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As Jeffs (who inherited his role as \u201cprophet\u201d and president of the FLDS from his father, Rulon, in 2002) began serving a life sentence, Bateman, another self-proclaimed prophet, began marrying and sexually abusing female minors in the FLDS community. Meanwhile, Christine Marie, a cult expert, and her videographer husband, Tolga Katas, moved to Short Creek, Utah, in 2016. As two of the only non-FLDS residents, they saw an opportunity to endear themselves to this group and document Bateman\u2019s crimes from within. The couple, who met Bateman in 2017, filmed him and his wives from 2019 through his 2022 arrest. Eleven of Bateman\u2019s adult followers have also been convicted of charges<\/a> related to child sexual abuse conspiracy.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I saw their footage, my mouth dropped,\u201d Dretzin says of her winter 2023 meeting with the undercover filmmakers. \u201cIt\u2019s truly some of the most extraordinary material I\u2019ve ever seen as a filmmaker.\u201d Their more eccentric qualities\u2014\u201cWhat should I wear when I take down a pedophile?\u201d Marie asks her dog the morning of the FBI arrest of Bateman\u2014made them additional assets. \u201cI fully appreciated their colorful qualities from the start,\u201d says Dretzin. \u201cChristine wears pink cowboy boots. Tolga\u2019s got the whole Turkish thing going. They\u2019re really interesting, wild human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n After this series, Dretzin\u2019s work with women in the FLDS universe continues. \u201cWaking up one day and being the star of a Netflix series is no small thing,\u201d she says. \u201cSo there\u2019s been a lot of effort to help them negotiate that. I was actually in the community last weekend, so I remain very connected.\u201d In her first interview about Trust Me: the False Prophet,<\/em> Dretzin shares why AI was integral to her powerful sequel, and reflects on six years spent in this complicated enclave. \u201cI\u2019ve worked hard not to let this get too deep inside me. It does, I\u2019m not going to lie,\u201d she tells VF.<\/em> \u201cThis one in particular was very heavy because it\u2019s still going on\u2014it\u2019s not over.\u201d<\/p>\n Christine Marie and Julia Johnson<\/span>COURTESY OF NETFLIX<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n Vanity Fair:<\/em> After Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey<\/em>, why did you want to return to the world of extremist FLDS cults and what was most important to you in making a follow-up?<\/strong><\/p>\n Rachel Dretzin:<\/strong> I knew I wasn\u2019t done after Keep Sweet<\/em>, in part because the FLDS community continued to be under the sway of Warren Jeffs even once he was in prison. In many ways, they were more<\/em> vulnerable not only because they were leaderless, but because Warren had this decree that they could not have children or get married. So, you have thousands of people who couldn\u2019t move forward with their lives. And that\u2019s when I heard about Sam Bateman\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n