Frances Glessner Lee's Family Estate - The Rocks - Bethlehem NH

Sometime getting into the Holiday Spirit is way harder than it should be. But you know what helps us? Visiting The Rocks, Frances Glessner Lee's family estate that is now part of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. Frances lived at The Rocks while she made her Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death. On our last visit we even discovered some unfinished Nutshells. And the people at The Rocks - like Nigel and Clare - are wonderful! If you can't make it out there to harvest your own Christmas tree, you can always buy one online.

Black Friday Sale Nutshell Studies DVD

$14.95 - Of Dolls & Murder DVD On Sale

Before forensics, DNA, and CSI we had dollhouses – an unimaginable collection of miniature crime scenes, known as the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death. Created in the 1930s and 1940s by a crime-fighting grandmother, Frances Glessner Lee created the Nutshells to help homicide detectives hone their investigative skills. These surreal dollhouses reveal a dystopic and disturbing slice of domestic life with doll corpses representing actual murder victims, or perhaps something that just looks like murder. Despite all the advances in forensics, the Nutshells are still used today to train detectives. Documentary film, Of Dolls and Murder, explores the dioramas, the woman who created them, and their relationship to modern day forensics. From the iconic CSI television show to the Body Farm and criminally minded college students, legendary filmmaker and true crime aficionado, John Waters narrates the tiny world of big time murder.

The DVD includes extended version of Of Dolls & Murder as well as extra features!

Eco-friendly packaging.

$24.95 - Of Dolls & Murder Movie Poster Necklace On Sale

Own the mystery. Or give the gift a murder.
This stainless steel necklace was designed by Suzy Greenberg with a Nutshell Study photo by Susan Marks, and poster design by Adam Tow.
The pendant is coated in resin and includes a 24 inch ball chain.
All proceeds go towards offsetting the cost of making independent film, Of Dolls and Murder!

$9.99 Inside the Speakeasy Dollhouse DVD

Inspired by a collection of dollhouse crime scenes known as “The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death,” Cynthia von Buhler recreates the story of her grandfather’s prohibition-era murder with a dollhouse replica of his speakeasy club and bakery.

This documentary film goes inside Cynthia’s world of miniature murder and steps back in time through her off-broadway immersive play. With these investigative techniques she attempts to unravel the curious mystery surrounding her grandfather’s death.

Inside the Speakeasy Dollhouse DVD includes the documentary film (Running time 17:38) and special PDF files of Cynthia von Buhler's graphic novel "Speakeasy Dollhouse, The Bloody Beginning" and an Evidence Booklet Playbill.

Crowd Sourcing for Documentary Film Research!

If I don't ask for a little research help, I'm afraid my next two documentary films won't get finished. And there's only so much online research that can be accomplished - just ask anyone who has sunk window-less weeks on end into archival research.

So here's the deal: I need volunteer researchers in the Boston area, NYC and New Hampshire. Do you have experience in this kind of research? Are you up for some archival/library research, making a few phone calls, having a few conversations with archivists/librarians and even some folks in law enforcement? I'm almost sure that very little of it could be done from home, so willingness to get out of the house is a must! (Suddenly, I feel like I'm writing a Craigslist ad)

If this sounds like something you would like to volunteer for, please be in touch! We would love to have you on our documentary team. doll [dot] documentary [at symbol] gmail.com

Documentaries, screenplays & books

I've been so busy lately that my brain is mostly mush. But exciting things are happening no matter how mushy things get.

Look for news soon about our documentary film on Frances Glessner Lee.

While this post may be a little on the lame side - at least you know I'm still alive and working hard to bring you more documentaries, screenplays and books.

The Artist Murder Investigator: Cynthia von Buhler

Read all about the subject of our film, Inside the Speakeasy Dollhouse, Cynthia von Buhler. She's fascinating and we adore her! As you may know, Cynthia - like us - was so inspired by Frances Glessner Lee that it opened up a whole new world to her.


 The Artist Murder Investigator: Cynthia von Buhler

Frances Glessner Lee Documentary update and more!

Our newest documentary film on Frances Glessner Lee is going very well! (Despite that fact that we could use quite a bit of travel money) But we are plugging along anyway. The footage is beautiful thanks to our incredible DP - Matt Ehling. And our sound is pristine thanks to sound guy and co-director John Kurtis Dehn.

We really are stunned by all the new information that is surfacing about Frances. And we feel so lucky to have her family participating in the film. I think Frances would be really proud of her great -grand kids. They truly are wonderful people and I feel lucky to know them. And if it weren't for this project, we would have never met. So believe me when I say I am grateful for the wonderful opportunities Frances has afforded me. I'm also grateful to the Jerome Foundation and the McKnight Foundation for their generous support. And I'm grateful for you - a person the cares enough about the Nutshells and the Frances Glessner Lee to read this blog post. And I know hundreds of people read this blog every week, even though very rarely does anyone comment. How do I know? There's a cool little feature that allows bloggers to see how many visits they get on each post.

If you want more Nutshells - like us on facebeook.
If you want more Of Dolls & Murder - like us on facebook.

If you want some Of Dolls & Murder related tweets - follow us here.

If you want to buy an Of Dolls & Murder DVD - go here and buy one for yourself and gifts for others. You will be supporting indie filmmakers and we will adore you forever and ever.  (And it's inexpensive and we will send out ASAP)

If you want cute puppies - go here.

From the Nutshell Saloon and Jail. Did he really just slip on a banana peel and die? Or are darker forces at play?

From the Nutshell Two Story Dwelling - you can tell a lot about a crime scene from the trash. 

Buy the Of Dolls & Murder DVD

Don't forget! You can buy the Of Dolls & Murder DVD right here! This documentary film stars John Waters, the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death and some pretty amazing experts! And some say the DVD extras are just as good as the film. 

Garage - one of the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death