Cryptids, a scripted sci-fi horror mystery podcast, was released in September and October 2019. This October saw a follow-up in the form of two variety show special episodes. The series follows Trevor, a late night conspiracy radio show host, and Eve, a hospice worker, as they struggle to find meaning in death with a manta of “eyes to the skies.” The show is a little Twin Peaks, a little X-Files, a little Wayward Pines and a whole lot heartfelt entertainment. After listening to the series of seven episodes, I didn’t want to offer a simple review, so I was fortunate enough to chat all things Cryptids with director/producer Devin Shepherd and writer/co-star Alexander V. Thompson. We avoid spoilers, so feel free to read my interview and then check out Cryptids, or give it a listen and come back here for some behind the scenes fun.

Troy: I really enjoyed Cryptids. It’s relatively short for a podcast, roughly comprised of seven twenty-minute episodes. It feels very literary, with these two fleshed out central characters and a clear beginning, middle, and end. Was it always conceived of as a podcast? Was there talk of continuing the story beyond episode seven?

Devin: It means so much to us that you enjoyed the podcast! Thank you! And yes it is relatively short. We wanted the story to be accessible to almost everyone. I’ve been a big fan of fiction audio and old time radio shows since I was young, and I always had a hard time getting my friends and colleagues to listen to shows because they were a commitment. We purposefully kept the episodes on the shorter side so people could listen - to say - one while on their commute home from work, or cooking dinner - or they could binge the entire series like a movie. (The show comes out to roughly the length of a feature film.) And with that, I could segue into your actual question… no, the podcast was not at first written for audio. The writer, Alex Thompson, came to us with a play he wanted to adapt into a film. The second I saw that the main character was a radio show host I asked if we could adapt it into an audio series instead! To my joy, Alex was just as big of a fan of old time radio as I was, so he agreed!

Currently, we’re in development and seeking partners for season two. Unfortunately, I can’t give you much on it yet, but we’re excited to bring a new world and new characters to the show.

The Cryptids crew in the control room. — The *Cryptids* crew in the control room.

T: You directed and produced the series. What does that entail for a podcast? I imagine it’s juggling acting, writing, and sound engineering?

D: It’s a lot of that, yes! It’s interesting because I think audio fiction directors vary in how much they are involved based on their skillset - some sound design as well as compose as well act as well as write… I was very lucky to have a large enough team that we were able to delegate work and I could focus on the creative. As the director, I worked with Alex to adapt the story to a serial and audio format - like a TV show, then work with the actors on their characters and performances on mic - much like theater, and finally I worked with our sound designer, Gina Zdanowicz, on creating the world through sound - like a feature film. It was a lot of juggling, but by working with each department I was able to create a unified tone and singular experience for the listener.

As a producer, I was very lucky to have two incredible producing partners, Nora Unkel and Gabriel Rosenstein, running the show. During production I was able to step back as a producer and take on the role of director completely while they made sure the set and tech ran smoothly. And it did! My role as producer mainly came on in the development and distribution of the show - working with the team on the marketing materials and the overall look of the show to make sure it hit my target audience and conveyed my intended tone.

T: What are some of the frustrations with telling an art form that’s strictly aural? On the flipside, what do you enjoy about not having to deal with optics to tell a story?

D: Exposition! Pretty much all exposition has to be done through dialogue, as there are no visuals to help cue the audience into something. There is a constant fear that the audience is going to miss a key piece of information if you don’t make it clear - and audible - while at the same time worrying the dialogue sounds too expositional and unrealistic. But the flip side of that, is being able to really work with the actors and Alex if something didn’t work. Because there were no sets to construct or lights to move around, we had time to play on the mic and rewrite lines in the room. The medium was definitely a challenge, but an exciting one! I think it’s always good to challenge your creativity.

T: This is a story about alien chasers and conspiracy theorists. So often in fiction, characters like these are represented as comical idiots or dangerous lunatics. Eve and Trevor are entirely relatable. Was it a conscious choice to explore these characters through a lens of grief? It’s a great way to ground their otherworldly beliefs or obsessions.

Alexander: Thank you! Grief was a driving force with both characters from the earliest versions of the script because it was my own grief that started me writing the story initially. And you’re absolutely right - in most pop culture, UFO & cryptid enthusiasts, and conspiracy theorists in general, are reduced to one broad stereotype or the other. But I really think that if you look deeper, perhaps not all that far, you’ll find that many of these folks are on personal journeys as much as they are on a quest for cryptids - often initiated by some manner of trauma. Survivors want a sympathetic ear, a community, acceptance - a way to understand the new world they live in post-trauma. Some find it in religion, some, like our protagonists, in the search for monsters and aliens. I don’t think these folks deserve scorn, I think their pursuit is entirely, even admirably, human.

T: I love queer-focused stories, but it’s just as important to have casual representation. Trevor’s grief for a loved one is vital to his character, and the story itself, and he just so happens to be gay. The story wouldn’t change at all if his lover had been female. Was there much thought about how implicit/explicit Trevor’s queerness would be?

A: There was. To be perfectly honest, I struggled with it a bit and discussed it with Devin a few times. For context, I’m a straight, cis-gender male. I mention that as I didn’t want to unintentionally patronize listeners by having Trevor’s queerness come across as tokenism. I also didn’t want to delve too deeply into his sexuality, for one because it is not essential to the story, but also because I didn’t want to, again unintentionally, misrepresent the experiences of others. I wholly agree with you, though, that casual representation is important. Ultimately, I felt the most honest way forward was to let Trevor’s sexuality be implicit, and his humanity be central.

The Cryptids cast and crew. — The *Cryptids* cast and crew.

T: Cryptids is produced by Wild Obscura, which is a production company described as “content by/for/about womxn.” I’d love to know a little about how Wild Obscura was formed and the work you’ve done?

D: Of course! Thanks for asking. Wild Obscura is a production company I formed with my producing partner Nora Unkel in 2015. Around that time we were really tired of how womxn were being portrayed in film - they had to always be heroes or villains - the anti-hero womxn was hard to find. So, we started the company to support and create stories that highlighted dark and complex female characters, primarily in the horror/sci-fi genre. We began working with female creatives around the world, producing shorts and feature films. Our first feature film, A Nightmare Wakes, which Nora wrote and directed, just premiered at Salem Horror Film Festival - you’ll be able to watch it next year. Now with Cryptids, we’ve expanded our banner into fiction podcasting and are in development on several more shows.

T: Since Cryptids was brought to Wild Obscura, can you tell me about it’s conception?

A: I wrote the original script as a play in 2008. Since then it’s gone through a handful of drafts as a stage play, one re-configuring as a short radio play in 2016, and several drafts of the podcast, so it’s had quite a journey. Nora and I have bounced story ideas and scripts off of each other for a long time, and I brought her the stage play of Cryptids, I think in 2017. We were initially thinking of making either a film or a pilot of it, but frankly the budget for that approach was daunting. Devin and I share a love of old horror radio and of narrative podcasts, not to mention we could produce an entire season of a podcast for the same cost as a middling pilot, so that was a natural way forward and I’m glad we took that route. Audio is, I think, where the story has lived most naturally so far.

T: What’s next for the Cryptids team? For Wild Obscura?

D: Like I said, we’ve been terribly bitten by the podcasting bug and are in development on new shows! We have a new horror podcast we’re pitching now which Nora wrote with a frequent collaborator of ours, Omri Kadim, and which I’ll be directing. It’s a possession story and I’m personally very excited to be getting back to my horror roots and making something extremely terrifying for audio. There are not enough legitimately scary podcasts! We’re also developing a sci-fi show with a new female writer here in Brooklyn who is very talented and we can’t wait for audiences to hear her work!

Thank you Devin and Alexander for taking the time to chat. I can’t wait to hear what the team comes up with for season two! You can follow the show @CryptidsPodcast and check out some other great projects at Wild Obscura. Eyes to the Skies!