Unscripted media company Asylum Entertainment Group has invested a minority stake in Ladywell Films, an independent production house founded by “Tinder Swindler” filmmakers Bernadette Higgins and Felicity Morris. The duo previously worked at London based producer Raw TV where they directed, wrote and produced Netflix’s “American Nightmare.”
“Bernadette and Felicity are behind some of the most compelling and groundbreaking documentaries to date, giving voice to survivors of shocking crimes and resonating profoundly with viewers worldwide,” said Asylum CEO Steve Michaels in a statement. “Our investment in Ladywell Films reflects the duo’s unrivaled talent and fresh perspective within this high-demand genre. They’re perfect partners as their talent mirrors Asylum’s mission to deliver high-quality, memorable content to a global audience.”
While working separately at Raw, Morris developed and produced “Don’t F**k with Cast: Hunting an Internet Killer,” while Higgins produced “Fear City: NY vs the Mafia...
“Bernadette and Felicity are behind some of the most compelling and groundbreaking documentaries to date, giving voice to survivors of shocking crimes and resonating profoundly with viewers worldwide,” said Asylum CEO Steve Michaels in a statement. “Our investment in Ladywell Films reflects the duo’s unrivaled talent and fresh perspective within this high-demand genre. They’re perfect partners as their talent mirrors Asylum’s mission to deliver high-quality, memorable content to a global audience.”
While working separately at Raw, Morris developed and produced “Don’t F**k with Cast: Hunting an Internet Killer,” while Higgins produced “Fear City: NY vs the Mafia...
- 5/29/2024
- by Jack Dunn
- Variety Film + TV
American Nightmare follows the story of Denise Huskins and partner Aaron Quinn, the victims of a home invasion in 2015 in Vallejo, California, that resulted in Huskins’ kidnapping. However, the couple was quickly accused of staging it all, with Huskins being labeled “the real Gone Girl.” Directors Bernadette Higgins and Felicity Morris (The Tinder Swindler) set out to tell Huskins’ story piece by piece, highlighting law enforcement behavior, victim blaming and trial by media.
When did you first hear about Denise’s story and decide it’d be your next project?
Bernadette Higgins It was just after The Tinder Swindler was released and we’d already decided that we wanted our next project to be together. And Raw, the company that we made Tinder Swindler with, had actually been trying to get access to Denise and Aaron for about two years. They approached us with it and asked us if we’d like to co-direct it.
When did you first hear about Denise’s story and decide it’d be your next project?
Bernadette Higgins It was just after The Tinder Swindler was released and we’d already decided that we wanted our next project to be together. And Raw, the company that we made Tinder Swindler with, had actually been trying to get access to Denise and Aaron for about two years. They approached us with it and asked us if we’d like to co-direct it.
- 5/28/2024
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but there’s a true crime docuseries on Netflix that has tongues wagging. The appetite for such endeavors appears bottomless; it seems we really enjoy depraved and aberrant behavior so long as we can hit pause and take a bathroom break every now and then. But sometimes, a series will sneak through that offers more than titillation, cheap thrills, and hyperventilating aesthetics. And so, American Nightmare, a swift, concise piece of work that even mixes in a dash of investigative reporting verve.
- 1/20/2024
- by Chris Vognar
- Rollingstone.com
Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn know you have questions about what actually happened to them in 2015. They do, too.
“I don’t want to disappoint people, but the truth is, we don’t have all the answers,” Huskins tells Tudum. “We’re never going to get the answers. We’ve had a long road of trying to accept that.”
That search for answers is the subject of American Nightmare, the new doc series from The Tinder Swindlerfilmmakers Felicity Morris and Bernadette Higgins. The three-part series is an unflinching journey through Huskins’ and Quinn’s harrowing experience, beginning on March 23, 2015, when the pair were awakened in the middle of the night by a home invader. Quinn called the police and explained what happened, saying the intruder had tied them up, drugged them, and taken Huskins for ransom. Investigators, including Detective Mat Mustard with the Vallejo police department and FBI case agent David Sesma,...
“I don’t want to disappoint people, but the truth is, we don’t have all the answers,” Huskins tells Tudum. “We’re never going to get the answers. We’ve had a long road of trying to accept that.”
That search for answers is the subject of American Nightmare, the new doc series from The Tinder Swindlerfilmmakers Felicity Morris and Bernadette Higgins. The three-part series is an unflinching journey through Huskins’ and Quinn’s harrowing experience, beginning on March 23, 2015, when the pair were awakened in the middle of the night by a home invader. Quinn called the police and explained what happened, saying the intruder had tied them up, drugged them, and taken Huskins for ransom. Investigators, including Detective Mat Mustard with the Vallejo police department and FBI case agent David Sesma,...
- 1/18/2024
- by Amanda Richards
- Tudum - Netflix
When the worst happens, those at the center of the story hope for justice — or, at the very least, to be believed. Unfortunately, the vast, knotty criminal justice system doesn’t always prove so reliable. On March 23, 2015, Denise Huskins and her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, were woken in the dead of night by a home invader. Huskins was kidnapped, and what transpired next in the terrifying tale is the subject of American Nightmare, the new docuseries from The Tinder Swindler filmmakers Felicity Morris and Bernadette Higgins.
“A lot of crime stories are very linear and obvious from the start. What was really intriguing about this story was the fact that every time you think you know what’s happened, there’s another twist, Higgins told Netflix. “Everyone thinks they know the ending from the start. In this story, few people would’ve ever predicted that the truth was indeed the truth.
“A lot of crime stories are very linear and obvious from the start. What was really intriguing about this story was the fact that every time you think you know what’s happened, there’s another twist, Higgins told Netflix. “Everyone thinks they know the ending from the start. In this story, few people would’ve ever predicted that the truth was indeed the truth.
- 1/18/2024
- by Paul Schrodt
- Tudum - Netflix
Spoiler alert: This story contains spoilers from “American Nightmare,” the three-part docuseries now streaming on Netflix.
“American Nightmare” may be difficult to watch at night. Netflix’s latest docuseries, from the filmmakers behind “The Tinder Swindler,” Felicity Morris and Bernadette Higgins, tells the story of a traumatic home invasion, abduction and the unreal events that unfolded from there.
In March 2015, Denise Huskins was abducted by a home invader from an apartment in Vallejo, Calif., and her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, was drugged with Nyquil at the same time, so he wasn’t able to report her kidnapping right away. As shown in the docuseries, the Vallejo police first viewed Quinn as the prime suspect after hours of questioning and attempting to get him to confess. Then Huskins showed up at her father’s house in Huntington Beach, hours south of Vallejo, after being missing for two days. She was quickly labeled...
“American Nightmare” may be difficult to watch at night. Netflix’s latest docuseries, from the filmmakers behind “The Tinder Swindler,” Felicity Morris and Bernadette Higgins, tells the story of a traumatic home invasion, abduction and the unreal events that unfolded from there.
In March 2015, Denise Huskins was abducted by a home invader from an apartment in Vallejo, Calif., and her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, was drugged with Nyquil at the same time, so he wasn’t able to report her kidnapping right away. As shown in the docuseries, the Vallejo police first viewed Quinn as the prime suspect after hours of questioning and attempting to get him to confess. Then Huskins showed up at her father’s house in Huntington Beach, hours south of Vallejo, after being missing for two days. She was quickly labeled...
- 1/18/2024
- by Emily Longeretta
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix's 2024 documentary campaign gets off to a fast start this week with the premiere of American Nightmare, a three-part series about the terrifying abduction of Denise Huskins in March 2015. Directed and produced by the duo behind The Tinder Swindler, Bernadette Higgins and Felicity Morris, American Nightmare retraces the crime itself, with Huskins and boyfriend (and now-husband) Aaron Quinn recalling their harrowing experience in vivid detail, and dives into the aftermath, when the young couple was demonized by law enforcement and a media apparatus all too eager to dismiss their story as a hoax.
- 1/17/2024
- by Claire Spellberg Lustig
- Primetimer
Aaron Quinn and Denise Huskins may not be household names, but what happened to them was made ubiquitous by a widely-known association: “Gone Girl.”
The California couple made headlines in 2015, just one year after David Fincher’s adaptation of the popular Gillian Flynn novel. Huskins was kidnapped, her then-boyfriend telling the police a shocking story, and after 48 hours, she came home. Their ordeal was treated like a “real-life ‘Gone Girl'” by the media — as well as local and federal officers — and now retold in the Netflix docuseries “American Nightmare,” helmed by Bernadette Higgins and Felicity Morris.
When Quinn and Huskins’ story reached the duo behind “The Tinder Swindler,” it was once again via “Gone Girl”-association. Higgins told IndieWire she was struck by all the twists and turns in their story (which doesn’t end after Huskins came home), and the “sheer audacity” of law enforcement in the situation.
The California couple made headlines in 2015, just one year after David Fincher’s adaptation of the popular Gillian Flynn novel. Huskins was kidnapped, her then-boyfriend telling the police a shocking story, and after 48 hours, she came home. Their ordeal was treated like a “real-life ‘Gone Girl'” by the media — as well as local and federal officers — and now retold in the Netflix docuseries “American Nightmare,” helmed by Bernadette Higgins and Felicity Morris.
When Quinn and Huskins’ story reached the duo behind “The Tinder Swindler,” it was once again via “Gone Girl”-association. Higgins told IndieWire she was struck by all the twists and turns in their story (which doesn’t end after Huskins came home), and the “sheer audacity” of law enforcement in the situation.
- 1/17/2024
- by Proma Khosla
- Indiewire
This article discusses the real life events behind American Nightmare and will therefore “spoil” the docuseries.
The events that unfold in Netflix true crime docuseries American Nightmare are hard to believe. I know that because I didn’t believe them. At least not at first.
On March 23, 2015, Aaron Quinn called 9-1-1 and reported that his girlfriend Denise Huskins had been kidnapped from their California home. According to an extremely groggy-sounding Quinn, a masked man wearing a wetsuit had broken in, tased them, injected them both with a sedative, and then taken off with a tied-up Denise. What was already a strange case only got stranger when Denise returned to her parents’ home a few days later, seemingly no worse for wear.
The police held a press conference in which they accused Quinn and Huskins of making the whole thing up and wasting precious law enforcement time and resources on a scam.
The events that unfold in Netflix true crime docuseries American Nightmare are hard to believe. I know that because I didn’t believe them. At least not at first.
On March 23, 2015, Aaron Quinn called 9-1-1 and reported that his girlfriend Denise Huskins had been kidnapped from their California home. According to an extremely groggy-sounding Quinn, a masked man wearing a wetsuit had broken in, tased them, injected them both with a sedative, and then taken off with a tied-up Denise. What was already a strange case only got stranger when Denise returned to her parents’ home a few days later, seemingly no worse for wear.
The police held a press conference in which they accused Quinn and Huskins of making the whole thing up and wasting precious law enforcement time and resources on a scam.
- 1/17/2024
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Netflix’s three-part documentary series American Nightmare examines the 2015 case of Denise Huskins and her boyfriend Aaron Quinn. The trailer hits the key elements of the story and teases a deeper dive into the subsequent rush to wrap the case up in a tidy bow.
The Tinder Swindler‘s filmmakers Felicity Morris and Bernadette Higgins directed the docuseries and served as producers. Rebecca North and Fiona Stourton executive produced.
“After a home invasion and abduction, a young couple’s recounting of the events is too far-fetched for the police to believe. Why did the victims seem so calm? Was it all a hoax?,” reads Netflix’s synopsis. “From the filmmakers behind The Tinder Swindler, this three-part docuseries unravels the consequences of our cultural rush to judgment and the damage done when law enforcement decides the truth can’t possibly be true.”
The docuseries will incorporate real interrogation footage along with...
The Tinder Swindler‘s filmmakers Felicity Morris and Bernadette Higgins directed the docuseries and served as producers. Rebecca North and Fiona Stourton executive produced.
“After a home invasion and abduction, a young couple’s recounting of the events is too far-fetched for the police to believe. Why did the victims seem so calm? Was it all a hoax?,” reads Netflix’s synopsis. “From the filmmakers behind The Tinder Swindler, this three-part docuseries unravels the consequences of our cultural rush to judgment and the damage done when law enforcement decides the truth can’t possibly be true.”
The docuseries will incorporate real interrogation footage along with...
- 1/3/2024
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
The true crime documentary series American Nightmare is set to reach the Netflix streaming service on January 17th, and with exactly two weeks to go until this one is available to watch a trailer for the show has arrived online. You can check it out in the embed above.
Directed by Bernadette Higgins (who previously produced the Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler) and Felicity Morris (who directed The Tinder Swindler), American Nightmare has the following synopsis: After a home invasion and abduction, a young couple’s recounting of the events is too far fetched for the police to believe. Why did the victims seem so calm? Was it all a hoax? From the filmmakers behind The Tinder Swindler, this three-part docuseries unravels the consequences of our cultural rush to judgment, and the damage done when law enforcement decides the truth can’t possibly be true.
According to People, a press...
Directed by Bernadette Higgins (who previously produced the Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler) and Felicity Morris (who directed The Tinder Swindler), American Nightmare has the following synopsis: After a home invasion and abduction, a young couple’s recounting of the events is too far fetched for the police to believe. Why did the victims seem so calm? Was it all a hoax? From the filmmakers behind The Tinder Swindler, this three-part docuseries unravels the consequences of our cultural rush to judgment, and the damage done when law enforcement decides the truth can’t possibly be true.
According to People, a press...
- 1/3/2024
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
A home invasion and abduction gets stranger and stranger in the trailer for Netflix’s upcoming docuseries, American Nightmare. The three-part film, which premieres Jan. 17, reexamines the unusual 2015 disappearance of Denise Huskins and the testimony of her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, which police doubted at the time.
“My girlfriend, Denise, got kidnapped last night,” Quinn tells a 911 operator at the beginning of the series’ trailer.
“And you didn’t call last night when this occurred?” the receptionist says.
“I was tied up.”
The preview shows police questioning Quinn, who describes a...
“My girlfriend, Denise, got kidnapped last night,” Quinn tells a 911 operator at the beginning of the series’ trailer.
“And you didn’t call last night when this occurred?” the receptionist says.
“I was tied up.”
The preview shows police questioning Quinn, who describes a...
- 1/3/2024
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
Following the success of Emmy-nominated “Tinder Swindler,” director Felicity Morris is already at work on Netflix’s miniseries “All American Nightmare,” she said at Rome’s Mia.
Morris, previously at Raw TV, started her own company Ladywell Films with “Tinder Swindler” producer Bernadette Higgins.
“It felt like the right time to do my own thing,” she said.
“All American Nightmare,” clocking in at three episodes, will be completed next summer. Raw TV is also on board.
“I have learnt a lot over the years and [when it comes to] true crime, there always needs to be a reason to tell that story,” she stated, admitting filmmakers should do more than just “rehash another story about a cold-blooded killer.”
“It has this amazing woman who fell victim to a horrendous crime. But it’s about more than that. It’s about victims not being believed, about the institutions that are meant to protect us and yet they fall short.
Morris, previously at Raw TV, started her own company Ladywell Films with “Tinder Swindler” producer Bernadette Higgins.
“It felt like the right time to do my own thing,” she said.
“All American Nightmare,” clocking in at three episodes, will be completed next summer. Raw TV is also on board.
“I have learnt a lot over the years and [when it comes to] true crime, there always needs to be a reason to tell that story,” she stated, admitting filmmakers should do more than just “rehash another story about a cold-blooded killer.”
“It has this amazing woman who fell victim to a horrendous crime. But it’s about more than that. It’s about victims not being believed, about the institutions that are meant to protect us and yet they fall short.
- 10/16/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
There are smooth talkers, and then there’s Simon Leviev. Compared to him, most conmen are slick as sandpaper.
This is how Simon rolled: go on the dating app Tinder, pose as a guy looking for love. Attributes: handsome, emotionally available, sharp dresser, and oh yeah, rich. Really rich. With pluses like that, who wouldn’t swipe right? A lot of smart, beautiful, even sophisticated women did, as revealed in the Emmy-nominated Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler.
“The women in the film, first and foremost, they were looking for a boyfriend. They were single, a bit lonely. And that was why they were on Tinder swiping, swiping,” explains director Felicity Morris. “Certainly, they saw in Simon something that would take them out of their ordinary life. There were pictures of him on private jets. He looked like a businessman. And I think that, for them, was really attractive.”
Norwegian-born Cecilie Fjellhøy...
This is how Simon rolled: go on the dating app Tinder, pose as a guy looking for love. Attributes: handsome, emotionally available, sharp dresser, and oh yeah, rich. Really rich. With pluses like that, who wouldn’t swipe right? A lot of smart, beautiful, even sophisticated women did, as revealed in the Emmy-nominated Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler.
“The women in the film, first and foremost, they were looking for a boyfriend. They were single, a bit lonely. And that was why they were on Tinder swiping, swiping,” explains director Felicity Morris. “Certainly, they saw in Simon something that would take them out of their ordinary life. There were pictures of him on private jets. He looked like a businessman. And I think that, for them, was really attractive.”
Norwegian-born Cecilie Fjellhøy...
- 8/11/2022
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Felicity Morris and Bernadette Higgins, the filmmakers behind Netflix’s documentary phenomenon The Tinder Swindler, have signed with Anonymous Content.
The Tinder Swindler is currently up for four Emmys including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special, Writing for a Nonfiction Program, Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special (Original Dramatic Score), Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program (Single or Multi-Camera) and Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program.
The feature released in February follows the victims of Simon Liev, an Israeli criminal posing as a wealthy, jet-setting diamond mogul on the dating app Tinder. In this way, he would woo numerous women, and con them out of millions of dollars. Morris wrote and directed the pic, which amassed over 166 million hours watched in its first 28 days on Netflix, coming in as the all-time most-watched documentary feature for the streamer. Higgins served as its producer.
Morris served as Head of U.
The Tinder Swindler is currently up for four Emmys including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special, Writing for a Nonfiction Program, Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special (Original Dramatic Score), Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program (Single or Multi-Camera) and Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program.
The feature released in February follows the victims of Simon Liev, an Israeli criminal posing as a wealthy, jet-setting diamond mogul on the dating app Tinder. In this way, he would woo numerous women, and con them out of millions of dollars. Morris wrote and directed the pic, which amassed over 166 million hours watched in its first 28 days on Netflix, coming in as the all-time most-watched documentary feature for the streamer. Higgins served as its producer.
Morris served as Head of U.
- 8/3/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
“The Tinder Swindler,” an eye-opening documentary about a notorious con man who used the dating app to defraud multiple women, could be getting the movie treatment.
Variety understands that Netflix is in talks with producers about dramatizing the wild documentary that’s likely to make any Tinder user’s blood run cold. Sources indicate that the conversation is in early stages, and that the tone of a potential film is still being worked out.
“The Tinder Swindler” debuted on the streaming service only on Wednesday, and it’s already cracking the platform’s Top 10 lists in the U.S. and U.K.
Produced by “Three Identical Strangers” and “Don’t F*** With Cats” makers Raw TV, alongside AGC Studios and Gaspin Media, the 114-minute doc tells the story of Israeli fraudster Shimon Hayut, who conned Scandinavian women into parting with hundreds of thousands of dollars by pretending on dating app Tinder to be Simon Leviev,...
Variety understands that Netflix is in talks with producers about dramatizing the wild documentary that’s likely to make any Tinder user’s blood run cold. Sources indicate that the conversation is in early stages, and that the tone of a potential film is still being worked out.
“The Tinder Swindler” debuted on the streaming service only on Wednesday, and it’s already cracking the platform’s Top 10 lists in the U.S. and U.K.
Produced by “Three Identical Strangers” and “Don’t F*** With Cats” makers Raw TV, alongside AGC Studios and Gaspin Media, the 114-minute doc tells the story of Israeli fraudster Shimon Hayut, who conned Scandinavian women into parting with hundreds of thousands of dollars by pretending on dating app Tinder to be Simon Leviev,...
- 2/4/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix has picked up global rights to the documentary “Tinder Swindler,” about a notorious con man who lured women using the popular dating app and tricked them out of millions of dollars.
Produced by “Three Identical Strangers” and “Don’t F*** With Cats” makers Raw TV, alongside AGC Studios, the doc tells the story of Israeli fraudster Shimon Hayut, who conned Scandinavian women into parting with hundreds of thousands of dollars by pretending to be a Russian oligarch named Simon Leviev on the dating app Tinder.
The documentary, directed by Felicity Morris (“Don’t F*** With Cats”), follows the women who were conned by Hayut as they uncover his true identity and bring him to justice.
Hayut, who was imprisoned in Israel in December 2019 on a 15-month jail sentence (of which he served just over five months), conned his victims by asking them, after a period of largely digital courtship,...
Produced by “Three Identical Strangers” and “Don’t F*** With Cats” makers Raw TV, alongside AGC Studios, the doc tells the story of Israeli fraudster Shimon Hayut, who conned Scandinavian women into parting with hundreds of thousands of dollars by pretending to be a Russian oligarch named Simon Leviev on the dating app Tinder.
The documentary, directed by Felicity Morris (“Don’t F*** With Cats”), follows the women who were conned by Hayut as they uncover his true identity and bring him to justice.
Hayut, who was imprisoned in Israel in December 2019 on a 15-month jail sentence (of which he served just over five months), conned his victims by asking them, after a period of largely digital courtship,...
- 7/6/2021
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
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