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Between Life & Death: Terri Schiavo’s Story

Directors

Nick Capote

Executive Producers

Alex Waterfield, Jackie Jesko, Amanda Spain, Rashida Jones, Liz Cole, Molly O'Brien, Elizabeth Fischer

Producers

Kimberley Ferdinando, Melissa Leardi

Editors

Ben Gold

Cinematographers

Daniel Hollis

Between Life & Death revisits the story of Terri Schiavo, a deeply personal decade-long saga that captivated the country and forced Americans to reckon with profound issues at the intersection of faith and politics that reverberate to this day. At only 26, Terri suffered a brain injury that left her in a persistent vegetative state, with no hope of recovery. While Terri’s husband wanted to let her die, her parents insisted she be kept alive. What began as a personal family dispute in local Florida courts escalated into an international news event and seminal right-to-die legal battle, involving the highest levels of government. Using an exceptional wealth of archival footage, this film examines how politicians and activists on the religious right harnessed Terri’s story and the power of the “pro-life” movement, laying the groundwork for a post-Roe America. Between Life & Death is an intimate portrait of a family divided that weaves together past and present to ask universal questions about the government’s role in our private lives and who gets to decide if a life is worth living.

 

Courtesy of NBC News Studios, MSNBC Films, and Latchkey Films

BetweenLife_N.Capote

Nick Capote

Director, Between Life & Death: Terri Schiavo’s Story

Nick is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and a co-founder of Latchkey Films. He most recently produced a forthcoming three-part documentary series for HBO Films that explores the influence of Evangelical missionaries in Uganda. Stories with complex religious themes have always appealed to Nick. And Terri Schiavo’s story offers a unique opportunity to contextualize the influence of the religious right in American politics while exploring how a private family tragedy ignited an international firestorm.

 

Nick began his career as a journalist at NBC News and later worked at ABC News, traveling around the world to examine some of the most challenging issues of our time, from the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean to the opioid epidemic in New England. His work has been honored with multiple journalism awards, including two Emmys. He has produced and directed documentary series for National Geographic and Disney+. He led a field production team on Showtime’s political documentary series, The Circus. And he produced the first three episodes of The Innocence Files, a critically-acclaimed Netflix series about wrongful convictions.

 

Nick is Cuban American. He grew up in New York and New Jersey and now lives in Brooklyn with his wife and daughter.  Between Life & Death is his feature documentary directorial debut.