Predators director David Osit discusses how he challenges the conventions of the true crime genre, his approach to verité filmmaking, and the variety of responses he has received.

      David Osit's *Predators* offers a demanding viewing experience. The film, which premiered at Sundance this January and will be released in theaters this Friday, proposes that the TV show *To Catch a Predator* might have aided victims of child sexual abuse, while simultaneously degrading American culture by transforming the punishment of pedophiles into entertainment. Airing from 2004 to 2007 on ABC, the show featured host Chris Hansen visiting the homes of men who had engaged in online chats with decoys pretending to be minors. It was produced with the assistance of the organization Perverted Justice and law enforcement. Its legacy is marred by an event in which the crew followed a Texas district attorney to his home after he failed to meet a decoy; rather than face arrest, he took his own life. Nonetheless, it has led to many imitative channels on YouTube.

      *Predators* is structured in three segments, starting with the origins of *To Catch a Predator*, then tracking Skeet, a YouTuber inspired by the show who conducts his own sting operations, and finally interviewing Hansen about his methods. The film creates a jarring contrast between the disgust felt towards the depravity of pedophiles and the gleeful moral ambiguity exhibited by Hansen and others in the predator-catching sphere. When Osit poses the question of how to prevent child sexual abuse, no participant offers any satisfactory solutions. One of the decoys assisting Skeet is a victim herself, who finds her involvement healing. In discussions with Hansen, who presents a polished but disingenuous image, Osit questions the role of Hansen's current show *Takedown* (streaming on YouTube) in capturing and publicly shaming an 18-year-old who had an encounter with a 15-year-old. Despite his reservations, Osit acknowledges that he found some positive aspects in watching *To Catch a Predator*.

      Osit's latest documentary, *Predators*, follows his previous works, *Building Babel*, *Thank You For Playing*, and *Mayor*. The first film dealt with the dispute over the construction of the Park51 mosque in New York near the former World Trade Center site, while *Thank You For Playing* (co-directed by Malika Zouhali-Worrell) focused on a video game designer creating a project inspired by his son’s terminal cancer diagnosis. *Mayor*, which portrays Ramallah’s mayor Musa Hadad managing the absurdities of power amid Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, brought Osit significant recognition.

      *Predators* represents a new direction for Osit, situating itself within a niche of meta true-crime documentaries that seek to subvert the genre, akin to Kitty Green’s *Casting Jon Benet*, Robert Greene’s *Kate Plays Christine*, and Charlie Shackleton’s *The Zodiac Killer Project*. I spoke with Osit over Zoom in August before the film's theatrical release, starting September 19 at Film Forum.

      The Film Stage: You've produced four documentary features, with the last three released five years apart. How much pre-production time was devoted to each?

      David Osit: My first film had no pre-production; I had to jump right in. It was a verité film covering an unfolding story. For the second, I spent about three or four months in pre-production discussing my intentions with the *Thank You for Playing* star and the video game team before scheduling our first shoot. That was relatively fast. My third feature, *Mayor*, required a substantial amount of time—about four to six months—building relationships and establishing a foundation since I was in a different city and country. For *Predators*, I would say I had two or three months of pre-production, along with a four-month development phase where I filmed a substantial amount that ended up in the documentary.

      Did you reside in Ramallah prior to shooting *Mayor*?

      I didn’t live there, but I was editing a film in Ramallah before starting that project. I made friends there and spent considerable time working with a Palestinian filmmaker, who eventually became a good friend. One day, he visited New York, and we discussed ideas, which sparked the concept for *Mayor*. I then returned to initiate pre-production for that film.

      How has the landscape for documentary filmmaking changed since you began your career?

      It has changed significantly. To put it simply: when I started, it felt like I was at the beginning of a trend, and now it feels like I’m witnessing the conclusion of something. None of us fully understand what that ending entails yet. My entry into filmmaking was due to DV cameras, which allowed for affordable shooting of extensive footage. I lacked financial backing and remember being inspired by the film *Iraq in Fragments* (2006), which was shot on a $1,500 camera with a $200 shotgun mic and a $200 lav. This made me realize creating a longitudinal verité film was actually possible for someone like me.

      Today,