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Erin Lee Carr has made a career in crime.
So that shows up in a lot of my work.
I think Im an incredibly lucky person and unlucky person, she says.
A lot has happened, even though I look like a fairly put-together person.
No one would ever suspect I am a crack baby and grew up under pretty intense circumstances.
I think I was always happy-go-lucky as a child though, she shrugs.
Her dad wrote in his book: Erin is a reflexive bright-sider and a bit of a sensualist.
She wishes he had lived longer to see all that she has accomplished.
the cannibal cop, whom she began visiting in prison prior to his conviction being overturned.
While it received a handful of warm reviews, it didnt make a huge splash.
It was more than enough, though, to put Carrs career as a filmmaker in full gear.
Thats the amazing thing about the boon of streaming, Carr says.
when you’ve got a hit, you will be trusted.
Unless youre the worst to work with.
But I can do things on a budget and on schedule.
Dumplings, noodles, some kind of eggplant dish.
We can always take it home, she says.
She later exits with two plastic bags of takeaway.
Shes now a cross between a mother and confidant, Carr says.
Shes a very scary person, but shes sweet.
Nevins is, in a roundabout way, a connection through her father.
Rossi set up an initial meeting between Erin and Nevins.
The older woman wasnt impressed with Carrs initial documentary pitch but did think her cannibal-cop pitch had promise.
She urged her to explore it more, which lit a fire in the aspiring filmmaker.
She said I want to take you to my doctors, Carr explains.
Shes given her other advice, too.
At one point she told me: Ive paid you enough money; its time to fix your teeth.
She runs her tongue along them.
As a high-schooler obsessed with movies, she wanted to be a film critic.
Her father dissuaded her, explaining those jobs were few and far between.
(She considered journalism school, she tells me, but didnt get in.
Can you believe that?)
While at the University of WisconsinMadison, Carr interned at Fox Searchlight Pictures.
After graduating, she landed at Vice as an associate producer.
The film premiered at SXSW in 2017 and aired on HBO that May.
She launched Carr Lot Productions that year, too.
Carr is a co-creator alongside showrunner Michael D. Fuller.
It is a very intimate relationship.
And so I think that the amount of time I spend with somebody often leads to that authenticity.
Carr says her subjects usually are happy with her documentaries.
It would be very upsetting to me if people didnt like it.
I always attempt to watch the film with the people who I made it about.
So that helps too.
It is, she admits, not always easy for her or the subjects.
Its tough to watch things with people, she says.
Its not going to always be cozy or comfortable for the person, nor should it be.
Carr is very open with everything about herself.
She split with her fiance, a WashingtonPostreporter, in 2022.
I recommend people dating multiple people, she says.
You cant get everything from one person, nor should you expect to.
Then, a few months later, she met Bruton on a dating app.
She gets very excited describing each of her partners, gushing about how cute each one is.
Blum is openly transgender and queer and uses they/he pronouns; Bruton uses they/them pronouns.
I think were going to see how we travel together, she explains.
The world is made for two people.
You invite another person to dinner or you have a person next to you on the plane.
Its going to be interesting.
So thats going to be tough, too.
I had a very progressive dad.
She laughs as she scoops up noodles into her mouth with chopsticks.
She knows it now.
How does that make her feel?
I watch her blush.
Its also making sure my career is not just about what my dad would have wanted or did.
One time he asked, Do you think youll be more successful than me?
I said, I hope so!
and he said, I dont even know whether to laugh or cry.
But I think he expected that answer.
