Sundance Enters Podcast Business, Scripted Crime Series ‘Exeter’ Will Debut This Fall
For the first time, Sundance Now — AMC Network’s video streaming on-demand service — is putting together a podcast, says The Wrap. The podcast series will be scripted, starring American actress, Jeanne Tripplehorn, from Criminal Minds and Big Love, alongside writer, actor, and director, Ray McKinnon, who is perhaps most well known for his work on Sons of Anarchy.
Exeter, as the podcast show will be titled, has a plot line that will follow fictional detective, Colleen Clayton — played by Tripplehorn — while she pores over the notably decade-old wrongful conviction of a woman sent away to prison. Clayton’s partner, Lester, will be played by McKinnon. The pair will be at odds with each other, as Clayton will go up against not only her partner, but the entire department when she challenged the case’s prior decision once a slew of ritualistic murders start turning up in her South Carolina town.
The general manager of Sundance Now, Jan Diedrichsen, recently spoke to reporters about the series, giving her statement about the company’s excitement.
“Sundance Now could not be more excited to be entering the scripted podcast space with such a riveting story, brilliantly brought to life by two outstanding actors — the indomitable Jeanne Tripplehorn and Ray McKinnon, whom we are thrilled to have back in the Sundance fold.”
According to reports, Exeter will be a six-episode series. Ronnie Gunter is the creator, writer, and director, and the podcast will be produced by Insurrection Media. The series is set to debut this on Sundance Now this September. Director and actor, Ronnie Gunter, has previously directed the movie Lighter.
Dynamic captioning will be a big part of this podcast, or as the Wrap is calling it, “kinetic typography.” AMC claims this is the first time “kinetic typography” has been used for a scripted podcast. An example of the upcoming crime series podcast, Exeter can be listened observed on the Wrap.
Convince and Convert cites podcasts as being “more popular than Catholicism, in some respects.” The site pulled together what they are calling “13 Critical Podcast Statistics of 2018,” where journalists have compiled together a laundry list of data surrounding the rising popularity of podcasts as a form of modern entertainment. ABC News released an article detailing research where it was shown that 40 percent of Americans cannot name the Vice President; using that information, Convince and Convert compared the figures to the 64 percent of Americans who do know exactly what a podcast is. Apparently, this year specifically, 6 million more Americans listened to podcasts on a weekly basis when compared with the number from 2017. Research like this perhaps suggests that Sundance is making a smart business move with Exeter.
