Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, has amassed 386 million subscribers for his YouTube channel, more than any other person on Earth. But he’s
Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, has amassed 386 million subscribers for his YouTube channel, more than any other person on Earth. But he’s not stopping there. He’s expanding into television with the Prime Video series Beast Games, a reality competition show where contestants vie for $5 million, “the largest cash prize in TV history!”
MrBeast is among the major names set to take part in today’s virtual Deadline’s Contenders Television: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety award-season event, which kicks off at 9 a.m. PT. It’s your guide to a different kind of competition — one where the ultimate prize is Emmy gold.
Along with MrBeast, we’ve got Grammy-winning country music superstar Kelsea Ballerini, representing The Voice from Warner Bros Television Group. Four of the queenly contestants from RuPaul’s Drag Race will stop by — Lexi Love, Onya Nurve, Jewels Sparkles, and Sam Star. Love Island USA host Ariana Madix will share secrets from the steamy Peacock series.
We’ve got comedy covered with Seth Meyers, host of Late Night with Seth Meyers; Saturday Night Live cast members Mikey Day and Ego Nwodim; and The Daily Show’s Desi Lydic. Standup comic Iliza Shlesinger will tell us about her Prime Video comedy special Iliza Shlesinger: A Different Animal.
Animals of every description populate The Americas, the nature series from Universal Television Alternative Studio and NBC. Tom Hanks narrates the 11-part show that examines the super continent all the way from Northern Canada to the southernmost tip of South America. Executive producer Mike Gunton will join Contenders to discuss the wonders revealed, like flamingos that hold a “dance off” at the top of the Andes.
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Joseph Patel, who won Academy Awards for their 2021 documentary Summer of Soul, will tell us about their follow-up: Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius), streaming on Hulu. It explores the brilliant and groundbreaking musician Sly Stone of Sly and the Family Stone whose limitless talent ran up against a streak of self-sabotage.
Another music legend headlines the Emmy-contending documentary Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, an inside look at the group’s latest tour, from rehearsals to spectacular concerts. Director Thom Zimny, who first worked with Springsteen a quarter of a century ago, will share insights on his latest collaboration with the Boss.
Music made Sean “Diddy” Combs, the hip hop producer-performer who launched a record label before branching out into fashion, media and more. But it’s been a acute decline for the mogul, who awaits trial on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges. His career and the allegations that threaten to send him to federal penitentiary are explored in the explosive Investigation Discovery docuseries The Fall of Diddy. Directors-executive producers Emma Schwartz and Yoruba Richen will join Contenders to discuss Diddy’s fate.
We’ll explore a climactic chapter from World War II with a panel on The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to V-E Day. And we’ll get the straight story on The Traitors, the cunning Peacock series hosted by Alan Cumming, and some trickery from David Blaine, who travels the world in David Blaine Do Not Attempt in search of prodigious prestidigitators.
Stay with Deadline all day for coverage of all the panels both on the site and on our social channels via #DeadlineContenders. On Monday, we’ll launch the event’s streaming site with the complete panel videos.
Here’s today’s lineup:
Contenders Television: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety
9 a.m. PT – Livestream begins
WARNER BROS TELEVISION GROUP
The Voice
Audrey Morrissey (Executive Producer)
Kelsea Ballerini (Coach)
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
David Blaine Do Not Attempt
David Blaine (Host)
PRIME VIDEO
Beast Games
Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson (Co-Creator/ Executive Producer/Host)
Jeffrey Allen (Player 831/Winner of Beast Games)
Sean Klitzner (Co-Creator/Executive Producer)
Iliza Shlesinger: A Different Animal
Iliza Shlesinger (Writer/Executive Producer/Comedian)
ID
The Fall of Diddy
Emma Schwartz (Director/Executive Producer)
Yoruba Richen (Director/Executive Producer)
COMEDY CENTRAL
The Daily Show
Jen Flanz (Showrunner/Writer/Executive Producer)
Zhubin Parang (Writer/Co-Executive Producer)
Desi Lydic (Host)
ONYX COLLECTIVE and HULU
Sly Lives!
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson (Director/Executive Producer)
Joseph Patel (Producer)
HULU
Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Thom Zimny (Director/Producer/Editor)
AMERICAN HISTORY UNBOUND
The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE Day
John Monsky (Creator/Writer/Narrator/Historian)
Meredith Wagner (Executive Producer/President American History Unbound Inc.)
Patrick Hemingway Adams (Historical Consultant/Special Guest)
MTV ENTERTAINMENT STUDIOS
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Lexi Love (Contestant)
Onya Nurve (Contestant)
Jewels Sparkles (Contestant)
Sam Star (Contestant)
NBC
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Seth Meyers (Writer/Host)
Saturday Night Live
Mikey Day (Cast Member)
Ego Nwodim (Cast Member)
Tom Broecker (Producer/Costume Designer)
UNIVERSAL TELEVISION ALTERNATIVE STUDIO and NBC
The Americas
Mike Gunton (Executive Producer)
PEACOCK
Love Island USA
Ariana Madix (Host)
Danielle Gervais (EVP Casting & Talent)
Ben Thursby-Palmer (Showrunner/Executive Producer)
James Barker (Executive Producer)
The Traitors
Rosie Franks (Executive Producer)
Ben Archard (Director)
Siggi Rosen-Rawlings (Director of Photography)
Matt Wright (Director of Photography)
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