Page 29 - ARUBA TODAY

A29
PEOPLE & ARTS Wednesday 12 april 2017
TV series

on Branch

Davidian

shootout to

film in New

Mexico

SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN
Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)
— A six-part television se-
ries covering a deadly
standoff between the fed-
eral government and the
Branch Davidians spiritual
sect more than two de-
cades ago will be filmed in
New Mexico.
Work on “Waco” will be-
gin in mid-April and last
through June, officials with
the New Mexico Film Office
said Monday. Locations
will include everything from
the rural reaches of Santa
Fe County — standing in
for the prairies of Central In this April 19, 1993 file
Texas — to urban office photo, fire engulfs the Branch
buildings and studios. Davidian compound near
The series will star Michael Waco, Texas.
Shannon, Taylor Kitsch Associated Press
and John Leguizamo and Agents with the Bureau of
will premiere on the Para- Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms
mount Network in 2018. It and Explosives showed up
will be directed by John Er- at the compound in late
ick Dowdle and produced February 1993, trying to
by The Weinstein Co. serve a search warrant for
The series will explore the illegal stockpiles of weap-
details leading up to and ons and explosives. They
chronicling the 51-day were greeted with gunfire
standoff in which four fed- as investigators later deter-
eral agents were killed mined that the group had
along with some 70 peo- been tipped off.
ple inside the sect’s com- In the weeks that followed,
pound in Central Texas. federal authorities said
Millions watched live tele- they were worried about
vision coverage of the fiery the children in the com-
end of the government’s pound being abused. Ko-
standoff with Branch Da- resh was known to have
vidian members, includ- multiple wives, including
ing sect leader David preteen girls. The siege
Koresh, whom authorities ended April 19. After an
had been trying to ar- FBI negotiator asked over
rest on weapons charges. a loud speaker for Koresh
The sect had been tipped to lead his people out, mili-
off about the raid and a tary vehicles began ram-
shootout ensued. ming the buildings and
Officials with the project spraying tear gas. A few
say the miniseries will mark hours later flames were
the first time the story is seen spreading through
told on television through the compound. Only nine
the perspectives of several people escaped.
people intimately involved The dramatic siege has al-
on both sides of the con- ready been the subject of
flict. “The Weinstein Co. is documentaries and books.
known for high quality proj- First announced last year,
ects with intriguing story network officials said the
lines and ‘Waco’ is no ex- miniseries would change
ception,” said State Film Of- the way the event would
fice Director Nick Maniatis. be viewed.q