New Podcast Series Breaks Ground by Telling Stories Presented in a Murder Trial During the Trial

This story was first reported at Deadline.com.


LOS ANGELES, CA (July 8, 2020) — Crime Story Media has partnered with podcast giant Acast, which will host, distribute, and monetize their original podcast series, Jury Duty: The Trial of Robert Durst. The groundbreaking series will tell the stories presented in a murder trial as the trial is happening.

The series will be hosted by Kary Antholis, Publisher and Editor of Crime Story Media’s flagship platform, CrimeStory.com and Former President of Miniseries and Cinemax Programming at HBO, and will follow the trial of billionaire Robert Durst and his possible involvement in the death of Susan Berman, a story made famous by the popular HBO series, The Jinx. Kary has served as a commentator on Court TV for the Robert Durst trial and has covered the pretrial proceedings extensively at CrimeStory.com for over a year leading up to the murder trial. New episodes will premiere weekly featuring unique access to evidence and testimony from pre-trial proceedings, courtroom recaps, expert commentary, witness testimony and interviews with individuals who have special knowledge related to the trial. Additional special episodes will be added to report on breaking news from the trial.

“Kary’s Academy Award- and Emmy-winning documentary and television work has for decades set a new bar in visual storytelling. Our team at Acast is thrilled to be working with him in bringing that caliber of production to new audiences, through audio,” said Tim Ruggeri, senior content development manager at Acast. “Jury Duty: The Trial of Robert Durst breaks ground in podcasting by giving listeners exclusive, early access to audio and behind-the-scenes insights from the courtroom — providing listeners with a real-time invitation to the Robert Durst trial. This show changes the game for true crime podcasts.”

“We are excited to work with Acast to introduce an unprecedented new format of storytelling to the podcasting world. This series will allow us to expand on the work that we do at CrimeStory.com seeking innovative ways to tell stories of crime and justice,” said Kary Antholis.

The partnership will utilize Acast’s true dynamic ad insertion technology in podcasting — which allows for the delivery of timely, contextualized podcast ads specific to listeners across any device or platform. Acast’s pioneering technology will enable advertisers to easily run campaigns on Jury Duty: The Trial of Robert Durst, reaching engaged listeners with targeted and curated messages on any podcast player they use to listen to the show. 

Jury Duty: The Trial of Robert Durst will be available on all podcast players, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and the Acast app, starting Wednesday, July 15. Listen to the trailer here.

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ABOUT Crime Story Media, LLC 

Crime Story Media, LLC was founded in July 2019 by Kary Antholis after retiring as President of Miniseries and Cinemax Programming at HBO. Crime Story Media’s flagship platform CrimeStory.com presents storytelling, news, and narrative analysis in the world of crime and justice. The site features original reporting with a section about Los Angeles crime stories, daily crime and criminal justice news aggregation, an interview podcast hosted by Antholis (interview subjects have included Sopranos creator David Chase, Serial creators Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder, The Wire creator David Simon, Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan and US Attorney General William Barr), and columns by contributors including Amanda Knox and her co-writer Christopher Robinson, and former US Justice Department prosecutor, Georgetown Law professor and MSNBC commentator Paul Butler. 

ABOUT Acast

Podcast giant Acast is the engine powering podcast creators, advertisers and listeners everywhere. Acast hosts more than 10,000 podcasts worldwide and monetizes shows from independent creators and networks, including Watch What Crappens, Forever35, and The Earios Network, and those from publishers such as VICE, HuffPost, Scientific American, Complex, The Economist, The Guardian, BBC, and PBS NewsHour. 

Co-founded in Sweden in 2014 by Johan Billgren, Acast’s team of audio lovers is creating a sustainable and open podcast ecosystem — ensuring the whole industry continues to grow and flourish. The company has teams on the ground in 13 markets around the world, including in the US, UK, Mexico, Australia, France, and Germany.

ABOUT Kary Antholis

Kary Antholis founded Crime Story Media, LLC in July 2019, after retiring as President of Miniseries and Cinemax Programming at HBO. 

In over 25 years as a creative executive at HBO, Kary oversaw Academy Award, Emmy and Golden Globe-winning projects, including Chernobyl, Angels in America, Olive Kitteridge, John Adams, The Pacific, The Night Of, Generation Kill, The Corner, Elizabeth I, The Gathering Storm, Wit, Show Me a Hero and Educating Peter. As head of Cinemax Programming since 2011, Kary led the channel’s branding strategy, commissioning breakthrough series including Strike Back, Banshee, The Knick, Warrior, Jett and Tales from the Tour Bus.

Kary began his film career as a documentarian, winning the Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject and the Emmy for Outstanding Informational Special for his film One Survivor Remembers, about Holocaust survivor, Gerda Weissmann Klein. One Survivor Remembers was the first HBO program added by the Librarian of Congress to the National Film Registry, an honor given to “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant American films.

Kary serves on the Board of Visitors at Georgetown Law and as an adjunct professor at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. He holds a JD from Georgetown Law, an MA in History from Stanford University, and a BA from Bowdoin College.

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