How Liz Garbus and Dan Cogan’s Story Syndicate Finds the ‘Wagyu Beef’ of True Crime
variety.comAddie Morfoot Contributor While corporate consolidation has led to smaller documentary production budgets and fewer indie doc sales, the demand for true-crime docus has skyrocketed over the last few years.
That’s good news for documentary production companies like Dan Cogan and Liz Garbus’ Story Syndicate. This year, Garbus, Cogan and Story Syndicate’s head of documentary and nonfiction, Jon Bardin, have produced three true-crime documentaries: Hulu’s “Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence,” Netflix’s” Take Care of Maya” and HBO’s “Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York.” About a string of murders in 1990’s Manhattan, “Last Call,” like “Stolen Youth” and “Take Care of Maya,” has become a hit with audiences and critics alike. (The final episode in the four-part series air on July 30.) Variety spoke with Bardin, Cogan and Garbus about what they are looking for in a true-crime project and what they steer clear of when it comes to murder. You optioned Elon Green’s book “Last Call” when it was still in galley form.
What appealed to you about the story? Cogan: With “Last Call,” we were really excited about telling a story set in the gay community in New York at the height of the AIDS crisis that was about men being victimized and fighting back and finding a way to turn their victimization into power.
One of the things that Anthony Caronna and Howard Gertler did so well is that they also turned it into a love story for the gay community of that era.
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