What do you get when a filmmaker produces a podcast? In the case of <\/span>Up and Vanished<\/span><\/i>, a pretty damn good investigative documentary-style program that makes a difference!<\/span><\/p>\n

Payne Lindsey is that aforementioned filmmaker. Payne became aware of the 2005 disappearance of beauty queen and high school teacher Tara Grinstead due to its reputation as the largest case file in Georgia state history. He began researching, and subsequently discovered a closer connection to the case than he ever anticipated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He recorded his research and interviews with key witnesses in a podcast-style format detailing the specifics of the cold case. <\/span>Up and Vanished<\/span><\/i> premiered on August 7, 2016, its first s<\/span>eason dedicated to exploring it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The podcast is credited with reigniting the discussion on the case after it sat dormant for twelve years. This is just another example of my core belief that true-crime podcasts aren\u2019t just entertainment. Many of them serve a very valuable purpose in society by keeping these cases alive.<\/span><\/p>\n

Keeping true to that purpose, in 2018, <\/span>Up and Vanished<\/span><\/i> published a second season dedicated to the 2016 disappearance of Kristal Reisinger\u2014a young mother who went missing in Crestone, CO.<\/span><\/p>\n

I recently had the pleasure of having a conversation with Payne. We had an in-depth discussion about his work on <\/span>Up and Vanished<\/span><\/i> as well as the medium of podcasting.<\/span><\/p>\n

I asked him if digging into the case of Tara Grinstead was the motivation for starting <\/span>Up and Vanished<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u201cI wanted to start the podcast first,\u201d<\/span><\/i> Payne corrected me. <\/span>\u201cI then went searching for a true-crime case to cover. I eventually landed on the disappearance of Tara Grinstead.\u201d <\/span><\/i>He went on to explain that this case was one of the bigger ones in his home state of Georgia. <\/span>\u201cAt the time, I didn\u2019t know anything about starting a podcast or diving into this type of investigative story.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

He had a good instinct about what it took, though. He specifically chose this case because it would be close to home, and he could easily conduct the necessary interviews to compile a top-notch investigative report.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Payne also had some familiarity with the region. <\/span>\u201cI was loosely familiar with the general area where Tara went missing,\u201d<\/span><\/i> he explained. <\/span>\u201cMy grandma is from a small town called Tifton, which is only about 20 minutes from Ocilla, GA, where Tara disappeared.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

After he spent a number of months digging into the case, he found an unusual connection. <\/span>\u201cI had a conversation with my grandma one day, and she told me that her best friend was one of the last people to see Tara alive,\u201d<\/span><\/i> Payne shared. <\/span>\u201cIt was a lightbulb moment that confirmed for me the type of case I should be working on. It felt like it was right, so I kept going. That was the turning point in how serious I was taking what I was doing, as before that, I was really figuring it out along the way.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Payne certainly isn\u2019t the first podcaster to \u201cfigure it out\u201d as he goes. But, as he put it, he <\/span>\u201ctried to use that to his advantage.\u201d<\/span><\/i> This was particularly valuable when conducting his interviews. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI created relationships with people that may have been different than those they had with law enforcement or other news agencies,\u201d<\/span><\/i> Payne explained. <\/span>\u201cIt was just me. There was no one else. The buck stops here. It was basically like <\/span><\/i>\u2018It\u2019s just me and my podcast, and I want to talk to you about this missing woman.\u2019 <\/span>That was the approach that I took, and I think that in small-town Georgia, it worked very well. I was able to gain the trust of a lot of people and create valuable and resourceful relationships that started to turn over some stones.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

I joked with Payne that he certainly isn\u2019t an amateur anymore. Specifically, I made mention of his interviewing style. When you listen to <\/span>Up and Vanished<\/span><\/i>, you notice that during the interviews, you hear very little of Payne. He wisely lets his interviewees talk for as long as possible, only asking his next question when it is necessary\u2014after it is clear that the person he is speaking with is truly done with his or her thought.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I asked him if that interviewing talent was something he consciously brought to the podcast from day one, or if it was skill he honed later.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s probably a little bit of both,\u201d<\/span><\/i> answered Payne. <\/span>\u201cOne of my uncle\u2019s mottos is,<\/span><\/i> \u2018Say less.\u2019 <\/span>That idea has stuck in my head. Silence is uncomfortable. Not filling the air with the next question and letting the silence hang causes people to start talking again. Before you know it, they\u2019re talking about that very thing they didn\u2019t plan on talking about, or they\u2019re becoming more comfortable with talking to you. There are countless times when I would inhale to almost say something, and the person would start going again, so I would just shut up. Each time I did that, I got something pretty powerful or worthwhile.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Payne\u2019s uncle seems to have given him some good advice. It is definitely working for the podcast. Whether you are listening to <\/span>Up and Vanished<\/span><\/i> for entertainment, for a specific interest in one of the cases, or both, your mind begins to form a clearer picture of the case from the interviews.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since Payne is first and foremost a filmmaker, I asked if he had a favorite in either filmmaking or podcasting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI like them both,\u201d <\/span><\/i>Payne answered. <\/span>\u201cThere is a lot of crossover and similarity. At the end of the day, a good story is a good story whether it\u2019s a podcast, a book, a short story, a short film, a feature-length movie, or a six-part scripted series on Netflix. At the core of what I like to produce is strong storytelling. I tend to put a cinematic lens on my podcasts. I want them to play out like a really compelling movie.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

We continued to compare and contrast the world of film and podcasting as it was intriguing to delve into the mind of a filmmaker and the art of not having the visual element at your disposal. Payne mentioned the need to paint a picture in the mind of the listener similar to how an author does with a good book. He stressed that in the end, it is all about quality storytelling. <\/span>\u201cI think that any good film idea or script with the right interpretation could be a good podcast,\u201d<\/span><\/i> he concluded.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Given that <\/span>Up and Vanished<\/span><\/i> is credited with reigniting the Tara Grinstead case, which led to arrests in February and March of 2017, I asked Payne if that serves as his top motivation for continuing with his work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo do it and keep doing it, you have to like storytelling,\u201d <\/span><\/i>answered Payne. <\/span>\u201cYou have to like the entertainment aspect of it. But when it gets tough to manage relationships, people\u2019s emotions, and all the sensitivities that come with a murder case, it can become really heavy. The thing that really pushes me through is the idea that maybe through all of this, I can make a difference. Maybe something will shake loose based upon the momentum I am providing the case, and maybe, just maybe, we\u2019ll find out who did it. I\u2019ve learned that it can and does happen.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Fans of <\/span>Up and Vanished<\/span><\/i> will be happy to learn that Payne\u2019s brand of storytelling will be on display again in Season 3, coming out possibly as soon as late 2021. Whenever it\u2019s released, it is sure to be entertaining and just as sure to make a difference.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What do you get when a filmmaker produces a podcast? In the case of Up and Vanished, a pretty damn good investigative documentary-style program that makes a difference! Payne Lindsey is that aforementioned filmmaker. Payne became aware of the 2005 disappearance of beauty queen and high school teacher Tara Grinstead due to its reputation as the largest case file in Georgia state history. He began researching, and subsequently discovered a closer connection to the case than he ever anticipated.\u00a0 He recorded his research and interviews with key witnesses in a podcast-style format detailing the specifics of the cold case. Up<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":9974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[838,839,840,844,216,836,837],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n