Topic Studios to Produce ‘200 East Main' Series and Podcast Investigating Sean Williams (EXCLUSIVE)
Topic Studios will produce '200 East Main,' a new joint TV and podcast series about the story of Sean Williams, a Tennessee businessman accused and convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting dozens of women as police allegedly covered up his crimes and failed to act on reports of assault. Journalist and Johnson City, Tenn., native Kimu Elolia will produce the series, with Christy Gressman and Christine Connor executive producing for Topic Studios.
Elolia, in collaboration with Johnson City journalist Jeff Keeling, has been tracking the story since local rumors began to swirl in 2018, two years before the story gained national attention. '200 East Main' will use Elolia and Keeling's longstanding local ties to tell the story from a 'trauma-informed and community-first perspective, including on-the-ground interviews and exclusive access to inside information as a native to the community,' according to a press release.
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'I grew up with many of the victims named in the lawsuit against the Johnson City Police Department,' Elolia said in a statement. 'This has been an open secret within the community for years and it's a shame that it took unnecessary death and violence for the dozens of victims and survivors to be heard. It is my hope that telling this story will bring justice and closure to victims and their families, and fortify demands for accountability from the people we entrust with our safety.'
The project will include interviews with key victims of Williams, many of whom are actively involved in lawsuits or part of a recently settled class action suit against the Johnson City Police Department.
'Working across visual and audio mediums simultaneously, as is typical of our unique process at Topic Studios, is allowing us to tell this important story in the most expansive way possible,' said Topic Studios VP of podcasts Christy Gressman.
'We're very happy to be working with Elolia to develop this series as his deep understanding of the Johnson City community combined with his experience in journalism and podcast producing makes him the perfect person for this project.'
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