Hollywood Con Queen trailer lays out scammer’s lusts

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Hollywood Con Queen trailer
The documentary's trailer does, indeed, make it look like a shocking scam.
Photo: Apple TV+

A juicy and lurid new documentary crime series is coming to Apple TV+ soon with Hollywood Con Queen, judging by the fast-paced trailer the streamer dropped for it Thursday. It “explores the shocking story behind one of Hollywood’s biggest scams.”

The three-part docuseries premieres May 8 on Apple TV+.

Hollywood Con Queen trailer documents one of Hollywood’s weirdest scams

“Do I deserve to be locked up for life?” asks a female voiceover at the start of the Hollywood Con Queen trailer. “That’s not fair. Because I may just be the nicest criminal you’d ever know.”

But after seeing the rest of the trailer, “nice” is not a word that seems right to describe the mysterious scammer. Impersonating powerful industry women, they lured hundreds of Hollywood creatives thousands of miles from home. There the dupes found themselves stipped of money and much more. It seemed the scammer wanted to assume power over people and destroy their lives, almost like a cult leader.

Here’s how Apple TV+ describes the documentary series:

A mysterious figure dubbed the ‘Con Queen’ impersonates the industry’s most powerful women, luring unsuspecting victims to Indonesia with the promise of a life-changing career opportunity. The ‘Con Queen’s’ marks exhaust their personal finances in pursuit of a big break, while being exploited in a perverse psychological game spanning the globe.

The scam eventually draws the attention of veteran investigative journalist Scott Johnson of The Hollywood Reporter, and dedicated private investigator Nicole Kotsianas, who set out to find the truth only to discover a story more strange than they could have imagined.

The trailer features the hallmarks of a lurid crime documentary that might just be gripping rather than cheesy. It leaves you with the right questions. Who on earth is the scammer(s)? How could people let this happen? Is justice being done? And along the way, you can spot mainstream coverage of the tale as it happened, like All Things Considered host Mary Louise Kelly‘s voice from an NPR story on it.

Hollywood Con Queen comes from Emmy winner Chris Smith and Library Films. That team also created Tiger King, 100 Foot Wave, Fyre, Bad Vegan, Operation Varsity Blues and more.

Watch the Hollywood Con Queen trailer

Watch documentaries on Apple TV+

You can watch all three episodes of Hollywood Con Queen when they debut on Apple TV+ May 8. And the streamer boasts many other documentaries, too.

The service is available by subscription for $9.99 with a seven-day free trial. You can also get it via any tier of the Apple One subscription bundle. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod touch can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.

After launching in November 2019, “Apple TV+ became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries and series have been honored with 471 wins and 2,090 award nominations and counting,” the service said.

In addition to award-winning movies and TV shows (including breakout soccer comedy Ted Lasso), Apple TV+ offers a variety of documentaries, dramas, comedies, kids shows and more.

Watch on Apple TV

Source: Apple TV+

 

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