
Back to All News
How Emmy-Winning Filmmaker Pailin Wedel Got Hooked on The Trapped 13'
Netflix Staff
Netflix Staff
Entertainment
05 October 2022
GlobalThailand
At one point, the boys were convinced that if they dug hard enough, they would end up at an orange orchard. This was one of the snippets that the world is hearing for the first time in The Trapped 13: How We Survived the Thai Cave , a documentary that features exclusive interviews with the survivors who were rescued from a cave in Thailand after 17 days.
Ahead of the film's debut on October 5, director Pailin Wedel talks about why she embarked on the documentary and what inspired her.
What were you doing when the story of the trapped boys made news?
I was about to get married when the news broke! As a journalist, my phone was just going off with messages from people asking me to cover the news, which I couldn't at that time. When they were found, I actually cried. I couldnt just believe they were still alive! This documentary really focuses on the same questions I had then: How did they survive and what was going through their minds?
How did you come on board this documentary project?
I was initially hired as a researcher for the Thai Cave Rescue series to interview the boys and their parents, as well as Coach Eak. But Netflix had the incredible foresight to ask me to see if there were documentary possibilities during that process. I wasnt convinced at first: Did the boys and the coach do anything interesting as they waited to be rescued? What more was there to say with all the other films in production?
But when I spoke to them for the first time, it dawned on me that there weren't that many people in the world who have heard their perspectives. News articles cover the facts but they aren't able to go in-depth into the emotions, thoughts and feelings of the boys.
The story that came out of these interviews was amazing. It was full of hope, setbacks, perseverance, and even humor. It was inspiring. Thats when I was hooked. A documentary wasnt only possible but important. They had things to say thats never been heard before.
What were some of your initial reservations?
We were very concerned about the boys mental well-being and did not want to produce the documentary if they exhibited signs of trauma. Before meeting the boys, I consulted with Netflixs MIND team (which included mental health experts) on recognizing signs of trauma.
We started by having informal chats with all 12 boys and their parents. While they all did well during the initial chat, we only interviewed those who clearly showed us they wanted to tell their story and were enthusiastic to do so. We combined the interviews for the mini-series with the documentary interviews as much as we could to limit the amount of time they had to spend thinking about the topic.
So what do you think helped the boys to survive?
I was surprised by how big of a role Coach Eak played in keeping them together. I truly believe they survived because of the leadership Coach Eak and his right-hand person, Tee, exhibited. They constantly had tactics to distract and periodically inject the other boys with hope.
At the same time, the boys themselves played a big part in their own survival. When we were filming the re-creations in the cave, full-grown adults on our crew were scared. But because these boys grew up with a lot of challenges, they were tougher than most. Im not sure a group of city kids would survive stuck in the cave as long as they did.
The Wild Boars have a lot of grit and while they don't seem to be traumatized from being trapped in the cave, they live with a lot of guilt for causing such a fuss. Many of them feel they have to be perfect to be deserving of the amount of effort put into saving them.
How has this story inspired you?
We live in a rather bleak world today. But this story reminds us that even when things are at its worst - most people did not even think the boys would be alive - there is always a small hope of survival.
Catch The Trapped 13: How We Survived The Thai Cave exclusively on Netflix from October 5.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
22/06/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
22/06/2026
Cosm has announced the appointment of David Ho as Chief Legal Officer, a newly created executive role reporting to President and CEO Jeb Terry. Ho will oversee ...
22/06/2026
Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have announced the developm...
22/06/2026
Daktronics has completed an audio control system upgrade at Petco Park in San Di...
22/06/2026
Accelerate Media has named John Willi as President and announced the launch of the Accelerate Sports Network (ASN), a prep sports media and streaming platform c...
22/06/2026
All Women's Sports Network (AWSN) and 3XBA (3 3 Basketball Association) have announced live television coverage of the annual 3XBA tournament on Friday, Jun...
22/06/2026
OWL AI has announced the appointment of Jay Prasad as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors. Prasad succeeds Josh Gwyther, who has served...
22/06/2026
CP Communications delivered RF video and audio support for TNT's Inside the NBA at the 2026 NBA Finals, providing main show coverage in San Antonio and ea...
22/06/2026
Polymarket has announced a partnership with GRID, an official esports data platf...
22/06/2026
As sports venues continue to evolve into more video-centric, fan-engagement-driv...
22/06/2026
As the regional sports production scene shifts toward streaming, this Texan helps lead the engineering behind Victory+'s growing live platform...
22/06/2026
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
the memories of your elders [are] a scaffolding for you to build your identity on - and t...
22/06/2026
New hyper-resolution analyser EQ revealed
CEDAR Audio's all-new Icons plug-in series has just gained its newest member, Blade. Described by the compan...
22/06/2026
Turn any live input into a cinematic soundscape
Designed for use in the studio and on stage, Sampleson's latest creation is capable of taking any audio ...
22/06/2026
Adds guitar strings to Eurorack rigs
ADDAC System are renowned for their weird and wonderful synth designs, and their line-up includes plenty of gear that...
22/06/2026
FIFA World Cup 2026 fever grows, as more than one third of Australians tune in ...
22/06/2026
In our latest blog, Tim Pearson explores NAGRA Venturi, the new streaming security solution for the AI era from NAGRAVISION. Designed to aggregate and analyze ...
22/06/2026
Expanded integrations give advertisers access to distinct contextual signals acr...
22/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/06/2026
Xilica today announced the release of Dynamic Voice Lift, a new feature in Xilica Designer v4.12 that brings adaptive speech reinforcement to large meeting spac...
22/06/2026
Monday 22 June 2026
Official trailer released for Katie Price: Nothing to Hide,...
22/06/2026
The next era of AI will not be defined by compute alone. Its growth will be dete...
22/06/2026
Mission, Vision and Veritas - new Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) supercom...
22/06/2026
At the ISC conference running in Hamburg this week, NVIDIA is introducing new so...
22/06/2026
For the past two years, the U.S. National Science Foundation's National Arti...
22/06/2026
JUPITER, Europe's first exascale supercomputer at Germany's Forschungszentrum J lich, runs on NVIDIA Grace Hopper Superchips and NVIDIA Quantum-X800 Inf...
21/06/2026
To call the 2026 FIFA World Cup a big undertaking would be a big understatement....
21/06/2026
New series now live on Udemy
Regular SOS contributor and Cubase workshop columnist John Walden has just released a new Cubase video course that is now avail...
21/06/2026
Hot tubs sit at about 38 to 40 degrees Celsius, warm enough that most people can only soak for about 15 minutes. NVIDIA's newest AI servers can run their co...
21/06/2026
Sunday 21 June 2026
Sky announces immersive documentary series The Wargame
The Wargame first looks
ZIP (2MB)
Sky today confirms the commission of The Wargam...
20/06/2026
New add-on creates doubles & vocal stacks
IK Multimedia's latest ReSing add-on kits the innovative software out with the ability to automatically genera...
20/06/2026
What exactly is Apogee Control V3?
Control V3 is a new mixer application that controls Apogee interfaces. The new hit feature is that V3 finally allows for...
19/06/2026
Split compound eases operational challenges at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club...
19/06/2026
North Carolina, Oklahoma meet in the best-of-three Finals as ESPN leans into spe...
19/06/2026
Company launch comprehensive mix-comparison tool
The Him DSP are a plug-in company founded by The Him, an EDM DJ and producer who has amassed over half a bi...
19/06/2026
Major Sampler upgrades introduced
The latest version of Bitwig's DAW software has just entered public beta testing, and is available now for all users w...
19/06/2026
Four times the power of their predecessors
Akai Pro have just introduced upgraded versions of two of their popular standalone MPC systems, kitting them out ...
19/06/2026
Data from May shows seasonal outdoor trends triggers lower viewing
Warsaw, Pola...
19/06/2026
Buttons is best control system in the rAVe Best of Infocomm Awards 2026...
19/06/2026
Mavis Studio Makes iPad Production More Powerful
Brie Clayton June 19, 2026
0 Comments
InfoComm update brings new NDI Preview, PTZ control, USB audio ...
19/06/2026
Immersive Studio Metaverse Stage Tackles Post with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton June 19, 2026
0 Comments
New narrative projects rely on DaVinci Reso...
19/06/2026
How to Run the Original 1993 After Effects
Graham Quince June 19, 2026
0 Comments
How to the original After Effects v1 in an emulator, and you don'...
19/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/06/2026
SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists and engineers, has announced that its entire Standards catalog is now freely available to the global medi...