KIDNAPPED IN HER OWN HOME: THE MARTHA CARELLI STORY follows Martha Carelli, whose life is shattered when an escaped convict takes her hostage and forces her to drive his getaway car. She must outwit her increasingly volatile captor to survive.
Martha Carelli’s (Katic) quiet life is shattered when an escaped convict hiding in her basement takes her hostage. Forced to drive his getaway car, Martha finds herself trapped in a dangerous psychological battle where survival depends on both courage and cunning. As the miles pass, Martha carefully leaves behind subtle clues she hopes will guide authorities to her location. With her captor growing increasingly volatile and another hostage’s life at stake, Martha must rely on her instincts, resilience, and resourcefulness to outwit her abductor and make it home alive.
Traci Hays is a DGA award–nominated director known for crafting female-centric, genre-blending stories with a strong visual edge. With nearly two decades of experience in film and television, she has directed six studio-backed features across the United States, Mexico, and the UK for companies including A&E, Fox Entertainment, and Tubi.
Her latest film, the A&E Lifetime Original Kidnapped in Her Own Home: The Martha Carelli Story starring Stana Katic, was released to strong reception, with TV Fanatic praising its “timeless quality.” She has directed a diverse slate of projects, including the Fox Entertainment-produced Tubi Original On The Run, winner of four Telly Awards and featured on Tubi’s Most Liked List; international dark comedy My Bloody Galentine; and psychological thriller Blood, Sweat, and Cheer, named one of Tubi's Top 10 Originals by Vulture and Screen Rant.
Her bold visual style is rooted in over a decade of hands-on production design experience, working across more than 30 film and television projects with A-list talent including Michael Shannon, Kate Hudson, Josh Duhamel, and John Rhys-Davies.
A cum laude graduate of Chapman University, Traci honed her craft under the mentorship of filmmakers Randal Kleiser (Grease), Martha Coolidge (Valley Girl), Oscar-nominated production designer Lawrence G. Paull (Back to the Future), and set decorator Mel Cooper (Seinfeld). Her design background deeply informs her directing through meticulous attention to detail, cinematic scope, and immersive world-building that elevate the storytelling.
Martha Carelli - Stana Katic
Michael Anderson - Tyler Tomás Perez
Michael Shenefelt - Doug Parry
