Atlanta-based WW/SF Entertainment has two true stories in motion this fall. Producers James Suttles and Jason Winn are in production on “The Girl Who Disappeared,” a Lifetime film shooting in metro Atlanta, and the company’s Tribeca Festival premiere “Clean Hands” opens in theaters Friday.
“The Girl Who Disappeared” follows the case of Heather Elvis, 20, who vanished from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in December 2013. Sidney and Tammy Moorer, a married couple, were later convicted of kidnapping her, and her body has never been found.
The production leans on Georgia talent. Every department head is from Georgia, and Georgia actors make up much of the cast. It’s also an introduction to the state for two of the film’s leaders. Angie Harmon, making her feature directing debut, and Gaylyn Fraiche, one of the film’s executive producers.
Fraiche, who said this was the first work she’d done in the U.S. “in a very long time” said the push to shoot stateside came from the network. “Lifetime really wanted to shoot it in the United States. They had a great relationship with WW/SF Entertainment and have worked with them before. They thought Atlanta would be a great place to shoot,” she said.
Her review of Georgia was warm: “Wonderful crew, easy to get around, great locations, wonderful actors,” and said the setting paid off on camera. “It was really nice to be in the South and get real Southern actors,” she said. “It felt more authentic.”
She said the table read left the room emotional, and the team has kept the Elvis family in mind since. “We have not lost sight of the fact that we’re telling a real story and that her parents, her family, her sister and brother and her friends are still around,” she said.
Harmon, known for “Law & Order” and “Rizzoli & Isles,” directs the film as part of her production deal with Lifetime. A Dallas native, she now lives in North Carolina. A mother of three daughters, she called directing Heather’s story “a deep, deep honor.”
Harmon said it’s wonderful when Southern stories can be told by Southerners. “We pick up the details like the Spanish moss. We pick up those details that wouldn’t necessarily be special to someone from a different region,” she said.
She also plans to come back. “I have a ton of projects, and I’d like to shoot them here,” she said. Working in Georgia, she added, keeps her close to home, something she values as a mother.
WW/SF Entertainment is no stranger to telling real-life stories, and Fraiche said that showed on set. “I think everyone, from the moment we started, understood this story and really wanted to do it justice,” she said.
Another of the company’s true stories reaches audiences this week.
“Clean Hands,” the true story of a Maryland narcotics officer fighting to save his daughter from addiction, opens in theaters Friday in a limited release from Vertical. The film premiered at the 2026 Tribeca Festival in June, and Vertical picked it up for North American distribution within days.
WW/SF Entertainment celebrated the film’s Atlanta premiere Tuesday at the Tara Theatre with a red carpet and a panel discussion moderated by Georgia Entertainment President Jezlan Moyet. The panel featured producers Winn and Suttles, writer-director Jake Allyn and actor Lucas Till.
“My heroes are the people in this room that made this film possible,” said Till, who plays Deputy Dormer.
“Clean Hands” opens in theaters Friday, Oct. 16.
Additional coverage of “Clean Hands”:
Zach Braff and Esther McGregor Highlight Reality of Addiction in Clean Hands Trailer
INDIE SPOTLIGHT: Q&A with team behind Tribeca success ‘Clean Hands’
Georgia-filmed ‘Clean Hands’ Lands North American Distributor After Tribeca Premiere
Georgia-Filmed Drama “Clean Hands” to World Premiere at 2026 Tribeca Festival
