‘Primetime’: Who Is ‘Decoy Dan’? The Real Person Behind Skyler Gisondo’s Character

Primetime has hit theater screens, immersing viewers back into the world of To Catch a Predator and its impact on pop culture and America at large. But while everyone may be familiar with Chris Hansen, you may be wondering if “Decoy Dan,” a.k.a. Dan Plum (played by Skyler Gisondo), is a real figure in this story. Warning: Spoilers for Primetime ahead!

While some moments in the film are dramatized for the purpose of presenting a story, as the credits confirm in the closing moments, “Decoy Dan” is, in fact, based on a real-life performer. As viewers of the original Dateline NBC segment may recall, To Catch a Predator employed various individuals to pose as underage decoys, luring in the predators Hansen and crew hoped to expose.

In this regard, Dan Plum is based on Dan Schrack, who now serves as a morning news anchor on Good Day Rochester, which is part of the local WUHF Fox Rochester broadcast.

 

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Dan Schrack appeared in seven episodes of To Catch a Predator between 2006 and 2007, beginning his run in Fort Myers, Florida, and ending it in Murphy, Texas, as Dan Plum does in the film. While not every experience Dan Plum goes through in the movie is factually accurate, Schrack did appear in various sting operations during the episodes he participated in, as viewers may recall that each episode included a handful of stings as Hansen and team set up shop in houses around the country.

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Along with being a morning news anchor now, Schrack also labels himself as a communications expert, and even provides his expertise at a cost with different communication courses, one-on-one meeting options, and more online. If you can’t afford a communications class, on Schrack’s Instagram page, he provides motivational words in various videos.

Schrack also spoke about his experience with To Catch a Predator in the 2025 documentary Predators, which is an MTV Documentary Film production and is streamable on Paramount+.

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