Menendez Brothers Documentary Producers React to Case Updates
It was only last week that Netflix announced they were readying to release a documentary with the Menendez brothers, a project that would feature Erik and Lyle Menendez speaking for the first time in decades about the sensational double murder that sentenced them each to life in prison back in 1996.
The announcement came just days after Netflix’s scripted series on the brothers — Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story — had become the No. 1 show on the streamer, which prompted a rare public statement from Erik Menendez, who came out against that take on the brothers’ 1989 murders of their parents, José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez. Amid the whirlwind two weeks of press since Monsters first launched — where producer Ryan Murphy and the extended Menendez family have also shared their views on the series in a public forum — Kim Kardashian visited the brothers in prison and then advocated for their release in a viral op-ed.
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Now, in the latest turn of events in the case, following a habeas corpus petition filed by the brothers in 2023, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced Thursday night that their case was again under review, paving the way for the brothers to be possibly retried, resentenced to a lesser term or even released.
All of this, meanwhile, is now coming just ahead of Monday’s The Menendez Brothers documentary.
The producers on the nearly two-hour doc, Ross Dinerstein and Rebecca Evans of Campfire Studios, are no stranger to high-profile projects, having been behind recent hit offerings like Netflix’s American Murder: Laci Peterson and America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, as well as Max’s Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty, to name a few.
But their experience with this Menendez moment is different.
Below, Dinerstein and Evans talk to The Hollywood Reporter about how long The Menendez Brothers documentary has been in the works; how their conversations with Lyle and Erik resulted in more than 20 hours of audio interviews conducted from prison (which has also led to a three-episode companion podcast, releasing on Oct. 9); why Monsters and their documentary should not be viewed as companion series; and why they don’t have to update the title card that closes out their doc: “I wish we could drop it today.”
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After working on something so long, and to see this all sort of explode in the news the week of premiere, have you experienced this with other projects before?
ROSS DINERSTEIN I mean no, we haven’t. We’re excited for it to come out. I wish we could drop it today. We’ve worked on this for almost four years. We’re really proud of it. So many people have reached out about it, to ask when it’s coming out. And Netflix has already done such a great job promoting it on the service.
REBECCA EVANS This story has stayed sort of in and out of the zeitgeist over the past 30 years. Having been in it so deeply, we know every single person who is talking about it online, in their books, what they’re doing. And so to have it all come out really publicly is pretty interesting, and pretty exciting, to be honest, too, because our documentary really lays out all our research. I’m excited for people to view it and come to their own conclusions.
Is there any chance Netflix may release it before Monday?
DINERSTEIN We have no idea.
Let’s go back – when was the seed for this documentary planted? Who approached whom and when?
EVANS How we started with researching and making the documentary ourselves was really feeling like we had to get one or both of the brothers on board in order to tell their story. It doesn’t feel right to tell their story without their input and without them being a part of it, when it comes to a documentary specifically. If you look at Campfire’s slate, we’re very adamant at making sure we’re getting the key parties on board. And so I started with Lyle, just reaching out via a letter. And I got one back. And then actually, his wife, Rebecca [Sneed], was nice enough to reach out to me to then facilitate a phone call — because I can’t call the prison, I have to have them call me. And so we started talking with Lyle, and sort of got the ball rolling. And it was about a year after that that Erik came on board.
In those early conversations, what were some hesitations or concerns when Lyle heard your pitch?
EVANS We had just a very honest and open conversation from the get-go. I can’t really speak for him. It’s his story to tell. And he has no real qualms about it because he knows what happened.
DINERSTEIN Our company, Campfire, has a very good reputation. We did a show called The Innocent Man with Netflix and John Grisham, which ultimately was a big part of someone being released from prison. And so I think the fact that it’s a company like ours with the credibility and reputation, [Lyle] might not be aware of it, but I’m sure people in his life are.
Four years ago when you first started on this project, the #MeToo shift had already happened and the culture of silence was breaking. I’m not sure how much the Menendez brothers could feel that while in prison, but what about that time period got the ball rolling for them to want to speak out?
EVANS They are aware of what’s going on on the outside. And they are aware that people are more interested in their story now more than ever. They’re aware that during COVID, Court TV released their entire trial, which really kickstarted interest again. And I think today, people are looking at cases like this, cases of abuse, in a different way. So it was an opportunity to tell their story, both for us and for them, in a different time when people are thinking about things differently. It’s a little bit reflective, too, of the case and the trial back then of how people were feeling like they were on two different sides of what to believe.
When Erik then joined your conversations, I’m sure this project felt more real. Having already been through the appeals process — and they talk in the documentary about losing hope — what did they want to accomplish with this? Where was their mindset? And, was anything off-limits?
EVANS We have a companion podcast that’s going to release on Wednesday [Menendez Brothers Official Podcast], two days after the documentary comes out. It’s with our director Alejandro [Hartmann] and Lyle and Erik, and it really answers some of those questions about what interested them in doing this, why they wanted to tell their story, how they feel about everything. I think it will be a really good opportunity when people watch the documentary who want to hear more from them and the answers to those questions.
In the four years since you’ve been making this, can you pinpoint a moment when the advocacy campaign and the TikTok movement around them really started to take off?
EVANS I think that it’s great to have people wanting to talk about their story, and there are people who are sort of fighting on their behalf. But really, it all has come down to their lawyers more than anything, and how they’re dealing with the new evidence, how they’re dealing with the new habeas petition. That’s where I feel like the crux of the fight is really happening.
DINERSTEIN Regarding the TikTok movement, during the pandemic they aired the first trial, and the first trial was a hung jury. It was not something that a jury of their peers was able to convict them on, and it was almost retried for a whole new generation in real time, and people were very emotional about it.
A key moment in the documentary is hearing one of the jurors in the second trial describing in simple terms the choices they had since manslaughter was off the table the second time around. He said they had to decide: Was there a murder or not? And he said they couldn’t say that a murder didn’t happen. [They were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1996.]
DINERSTEIN Andrew Wolfberg, [that juror], his wife is one of my wife’s very good friends. So I had been talking with Andrew at dinner parties for years about this stuff. And Andrew had just passed the bar himself when he got put on that jury, so he took his job very seriously. And I asked him, I think during just a chat, did you ever watch the first trial? He said, “I didn’t need to — I spent four months in a jury box.”
Where is Judge Stanley M. Weisberg now, did you reach out to [the judge in the Menendez trials] or have any conversations?
EVANS We did reach out. He’s 80 years old now. I think his daughter is taking over things. But there was no conversation to be had with him.
In your experience making this, and looking back at the decisions Judge Weisberg made in the second trial, like not allowing their sexual abuse defense, do you think that could happen if the trial were today?
EVANS I don’t know. I don’t think I can really speak for the legal system, but I think you’ll see in our documentary, we do have a lot of themes of how and why it might have turned out the way it did.
Yes, the documentary sets the scene of that time — the O.J. Simpson acquittal and Rodney King riots being in the near background of the second Menendez trial — and how the world is now at a place where male sexual abuse survivors are believed. Why do you think this is the right time to release this doc?
EVANS Given that they are currently in the middle of a habeas — and it could be their last opportunity, they’re out of appeals — it could be their last opportunity to have something really change for them. It feels like interesting timing given they’re in the news. And because they’re in the news and because of Monsters, people are interested in what their story is. We’ve done all the research, we put it all together, and you’ll hear from them directly.
DINERSTEIN You know, the doc is finished. We’re really proud of it, it’s really good. And it’s time to come out.
How did you keep this doc so under wraps? It was only announced a couple weeks ago, as Monsters was topping Netflix. Though I understand that your doc and Monsters were made completely separate from one another and are not companion series.
DINERSTEIN That’s right, this is not a companion to Monsters. We just want to make sure to say that.
EVANS Like all of our other documentaries, it wasn’t a companion in any way, and so for us, it was just about releasing this great story that we spent the time putting together in the last four years. It really wasn’t any different in terms of keeping it under wraps. And obviously, Netflix runs a tight ship, so whatever they say goes!
DINERSTEIN In whatever we do, rarely is there any sort of announcement for the start of production. It’s not how Netflix markets. It’s a lot better than announcing you are in production and it then comes out four years later.
The decision to release this so soon after Monsters I assume was a Netflix decision. Do you support that?
DINERSTEIN We’re very happy with that decision. Netflix knows what they’re doing. They’re the best in the business when it comes to launching projects, so we have no issue with it.
EVANS As filmmakers, all you really want is for people to watch what you put your heart, soul and energy into, and it really is perfect timing because people are at an all-time high in wanting to understand their story.
Just as I finished screening this documentary, the real news cycle caught up when Los Angeles prosecutors, on Thursday night, announced they were reviewing new evidence in the Menendez case and set a hearing date for Nov. 29. The habeas petition was filed in 2023. Did you have an idea there would be movement the week of your doc premiere?
EVANS We didn’t know there would be any press conferences or anything this week. But we have known about the November date. It’s all still under review, so last night wasn’t any new information for me, actually. It’s just continuing to be reviewed. The habeas was filed in 2023, and so for us, when we were making the documentary, we felt like, we’re not here to litigate a case. We’re not here to present evidence, or new evidence in that way, alongside the attorneys. Our feeling was that this was a story that took place then, and this was all of our research on it. It didn’t feel like it changed our perspective on what happened then to include any of that now if that makes sense.
When did you wrap production?
EVANS A while ago. Maybe a year ago. And we spent really a year editing, trying to figure out the best way to tell this story. Because it’s unique that the brothers are calling in, and it’s over audio, so we really had to figure out how to tell that story in an effective way, since audiences aren’t used to that. We were really focused on telling the story and keeping it up to speed in regard to cultural changes since then.
The Peacock documentary where Menudo band member Rosselló came forward with a sexual abuse allegation against José Menendez came out a month before the Menendez brothers filed their habeas petition. That allegation isn’t included in your doc. Did you think about including it?
EVANS I felt like, this is Erik and Lyle’s story. It’s not really a story about the other guy in the Menudo case. I think those are things audiences will learn about in litigation and the news, but we really wanted to focus on the brothers.
Do you plan to update the final title card in the doc with Thursday’s development?
EVANS We’ll see about the title card. We had no intentions of changing it, but we obviously didn’t know the press conference was going to be last night. Audiences have a better understanding now of what the conversation is, so it would just be essentially reiterating what we already have. So, we’ll see.
How in touch have you been with Erik and Lyle?
EVANS We were really in touch during the entirety of the process, and thankfully their wives are also super helpful. Now that the documentary has been done filming for the last year, I’ve really just been in touch with the wives; logistical information and passing along messages, that kind of stuff. I visited them when we first got this running, and I would love to go back now that we’ve finally finished the film. We’re definitely still friendly.
Have they seen the final film?
EVANS Unclear. We have shared it with family, though. Obviously, there are boundaries for what’s available to them, so I’m not really sure. But they speak to their wives often enough.
When you see Kim Kardashian writing an op-ed on their behalf, after visiting them, what does that tell you about the cultural movement that is now behind them, compared to the past you explored in the doc?
DINERSTEIN It’s exciting. Kim has a huge platform and a huge audience. Having her speak on their behalf, and I’m sure she’ll say something about the documentary when she sees it… we do this so as many people as possible can see it, and we hope the audience watches it and comes to their own conclusion.
EVANS And we hope Kim watches it. We would love for her to check it out. There is a lot more to get out of it.
Do you anticipate you will talk to Erik and Lyle when the documentary is out? Because I’m wondering about the hope they have now. Like you said, the habeas could be their last chance, and I imagine they have a tricky relationship with hope after all these years.
DINERSTEIN I can speak to the other doc we did with prisoners who are in prison for life, [Netflix’s The Innocent Man]. They always said to me that they always have hope, because it gets them out of bed every day. But we’ve never really asked Erik and Lyle about it.
EVANS I definitely plan to be in touch after it comes out, once I see the reception of it. I’m very curious to see what audiences think and how they’re feeling after watching it, especially since so many people who are tuning in don’t really know the story at all.
Have you watched Monsters?
DINERSTEIN We haven’t.
Do you have an interest in watching, considering it’s contributing so much to the cultural conversation?
DINERSTEIN Yeah there just honestly is not enough time in our schedules right now to watch it. It’s long, and we’ve just had our heads down making our project and making sure it gets out to the world in the proper way.
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The Menendez Brothers documentary streams on Netflix on Oct. 7. Check back in with THR for more with Dinerstein and Evans after the doc releases, and read more of our coverage on the Menendez brothers.
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