Celene Beth and Natalie explore her multi-faceted background—reflecting on her career beginning as an associate producer on Ken Burns’ landmark 10-part PBS series, Jazz, her growth as a documentary producer and emerging director, and her extensive fellow and mentorship roles across Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center, DOC NYC, Sundance, and Rockwood Institute. They dive into how DAWG came to be in 2020 during a time of national racial reckoning, emerging out of a vital need to challenge traditional documentary practices and center care, consent, and collaboration in filmmaking.

Natalie shares how DAWG continues to collaborate with change makers, collectives, and allied organizations across the field—including the likes of Brown Girls Doc Mafia, Film in Mind, and the Documentary Producers Alliance—challenging all of us to learn, evolve, and reflect on how stories are told and who holds power behind and in front of the lens. Together, they explore what true systemic change looks like when values and ethics guide documentary storytelling from reflection all the way to release.

Featured Frameworks & Essential Links:

• ​DAWG Framework:

• ​DAWG Syllabus:

• ​Working Films:

• ​DPA Ethics Resource Library:

• ​A True Story of Reflection - With Love:

• ​Ethics Squad:

• ​Margie Ratliff's Screen Trust:

• ​Multitude Films: multitudefilms.com

Allied Organizations & Field Resources:

• ​Brown Girls Doc Mafia:

• ​Film in Mind:

• ​Nonfiction Core Application (Filmmaker Resource):

To learn more about the standardized grant framework mentioned in the resources, check out this guide on the

Keep creating, filmmakers!

In this landmark episode, True Crime & Hollywood: A Personal Tale hosts its very first law enforcement interview, welcoming retired Tacoma Police Department detective, Senior Investigator, and author Lindsey Wade.

Lindsey brings over two decades of law enforcement experience leading complex violent crime and cold case operations. A national authority on DNA integrity, her career spans co-founding Washington State's first DOJ-certified Child Abduction Response Team, co-authoring Jennifer & Michella’s Law, and advising national cold case working groups with the FBI and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Her groundbreaking use of Forensic Genetic Genealogy and Lawfully Owed DNA has closed decades-old cases nationwide, earning her the 2025 DNA Hit of the Year Award.

Sitting down together, Celene Beth and Lindsey connect over growing up in the very Pacific Northwest and Utah communities impacted by Ted Bundy. They bring their distinct perspectives—a veteran detective who spearheaded the milestone effort to get Bundy’s missing profile into CODIS, and a filmmaker returning to her upcoming anti-true-crime documentary K*lling Theodore to interrogate his "all-American serial killer" myth. Together, they discuss the reality of cross-jurisdictional cold case investigations, the unexpected role author Ann Rule played in Lindsey's career, and the power of human-centered advocacy.

The episode also highlights the ongoing victim advocacy Lindsey is leading alongside friend of the podcast Bill Thomas. Today, Lindsey continues her work as an investigator with the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office while lecturing nationwide on sex crimes, DNA tracking, and cold case investigations—plus, we close out the conversation learning about her love for baking sourdough and The Silence of the Lambs!

Connect with Lindsey Wade & Resources:

• ​Website: Learn more about Lindsey’s ongoing investigative work, speaking engagements, and advocacy at

• ​Book: Purchase Lindsey’s award-winning memoir,