‘Helter Skelter’: Epix’s Manson Family Docuseries to Premiere in June

Tyler Hersko
·2 min read

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Epix has ordered a six-part docuseries that will center on how Charles Manson and his cult terrorized California in the 1960s and ’70s.

Deadline reported that “Helter Skelter” will hail from “An Inconvenient Truth” producer Lesley Chilcott, Berlanti Productions, Rogue Atlas Productions, and Warner Horizon Unscripted Television. The docuseries will chronicle the history of the Manson Family and will feature never-before-seen interviews with Manson’s former cult followers as well as journalists who covered Manson.

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Manson died in late 2017 while serving out his life sentence at the age of 83.

“Helter Skelter” executive producers include Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Eli Frankel, and Lesley Chilcott. The docuseries will premiere June 14.

“Working with the brilliant Lesley Chilcott and the talented teams at Berlanti Productions, Rogue Atlas and Warner Horizon Unscripted has been a fantastic journey,” Epix president Michael Wright told Deadline. “’Helter Skelter’s’ bone-chilling narrative is rooted in one of the most infamous and fascinating crimes of the past several decades, and we’re thrilled that this story is being so expertly told on Epix.”

Warner Horizon Unscripted Television, which recently launched its own documentary unit, will serve as the studio for “Helter Skelter.”

“’Helter Skelter’ is an edge-of-your-seat thriller about a small-time con artist who spearheaded one of the most unspeakable murder tragedies in history,” Brooke Karzen, the Executive Vice President and Head of Warner Horizon Unscripted Television, told Deadline. “It explores the age-old question: Are killers born or are they made?”

“Helter Skelter” will flesh out Epix’s documentary slate. Deadline noted that the broadcaster aims to air around 50 hours of unscripted content every year and is also working on music series “Laurel Canyon” and “Slow Burn,” a project focused on the Watergate scandal.

“Helter Skelter” will also mark the latest in a long string of documentaries about the Manson Family, which has also been the subject of numerous fictionalizations. A fictionalized version of the Manson Family was also extensively featured in Quentin Tarantino’s acclaimed “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” The Hilary Duff-led “The Haunting of Sharon Tate” horror film also debuted last year, though the film was critically reviled; IndieWire’s David Ehrlich referred to it as “unfathomably bad” and wrote that it was akin to the “worst possible version” of Tarantino’s film.

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