Expanding into True Crime: Off The Fence’s New Venture
EXCLUSIVE: The production company behind My Octopus Teacher, Off The Fence (OTF), is delving deeper into the true crime genre through a new development agreement with seasoned investigative reporters Robin Carter and Gloria Gomez. Additionally, OTF is working on a documentary about an overlooked hero in modern warfare.
As part of the agreement, OTF plans to create and produce true crime series that leverage the extensive network, knowledge, and access accumulated by Carter and Gomez through their extensive reporting in the U.S.
The Inaugural Project: Love & Death Row: The Rosalie Bolin Story
The first series under this new partnership is titled Love & Death Row: The Rosalie Bolin Story. It explores one of the most bizarre and intricate cases in the U.S. criminal justice history.
The narrative starts in 1986 with the conviction of Oscar Ray Bolin, a rapist and serial killer, for three murders in Florida. The plot thickens as it recounts the life-changing decision of Rosalie Martinez, a paralegal, who in 1995 abandoned her marriage to a prominent defense lawyer after meeting Bolin to discuss his case. She later married Bolin in a ceremony conducted over a speakerphone, stayed with him until his execution in 2016, and subsequently became a private investigator and death penalty mitigation specialist.
“The tales and viewpoints from those directly involved in these unbelievable cases hold an immense allure. There are few stories as peculiar and compelling as Love & Death Row, and few reporters as thorough and perceptive as Gloria and Robin,” remarked Celine Ritchie, OTF’s Head of Development. “One of Off The Fence’s unique capabilities is forming creative collaborations with individuals who have compelling stories to share.”
Gloria Gomez has spent over two decades as a general-assignment reporter, specializing in courtroom and criminal justice system coverage with Tampa Bay FOX 13 News. Robin Carter, a photojournalist with thirty years of experience across various news stations in Virginia, Texas, and Florida, joined NBC 5 in 2019. Her career spans numerous areas of television including news production, medical reporting, consumer affairs, and special projects.
The arrangement was facilitated by the global entertainment and sports agency Gersh, in partnership with Maxx Sports & Entertainment Group.
‘King of Kandahar’
In another notable collaboration in the U.S., OTF has partnered with Makuhari Media to produce the feature documentary King of Kandahar.
This three-part series documents the life of Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Iqbal Selanee, who started as a teenage interpreter for U.S. forces in Afghanistan and eventually led a top-tier, CIA-directed paramilitary unit. A largely unrecognized hero of modern combat, Selanee played pivotal roles in rescuing two American journalists and safeguarding numerous Afghans at Kandahar Air Base.
Makuhari Media, established by Bobby Valentine and Andrew J. Muscato after producing the 2008 ESPN Films documentary The Zen of Bobby V, has since developed feature documentaries including Ballplayer: Pelotero and Schooled: The Price of College Sports.
Producer-distributor OTF, celebrated for the Oscar-winning documentary My Octopus Teacher, operates from its offices in Amsterdam, London, Bristol, and Toronto. Under its OTF Originals brand, it has produced over 700 hours of programming for major networks like National Geographic, Netflix, Curiosity Stream, ARTE, and the BBC. OTF was acquired in 2019 by ZDF Studios, the commercial arm of German public broadcaster ZDF.
Daniel Hayes is a business journalist with a focus on market trends, startups, and corporate strategies.
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