Variety and Rolling Stone Announce Digital Content Hub for Third Annual Truth Seekers Summit, Presented by Showtime
Variety and Rolling Stone have launched a digital content hub for the Truth Seekers Summit, presented by Showtime, featuring reporting that digs underneath the surface to reveal what’s hidden, what happened and what might come next. The hub, which features stories on documentaries of all genres by both outlets, will continue to update throughout the summit, which will take place in New York City and virtually on August 2, 2023.
Currently in the content hub is an interview with Sam Pollard, the documentary filmmaker of “The League”, who spoke with Variety about his film dedicated to baseball, America and race. Also featured in the hub is the story of Grady Kurpasi, reported by Rolling Stone, a 50-year-old Marine who gave up everything when Russia invaded Ukraine to fight with the Ukrainian National Legion, only to disappear while he was there.
Along with the Pollard and Kurpasi pieces, there’s a report about Danny Elfman’s $830,000 sexual-harassment allegation settlement, a deep-dive on the war between Israel and Palestine and a story on David Bunevacz, the decathlete-turned-grifter who conned Los Angeles.
Additional content details pilgrimages to a psychedelic temple, AVOD as a solution for struggling indie doc makers, how documentary filmmakers are dealing with tight budgets and the story behind the pandemic relief bailout.
Variety and Rolling Stone also announced two final additions to Truth Seekers Summit agenda presented by Showtime — a conversation with Laverne Cox and a keynote with Sacha Jenkins.
Other summit programming includes:
The Art of Investigative Storytelling panel, which will take a look at the creative minds behind breakout investigative and true crime storytelling. The panel will feature Tracy Pattin, Co-Producer & Host, “Hollywood and Crime”; Shannon Evangelista, Executive Producer, “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace”; Sarah Amos, VP, Development & Production (Non-Fiction TV, Documentaries), Condé Nast Entertainment and Executive Producer, “The Secrets of Hillsong”; and Mike Gasparro, Executive Producer, “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets” and “Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal.”
The Documentary Filmmaker Roundtable which explores creative trends in the field with participants R.J. Cutler, Roger Ross Williams, Liz Garbus, Dan Cogan, Sam Pollard and Lisa Cortés.
The summit will also host a conversation led by Dr. Orna Guralnik, clinical psychologist featured on the groundbreaking show Couples Therapy.
Keynote speakers include “The Daily Show” correspondent and guest host Roy Wood Jr. and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. Maddow will be honored with the 2023 Variety and Rolling Stone Truth Seekers Award, recognizing her extensive accomplishments in journalism, followed by a Q&A about her experience in the news industry.
Dawn Porter will speak about her upcoming Showtime documentary series “Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court,” which traces the modern history of the highest judiciary in the country and examines the people, decisions and confirmation battles that have shaped the Court into what it is today.
Noah Shachtman, editor-in-chief of Rolling Stone, will moderate a Washington political roundtable featuring Laura Barrón-López, Washington Correspondent, PBS NewsHour; Mary Bruce, Chief Washington Correspondent, ABC News; Mehdi Hasan, Host, “The Mehdi Hasan Show” and Political Analyst, MSNBC; and Robert Costa, Chief Campaign and Election Correspondent, CBS News.
Registration for the live stream is free but required for access. You can register here.
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