1428 Elm talks to Alexandra Orton, showrunner for Hulu mashup series Out There: Crimes of the Paranormal

Out There: Crimes of the Paranormal made its debut on Hulu in late September, and it's a unique blend of two different genres. That makes sense, because Out There is brought to us by Duplass Brothers, who also produce the Sasquatch series for Hulu. They also created Evil Genius: The True Story of America's Most Diabolical Bank Heist for Netflix (and if you haven't seen that one, watch it as soon as you finish reading this interview; it's truly jaw-dropping).

1428 Elm had the opportunity to interview Out There: Crimes of the Paranormal showrunner Alexandra Orton. In our interview, Orton gives us the 411 on how the series came to be and on her own favorites in the horror genre.

1428 Elm: Out There: Crimes of the Paranormal is an unusual series, in that it fits in both the true crime and paranormal categories. As the showrunner, what were the unique challenges presented with this format?

Alexandra Orton: Probably the biggest challenge was finding compelling stories that checked both of those boxes. There are a lot of spooky stories out there and sadly a lot of crimes, but there are fewer true crimes that have inspired paranormal explanations. At the same time, each of these crimes or disappearances happened to real people. They devastated loving families and shattered communities. We knew that we had to set ourselves a higher bar than a mere ghost story. In each case, the supernatural theory had to say something about us as human beings. So in The Pope Lick Goatman, we're exploring why young people are drawn to cheating death. In Smoky Mountain Nightmare, we're exploring how unfathomable it is to comprehend losing a child. And in The Shape-Shifting Defense we're looking at how people with power manipulate and weaponize other people's beliefs against them. There's always a bigger picture question about humanity at play.

1428 Elm: Looking at your past projects, you have solid experience working on documentaries, but is paranormal content something you were interested in originally?

AO: In documentary, I'm always looking for stories with strong characters. When I watch a doc, I want to meet people I could never meet in my normal life and I want to walk away feeling like I understand a bit about them -- and maybe have a few new insights into myself as well. This series is full of people like that, so it was a natural fit for me. But growing up, I was a huge fan of The X Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In some ways, I think this series dovetails with what those fictional series did best. Buffy used horror metaphors to depict the ways growing up is hell. It's a really heightened way to explore universal themes. That's what Out There does too. And when we were breaking stories in the edit, I'd constantly think about The X Files. Each episode arc needed the Mulder POV ("What's the paranormal explanation for this?") AND the Scully POV ("What's the rational, material explanation for what happened here?"). The best episodes give equal weight to both perspectives, and the audience gets to decide for themselves. It was cool to flex that storytelling muscle. I'd also add that one of my favorite emotions to feel as a human being is a sense of wonder. Sometimes it's hard to get that in doc. You're dealing with so much injustice and crime. And this series of course has those darker elements, but there are moments we spend with Granger Taylor in his spaceship or with people during Hungry Ghost Month where I am just overwhelmed by a sense of wonder. The world is so big and complex. How could we ever believe we have all the answers? How could we ever think we'll come to the end of our learning and discovery? It was a privilege to work on something that gave me those feelings every week.

1428 Elm: How did you end up involved in Out There: Crimes of the Paranormal?

AO: The amazing folks at Duplass Brothers and I had been trying to work together for a while. So when they and the team at Number 19 (Josh Rofe, Steven Berger, and M. Elizabeth Hughes) approached me about this series, I jumped at the chance. I was a big fan of Sasquatch, their previous Hulu hit. It was so entertaining and so smart. They are uniquely good at setting the tone of a story and getting the viewer hooked.

1428 Elm: For the sake of our readers who haven’t watched yet, tell us the premise of Out There: Crimes of the Paranormal and how it differs from most docu-series.

AO: Out There is an eight episode docu-series in which each episode explores a true crime that was so mysterious or inexplicable that it inspired a paranormal explanation. We tell the stories through the people who lived them -- the families whose loved ones died or went missing, the cops and journalists who tracked down evidence, and the people who became convinced that the explanation was supernatural. We spend time in their different towns and subcultures, and we really try to understand their experiences. So if you like true crime, the show is for you. If you're into the paranormal or big existential mysteries, we've got tons of that. And if you just want to travel around parts of the country you might never see in person and get to know the locals, we've got that too. You get a really fascinating tour of North America through a completely new lens.

1428 Elm: I watched the Smokey Mountain Nightmare episode this morning, which was fascinating. With an incident that happened so long ago (1969 in this case), how hard is it to track down people who were involved at that time to conduct interviews?

AO: It's definitely tricky. And sometimes we contacted people who weren't able to film due to their advanced age, which we always respected. But the people who sat down with us were wonderful. That park ranger, Dwight McCarter, is a true hero. I've never met anyone in real life who reminded me more of a classic Jimmy Stewart character. That episode has one of the anecdotes that stuck with me the most in the series. The story is about a little boy who goes missing -- in mere seconds -- in the Smoky Mountains, and his disappearance sparks the greatest search in National Park history. The whole country is glued to the TV, praying for this sweet little boy to be found unharmed. Toward the end of the episode, one of the subjects recalls bumping into the little boy's grandfather years down the road. And his interaction with that grandfather... I don't want to spoil it for viewers, but it moves me every time I think about it. You know, I've never seen a Tennessee Wildman, but I sure know what it's like to love someone so much that I'll never move on if I lose them. These are really universal stories.

1428 Elm: Everyone involved did a great job with covering a wide variety of subjects (witches, UFOs, Skinwalkers, ghosts, etc.). How were theses particular stories chosen for the series?

AO: When we were breaking stories in development, we'd look for mysteries that involved specific myths or supernatural subjects, but ultimately we filmed the strongest narratives. One of our associate producers found the witches story at the 11th hour, and it really felt like the missing piece in the series. I loved how much that episode interrogated our feelings about women. And then other episodes like Ghosts of Chinatown and The Shape-Shifting Defense took a lot of careful, thoughtful planning to bloom because they touched on specific cultural beliefs that are often misrepresented in mainstream media. The key to unlocking those was booking really talented directors and associate producers who happened to belong to those communities. Those stories needed to be told from the inside out, with the active participation of the communities involved. And I think that authenticity really shines through when you watch.

1428 Elm: If you are allowed to talk about it, are you hopeful that Out There: Crimes of the Paranormal may return for a second season, or is it only intended as a limited series?

AO: It's too early to know, but I'd love to see a second season. We hope the audience embraces it and it has a long future, because there are certainly more stories to tell.