Done! Documentary Film on Frances Glessner Lee & The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death

We finished it. It's done. It's complete. After almost a decade of trying to get funding for this documentary film, but coming up short, we wrapped the edit on our own. 

After our screening of the fine cut at the Smithsonian in 2018, I thought we might be done. Most indie filmmakers don't even dream of having one of their films screen to a standing-room-only crowd at such a prestigious institution. It was such a wonderful experience and at the time I thought, this is enough for me. 

But it's hard to leave things unfinished. So we continued. COVID got in the way. We continued some more. And then we interviewed two more people for the film and then it felt as complete as we could get it (without funding), so we reworked the edit and now it's ready for the world! 

2026 Documentary Film on Frances Glessner Lee & the Nutshell Studies Update

We are so close to being done and you being able to finally see this documentary film! We are putting on the finishing touches throughout this month and then we will hand it off to New Hampshire PBS. Thank you for your patience!

September 2025 Editing Update for Murder in a Nutshell

 The absolute best part of deconstructing and reconstructing the current edit of Murder in a Nutshell: The Frances Glessner Lee Story documentary is revisiting the photos I took throughout the years. The detail and forced perspective are astounding. Frances Glessner Lee was a genius on so many fronts. For you Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death fans, do you know which Nutshell this is? 

Murder in a Nutshell: The Frances Glessner Lee Story

Editing Corinne May Botz in Murder in a Nutshell

We are working hard on the re-edit of Murder in a Nutshell: The Frances Glessner Lee Story. Why the re-edit? We recently filmed two incredible interviews that will add so much new dimension to the documentary. We could not be more thrilled to "cram in as many clips as possible" from our interviews with the legendary Corinne May Botz and Frances Glessner Lee's Great granddaughter, Avery Lee. The film should be done in just a few short months and again, we could not be more thrilled. 

Filming for Murder in a Nutshell documentary film - July 2025

Interviewing Corinne May Botz, author of The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death was one of the brightest highlights of my journey with Frances Glessner Lee. Botz is brilliant, lovely, talent, fun, funny, genuine, insightful, profound and the best part about her? She love Frances Glessner Lee just is much as I do. We start editing her interview soon, along with another great interview we filmed recently. 

Murder in a Nutshell: The Frances Glessner Lee Story Documentary

Great documentary film news is in the works! Funny how it's all coming together after all these years. In the meantime, enjoy these clues. They may not be what they appear at first glance. And Frances Glessner Lee was smarter that pretty much everybody. 

 

Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death - Missing Nutshell

I recently took this photo of "Sitting Room and Woodshed" -- the Nutshell that was missing but also hiding in plain sight for decade at the Bethlehem Heritage Center in NH. I love it so much because in this light, it's so hard to tell it's a miniature. And I love how Frances Glessner Lee just keeps on keeping us guessing. 

For those of you who are wondering, we are still working on Murder in a Nutshell: The Frances Glessner Lee Story. I love how this film is coming together.  

The Story of the Not-so-Missing Nutshell

We are deep in the throes of editing Murder in a Nutshell: The Frances Glessner Lee Documentary -- getting ready for the screening in October 2024. 

Above is a still from the section about the missing Nutshell. When we were working on Of Dolls & Murder, Jerry D (if you don't know who Jerry D is, watch the movie) told me about the destroyed Nutshell and the missing one. I figured that as a documentary filmmaker it was up to me to try to find it. 

It eventually led me to a Nutshell I had never seen before. Not in archival photos and not in person. It was in an issue of Popular Mechanics magazine from the 1950s. It was an amazing find. At least that is how it felt. But I still had no idea what happened to the missing Nutshell.  Until later on when I spotted it in a photo on a website for the Bethlehem Heritage Center in NH. (Near Frances' former estate at the Rocks)

Turns out the Nutshell wasn't missing at all. No one thought to ask anyone at the Rocks. So there it sat, overlooked for decades. 

I was the first person to tell Clare Brown (She works at both The Rocks and the Heritage Center) that the Nutshell hiding in plain sight at the Bethlehem Heritage Center was considered missing. That was news to her. All she knew was that she found it in "the old tool barn" at the Rocks and literally had no idea what it was or much about Frances Glessner Lee at the time. (Side note: Clare's grandfather worked for Frances.)

This Nutshell wound up getting cleaned up and carefully sent to London for a Welcome Trust exhibit before it safely making it home. 

Interesting lesson:  Things that are consider missing, maybe never were. We just never asked the right people. 

Side lesson: Don't assume others that came before you (even detectives) did their homework. 

 

Oct 2024: Murder in a Nutshell: The Frances Glessner Lee Story documentary screening

We are still hammering out the details but we've set a date, Oct 19, 2024. for a screening of Murder in a Nutshell: The Frances Glessner Lee Story documentary film. We are so excited to finally share this documentary with you! 

Editing Murder in a Nutshell: The Frances Glessner Lee Story documentary

We spent a very productive session this past week working on the fine cut of Murder in a Nutshell: The Frances Glessner Lee Story documentary. I love how this is coming together. 

One the left side of the monitor is the interior of the Glessner House Museum and on the right is a photo of Frances Glessner (R) with her dog and Violetta Scharff (L), Frances' paid companion. 

Someone recently asked me if the Glessner House was haunted. We filmed there twice and spent a day researching their files, so I had plenty of opportunity to be scared but nothing scary happened. The energy in the museum seemed light. 

However, many people do say it is haunted. What about you? Have you been there? Did you experience anything paranormal? 

While filming Of Dolls & Murder we did experience quite a few unexplained events, like camera and car batteries dying when they were fully charged/new. Strange. I've also had my computer battery drain on another filming project at a Polish museum. 

Frances Glessner Lee and the Nutshell Studies New Documentary

Exciting news! My filmmaking partners on Of Dolls & Murder and I are back at it - created a brand new cut of Murder in a Nutshell. I keep saying, "We're not the same people we were when we started this film project. We're not the same filmmakers we were. We're better." 

But I wouldn't be me if I wasn't lamenting something. Over the years, I've never been able to track down any footage or audio recordings of Frances Glessner Lee. I know it's out there somewhere. 

Someone who knew her told me that she had a soft spoken voice. Interesting. 

Frances wasn't always associated with miniature crime scenes...

Upcoming Frances Glessner Lee Documentary Editing

Unpapered Bedroom - the only diorama that comes with a pull string.

Why can't I watch Murder in a Nutshell: The Frances Glessner Lee Story?

I would love to clear up the confusion. Yes, my filmmaking partners and I made a ROUGH CUT of a documentary film that screened at Renwick Gallery a few years back as part of the Nutshell Studies Exhibit. 

Then we tried to raise funds to finish it and no one wanted to fund it. Curious, no? From all the messages I get, people cannot get enough of Frances Glessner Lee, but somehow producers and studios executives don't see it that way. I know, I know, we've been shaking our head about that one for years and years too. So, we are working on re-editing it right now - without funding and that's why the process is so slow. We still have day jobs and other projects that pay our bills, so Murder in a Nutshell: The Frances Glessner Lee Story has been on the back back burner for years - simmering - but also getting better and better. So there's that, right? But 2023 is the year it gets finished. Thanks for your patients and we love you! 

Standing room only for our screening at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum 

From the Murder was her Hobby exhibit at the Renwick. I found this title dismissive, trite and overall cringe. It was far from Frances Glessner Lee's hobby - the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death were her passion and legacy. I would have named it The Little World of Big Time Murder or Murder in a Nutshell (the title of our film).

And yes, more confusion, we are the filmmakers behind Of Dolls & Murder starring John Waters.

                                                   Watch Of Dolls & Murder