Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/957795
DGA QUARTERLY 45 PHOTOS: (TOP TO BOTTOM) ISABELLA VOSMIKOVA/USA NETWORK; PHOTOFEST; JAMES MINCHIN III/USA NETWORK the dots between the two rappers' slayings in 1996 and 1997, respectively; and Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders recon- structed brothers Lyle and Erik's 1989 double homicides and their subsequent trials. For Anthony Hemingway, who directed five episodes of USA Network's 10-part Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G., delving into the lives and deaths of iconic hip- hop artists instilled a deep sense of responsi- bility. "It requires a great deal of sensitivity when you know family members are still being affected by these senseless murders," he says. "We reached out to both estates so they'd have some awareness of how we planned to respect these stories. But there's a distinction between a normal biopic or documentary versus what we're doing. We're dramatizing a story and making it entertaining so in some instances we fictionalize things in order to make the narrative move." Hemingway, who also executive produced Unsolved, relied on ex- LAPD detective Greg Kading as a primary source. Kading (portrayed in the series by Josh Duhamel) authored Murder Rap: The Untold For Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G., director Anthony Hemingway, above, often filmed at original locations, such as the Vegas crime scene where Tupac Shakur was gunned down (far left) and hired actors (below right) who closely resembled their real-life counterparts.