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Movies
And Specials: The Matthew Shepard Story
Synopsis:
Oscar
nominees Stockard Channing ("Six Degrees of Separation," NBC’s
"The West Wing") and Sam Waterston ("The Killing Fields," NBC’s
"Law & Order") -- along with Shane Meier ("Walker, Texas Ranger")
-- star in this biographical NBC movie about the true-life story
of a young Laramie, Wyoming college student whose murder – because
he was gay -- put a "boy-next-door" face on hate crimes. The film
dramatizes how Matthew’s parents, Judy and Dennis Shepard (Channing
and Waterston), not only had to come to terms with their son’s
life and death, but also had to respond to the murder trial of
his killers in a way that could put an end to the cycle of hate.
Judy Shepard’s
status as a very private person abruptly ended in October 1998
when she and her husband, Dennis, were awakened in the night by
the type of telephone call every parent fears: news that their
eldest son, Matthew, a 21-year-old University of Wyoming student,
lay in a coma after being viciously attacked. The night before,
two men had lured the 5’ 2" Shepard from a bar and drove him to
a remote field outside Laramie, where they beat him with the butt
of a gun and tied him to a fence before leaving him to die in
sub-freezing temperatures. Found 18 hours later by a mountain-biking
student, Shepard lingered unconscious for five days in the hospital
before dying of his injuries on Oct. 12, 1998. The police identified
robbery as the chief motive for the attack, but the two men subsequently
arrested and charged with Matthew’s murder acknowledged that they
had targeted him because he was gay.
While the
Shepard family mourned in private, the incident shocked America
and prompted a public outcry about hate crimes, particularly those
against gays and lesbians. It also turned Judy Shepard into an
activist. Determined to use her grief to help prevent hate crimes
and ensure that no parent would have to endure what she had, Judy
Shepard formed a foundation in her son's name to reach out to
the youth of America. She began speaking to audiences nationwide
about making schools and communities safer for everyone -- regardless
of race, sex, religion or sexual orientation -- and she testified
before a Senate Judiciary Committee in support of a federal hate-crimes
bill.
But Judy Shepard’s
efforts would be interrupted as she and her husband had to re-live
the nightmare of their son’s death while enduring the trial of
those accused of his murder. Toward the trial’s end, the Shepards
had to draft a statement asking the jury for either the death
penalty or the very mercy the murders never showed their son,
causing them ultimately to come to unexpected terms with their
feelings towards the killers.
The Cast:
Stockard Channing as Judy Shepard
Shane Meier as Matthew Shepard
Kristen Thompson as Romaine Patterson
Sam Waterston as Dennis Shepard
Joseph Ziegler as Cal Rerucha
Production
Info:
Clara George ("Cruel Justice") serves as the producer, and John
Wierick ("Bopha!") and Jacob Krueger are the writers of this production
of Alliance Atlantis in association with Cosmic/Clearlight Pictures.
Oscar winner Goldie Hawn ("Cactus Flower"), Peter Sussman and
Ed Gernon ("Life with Judy Garland: Me & My Shadows," "Joan of
Arc," "Nuremberg") are the executive producers, and Roger Spottiswoode
("And the Band Played On…") is the director.
Airdates:
It debuted on NBC on Saturday, March 16th, 2002 at 9pm ET/PT.
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