ABC News Studios Partners with Imagine Documentaries and Vermilion Films to Present “Leave No Trace” [VIDEO]

Peabody and Emmy®-winning and Oscar®-nominated director Irene Taylor (“Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements,” “Beware the Slenderman”) of Vermilion Films, Imagine Documentaries and ABC News Studios investigate the downfall of an American institution in the powerful and timely documentary, “Leave No Trace.” The film draws on financial records, court documents and scores of interviews to dissect a centurylong cover-up by The Boy Scouts of America (BSA). The organization concealed that pedophiles were in its ranks, but the disclosure of secret “perversion files” in litigation eventually led to disgrace and bankruptcy. Producing alongside Taylor is Sara Bernstein and Justin Wilkes for Imagine Documentaries, Emily Singer ChaPMan and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nigel Jaquiss. Brian Grazer and Ron Howard serve as executive producers. Following its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 9, “Leave No Trace” streams on Hulu and is in theaters in New York and Los Angeles beginning Thursday, June 16.

The film looks at the sexual abuse, told through firsthand accounts of survivors still trying to cope with their trauma today, even as they crusade for justice in a high-stakes court case. Interviews and taped depositions with former BSA leadership, including a highly placed insider, reveal how financial considerations factored into BSA executives putting the interests of adults and the organization ahead of keeping boys safe. The film explores the connection between declining membership – the scouts’ financial lifeblood – and policies that failed to protect boys from their abusers. And the film reveals that BSA leadership prioritized banning gay scouts and leaders over-reporting pedophiles to authorities.

“Leave No Trace” shows the BSA’s extraordinary position in America: presidents, CEOs, and leaders in every community have supported scouting for more than a century, building an institution of extraordinary influence and wealth. Yet, from its earliest days, BSA kept meticulous records of pedophile scout leaders – the “perversion files.” In spite of the damning information the files contained, they were kept confidential at headquarters, while some abusers moved from troop to troop without public warning.

The organization filed for bankruptcy in February 2020. Since then, more than 82,000 men have come forward with claims of abuse. The proposed reorganization plan for the BSA would include the largest sexual abuse settlement in history, even dwarfing payouts from the U.S. Catholic Church.

“Leave No Trace” is a presentation of ABC News Studios and an Imagine Documentaries and Vermilion Films production.

Directed by Irene Taylor

Produced by Irene Taylor, Sara Bernstein, Justin Wilkes, Nigel Jaquiss, Emily Singer Chapman

Executive Producers: Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Irene Taylor

Supervising Producer: Lisa Diamond

Editors: Don Kleszy, Jody McVeigh-Schultz

Directors of Photography: Peter Hutchens, Nick Midwig

Music by Mark Orton