When Kyle Overmyer was appointed sheriff of Sandusky County, Ohio, at age 34, he became one of the youngest sheriffs in the state's history. Eight years later, he was in a prison cell. Now, a decade after his fall, the former lawman has written a memoir about how he got there and what he found on the other side. Prison Prodigy: Power, Prison, & a Purpose Reborn, co-written with Natalie June Reilly, was published in April 2026. The 173-page paperback traces Overmyer's path fro

Hornpin Media Group is negotiating with Matthew Cox to purchase the film rights to “Cash & Coke,” his true-crime article featured in the digital Inside True Crime Magazine. The proposed adaptation would bring a story of armed robberies, family loyalty and police corruption to the big screen. The article follows Robert “Snoop” George III and his half brother, Devell Hawkins, who robbed drug dealers throughout Florida. According to their accounts, their operation became more lu

For nearly two decades, hip-hop didn't simply participate in American popular culture. It dominated it. Rappers became fashion icons, entrepreneurs and celebrities. Drake, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj, Future and Travis Scott routinely occupied the upper reaches of the charts. Rap's language, fashion and production techniques spread throughout popular music. But something has changed. In 2025, hip-hop/rap accounted for just 19 percent of Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 hi

Murder documentaries, serial-killer podcasts and stories about missing women have become fixtures of American entertainment. But behind the popularity of true crime is an interesting demographic divide: women are considerably more likely than men to consume it. Among Americans who listen to podcasts, 44 percent of women say they regularly listen to true crime, compared with just 23 percent of men, according to Pew Research Center. True crime also accounts for roughly one-quar

TAMPA, Fla. — Matthew Cox spent years creating identities, forging documents and manipulating the mortgage industry. His crimes eventually made him a federal fugitive, cost financial institutions millions of dollars and resulted in a 26-year prison sentence. Today, Cox makes his living talking about crime rather than committing it. From a studio near the Florida State Fairgrounds, Cox hosts Inside True Crime, a long-form interview show built around conversations with former c

TAMPA — What began as a series of YouTube videos examining one of Hollywood's most bitter celebrity disputes has turned into something considerably bigger for Tampa-based creator Andy Signore. On Saturday night, Signore's new independent documentary series, It Ends With Justice: Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni, was screened before a live audience. According to dozens of audience members who attended the screening, the reaction was overwhelmingly positive, with viewers describ

TAMPA, Fla. — On paper, retired FBI agent Tom Simon and former fraudster Matthew Cox probably shouldn't be friends. Simon spent 26 years with the FBI investigating criminals. Cox spent years committing sophisticated bank and mortgage fraud before becoming a federal fugitive and eventually serving 13 years in prison. Both men even appeared on CNBC's American Greed — Simon discussing criminals he investigated and Cox for the considerably less flattering reason of being one of t

For horror fans, Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights has become almost a pilgrimage. Elaborate haunted houses, movie-quality sets, roaming scare actors and massive intellectual properties have transformed the seasonal event into one of the most recognizable Halloween attractions in America. But there is another side to Halloween Horror Nights that becomes apparent shortly after walking through the gates: the crowds. Halloween Horror Nights has become so popular that o

How podcasts, YouTube and independent producers are turning crime stories into a growing entertainment business TAMPA, Fla. — True crime was once largely the territory of paperback writers, network television producers and programs such as Dateline and 48 Hours. Today, a microphone, cameras and a small production team can turn a criminal case into a podcast episode or YouTube documentary capable of reaching hundreds of thousands—or millions—of viewers. In Tampa Bay, that tran

Tampa Bay is quietly becoming home to a growing community of independent YouTubers, podcasters and digital storytellers—and Josh and his rapidly expanding DOCTVUNLEASHED channel are becoming part of that movement. While Los Angeles and New York once seemed like mandatory destinations for anyone hoping to build a career in entertainment, YouTube has rewritten the rules. A camera, a compelling guest and the ability to hold an audience can now turn practically any city into a me

For more than a century, Ybor City has been one of Tampa's most recognizable neighborhoods—a place built by immigrants, cigar factories, small businesses and nightlife. Its brick streets and historic buildings have survived economic decline, urban renewal and decades of changing tastes. Now Ybor faces another transformation, and this one could be among the largest in its history. Billions of dollars in development are reshaping the neighborhoods surrounding the historic distr

Every few years, a movie arrives that reminds Hollywood that audiences don't necessarily need superheroes, enormous budgets or established franchises to fill theaters. In 2026, that movie was Obsession. Written and directed by 26-year-old filmmaker Curry Barker, Obsession began as a remarkably inexpensive supernatural horror movie and evolved into one of the year's most unexpected cultural and financial phenomena. Released theatrically by Focus Features on May 15, the film st

Twenty years ago, podcasting was something people did in spare bedrooms with inexpensive microphones and tiny audiences. Today, some of the biggest personalities in entertainment sit behind microphones for hours—and the companies distributing those conversations can be worth enormous sums. Podcasting has quietly evolved from an internet hobby into a mainstream entertainment industry. Joe Rogan became the symbol of that transformation. When Spotify struck its original exclusiv

Hollywood once decided which criminals became famous. Studios bought their stories. Television producers interviewed them. Journalists wrote books about them. Former prisoners were usually the subjects of entertainment rather than the people producing it. YouTube and podcasting have turned that arrangement upside down. Across social media, a new category of entertainer has emerged: the ex-con influencer. Former bank robbers, drug traffickers, gang members, organized-crime fig

For generations, Hollywood operated according to a simple formula: put a movie star's face on a poster and audiences would buy tickets. Names like Clint Eastwood, Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, Harrison Ford, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom Cruise could once function almost like movie franchises themselves. Audiences didn't necessarily need to know much about the film. They went because of who was starring in it. That system is disappearing. Today, audiences increasingly app

In an entertainment industry crowded with influencers desperately trying to manufacture authenticity, Black Label has something that cannot be created in a studio. He has lived it. Known around St. Petersburg, Florida, simply as “Black” or “Black Label” has emerged from the city's streets, a lengthy federal prison sentence and an unlikely second act as a businessman to become an increasingly recognizable personality in the podcast world. And if the rumors surrounding his next

How podcasts, YouTube, independent production and a growing creator economy are giving the region a new place in American media TAMPA — For decades, the geography of American entertainment was relatively easy to understand. Movies were made in Hollywood. Television was centered in Los Angeles and New York. Music had Nashville, Los Angeles and New York. Later, Atlanta emerged as a major production center. But the internet has begun dismantling those boundaries, and Tampa Bay i

In an increasingly crowded podcast industry, Danny Jones has built an audience by going where conventional interview programs often hesitate to venture. The Danny Jones Podcast, produced under Daylight Media, is a long-form interview show built around unusual people, unconventional ideas and conversations that frequently exist somewhere between established science, personal testimony and outright controversy. Its subject matter ranges from UFOs and classified military program

DANBURY, Conn. — Ian Bick has turned one of the darkest chapters of his life into the foundation of a growing media career. Bick is the creator and host of Locked In with Ian Bick, a YouTube channel and podcast built around long-form conversations with former inmates, recovering addicts, law-enforcement officers, attorneys, investigators and others whose lives have intersected with crime and the criminal justice system. His interest in the subject is personal. At 18, Bick was

Apple’s dystopian series began not in Hollywood, but with a short story that author Hugh Howey published himself — and that readers refused to let end. In the crowded world of post-apocalyptic television, few series have built a universe quite as claustrophobic — or mysterious — as Silo. The Apple TV drama imagines roughly 10,000 people living inside a massive underground structure, 144 stories deep, generations after humanity apparently became unable to survive on the surfac