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A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has ruled that former Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider can proceed with his defamation lawsuit over claims made in Investigation Discovery’s Quiet On Set limited series.

Schneider filed the lawsuit against Warner Bros Discovery, Maxine Productions, Sony Pictures and Quiet on Set producers Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz of defamation after the series premiered in March 2024.

In the Nov. 22 ruling, Judge Ashfaq G. Chowdhury denied a bid by Wbd and Maxine Productions to have the lawsuit thrown out. “This is manifestly not a case brought by Schneider on frivolous grounds, simply to harass defendants,” the court ruling read. “He’s suing defendants about a documentary they made about him, that focuses on his activities, and, which a reasonable viewer might conclude makes damning implications about his conduct.”

Chowdhury agreed with Schneider and his lawyers “that defamation can be implied, that the trailer and documentary...

Former Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider, the subject of the Investigation Discovery’s Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, has been given the green light to proceed with his defamation suit against Warner Bros. Discovery and the docuseries’ producers.

Judge Ashfaq G. Chowdhury of the Los Angeles Superior Court, in a Nov. 22 ruling obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, dismissed a bid by Wbd and Maxine Productions to have the lawsuit tossed out. The court ruling argued “this is manifestly not a case brought by Schneider on frivolous grounds, simply to harass defendants. He’s suing defendants about a documentary they made about him, that focuses on his activities, and, which a reasonable viewer might conclude makes damning implications about his conduct.”

Schneider brought the defamation suit against the docuseries Quiet on Set, directed by Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz about popular TV shows created and run by the prolific Nickelodeon producer,...

Dan Schneider’s defamation suit against the makers of the bombshell docuseries, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, will be allowed to continue, a California judge ruled late last week.

On Friday, Judge Ashfaq G. Chowdhury rejected a motion brought by the plaintiffs — led by Warner Bros. Discovery, Sony Pictures Television, and directors Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz — to toss Schneider’s lawsuit under California’s anti-slapp (strategic lawsuits against public participation) laws. Those laws are meant to deter lawsuits that could impede on free speech, especially on matters of public concern.

The 67th Grammy Awards nominations have recognized musicians Hans Zimmer, Atticus Ross and films such as Twisters and The Color Purple with nods across multiple categories.

Zimmer is nominated for the Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media category with the Dune: Part Two (2024) soundtrack and also for the Best Song Written for Visual Media category with “Love Will Survive” from The Tattooist of Auschwitz, which he wrote with Kara Talve, Charlie Midnight and Walter Afanasieff. Barbara Streisand sings the song from the series based on Heather Morris’ book of the same name.

Atticus Ross is nominated as a composer with collaborator Trent Reznor for the score soundtrack to Challengers (2024) starring Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor. Ross, along with Leopold Ross and Nick Cuba, has two nominations in the same category — Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media — with FX’s Shōgun, which also netted many trophies at the 2024 Emmys. Ross...

Prime Video is adding a little extra color to its premiere schedule.

A Lisa Frank docuseries has been ordered at the streamer about the once-popular brand from director Arianna Lapenne and Sony Pictures Television’s Maxine Productions, which was behind Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.

According to its description, “Glitter and Greed: The Lisa Frank Story is a four-part documentary event that penetrates the neon-hued world of Lisa Frank Inc., a brand that defined girlhood for a generation of Americans only to seemingly disappear overnight. Behind the rainbows and psychedelic illustrations, we unravel a nostalgia-soaked, stranger-than-fiction tale that takes us into the hidden world that has been lurking at the heart of the company for decades.”

The project will feature never-before-seen footage and more than 20 interviews with insiders, enthusiasts and journalists from Lisa Frank, Inc.

“Lisa Frank’s signature rainbow-hued brand evokes core memories and nostalgia...

Prime Video has orderd four-part docuseries Glitter and Greed: The Lisa Frank Story, about the popular Lisa Frank brand. Directed by Arianna Lapenne, the series comes from Sony Pictures Television’s Maxine Productions (Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV). It will stream exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

Per the description, Glitter and Greed: The Lisa Frank Story “penetrates the neon-hued world of Lisa Frank Inc., a brand that defined girlhood for a generation of Americans only to seemingly disappear overnight. Behind the rainbows and psychedelic illustrations, we unravel a nostalgia-soaked, stranger-than-fiction tale that takes us into the hidden world that has been lurking at the heart of the company for decades.”

The docuseries features never-before-seen footage and over 20 interviews with Lisa Frank, Inc insiders, enthusiasts, and journalists, according to the release.

“Lisa Frank’s signature rainbow-hued brand evokes core memories and...

Amazon Prime Video has ordered a docuseries about the popular Lisa Frank brand titled “Glitter and Greed: The Lisa Frank Story.”

According to its official description, “Glitter and Greed” will examine “the neon-hued world of Lisa Frank Inc., a brand that defined girlhood for a generation of Americans only to seemingly disappear overnight. Behind the rainbows and psychedelic illustrations, we unravel a nostalgia-soaked, stranger-than-fiction tale that takes us into the hidden world that has been lurking at the heart of the company for decades.”

The four-part series features over twenty interviews with insiders and enthusiasts of Lisa Frank Inc., along with multiple journalists.

Arianna Lapenne directs and co-executive produces “Glitter and Greed.” Sony Pictures Television’s Maxine Productions, which recently produced “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” is the studio. Executive producers include Maxine founder and president Mary Robertson alongside Lisa Kalikow, as well as Sony Pictures...

The Lisa Frank brand is getting the Hollywood treatment, with Prime Video ordering a new four-part docuseries that will dive into the neon-hued world of a brand that defined girlhood for a generation of Americans, only to seemingly disappear overnight.

“Glitter and Greed: The Lisa Frank Story,” which comes from Sony Pictures Television’s Maxine Productions, will feature never-before-seen footage and over twenty interviews with Lisa Frank, company insiders, enthusiasts, and journalists.

The project is executive produced by Maxine Productions’ Mary Robertson and Lisa Kalikow and Sony Pictures Television Nonfiction’s Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman are executive producers for Sptnf. Arianna Lapenne serves as director and co-executive producer.

“Like so many of us, I grew up with a deep attachment to Lisa Frank products, relishing the sense of whimsy, magic and creativity they brought to daily life,” Robertson said in a statement. “I am honored by the opportunity to...

Morgan Neville, the director of “Steve! (Martin): A Documentary in Two Pieces,” always loved movies and writing as a child, but when he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, he was unsure what to do with his interests. He thought “writing seemed serious” and “movies were too frivolous” to get into show business, but once he started his first documentary, “Shotgun Freeway: Drives Through Lost L.A.,” he knew he found his lifelong passion.

“I remember sending my parents a note two weeks into starting my first documentary saying, ‘This is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life,'” Neville said. “I instantly knew that documentary was all these different things I liked, the storytelling, the writing, the research, the interviewing, all of it.”

As part of Variety’s Virtual FYC TV Fest, Neville joined Andrew Jarecki, director, executive producer and writer of “The Jinx – Part Two,...

Nine years after “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst” won the Emmy for Best Documentary Series, its previously unplanned second season is up for the same award. Unlike last time when it stood out as the only crime series in its lineup, it is now joined in that regard by both “Telemarketers” and “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.”

Unlike most Primetime Emmys, Best Documentary Series is a non-competitive area award that is bestowed upon any nominee that earns the approval of 90% of the members of the TV academy’s documentary peer group. This means that the five programs in the 2024 lineup are not vying for a single trophy and could all potentially prevail. However, if no nominees hit said 90% threshold, only the highest-rated one will win.

In order to determine which of this year’s nominees has the best shot at being approved for victory,...

Child actors pushed on set for ratings and box office success has long been the foundation of Hollywood as they become the fresh faces of film and TV tentpole franchises and indie gems.

But Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV co-directors and executive producers Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz spotted a fatal flaw in the production of kids TV series and the direction of its child stars with their Investigation Discovery docuseries that focused on toxic environment claims around popular Nickelodeon shows run by prolific producer Dan Schneider.

Former Nickelodeon actors had allegedly been left unprotected and vulnerable to on-set racism, exploitation and sexual abuse at very young ages. For co-director Schwartz, the success of the Quiet on Set series should help lay the groundwork for a more equitable and kinder kids TV set in Hollywood going forward.

“Everybody’s individual actions, how you react, how you treat people,...

Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV may have exposed the ugly underbelly of ’90s kids TV, but good things have come from the documentary series that’s up for Best Documentary at this year’s Emmy Awards.

In Deadline’s conversation with the executive producers and participants of the Investigation Discovery project during Contenders Television: The Nominees, former All That cast member Bryan Hearne says he feels like there is a “100 percent chance” that positive change will follow now that executive producers Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz have shined a light on this dark period.

The docuseries, which is also vying for an Emmy in Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program, set out to uncover the toxic and dangerous culture on the sets of Dan Schneider’s Nickelodeon children’s shows in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Related: Deadline’s Contenders TV: The Nominees – Full Coverage...

The 76th Primetime Emmy Awards, not to be mistaken for the 75th Emmys handed out earlier this year, are taking place in September, with nominations unveiled last month. Many of those big names are aboard today to participate in Deadline’s annual Contenders Television: The Nominees event, which kicks off at 9 a.m. Pt.

Sign up for here for the livestream.

Follow along for panel coverage all day Saturday on Deadline and on social using the hashtag #DeadlineContenders.

Fallout star Walton Goggins, comedian Nikki Glaser, who broke out during The Roast of Tom Brady, Alan Cumming of The Traitors and Late Night’s Seth Meyers are among those confirmed for panel discussions, along with producers and directors including Jonathan Nolan, Francesca Sloane, Hiro Murai and Sarah Schechter.

The virtual event will give viewers and voters insight into how these stars and behind-the-scenes talent found out about their Emmy nomination, how...

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.

“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.”

Alexa Nikolas in ‘Quiet on Set’

Related: ‘Quiet On Set’: Dan Schneider, Others React To Investigation Discovery Docuseries

Added co-ep Emma Schwartz,...

On this Emmy nominations morning, 14 stars from Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series received recognition.

The nominated performers from the 2024 season include Jodie Foster, Robert Downey Jr., Quinta Brunson, Jennifer Aniston, Hannah Einbinder, Anna Sawai, Brie Larson, Andrew Scott, Naomi Watts, Jonathan Bailey, Tyler James Williams, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig and Elizabeth Debicki.

On “Actors on Actors,” these dazzling performers captivated viewers with their lively and heartfelt discussions, offering a glimpse into their remarkable journeys both on-screen and off.

Check out their full “Actors on Actors” conversations below.

Acting nominees Jodie Foster (nominated for outstanding lead actress in a limited series for “True Detective”) and Robert Downey Jr. (nominated for outstanding lead actor in a limited series for “The Sympathizer”) reminisced on “Actors on Actors” about working together for the film “Home for the Holidays” (which Foster directed). The duo also discussed Downey possibly revisiting “Iron Man” and Foster’s...

Variety’s 2024 TV FYC Fest was packed with back-to-back talent and the best storytellers in the biz. Hollywood insiders gathered at the 1 Hotel in Los Angeles to partake in several discussions with creators, executives and stars about the best of television this year. The curated list of the industry’s premiere talent included Dakota Fanning, Ricky Martin, Phaedra Parks, Kristen Wiig (who was honored with the Inaugural Mary Tyler Moore Visionary Award), and many more.

A few exciting panels included a conversation with CBS Chief George Cheeks on Paramount Global uncertainty and the future of Broadcast TV, a deep dive into the beloved reality TV series “Traitors,” a conversation about the 80th anniversary of D-Day with the “Masters of the Air” creators and a surprise “White Collar” reboot announcement.

Check out a few of the conversations below:

Supporting Actors Roundtable

As part of the Variety TV FYC Fest, Dakota Fanning...

“Girls5eva” deserves to be heard. Yes, the laugh-out-loud comedy, from the minds of Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, creator Meredith Scardino and others, is funny. The music industry is wickedly skewered. The music, led by Jeff Richmond, is clever and catchy.

But really, the heart of the show comes from its stars — Sara Bareilles, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Busy Philipps and Paula Pell — and the characters they play. These are women of a certain age who are rediscovering their voices and finally taking on their dreams, after years of settling for something less.

Variety‘s Awards Circuit Podcast recently spoke to Philipps and Pell about Season 3 of “Girls5eva,” what the show has meant to them and the special message that it resonates between the laughs. Listen below!

In “Girls5eva,” Bareilles is Dawn, who gave up dreams of fame to raise her family. Goldsberry’s character, Wickie, is the diva whose attempt at...

Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV was a bombshell documentary series which put the spotlight on the toxic and disturbing culture behind the scenes at Nickelodeon during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Particular focus was paid to Dan Schneider, the producer behind many of Nickelodeon’s biggest hits during that time, but he’s fighting back with a lawsuit against the producers of Quiet on Set.

While Dan Scheider has apologized for the behaviour that was depicted on Quiet on Set, he feels that the documentary series has destroyed his “legacy and reputation” by alleging that he was a sexual abuser. The documentary revealed that dialogue coach Brian Peck and former production assistant Jason Handy were child sexual abusers, with Peck serving 16 months in prison for sexually assaulting Drake Bell. While Scheider hasn’t been accused of any sexual abuse, he believes the documentary implies that...

Dan Schneider, the former creator and showrunner of Nickelodeon series “All That,” “iCarly,” and “Zoey 101,” is suing the producers of the hit documentary series “Quiet on Set.” IndieWire has obtained the lawsuit.

Schneider says his portrayal in the Investigation Discovery series, which peels the layers back on alleged child abuse — including, in some cases, sexual abuse — on Nickelodeon series of the era, is a “hit job” and that his reputation has been “destroyed” by the popularity of the series. The suit names Warner Bros. Discovery, Maxine Productions, Sony Pictures Television, and directors Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz.

“‘Quiet on Set’s’ portrayal of Schneider is a hit job,” the lawsuit from Schneider’s attorneys Jana Moser and Richard McKie reads. “While it is indisputable that two bona fide child sexual abusers worked on Nickelodeon shows, it is likewise indisputable that Schneider had no knowledge of their abuse, was not complicit in the abuse,...

Former children’s television producer Dan Schneider is suing the producers of ID’s Quiet on the Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV docuseries, calling the show a “hit job” that implied he was a sexual abuser of children.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by TVLine, states: “While it is indisputable that two bona fide child sexual abusers worked on Nickelodeon shows, it is likewise indisputable that Schneider had no knowledge of their abuse, was not complicit in the abuse, condemned the abuse once it was discovered and, critically, was not a child sexual abuser himself.

Embattled producer Dan Schneider is fighting back against Quiet on Set, Investigation Discovery’s explosive limited series that promised to delve into the toxic and dangerous culture behind some of the most iconic kids’ television shows of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, the lawsuit accuses Warner Bros, Maxine Productions, Sony Pictures and producers Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz of defamation. You can read the lawsuit here.

After the series dropped, Schneider apologized for his behavior that was depicted Quiet On Set and vowed to hold himself accountable for how he acted on his Nickelodeon shows. He taped a 19-minute interview that was posted on You Tube, in which he says “watching over the past few nights was very difficult. Me facing my past behaviors, some of which are embarrassing and I regret. I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology.

A few years ago, filmmakers Emma Schwartz and Mary Robertson remember taking note of video compilations from old Dan Schneider series that showed children and young teens “enacting scenes that are arguably sexual in nature.”

“One example you see Ariana Grande squeezing a potato, or Ariana Grande — who was then a young teenager — pouring water on her chest and face,” Robertson recalls during a panel at Deadline’s Contenders TV: Documentary + Unscripted event. “And you see Jamie Lynn Spears receiving this squirt of a viscous liquid on her face. And there were many on social media who were asking, ‘Did I grow up watching these clips?’ “

Their shock over what they found on social media, together with a story about ’90s kids TV in Business Insider, is what prompted the creation of Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV. The Investigation Discovery docuseries set out to uncover the...

The strikes are behind us, Emmy season is upon us, and it’s time to hear from the creatives and talent behind some of the TV season’s most talked-about nonfiction programs. Deadline’s daylong Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted virtual event will offer just that this weekend, giving awards-watchers a chance to kick back at home and take in the tales.

You can RSVP for Saturday’s livestream here.

Starting at 9 a.m. Pt Saturday, the fourth annual event features 20 panels with cast and creatives from series, specials and telefilms.

Here is what and who you can expect to see.

From ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

From Prime Video: Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story (Writer/Director...

Some participants of Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV are calling out producers of the docuseries for not being more transparent about the project being made for Investigation Discovery.

“I’m not too familiar with ID, but for the interview I sat down for, it was not an appropriate network for the show,” former The Amanda Show star Raquel Lee Bolleau said in an interview with IndieWire. “I had no clue it was on [ID] until one or two weeks before it aired.”

Fellow Nickelodeon star and former Zoey 101 cast member Alexa Nikolas echoed Lee Bolleau’s sentiment, saying, “I didn’t even know what ID was, honestly. When I looked it up, my first thought was our stories and the conversation that deserves to be had around them are way bigger than ID and deserve a more credible platform. A more serious one.”

The actresses say that...

Two “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” participants claim they did not know the docuseries was being made for Investigation Discovery, and said they would not have agreed to interviews if they did.

“I’m not too familiar with ID, but for the interview I sat down for, it was not an appropriate network for the show,” former “The Amanda Show” actress Raquel Lee Bolleau told IndieWire. “I had no clue it was on [ID] until one or two weeks before it aired.”

“I didn’t even know what ID was honestly,” ex-“Zoey 101” cast member Alexa Nikolas told IndieWire. “When I looked it up, my first thought was our stories and the conversation that deserves to be had around them are way bigger than ID and deserve a more credible platform. A more serious one.”

The remarks come on the heels of the former Nickelodeon actresses alleging...

Decades after Nickelodeon allegedly left dozens of child stars traumatized, Quiet on Set returns to haunt them with half-forgotten memories and long-buried scars. On the other hand, the docuseries brings to light a darker side of the entertainment industry that only scratches the surface of the public’s understanding of what goes on behind the curtains.

But despite the show’s well-placed intention, the documentation of children’s trauma does not sit well with some of the subjects of the series.

Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV [Credit: Investigation Discovery/Max]As Quiet on Set continues to send ripples of shock and disgust through the industry and fan circles alike, some of the stars have stepped forward to point out something allegedly equally problematic about the docuseries that has been so intent on exposing the evil warlocks of kids’ television for their crimes.

Quiet on Set Does Not Sit Well With...

Like most things in Hollywood, “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” began with a promise.

After years of whispered complaints about the sometimes-shady world of children’s entertainment, an investigative team set out to expose Dan Schneider’s Nickelodeon and the years of alleged abuse endured by the kids who worked there from 1994 to 2018. Others had tried to tell this story, but this time serious journalists planned to expose the industry’s seamy underbelly — documenting past wrongs, giving voice to victims, and charting tangible change.

Ex-kid actors and “Quiet on Set” subjects Raquel Lee Bolleau and Alexa Nikolas told IndieWire they were presented with a plan for an honest look at the issues and suffering borne out by their childhoods. Lee Bolleau (“The Amanda Show”) talked to the “Quiet on Set” producers about her passion for healing and protecting young performers still in the industry; Nikolas (“Zoey...

Raven-Symoné became a child entertainer at just 16 months old, starring in shows like the The Cosby Show at age 3, and leading Disney Channel classics like The Cheetah Girls and That’s So Raven as a teenager. As discussion around child labor laws escalate within entertainment, Raven, now 38, says she was unaware of sexual predators lurking on set and was never asked to take a sexual harassment course as a young entertainer.

“As long as the child comes to set, and they know their lines and they do their marks and there...

In a TikTok shared on Thursday, Nickelodeon’s Amanda Show alum Raquel Lee Bolleau, who was featured in Investigation Discovery’s docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of TV, says she was left disappointed by her experience with the docuseries about toxic sets at the kids TV network.

The doc’s directors, Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz, were recently joined by participants Drake Bell, Giovannie Samuels, Bryan Christopher Hearne and co-executive producer Kate Taylor, for a panel conversation for an Emmys FYC event, moderated by Scaachi Koul, that explored the impact of what has become a hit docuseries for ID and streamer Max. The five-part series outlined allegations of abuse, sexism, racism and inappropriate behavior involving underage stars and crewmembers on Nickelodeon TV show sets run by Dan Schneider.

“Do you think they invited me?” asked the former child star in her video, referencing the Los Angeles event.

Bolleau continued (watch,...

Here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings in Los Angeles and New York, including events for The Sympathizer, Fallout and Quiet on Set.

Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver screening

On April 5, Netflix hosted a fan screening in New York to celebrate the upcoming release of Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver with filmmakers Zack and Deborah Snyder and stars Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Michiel Huisman, Ed Skrein, Staz Nair, Fra Fee, Elise Duffy, Stuart Martin and Ray Fisher.

Wesley Coller, Stuart Martin, Ed Skrein, Staz Nair, Deborah Snyder, Eric Newman, Zack Snyder, Ray Fisher, Fra Fee, Djimon Hounsou, Elise Duffy, Sofia Boutella and Michiel Huisman

The Sympathizer premiere

Robert Downey Jr., Sandra Oh and Hoa Xuande walked the carpet at the Los Angeles premiere of their new HBO series on Tuesday.

Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey Sandra Oh, Hoa Xuande...

It’s rare when a documentary series makes as big a splash as that created by “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.” The five-part Investigation Discovery docuseries has been seen by an estimated audience of more than 20 million over ID and Max and generated a groundswell of chatter over its revelations about toxic children’s TV production environments – primarily at Nickelodeon in the early 2000s. The filmmakers responsible for the series that premiered on March 17 – executive producer-director Mary Robertson and co-exec producer-director Emma Schwartz – are thrilled at a reaction that they describe variously as “inspiring” and “overwhelming.”

Adds Schwartz: “I think one of the most exciting parts of that is really to see how many people are not just impacted by watching it, but want to take action or improve the environment in which these problems occur. Taking the work to a next level is something you would hope for.

Drake Bell, the “The Amanda Show” and “Drake & Josh” star who speaks out publicly for the first time about the sexual abuse he endured from Brian Peck (who worked as a dialogue coach on Nickelodeon’s “Amanda Show” and “All That”) in the Investigation Discovery and Max series “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” told a packed FYC screening and panel event Tuesday night at the Saban Media Center in North Hollywood that the overwhelming response to the five-part docuseries that premiered March 17 is what he feels “should have happened years ago.”

Watch the full panel discussion above.

Flanked on the panel (moderated by culture writer and author Scaachi Koul) by filmmakers Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz as well as senior correspondent Kate Taylor of Business Insider and fellow onetime Nickelodeon child actors Giovannie Samuels and Bryan Hearne (who were regulars on the kids comedy-variety series...

The response to ID’s docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV has been overwhelming to say the least, the project’s co-directors and executive producers Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz said at an Emmys FYC screening and panel in Los Angeles Tuesday evening. It’s also brought into focus another industry where there’s a “clear lack of protection” when it comes to children, Schwartz said: social media.

“One thing that we’ve had conversations about as a result of this is that, if you look at where children’s entertainment, so to speak, is today, it’s not just in studios or in networks, it’s on social media,” said the filmmaker. “That is a universe where there’s almost no oversight as to what’s happening inside people’s homes, on these screens, and what’s happening to protect those kids as well, and...

While speaking at the For Your Consideration Panel for “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” Drake Bell shared that those who wrote letters of support for his abuser, Brian Peck, included “Drake and Josh” crew members, such as his “favorite director” whom he “requested” for the Nickelodeon sitcom and a woman whom he “worked with every day for four years” who was “basically his boss.”

Bell, who was revealed to be the John Doe victim in Peck’s 2004 conviction in Episode 2 of “Quiet on Set,” took the stage at the Saban Media Center in Los Angeles Tuesday night to discuss his journey around the tell-all docuseries. He was joined by fellow contributors Giovonnie Samuels, Bryan Hearne, Kate Taylor and “Quiet on Set” co-directors Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz.

When initially approached to share his story on “Quiet on Set,” Bell was “totally going to ignore” the offer.

Drake Bell reflected on the response to Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV during an Emmys event in Los Angeles yesterday, saying that he feels like he’s “in the fire right now.”

“Having to tell this sensitive of a story, something I held inside for so many years,” the actor said, according to Deadline. “I’m still reeling from the idea of bearing my soul to the world… Hollywood is a beautiful place, full of fantasy and imagination and fun. But it’s also a completely dark cesspool of disgusting waste.

If there was an upside to doing Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, Drake Bell said it would be the strangers who have approached him with gratitude before sharing their own sad tales of abuse.

But Bell, who participated in an FYC event Tuesday for the Investigation Discovery series, also talked about the sense of conflict he’s been feeling ever since he agreed to expose some of the darkest parts of his childhood in the four-part docuseries. In Quiet on Set, the former Drake & Josh star revealed he was abused by Brian Peck who worked as a dialogue coach on Nickelodeon’s All That and The Amanda Show.

“I’m in the fire right now,” Bell told the audience at the Saban Media Center in North Hollywood. “Having to tell this sensitive of a story, something I held inside for so many years … I’m still...

On Sunday, Investigation Discovery aired a bonus episode of Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, the fifth following its four-part series, titled “Breaking the Silence.”

One of the subjects in the new episode is Raquel Lee Bolleau. As a Season One regular on The Amanda Show, a comedy sketch show starring Amanda Bynes, Bolleau fondly remembers making on-set Slurpees, signing autographs, and celebrating her 13th birthday. But beyond the glamor of preteen stardom, Bolleau tells Rolling Stone she felt ignored by the show’s creator Dan Schneider.

The Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV directors plan to continue to investigate kids entertainment in Hollywood, even after dropping their latest bonus episode on Sunday with Quiet on Set: Breaking The Silence.

“We’re hearing calls for federal legislation,” series co-director Mary Robertson tells The Hollywood Reporter when talking about next steps. “At the moment there is no federal legislation that governs children who work in entertainment, or that regulates children working in entertainment.”

The bonus episode, hosted by Soledad O’Brien, delves deeper into the claims surrounding Dan Schneider and the Nickelodeon series he created and ran. The formerly prolific kids TV producer has faced allegations of abuse, sexism, racism and inappropriate behavior involving underage stars and crewmembers on his shows since the release of the two-part docuseries on March 17 and 18. (He responded with a 19-minute apology video.)

The added installment also featured Drake Bell returning...

Directed by Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV brought out the ugly side of kids’ television during the ’90s and ’00s to light. In the five-part docuseries, Drake Bell, who rose to prominence following the success of Nickelodeon’s Drake & Josh, shed light on his s-xual trauma, suffered at the hands of convicted s-x offender Brian Peck.

Bell also spoke at length about the actors who signed in support of Peck during the 2004 trial, which included Cabin Fever star Rider Strong. But with the actor finally moving past this traumatic experience, he took to X to share that he has made peace with the actor.

Brian Peck Forgives Rider Strong for His Support Letter for Brian Peck

Drake Bell on Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV

Almost two decades after the conviction of Brian Peck, the 41 letters that were...

This post contains details from the first four episodes of ID’s documentary series Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.

A little over a year and a half ago, producers Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz began to have some questions about kids television. More specifically, about the heyday of Nickelodeon.

“Emma and I had noticed…compilations of clips that were made on sets that Dan Schneider presided over, and these compilations were making their way around social media. They included clips of material that is arguably sexual in nature,” Robertson told Deadline. “If this arguably sexual content was being created on sets featuring child actors, for children to absorb, what else was possibly happening? What could this portend or signal about what was really happening behind the scenes?”

Eventually, those questions would evolve into something much more as the two women took a deep dive into what...

Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV co-directors Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz have denied Marc Summers’ claim that he was “ambushed” into appearing on the Investigation Discovery docuseries.

“We are clear with each participant about the nature of our projects,” the helmers said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter on Friday.

Their response comes shortly after the former Double Dare host appeared on The Elvis Duran Show, where he alleged that the directors did not disclose the nature of the feature, which launched March 17 and 18 to big viewership, when asking him to appear.

“I got called by these folks saying they wanted to do a documentary on Nickelodeon and so I said sure,” he explained.

Summers said that, while being interviewed for what has become a hit docuseries, he made positive comments about his time on the network, but claimed the Quiet on Set directors “did...

The filmmakers behind docuseries “Quiet on Set” are not staying quiet when it comes to allegations of misleading interviewees.

After former Nickelodeon game show host Marc Summers claimed “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” directors Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz were “unethical” in their interview approach and allegedly misled him as to what the docuseries was really about, the filmmaking duo on Friday issued a statement to IndieWire.

“We are clear with each participant about the nature of our projects,” Robertson and Schwartz said.

Summers appears in the first episode of “Quiet on Set” and discusses hosting the game show “Double Dare” at Nickelodeon from 1986 to 1993. The show ended before Nickelodeon sitcom showrunner Dan Schneider joined the network. Schneider has been accused of toxic workplace behavior and mistreatment of child actors.

During an appearance on “Elvis Duran and the Morning Show,” Summers claimed that he did not...

Updated with statement from Quiet on Set directors: Marc Summers, former host of Nickelodeon’s Double Dare, is sharing an experience he had during an interview for ID’s Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Children’s TV docuseries. During an interview on Elvis Duran and the Morning Show, Summers told the hosts he agreed to do an interview about Nickelodeon, but was not told that it involved a docuseries that was set to uncover the toxic culture behind children’s shows at the network in the late 1990s and 2000s.

“They asked me what I thought of Nick, and the first 10 to 12 seconds, from what I understand, in this documentary is me saying all these wonderful things. But they did a bait and switch on me,” Summers said in a preview of the interview, set to air on Friday. “They ambushed me. They never told me what this documentary was really about.

One of the most harrowing things to come out in a while is ID’s documentary series Quiet On Set, which reveals the troubling history behind the kids’ TV network Nickelodeon’s most popular programming from the 90s and 2000s. Specifically, the series investigates what was happening on the set of various shows produced by the network’s golden boy, Dan Schneider. Among the revelations is that a P. A on the set of his shows was a pedophile, and one of the network’s biggest stars, Drake Bell, was molested by his acting coach, Brian Peck, who also acted in many of the shows. To note, Schneider has not been accused of any sexual abuse himself, and Bell actually praised him in the documentary.

While the four-episode series seemed to be at an end (you can read our review here), a bonus episode revealing new information that’s come...

With ID’s Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV becoming an overnight ratings hit for Investigation Discovery and Max, attention has now turned to a forthcoming fifth episode of the docuseries that promises to dig deeper into the toxic allegations swirling around Dan Schneider’s years at Nickelodeon.

On Thursday, Turner Networks, ID & Hln, linear and streaming president Jason Sarlanis told The Hollywood Reporter the original four-part series, which released March 17 and 18, far exceeded expectations and prompted the network to mobilize and greenlight the bonus episode to air only weeks later.

“We first started talking to [co-directors] Mary [Robertson] and Emma [Schwartz] about [extending the series] right after the trailer dropped,” Sarlanis recalled of the Feb. 8 first look, which featured clips of child stars coming forward with claims of abuse and sexism surrounding iconic kids TV shows of the late 1990s and early 2000s on Nickelodeon.

The bonus episode, titled Breaking the Silence,...

When Drake Bell broke his silence about the sexual abuse meted out to him while he was shooting the iconic (and much loved) Nickelodeon show, Drake & Josh, the internet lost its semblance. No one could believe that even their favorite character had to go through abuse while working on a show meant for kids. People were left devastated, including screenwriter and television producer Dan Schneider, who couldn’t hold back his tears while discussing how something like this transpired under his watch.

How some Nickelodeon shows were hell for certain kid stars

Various actors and cast members share their harrowing tales on the ID docuseries

Drake Bell made the revelation in the Investigation Discovery series, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV. The docuseries features incidents wherein former child actors and other cast members share their encounters with sexual abuse and misconduct back on set.

The series witnesses...

The horrifying new Investigation Discovery docuseries "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV" will release an additional episode in early April, according to Variety. The series' first four episodes dropped on ID and Max less than two weeks ago, but have already been viewed by an audience of 16 million people, per the outlet. They've also inspired countless tough conversations about their dark subject matter -- the abuse and mistreatment of multiple child stars and crew members behind the scenes during the heyday of Nickelodeon.

"Quiet on Set" includes interviews with former Nick stars and others who witnessed the reportedly toxic work environments on Nickelodeon shows dating back to the network's early days. Prolific producer Dan Schneider (who was an unnamed but sinister figure in Jennette McCurdy's 2022 memoir "I'm Glad My Mom Died") is at the center of the show's conversations about sexism and mistreatment. Meanwhile, one shocking...

A fifth episode of the Nickelodeon documentary Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV will air in April. Here are the details.

Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV has now aired in the US and on Monday it was made available in the UK, streaming on Discovery Plus.

The four part-documentary detailed various allegations of abuse and bullying in a toxic work environment, from writers of The Amanda Show and former child stars who appeared on various Nickelodeon shows. Much of the documentary was dedicated to examining the work of Dan Schneider, whose shows included Zoey 101, iCarly and Victorious – iCarly star Jennette McCurdy published her memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died in 2022, in which she detailed instances of abuse attributed to a figure she called The Creator.

The biggest and most disturbing revelation was the participation of Drake And Josh star Drake Bell, who...

If ID’s “Quiet on Set” is making more noise than usual on your timeline today, it’s because Investigation Discovery has ordered a fifth episode. The new installment, titled “Breaking the Silence,” will again “feature former Nickelodeon child stars from the early 2000s,” again including Drake Bell.

“Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” examined the “toxic and dangerous culture behind some of the most iconic children’s television shows of the late 1990s and early 2000s,” and included allegations of abuse, sexism and racism. The series, which is available to stream on Max, exploded on the internet.

Bell has already participated on the series as it was original conceived and produced, as did “All That” cast members Giovonnie Samuels and Bryan Hearne (as well as Hearne’s mother). They’ll all be joined in the follow-up episode by another “All That” cast member, Shane Lyons.

Soledad O’Brien...

Investigation Discovery has given the green light to a fifth episode of the docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.

The episode, titled “Breaking the Silence,” will delve deeper into the toxic and dangerous culture behind some of the most iconic children’s television shows of the late 1990s and early 2000s, including allegations of abuse, sexism, and racism.

Premiering Sunday, April 7 at 8/7c on ID, “Breaking the Silence” will feature former Nickelodeon child stars from the early 2000s, including Drake Bell.

Some reunite for the first time to share their reactions to Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, which has been watched by more than 16 million viewers, continues to bring in new viewers across ID and Max/discovery+, and has the largest audience of an unscripted series since the launch of Max.

Building off the revelations explored in the first four episodes, award-winning...