Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV may have exposed the ugly underbelly of ’90s kids TV, but good things have come from the documentary series that’s up for Best Documentary at this year’s Emmy Awards.
In Deadline’s conversation with the executive producers and participants of the Investigation Discovery project during Contenders Television: The Nominees, former All That cast member Bryan Hearne says he feels like there is a “100 percent chance” that positive change will follow now that executive producers Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz have shined a light on this dark period.
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The docuseries, which is also vying for an Emmy in Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program, set out to uncover the toxic and dangerous culture on the sets of Dan Schneider’s Nickelodeon children’s shows in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
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“Both of us have been kind of active,” added Giovonnie Samuels, who starred in Nickelodeon’s All That with Hearne and participated in the docuseries. “There’s a looking ahead program that is affiliated with SAG that speaks to this very issue, and I’m going to continue to shout from the rooftops in any way possible. Bryan’s nonprofit has been helping people and making sure that they know and understand. I’m actually in the process of turning my acting workshops into a nonprofit so that I can help more people and get it out there. We were talking to Congress and trying to make this a federal law so that everybody is covered and protected.”
And what would a federal law look like should it be passed?
“Well, if child predators aren’t allowed to be at school, then they shouldn’t allowed to be on set, period,” said Samuels. In the docuseries, former child star Drake Bell addresses the physical abuse by former voice coach Brian Peck. “It’s not about making it complicated. Sometimes laws just need to be simple or have common sense [for kids] to be protected.”
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In the docuseries, writers Jenny Kilgen and Christy Stratton expose allegations of a toxic and sexist environment in The Amanda Show writers room. Alexa Nikolas offers insight into being a part of Zoey 101. The docuseries also features additional cast and crew from iCarly, Sam & Cat, Victorious, and Marc Summers from the popular game show Double Dare. Quiet on Set also includes emotional testimony from parents of cast members who attempted to advocate for their children on these sets.
Quiet on Set became the most streamed program in the history of Max, with its first four episodes racking up 1.25 billion minutes of viewing time between March 18-24 alone. Robertson and Schwartz said the production made it a priority for participants to feel they could recount their experience in whatever way felt right for them.
Check out the panel video above.