Independent True-Crime Docu-Series 'Malicious Intent' Sets Los Angeles Shoot for November 2026, Seeking Host and Crew

A self-produced true-crime documentary series is taking shape in Los Angeles, and independent documentary professionals should take note early. Malicious Intent, a six-episode docu-series currently in pre-production and active casting, is set to begin filming on November 1, 2026, with a planned release on YouTube at the channel MaliciousIntentSeries. The project is one of a growing wave of independently financed, platform-native documentary series that bypasses traditional broadcast entirely, and it is currently looking to fill key on-camera and production roles ahead of its production window.

The series is the personal project of Barnaby De La Cruz, who serves as executive producer, director, writer, and casting director on the production. De La Cruz is the subject of the story itself, which follows his account of being locked out of a shared home by a former partner, facing police allegations of physical abuse and a knife incident he disputes, and navigating an emergency protective order and subsequent court proceedings that he says upended his life for more than a year. The series tracks his fight to counter those allegations and what he describes as a coordinated effort involving police reports, text messages, alleged threats, and evidence he claims was misrepresented. He ultimately pursues litigation, and that legal battle forms the spine of the series. Because De La Cruz is both the storyteller and the subject, the production has an unusually direct and personal point of view baked into its DNA from the start. Professionals who have worked on first-person or advocacy-driven documentary projects will recognize the format immediately.

The host and narrator role is currently listed as unknown and to be determined, which means that casting for the on-camera presenter is one of the most pressing open items right now. This is the kind of role that benefits from someone with strong documentary hosting instincts, comfort with legal and procedural subject matter, and the ability to guide an audience through a densely sourced narrative. Agents and managers representing documentary hosts, journalists, and non-fiction on-camera talent should be paying attention to this listing. The production has described the format as podcast-style documentary, meaning the narration and host performance will carry significant weight in the series' overall feel and pacing.

Malicious Intent is being produced entirely independently, without a traditional studio or network infrastructure behind it. The distribution target is YouTube, specifically a dedicated channel for the series, which places it firmly in the growing category of creator-led, platform-native documentary content that has found real audiences over the past several years. Productions of this type operate outside the major studio ecosystem, which means crew should approach this as a non-union, independent engagement. Budget scale will reflect that reality, and professionals who thrive in lean, flexible production environments will find the most compatibility here. That said, the production claims access to extensive source material including court records, police reports, text messages, and video documentation, which suggests a substantive editorial and post-production workload regardless of crew size.

Filming is set for Los Angeles, California, beginning November 1, 2026. LA is an obvious home base for a self-produced series of this nature given the city's deep pool of documentary freelancers, independent camera operators, sound recordists, and post-production facilities. The local crew market for documentary work in Los Angeles is among the strongest in the country, with no shortage of experienced professionals who work outside the studio system on exactly this kind of project. Given the independent scale of the production, it is reasonable to expect that most crew will be sourced locally, keeping costs manageable and logistics straightforward. Interview setups, archival reconstruction, and location-based shooting around the LA area are the most likely production scenarios based on the format description.

For a six-episode true-crime series built around documented legal events, the editorial and post-production pipeline is worth flagging for editors, archival researchers, and graphic designers who specialize in documentary work. Court documents, police reports, and text message exchanges will likely need to be formatted and animated for screen, and the reconstruction of a timeline-driven narrative across six episodes typically requires a thoughtful story producer or series editor to help shape the arc. If you work in documentary post or specialize in legal-adjacent true-crime content, this production represents an opportunity worth watching as it moves through pre-production.

With a November 2026 start still well over a year out, Malicious Intent is in the early stages of assembling its team, and the casting search for its host is the most immediate open call. ProductionList.com members can find the full listing for Malicious Intent in our independent documentary section, where production contacts, location details, and crew needs will be updated as the project moves forward. Bookmark this one now if you work in non-fiction, independent documentary, or true-crime content, and check back regularly as the production timeline tightens and department staffing accelerates.

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