Social media and The Sun newspaper are reporting that the family of Bella Culley have been approached by streaming companies including Netflix to assist in the making of a documentary. Bella, a 19-year old Brit, was arrested on May 10 at the airport in Tbilisi, Georgia, with a haul of cannabis apparently obtained in Thailand.
Judge Giorgi Gelashvili in the case has said that, if the family pay a fine of 215,000 pounds by October 28, there will not be a sentencing hearing on November 2 and Bella will walk free. Bella’s mother and grandmother are in Georgia and have said that Bella’s father in UK is trying to raise funds. If Bella remains incarcerated, her baby will be born in a foreign jail before Christmas.
The controversial case is of great interest to streaming services as true crime documentaries are one of the most popular genres right now. Cases such as the Menendez Brothers and The Murdaugh Murders are prime examples as well as “cold” cases such as killers John Wayne Gacy and Ed Gein.
Streaming companies typically do not themselves make movies but purchase a finished product from independent filmmakers. According to Desktop Documentaries, which runs media trainee courses, streamers are continually looking to update their catalogues with annual budgets running into hundreds of millions of dollars.
Stat Significant, an industry observer, said that the amount of money paid to companies and individuals agreeing to participate in the filming depends on the size of the potential audience, the quality and the streamer’s content strategy. The term “bingeability” describes the inexhaustible enthusiasm of the viewing public for true crime series.
The Culley case has many attractive features to filmmakers. It involves newsworthy Thailand and a youthful drug mule, suggestions of torture, pregnancy and horror stories in a post-Soviet republic. Streaming companies rarely comment publicly on suggested subjects, whilst fees to filmmakers and documentary participants are not publicized.
