New Nickelodeon documentary Quiet on Set sheds light on what child actors face in the industry

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Editor’s Note: This article mentions details of sexual abuse, harassment, and other abuse that may be distressing to some readers. If you or someone you know needs help, please reach out to HealthLinkBC at 811 or VictimLink BC at 1-800-563-0808.  Help is available, please reach out. 

I loved Nickelodeon shows growing up and was always excited to come home from school to watch classics like Drake & Josh, The Amanda Show, iCarly, and Victorious. 

There was a culture around these shows  — watching them together with your friends, laughing and relating to what they were going through, singing those Victorious bangers in your room, and seeing your favourite actors getting slimed at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards. 

It seemed like the actors had it all — from how happy they looked on screen and at award shows to doing something they loved at such a young age — but that was far from the truth. 

Last month, documentary series Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV aired in Canada on Discovery+, shedding light on what went on behind the scenes of Nickelodeon’s children television between the 1990s and early 2000s. 

The documentary focuses specifically around when producer Dan Schneider, among others, was at the company and the conditions child actors faced during the time. 

Episode after episode reveals more about the conditions people faced working at Nickelodeon. A variety of issues are revealed throughout the documentary, such as allegations of Schneider creating a hostile work environment in various shows he produced, writing scenes with sexual innuendos, exemplifying misogynistic culture by underpaying female writers and asking women for massages, and more. 

Writers Christy Stratton and Jenny Kilgen, former Zoey 101 actress Alexa Nikolas, Drake Bell from Drake & Josh, and other former actors from The Amanda Show and All That come forward to talk about their experiences. Schneider, who left Nickelodeon in 2018, isn’t part of the series, but he has written some responses about the allegations made against him. 

Sexual abuse and harassment were some of the issues Nickelodeon child stars faced in the industry. Bell publicly shared for the first time he was sexually abused by former Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck multiple times, and a former The Amanda Show child actor’s mom told her daughter’s story. Her story details how production assistant Jason Michael Handy sent “Brandi” (alias name used in the documentary) an email showing an explicit photo. In the documentary, it showed that Handy also described himself as “a pedophile, full-blown” in a letter he wrote. 

The documentary distinctly shows the power imbalance and behaviour towards children in the entertainment industry and that it’s not always the glitz and glam as people perceive it to be. 

Quiet on Set also discussed the consequences and complicated feelings of when one does speak up about the abuse or injustice that they or others are experiencing. 

Peck was only sentenced to 16 months in prison for 11 charges of child sex abuse. Before he went to prison, he pleaded no contest to two charges of child sexual abuse in 2004, and 41 support letters for Peck were presented in court, many of whom were notable names in the industry. After he was released, Peck ended up being hired on Disney Channel’s The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. 

While Variety confirmed that Peck was immediately terminated after the network learned of his conviction, it’s shocking to hear he was hired on the set in addition to how short his sentence was and the amount of support letters he received. 

Rewatching episodes of what were once some of my favourite shows, I think to myself how on Earth was this stuff even broadcasted. From a scene in Zoey 101 of Jamie Lynn Spears having goo squirt on her face to multiple scenes of Ariana Grande being sexualized on Victorious, you don’t think much of it as a kid, but as an adult, you feel grossed out these scenes were allowed to air in the first place. 

While Quiet on Set reveals the injustices Nickelodeon child actors faced from the 1990s to 2000s, this is not just a problem of the past or this network. The documentary could be a great opportunity to help others come forward and share their experiences at Nickelodeon, but also what other child actors in the industry faced on a wider scale and what changes or laws need to be made to better protect them. 

It was heartbreaking to see what child actors had to experience, but this is just the beginning of bringing these issues to light.