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Prime Video is maybe the most versatile streaming service around. During your 30-day Free trial, you can binge great shows like “The Boys,” “Fleabag,” “Reacher,” and “The Underground Railroad.” And you can add dozens of other services that can live within the Prime Video interface. But there’s another bonus you may not know about: You can watch the first episode of many popular shows for free.

30-Day Free Trial $8.99+ / month amazon.com

From Paramount+ with Showtime, you can watch the first episode of “The Chi,” “Your Honor,” “Dexter: New Blood,” “Star Trek”, and “Yellowjackets.” From Starz, you can watch “Power Book IV: Force,” “Da Vinci’s Demons,” “Men in Kilts,” “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” “Black Sails,” “The White Queen,” “The White Princess,” “Party Down,” “Seduced: Inside the Nxivm Cult,” and “Spartacus.” MGM+ gives you a free episode of “Helter Skelter: An American Myth,” “Chapelwaite,” and “Condor.” From Allblk, you can sample “Deb’s House.

It’s true! No, seriously: it’s true. And by “it” we of course mean the stories at the heart of Film Independent’s 2024 Doc Story Lab. A one-week intensive designed to provide support for filmmakers whose projects are in post-production, the Doc Story Lab is one of two Documentary Labs amid the larger Film Independent Artist Development umbrella of talent incubators, which for over 30 years have been the place to spot future media-visionary movers-and-shakers.

This year’s participants will engage in five days’ worth of workshops, guest speaker sessions, and one-on-one mentorship with leading professionals in the nonfiction film space. including Doc Story Lab Lead Creative Mentors Chris Shellen (Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces) and Anayansi Prado (Paraiso for Sale) and Editing Mentors Christy Denes (Seduced: Inside the Nxivm Cult) and Sara Newens (Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields). Not to mention plenty of networking opportunities with advice on the...

The cast of Escaping Twin Flames on Netflix have spoken out about the much-talked-about online love cult in the newly-released three-part docuseries

Developed by the Emmy-nominated filmmaking team behind Seduced: Inside the Nxivm Cult, the documentary revolves around the origins of the Twin Flames Universe, an online cult that took advantage of people looking for love on the internet. 

Escaping Twin Flames premiered on Netflix on November 8. 

Read full article on The Direct.

Perhaps you may have already noticed but Netflix’s documentary release schedule has become … aggressive. It seems like every time something like The Devil on Trial premieres, a Get Gotti arrives quickly on its heels to bump it out of the “Top 10” on the streamer’s homepage.

That elevated pace is good news for viewers who crave a consistent content pipeline of non-fiction to consume. It also unfortunately means some quality docs run the risk of falling by the wayside before they have a chance to catch on. We certainly hope that’s not the fate awaiting Escaping Twin Flames – a Netflix docuseries that tackles one of the more interesting subjects that streaming has in some time.

Created by Cecilia Peck and Inbal B. Lessner (the team behind Seduced: Inside the Nxivm Cult), Escaping Twin Flames delves into the modern day high-control group (re: cult) known as “Twin Flames Universe.

Director Cecilia Peck is no stranger to competing docuseries on the same topic. Her last project, Seduced: Inside the Nxivm Cult, came on the heels of The Vow, HBO's own docuseries about the group and its disgraced leader Keith Raniere. At the time, there was much discussion about which project was better, with the general consensus being that Seduced, though less discussed because of its home on Starz and later release (it premiered the night of The Vow's Season 1 finale), offered a more focused look at the cult's insidious practices and a more reliable narrator in victim India Oxenberg.

Every now and then a subject comes along that seemed compelling enough to the right decision-makers to somehow become the focus of multiple projects. Seeing the competition on the horizon, producers and distributors press their pedal to the metal instead of ceding ground. This is how we end up with two documentaries about the infamous Fyre music festival (Netflix’s Fyreand Hulu’s Fyre Fraud). It’s why the market tries to bear two limited series about Texas ax slayer Candy Montgomery (HBO’s Love and Death and Hulu’s Candy). And now,...

The next docuseries about a cult is coming to Netflix. The streaming service has announced that Escaping Twin Flames, a three-part docuseries about the Twin Flames Universe will premiere on Wednesday, November 8. It comes from the Emmy-nominated filmmaking team behind Seduced: Inside the Nxivm Cult. Some have turned to the internet in the digital era to find love, and the leaders of Twin Flames Universe, Jeff, and Shaleia, “sell online classes that guarantee harmonious union with your destined partner.” Escaping Twin Flames “pulls back the veil on Twin Flames Universe, a controversial online community that preys on people looking for love.” It includes exclusive access to former members and the horrifying stories of coercion and exploitation surrounding the group, from encouraging stalking behavior to manipulating gender identities. The docuseries will also document the active efforts of family members to rescue their loved ones from Jeff and Shaleia. “We were flooded...

Exclusive: Netflix is lining up its next cult documentary.

The streamer has ordered Escaping Twin Flames, a three-part series about the Twin Flames dating platform. The service promised to find people’s true love, or Twin Flame, but what sounded like love might have been more of a dangerous obsession rooted in a cultish mindset.

The series, which launches November 8, comes from Cecilia Peck, who directed Starz’s Seduced: Inside the Nxivm Cult, and Good Caper Content, the ITV America production company behind TLC’s Taken At Birth.

It will explore the story of Jeff and Shaleia Divine, the leaders of Twin Flames Universe, who sell online classes that guarantee harmonious union with your destined partner and will pull back the veil of the universe, a controversial online community that preys on people looking for love.

Related: ‘Seduced: Inside The Nxivm Cult’: Starz Reveals Trailer For Four-Part Docuseries

The...

Exclusive: Following the success of their Academy Award-winning Warner Bros drama King Richard, based on their own life stories, tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams have teamed with Oscar-nominated Tár producer Alexandra Milchan to develop En Garde, a new feature to be adapted for the screen and directed by the duo known as Bush Renz (Antebellum).

The forthcoming film is based on the New York Times bestselling book Black Brother, Black Brother by award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes, which was published by Little, Brown in 2020. It tells the story of two bi-racial brothers — one white-presenting; the other, Black — who must navigate the unforgiving social constructs and institutions of an elite Connecticut prep high school. When the darker-skinned brother’s future is threatened by his arch-nemesis, he seeks out the counsel of an Olympic fencing champion to beat him at his own game.

Venus Williams will be joined as a producer...

Former Starz head of communications Lauren Townsend has been named SVP of Communications for Fox Corporation. Townsend, who will be based in Los Angeles, will start Jan. 3, reporting to Fox Corp. Chief Communications Officer Brian Nick.

Townsend, a respected veteran TV PR executive, is currently a consultant at Hulu, handling communications. Before that, she spent two and a half years as EVP, Communications at Starz.

During her tenure, Townsend shaped the Lionsgate-owned communications strategy as it evolved from a U.S. premium cable network into a global premium streaming platform in 50 countries. She spearheaded global PR campaigns for Starz Original series as well as high-profile exclusive acquisition titles on the platform and crafted messaging to establish the Starzplay brand and drive subscribers in the international territories.

During her time at Starz, Townsend oversaw the execution of publicity campaigns for the highly rated final two seasons of the network’s No.

Exclusive: Kandoo Films has acquired worldwide rights to Famous, a drama from writer-director Michael Leoni that melds elements of live theater and film to shine a light on the impact of abuse in the entertainment industry. The indie distributor will release the pic in 10 U.S. theaters to start December 10 day-and-date with digital platforms.

Chris Kattan, Brooke Butler, Cj Valleroy and Josh Pafchek lead the ensemble cast of the film, which centers on A-list celebrity Jason Mast (Pafchek), who driven by a devastating need to expose the truth pushes the boundaries of friendship to reveal the true cost of fame. What appears to be a night of celebration turns out to be an intricate plan to confront his past in a story about Young Hollywood in the 1990s that confronts abuse, and the abuse of power, in the industry.

Check out the trailer below.

“I have a deep love and...

Allison Mack offered a series of apologies in her statement to the federal judge who will decide her fate on June 30 when she is set to be sentenced after pleading guilty to racketeering and conspiracy charges in connection with the Nxivm sex cult case.

“I have experienced overwhelming shame as I have worked to accept and understand all that went on and all that I chose,” Mack wrote.

The “Smallville” star’s comments were included with more than a half-dozen letters from friends and family members to U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis testifying to Mack’s transformation since breaking with Nxivm mastermind Keith Raniere following her arrest in April 2018. Raniere was sentenced in October to 120 years in prison on racketeering and sex trafficking charges.

Mack pleaded guilty in April 2019. Prosecutors asked the judge for leniency given Mack’s cooperation in the case, which included providing a crucial audio...

Documentarians Cecilia Peck and Inbal B. Lessner (“Seduced: Inside the Nxivm Cult”) and Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (“Love Fraud”) not only share similar shooting philosophies, in focusing on vérité, but they are also passionate about centering their projects on female survivors’ stories.

The four-part Starz series “Seduced” explores the connection between a few women, including India Oxenberg, who escaped the clutches of Nxivm and its more dangerous subsets Jness and Dos, while the four-part “Love Fraud” for Showtime follows a group of women (including bounty hunter Carla Campbell) as they go after the con man who stole their hearts and a lot of their money.

These four powerhouses came together to talk about their experiences making these two Emmy contending series, as well as the sense of healing and justice they wanted for their subjects.

There is often a debate over how much to say a criminal’s name...

The Gracie Awards, which are bestowed by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation to honor standout women in the media industry and recognize entertainment and news programming that addressed timely topics and social issues, has unveiled its winners for its 46th edition.

Kerry Washington, Lena Waithe, Kelly Clarkson, Michelle Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Erin Andrews are among this year’s winners, along with shows including Today, CBS This Morning, Black-ish and Taylor Swift’s hybrid Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions. FX’s Mrs. America won twice, for Limited Series and Ensemble.

In other TV categories, 60 Minutes, Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi and This Is Us also scored wins, as did Caitriona Balfe of Outlander, Catherine O’Hara of Schitt’s Creek, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan of Never Have I Ever and P-Valley’s Shannon Thornton. Obama and Clinton won for their work in their respective podcasts.

Winners will be...

In the narrative world, sequels are all the rage for films and even “limited” series if the first installment is wildly successful, but seldom do you see follow-ups for documentaries. But all six filmmakers at Gold Derby’s Meet the Experts: Documentary panel — Samantha Stark (“The New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears”), J. Clay Tweel (“Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults”), Cecilia Peck and Inbal B. Lessner (“Seduced: Inside the Nxivm Cult”), Tom Beard (“The Year Earth Changed”) and Jeff Orlowski (“The Social Dilemma”) — are definitely not opposed to sequels to their films, some of which cover ongoing stories.

Click on each name above to watch that person’s individual panel interview. Watch our full panel above to hear everyone’s answers and more.

“With our film it feels like it just cracked us open,” Stark says of “Framing Britney Spears,” which spotlights the 13-year conservatorship the pop icon...

Gold Derby’s group discussion with six outstanding directors of TV documentaries launched our popular “Meet the Experts” panel series featuring Emmy contenders. Our senior editor Joyce Eng moderated the chat that included Samantha Stark (“Framing Britney Spears”), J. Clay Tweel (“Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults”), Cecilia Peck, Inbal B. Lessner (“Seduced: Inside the Nxivm Cult”), Tom Beard (“The Year Earth Changed”), Jeff Orlowski (‘The Social Dilemma’).

Deadline on Monday launched the streaming site for its inaugural Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted awards-season event. It took place Saturday and spotlighted 38 programs in those fields from 19 studios and streamers. It also sets the stage for our Contenders Television scripted event May 15.

Click here for the Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted streaming site.

This past weekend’s lineup included virtual panels featuring the likes of Sam Heughan, Padma Lakshmi, Demi Lovato, Paris Hilton, Stephen Colbert, Jameela Jamil, Amy Schumer, Jesse Collins, Wendy Williams, Rachel Brosnahan, Malcolm Spellman, R.J. Cutler, Phil Koeghan, Ken Jeong and Team Queer Eye who joined to discuss their buzzy projects. The shows on offer included The Masked Singer, The Real World Homecoming: New York, City So Real, Nailed It!, The Social Dilemma, Seduced: Inside the Nxivm Cult, RuPaul’s Drag Race, The Killing of Breonna Taylor (The New York Times Presents) and much more.

Network and streamers who...

Six top TV documentary directors will reveal details behind their projects when they join Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with key 2021 guild and Emmy contenders this month. Each person will participate in two video discussions to premiere on Monday, May 10, at 5:00 p.m. Pt; 8:00 p.m. Et. We’ll have a one-on-one with our senior editor Joyce Eng and a group chat with Joyce and all of the group together.

RSVP today to this specific event by clicking here to book your reservation. Or click here to RSVP for our entire ongoing panel series. We’ll send you a reminder a few minutes before the start of the show.

This “Meet the Experts” panel welcomes the following 2021 guild and Emmy contenders:

“Framing Britney Spears”: Samantha Stark

Stark was a News Emmy nominee for “Coming Out.” Other projects have included “They Get Brave,...

Nxivm marketed itself as a self-help program that would show participants the way to more meaningful lives and greater professional success. The reality was far more sinister.

The four-part Starz documentary Seduced: Inside the Nxivm Cult reveals the organization was actually set up to fleece participants out of their money and, chillingly, to satisfy the misogynistic sexual desires of founder Keith Raniere.

“[Raniere] really was a master salesman and he knew how to target, how to build this product and how to micro-target his customers,” producer Inbal B. Lessner said during Deadline’s Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted awards-season event. “He implemented…manipulation tactics to get people hooked, get people in, really all in. …They started manipulating your thinking and brain and making you push and forget your boundaries.”

Nxivm recruited among the wealthy and individuals connected with Hollywood. Actress Catherine Oxenberg signed up for an introductory session and brought her daughter India along.

It’s a couple more months until summer officially starts, but Saturday is shining bright with the new season of Deadline’s Contenders Television franchise. Padma Lakshmi, Demi Lovato, Stephen Colbert, Jameela Jamil, Amy Schumer and the Queer Eye guys are among the panelists in the lineup as we launch our newest TV award-season event.

Deadline’s first-ever Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted starts at 8 a.m. Pt with a full day spotlighting the most vital shows and top talent in the genres, packed with virtual presentations from almost 40 shows from 19 outlets.

To watch the livestream of today’s event, click here.

Starting with Starz’s rollicking Men in Kilts: A Roadtrip With Sam and Graham, today’s lineup features Hulu’s Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi, YouTube Originals’ Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil and Netflix’s Queer Eye, as well as Fox’s The Masked Singer and FX...

Padma Lakshmi, the Queer Eye hosts, Stephen Colbert and Demi Lovato are just of the few of the top tiers names joining Deadline’s Contenders Television Documentary + Unscripted event on May 1.

The day-long livestreamed celebration starts at 8 a.m. Pt on Saturday, as the Oscars are in the rearview mirror and awards season puts pedal to the small screen metal.

Along with the Taste the Nation host and the Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself executive producer, this newest addition to our Contenders events will see Demi Lovato, Michael D. Ratner, Derek DelGaudio himself, Frank Oz, Amy Schumer, Malcolm Spellman, Jameela Jamil, Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish will be among participants from the nearly 40 shows from 18 outlets at the virtual event.

Queer Eye’s Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski and Jonathan Van Ness will also be there, as will Nicole Byer, a double dipping Ken Jeong, Rachel Brosnahan,...

“The Trial of the Chicago 7” got a big boost in its bid for Best Editing at the Oscars with a win at the Ace Golden Eddie Awards on April 17. It prevailed in the drama race at these awards bestowed by American Cinema Editors over two of its Oscar rivals — “Nomadland” and “Sound of Metal” — as well as “Mank” and “Minari.”

Another of the Oscar nominees, “Promising Young Woman,” lost the comedy/musical category to “Palm Springs.” The other contenders in that race were “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” “I Care a Lot” and “On the Rocks.”

Oscar watchers were sure to be watching Saturday’s virtual ceremony. These kudos have previewed of the 18 out of the last 30 Best Picture winners and a whopping 22 of the last 30 Film Editing Oscar champs. Not surprisingly, the Golden Eddies are also prescient when it comes to predicting the five Film Editing Oscar slots. Four of...

The American Cinema Editors guild, which hands out its awards on April 17, has a good track record as a preview of the Oscar winner for Best Picture (18 out of the last 30) and a great one for forecasting who will win the Film Editing Oscar (22 of the last 30). Not surprisingly, it is also fairly prescient when it comes to predicting the five Film Editing Oscar slots. Four of this year’s Academy Awards nominees contend for this cutting prize; “The Father” was snubbed by the American Cinema Editors.

The Ace Eddie Awards divide their prizes for editing between dramas and comedies/musicals. Oscar nominees “Nomadland,” “Sound of Metal and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” contend here in the drama race, which is rounded out by “Mank” and “Minari.” Facing off on the comedy side against Oscar nominee “Promising Young Woman” are “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” “I Care a Lot,” “On the Rocks” and “Palm Springs.

As Italy’s film and TV industry forges ahead after bearing the brunt of the pandemic in 2020, the Filming Italy — Los Angeles fest, which is a bridgehead between Italy and Hollywood, is pulling out all the stops to drive and promote the country’s restart effort.

After Filming Italy miraculously managed to hold its sister shindig as a physical edition on the island of Sardinia last summer, the upcoming March 18-21 Los Angeles event will be mostly online. But going virtual has just prompted Italian marketing guru Tiziana Rocca, a longtime Italian industry promoter, to double her efforts.

This year the former Taormina Film Festival general manager is serving up twice the number of titles — a selection of more than 50 features, TV skeins, docs and shorts — and a marathon medley of 25 master classes, starting with Edoardo Ponti, director of Oscar-buzzed Sophia Loren-starrer “The Life Ahead,” in conversation with Diane Warren,...

The nominations for the 2021 Ace Eddie Awards announced on Thursday (March 11) include our Oscar frontrunner for Best Film Editing, “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” along with three of the other four films we’re predicting to reap bids in that race: “Mank,” “Nomadland” and “Sound of Metal.” While “The Father” was snubbed by the American Cinema Editors we expect it to be the fifth Academy Awards contender.

The Ace Eddie Awards divide their prizes for editing between dramas and comedies/musicals. “Mank,” “Nomadland,” “Sound of Metal and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” contend here in the drama race, which is rounded out by “Minari.” Facing off on the comedy side are “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” “I Care a Lot,” “On the Rocks,” “Palm Springs” and “Promising Young Woman.”

In 1992, the Eddies went from three to five nominees (matching that of the Oscars) and in 2000 it split the award in two,...

“Mank,” “Minari,” “Nomadland,” “Sound of Metal” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” have been nominated in the dramatic-film category at the American Cinema Editors’ 71st annual Ace Eddie Awards, which honors the best in film and television editing.

In the comedy film category, the nominees are “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” “I Care a Lot,” “On the Rocks,” “Palm Springs” and “Promising Young Woman.”

The films that were bypassed in the Ace nominations include “Tenet,” “News of the World,” “The Father,” “Da 5 Bloods” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”

Over the past decade, 90% of the Oscar nominees for Best Film Editing have first been nominated by the American Cinema Editors. The Oscar nominees are heavily weighted toward the Ace dramatic category, with 34 nominees coming from that category since 2010, as opposed to 11 nominees from the comedy category.

The Ace Eddies’ animated feature nominations went to “The Croods: A New Age,” “Onward,” “Over the Moon,...

This year’s American Cinema Editors (Ace) nominations include “Nomadland,” “Mank,” “Minari,” “Sound of Metal” and “The Trial of Chicago 7.”

The guild, which will hand out its awards in a virtual ceremony on April 17, has a good track record forecasting the Oscar best picture winner — it has predicted 18 out of the last 29 winners. Last year, best edited feature film – dramatic went to “Parasite’s” Yang Jin-mo, and the film went on to win best picture at the Oscars. It also has a good record for predicting who wins the best editing Oscar — 23 out of the last 29 winners.

Nominees in comedy feature include “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” “I Care a Lot,” “On The Rocks” “Palm Springs” and “Promising Young Woman.”

As previously announced, Spike Lee will receive the Ace Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award, recognizing a filmmaker who exemplifies distinguished achievement in the art and business of film. Editors Lynzee Klingman...

Editors on films ranging from Amazon’s Borat Subsequent Moviefilm to Netflix’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 have been nominated for the 71st annual Ace Eddie Awards, presented by the American Cinema Editors to recognize the year’s best in picture editing in 14 film, TV and documentary categories.

Winners will be announced during a virtual awards ceremony April 17, where Spike Lee will receive the Ace Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award and Lynzee Klingman and Sidney Wolinsky will receive the group’s Career Achievement Awards.

As for today’s nominees, the marquee film categories are split into Dramatic and Comedy. The former features Chicago 7 along with Netflix’s Mank, A24’s Minari, Searchlight’s Nomadland (edited by writer-director Chloé Zhao) and Amazon’s Sound of Metal. The comedy nominees include Borat, Netflix’s I Care a Lot, Apple’s On the Rocks, Neon/Hulu’s Palm Springs...

Nominees for the 71st annual Ace Eddie Awards include such Best Picture contenders as Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland,” David Fincher’s monochromatic “Mank,” Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Lee Isaac Chung’s “Minari,” Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman” (as a comedy), and Darius Marder’s “Sound of Metal.”

The awards show will be held live on April 17 at 11:00 a.m. Pt.

Overlooked, though, were “News of the World” (edited by “Argo” Oscar-winner William Goldenberg) and “Tenet,” as well as three Black-led dramas, “Da 5 Bloods,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” and “One Night in Miami.” However, there’s still the possibility of one or two of these making the final Oscar nominations, along with the buzzy “Minari” and “Promising Young Woman.”

In terms of using the Editing win as an Oscar bellwether for predicting Best Picture, the last time the winners coincided was “Argo” in...

In describing how Nxivm operated, ‘Seduced: Inside the Nxivm Cult” showrunners Cecilia Peck and Inbal Lessner explain that it really is on the same level as being in a physically or emotionally abusive relationship. “I think so many people have been in a coercive relationship that’s hard to get out of. There’s really no difference between a domestic abuse relationship, where you just feel so broken down and you feel there’s nowhere to go,” Peck explains. She hopes that this documentary can help viewers understand how people can become involved with harmful groups like Nxivm. “That’s what these women were in and especially someone like India [Oxenburg], who went in at 19 and was broken down by them for seven years. It’s very hard to imagine that you can have another life.”

“Seduced” is a four-part docuseries, currently available on Starz, that explores the group known as Nxivm.

True-crime TV has found its new obsession: The twisted saga of the Nvixm cult, with famous followers like Smallville alum Allison Mack and salacious accusations of sex slavery, has inspired not one but two long-form TV documentaries, along with a number of one-off investigative specials. HBO’s The Vow, which premiered in August, was billed as the definitive look at the cult’s inner workings, told by the members themselves. But is it even good? And does another TV documentary actually do a better job at bringing Nxivm’s shocking deeds to light? Let’s take a closer look, shall we?...

On the November 2, 2020 episode of /Film Daily, /Film editor-in-chief Peter Sciretta is joined by /Film managing editor Jacob Hall, weekend editor Brad Oman, senior writer Ben Pearson and writers Hoai-Tran Bui and Chris Evangelista to discuss what they’ve been up to at the Water Cooler. At The Water Cooler: What did everyone do […]

The post Water Cooler: Halloween, Mank, Haunters, Seduced: Inside the Nxivm Cult, Almost Famous, Sabotage, Back to the Future Part II, Crimson Peak, On The Rocks, Notorious appeared first on /Film.

In the final episode of Starz’s documentary “Seduced: Inside the Nxivm Cult,” there’s a discussion about how cult founder Keith Raniere — sentenced this week to 120 years in prison — specifically preyed on smart, intelligent women of influence. Cecilia Peck, director and showrunner of “Seduced,” might have been one of those women. “I had a personal experience with Nxivm,” Peck told IndieWire. “Someone who I had worked with on a previous project actually targeted me for recruitment. [She] emailed me over the course of about a year and a half about an incredible women’s group that she was a part of; she told me it would change my life and, eventually, she wanted me to meet Allison Mack.”

Mack, the former “Smallville” actress, was one of Raniere’s most devout acolytes, and the women’s group was Dos, a subsidiary of Nxivm revealed in 2017 to be branding and trafficking women as sex slaves.

Image Source: YouTube user Entertainment Tonight

Similar to HBO's The Vow, Starz's latest docuseries, Seduced: Inside the Nxivm Cult, sheds light on the disturbing world of Nxivm and its founder Keith Raniere through the eyes of former member India Oxenberg. However, Oxenberg wasn't personally involved with The Vow, like she is with Seduced, and the reason for that is simply because she just wasn't ready to tell her story. The Vow first premiered on Aug. 23, whereas, Seduced just debuted it's first episode on Oct. 18.

"For a long time, I just wasn't ready to speak out. I needed to take care of myself and prioritize my own healing and recovery and I was kind of turned off by the media, to be honest," Oxenberg recently said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. "I actually got introduced to the producers and directors on Seduced, and they explained to me that they...

Exclusive: Lauren Townsend will be leaving her role as Starz’s EVP Communications after two and a half years at the Lionsgate-owned network. She is exiting next month after assisting with the transition to pursue other opportunities.

During her tenure, Townsend shaped Starz’s communications strategy as it evolved from a U.S. premium cable network into a global premium streaming platform in 50 countries. She designed and executed the communications plan for the launch of the Starzplay international platform across Europe, Latin America, Japan and Canada, with global and local partners such as Amazon, Apple, Orange, Rakutan, Roku, Vodafone and Claro, in addition to the launch of the Starzplay direct-to-consumer app in eight countries.

She also spearheaded global PR campaigns for Starz Original series as well as high-profile exclusive acquisition titles on the platform and crafted messaging to establish the Starzplay brand and drive subscribers in the international territories.