SundanceTV to Explore Jonestown Massacre & Other True Crimes

SundanceTV has greenlit three new true-crime docuseries, including The Road to Jonestown (working title) from executive producers Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson of Appian Way.

The Road to Jonestown is based on the best-selling book by investigative journalist Jeff Guinn. Guinn and Stephen David of Stephen David Entertainment (The Men Who Built America, Making of the Mob) are working on the project as well. It will air timed to the 40th anniversary of the massacre this November.

Ministry of Evil: The Twisted Cult of Tony Alamo chronicles the life and crimes of Tony Alamo, who, with his wife, Susan Alamo, became a born-again, fire-and-brimstone televangelist. The pair launched The Tony and Susan Alamo Christian Foundation in 1969, which soon evolved into a cult that is said to still operate today. The series will explore the cultural consequences of the Alamo empire and feature rarely seen archival footage, including an exclusive videotaped deposition with Alamo himself. It is executive produced by World of Wonder co-founders Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato (Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures, Inside Deep Throat) and Elizabeth Fischer and Leslie Mattingly of Peacock Productions.

SundanceTV is in pre-production on The Preppie Murder (working title), a multi-part docuseries that reexamines the murder of Jennifer Levin in Central Park in 1986. The series is produced by Bungalow Media + Entertainment with executive producer Robert Friedman. The original prosecutor in the case, Linda Fairstein, is also working on the project.

“Our smart and thoughtful explorations of true crime have been enormously popular with viewers of both the SundanceTV linear network and our Sundance Now streaming service, starting with the Peabody Award-winning documentary series The Staircase, and, most recently, Joe Berlinger’s critically acclaimed Cold Blooded: The Clutter Family Murders,” said Jan Diedrichsen, the general manager of SundanceTV and Sundance Now. “Continuing to leverage our success with this kind of content makes sense and is organic to the brand. We are excited to expand our partnerships with top-tier talent to provide an in-depth exploration of the motives and cultural consequences of some of the most notorious crimes in recent American history.”