Makers Of Emmy-Nominated ‘Quiet On Set’ Contemplate Sequel To Explosive Docuseries On Child Actor Abuse
The creators of Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV say they’re open to making a follow up to the series, which scored two Emmy Nominations today, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series.
The five-part Investigation Discovery series documented alleged abuse suffered by stars of Nickelodeon series when they were children, including Drake Bell and Raquel Lee Bolleau of The Amanda Show, Shane Lyons, Katrina Johnson, Leon Frierson, Giovonnie Samuels, and Bryan Hearne of All That, and Alexa Nikolas of Zoey 101.
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“The response to the project has been overwhelming, surprising and gratifying,” Executive Producer Mary Robertson told Deadline. “It has certainly grown beyond our every expectation, and it’s particularly rewarding to see the response to the [series] evolve into calls for protection within the entertainment industry.”
RELATED: ‘Quiet On Set’: Dan Schneider, Others React To Investigation Discovery Docuseries
Added co-EP Emma Schwartz, “You always hope that with every project you do, that you’ll reach people, you’ll make an impact… We certainly as a team came to believe that this was a story that really needed to be told, because it’s both about the treatment of children and really about the shows that… influenced millions of children. We really hope that, if anything, this is the beginning of a continued conversation because seeking to prevent the damaging and abusive environments is really the key reason so many of the brave participants stepped forward, without whom we would not have been able to make this series.”
While Quiet on Set zeroed in on Nickelodeon shows produced by Dan Schneider (who in March this year released a video apologizing for his conduct while making his Nick series), the sad reality is that many more former child stars who suffered abuse may be out there.
“Our interest in the subject matter is extensive and remains,” Robertson noted. “We would love to hear from those who would like to share their accounts. We never want anyone to feel pressure from us or anyone else to share an account that they’re not ready to share. But if and when individuals are ready to share, we’re certainly interested and quite passionate about the pursuit of stories in this realm.”
Quiet on Set became the most streamed program in the history of Max, with its first four episodes racking up 1.25B minutes of viewing time between March 18 to 24 alone. Robertson and Schwartz said the production made it a priority for participants to feel they could recount their experience in whatever way felt right for them.
“We took very seriously the need to take a trauma-sensitive approach,” Robertson said. “We let the survivors define the level of detail they felt comfortable sharing and worked to reduce other elements in the edit that might distract from or artificially augment their testimony. So that meant reducing music and letting the audience experience their moments in their truest form. It meant, of course, letting the survivors and participants really speak for themselves and not adorning their stories with narration or asking someone else to, in essence, summarize what it is that they felt. We really wanted to center them above all else.”
RELATED: Former Disney Channel Star Christy Carlson Romano Says She Won’t Watch ‘Quiet On Set’, Calls Docuseries “Extremely Triggering”
Robertson told Deadline today’s Emmy recognition left her “deeply moved,” adding, “I am full of gratitude to the members of the TV Academy who recognized the project, and I’m reflecting a lot on the care and the vision and the fortitude that so many brought to this project, including our really brave contributors, our partners in Investigation Discovery, and the dozens of folks who worked with us at Maxine Productions to stitch this together.”
“I think what is so wonderful about this recognition,” Schwartz observed, “is that it really reflects what we’ve seen with the public response, the way in which Quiet on Set has resonated with so many other former child actors who felt safer to share their own experiences and the ways that many of them and so many others have been calling for real and continued change inside the industry.”
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