They don’t call the scammer who fooled hundreds of entertainment gig workers out of their money, time, and dreams the “Hollywood Con Queen” for nothing. Filmmaker Chris Smith’s three-part docuseries starts streaming May 8 on Apple TV+ and aims to flesh out the staggering impact of an anonymous fraudster who preyed on hundreds of industry hopefuls from across the globe.
The criminal mastermind — whose identity you can Google but is the linchpin dramatic question in the forthcoming true crime project — posed as various major players from across development. Pretending to be everyone from Amy Pascal to Deborah Snyder to Kathleen Kennedy, the mysterious female voice dangled the promise of life-changing career opportunities in Southeast Asia before exploiting the unlucky creatives who actually tried to take them.
Based on the original reporting of “The Hollywood Reporter” journalist Scott Johnson and his book for Harper Collins (“Hollywood Con Queen: The Hunt for an Evil Genius”), the true crime project examines how an international con artist was able to convince dozens of actors, writers, makeup artists, assistants, and more to fly all way to Indonesia for productions that didn’t exist.
“She wanted to get inside the minds and dreams of people and twist them and destroy them,” Johnson says in the first “Hollywood Con Queen” trailer, which suggest myriad forms of exploitation. “It wasn’t really about the money. It was about something else.”
Known for Hulu’s “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened,” Smith has broken up the epic story of dashed dreams into three episodes. Episode 1 “Crazy, Mad, Crazy, Genius” lays out for audiences exactly how the scam worked with Johnson and private investigator Nicole Kotsianas, who also worked on the case, explaining. Episode 2 “A Different Animal” sees the pair’s international inquiry gain traction before Episode 3 aptly titled “Thank You for the Story” reveals the fraudster and victims’ fates.
“Hollywood Con Queen” hits streaming on Apple TV+ May 8. Check out the trailer below.
