 the matthew shepard story is a 2002 award-winning canadian-american television film by director roger spottiswoode based on the true story of matthew shepard, a 21-years-old gay youth who was murdered in 1998. the film scenario written by john wierick and jacob krueger, it starred shane meier as matthew and stockard channing as judy shepard and sam waterston as dennis shepard. producers were alliance atlantis communications, canadian film or video production tax credit (cptc) with the assistance of/with the participation of canadian television (ctv) and cosmic entertainment. the premiere was on 16 march 2002 on nbc, the same day hbo showed another matthew shepard film entitled the laramie project. the matthew shepard story was also shown on ctv, with language versions show in many countries. ==synopsis== in 1998, a young gay man by the name of matthew shepard was robbed, viciously beaten and left tied to a fence to die. although he was soon found by the police and hospitalized, he soon expired. this film recounts the events after the conviction of the two men responsible for this hate motivated murder. matthew's parents, though satisfied by the conviction, are finding the sentencing phase of the trial more difficult. the parents initially want to request the death penalty for their son's murderers, but the mother, judy shepard (stockard channing), starts to reconsider. as they struggle with their decision, they decide to reexamine the life of their son and rediscover his personality, his struggle to accept his homosexuality as a natural part of his being and above all, his generous humanity to others. all of this leads the parents to appeal to the court the way their son would have wanted, not out of vengeance but to represent best of what their son was and the tragedy of his loss. ==cast== *stockard channing as judy shepard *shane meier as matthew shepard *wendy crewson as sarah *sam waterston as dennis shepard *kristen thomson as romaine patterson *joseph ziegler as cal *yani gellman as pablo *damien atkins as donny *philip eddolls as aaron mckinney (as philip edolls) *paul robbins as russell henderson *judah katz as defense attorney *drew nelson as lance *nazneen contractor as shima *makyla smith as casey *lindsay murrell as matthew's date *james bearden as protester *b.j. mclellan as logan shepard (age 
2000s_crime_drama_films 2002_television_films American_LGBT-related_films American_crime_drama_films Canadian_LGBT-related_films Canadian_crime_films Canadian_drama_films English-language_films Films_set_in_Wyoming Films_set_in_the_1990s LGBT-related_drama_films Matthew_Shepard True_crime_films