Behind the Docuseries: Ghislaine Maxwell: Epstein’s Shadow

Sky Original docuseries, Ghislaine Maxwell: Epstein’s Shadow, reveals the complicated and mysterious life of Ghislaine Maxwell and her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Produced by award-winning production company, Blue Ant Studios, the three-hour documentary investigates the powerful, connected, and mysterious Ghislaine Maxwell, who was once the heiress to the Maxwell fortune but whose life is rocked by a series of scandals and accusations when she meets Jeffrey Epstein, the serial sex offender. The series will untangle the complicated story of power, sex, and money, leading to Ghislaine Maxwell’s arrest and pointing to her upcoming trial.

In this panel discussion Barbara Shearer, Director, Laura Michalchyshyn, Executive Producer, Chief Creative Officer & co-president of Blue Ant Studios, Nina Burleigh, Executive Producer, Award-winning author, and journalist and Emma Cooper, Executive Producer and, Empress Films Founder will be in conversation with host, Emma Bullimore about creating the treatment and getting greenlit, the journey of finding archive footage and sourcing contributors alongside their individual experiences with the docuseries.

Ghislaine Maxwell: Epstein’s Shadow is coming to Sky Documentaries and streaming service NOW on 27th June at 9pm.

Barbara Shearer - Director and Executive Producer, Ghislaine Maxwell: Epstein’s Shadow

Barbara Shearer is an award-winning documentary writer, director and producer. Her extensive credits include producing and directing the HBO documentary, Women Who Love Killers; producing, writing and directing the 4 hour series, Outlaw Bikers – Hells Angels for the History Channel; creating, producing, writing and directing the 13-episode award winning crime series Pretty Dangerous which sold in 30 territories worldwide. Shearer has won and been nominated for numerous awards for her directing work in advertising. She was also an Executive in Charge of Production and Development for History and Nat Geo Canada. Shearer developed and was the executive in charge of production on the highest rated factual series, Border Security, for Global and Nat Geo Canada.

Nina Burleigh - Executive producer, Ghislaine Maxwell: Epstein’s Shadow

Nina Burleigh is an award-winning author, journalist, lecturer and feminist cultural critic. She is a New York Times best-selling author of six lively, acclaimed works of creative nonfiction. Nina was previously a columnist for the New York Observer, a national politics correspondent for Newsweek, and she also wrote for Rolling Stone magazine, The Guardian, The New York Times, and GEN/Medium on a wide array of topics including culture, politics, gender issues, science, and the environment. Nina is a frequent commentator on TV news outlets, including Good Morning America, Nightline, The Today Show, 48 Hours, MSNBC, CNN and NPR, to name a few.

Emma Cooper - Executive producer, Ghislaine Maxwell: Epstein’s Shadow

Empress Films, Founder

Emma Cooper is an independent film-maker and Executive Producer recently founding Empress Films. Prior to this she was the Global President of Non-Scripted Television at Pulse Films. Delivering a strong slate of highly regarded non-fiction films and series which have won accolades at Sundance, Tribeca and Toronto Film Festivals and premiered on Netflix and other UK and US broadcasters and streamers. Emma’s recent credits include: The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann (series Netflix), Bikram (feature Netflix), Rock and Roll (series SKY), No Greater Law (A&E Indie Films), and The Deal (series BBC 2).

Laura Michalchyshyn - Executive producer, Ghislaine Maxwell: Epstein’s Shadow Chief Creative Officer & Co-President, Blue Ant Studios

Laura oversees creative, while also co-managing and facilitating the growth of Blue Ant Studios. She has been tasked with bolstering strategic growth in unscripted and scripted, notably in the U.S. market. Over the course of her career, Laura has led programming and production teams, run cable channels and worked as a producer, partnering and consulting for top-tier talent, production companies,studios and networks all over the world. Laura served as President of Sundance  Productions, which she co-founded with Robert Redford and together they executive-produced the Emmy winning Momentum Generation (HBO) Death Row Stories (CNN), Chicagoland (CNN), All The President’s Men Revisited (Discovery), The American West (AMC), Ocean Warriors (Animal Planet) and The March (PBS), to name a few. Additionally, Laura produced Bobby Kennedy for President, a critically-acclaimed Netflix documentary series, released in 2018.  Laura has held senior executive roles at Sundance Channel, Alliance Atlantis and Discovery where she commissioned hundreds of hours of scripted and non-scripted content including Iconoclasts, Fabulous Beekman Boys, Elvis Costello Presents, Slings and Arrows and Trailer Park Boys. Laura has won three News and Documentary Emmys, as well as awards from GLAAD, IDA, Banff TV, the Environmental Media Association and the Peabody Awards.

Host, Emma Bullimore

Entertainment journalist Emma Bullimore has been writing about television for more than a decade, for publications including The Independent, Radio Times, TV Times and The Mirror. She frequently appears on radio and television, including BBC Breakfast, BBC 5 Live, Times Radio and Radio 4's Front Row, as well as being the resident TV critic on Jo Whiley's Radio 2 show. She regularly chairs live events for the likes of BAFTA, the BFI and the BBC.

Event Schedule:

17:55: Please join the webinar waiting room

18:00: Emma leads conversation

18:45: Attendee Q&A opens

19:00: Finish

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