Gemma Hoskins & Shane Waters: The Keepers Workshop

At CrimeCon 2018 Gemma Hoskins (amateur investigator) and Shane Waters (Out of the Shadows podcast) will lead you through a session in which you’ll roll up your sleeves as Gemma Hoskins (the lead citizen investigator) leads you through an analysis of suspects and leads, including new information since the doc aired. Other than Gemma’s tendency to refer to Shane as “Shawn,” you wouldn’t know from this conversation that these two have never met in person. Our conversation was full of laughter and easy conversation. This tells me that the Friday morning The Keepers Workshop is going to be one you won’t want to miss.

CC: Tell me about the Keepers Workshop.

GH: The workshop will last 2.5 hours and will be entirely hands-on. We’ll show an episode from The Keepers (“The Suspects”) and audience members will have a template with which to analyze whether the suspects in the episode are guilty or innocent. We’ll ask you to consider motives, clues, and physical evidence from the episode. After that, we’ll have the audience members debrief with people around them to discuss who they think killed Sister Cathy.

Shawn and I both have--

SW: Who’s Shawn?

GH: *laughing* We’ve never actually met, but I do know his name, I promise! Anyway, we both have a suspect who we think killed Sister Cathy, but neither of us know who the other has identified. After the audience debrief, we’ll return to the stage and reveal our suspects to the audience and to each other for the first time.

Who will the workshop appeal to the most?

SW: This will be a hands-on session and the audience will be engaged during the entire 2.5 hours. It will appeal to most true crime enthusiasts, especially those who love a conspiracy theory. The question is whether Cathy was murdered because she knew of the abuse going on at the school. We find out in the series that she learned about the abuse just prior to her murder.

A lot of people who are into behavioral analysis will notice that the way she was murdered seemed very personal.

GH: And women. Our director Ryan White really champions women. We know that the women of The Keepers gave many women the courage to come out against abuse with their stories.

SW: You remember Ryan’s name but not mine.

What are you most looking forward to at CrimeCon?

GH: Meeting and learning each others’ names, obviously. But I’m addicted to true crime. This is very personal to me, and I have a thirst for finding the truth about what happened to people. I believe that this is why I’m here; I’m not religious anymore, but I think if I can use what resources to have to find the truth, that’s my purpose on Earth.

SW: I was there last year at Podcast Row. I’m looking forward to is meeting people who have listened to my podcast but also have seen The Keepers. It’s a story that sad to hear but important to hear at the same time, and I’m looking forward to hearing everyone’s take on it. Although, I’m worried that people will think I’m Gemma’s bodyguard. I’m 6’9”. Imagine Hagrid from Harry Potter.

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The Netflix original documentary The Keepers explored the unsolved murder of Sister Cathy Cesnick as well as allegations of a sexual abuse cover-up at the school she attended. In this interactive workshop experience, you'll first watch Episode 5 ("The Suspects") of the doc. Afterward, you'll roll up your sleeves as Gemma Hoskins (the lead citizen investigator) leads you through an analysis of suspects and leads, including new information since the doc aired.

This workshop requires a separate ticket. Seating is limited. Free for GOLD VIPs (pre-registration required).