She Fights for Kids as a Filmmaker : Television: Linda Otto is driven to dramatize children’s rights. Her latest film, ‘Gregory K,’ about the boy who ‘divorced’ his parents, airs tonight.

It happens almost every day to Linda Otto.

Someone close to her or a colleague on one of her projects will look at her and say, “Is something wrong? Are you always this intense? Why don’t you lighten up?”

After all, they apparently reason, Otto--though not exactly a household name--is a prominent producer and director of television movies. One of her films aired earlier this season, she has two more this month and many more projects in the works. Her movies have won numerous awards.

But Otto says that, despite her success, lightening up is difficult. She feels driven by the greater mission behind almost all of her TV movies--to be an advocate for children’s rights.

The mission is fueled by her own painful memories of being victimized by sexual abuse during her childhood, and by her determination to help others who have suffered through similar traumas.

“When you are obsessed by something, it’s hard to lighten up,” Otto said last week during an interview from Toronto, where she was overseeing the final mixing and scoring of “Gregory K,” an ABC movie she produced and directed that airs at 9 tonight.

“My mission is not just to make a movie, but to get the audience motivated and involved about what’s happening with our children,” Otto continued. “I’m hoping to remind people that children are our future, and that they’re often denied access to the justice system and a reasonable childhood.”

Like most of her documentaries and fact-based movies in the last 12 years--such as “Adam,” about the kidnaping and murder of a young Florida boy, and “The Ryan White Story,” about the teen-age hemophiliac who died of AIDS in 1990--all three of Otto’s films this season are united by a single theme: the need for better understanding, nurturing and care of children.

“Gregory K” chronicles how 12-year-old Gregory Kingsley last September successfully “divorced” his biological parents, who he said had mistreated and abused him. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt (from the film “A River Runs Through It”) as Gregory and Bill Smitrovich (from ABC’s “Life Goes On”) as the foster father who adopted him.

On Feb. 28, ABC will broadcast Otto’s “Not in My Family,” starring Joanna Kerns as a mother who is tortured by memories of sexual abuse by her father.

“A Mother’s Right: The Elizabeth Morgan Story,” which aired last November, detailed the true story of Morgan, who claimed that her husband, Eric Foretich, had sexually abused their daughter and went to jail for 25 months for hiding Hillary rather than obeying a judge’s order allowing Foretich unsupervised visitation rights.

“If you look at my body of work, you’ll see that this issue has always been behind it,” said Otto. “Even with all the movies, I feel I’ve just hit the tip of the iceberg.

“There are half-a-million children in this country in foster care, hundreds of thousands that suffer from incest and child abuse,” Otto continued. “It’s a huge problem that’s always been a low priority. Hopefully, with this new Administration, child advocacy will be a higher priority. It has not been with previous administrations.”

Among other films produced and/or directed by Otto that also have addressed children’s issues are 1990’s “Unspeakable Acts,” about the first successful prosecuted case of mass sexual child abuse in a day care center, and the sequel to “Adam,” “Adam: His Song Continues.” She also produced the documentaries “Your Child Is Missing” and “Wanted: A Room With Love,” about the country’s foster care system.

Although Otto has done a few television movies that have more to do with fantasy than reality (“Torn Between Two Lovers” and “In Defense of a Married Man”), she has never strayed far from her agenda. “The films about the children are the most important to me,” she said.

Directing the story of “Gregory K” fit perfectly into Otto’s plan of mixing entertainment with social activism. For 20 years, she had hoped to do a movie about problems in the foster care system.

Gregory Kingsley challenged that system by suing his parents to terminate their rights so that he could be legally adopted by his foster family. He felt his parents, especially his mother, had abandoned and abused him. However, his mother fought to reclaim him.

“What ‘Gregory K’ tells is that the party line of the foster care system--the premise of reunification with the biological parents--is flawed,” said Otto. “Foster care is seen as a way station, and the foster parents aren’t supposed to bond with the child. But that’s not really possible.”

Michael Jaffe, executive producer of “Gregory K,” said he sought out Otto to direct the project. “Her commitment to children and to children’s rights absolutely convinced me that she was the one to handle this movie. It’s nice to know when a director feels a commitment to the subject matter.”

Some have questioned Otto about why her dedication hasn’t translated into a more direct association with the government on behalf of children.

“It gets very frustrating sometimes,” Otto said. “I wish I could do something more than just make movies. But I don’t want to run for public office. I don’t feel that’s where I can do the most good. Even if one of my movies is a flop, 20 million people see it. If I were in office, I would not have that same opportunity to reach people.”

However, Otto does do more than just make movies. She is founder and president of Find the Children, a nonprofit organization that works to prevent child abduction and helps find missing children. Otto said the organization finds 20 to 30 missing children a year. She also serves on the policy board of Los Angeles County’s Interagency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect.

Otto lives in Los Angeles with her husband, producer Alan Landsberg. They have three adult children from Landsberg’s previous marriage and four grandchildren.

Part of her motivation for the involvement in children’s issues comes from the trauma she suffered after being molested by her best friend’s father when she was 11 or 12. She said adults didn’t take her seriously when she explained to them what had happened.

“I’ve dealt with it and resolved it as much as I can resolve it,” she said. “It’s certainly still an emotional issue with me. This is the kind of thing that ruins people’s lives, and I have to keep it alive for the other women that have gone through it. This is a problem that one of every three women goes through.”

She added, “I would prefer that this problem with child abuse would be solved. Then I would open a cookie factory. But there are hundreds and hundreds of stories to be told. And I’ll never stop telling them.”