2023 Show
United States of America · English
A passion project that uses 20 years worth of of evidence to expose the charity telemarketing scam
Self-proclaimed scumbag Sam Lipman-Stern opens the series by explaining how long he’s wanted to make a documentary on the telemarketing company Civil Development Group (CDG). What follows is a massive deep dive into how the CDG used lies and a happy-go-lucky/free-for-all work environment to scam everyday people out of money for a non-existent charity. The first episode covers much of CDG’s background with footage of the dysfunctional office and its rowdy (mostly high and drunk) workers who manage to get their work done. The tone is somewhat jovial as you watch these people reminisce on having fun despite the lawsuits, changing scripts, and constant calls. But as it draws to a close, with Lipman-Stern and Pespas determined to bring down the telemarketer industry, we’re left with a warning that CDG isn’t their biggest villain.
This docuseries chronicles the darkly comedic, unexpected 20-year journey of two unlikely office buddies, who stumble upon the murky truth behind the work they’ve been doing at a seedy New Jersey call center – persuading people to give money to charities – and vow to expose the crooked American telemarketing industry from within.
"“They’re keeping tabs on you, America!” Pespas says in the early-aughts footage, and Telemarketers leaves us with the directive that we should be keeping tabs on the America around us, too."
— Roxana Hadadi
"Telemarketers crafts a pivotal examination of a profession most people actively try to ignore. That it does so this thoroughly, and with high entertainment value, only goes to show that while hanging up is good advice, it isn’t the ultimate solution."
— Ben Travers
Telemarketers is a darkly comedic docuseries that follows two unlikely office buddies on a 20-year quest to expose the crooked American telemarketing industry.
Even though the offices of CDG seem like fun and games, the employees appear to be aware of how exploitative their jobs are. They’re forced to meet quotas and become modern slaves because unemployment isn’t an option when you have bills to pay, dependents to look after, and parole officers to pacify.
And yet... telemarketing still exists.
Kerine Wint is a curator at A Good Movie to Watch. When she’s not absorbed in anime and weird docu-series, she reviews speculative fiction for Fiyah Lit Magazine or designs album covers and magazines. As for her film taste, One Cut of the Dead (2017), The Lure (2015), Inu-Oh (2021), and Dear Ex (2018) sum it up pretty well.
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