"Lake County Juvenile Justice"
NUVO
"Karen Grau has documented many heartbreaking cases in her decade-plus career reporting on the juvenile-justice system, but maybe none sadder and more surprising than the story of Kenneth.
He's the centerpiece of the Indianapolis documentary-maker's latest work, Lake County Juvenile Justice, a six-part series that takes us inside the juvenile center in Northern Indiana. He's 17 and when we first meet him, he's crying. He's been arrested because he and his 15-year-old brother, Kentrell, "had did some stuff over at the bus station." He wants to go home to be there to help with his brother, six sisters, nieces and nephews who live with his mother."
"Kids in Crisis"
The Chicago Tribune
“It's one thing to decry child abuse -- as we all should -- but it's another to see children being removed from their home in the middle of the night, when the evidence of parental abuse is ambivalent at best. For those who think cable news rarely covers serious topics in depth, this eye-opening documentary is a worthy rejoinder.”
"Inside Teen Lockdown"
National TV Critic Marc D. Allan
“Frighteningly Effective. Several thoughts occurred while watching Inside Teen Lockdown… If you want to scare someone in your life straight, show them this. The unrelenting noise inside the facility, the destruction (one kid breaks through bricks and mortar) and the nonstop danger should be enough to make even the hardest cases pause. Excellent work by the producers, camera people and others who were at risk in unpredictable, potentially dangerous situations. It’s chilling what they saw, and what they brought back to show us.”
"MTV Juvies"
The Today Show
“A show every parent should watch with their teens.”
New York Magazine
“This reality show about teenagers in a juvenile detention center may sound exploitative, but instead it manages to be genuinely tragic, occasionally poignant, and, at times, even oddly funny. Store up a few episodes on your TiVo for a rainy day.”
Time Magazine
“Is MTV having a crisis of conscience? I've become hooked, lately, on MTV's latest reality show, Juvies. The show, shot in raw documentary style, looks at the wrenching effects on teens and their families of ending up in juvenile prison. The show really stands out because of the context — most of the rest of MTV's reality shows are about wanting possessions and sex, and this is about the consequences of wanting them too badly. It's a successful combination.”
The New York Times
“What’s on Thursday Night: What does it take to scare someone straight? That’s the question behind this new documentary series in which good youngsters who have done bad things travel to Lake County Juvenile Center in Indiana to discover their fates as first-time offenders. And that can mean being locked up with criminals of a more violent variety.”
"Washington Wives"
New York Times:
Democratic Reality Show For the Wives At the Top
“Viewers who missed the Tuesday premiere of a new Fox reality show, ‘Trading Spouses,’ can make it up by watching Washington Wives on A&E tonight…Serious, even-handed, everything a reality show abhors…”
ABCNews.com
“Who needs to go out for happy hour tonight, still feeling the loss of “Friends,” when you can stay home and watch a quirky and truthful documentary about those women behind the men: the “Washington Wives.”
People Magazine
“There’s good stuff to be found in this two-hour special on political spouses.”
Full Stories
- "Behind Bars": an in-depth look at Calamari's work in the Indiana Courts and Correctional Systems.
- "Best option is Military" takes a look at Pendleton Maximum Security Prison's Future Soldiers program as featured in our three-part documentary about the facility.
- "Pendleton adult, juvie prisons featured in films" is an overview of our work in Pendleton.
- "Frighteningly Effective" covers our first documentary inside Pendleton Juvenile Prison that aired on Court TV.