Not Our Son

Northwest arson spree kindles inspiration for former "A Current Affair" field producer's television movie of the week

by George Wing | Published April 1, 1995

In August of 1991, a Seattle man named Paul Keller started going out after work and setting fires. Within six months he had burned more than 77 buildings, killing three elderly people and becoming the country's most prolific serial arsonist. He was arrested, pled guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. What fascinated the public most about the case was that Keller was not anyone's picture of an arsonist—he was an advertising executive and a family man who sang in his church choir.

Sounds like a made-for-TV movie? Dozens of film companies thought so. The Keller family was descended upon en masse, as were members of the Arson Task force and other people central to the story. When the dust had cleared, it was two Seattle producers with minimal movie experience who won both the rights to the story and the means to produce it, striking a blow against the heavy guns of New York and L.A.. The resulting CBS Movie of the Week, Not Our Son, stars Neil Patrick Harris (of Doogie Howser, M.D. fame) and aired January 31, 1995 at 9:00 p.m. I interviewed co-producer Brian Halquist during the final editing phase.

George Wing (MM): How did you get started as a producer?

Brian Halquist: I used to manage a health club. I had always wanted to do documentaries, but didn't have the money or equipment. In 1989 I saw a newspaper article about two kids who killed a man at a marina in Steilacoom. So I called the attorneys, the family of the victim and the kids' families and was surprised to learn that no media people were talking to them. I took the story to KBTC at Bates Technical College, a tiny PBS affiliate in Tacoma. They liked it, but all they had was 3/4 inch gear and students for crew. So we chronicled the whole process from the initial 911 call to the sentencing of the boys. It took about 18 months. It ended up winning several awards and becoming the only KBTC-produced show to air nationally on PBS.

After that, I sent "A Current Affair" a copy of the documentary and got to know one of the producers over the phone. I would call up with story ideas once in a while, and I called about this kid in Everett, Jim King, who had killed someone when he was 13. There was a sexual abuse angle to the story, and "A Current Affair" bid on it. I did the piece for them and ended up getting a contract as a field producer. I did that for almost two years. Peter Brennan was the executive producer, and it was like producer school for me. I got to work with highly skilled crews from L.A. and New York, and was lucky enough to get a lot of exclusive stories. After a couple years I decided it was time to move on.

MM: How did you wind up doing the Paul Keller story for CBS?

BH: The fascinating thing about the Keller story was, who would have thought a successful, well-paid advertising executive from a Christian family would have this double life. He was singing in the church choir by day and at night he was going out and smoking weed and drinking beer and setting people's homes on fire while they slept.

When the fires started, I knew there was going to be a story. After Keller was arrested, I spoke to his lawyer, who I happened to know. He told me that Paul wanted to talk. By this time, of course, he and his family had about 100 media requests. But I managed to meet them and I promised to be fair and objective. They wanted to make a statement because they're a good Christian family. So they agreed to talk to me. I called my coproducer, Michael Lienau, who I met field-producing for "Inside Edition." We agreed to partner up on a documentary. We spent three months making Portrait of a Serial Arsonist: The Paul Keller Story. We made a deal with a Seattle station, KING, whereby they could use our interviews for newscasts if they aired our documentary.

All along we knew this was a made for TV movie. It was a great story about a family in crisis. We had an agent in L.A. but we hated the runaround -you never know who you're talking to and their stories change every day. So a crime writer friend of mine introduced me to his agents, Mary Alice Kaier and Anna Cottle of Cine/Lit Representation in Seattle. We liked them, they had good connections and more importantly they were local. They have some other true crime clients such as Ann Rule, who wrote The Stranger Beside Me about Ted Bundy.

George Keller agreed to give us his family's film rights, and our agents secured the rights of other parties like the Arson Task Force people, to make a complete package. This was in early June, and by July they had 40 companies, including Hearst Entertainment, Tri-Star, Multimedia - name the top 20 production companies, they were bidding on it. Mary Alice and Anna wanted to get us the best deal without selling us out. The whole idea was to advance our careers. A couple of companies would allow Michael and I to co-produce, and of those we picked Multimedia. That's how we were able to co-produce an MOW [movie-of-theweek].

MM: Was this your first experience with fiction filmmaking?

BH: It's not fiction, it's based on fact.

MM: I mean, something dramatized.

BH: I had done re-creations at "A Current Affair", but never a movie.

MM: What was the production like?

BH: The whole MOW process is interesting because it's wait, wait, wait, then you get a "go" and it's hurry up. Believe it or not, the original air date was January 15 with principal photography ending December 18. The pace is a lot different than feature filmmaking.

MM: Why did you shoot in Vancouver?

BH: Everyone wanted to shoot the movie here in Seattle. But the reality is, your dollar goes a lot farther in Canada and they're really equipped. There were at least eight other movies shooting, you couldn't drive down the street without seeing trailers. Robin Williams was doing his new $80 million picture up there. Vancouver is the Hollywood of the North.

MM: Do you consider yourself more of a journalist or filmmaker?

BH: I call what I do "immersion journalism." You are immersed in a story over a period of time, and although you may not become a part of it, you live it along with the people who are.

MM: Suppose I want to break into your field and someone in my community commits a notorious crime, what should I do?

BH: Call me. No, seriously, approach the people and take the plunge. You just gotta-do it. When I started all I had was a legal pad and a pen and a telephone at my kitchen table.

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