Apple TV+’s three-part series about “how one person fooled an entire industry” premieres May 8
The story of the infamous “Hollywood Con Queen” — a long-running scam where an impersonator lured film industry hopefuls to Indonesia with the promise of career breakthroughs — will be the focus of an upcoming Apple TV+ series, and Rolling Stone has your first look at the trailer.
The preview for three-part Hollywood Con Queen lays out the premise of the stranger-than-fiction story that sparked dozens of articles, books, and podcasts: The titular “Con Queen,” impersonating powerful female producers phone calls, convinces a string of low-level actors, photographers, and other film industry workers to venture to Indonesia with their own finances.
Alas, the big break never comes, and the victims of the scam were often lured into something more sinister. “She wanted to get inside the minds and dreams of people and twist them and destroy them,” one victim says in the trailer. “Their sole purpose was psychological devastation.”
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Apple TV+ said in its synopsis of the 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.”
Con Queen, arriving on the streaming service on May 8, comes from Emmy-winning filmmaker Chris Smith and Library Films, the team behind the viral docuseries Tiger King and Fyre, as well as 100 Foot Wave and Operation Varsity Blues.
