Netflix dismissed calls from former Wisconsin prosecutor Ken Kratz that it allow a rebuttal or disclose bias in its hit docu-series “Making a Murderer,” which suggests that Kratz’s office contributed to framing Steven Avery for murder.
“I don’t think documentaries are unbiased, they do take a position,” Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said in an interview with TheWrap on Wednesday. “This is the filmmakers’ position, and they did a great job laying out the facts.”
In an email to TheWrap this week, Kratz said Netflix should “either provide an opportunity for rebuttal, or alert the viewers that this series was produced by and for the defense of Steven Avery.”
Sarandos said Wednesday that the series “was produced by filmmakers who followed the story.”
The 10-episode true-crime series has sparked widespread condemnation of the case against Avery, including petitions with thousands of signatures seeking a presidential pardon of his conviction for the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach.
Sarandos added that the reaction to “Making a Murderer” is unlike anything he’s seen at Netflix before, particularly the breadth of people shocked by the story.
“My relatives, the people I went to high school with, the stars that we work with, professional friends — it cuts across every demographic, and people are obsessed with it,” he said.