As a former deadbeat telemarketer — technically a sleazy push-poller — I wasn’t surprised by the antics in HBO’s “Telemarketers.”
But, as a former reporter, I found the series perfectly captured the highs and lows of journalism. And despite its depressing climax, it left me feeling hopeful in spite of our cynical industry.
The three-part documentary series follows Sam Lipman-Stern and Patrick J. Pespas from their time working at sketchy telemarketing firm Civic Development Group, to the halls of Congress as whistleblowers-turned-citizen journalists. Sarah Kleiner, a research consultant who investigated a telemarketing kingpin at the Center for Public Integrity, brought her experience into the mix in the third episode.
Pespas remains the most compelling character throughout the series — going from snorting heroin and closing sales as a telemarketer and getting tossed out of a McDonald’s for conducting raucous interviews on his flip phone, to sitting down with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal. His goal: Take down the sketchy telemarketing industry that was profiting off charity — mainly through Fraternal Order of Police lodges.
Richard Zeitlin, who Kleiner investigated years ago, was arrested less than a week after “Telemarketers” premiered on HBO. Impact. But, in the series, Lipman-Stern and Pespas slog along for more than a decade, and it ends with Blumenthal’s staff shuffling the pair and their crew out of his office without very much to show for it.
“Whatever we’ve got to do for this interview, to land it, man we’ve got to do it,” Pespas says while on the way to Texas to interview a former Houston Fraternal Order of Police president Robert Lozano. “I’ve got to interview this guy, dude. This is going to make or break this whole f—ing thing.”
Pespas — in a freshly-purchased cowboy hat — spots Lozano, abandons a plate of barbecue to chase him down, but doesn’t land an interview.
“I love investigative journalism,” Lipman-Stern says before they spot Lozano. “People say it’s a dying field …”
“I don’t think so,” Pespas says. “I think we’re going to revive it.”
Such was one of many absurdly relatable circumstances Pespas finds himself in throughout “Telemarketers”: The pair drove cross country for an interview — which was canceled at the last minute; drew stares at a Fraternal Order of Police convention; fed marshmallows to alligators and admired rainbows while on the road.
Pespas did his first few sit-downs in dark sunglasses. And he conducted a slightly cringeworthy interview with former Charity Navigator CEO Ken Berger in the second episode.
Patrick J. Pespas was a virtuosic telemarketer, according to colleagues, before deciding to blow the whistle on Civid Development Group. (Courtesy: HBO)
“I don’t think it ever occurred to me that Pat might suck at this,” Lipman-Stern says. “But he was so passionate that we just kept going and would pretty much interview anybody that was willing to talk to us.”
At one point Pespas plays the air guitar before meeting with former Federal Elections Commissioner Ann Ravel.
“I hope you’re having a ball,” Pespas’ wife says on the road one day.
“I am,” he responds.
I reached out to Pespas, Lipman-Stern and Kleiner to get their take on the series now that it’s over.
I cracked up when Pat was doing interviews from a McDonald’s, I think every reporter can relate to that, right? Did you find any other weird circumstances Pat found himself in or interview tactics Pat used that you could relate to as a journalist?
Kleiner: Long story but stick with me: One of the things Pat and I talked about that didn’t make the cut on screen was my attempt to track down the leader of the International Union of Police Associations in 2019-ish. He had been dodging my calls and didn’t respond to a message I left in person at his office in Sarasota, Florida.
I found out he would be in D.C. for a conference at a hotel down the street from my office, so I walked over and found him standing at the back of a room full of police officers. I approached him and asked for a conversation about his union’s telemarketing practices. He called security and had me escorted out of the hotel. The security guard told me to never come back, so I’m pretty sure I’ve been banned from that hotel for life.
Anyway, when I saw Pat on screen trying to pin down the president of the Fraternal Order of Police at a conference in a Philly hotel, I was jumping up and down rooting for him. “That’s how you do it, Pat! Good job!” Except he got the guy’s name wrong, and he was able to get away. I was like, “That’s OK, Pat, next time.”
How was it walking into that FOP convention?
Lipman-Stern: For me, it was like Hunter S. Thompson walking into the casino in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” — in that scene where he’s tripping and everyone looks like dinosaurs. You walk in there and everyone is a cop, and we stood the F out! It felt like we were not supposed to be there, this wasn’t our world. And the fact we were there was both terrifying and absolutely hilarious to me at the same time.
What was it like seeing your journalism on HBO?
Kleiner: I’m still pinching myself. Did that really happen? I wasn’t the kind of reporter who clamored for the spotlight. I’m content lurking in the corner with a notebook full of hardball questions. So to see that my work wound up in front of so many people is surreal and exciting but also my anxiety has been churning on overdrive.
Sarah Kleiner, a research consultant, was featured in the third episode of Telemarketers. (Courtesy: Sarah Kleiner)
You’ve obviously done a lot of excellent reporting on the topic and the figures involved. But, you mentioned the timing of the documentary with Zeiltin’s arrest — would you say the documentary played a role in that?
Kleiner: The timing of Zeitlin’s arrest four days after the first episode of the documentary aired is nothing short of incredible. I can’t help but wonder if the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York knew “Telemarketers” was about to air and swung for the fences at just the right moment, or if the timing was simply an eyebrow-raising coincidence.
What was your reaction when you found out Richard Zeitlin had finally been charged for his big telemarketing scam after the show came out?
Lipman-Stern: We definitely spoke to a lot of folks in Washington both in the documentary and some that were left on the cutting room floor, and I can’t say this for sure but word may have gotten around and people may have started to take notice.
That being said, we saw the same thing happen with the owners of Civic Development Group in 2010. You can shut down one telemarketing operation or one scam charity or PAC operation, but other ones quickly will take their place. Until the major police unions/organizations in this country stop using telemarketing to raise funds and until laws are changed, taking one operation down is just a game of whack-a-mole, in my opinion.
What can a journalist learn from Pat and Sam’s journey?
Kleiner: Their story started in the mid-2000s and here we are almost 20 years later. So the biggest lesson I see is that it pays to be tenacious. It pays to stick with it, even if you’ve hit dead ends and closed doors and unreturned calls. You don’t need a fancy nameplate with a legacy news organization to ask good, tough questions. If you’ve got a hunch — or more than a hunch — that something just doesn’t smell right, keep at it and tell that story.
The first episode is really grungy. I worked in a call center in college, so I could relate to how dark and depressing it was. But, even though the series seems to end on kind of a downer … I felt a lot of hope. It was cool seeing someone discover the power and utter joy of reporting. Did you have any similar feelings?
Kleiner: I was really hoping Blumenthal would come through for Pat and Sam, because he’s kind of near the top of the list of people who you would think would care about this issue, right? But the series ended with a giant cold shoulder, and that was definitely a downer. But I do think that there’s hope. Pat and Sam started with a kernel of an idea and really s—y video equipment, and then with the help of Sam’s cousin Adam (who had much better equipment), they were able to bring a really important issue to the attention of millions of people. I think that’s a win.
P.S. Everyone, tell your granny to stop giving money to people who call her on the phone.
What’s next for you two?
Lipman-Stern: Right now I’m on the beach in Colombia taking a little vacation time to celebrate the release of the documentary. I took some mushrooms and I am connecting with nature! It’s been great! Once I get back into society, I have some more stories I’m working on in the telemarketing space and have some film projects in the works!
