SILVER SPRING, Maryland, Dec. 2, 2016 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Today, Investigation Discovery (ID) announced the commission of DATING GAME KILLER from Thinkfactory Media. Production is currently underway for ID’s first ever true-crime movie, set to premiere in early 2017 on America’s leading mystery and suspense television network.
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The thriller directed by Peter Medak (“Romeo is Bleeding,” “The Krays”), stars Guillermo Diaz (“Scandal,” “Weeds”) as Rodney Alcala, a man with a near-genius IQ, whose charm and smooth talking ability landed him an appearance on the television show “The Dating Game” in 1978 – and, subsequently, a place in history as one of America’s most prolific serial killers. Alcala preyed on young attractive women, luring them by telling them he was a professional photographer who wanted to enter their photos in a contest. While the precise victim count remains unknown, Alcala is suspected to have killed as many as 130 women and children before he was finally captured in 1980. Through parallel storylines, DATING GAME KILLER charts Alcala’s reign of terror alongside the gut-wrenching journey of Carol Jensen (Emmy winner Carrie Preston, “The Good Wife,” “True Blood”) as she seeks justice for her murdered daughter. Chronicling the depth of lives impacted by her murder, audiences also follow Det. Jim Hamill (Robert Knepper, “Prison Break,” “Twin Peaks“) and his partner Greg Ryan (Matt Barr, “Hatfields & McCoys”) on their restless mission to put Alcala behind bars, and the plight of Alcala’s mother Anna (Alma Martinez, “The Bridge”) as she comes to the realization that her own son has done the unthinkable.
“ID has become the premier destination for consistent, high-quality, true-crime content, and we’re excited to extend our storytelling with DATING GAME KILLER, our first scripted movie,” said Henry Schleiff, Group President, Investigation Discovery, American Heroes Channel, and Destination America. “Thinkfactory’s creative vision and our stellar cast will bring to life the cat and mouse story of how Alcala evaded the justice system for years and, as such, this is a frightening but true cautionary tale of how we must increasingly be ever vigilant of the evil that lurks, today, in our society.”
“It’s a real privilege to be working with the team at ID on their first scripted project,” said Leslie Greif, Founder and CEO of Thinkfactory Media and Executive Producer on the movie. “They have collaborated with us to gather a top-tier director and cast; allowing us to bring a real depth and sophistication to these characters and this story. Alcala is a harrowing figure and we are confident the ID audience will be fully engaged with Alcala’s story and those of the investigators and mother of one of the victims who helped finally bring Alcala to justice.”
DATING GAME KILLER is produced for Investigation Discovery by Thinkfactory Media with Peter Medak (“Romeo is Bleeding,” “The Krays”) as director and Martin Hunter (“Full Metal Jacket”) as editor, from a script by Leslie Greif & Darrell Fetty. For Investigation Discovery, Angela Bromstad is executive producer, Sara Kozak is senior vice president of production, Jane Latman is executive vice president of development, and Henry Schleiff is Group President, Investigation Discovery, American Heroes Channel and Destination America.
Guillermo Diaz is represented by Innovative Artists, Meghan Schumacher Management and Door 24 Entertainment. Carrie Preston is represented by Innovative Artists and Sanders/Armstrong/Caserta Management. Robert Knepper is represented by Innovative Artists and Link Entertainment.
About Guillermo Diaz
Guillermo Diaz currently stars as Huck on the ABC hit series “Scandal.” Diaz became a household name after starring as “Scarface” in the cult classic film “Half Baked” opposite Dave Chappelle and Jim Breuer. He also starred in other indie films including “Party Girl,” Nigel Finch’s acclaimed film “Stonewall,” “200 Cigarettes,” “High School High” and appeared in studio Features “The Terminal” for director Steven Spielberg and “Cop Out” opposite Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan.
In addition to his feature film credits, Diaz is well-known for his many seasons on Showtime’s award-winning series “Weeds,” where he played the role of Guillermo, as well as his comedic performances on “Chappelle’s Show” for Comedy Central. More recently, Diaz has been a series regular on the NBC drama, “Mercy.” He can be seen with Britney Spears in her video “I Wanna Go” and in Beyonce and Jay Z’s video “Run” alongside Sean Penn and Jake Gyllenhaal. Guillermo made his directorial debut with the documentary short film “Valley of the Undocumented” which was produced by Russell Simmons and Mark Zuckerberg for Immigrant Heritage Month.
Guillermo recently shot a leading role in the feature film “Warning Shot” with James Earl Jones and Bruce Dern and recently starred in an episode of the HBO series “Girls” opposite Lena Dunham.
About Carrie Preston
Carrie Preston is best known for her Emmy winning and two-time nominated role in CBS’ “The Good Wife,” the long-running HBO series, “True Blood” and her recurring role in “Person of Interest.” Her natural gift of taking on comedic and dramatic roles have led her to recent bookings in the upcoming ABC mini-series about the gay rights movement, “When We Rise,” produced by Gus Van Sant and directed by Dustin Lance Black; starring as a lead in the TNT pilot, Claws, produced by Rashida Jones and a lead role in the recently announced Sundance “To The Bone” film alongside Keanu Reeves and Lily Collins.
About Robert Knepper
Robert Knepper is best known for his role as Theodore “T-Bag” Bagwell in the FOX drama series “Prison Break” and will appear in the upcoming “Prison Break” sequel, as well as the upcoming “Twin Peaks” reboot, both set to debut in 2017. He has also appeared in films such as “Good Night, and Good Luck”, “Hitman” and “Transporter 3.” Knepper joined the cast of “Heroes” for its final season as Samuel Sullivan and he played Sid Rothman in the neo-noir television series “Mob City.”
ABOUT THINKFACTORY MEDIA
Thinkfactory Media is a full-service production company that creates high-quality entertainment content. Renowned for award-winning productions, the company was the driving force behind the Emmy® and Golden Globe®-nominated hit mini-series Hatfields & McCoys (History), starring Kevin Costner and the upcoming CMT series Sun Records. Other recent credits include: The 10-hour television event Texas Rising (History), Marriage Boot Camp (We tv), Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars (We tv), Married By Mom and Dad (TLC), Dead of Winter: The Donner Party (The Weather Channel), Vet School (Nat Geo WILD) Preachers’ Daughters (Lifetime), R&B Divas: Atlanta (TV One), R&B Divas: Los Angeles (TV One), Queens of Drama (Pop), Jump! (Lifetime), Strange Love (TLC), Big Giant Swords (Discovery), Gene Simmons: Family Jewels (A&E), Tony Danza: Teach (A&E), among many others. Find out more about Thinkfactory Media and its projects at www.ThinkfactoryMedia.com and follow them on Twitter at @TFactoryMedia.
ABOUT INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY (ID)
Investigation Discovery (ID) is the leading mystery-and-suspense network on television. From harrowing crimes and salacious scandals to the in-depth investigations and heart-breaking mysteries behind these “real people, real stories,” the always revealing network challenges our everyday understanding of culture, society and the human condition. One of our nation’s fastest growing cable networks, ID delivers the highest-quality programming to more than 86 million U.S. households and is available in both high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD). For more information, please visit InvestigationDiscovery.com, facebook.com/InvestigationDiscovery, or twitter.com/DiscoveryID. Investigation Discovery is part of Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the world’s #1 pay-TV programmer reaching nearly 3 billion cumulative subscribers in 220 countries and territories.
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