Cast of characters
Southern Fried Chickie Productions
Southern Fried Chickie Productions LLC is a entertainment company that has specialized in theatrical productions since 2001 staging shows in Los Angeles, New Orleans, Austin, Dallas, Roanoke, Tupelo and Baldwyn, Mississippi. SFC Productions also has "Southern Fried Chickie", the animated series, in the works. Founded by actor/writer/producer, Christy McBrayer, the company has recently branched out with a true crime podcast Depraved Heart Murder: The Tupelo Presleys recorded in Ripley, Mississippi in collaboration with Sun Bear Studio.
Sun Bear Studio
Northeast Mississippi is chock full of talented musicians and right in the middle of all that talent is Sun Bear Studio, a boutique recording studio in the heart of Ripley, MS. When you record with us at Sun Bear Studio, we can mix, master, register and publish your music. We can create CD’s and get your music out on all major streaming platforms. Email us when you’re ready at sunbear@jc.media. We started in January of 2020 with the idea of putting Artists first. We have reasonable studio and publishing rates, and we are looking for Artists who want to get their ideas recorded and their music out there. Record your first…or next hit with us!! Visit our website
The Host
Christy McBrayer, the principal of Southern Fried Chickie Productions, is an actor/writer/producer who after years of performing stand- up comedy based in Los Angeles, evolved her act into the critically acclaimed one-woman play Southern Fried Chickie. which she toured across the country. Variety called her "captivating", Los Angeles Weekly "hilarious", and the New Orleans Times-Picayune "a clever writer and beguiling performer." The Austin Chronicle said that "Larry the Cable Guy has met his match in a busty, blonde Tupelo, Mississippi princess." She then migrated into producing and directing other original theatrical productions such as prolific and profound SNL comedy writer David Sheffield's "The Heartbreak Henry." Her production company SFC Productions also has Southern Fried Chickie, the animated series in the works. Currently McBrayer could not be more thrilled that after years of research, she has branched into a more serious subject matter of the true crime podcast Depraved Heart Murder: The Tupelo Presleys which drops on the YouTube Channel on February 14, 2023.
The Producer
Melinda Marsalis co-owns two radio stations in Ripley, MS with her husband, Chris Marsalis. They purchased The Shark 102.3 and Kudzu 104.9 FM radio stations in 2019. Prior to becoming a broadcaster, Marsalis served the South Tippah School District (Ripley, MS) as Director of Federal Programs and Director of State Testing and earlier as an 8th grade math teacher. Marsalis has served on a wide variety of local boards of directors and is an avid community supporter. With the purchase of The Shark 102.3, she has cast her support net wider to cover all of Northeast Mississippi (The Shark's Broadcast Area) with her weekly interview show entitled Heard It On The Shark on which she talks with the leaders across the region and highlights all of the great things happening in Northeast Mississippi. Heard It On the Shark
6 "simple" steps to create a great true crime podcast
Step 1: Find a producer
Step 3: Record interviews
Step 1: Find a producer
After decades of research, permission from the Presley family and compilation of interviews, the serendipitous road through North Mississippi theatre circles lead to the finest of producers and partner in crime podcast, Melinda Marsalis.
Step 2: Find a studio
Step 3: Record interviews
Step 1: Find a producer
...and it is always a bonus when that producer is married to the owner (Chris Marsalis) of a top-notch recording studio!
Step 3: Record interviews
Step 3: Record interviews
Step 4: Record MORE interviews
We realized after two episodes of some hardcore facts, figures, history and rumors that some levity might be in order to break down a complicated storyline.
Step 4: Record MORE interviews
Step 4: Record MORE interviews
Step 4: Record MORE interviews
Then it is time to bring the matriarch of the Tupelo Presleys into the studio to tell it like it is.
Step 5: Lawyer up
Step 4: Record MORE interviews
Step 6: Edit and Edit and Edit
When you are tackling a true crime story, it's always good to have the voice of one of Northeast Mississippi's finest legal eagles - Ours was Victor Fleitas -who is also familiar with the players.
Step 6: Edit and Edit and Edit
Step 4: Record MORE interviews
Step 6: Edit and Edit and Edit
When it's a whale of story, sometimes the most difficult and time consuming aspect is the editing.
Tupelo's Daily Journal
We were excited to be featured in Tupelo's hometown newspaper, The Daily Journal. Of course the DJ covered all of the Presley trials that are mentioned in the Depraved Heart Murder: The Tupelo Presleys podcast.