A Canadian man named Marcel Vautour disappeared after being accused of defrauding multiple women out of significant amounts of money. Determined to seek answers and justice, the victimized women set out to find him themselves, launching an investigation that has become the basis of both a chart-topping podcast and a new documentary series. 

Now streaming on Crave, Fool Me Once: Hunting Marcel Vautour is a four-part docuseries based on an investigative podcast co-created by Dr. Maggie Reid, assistant professor of Communications at Trent University Durham GTA, and her research partner, Dr. Emilia King, alongside the victims. 

The podcast, Catch Him If You Can, was created through the duo’s production company, Pink Moon Studio. Made on a microbudget, the series attracted a large audience, reached number one on Apple Podcasts, and now serves as the foundation for a growing research program examining what it takes to tell real-life stories ethically, especially those involving victims, survivors, and communities affected by harm. 

“This all began with conversations about the misogynistic and individualizing ways true crime stories are often framed,” said Professor Reid. “We wanted to create a compelling investigation that examined the systems enabling harm and treated the victims with the compassion and care they deserved.” 

An emerging model of ethical co-creation

The women at the centre of the investigation were involved in the podcast’s storytelling process, including making decisions about removing elements unnecessary to the telling of the story. That experience raised broader questions about the responsibilities creators have to the people whose lives they represent.  

While true crime remains one of the most popular storytelling genres, it has also faced criticism for sensationalizing trauma and excluding those most directly affected from decisions about how their stories are told. Prof. Reid's research examines how creators can develop more collaborative approaches that give participants a meaningful role in shaping narratives about their own experiences. The emerging model also considers how participants can be fairly compensated for the time and labour involved in sharing their stories. 

“Our investigation required time and care in a media environment that pushes creators to churn out content and stay constantly visible,” said Prof. Reid, who served as both an executive producer and an associate producer on the four-part series. “Building trust and making sure people are genuinely involved is a huge part of the work. It rarely shows up in a budget line, but you can’t tell these stories ethically without it.” 

Independent vs. Institutional Production

Once the podcast was adapted for television, the project entered a network production system. Decisions that Prof. Reid and Dr. King had once made directly as independent creators became part of a broader production process. 

“Moving into television brought resources and reach,” said Prof. Reid. “It also meant we were no longer the only people making decisions. It made us think about how a project holds onto the values it began with as it grows, and how creators and the people whose stories are being told can continue to have a real say.” 

Teaching future storytellers

Prof. Reid has continued to refine the model for ethical storytelling. After using the principals underlying the model to create the podcast, she received a Dean’s Research Award at Trent Durham to undertake research to formalize the model into a step-by-step process that other creators could use. She shares learnings and teaches these best practices to students in a Digital Storytelling course (COMM3003), where students explore what ethical co-creation looks like in practice. 

“I ask students to consider how their interviews and editing choices shape someone else’s story,” said Prof. Reid. “We explore how to involve participants throughout production, giving them opportunities to raise concerns about how they’re represented.”

Along with her production partner, Prof. Reid plans to launch a larger-scale project examining how ethical co-creation can be sustained across independent and institutional production contexts. The project will explore how creative control and responsibility shift when independently created stories become commercially valuable and move through larger media systems. Their goal is to develop practical approaches for creators, journalists, researchers, and students working with real people and sensitive stories. 

Fool Me Once: Hunting Marcel Vautour is now streaming on Crave. 

Learn more about Communications at Trent Durham.