A small, family-run newspaper in Kansas is raided by police in an overt attempt to stop the paper from reporting on their corruption. The raids, resulting in the death of the newspaper’s 98-year-old co-owner received international condemnation. A year later, new information raises questions about the impetus for the raids.
Status
Development
About the Filmmakers
Director/Producer
Sharon Liese
Sharon Liese is an Emmy® Award winning filmmaker committed to social justice storytelling. Her film, THE FLAGMAKERS (NatGeo, Disney+), won the Emmy® for Outstanding Short Documentary (2023) and was Oscar shortlisted. Her short doc, PARKER, premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and is distributed through The New Yorker. Her HBO feature documentary, TRANSHOOD, won the audience award at AFI. Sharon’s film, THE GNOMIST (CNN Films), won more than 15 awards. Sharon’s series, LET US PREY, was released on Max in 2023.
Producer
Sasha Alpert
Sasha Alpert is an innovative producer with significant experience in both documentaries and unscripted television. She has a proven track record in independent producing as well as projects commissioned by major networks. She created from the ground up two award-winning divisions, won three Emmys®, and garnered multiple nominations. Alpert produced AUTISM: The Sequel (HBO), which revisits the subjects of AUTISM: The Musical (HBO). She produced TRANSHOOD (HBO), which won the audience award at AFI Festival. Prior to that, she produced THEY CALL US MONSTERS (PBS/Netflix) and VALENTINE ROAD (HBO), which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.
Producer
Paul Matyasovsky
Paul Matyasovsky is a Los Angeles based producer with over 15 years of experience in non-fiction storytelling. Paul has produced 20 seasons of National Geographic’s unscripted series Wicked Tuna and its spin off, Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks, as well as other docu-reality hits like Ghost Hunters, Fast & Loud, and Stone Cold Takes on America. He also co-produced the 2020 independent documentary, The House In Between, about unexplained phenomena in a small Mississippi town and consulted on Sharon Liese’s film Parker, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2023.