Matthew Wayne Shepard was an American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, and left to die near Laramie on the night of October 6, 1998. He was taken by rescuers to Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he died six days later from severe head injuries received during the attack.
Samuel Atkinson Waterston is an American actor. Waterston is known for his work in theater, television, and film. He has received numerous accolades including a Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and a BAFTA Award. His acting career has spanned over five decades acting on stage and screen. Waterston received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010 and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2012.
Stockard Channing is an American actress. She played Betty Rizzo in the film Grease (1978) and First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series The West Wing (1999–2006). She also originated the role of Ouisa Kittredge in the stage and film versions of Six Degrees of Separation; the 1993 film version earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
The Laramie Project is a 2000 American play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project about the reaction to the 1998 murder of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming. The murder was denounced as a hate crime and brought attention to the lack of hate crime laws in various states, including Wyoming.
The 14th Annual GLAAD Media Awards (2003) were presented at three separate ceremonies: April 7 in New York ; April 26 in Los Angeles; and May 31 in San Francisco. The awards were presented to honor "fair, accurate and inclusive" representations of gay individuals in the media.
Moisés Kaufman is a Venezuelan American theater director, filmmaker, playwright, founder of Tectonic Theater Project based in New York City, and co-founder of Miami New Drama at the Colony Theatre. He was awarded the 2016 National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama. He is best known for creating The Laramie Project (2000) with other members of Tectonic Theater Project. He has directed extensively on Broadway and Internationally, and is the author of numerous plays, including Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and 33 Variations.
Tectonic Theater Project is a stage and theatre group whose plays have been performed around the world. The company is dedicated to developing works that explore theatrical language and form, fostering dialogue with audiences on the social, political, and human issues that affect society. In service to this goal, Tectonic supports readings, workshops, and full theatrical productions, as well as training for students around the United States in their play-making techniques. The company has won a GLAAD Media Award.
The Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series is an award given by the Screen Actors Guild to honor the finest acting achievements in Miniseries or Television Movie.
Shane Meier is a Canadian actor, best known for playing the title role in The Matthew Shepard Story, a TV film about the life and murder of Matthew Shepard.
Ross Katz is an American film producer, screenwriter and film director. He has executive produced films including In the Bedroom and Lost in Translation, and has directed the films Adult Beginners (2014) and The Choice (2016), and the HBO film Taking Chance (2009).
The Laramie Project is a 2002 drama film written and directed by Moisés Kaufman and starring Nestor Carbonell, Christina Ricci, Dylan Baker, Terry Kinney, and Lou Ann Wright. Based on the play of the same name, the film tells the story of the aftermath of the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming. It premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and was first broadcast on HBO in March 2002.
Jeff Bleckner is an American theatre, television, and film director.
The Matthew Shepard Foundation is an LGBTQ nonprofit organization, headquartered in Casper, Wyoming, which was founded in December 1998 by Dennis and Judy Shepard in memory of their son, Matthew, who was murdered in 1998. The Foundation runs education, outreach, and advocacy programs.
Cultural depictions of Matthew Shepard include notable films, musical works, novels, plays, and other works inspired by the 1998 Matthew Shepard murder, investigation, and resulting interest the case brought to the topic of hate crime. The best known is the stage play The Laramie Project, which was adapted into an HBO movie of the same name. Matthew Wayne Shepard was an openly gay university student who was brutally attacked near Laramie, Wyoming, in October 1998 and left for dead by his attackers.
Stephen Belber is an American playwright, screenwriter and film director. His plays have been produced on Broadway and in over 50 countries. He directed the film adaptation of his Broadway play Match, starring Patrick Stewart. He also wrote and directed the film Management, starring Jennifer Aniston, Steve Zahn and Woody Harrelson, and wrote the HBO film O.G., starring Jeffrey Wright, Theothus Carter, and William Fichtner. Belber was an actor and associate writer on The Laramie Project, as well as a co-writer of The Laramie Project, Ten Years Later.
Judy Shepard is the mother of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old student at University of Wyoming who was murdered in October 1998 in what became one of the most high-profile cases highlighting hate-crimes against LGBTQ people. She and her husband, Dennis Shepard, are co-founders of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, and advocate for LGBT rights.
The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed is a 2009 memoir about the life of Matthew Shepard, written by his mother, Judy Shepard. The book was published by Hudson Street Press on September 3, 2009, and was featured as a New York Times best-seller for the week of September 27, 2009.
Dennis Shepard is the father of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old student at University of Wyoming who was murdered in October 1998 in what became one of the most high-profiled cases highlighting hate crimes against LGBTQ people. He and his wife, Judy Shepard, are co-founders of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, and advocate for LGBT rights. He has been an advocate for parental support of LGBT children both during Matthew's life and, very publicly, since Matthew's death. He and Judy continue to live and work in Casper.
Stephen Jimenez is an American journalist and television producer, known primarily as the author of The Book of Matt.
The Baby Dance is a 1998 drama film produced by Showtime about adoption. It was written and directed by Jane Anderson, based on her play of the same name, with Stockard Channing and Laura Dern starring in the lead roles.
