Irina Finerman

STRATEGY & EXECUTION

Escape At Dannemora is a limited series based on the stranger than fiction 2015 prison break of two inmates from the Clinton Correctional facility in upstate New York, and the married female prison worker who aided in their escape. To introduce fans of true crime and the limited series genre to Escape at Dannemora in a credible, engaging and organic way, SHOWTIME® launched a nine-episode companion podcast series in partnership with Wondery‘s established true crime podcast Real Crime Profile. The podcast series delved into the real-life events and their portrayals in the show in a unique and in-depth way. We also tapped into their audience and distribution, which provided extensive reach, allowing us to cross their existing fans over to our series.

To ensure authenticity, SHOWTIME® and Real Crime Profile developed discussion topics in collaboration with Escape At Dannemora executive producers, and enhanced host discussion and analysis with audio bites from the show. The podcast also provided listeners with exclusive content from series creators and talent, featuring interviews with co-creators and writers Michael Tolkin and Brett Johnson, director Ben Stiller, actress Bonnie Hunt, and real-life investigators on the case: Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott and Deputy Inspector General Jim Davis.

This podcast series deeply enriched Escape at Dannemora by offering not just an accessible entry point to the show and exclusive content, but expert perspectives and analysis of the real event.

RESULTS

The Escape at Dannemora podcast series generated impressive results with 843k+ total downloads across nine episodes (exceeding projected downloads by over 26%) in its first few weeks.

In addition, the series sparked high engagement with 31k+ hours listened and an average episode consumption rate of over 80%. The podcast delivered over 1.5M media impressions across other popular true crime podcasts within the Wondery network. And it was featured as a press pickup by The Wrap, who offered the first two episodes as an exclusive prior to release.

The series drove a significant amount of buzz and positive chatter on social media platforms, with fans expressing how it both drove awareness of Escape at Dannemora and enhanced their experience viewing the series. It was also organically promoted by series creators and cast members, including director Ben Stiller, driving reach even further.