From sex scandals to cold-blooded murder, Vanity Fair has covered the most fascinating crime dramas of our age - stories at the cross section of power, wealth, and celebrity. Investigation Discovery (ID) will partner exclusively with Condé Nast Entertainment and True Entertainment to bring Vanity Fair's compelling thrillers to viewers in the all-new series VANITY FAIR CONFIDENTIAL, set to debut this winter. Vanity Fair opens up its vault, offering unprecedented access to the magazine's writers and editors who have uncovered the truth behind some of the world's most compelling scandals.
"Vanity Fair is a cultural filter that brings a sophisticated and refined sensibility to the most sensational stories," said Henry Schleiff, Group President of Investigation Discovery, American Heroes Channel, Destination America, and Discovery Fit & Health. "Vanity Fair's storytelling is unparalleled, attracting the most influential and important audiences from around the world. Indeed, there is something about the devious deeds of the rich and powerful that keeps all of us transfixed, so we are particularly delighted to bring what fascinates readers, monthly, in Vanity Fair to our viewers, weekly, on ID."
Each hour-long episode of VANITY FAIR CONFIDENTIAL features a great mystery from the pages of the magazine. Vanity Fair writers give viewers exclusive insight into each story, interlaced with first-person accounts from those involved in the case - from law enforcement to family members and friends of the victims.
Stories in the first season will include:
· PRISONER OF DENVER by Mark Seal Twenty-one-year-old Lisl Auman is a self-proclaimed hippie with a knack for mixing with the wrong people at the wrong place and time. In the summer of 1997, Auman is charged with the felony murder of Denver police officer Bruce VanderJagt, despite being locked in the back of a police patroller when the deadly shots were fired. Pleading her innocence, Auman writes to author Hunter S. Thompson and several politicians in a last-ditch effort to make an appeal yet fails to receive any responses or aid. Auman is devastated and hopeless until one day when Hunter S. Thompson responds. Using his vast influence to organize the Free Lisl campaign, Thompson starts working with Vanity Fair contributing editor Mark Seal to uncover what really happened that fatal day. Was Auman as innocent as Thompson believes? How could someone be convicted of murder if they never touched the weapon? And who is really responsible for the death of Officer VanderJagt?
· DON'T ASK, DON'T KILL by Buzz Bissinger At 2 a.m. on July 5, 1999, Private First Class Barry Winchell is murdered. His parents are told he's been kicked in the head by a steel-toed boot, while his girlfriend, Calpernia Addams, hears on the news that he was in a brutal fight. Addams, a pre-operative transsexual, fears she was to blame for Winchell's killing. Only two men know what really happened in the beer-soaked barracks that deadly night. One of them is released from prison; the other is ready to tell the awful truth about the jealousy, homophobia, and manipulation that led to the death of the well-liked PFC.
· THE LADY VANISHES by Mimi Swartz Madalyn Murray O'Hair is deemed one of the most hated women in all of
America for being responsible for banning school prayer. When O'Hair, her son, Jon, and her granddaughter, Robin, suddenly vanish, some people believe they've been killed by religious fanatics. Others are convinced she's embezzled money from American Atheists, the organization she founded, and has started a new life abroad. Her eldest son, William J. Murray, and family friend, Phil Donahue, are concerned and start the manhunt to find the Murray O'Hairs, which Vanity Fair writer Mimi Swartz quickly joins. Did the Murray O'Hairs flee to Europe with embezzled money? Were religious extremists responsible for their disappearance? The truth of the family's whereabouts is something that no one could have predicted.
VANITY FAIR CONFIDENTIAL is a co-production between Investigation Discovery, Condé Nast Entertainment and True Entertainment. For ID, Pamela Deutsch is senior executive producer, Sara Kozak is senior
Vice president of production, Kevin Bennett is general manager, and Henry Schleiff is Group President of Investigation Discovery, Destination America, American Heroes Channel, and Discovery Fit & Health. For Condé Nast Entertainment, Michael Klein and Dawn Ostroff are executive producers; and Dana Brown is deputy editor for Vanity Fair. For True Entertainment, Glenda Hersh, Steven Weinstock, and Stephanya Bareham are executive producers.
About Condé Nast Entertainment (CNé)
Condé Nast creates the world's best content for the world's most influential audiences. The company attracts more than 95 million consumers across its twenty industry-leading print and digital media brands: Vogue, Vanity Fair, Glamour, Brides, Self, GQ, The New Yorker, Condé Nast Traveler, Details, Allure, Architectural Digest, Bon Appétit, Epicurious, Wired, W, Lucky, Golf Digest, Golf World, Teen Vogue and Ars Technica.
The company launched Condé Nast Entertainment in 2011 to develop film, television and digital video programming. Condé Nast also owns Fairchild Fashion Media (FFM) and its portfolio of comprehensive fashion journalism brands: WWD, Style.com, Footwear News, NowManifest, Beauty Inc., M and Fairchild Summits.
About True Entertainment
True Entertainment was founded in 2000 by Emmy Award winning producers Steven Weinstock and Glenda Hersh and is a subsidiary of Endemol, the largest television producer in the world. Focusing on documentary and alternative programming, True Entertainment uses powerful storytelling to bring real stories about real people to television audiences around the world. True Entertainment's recent credits include the mega-hit "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" for Bravo, "Season 25: Oprah Behind the Scenes" for OWN, the baby animal juggernaut "Too Cute" for Animal Planet, and the bro-tastic docuseries "Lucky Bastards" for Esquire. Upcoming projects include the hilarious and fascinating "Going Deep With David Rees" for National Geographic, stories told as only Vanity Fair can in the new "Vanity Fair Confidential" for Discovery ID, and the world's first comedic zombie-centric docuseries - "Town of the Living Dead" for Syfy.
About Investigation Discovery
Investigation Discovery (ID) is the leading mystery-and-suspense network on television and America's favorite "guilty pleasure." From harrowing crimes and salacious scandals to the in-depth investigations and heart-breaking mysteries that result, ID challenges our everyday understanding of culture, society and the human condition. ID delivers the highest-quality programming to more than 84 million U.S. households with viewer favorites that include On the Case with Paula Zahn; Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda;
Who The (Bleep) Did I Marry?; Disappeared; Stalked: Someone's Watching; and Redrum. For more information, please visit InvestigationDiscovery.com, facebook.com/InvestigationDiscovery, or twitter.com/DiscoveryID.
Investigation Discovery is part of Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the world's #1 nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.8 billion cumulative subscribers in 218 countries and territories.
