HBO’s ‘Last Call’ Director Almost Passed on the True Crime Docuseries: ‘My Biggest Concern Was Re-Victimizing the Queer Community’
Sophia Scorziello editor When director Anthony Caronna was pitched with making a series out of Elon Green’s 2021 book “Last Call,” about a string of queer-targeted murders in 1990’s Manhattan, he had some reservations. “I loved the book,” said Caronna. “But I passed on the project because I wasn’t interested at that time in doing true crime.
My biggest concern was re-victimizing the community and possibly working against the community in a way.” True crime media is a true mixed bag.
Each documentary, docuseries or podcast sits somewhere on a spectrum of educational and entertaining; while the latter might sound like a jarring way to describe the storytelling of real-life criminals and real-life victims, it’s not incorrect to say that some audiences find sensationalized crime stories enticing.
So, before Caronna ended up taking on the pitch and directing HBO’s four-part docuseries “Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York,” he and executive producer Howard Gertler had to figure out how they could make a show that wouldn’t serve to entertain true crime junkies ready to dissect a serial killer or perform some act of gotcha journalism.
