Campfire Studios: From True Crime to True Love

Campfire Studios, a production company behind successful true-crime series such as Netflix's 'Unknown Number: The High School Catfish' and 'My Father, The BTK Killer,' is broadening its genre scope. The company is currently developing its first dating competition format, which producer Ross Dinerstein describes as having an "elevated twist" and being more grounded in reality.

This new venture into dating shows follows their work on diverse projects, including the docuseries 'America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders,' renewed for a third season, and the feature thriller 'We Bury The Dead.' Campfire is also producing a three-part docuseries featuring One Direction members Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik. This series will follow them on a road trip across the U.S. as they discuss the death of their former bandmate, Liam Payne.

Despite expanding into new genres, Campfire's true-crime documentaries continue to perform exceptionally well, particularly on Netflix. 'Unknown Number: The High School Catfish' was a major success, and 'My Father, The BTK Killer,' which tells the story from the perspective of Dennis Rader's daughter, is highlighted as a quintessential Campfire project. The company aims to tell relatable stories from unique viewpoints.

Campfire is also exploring the integration of AI in production through an investment in Wonder Studios. Supported by Wheelhouse, which acquired a majority stake in November 2019, Campfire has also seen personnel changes, with Anne Hazlett joining as SVP, Non-Fiction Content, replacing Rebecca Evans. Looking ahead, the company anticipates the wide release of 'Andy Kaufman Is Me' in 2026 and is working on another comedian-focused bio-doc.