As plea deals continue in the alleged NXIVM sex cult case, HBO is planning a documentary on the purported self-help group that was taken down by federal prosecutors last year.
HBO announced Thursday that production has started on a documentary series on the Albany-area cult from Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning directors Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer.
The team said it has followed a range of people who joined NXIVM, which billed itself as a self-improvement group but allegedly ran for years as a cult treating women as sex slaves.
“The series will take a deep, nuanced look at the experiences of its members, spotlighting their universal desire for personal growth, as it seeks to reveal the issues behind the headlines and explore the emotional toll of unfolding events on these individuals,” HBO said.
HBO is developing the series “amidst claims by NXIVM participants of both profound transformation and devastating abuse,” the network said in a press release.
The series comes as the cases against NXIVM leaders are working their way through the courts.
Actress Allison Mack leaves Brooklyn federal court Monday, April 8, 2019, in New York. Mack pleaded guilty to racketeering charges on Monday in a case involving a cult-like group based in upstate New York. The trial is expected to detail sensational allegations that the group, called NXIVM, recruited sex slaves for its spiritual leader, Keith Raniere. (Photo: Mark Lennihan, AP)
Actress Allison Mack pleaded guilty April 8 to federal racketeering charges for her involvement in the cult.
Nancy Salzman, a NXIVM co-founder and president, pleaded guilty last month to racketeering conspiracy, confessing to stealing email addresses and passwords of NXIVM critics and altering a tape used in a lawsuit.
Her daughter, Lauren Salzman, has also pleaded guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy last month.
The trial for NXIVM’s leader Keith Raniere, who attended high school in Suffern, Rockland County, is set for next month.
Two other defendants also face trial: Seagram’s liquor heiress Clare Bronfman, who was a major NXIVM funder, and Kathy Russell, a NXIVM bookkeeper.
Raniere built up NXIVM by teaching expensive self-help classes that he devised.
But the group devolved into a cult, prosecutors say, where women, some of whom were branded with a logo containing Raniere’s initials, were presented to him for sex.
Prosecutors detailed a scheme where women were forced to give up so-called collateral – such as nude photos and statements of family secrets – and the group’s leaders threatened to release the information if they didn’t stay in line.
HBO said Noujaim’s interest in NXIVM started in 2010 when she took its introductory “Executive Success Program” workshop, “providing an illuminating perspective to the media spectacle surrounding this polarized community as it faces federal investigation.”
Source: Read Full Article