Erin Lee Carr

Erin Lee Carr (born April 15, 1988)[1] is an American documentary filmmaker best known for Thought Crimes: The Case of the Cannibal Cop, Mommy Dead and Dearest and the HBO documentaries I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth vs. Michelle Carter and At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal.[2] She is also the author of memoir called All That You Leave Behind: A Memoir.[3] Carr is the daughter of the late The New York Times media columnist David Carr.[4][5]

Erin Lee Carr
Erin Lee Carr at SXSW
Born (1988-04-15) April 15, 1988
Minneapolis, Minnesota U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison
OccupationDocumentary filmmaker
Writer
Years active2010–present
Parent(s)David Carr
Anna O'Leary
Websiteerinleecarr.com

Early life and education

Carr was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to journalist David Carr and Anna Lee.[1][6]

Carr and her twin sister, Meagan Carr, were born two and a half months early. David Carr and Anna O'Leary lost custody of the twins because of their drug addiction. Carr and her sister went into foster care for a summer. When her father got out of rehab, he regained physical custody of the girls and in 1994 married Jill Rooney, who became Erin's step-mother.[1][7]

In addition to her twin sister Meagan, a mental health worker,[5] Carr has a half-sister named Maddie.[1][4] The family lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and then New Jersey.[8]

In 2010, Carr graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts.[9] In the Spring of 2010, Carr attended FAMU in Prague in the Czech Republic.[10]

Career

In the Summer of 2009, Carr was an intern at Fox Searchlight Pictures, working in the public relations department.[11] In the Fall of 2009, Carr worked as a Media Assistant at the Instructional Media Center in the Communication Arts Department at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.[10] In November 2010, she worked as an office production assistant on Lena Dunham's TV show, Girls.[3][10]

VICE

Carr worked as a college intern at VICE. After graduation, in 2010 she got a full-time job at VICE where she worked up to an Associate Producer position for Vice Media's Motherboard,[12] an online magazine and video channel that focused on the intersection of technology, science and people. She was at VICE for three years.[13]

In 2011, Carr shot video and documented the wi-fi towers that Occupy Wall Street protestors had set up in Zuccotti Park in New York City, and how the NYPD dealt with the towers and protestors in a story called Who Smashed the Laptops from Occupy Wall Street? Inside the NYPD's Lost and Found.[14][15]

In 2012, Carr developed Spaced Out for Motherboard.[16] Spaced Out had twelve videos, nine of which Carr helped create. She helped produce UFO sightings in Colorado, Using the Sun to Make Music, The Man Who Hunts Spy Satellites,[17] Save the Last Great Telescope, and The First Animal to Survive in Space.[18] Carr was an assistant producer for Building a Homemade Space Craft, Blowing up Asteroids with NASA and Neil deGrasse Tyson, New York's Strangest Astronaut, and Homemade Mission to Mars by Tom Sachs.[16]

In 2013, Carr developed My Life Online for VICE's Motherboard.[19] Carr produced three videos for this series: Shoenice22 Will Eat Anything for Fame, The Story of Karl Welzein, According to @dadboner Creator Mike Burns,[20] and Jerome LOL on Remixing the Internet and the Ageless Beauty of Web 1.0.[21]

In 2013, Carr produced a documentary for VICE called Click. Print. Gun. about Cody Wilson, the owner of Defense Distributed.[22] The film shows how 3D-printing is creating new issues with gun production. Wilson is against gun control and is working to create a full blueprint for a completely 3D printed gun with hopes to put it online for anyone to have access.[22] The documentary won a 2014 Webby Award.[23]

Vox Media

In June 2013, she left VICE for Vox Media's The Verge.[13] She worked as a producer, a position she held for four months.[11][14] While at Vox, Carr curated and produced long and short stories for The Verge.[13]

HBO

In November 2013, Carr became a freelance director for HBO Documentary Films.[2][14]

In April 2015, Carr's first documentary for HBO, Thought Crimes: The Case of the Cannibal Cop premiered at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival.[24][25] Released by HBO in May 2015, Thought Crimes is a documentary film about Gilberto Valle, an ex-New York City Police Officer who was arrested on two counts; one for kidnapping conspiracy and illegally gaining access to a law-enforcement database. Valle's wife had installed spyware on their computer to see why her husband was staying up so late at night. She found he had been subscribing to a number of fetish websites and chatting with some un-savory characters about how to kidnap, torture, kill, cook, and eat women.[24]

Thought Crimes received positive reviews[26][27] and was a finalist for the 2016 Cinema Eye Honors in the non-fiction film for television category.[28]

In May 2017, HBO released Carr's documentary film Mommy Dead and Dearest, which was about the murder of Dee Dee Blanchard, allegedly by her daughter Gypsy Rose Blanchard.[29][30] It was an official selection for SXSW,[31] HotDocs and DocAviv and was one of the most-watched documentaries on HBO in 2017.[8]

In 2019, Carr's two-part HBO documentary I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth Vs. Michelle Carter premiered at SXSW.[32] It was also an official selection at HotDocs[33] and the Montclair Film Festival.[34] It was released on HBO in the Summer of 2019.[35] The film chronicles the Michelle Carter criminal case.[36][37]

In 2019, Carr's film At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal, premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival,[38] and then aired on HBO.[39] The film follows the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal, with a focus on the survivor's takes surrounding the predatory attitudes of former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.[40]

Netflix

In 2018, Carr directed an episode of the Netflix documentary series Dirty Money called released "Drug Short" which examines how big pharmaceutical companies exploit patients seeking life saving drugs.[41]

Carr directed the limited series, How to Fix a Drug Scandal, that was released on Netflix on April 1, 2020.[42] How to Fix a Drug Scandal is a four-part documentary series that depicts the arrest and prosecution of Sonja Farak and Annie Dookhan, two former state drug lab technicians. Dookhan was accused of forging reports and tampering with samples to produce desired results.[43] Farak was accused of tampering with the evidence she was tasked with analyzing by using it to get high herself.[44] The actions of both women, who acted independently, resulted in tens of thousands of drug counts being dismissed, the largest single mass dismissal of criminal cases in U.S. history.[45] How to Fix a Drug Scandal depicts the role of former Attorney General of Massachusetts Martha Coakley, who was accused of political cover up and of minimizing the length of time Farak was battling drug addictions to cocaine, meth, and other substances: from almost 10 years to only one and a half years.[46]

Memoir

In April 2019, Carr published a memoir called All That You Leave Behind: A Memoir for Random House.[47] All That You Leave Behind started out as a self-published Medium article called Still Rendering that Carr wrote a year after her father's death.[3][48]

The book describes Carr's growth in her career as a documentary filmmaker and is a celebration of her father, David Carr, that includes emails and GChat and other records that documented her relationship with him.[11][49] Carr said that finding all of his communications with her was a way to hear his voice again.[3]

Personal life

Carr lives in New York City.[8] Carr has discussed her struggles with alcohol and becoming sober.[5]

Filmography
Year Title Director Producer Notes
2012 Spaced Out[16][17] Yes Documentary series; 9 episodes
2012 Free the Network: Hackers Take Back the Web[50] Yes Documentary
2012 First Animal to Survive in Space[18] Yes Documentary
2012 The World's Hottest Taxidermist[51] Yes Documentary
2013 My Life Online[20][21] Yes Documentary series; 3 episodes
2013 Click. Print. Gun.[22] Yes Documentary
2013 Picnic Table Yes Short
2015 Thought Crimes: The Case of the Cannibal Cop Yes Yes Documentary
2015 Remembering David Carr Documentary; Self, special thanks
2017 Mommy Dead and Dearest Yes Yes Documentary
2017 Whirlybird Yes Documentary
2018 Dirty Money: Drug Short Yes Yes Documentary; episode: "Drug Short"
2019 I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth V. Michelle Carter[35] Yes Yes Documentary
2019 At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal[39] Yes Yes Documentary
2020 How to Fix a Drug Scandal[52] Yes Documentary series; 4 episodes

Honors / awards

Selected works and publications
  • Carr, Erin Lee (July 28, 2011). "Growing a New Eye (With a Little Help From Technology and You)". VICE.
  • Carr, Erin Lee (August 22, 2011). "The Rules of Modern Day Attraction". Motherboard. VICE.
  • Carr, Erin Lee (October 24, 2011). "In the Uncensored Internet Age, There's Nothing Scarier Than A Hot Mic". VICE.
  • Anderson, Brian; Carr, Erin Lee (November 18, 2011). "Who Smashed the Laptops from Occupy Wall Street? Inside the NYPD's Lost and Found". VICE.
  • Carr, Erin Lee (November 21, 2011). "Video Essay: Free the Network". Sisyphus. 2012 (3).
  • Carr, Erin Lee (February 13, 2016). "Still Rendering". Medium.
  • Carr, Erin Lee (2019). All That You Leave Behind: A Memoir. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-399-17898-6. OCLC 1096328675.

References
  1. Carr, David (July 20, 2008). "Magazine: Me and My Girls". The New York Times.
  2. Rose, Becca (April 13, 2015). "Tribeca 2015 Women Directors: Meet Erin Lee Carr – 'Thought Crimes'". IndieWire.
  3. Flax-Clark, Aiden; Coates, Ta-Nehisi; Carr, Erin Lee (May 26, 2019). "NYPL Library Talks: Erin Lee Carr and Ta-Nehisi Coates Remember David Carr" (Podcast audio interview; includes transcript). New York Public Library.
  4. Weber, Bruce; Southall, Ashley (February 12, 2015). "David Carr, Times Critic and Champion of Media, Dies at 58". The New York Times.
  5. Gross, Terry; Carr, Erin Lee (April 30, 2019). "David Carr's Daughter On The 'Grand Caper' Of Life, And The Grief Of Loss" (Audio interview; includes transcript). Fresh Air. NPR.
  6. Carr, Erin Lee (November 21, 2011). "Video Essay: Free the Network". Sisyphus. 2012 (3).
  7. "David M Carr, Minnesota Marriage Index, 1958-2001". FamilySearch. September 17, 1994.
  8. "Erin Lee Carr, Filmmaker". Forbes. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  9. Kirkby, Sean (September 25, 2013). "From UFO seekers to Wall Street occupiers, Carr documents it". University of Wisconsin–Madison.
  10. Carr, Erin Lee (October 2011). "Erin Lee Carr" (PDF). Turn It Up to 11.
  11. Stelter, Brian; Carr, Erin Lee (April 11, 2019). "Erin Lee Carr" (Podcast audio interview). Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter. iHeartMedia.
  12. Carr, Erin Lee (August 22, 2011). "The Rules of Modern Day Attraction". Motherboard. VICE.
  13. Bloomgarden-Smoke, Kara (June 12, 2013). "Erin Lee Carr Leaves Vice for The Verge". Observer.
  14. "Erin Lee Carr, Filmmaker". Bird. 2017.
  15. Anderson, Brian; Carr, Erin Lee (November 18, 2011). "Who Smashed the Laptops from Occupy Wall Street? Inside the NYPD's Lost and Found". VICE.
  16. Carr, Erin Lee (January 16, 2013). "Using the Sun to Make Music" (YouTube playlist). Motherboard. VICE.
  17. Carr, Erin Lee (November 27, 2012). "Spaced Out: The Satellite Hunter". VICE.
  18. Carr, Erin Lee (September 4, 2012). "Meet the Guy Who Hunts Space Bears in Rural Virginia". VICE.
  19. McCabe, Heather (April 5, 2013). "Gun Control Gets a Closer Look in a New Documentary". ELLE.
  20. Carr, Erin Lee (April 8, 2013). "The Story of Karl Welzein, According to @Dadboner Creator Mike Burns". VICE.
  21. Carr, Erin Lee (March 22, 2013). "Jerome LOL on Remixing the Internet and the Ageless Beauty of Web 1.0". VICE.
  22. Carr, Erin Lee (March 25, 2013). "Click, Print, Gun: The Inside Story of the 3D-Printed Gun Movement". VICE.
  23. "Mommy Dead and Dearest". American Film Festival. 2018.
  24. Weiser, Benjamin (April 16, 2015). "Gilberto Valle, Ex-New York Police Officer, Talks About His Cannibalism Fantasies in Film". The New York Times.
  25. Gregorian, Dareh (April 15, 2015). "'Cannibal cop' tale served up at Tribeca Film Festival". New York Daily News.
  26. Genzlinger, Neil (May 10, 2015). "Review: 'Thought Crimes: The Case of the Cannibal Cop' on HBO". The New York Times.
  27. Hoffman, Jordan (April 17, 2015). "Thought Crimes review – is it a criminal act to think about committing a crime?". The Guardian.
  28. "Finalists for 2016 Nonfiction Film for Television Award Announced" (Press release). Cinema Eye Honors. June 16, 2015.
  29. Lowry, Brian (May 12, 2017). "HBO's 'Mommy Dead and Dearest' is true crime at its best". CNN.
  30. Genzlinger, Neil (May 14, 2017). "Review: The Bizarre Case of 'Mommy Dead and Dearest'". The New York Times.
  31. Linden, Sheri (March 11, 2017). "SXSW 2017: 'Mommy Dead and Dearest': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
  32. "I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth Vs. Michelle Carter". SXSW. 2019.
  33. "Hot Docs Adds "One Child Nation," "I Love You, Now Die," & More to Special Presentations Lineup". Women and Hollywood. 2019.
  34. Martin, Julia (2019). "Erin Lee Carr documentary 'I Love You, Now Die' debuts at Montclair Film Festival". North Jersey Record. USA Today.
  35. "Documentaries: I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth v. Michelle Carter". HBO. 2019.
  36. Zimmerman, Amy (March 11, 2019). "The Troubled Teen Who Encouraged Her Lover's Suicide". The Daily Beast.
  37. Ng, Alan (March 10, 2019). "I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth vs. Michelle Carter". Film Threat.
  38. Schager, Nick (May 5, 2019). "Tribeca Film Review: 'At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal'". Variety.
  39. "Documentaries: At the Heart of Gold". HBO. 2019.
  40. Abele, Robert (May 2, 2019). "Review: 'At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal' demands attention". Los Angeles Times.
  41. Shoemaker, Allison (January 26, 2018). "Netflix's "Dirty Money" Sheds Light on Financial Darkness". RogerEbert.com.
  42. Horton, Adrian (April 1, 2020). "How to Fix a Drug Scandal: behind a staggering Netflix crime docuseries". The Guardian.
  43. Lavoie, Denise (March 4, 2014). "Inspector General: Dookhan 'Sole Bad Actor' In State Drug Lab Scandal". CBS Boston.
  44. McDonald, Danny (September 25, 2019). "24,000 charges tossed because they were tainted by former Amherst lab chemist's misconduct". The Boston Globe.
  45. Trahan, Erin (April 9, 2020). "Netflix's 'How To Fix A Drug Scandal' Elevates Process Over Personality". WBUR.
  46. Wilkinson, Alissa (April 1, 2020). "How to Fix a Drug Scandal is the staggering true story of justice gone very wrong". Vox.
  47. Carr, Erin Lee (2019). All That You Leave Behind: A Memoir. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-399-17898-6. OCLC 1096328675.
  48. Carr, Erin Lee (February 13, 2016). "Still Rendering". Medium.
  49. Hobson, Jeremy; Carr, Erin Lee (April 16, 2019). "Video: A Conversation With Author and Filmmaker Erin Lee Carr" (Video interview). WBUR-FM.
  50. Carr, Erin Lee (March 29, 2012). "Free the Network: Hackers Take Back the Web". VICE.
  51. Carr, Erin Lee (November 16, 2012). "Brooklyn's Fashionable Taxidermist Takes Cashcats to Another Level: Video". VICE.
  52. How to Fix a Drug Scandal (TV Mini-Series 2020) - IMDb, retrieved April 14, 2020
  53. "Variety's 10 Documakers To Watch". Variety. April 14, 2015.
  54. "30 Under 30 2018: Media". Forbes. January 2018.
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