Payne Lindsey

Payne Lindsey is an Atlanta-based director, award-winning documentary filmmaker, and the co-creator and host of the hit podcast “Up and Vanished.” Driven by a new found passion for both the true crime genre and investigative journalism, Lindsey decided to investigate the disappearance of beauty queen and school teacher Tara Grinstead, a notorious decade-old cold case from South Georgia. At the time, he hoped to develop Tara’s story into his own documentary film project. As Lindsey chronicled his investigation in real-time, week by week, in audio form, he ventured into a new field, podcasting. The events of the next 12 months turned Tara Grinstead’s case into one of the biggest crime stories of the year. With over 150 million downloads, “Up and Vanished” propelled Grinstead’s case into the mainstream media, uncovering new evidence that helped to crack the 11-year-old cold case in early 2017 and lead to two arrests. On the strength of the podcast’s success, Lindsey launched Atlanta-based content creation company Tenderfoot TV, along with his business partner Donald Albright. Under Tenderfoot TV, Lindsey will take on a new case in “Up and Vanished: Season 2,” take his documentary skillset to the TV screen with a docu-series for “Up and Vanished” in development with Oxygen, as well as investigate the infamous Atlanta Child Murders in a brand-new podcast “Atlanta Monster.” The core of Lindsey’s work, whether it is investigating, podcasting, or directing, continues to be storytelling that serves as a catalyst for change.

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