KT Studios’ Stephanie Lydecker

Stephanie Lydecker, CEO of KT Studios, founded the L.A.-based production company in 2018. KT Studios has since landed a 160-plus-hour slate deal with iHeartPodcasts and amassed a slew of true-crime credits, including Murdered & Missing in Montana and Injustice with Nancy Grace, among others. Its recent release The Pike County Murders: A Family Massacre, following the case of a family slain by those they called friends, premiered on November 24 on Oxygen with back-to-back episodes and aired its third installment the next day. While true crime has had a stronghold on the factual market lately, many studios are finding their footing in a sea of competition and ethical considerations. Lydecker shares her perspective on the landscape, where it may be headed and what KT Studios’ production process looks like.

TV REAL: How has the true-crime genre evolved in the past few years?
LYDECKER: I believe it’s evolved in a powerful way. Content can be actionable.  Documentaries and podcasts can help move the needle in a case or, at the very least, keep the fight for justice alive in the public’s eye. Personally, that gets me very fired up.

TV REAL: What does KT Studios do to make content that stands out in the crowded true-crime space? What’s been the key to creating successful content?
LYDECKER: Many of the cases we work on are open investigations, and therefore, the stakes could not be higher. These stories allow us to unpack larger issues, such as domestic violence, mental illness and generational trauma. It’s a way to authentically shed light on specific issues and hopefully prevent them from happening again.

TV REAL: KT Studios produces many forms of true-crime media—from podcasts to feature-length documentaries to series. How does your approach differ and stay the same between mediums and platforms?
LYDECKER: Overall, our approach is the same for all mediums. Our podcasts are the foundation. Our documentaries allow listeners to see the real people involved and provide the platform to take a deeper dive into an investigation. The scripted versions bring the victims back to life. I believe this 360 approach defines how we create content at KT Studios.

TV REAL: The three-part The Pike County Murders: A Family Massacre debuted on November 24. What brought KT Studios’ attention to the case?
LYDECKER: We first learned about the crime from a news article written by Jeff Winkler for The Outline. Eight members of one family were murdered at four different locations in one night in rural Pike County, Ohio, making it the largest crime scene investigation in Ohio’s history. The murders went unsolved for many years. Several of the victims were mothers who were murdered while holding their babies, which frankly is a haunting detail that fueled our obsession to help find answers. Personally speaking, that was the case with me.

Another local family (a mother, father and two adult sons) has since been accused of the murders, and the documentary follows Pike County’s pursuit of justice. Think about that—a killer family—it’s unfathomable.

Just days after the arrests in 2018, we were on the ground in Pike County, knocking on doors and meeting anyone in the town who could shed some light on this case, and we’ve been working on it ever since. We produced the TV movie The Piketon Family Murders in 2019. This was followed by 52 episodes of the podcast The Piketon Massacre: Return to Pike County for iHeart, which hit number one in all categories and, to date, has reached more than 55 million listeners. The docuseries The Pike County Murders: A Family Massacre, which premiered Thanksgiving weekend, was the highest-rated premiere on Oxygen/Peacock in five years.

TV REAL: What is your approach to treating true-crime topics and IP with sensitivity while also managing to appeal to viewers and create marketable narrative arcs?
LYDECKER: Our primary focus is always on the victims, and this is paramount to anything else. Since we don’t know the ending when we start production, we’re on the same journey as the viewers and listeners, which has led us to some heavy and dark places, to say the least. But when you interview someone who has survived an unimaginable tragedy, and they still can find the courage and strength to carry on, it’s inspiring beyond words.

Our company’s goal in 2024 is to continue to excel in what we are doing now: taking a 360-degree approach to our library of podcasts and converting them into documentaries and scripted television and films.