SeriesFest:Season 7 kicked off day 1 of their all-virtual television festival Thursday with an amazing opening night event featuring a screening of episode 1 of Peacock’s new docu-series “Epstein’s Shadow:Ghislaine Maxwell,” followed by a 38-minute panel discussion with the director and production team.
The premiere episode focused on the childhood of Maxwell, and how the relationship with her father, British Newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell, influenced her and led her to her sordid downturn as the girlfriend and eventual alleged accomplice to accused serial sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. It’s an insightful and very well made docuseries. The three-hour series is available to stream on Peacock starting Friday, June 24th. The producers say they set out to make the “definitive Maxwell documentary,” and based on the first episode, they have succeeded.
The panel was moderated by Variety’s TV senior features editor Danielle Turchiano, and featured Director and Executive Director Barbara Shearer, and Executive Producers Jennifer Harkness, Nina Burleigh, and Emma Cooper.
Shearer discussed the origins of this docu-series and said it was born after Epstein had been arrested and the mainstream media was more focused on him.
Cooper and Harkness talked about what it was like having an all-female team working on the project:
The annual television festival will continue to address this year’s theme, “What’s Next?” through July 11th with streaming events including competition screenings, panel discussions, workshops, sneak peeks and television premieres, and virtual parties. You can learn more about SeriesFest here:https://seriesfest.com/artist-initiatives/2021-festival