NYWIFT Blog

By Ana Juanola

Welcome to NYWIFT, Georeen Tanner!

Georeen Tanner is a versatile producer with over 15 years of experience working cross-platform for FOX News Media.

She has produced live and taped programming for FOX News Channel and FOX Business Network, and has created content for FOX News Digital. With FOX News Audio, she ventured into podcasting, winning an award from the San Francisco Press Club for her 2022 podcast Nightmare in Chowchilla: The School Bus Kidnapping.

She now produces for the streaming service FOX Nation. Her latest project is the four-part series He Killed Them All? The Robert Durst Investigation, which she produced and narrated.

NYWIFT Member Georeen Tanner

Could you give our readers a brief introduction to yourself?

In elementary school, I was frequently admonished for talking too much. Now, I work in media. Life is funny that way. I attended Rutgers-New Brunswick intending to study psychology, but a very dynamic Media 101 professor changed my mind, and I graduated with a degree in Journalism and Media Studies. It really set the stage for my career.

I worked a thousand jobs before I finally landed a full-time position on a live weekend program at FOX News Channel. As a PA, I learned everything I wasn’t formally taught in school and then some.

What brings you to NYWIFT?

I want to be in community with other women who do what I do. I’ve been in this industry a long time, and I’ve kept my head down and done the work, but I’m ready to come out of the shadows and be bold in my work. My hope is to draw strength and inspiration from others and also be a light to someone else on their path. We can learn so much from each other, and I want to keep expanding.

What belief or piece of advice has most shaped the way you approach your work as a producer?

Over the years, I’ve covered some fairly emotional moments in people’s lives, moments that might not be shared, let alone on a national platform. I strive to approach everyone who is brave enough to entrust me with a piece of their life with grace and humanity. I’ve worked hard not to lose that.

We are telling real people’s stories. These aren’t just assignments—they are people. You come into someone’s life fairly briefly to talk about a moment in time, and then you get to leave. But that moment stays with the person long after you’re gone. They’re living with it. Keep that in mind.

You have over 15 years of experience producing live and taped television. How has the fast-paced world of news production shaped your storytelling instincts?

People care about what affects them directly. That’s something I’m mindful of as I look for stories. This one issue may be important to someone in Connecticut, but what about Tennessee? Oregon? Having that awareness has helped me be open to all angles, and that has only enhanced how I tell stories.

You currently develop long-form true crime documentaries for FOX Nation. What draws you to the true crime genre?

Three years ago, I saw an opportunity to dig a little deeper with people and the stories they carry closest to them. Doing TV packages for the channel, it was an impossible luxury to get two minutes of airtime to tell a story.

Now, I can conduct longer interviews with people and actually use more of what they say, which gives them more control of their narrative. People can get some release outside of a 10-second sound bite.

The tragedy of true crime makes me keenly aware of the joy and hope that is necessary for us as humans. People I interview get to share more of what is important to them without being truncated.

What’s a moment in your career that pushed you to grow the most as a producer?

I grew the most when I left live television. Live gave me my foundation for five-and-a-half years, and I’ll forever be grateful. I always need to be learning, and I had the chance to enter a role that let me field produce. I was so eager to get out there and meet people right where they were.

I can remember the first time I field-produced alone, aside from my camera crew. It was the first time I wasn’t shadowing a more seasoned producer, and I flew 3,000 miles to cover a convention. I was so nervous, but it pushed me out of my comfort zone in the best way, and now that’s a skill I’ll always have.

I’ll also add the time I spent writing articles for dotcom. That is a completely different way of producing, but it gave me the space to tackle topics that were really important to me and that I thought were not being highlighted enough, mainly in the health space.

Looking ahead, what kinds of projects or collaborations are you most excited to explore next?

I look forward to where the next story will lead me. Perhaps there’s another series in my future. I want to work on more stories that people aren’t familiar with.

Connect with Georeen Tanner on LinkedIn, and listen to her latest project He Killed Them All? The Robert Durst Investigation and Nightmare in Chowchilla: The School Bus Kidnapping

(All images courtesy of Georeen Tanner)