Lately, New York City-based director Alexandra Haggiag Dean (pictured above) has been all over the news for her latest docuseries, Secrets of Playboy. The 43-year-old Dean received some recognition for her past feature documentaries, including Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (which focused on the Austrian-born American actress’s abilities as an inventor rather than her famous nude scene in the 1933 movie Ecstasy) in 2017, and This is Paris (about Paris Hilton, who’s “famous for being famous”) in 2020. But that was nothing compared to the media attention she’s been receiving for Secrets, both in the U.S. and internationally.
Attention that is equally balanced between praise and criticism from people who were directly or marginally involved with the main subject of the docuseries, Hugh Hefner (1926-2017), the founder of Playboy magazine.
Each installment of the 10-episode Secrets of Playboy is 42 minutes long. The show began airing in the U.S. on A+E on January 24, and will conclude on March 28. The docuseries is also airing on different dates on A+E TV channels worldwide.
During a Zoom interview with VideoAge‘s Water Cooler, Dean, the American-born granddaughter of Italian filmmaker Roberto Haggiag (who died in Rome in 2009 at age 95), explained that the Secrets project was proposed to her by executives from the Van Nuys, California-based The Intellectual Property Corporation (IPC), which also produced Paris. IPC subsequently sold Secrets‘ broadcast rights to A+E. Dean was hesitant to share Secrets‘ production budget, but did disclose that it had “a top budget.” A+E also holds worldwide distribution sales rights.
Dean is also a principal at the New York City-based production company Reframed Pictures that she co-founded in 2014 with actress Susan Sarandon and producer Adam Haggiag, Dean’s brother.
When filming on what eventually became Secrets began, Dean quickly realized that the project was taking a different path from its original working title, Playboy: The Women Speak, and turning into an expose about the antics of Playboy magazine’s Hugh Hefner inside his Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles. It was at this point that the docuseries became Secrets of Playboy, and changed the narrative both in the interviews with former Playmates and in the editing room.
Dean explained that due to the controversial nature of the series, many scenes ended up on the cutting room floor because they could not verify the accuracy of certain statements — at least not enough to satisfy the lawyers working for the project.
“I actually had material for 12 episodes, but footage for two of them had to be scrapped,” said Dean, adding that she wanted to include one full episode with Hefner’s oldest child, 69-year-old Christie, who actually ran Playboy Enterprises for many years.
“Unfortunately,” concluded Dean, “she formally declined.” Hefner’s other children — David, 66; Marston, 31; and Cooper, 30 — who were approached informally, also declined.
This wasn’t the secrets of Playboy; this was a hack job! You actually edited out the good things that people that loved half said so that your preconceived notion would carry the day.
Hugh Hefner was a great man who helped women supported free-speech and also supported integration of black entertainers poets writers etc..
Shame on you!