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While politicians debate the rise of crime, there’s no debate that there’s been an explosion of true-crime documentary series on cable TV and the streamers. Interviews with serial killers, re-creations of bloody murders, combative-courtroom footage and carefully orchestrated eleventh-hour revelations have almost become cliché — even as viewers eagerly tune in for more.

But that was not always the case. Thirty years ago, documentarian Joe Berlinger, 61, and his longtime collaborator and co-director, the late Bruce Sinofsky, broke new ground with their feature, Brother’s Keeper. That film centered on the arrest and trial of a rural upstate New York man named Delbert Ward, who was accused of killing his brother William, and it became a blueprint for Berlinger’s unfiltered examinations of American tragedies with all the drama of fictional narratives.

Joe Berlinger

Brother’s Keeper won the audience award at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival,...

Tony Sokol May 16, 2019

Joe Berlinger speaks about the human story behind his Ted Bundy feature Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile.

Ted Bundy was 32­ years ­old when he was sentenced to death in 1979 for the brutal murders of two Florida State Chi Omega sorority sisters, Margaret Bowman and Lisa Levy, as well as three attempted murder charges for Kathy Kleiner, Karen Chandler, and Cheryl Thomas. The trial marked the first time in American history cameras were allowed in a courtroom, and Bundy used that to orchestrate a media circus. Serving as his own counsel, Bundy charmed veteran judge Edward D. Cowart, who called the defendant “a bright young man” with the makings of “a good lawyer.” The judge changed his tune on sentencing, classifying Bundy's crimes as "extremely wicked, shockingly evil, and vile."

Director Joe Berlinger borrowed that classification for Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, which we caught up...

TORONTO -- Canadian movie distribution newcomer Capri Releasing Inc. on Monday filled its growing ranks by hiring industry veteran Robin Smith as operations manager for theatrical and video distribution. Smith, most recently director of sales and marketing for Canadian distributor Seville Pictures, will work under Tony Cianciotta, who was recently installed as president of Capri Releasing, a subsidiary of Canadian independent producer Capri Films Inc. Before joining Seville, Smith completed executive stints at Lions Gate Films, Blackwatch Releasing and Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. Capri Releasing's first theatrical release will be Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, a documentary feature by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky (Brother's Keeper) that bows July 9 in Canada.