What if I told you the most badass journalist you’ll ever meet was a 9-year old who solved the murder of a cold case? What if I told you that her life is a TV series that will delight and entertain you?
Say hello to Hilde Lysiak, the heroine of Apple TV+’s series Home Before Dark. An amazing murder-mystery series centered around a child reporter with her own self-published “Orange Street News” who took her small-town by storm and angered parents while searching for the truth.
Starring Brooklynn Prince (The Florida Project) as Lysiak, with Jim Sturgess and Abby Miller as her parents, Home Before Dark is a cliffhanger-filled mystery families can watch together.
Writers/executive producers/showrunners Dara Resnik was drawn to the inspirational and inspirational themes of female empowerment, social justice, standing up to bullies and fighting for the truth in Hilde’s extraordinary.
The Koalition spoke to the real Lysiak, Resnik (creator/executive producer), Joy Gorman Wettels (executive producer) about creating a show that expertly balances drama with the curiosity and tenaciousness of being a kid.
Gorman recalled the moment she knew she wanted to tell Lysiak’s story. “I just couldn’t believe a nine-year old had this resilience and this clear sense of self and clear sense of what was important, and that she had to tell the truth. To me that as a character who you want to live with for a long time, for a few years. This was a child that I wanted to watch grow up. So when I called Dana Fox, I really felt like one of the reasons there was a TV show was because you want to watch this child grow up.. You want to live with this character for a long time, you don’t want it to be one trick or one story. This is a person who cares deeply about reporting and cares deeply about the truth and I want to watch that character grow.”
To learn more about the incredible journey of creating Home Before Dark check out our interview above.