Filmmakers Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio visited Movie Addict Headquarters on Tuesday, August 10, to discuss Cropsey, an intense and horrifying documentary exploring the evidence relating to four missing children who lived on Staten Island. It also investigates the urban legend behind “Cropsey” and the case against Andre Rand, the chief suspect in these awful crimes. Joshua wrote and co-directed this hauntingly atmospheric film.

As former residents of Staten Island, Joshua and co-director Barbara Brancaccio remember the scary “Cropsey” stories they heard as youngsters. Back then, they believed he was an escaped mental patient who lived in an old abandoned mental institution of the area and came out at night to snatch children. But when a young girl actually disappeared from the area in 1987, Cropsey began to seem more like a real person than a legendary boogeyman. Because of their backgrounds, Joshua and Barbara were the perfect pair to make a film about this real-life horror, so it’s not surprising the result is quite impressive.

Joshua’s other movie credits include The Station Agent, Mysterious Skin, Choking Man, Rain Fall, Against the Current, and Get Well Soon. His upcoming projects are: Ceremony, a comedy starring Uma Thurman and Lee Pace; The Aspern Papers, based on a Henry James novella; and an untitled Sara Jane Moore documentary.

Barbara is the Executive Deputy Commissioner of Public Information for New York City's Department of Social Services.     

An archived segment of this interview is available on BlogTalkRadio.

HOST:  Betty Jo Tucker

CO-HOST/PRODUCER:  Nikki Starr

CO-PRODUCER:  Misha Zubarev

LINK TO LISTEN:  Click here on or after August 10, 2010.

(Shown successfully at numerous film festivals and on various theater screens nationwide, Cropsey will be aired on Discovery Channel Investigation on August 13th and is now available nationwide on Video-On-Demand until August 12th through major operators including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox and Brighthouse. For more information about this acclaimed horror documentary, please go to www.cropseylegend.com.)