The Capture of the Green River Killer

Stan Brooks, the producer I’ve worked with more often than with any other and who has been so supportive of me as a writer, sold this piece in about two seconds to ABC. I flew to Seattle and spent some time with Dave Reichert, and wrote the script as an original, doing my own research. (Later, when it was finally produced, it received a “based on” credit; Dave was writing a book at the time I first met with him, and by the time the movie was green-lighted his book had been published and hence the final credit.) ABC soon decided it was no longer in the MOW business, and the project went into limbo-land. A few years later Stan’s office spoke to Lifetime, which had a division devoted to doing low-budget movies. They’d never done a miniseries in that venue, but were up for a try. And so the piece was made on an astoundingly low budget and shot in thirty days. Stan called in some favors and gathered a collection of incredibly talented actors and, under Norma Baiiley’s helm as director, ended up with a movie that I am especially proud of.

One reason I am so proud of this piece is the performance given by the actor who plays Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer. Stan had agreed that I could act in the movie (I’d appeared in a small part in Submerged, which I wrote for him) and when he asked me what part I wanted to play I said “Gary Ridgway.” He later told me he was driving at the time and nearly ran into a guardrail. But Stan, being the cool and supportive guy that he is, agreed – and the result brought me back to the thespian field and allowed me once again to fall in love with performing.b