NBCUniversal streaming service Peacock has unveiled Blue Ant Studios’ documentary special Prince Andrew: Banished as part of its first-ever DocFest.
Jamie Crawford directed the 90-minute doc and also serves as an executive producer alongside Jennifer Harkness, Laura Michalchyshyn, Sam Sniderman, Nina Burleigh, Emma Cooper, and Barbara Shearer. Nick McKinney serves as senior producer, and Frank Ombres is the producer. Blue Ant International is the global distributor.
The title was commissioned by Peacock and is one of six original documentaries to take part in DocFest, a six-week virtual showcase on the U.S. streamer, which runs from Sept. 14 to Oct. 19. Prince Andrew: Banished is set for release on Oct. 5.
Prince Andrew: Banished reveals the Duke of York’s connections to the convicted sex offenders, the late Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. It follows Shearer’s three-part documentary Epstein’s Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell produced by Blue Ant Studios in collaboration with the U.K.’s Sky and Peacock, which investigates Maxwell’s life and her relationship with Epstein.
Harkness, Blue Ant Studio’s SVP of unscripted development and production, and Laura Michalchyshyn, chief creative officer and co-president of Blue Ant Studios, said in a joint statement that the producing team became interested in “Prince Andrew’s story when we were deep into research for our documentary series on Ghislaine Maxwell,” adding that “it became evident that there was a lot more to explore there. Our goal with this documentary is to investigate the underlying question: how did someone born into a life of such extreme privilege end up in this precarious place?”
Blue Ant Studios has recently produced documentaries such as CBC and Starz’s Evil by Design: Exposing Peter Nygård, directed by Deborah Wainwright; and The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks for Prime Video, directed by Reg Harkema. The Blue Ant Media-owned production arm is also set to produce the upcoming Canada’s Drag Race: Canada Vs. the World for Bell Media’s Crave.
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