CR 013: Skye Borgman on the Art of Documenting True Crime

The award-winning documentarian discusses her career, her approach to filmmaking, and her latest project, Netflix’s “American Murder: Laci Peterson.”

Photo courtesy of Skye Borgman

Truth, as they say, is stranger than fiction—something that Skye Borgman’s work proves time and again. In 2019, Borgman—who had already been working professionally for years as a cinematographer and director—became a viral sensation after Netflix premiered her true crime documentary Abducted in Plain Sight. The film, about a girl who was kidnapped twice by a family friend, was an instant hit, generating thousands of headlines and Tweets of the “how can this possibly be true” variety.

Over the past five years, she’s directed a number of riveting true crime documentaries, including Girl in the Picture, Dead Asleep, Sins of Our Mother, I Just Killed My Dad, and The Truth About Jim, as well as episodes of Trial by Media and Unsolved Mysteries. Her latest project, American Murder: Laci Peterson, is a 3-part miniseries that premiered on Netflix on August 14th.

Despite being known primarily for her work in the true crime realm, Borgman says that her films are abou…