Dan Schneider received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2014 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.
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of Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV The directors will continue exploring Hollywood's children's entertainment after releasing the latest bonus episode on Sunday. Quiet on set: Breaking the silence.
“We're hearing calls for federal legislation,” says series co-director Mary Robertson. hollywood reporter When talking about next steps. “At this time, there is no federal law that regulates children who work in the entertainment industry or that regulates children who work in the entertainment industry.”
A bonus episode hosted by Soledad O'Brien takes a deeper dive into the allegations surrounding Dan Schneider and the Nickelodeon series he created and ran. The once prolific children's television producer has been accused of abuse, sexism and discrimination involving underage stars and staff members on his shows since a two-part documentary was released on March 17th and 18th. He faces allegations of racism and inappropriate behavior. (He responded with a 19-minute apology.) Video. )
The added episode also featured the return of Drake Bell after first sharing his story of sexual abuse by Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck in the original four-part series about ID and Max .
“I felt like now was the time to tell my story,” Bell explained during the bonus hour, starring Rider Strong, Will Friedle, Ron Melendez, Alan Thicke, Taran Killam and James.・He also commented on former network stars such as Marsden writing letters. It was used to favor Peck and influence the judge during sentencing.
Bonus Be quiet on set The episode touched on Friedl in a recent podcast where he expressed regret for writing a court-mandated letter of support to a convicted child molester. But Bell didn't leave Friedl alone.
“I worked with Will spidermanThere were plenty of opportunities to apologize and talk about it, but [he] That never happened,” he told O’Brien. Bell added that not one of the 41 people who wrote letters of support for Peck prior to his sentencing has contacted them to apologize or simply to communicate. [On Friday, Bell took to X to say that he and Strong have now had a conversation: “I have nothing but love and forgiveness for him.”)
And he cited a lack of media coverage around the 2003 arrests, first of Jason Michael Handy — another child predator who worked as a PA on a Nickelodeon series — and then of Peck, for allowing Peck to continue work in Hollywood after serving time in prison for child molestation and being a registered sex offender.
“For those two cases to happen so closely together, and at the same network, on the same show, it allowed him (Peck) to go to work on other shows, on other kids shows, other kids networks… as a registered sex offender,” a still surprised Bell recounted.
He also reiterated that Schneider was alone in reaching out from Nickelodeon during the Peck trial, and afterwards to offer comfort and support. And Bell defended Josh Peck, his co-star on Drake & Josh, who came under attack on social media platforms for his apparent reaction to Bell’s story when first told publicly.
“I know what it’s like to have the Internet attack you for, really, nothing. He had reached out to me and we’d been talking,” Bell said in full praise for Josh Peck, who has no relation to Brian Peck, and who has since spoken out about Bell and the Quiet on Set doc.
Another revelation in the Breaking the Silence episode was All That alum Shane Lyons, for the first time, coming forward to reveal that he, too, was propositioned by Brian Peck while on set.
“There were certainly some passes, you know,” Lyons recalled, as he pointed to one green room conversation with Peck where he claimed the sexually suggestive topic of “blue balls” was raised by the dialogue coach. “I’m a kid — 13, 14 — and, as I think back now, as an adult, a 36-year-old, would I have ever had a conversation with a 13-year-old boy like he had with me? No!” Lyons said.
The Breaking the Silence episode also included All That cast member Giovonnie Samuels recalling a recent phone call she received from Schneider where he asked for a “quote of support” following her performances on his TV shows.
Schneider was rebuffed. “I told him I was terrified of him… I told him ‘you had the power to make people stars, and I was intimidated by you,’” Samuels recalled telling the prolific Nickelodeon series creator.
And fellow All That alum Bryan Christopher Hearne, who also appeared on the bonus episode, didn’t buy Schneider’s 19-minute apology video he released after the premiere of the original Quiet on Set four-parter. “Dan was an actor before all this, and so I think he brushed off some chops and gave us a nice performance,” Hearne said.
Bryan Christopher Hearne (center)
Investigation Discovery
Breaking the Silence struck an emotional note when Hearne was reunited with his mother, Tracey Brown, and recalled the Quiet on Set docuseries bringing them back together after his departure from All That at age 13 led to a long rupture in their relationship. “I can talk to 14-year-old Bryan and say, ‘this wasn’t your fault. This wasn’t her fault. These people had it out for you,’” Hearne said while looking at his tearful mother.
Ahead of the premiere of Breaking the Silence on ID and Max, The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Quiet on Set co-directors and executive producers Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz, as well as Turner Networks, ID & HLN, linear and streaming president Jason Sarlanis, about what will come next, as their cameras continue to roll: “We really are sort of seeing a movement form about what should happen next in this industry.”
Predicting how audiences react to new TV series is always difficult. When did you know you had a ratings sensation on your hands with Quiet on Set?
JASON SARLANIS You can never anticipate [the audience response]. But when the trailer was released and quickly went viral, we had a hunch that audiences would feel the same way we do about this project.
mary robertson I remember watching [the night of the premiere] On March 17th, in a room filled with staff and colleagues who created this series. As Jason said, the response to the trailer was incredibly loud and passionate. So there was a sense that others might join in as well. But we won't really know until it's streamed. We were watching real-time reactions on social media, as were others. And it certainly sent a chill down my spine. I couldn't believe how many people attended the premiere in real time and imitated our reactions in the editing room. There's a sense that people are watching and they understand that. they really get it.
emma schwartz I guess they were right, because the press started gathering just a few days before the premiere.There was a piece in GMA Then I think night line did something and then there was this extra part where all of a sudden people were talking about this as if this was the #MeToo movement for kids. And it's still not smooth, but you've already gone much wider than the story we've told. For me, that was the moment where I thought, “Oh, wait, they realized there's a whole system that's even bigger than our story.” And little by little, we started to see more people taking the conversation beyond mere details. That's when I started to feel like, “Okay, this is more than just a story.” We're really seeing a movement shape as to what should happen next in this industry. ”
When did Greenlight decide to produce a fifth episode so soon after the original documentary series premiered?
salanis Frankly, the desire to do more was probably always separate from this.In terms of specifically expanding Be quiet on set In the first series of episodes that captured some of the aftermath, I think we started talking to Mary and Emma for the first time right after the trailer came out. And we worked with them primarily to be able to produce additional episodes after we watched the show itself. This has allowed us to create this platform where incredibly brave contributors can join the very conversation we were alluding to. Hundreds of media outlets and content creators have developed this story. We wanted to give that platform back to the very people who are responsible for those stories.
one time Be quiet on set ' has been released, have you heard from any other former stars of Dan Schneider's series on Nickelodeon coming forward to share more of their stories?
schwartz Many people were afraid to speak publicly. We're starting to see people react and come forward just on social media. And definitely one of his contributors to this fifth episode, Shane. [Lyons], these are questions and concerns he has had over the years after seeing the project. He felt this opened the door for him to create some comfort in speaking publicly in a way he hadn't been open to before. He's certainly not alone. We continue to hear from people who have more stories and experiences and are exploring how to share and reveal them.
In episode 5, Drake Bell returns for another interview. Why did he want to share more of his story?
schwartz He had great misgivings about how the story would be received before it was published. He didn't know how much he wanted to keep sharing after that. But he has received a lot of support and has heard from people who have gone through different but traumatic experiences. It gave him a certain strength, a sense of power in telling his truth and shining a light and helping others feel less alone in their experiences. I think it was. Because I think he felt very, very alone for many years.
Be quiet on set was spawned in part by the proliferation of viral videos that compiled clips from Schneider's Nickelodeon show. Much of it is unverified user-generated social media-driven content. How has this helped open the door for people to come forward?
robertson Many of the people who shared their stories in the film were nervous before taking part, as is often the case when making their personal accounts public. They wanted to know whether they would be ridiculed or taken seriously, or whether their experiences, which felt so awful to them at the time, would be shown to the public as legitimately offensive, inappropriate, and definitely wrong. I was concerned about being read and understood. Those who received the film. And overwhelmingly, these contributors are satisfied with the response.
schwartz I feel like part of this is because the internet is a wild place. There's a lot going on in the world and a lot of conspiracy theories. There are a lot of things that are not necessarily based in fact. But some of those questions hid the real facts and the real story. Part of that was sorting fact from fiction. There is great power when people see that you are holding on to the truth that they know to be true. And don't cross the line into wild conspiracy theories.
Is your camera still working today? Be quiet on set episode?
robertson We are dedicated to telling this story. We are passionate about telling this story. I don't think we've finished telling this story.
salanis Themes that Mary and Emma are working on Be quiet on set We're committed to keeping the light shining, whether that means more. Be quiet on set, or other projects you can do together.What was so incredible? Be quiet on set It's that it was crafted to provide a platform for this particular story and example of systemic abuse. Unfortunately, there are other versions of this as well. So whatever that may look like in the future, we at ID are committed to helping filmmakers like Mary and Emma tell those stories.
of Be quiet on set Episode 5 is part of a discussion about where children's television is heading in the aftermath of the Dan Schneider era at Nickelodeon. What should that future look like?
robertson What we are currently hearing from members of the public is a desire to understand what to do about their dissatisfaction, in some cases anger, and in some cases embarrassment with previous industry conditions and perhaps current industry conditions. That means there is. We hear calls for federal legislation. At this time, there are no federal laws regulating children who work in the entertainment industry or regulating children who work in the entertainment industry. A patchwork of state laws is in place.
schwartz For many participants, part of the motivation for speaking was the hope that things would change. And I know that now that they've seen such a reaction, one of the big concerns is that there's no requirement for people working on set to undergo background checks. It's case by case. And there are certainly concerns that it doesn't adequately protect children. People want social workers and mental health professionals to engage with children to help them feel a sense of agency in an environment of complex power relations. Masu. And I'm sure that's just the beginning.
salanis If you look at it Be quiet on set, and that was at a very specific time, 25 years ago. I believe this series is closely aligned with children and children's entertainment, such as social media and digital forms of entertainment, which unfortunately can be vulnerable, and there is currently no oversight, regulation or structure surrounding them. , which we hope will serve as a warning to future emerging platforms. It is the next breeding ground for this kind of systematic abuse.
Dan Schneider released a response video shortly after the incident. Be quiet on set It premiered in four parts. What was your reaction if you saw it?
robertson We all watched the 20-minute video that Dan shared and is now widely available. We offered Dan the opportunity to be part of the series, but he declined. His statement is Be quiet on set. In the fifth episode, we hear people's reactions to the videos Dan posted online, and there are strongly held beliefs in them.
schwartz And there's also new insight into the current state of their relationship.
And your own reaction to the video?
salanis I think our job is to create a platform for people who have a direct connection to tell their stories. And episode 5 does exactly that.
Among the contributors are: Be quiet on set, we have yet to hear directly from other Nickelodeon stars like Amanda Bynes and Jennette McCurdy. Who do you still want to listen to and talk to the most?
robertson We don't want to put pressure on people who aren't ready to participate or share their personal experiences with the world. I'm sure there are other accounts as well. There are a lot of people who worked on these sets that I haven't contacted yet. When they are ready and want to share their story with us, we will be very honored and will treat them with great care.
break the silence and Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV Currently streaming on Max.
