Filmmaker Statement

What drew me to this story when I first read it was how raw and real it was. When John Semander, the screenwriter and youngest sibling of the Semander family sent me his script I quickly saw that at its core this is a beautifully tragic story about a mother’s relentless fight for justice and the sacrifices she must endure. As agonizing as it was for John to write his family’s story, I feel there is great importance to tell this story as pure and truthfully as possible. The manner in which Watts committed his murders was just as horrifying as to learn that he was actually going to be the first serial killer ever released from prison. But the true subject and heroine of this story is Harriett Semander, along with her family and the transformation in their lives over the years fighting the justice system to keep a serial killer behind bars. The raw and intimate look we get inside the Semander family is powerful, honest and extremely vulnerable.