Adam Wactlar
Mr. Wactlar is a Principal Counsel Intellectual Property at Netflix. Before his current position at Netflix, he was Vice President & Senior Counsel of Business & Legal Affairs at Viacom. He’s an expert in Intellectual Property, docudrama, and more.
We asked him why he loves his work, and he said: “I believe that, at its base, being a lawyer is about counseling and providing advice. I became a lawyer because I wanted to help guide people through difficult and complex situations.“
More info can be found on his LinkedIn page.
Yale DocProject
We spoke to law students at the Yale DocProject, a program dedicated to assisting documentary filmmakers with legal aid and advice who “would not otherwise have access to legal resources.” The interviewees told us about themselves and why they joined the DocProject.
This program is part of the Media Freedom and Information Access (MFIA) clinic at Yale University, which was founded to support First Amendment rights of journalists. Law Professor and co-founder of the DocProject Jennifer Borg told us a little about how the DocProject was founded, and the students gave us some more insight into the inner workings of the DocProject.
Check out more about the DocProject here.
Nigel Bellis
Nigel Bellis is an executive producer, showrunner, director, and writer of multiple documentary genres, including history and true crime. He was the producer and director of the historical documentary Seal Team Six: America’s Secret Heroes, and the Executive Producer and Showrunner for The Red Scarf, the winner of best featured documentary at the Madrid International Film Festival in 2022. He was also a writer on the first season of the Primetime Emmy Award Nominee documentary Surviving R. Kelly. Mr. Bellis’ complete works can be found on his website: https://nigelbellis.com/.
Nigel said that from 2009 to now (2024), he covered approximately 200 murders in his true crime documentaries. He explained that it’s not for everyone, and can take an emotional toll.
And for true crime enthusiasts, Nigel had a little surprise to tell us.
In addition to true crime, Nigel enjoys creating WWII documentaries. He said that one of his most proud works was a film called the Red Scarf, and Nigel told us a moving story of how it came to be.
Nigel is also a musician. He says it is, “what I do to put my mind at rest after doing all these nasty stories.”
Check out his YouTube channel to see his latest music.
Simon Tor Dekker
Simon Tor Dekker is a documentary filmmaker, producer, and writer who also writes for the true crime podcast “Murder Time.” Among other projects, he was a producer and writer for the TV series Catching Killers, the producer for Edge of War Season 1, and the producer, writer, and director of Puckheads. More information about Mr. Dekker’s works can be found on his IMDb page: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0215279/.
Simon started our interview with him by giving a detailed description of the documentary production process from conceptualization to the big screen.
Simon told us that one of his favorite works was a hockey documentary called Puck Heads. He told us that he loves hearing the audience’s reactions and feeling the emotions of the crowd while filming.
The process of making a documentary is full of surprises. Simon was interviewing a Korean War Vet for film footage, only to discover what no one else knows.
Simon also told us about a fun project he worked on with some friends called the Execution of Margot Rumebe.
While Simon loves being a documentarist, the profession doesn’t come without some risk.
Photos courtesy of Adam Wactlar, Nigel Bellis, and Simon Tor Dekker