Cliffhanger: Untold, Unsolved, BC is a podcast series created and developed as a practicum project during my diploma at BCIT. Alongside my co-creator and co-host Spencer Hall, Cliffhanger was our answer to Buzzfeed Unsolved–with a British Columbian twist.
Instead of taking over one of the existing podcasts available to us for our practicum, Spencer and I were eager to develop our own. Spencer, an avid true crime fan, and myself as a fan of the supernatural but not so much a fan of crime-casting, came up with Cliffhanger to tackle unsolved and unexplained mysteries in British Columbia. With the growing popularity of true-crime in 2021, we needed to make our show not only stand out from other shows in the genre, but also fit into the existing podcast programming of Evolution.
We took Cliffhanger from an idea, through development and into a produced podcast in a matter of months. Pitching a new format to our school’s network, creating a new social media strategy, distinguishing ourselves in the genre, and producing a podcast at a distance with minimal equipment at our home “studios” were our main challenges. In the end, we created a four episode largely light-hearted mystery project that I am proud of to this day.
Alongside being the producer and a co-host, my primary jobs for Cliffhanger included editing the podcast down from our hour long conversations to a 30-minute digestible format as well as creating promotional content. The latter of which involved graphic and motion design as I found ways to post clips on social media in an entertaining way.
Cliffhanger: Untold, Unsolved, BC
Created by Brooke McCarthy and Spencer Hall for Evolution 107.9
Hosted by Spencer Hall with Brooke McCarthy
Written by Spencer Hall
Produced and Edited by Brooke McCarthy
Graphics by Brooke McCarthy