‘Telemarketers’ Directors on How Their Shocking HBO Docuseries Exposes a System of Scams
variety.comDaniel D'Addario Chief TV Critic “Telemarketers” may be summer TV’s oddest thrill ride. Co-director Sam Lipman-Stern begins the three-part docuseries, which launches August 13 on HBO, in retrospect.
He’s looking back at the footage he shot of his time working for telemarketing firm CDG (short for Civic Development Group) two decades ago.
Then a teenager, Lipman-Stern recorded everything: The aggressive sell he and his colleagues made over the phone to solicit donations for what the callers claimed were police charitable unions, as well as the freewheeling culture that permeated throughout the office.
Closer to the present day, he and co-director Adam Bhala Lough reconnect with Lipman-Stern’s former colleague Pat Pespas to delve into how the system has morphed since they first worked together, and how they might be able to use what they’ve learned from their years of calling strangers to take it down.
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