 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  31. ^ Everett, Cristina (April 12, 2017). "Serial 2.0: How the Up and Vanished podcast helped crack a 2005 cold case". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  32. ^ Thorpe, Jen (June 21, 2017). "AudioBoom Debuts In-House Network of Original Podcasts". Podcaster News. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  33. ^ "About". Tenderfoot TV.
  34. ^ "Just Like You (2014)". IMDB. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  35. ^ "Our People (2015)". IMDB. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  36. ^ "Thank Yo Mamma (2015)". IMDB. Retrieved 2018-03-05.

External links