Iconic Texas magazine Texas Monthly — perhaps most famous for its stellar feature reporting and end-of-the-year Bum Steer awards for the biggest losers and villains in the Lone Star State — is prepping its first documentary feature.
According to Deadline, the TV and film production arm of the magazine is working with director Deborah Esquenazi to chronicle the case of James Reyos, a gay Apache man who has spent 40 years trying to clear his name and regain freedom following a murder conviction. The Innocence Project is now working with Reyos, and he got a new trial back in March. Esquenazi’s documentary will look deeply at the case as well as Reyos’ battle for his freedom.
“Deborah’s nuanced and deeply journalistic approach to filmmaking is an excellent fit for Texas Monthly as we dive deeper into the world of documentary storytelling, and the rich layers of the James Reyos story made this project a very appealing one to collaborate on with this team,” said Texas Monthly‘s executive producer for TV, film, and podcasts, Megan Creydt.
Added Esquenazi, “There is no better collaborator than Texas Monthly for a film like this. The Odessa Police Department—which reopened this case on its own—uncovered new forensic evidence in 2022, and it has been thrilling to film the collaboration between Odessa’s police department, the District Attorney’s office, and the Innocence Project of Texas clinic at Texas Tech University to do what might have once been unthinkable: reinvestigate a cold case, together, that might finally exonerate an innocent man who has been fighting for his life since the early 1980s.”
Who knows. It might be true crime we can actually feel good about watching.
(via Deadline)