South40Studios has acquired the Film and TV rights to Spencer Schneider’s blockbuster Memoir, Manhattan Cult Story that chronicles his 23 years in a secret, elite Manhattan cult. He reveals the abuse, the spouse and baby swapping, financial crimes and forced labor he and his fellow cult members endured during his decades in “The School.”
Manhattan Cult Story (to be released in July 2022) will be published by Skyhorse Publishing’s Arcade imprint, and distributed by Simon and Schuster. Tony Lyons, CEO of Skyhorse remarked “Spencer Schneider is a brilliant writer and provides front row access to the salacious, twisted and fascinating world of this extraordinary secret cult. His writing style is fresh and open and his legal background gives him the ability to provide details and insights into a world very few people know exists. His is an important and brave story and we are proud to bring it to light. We are extremely excited about Manhattan Cult Story; we expect that it will be a huge critical and commercial success.”
Spencer Schneider, the author Manhattan Cult Story added ” I’m thrilled to be working with Pamela, Mitch and South40Studios. Their vision, experience and sensibilities make them particularly well-suited to bring this unusual and captivating story alive. While my story has gone viral in the press, South40Studios will ensure that audiences worldwide discover how cults operate behind the scenes.”
Excerpt:
We were invisible. We did not live in an Upstate hippie compound with kids running around in rags with faraway gazes. We did not engage in satanic activities, have loaded weapons, have apocalyptic visions, or believe in aliens coming to save mankind. We didn’t do anything you expect a cult might.….We were highly educated, skilled professionals ….We were successful business owners, money managers and investors, scientists, doctors, teachers, heiresses, artists, authors. Savvy people….
About South40Studios
South40Studios, is a joint venture between national deception expert Pamela Meyer and media executive Mitchell Gordon, who have been collaborating since their college days living on the South 40 at Washington University, and later as students at Harvard Business School. “I’ve been studying cults, institutional deception and gaslighting for years. This story of sophisticated manipulation is like no other and we look forward to finding the right distribution partner”, remarked Pamela Meyer.
