Lifetime Greenlights New Movie “The Girl Locked Upstairs: The Tanya Kach Story” from Executive Producer Elizabeth Smart

Lifetime reteams with Elizabeth Smart to executive produce the network’s authorized Ripped from the Headlines feature, The Girl Locked Upstairs: The Tanya Kach Story, starring Robert Baker (Supergirl) and Jordyn Ashley Olsen (My Mom’s Letter from Heaven). The film, set to premiere this summer and based on a true story, follows Tanya Kach, who was groomed by the security guard at her middle school and held captive in his home for ten years. Following the movie Lifetime will air the special, Beyond the Headlines: The Tanya Kach Story with Elizabeth Smart.

Tanya Kach (Olsen) was fourteen and at risk, struggling with an unhappy home life and the victim of bullying at her new school. Feeling isolated and lonely, she is befriended by Tom Hose (Baker), the school’s security guard, who manages to lure Tanya to his home, where he held her captive and sexually abused her for over a decade. Convinced he had Tanya brainwashed and that she would never attempt escape, Tom eventually allows her to take on a part-time job. Out from under Tom’s watchful eye, Tanya finally finds the courage to take a dangerous step toward freedom.

Kidnapping survivor and advocate Elizabeth Smart continues her relationship with Lifetime after executive producing the films Abducted by My Teacher: The Elizabeth Thomas Story, The Girl Who Escaped: The Kara Robinson Story and I Am Elizabeth Smart, as well as the doc specials Elizabeth Smart: Finding Justice and Smart Justice: The Jayme Closs Case.

Immediately following the movie’s premiere, Lifetime will debut Beyond the Headlines: The Tanya Kach Story with Elizabeth Smart. The doc will follow Elizabeth as she meets the real-life Tanya Kach, who at 14-years old vanished from a Pittsburgh suburb. In a revealing conversation, Tanya recounts the horror of the 10 years she spent in captivity in her predator’s bedroom, and confides in Elizabeth about the realities of grooming, the pain of victim-blaming, and the courage she discovered in herself in the years that followed her harrowing experience.

The Girl Locked Upstairs: The Tanya Kach Story is executive produced by Joseph Freed, Allison Berkley, Howard Braunstein, and Elizabeth Smart. Simone Stock directs from a script written by Haley Harris. Beyond the Headlines: The Tanya Kach Story with Elizabeth Smart is executive produced by Joseph Freed and Allison Berkley from Marwar Junction Productions, Elizabeth Smart and Patty Ivins Specht. Brie Miranda Bryant and Nicole Vogel are executive producers for Lifetime.