--- description: The stories that inspired the series' creators title: Here's What Fans of 'Making a Murderer' Should Watch Next image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt71d24eb42e99867d/69887796f887dc43e1e93fbd/makin_pds_003_h.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Here's What Fans of _Making a Murderer_ Should Watch Next  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Jan 6, 2016 12:09 AM CUT  Directors Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos behind the scenes on the Netflix original documentary series "Making A Murderer". Directors Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos behind the scenes on the Netflix original documentary series "Making A Murderer".Danielle Ricciardi—Netflix  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Jan 6, 2016 12:09 AM CUT During an [interview](http://time.com/4167915/making-a-murderer-steven-avery-juror "undefined") with TIME about their Netflix true crime series, _Making a Murderer_, filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos talked about the Steven Avery case, new information they received from a juror and how they remained unbiased during their 10 years of filming. They also spoke about the documentaries and films that inspired them as they were putting together the docuseries. Here’s what they love—and what fans should watch next. Read the creators’ full interview with TIME [here](http://time.com/4167915/making-a-murderer-steven-avery-juror "undefined"). **_The Paradise Lost trilogy_** Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s 1996 [documentary](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117293/ "undefined") follows three teenagers accused of killing three children, supposedly because of Satanism. But things aren’t what they appear. “We revisited the _Paradise Lost_ trilogy as inspiration a lot.” **_The Staircase_** Jean-Xavier de Lestrade [traces the high-profile murder trial](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388644/ "undefined") of novelist Michael Peterson, from beginning to end. “When we realized this wasn’t going to be a feature but a series, we looked at _The Staircase_, an eight-part series on the Sundance channel. That certainly demonstrated to us that there was an appetite out there for long-form storytelling about one case where you can get deeper into the characters.” **American Dream** Barbara Kopple’s film about [a mid-1980s workers’ strike](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099028/ "undefined") at a meatpacking plant in Minnesota examines the complex issues of workers’ rights. “Even outside of the genre, we often talk about Barbara Kopple’s _American Dream_—the way there was intense public conflict and then you’re sitting at the kitchen table with your characters and how that throws you in. It gives a political issue such a human touch.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4168754/making-a-murderer-netflix-watch-next-true-crime/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4168754/making-a-murderer-netflix-watch-next-true-crime/"},"headline":"Here's What Fans of Making a Murderer Should Watch Next","datePublished":"2016-01-06T00:09:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:48:40.188Z","description":"The stories that inspired the series' creators","url":"https://time.com/4168754/making-a-murderer-netflix-watch-next-true-crime/","keywords":["Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt71d24eb42e99867d/69887796f887dc43e1e93fbd/makin_pds_003_h.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt71d24eb42e99867d/69887796f887dc43e1e93fbd/makin_pds_003_h.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"makin_pds_003_h","caption":"Directors Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos behind the scenes on the Netflix original documentary series \"Making A Murderer\".","creditText":"Danielle Ricciardi—Netflix","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4168754/making-a-murderer-netflix-watch-next-true-crime/","name":"Here's What Fans of Making a Murderer Should Watch Next"}}]}] ```