Snapped: Women Who Murder - Bonus: Snapped Executive Producer Brian O’Conner

Episode Date: November 19, 2020

Snapped’s Executive Producer Brian O’Conner talks to Oxygen’s John Thrasher about what it’s like producing Snapped, how the show has changed (and stayed the same) over 28 seasons, and what goes into choosing the stories for the episodes.Snapped’s 500th episode, a 90-minute special, premieres Sunday, November 22, 2020, only on Oxygen.Subscribe to Oxygen’s Martinis & Murder wherever you listen to podcasts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of One Reast Podcast American Scandal. Our newest series looks at the story of OxyContin, a popular painkiller that helps spur an epidemic of addiction and drug abuse, in which prompted a broad campaign to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable. Listen to American Scandal on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, SnapT fans! This is John Thrasher from Oxygen's Other True Crime podcast, Artini's and Murder. On my show, I recently had the chance to sit down and interview Brian O'Connor, a long time executive producer on Snap.

We thought the conversation was so interesting that we'd bring it to you here as a bonus episode on the snapped podcast feed. We hope you enjoy the conversation and of course don't forget that snaps 500th episode that's right 500. Premieres this Sunday, November 22nd as a special 90 minute episode only on Oxygen. Hey everybody, it is just John today on another shot and we're doing a different episode this week in that I recently got the chance to sit down with Brian O'Connor. He is an executive producer, he has many roles, but an executive producer on the OG True Crime Show snapped on Oxygen, and it was such an honor and so much fun to chat with him.

So without further ado, let's get right into my interview with Brian. with him. So without further ado, let's get right into my interview with Brian. As head writer, what exactly can you tell our listeners goes into sort of the decision-making process for an episode and has that changed over the years? I mean, we're on what season now? 27 or 28 have snapped? 28.04 air last Sunday. Yeah, there you go. So the 500th episode is 2808, it's coming up pretty soon. So the show's changed a lot, you know, in its 16 years. You know, when we started, it was always about, it always profiled cases of wealthy women, generally attractive. That has changed a lot over the years.

We cover a lot more cases. We're not limiting ourselves to one profile, if you will. So now we have a full time group of researchers whose sole job is to look for cases. Cases come from everywhere. Totally. We have a spreadsheet, an Excel spreadsheet that is constantly moving up and down.

We have, I was sent a case just like a couple days ago from another producer of a woman who was arrested for allegedly poisoning her husband with mushrooms. So, that was a new one. I have not seen that before. So these cases come from everywhere they come from the police officers in the interview. But generally speaking, we have about 200 potential episodes at the beginning of any given season, and maybe 50 to 60 of those are actually produced.

The criteria is, it always has to have a woman who is convicted of a crime. Sometimes she works alone. Sometimes she has a partner. Sometimes she swings the axe. Sometimes her buddy does. So it really varies. But there always needs to be like a good mystery. Everybody loves a good mystery. It goes back good mystery. You know, I was like, Absolutely. It goes back to like childhood, right? I mean, like, we've been, we're all been told stories,

ghost stories, our whole life. So these are like modern ghost stories, if you will. That's a really good way to put it. And I love that you were just talking about getting suggestions because as a true crime podcaster myself, we are Darren Micahos and I, who is on the show for today's interview, but we are inundated on a daily basis,

in our DMs and on our ad mentions about people wanting to suggest cases to us. We've spent time at CrimeCon, where we're surrounded by, you know, not only just fans, but, you know, victims' families and people who are out there trying to get some of these cold cases solved. How do you handle getting those kind of suggestions?

Do you have a filter for kind of like what ends up on that big Excel sheet and what doesn't? How do you kind of handle all that? Because I'm sure it's a lot of pressure, right? Because we feel pressure on our end at least. Yeah, absolutely. Like you said, we're constantly getting, somebody's always got a case that they're pitching to us. You know, but again, there is certain criteria. So if you're... Well, if one, if you don't have a woman involved...

Well, there you go. That's one way, yeah. That's not gonna work out. You know, over the years, you know, audience have changed, have changed a little bit. I think there's an expectation to tell a good story and to tell a mystery. And when you have a story where the wife picks up the phone and the 911 call and says, I just stabbed my husband well. It's gonna be hard to fill out 43 minutes. I've told him the way. But that's interesting. Are there many cases, I mean, you just kind of alluded to this.

So maybe this is a double question here. But are there cases that you've researched? Maybe you've gotten all the way to maybe the production part of this and then realized actually, you know, we put so much time into it, but it might not make out to be such a great episode. How often does that happen if ever? It does happen. It happens more than you think. That's what I was wondering.

I was thinking that actually. Yeah, so I'm part of a large team of people we meet every week. We talk about the status of the cases. There's a pre-production meeting. There's also a post-production meeting, but we're constantly discussing these cases. And again, we have some Google docs that we use where we're constantly uploading like who's a yay or a nay. You need to reach, these stories are so much better when you have the access of people from both sides

of these cases. If you're limited to one side, I don't think you're getting a full picture. The same is true with police officers and defense attorneys. So a lot of time stories will fail if a lot of times people will say yes initially, then they might have a change of heart. Or somebody might get to them and be like, I don't think it's such a good idea that you do this.

Or for whatever reason. It could be. I personally think once these shows are in motion, you get a much more well-rounded picture of what happened and who these people were when everybody participates. Yeah, no, totally. I mean, we've seen that on our end, I think, as well, and a lot of this stuff. I wanted to ask you about True Crime Podcast in particular, because, like you said, how

many years has it been 16 years of snapped? Yeah, it's a snap first aired in 2004, August 2004. And I was, I was an associate producer. I was, I was a youngling, you know, it's still getting my feet wet in the, in the world of television. But it's, yeah, so I worked on probably the first five or six seasons of the show and, you know, some other projects came up. But then season 22 and now we're in season 28. So season 22, I came back to the show. I got it. And yeah, I mean, it's been great.

I mean, that's amazing. I mean, in 2004, when you started, I don't even think iTunes was a thing yet and certainly not podcasts. So now, here we are in 2020, True Crime podcasts have become such a force in the True crime genre overall. How do you feel about them as a visual storyteller yourself?

Because obviously they have, they're contributing to, I guess you could say the rise in, you know, interest in true crime as a whole. I'm curious if you find them detrimental because you're like, no, you have to see the recreations, you have to see the police footage. How do you sort of see them fitting into what you do on a daily basis? I think podcasts are amazing. I listen to a lot of podcasts myself and you love martini's and murder, right? Absolutely. It's my favorite. Okay. Just making sure that's right. Yeah Whatever your plans this summer podcasts will make them better long road trip podcasts will make them better. Long road trip?

Lose yourself in the season of morbid. While laxing at the beach? Have a good laugh with SmartList. And right now is the perfect time to discover the summer of podcasts with two months free of Wondery Plus. With Wondery Plus, you get early and ad free access to your favorite podcasts. You can also listen to our entire library of award-winning, binge-wready shows. That's thousands of hours of captivating content in any genre you like.

From true crime to business, comedy sports, history, and even podcasts for the whole family. With Wondery Plus, you also get access to special live events found nowhere else, as well as discounts in the Wondery Shop. Don't let the summer of podcasts pass you by. Right now, new subscribers can enjoy two months free of Wondery Plus. Visit Wondery.com or download the Wondery app to get started. So I think these podcasts and television shows they complement each other really well. You know, I always thinking, I guess really the first true crime podcast I really listened

to was serial. So I think what I found so interesting about that show is there's a certain non-linear storytelling taking place. So that's a trend you see now on television, which I think is fascinating. So as a storyteller, I'm always trying to find a new way to tell the same story. We might not always be the first person to a profile, you know, this case. But there's always more than one way to skin a cat like in terms of telling the story.

So, I think that's what I find so fascinating about those podcasts in particular, you know. That's amazing. And you have so much experience with storytelling too. You've interviewed people for snapped from prison, right? Yeah, you know, anytime that we, there's a potential of interviewing somebody in prison, we do it.

I mean, one of the first things we do is, you know, you can't pick up a phone and call a person behind bars. There's a potential of interviewing somebody in prison. We do it. I mean one of the first things we do is You know You can't pick up a phone and call a person behind bars So you do it the old fashioned way you just start you write a letter you explain what you're doing. Oh wow and Yeah, I've had some pin-pull relationships in the past with you know some ladies behind bars interesting Okay, yeah, but it's um it's fascinating to interview people behind bars. I mean, I always go in there and I'm like, ah, I'm gonna figure this out.

You know, like I'm the armchair detective. Right. You know, did they do it or did they not do it? Right, right. You know, but the fact of the matter, it's hard to tell if somebody's telling the truth or not. You can talk to investigators that have been doing this line of work for a long time.

They're like, there's always a till, you know, but I have a hard time. I guess I want to believe what people say naturally sure you know and I found that talking to women behind bars or hitmen or whoever they tend to be pretty open about their life and background and sort of the circumstances leading up to the crime you know but when you get to the crime itself you know like they say there's not a guilty people in jail. That's true.

They have a whole different maybe set of interests, if you will, some conflicts of interest with what they're interested in behind bars versus what you're doing. Why do you think, because you're talking about women and obviously like the true crime genre in general, but especially snapped, is so female-based. Like our listeners or our viewers are overwhelmingly female.

Why do you feel that women love snapped in particular so much? Do you have an opinion on that? I'm curious. Well, that's a guy. That is right. Yeah, right. I think there's a relatability, you know, that snap has, I mean, a lot of time,

I mean, I was thinking about this. I mean, a lot of time, I mean, I was thinking about this. I mean, the people we profile, I mean, they could be pushing a cart next to you in Costco, you know, the next day, they're swinging a bat, you know, at the back of the bag. Right, exactly, yeah, they can. So there's a relateability to it. You know, I don't know if it goes back to that sort of everybody likes a good mystery. I think there's a curiosity about what made this person snap, if you will. What are they? There's always a motive.

I think people are curious why people do what they do. I think there's also this sense, am I capable of doing the same thing, you know, if I, especially if I spend another three months in my house with my husband during the pandemic. It's so funny, yeah, because you and I are storytellers of this genre and I've had the same thing. I'm like, sometimes it's people with all these crazy disturbing childhoods that grow into these monsters, but then it's also like the preacher next door who had an affair with the other guy's wife.

It's just like, it really does run the gamut of, it really could be anyone. Maybe that's where a lot of the interest comes from. It literally could. I mean, there are people who are probably psychopaths, you know, who we have profiled. And then there's people that just are like, I'm tired of this school.

Yeah, exactly. Right. So it literally is across the board. Well, it could be me, it could be you, Brian. You know, you just never really know. That's right. That's right. Don't carry large insurance policies.

That's what I said. Yeah, exactly. This will be interesting evidence in a court of law one day. Anyway, let me ask you this as we begin wrapping up today's episode. And thank you so much again for joining us. Why do you think snapped in particular has stood the test of time over 500 plus episodes because in television, not just in true crime, but especially television, not a lot of shows get to season 28 and counting. So what do you think is the sort of recipe or

the ingredient that makes it work so well? That's an interesting question. It's amazing. I mean when you look at how many shows have run 500 episodes? Exactly. I mean like us and the Simpsons. I don't know. Maybe Saturday Night Live or something. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. I think there's a timelessness to snap. You know, I was thinking about it. You know, we So we produced a show primarily at a Knoxville, Tennessee. We're all southerners. I think there's a, I like to think of comfort food. Maybe snapped as a certain comfort food-ness level. Yeah.

Yeah, I like that comfort food-ness, got it. Yeah, but the show, the show hasn't remained static. It's changed. It's evolved over time. Totally. We've evolved with the culture and sort of the cultural expectations of television. So I work with a lot of talented people. The series is always looking for the, what's the best way to tell a story?

What's the best equipment? The latest equipment? I mean, what's the best equipment, the latest equipment? I mean, the list is really endless, but I think again, there's a, there's a, a relatability about the show and curiosity that people are just kind of drawn to you. Yeah, that's a good way to put it. I should ask my brother, he's the psychologist in the family.

So we can answer this. Let's bring him in if you have him nearby. Yeah, but I think you're so right. And in fact, it kind of goes all the way up to kind of the celebrity angle as well So many famous people have gone on record about how much they love snapped Who is someone as as somebody so involved from the very beginnings of the show? Who is someone you were excited to hear was a fan? And I know you had recently said in another interview that's on oxygenygen.com that modern family did a whole

episode about snapped. So, you know, they're very well aware of it, but was there somebody who kind of stood out when you're like, oh, that's cool. This person like snapped. I like that. Yeah, two people. So, the first person of course is Bill Hader. Of course. When he said that, I was like, oh my god, everybody was sending that link around in the Ox oxygen offices. We were so excited about that. Yeah, I mean, it's amazing. And you watch Barry, and I think about that.

I'm like, did he get some of these ideas from Snap? I mean, is he profiling the mind of a killer? You know? The other thing is, I guess it was last year, I got a text from my brother-in-law, and he's like, oh my gosh, have you heard this song that Cardi B and and Little nass, little nass

Yeah, I know who John met, right? Yeah, the song's rodeo, but but it talks about you know snap being my favorite show So I mean it I was like wow the list is endless. I mean I get excited like a lot of times I'm I'm working in a room By myself and I'm like, you know, I don't totally I don't know what the audience thinks about this and then when you have some shout outs from You know public figures like that. It's it's pretty cool. Definitely. I mean what better way to show your on the In the brim of pop culture than those two references, right? Yeah, it's right. It's amazing You know, but even my aunt, you know, she'll she loves a good snap marathon So you know even that right right she loves a good snap marathon. So even that's right. Right, right.

Rewarding is a producer. So laps or your aunt, whoever you can take, it's always nice to hear that stuff. Brian, thank you so much for taking the time. By the way, we should mention Brian is on set right now filming some things for Snaps 500th episode. We really appreciate you taking the time to chat with us. And good luck.

Hopefully we'll get to maybe 500 more episodes in about what, 16 more years. We'll appreciate you taking the time to chat with us. And good luck. Hopefully, we'll get to maybe 500 more episodes in about what 16 more years will do this again. How about that? I'll have a lot more gray here then. I imagine. But yeah, thank you. That was a lot of fun. Very, very good. Thanks so much, Brian, and have a great day. You too. Thank you. Well, I hope that you guys enjoyed this week's another shot that was such an interesting conversation with Brian. It's so cool to have insight, you know, even working at Oxygen myself, it's just interesting to hear how these people create true crime television, and you don't really get to hear that too often. So, hopefully you loved it, and don't forget to tune in to SnapD on Sundays. This Sunday,

if you're listening to this episode, when it drops, is the 500th episode of SnapD, which is insane, if you ask me. We'll be back this Saturday with a Halloween double feature and back next week with another shot. With Darren, see you guys then, bye! You