WACO: AMERICAN APOCALYPSE
Documentary Series, Netflix
A definitive look at the infamous 51-day standoff between federal agents and a heavily armed religious group in 1993. Waco: American Apocalypse premieres March 22 only on Netflix.
Those infamous events in Waco began with the largest shootout on American soil since the Civil War and culminated with the deadly inferno witnessed by an entire nation on live television.
Exactly thirty years after the fatal conflict, Waco: American Apocalypse examines the tragic events and contemplates the power of de-escalation. This 3-part documentary series, directed and executive produced by acclaimed filmmaker Tiller Russell (Night Stalker), features recently unearthed, never-before-seen footage of the tense negotiations between Branch Davidian cult leader David Koresh and FBI Negotiators.
Raw news footage captured on the compound, internal FBI recordings, and revealing interviews filled out the palette used by Tiller to tell this story from “a deeply humanist perspective.” From the last child released from the compound alive, the eyewitness journalists covering the story, to the members of the FBI and ATF teams, every perspective is explored.
Partner / Head of Longform, Edwin ZaneI got a call from a trusted collaborator about some old VHS tapes he’d found while cleaning out his attic.
Gary Noeser, the Former Head of FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit, went on to reveal to me that he’d forgotten this footage of the active negotiations between the FBI stand-off with David Koresh and the Branch Dividians even existed.
Gary confided in me that, as the events in Waco took a tragic turn, he boxed up the tapes and stashed them away without even reviewing them. That meant that for the past 30 years, not a solitary soul had laid eyes on this perspective of the bloody standoff in central Texas.
Shortly after that initial call, in the back booth of a bar in Oxnard, Dane and I became two of the first people to watch this historic footage. We immediately knew that these lost tapes would serve as the cornerstone to an incredible documentary series.
Over the following months, we digested the history of the event and distilled the new perspective that these tapes could provide.
After taking our time to do it right, we shared our thoughts and saw our enthusiasm matched by our partners over at Original Productions.
Netflix was always the ideal home for this series and with the brilliant Tiller Russel embracing this documentary project as his follow-up to his record setting Night Stalker series at Netflix, the wheels were set in motion.
After years of fulfilling hard work and collaboration with these amazing partners, we are thrilled to share Waco: American Apocalypse with the world.