When Netflix announced mid-December a launch the following month, Hulu rushed to be first. Fyre was billed as the party of a lifetime, a glamorous, luxurious, exclusive music festival on Pablo Escobar's private island in the Bahamas. The instantly notorious Caribbean getaway co-produced by first-time promotersJa Rule(born Jeffrey Atkins)and entrepreneur Billy McFarland, which exploded into a steaming heap of dashed expectations, sketchy conditions on the ground and zero fun for the unlucky patrons who paid between $1,000 and $12,000 per ticket (or $250,000 for super luxe group VIP packages). As Fyre Festival melted down, McFarland Since taking on the role of whistleblower, the graphic designer told Page Six that "it took me about a year to come to terms with what happened. . Thesuit claims that organizers kept offering VIP upgrades and encouraging attendees to put money on their cashless Fyre Band bracelets even after it was clear there would be no concert. Within about a week of the failed Fyre Festival, six separate lawsuits have been filed - some of which may be consolidated. (Also, check out this purported 43-pagepitch deck sent out to potential Fyre investors. (H/T Tyler A King). Official social profiles, aside from . was no more talk of Vice from director Chris Smith or Purzycki. Others should do the same explaining that agency was paid $30k (still owed over $150k from Fyre Festival) adding wed be pretty bad fraudsters if we were complicit. Hulu paid for an interview with Billy McFarland, the brain behind Fyre Festival, but (i) Netflix also negotiated a deal. (Swaigens employer, which owned most of the behind-the-scenes footage you see in Billy McFarland owes millions from multiple settlements. mysterious orange squares to tease its announcement. According to the Hulu Two days later, fuckjerry founder Eliott Tebele wrote on Twitter Just gave every dollar my agency earned from the Fyre Festival back to the go fund me. Jerry Media approached VICE with the idea of a documentary three months after the events. March 14: Writing in New York Magazine (after the festival implosion), talent producer Chloe Gordon says that when she arrived on the island six weeksbefore the fest was to take place, things were obviously not good. He is currently working with Ja Rule on ICONN, but was left responsible for a $250,000 debt owed to American Express thanks to McFarland, he alleged in the Netflix documentary. This unique combination of interests led them to the idea that, through their combined passions, they could create a new type of music festival and experience on a remote island. "[8] Metacritic, which uses a normalized average, assigned the film a score of 75 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". JOIN NOW. Opps! Is Netflix's Fyre Documentary a Scam, Too? Her reporting was good but only publicly announced interest the day before the festival started. consideration when deciding who he would work with and that he ultimately chose Vic relies heavily on fair use, when asked to confirm the story he shared correspondence about the arduous take-down process something he would have overlooked if krispyshorts hadnt commercialized his Instagram feed. thing about twin films is that, through different treatments, the competing Hired to coordinate Fyre Festival's marketing and advertising campaign, 42West and Matte Projects knew or should have known that their advertisements and promotions were false and likely to . It wasnt until after Netflix aired its doc that Eliot Trebele, the fuckjerry founder and EP, tweeted that their team brokered a deal with Billy before Hulu. Just as Brett said best social media company Jerry Medias Instagram appears on screen showing millions of followers. Crossno describes the island as a rock quarry, and relates a scene in which McFarland was standing on a table yelling at confused attendees to run and grab any tent they could find. Is Fyre Festival The Next Big Music Event Or The Next Big Scam? There were very confidential messages about a date change from Grant Margolin months before the festival. After paying over $4,000 to attend the festival, Cressno and his friend were awarded $5 million dollars in damages by a judge in North Carolina in June 2018. #fyre #fyrefestival #fyrefest pic.twitter.com/x4xcFBL8Yg, William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017, So Fyre Fest is a complete disaster. Hired to handle technical production for the festival's acts, Sabatini said he wasonly brought in45 days prior to when Fyre was set to kick off. On Sunday, the convicted swindler announced follow-up plans for the disastrous 2017 music fest, prompting groans across the internet. "We were one of six New York marketing agencies working together. Despite their flaws, both are worth watching if you know the inherent conflicts of interest. He called on Michael Swaigen, accounts end up pointing the viewer toward the truth. same topic, its a banner day for cultural criticism. When two movies come out on the The doc is produced by Vice Studios, Library Films, Jerry Media and Matte Projects. It is our hope that the Fyre Festival visitors would consider returning to the Islands Of The Bahamas in the future to truly experience all of our beauty., Rule releases his own statement on Twitter, denying any wrongdoing. about insidious digital marketing, corporate irresponsibility, and the misdeeds It It also alleges that they told artists thatthe festival had been canceled well before attendees were informed. Music family as the first headliners for @fyrefestival. The post even included a way for her followers to use a special promo code KJONFYRE, to get on the list for exclusiveafter parties. It's produced by Library Films, Jerry Media, Matte Projects and VICE Studios. employee Oren Aks has said that the company was aware of Fyre Festivals producer of Hulus Fyre Fraud and appears Producers roles vary quite a bit but typically are paid problem-solvers involved in most aspects of production, they can typically provide suggestions to the final cut. It promised artists like Blink-182 and Major Lazer performing in the Bahamas . The campaign described above that they set in motion was, at bottom, a reckless disregard for reality and at worse, a blatant falsity.. Netflix's doc introduced viewers to the plight of Rolle, the caterer at the Exuma Point Resort in the Bahamas who lost her entire life savings in order to feed the staff of the festival, and viewers immediately sympathized with her, along with the rest of the locals who were taken advantage of by the Fyre Festival team. Still, its hard to imagine any money passing through Billy making its way to victims. Still, Jerry Medias story doesnt add up. ", He also addressed the attention on his brand (as well as Alyssa's) being described as "positivity," responding, "Why can't we both talk about positivity? May 7:Yet another class-action is filed, this one in Miami byNorth Carolina couple Kenneth and Emily Reel,seeking $5 million from Rule, McFarland and the fests public relations agency, 42WestLLC and advertising company, Matte Projects, LLC. But nothing had been done. She said no vendors had been secured, no stages rented and no transportation arranged. Keduanya adalah perusahaan yang memegang keseluruhan produk promosi untuk festival itu di berbagai media sosial, dan juga yang mengerjakan ragam video untuk Fyre Festival. The creators of Hulu's film jabbed Netflix for working with two former Fyre promoters, FuckJerry and Matte Projects, going so far as to mention this overlap in their own documentary. Mayhem in the Bahamas . contextualizing their stories quite differently. The former Jerry Media employee was the only person from the company to participate in Hulu's documentary, much to his former employer's chagrin. While it may be true that nobody asked for favorable treatment, the filmmakers gave favorable treatment by hard-wiring its subjects as producers. says, Bluestone and Fitzgerald had stopped talking to him. Thank you isn't really the right phrase because I have no relationship to this person at all, but this broad act of kindness will change her life and many around her. CEO of FuckJerry, Mick Purzycki, who was a producer of Fyre, also claimed to have final cut over the documentary while It will stream the untitled project about the Fyre Festival . On the Instagram story of Matte Projects, the event organizers wrote: "Due to weather conditions, ferry service has been temporarily suspended. May 12: Audio of a call between McFarland and Fyre employees leaks in which McFarland informs his staff that they will not be getting paid for their work. is trying to rebrand as Jerry Mediaand its complicity in McFarlands doomed Were not firing anyone, were just letting you know that there will be no payroll in the short term., Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox, A daily briefing on what matters in the music industry. #fyrefestival 5pm flight rescheduled til 9pm then we get this after sitting on the plane for 2 hours lmao we chilling though, A post shared by ? After he completes his time in jail, he will be serve three years of supervised release. Working in partnership with Matte, we helped to create the website for Fyre Festival. No organization. Brett Kincaid - Matte Projects Director. There were, however, a lot of sand flies that left me looking like I had smallpox., Gordon wrote that her 11-person production team was packed with newbieswho were told before they arrived that things had been in motion for a while. The image shows a blurred out Slack message that matches the profile of oren_fuckjerry (see below). The messaging was clear. Fyre Festival has become a modern parable for the Instagram generation. At the same time, a Vice a different name. Matte . replied immediately. like Netflix and Vice. . Another suit comes from New Jerseys Andrew Petrozziello, saying organizers violated the states consumer fraud act. The event was promoted on Instagram by social media influencers including . Swaigen is also an associate He added he has received "unsolicited nudes" since the documentary premiered. The Russian model, who has shot campaigns for Balmain and Guess, met McFarland after the Fyre Festival debacle, calling it "destiny.". King, 57, is still working as an event producer through his company, Inward Point. the FEMA tents; FuckJerry has some serious "I quickly criticized the [advertising agency] Matte Projects' website it looked like something for a Sandals resort," he says. The company released supports HTML5 video, Director: Chris Smith never materializedinstead of champagne and concerts and luxury villas, ticket-holders By midnight many attendees begin trying to board flights home only to find the airport closed. Contact 561 Broadway 6th Floor New York, NY 10012 +1 (646) 854 2652 info@matteprojects.com It was only a few months ago that Hulu was working on a 34 part miniseries about the Fyre Festival. The music festival consultant responsible for guest's accommodations/the intended yoga instructor for the Fyre Festival was one of the few who strongly advised McFarland to cancel the festival. All rights reserved. The Netflix doc has a much different story. That goes double for the fiasco that was theFyreFestival. . It has a long But it wasnt long before my friend turned to me and said, Were getting off this fing island. I was like, No, lets give it an hour or two before admitting, Okay, this really is terrible. Why did nobody else tweet out that this was such a sthole? Following Fyre Festival, Margolin agreed to pay a $35,000 penalty. "Originally people were just like reaching out to me all the time and I was just like, I don't want to hear it. A byword for con artists who offer up a vision of sun-kissed perfection, but in reality, deliver chaos and disappointment . So naturally, we got to stalkin' to find out who's still talkin' about the festival and the documentaries after their respective releasesand who literally moved to another country to avoid all the fallout. Fyre Festival is a story Furthermore, in an May 4: As Fyre quickly briefly rivals Pres. In fact, Fyre posits that the blame was solely McFarlands. ' he said. Still, Ja Rule was the subject of multiple lawsuits because of his ties to Fyre. Brett Kincaid continues to work in content creation and was a part of the team that made the Netflix documentary . Hulu put emphasis on the many red flags. She filed her first story: A complete s t show, April 28 2017, the day after people arrived. The Netflix documentary, directed by Chris Smith, is produced in part by Jerry Media (AKA FuckJerry) and Matte Projects, two companies behind the supermodel-filled promotion of the actual Fyre . We connected with Matte Projects [the production company hired by Fyre]. Michael sought permission from Matte Projects but they rejected the idea (NOTE: imagine if someone had documented the whole Bahamas fiasco?). Curiously, given the lack of amenities, VF said Bahamian tourism officials were totally on board at the time. He's not a horrible guy. email to Swaigen, but that eventually all production companies ultimately April 2: The Wall Street Journal sounds the first public alarm over the fests health with a story bearing the headline: At Up to $250,000 a Ticket, Island Music Festival Woos Wealthy to Stay Afloat. The piece reported that some artists still hadnt been paid what they were owed based on the terms of their contracts, even as the events promoters in recent days made progress in catching up with payments, and in some cases have paid acts in full. It also noted that some fans whopurchased VIP ticket packages that purportedly includedair travel to and from the festival were nervous as the festivals concierge team has been slow to provide them with logistical details., April 26: Vanity Fair asks the burning question: Can a Critical Mass of Victorias Secret Models and a Hadid Give Bahamas Tourism an Insta-Boost? The magazine spoke toMcFarland before things went south. Thesuitaccuses the organizers of fraud, citing the festslack of adequate food, water, shelter, and medical care created a dangerous and panicked situation among attendees suddenly finding themselves stranded on a remote island without basic provisions., The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism releases a statement that same day in defense of Grand Exumafollowing numerous reports about the islands alleged lack of infrastructure. 22. The 2017 luxury music festival that seemed too good to be true and ultimately became a disaster is the subject of a new Hulu docuseries. The documentary was made by Jerry Media (who promoted the festival) and MATTE Projects, which produced the original Fyre Festival promotional video, and employees from both organizations feature in the film, which leads some to wonder how genuine their testimonies are. The day the movie premiered fuckjerry donated $10,000 to Maryann Rolles GoFundMe, the restaurant owner who gave a tearful interview about being screwed out of her savings. Executive Producers: Brett Kincaid, Max Pollack, Matt Rowean Billy isnt living large on Hulus dime, he is currently serving a six year sentence for wire fraud. The festival was scheduled to take place on April 28-30 and May 5-7, 2017, on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma.. Hired to book acts for the festival like Major Lazer and Blink-182, Krost was one of the youngest team members and claimed to have been left with $150,000 on his personal American Express card because of McFarland in the Netflix documentary. The software engineer who worked for Fyre appeared in the Netflix movie and detailed what the experience was like for the production development side of the team, seems to be taking his recent brush with Internet fame in stride. Aks was brought in as the designer for the social feed, and ended up working across multiple design projects for the festival. McFarland has said on Twitter that "Fyre Festival II" is "finally happening". How did it all go so wrong? "I just don't want to necessarily be known as the Blow Job Kind of the world." The twin film (Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Netflix), Fyre Festival Was a Huge Scam. into early release in feature-length form to beat Netflix to the punch. A social host for the NBA and vlogger, Austin Mills hasn't publicly sounded off on his participation in the Hulu doc, but he did retweet the trailer for Fyre Fraud. that a certain theme is resonating deeply with the public. Absolutely Incredible. ", Fyre's creative director became Chrissy Teigen's favorite after she live-tweeted the Hulu doc, and he's spent a lot of time on Twitter explaining how to pronounce his name. McFarland to appear in its documentary. Ah, the thrill! By February of 2018, Swaigen Purzycki was by now a Early 2016: The pair go flying from New York to the Bahamas and in an eerie presaging of the problemsto come their plane runs out of gas and they land on Exumas. The Matte Projects director was hired to do all of the advertising and marketing for the festival, which included directing that first (and only) promo shoot, which went viral due toits major star power. We want to ensure that all stakeholders and guests know of the development and infrastructural capacity of this island., May 2: A second class-actionlawsuit is filed against organizers, this time in Los Angeles Superior Court, claiming defendants tricked people into attending the event by paying more than 400 social media influencers and celebrities to promote it. When Jerry Media CEO Mick, was seeking Michaels participation, both for footage and a possible interview in the Netflix film, he wrote in an email I have final cut on the film and will not be approving anything that is not done with integrity. Luckily, the competing Hulu documentary, Fyre Fraud, wasn't afraid to point fingers directly at Jerry Media.An ex-employee, Oren Aks, alleges in the film that Jerry Media was complicit in Billy . Chris Smith (left), the director of "Fyre," poses with Mick Purzycki, the head of Jerry Media, at the New York screening of the Netflix documentary. email to Michael Swaigen sent by Mick Purzycki dated March 25, 2018, he wrote: I have final cut on the film and But Swaigen recalls One of the agencies did a great job: the event sold out. asking Smith what he knew about Fyre Festival and discovering that Smith in the Netflix movie, according to a deal cut with Jerry Media for 12 percent "People spread rumors about locals wielding machetes, tents and stands being set on fire, and rabid dogs roaming the site (all of which was later revealed to be false)," he wrote. She also recently starred in Deadly Match, a Lifetime movie about a dating site that turns out to be a prostitution hub. knew absolutely nothing.(Update: Vice claims Smith at this time had read everything that was available regarding Fyre Festival.) and ended Ultimately, Chris Smith a hero of the documentary world, use his integrity to sell millennials on a false narrative. told Swaigen, We have to make a recovery documentary. McFarland was trying They uploaded an additional $900 and $1,000 to their respective festival wristbands, which were supposed to enable a cashless event. Jan. 4, 2017: In a since-deleted Instagram post, Pepsi spokesmodel Kendall Jennerannounced her involvement with Fyre with a post in which she said she was so hyped to announce my G.O.O.D. Ja Rule, however, wasnt hearing it. Both documentaries spoke with Jerry Media but only Hulu had a whistleblower. Hulu showed how Jerry Media was complicit in covering up fraud. shape your opinions. surrounding the two documentaries centered on the timing of their release: The "But I grew up in New Jersey, he grew up in New Jersey. The best talent, the best distribution, best social media company. Ive made several documentaries. Want to know what everyone in the music business is talking about. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a Mass chaos. In both cases, the money was meant to go back to Billys victims. The lead organizer of the infamous failed 2017 Fyre festival will immediately begin new ventures in the entertainment industry after being released . Gabrielle Bluestone, Vice News journalist / EP, was the one-stop-shop for all journalist comments. The Netflix documentary (which, we'll add, was co-produced by Jerry Media and Matte Projects who also produced promotion videos for the Fyre festival) looks at what went wrong, how it became such . Furthermore, there A team of Ministry of Tourism representatives is on the island to assist with the organization of a safe return of all Fyre Festival visitors. Netflix, which announced "We were responsible for their social media designs and helping with marketing, pre-launch," Purzycki, the son of the mayor of Wilmington, Delaware, explained to Town Square Delaware. They were excited, but then the roadblocks started popping up. So a festival was a great way to go and do that and beyond people who are attending.. wonders why everybody is so obsessed with Great Exuma. By the end of the documentary, Sabatini said he lost hundreds of thousands of dollars after the weekend was over. Hulu name-checks the Netflix project at the end of its film, noting that it was produced by Matte Projects and social media agency Jerry . Ja helped book talent, and they had hundreds of local Bahamians join in the effort. of the films backend revenue to pay back ticket-holders, but he failed to show up at the last minute. The event organizers assured us that all measures were taken to ensure a safe and successful event but clearly they did not have the capacity to execute an event of this scale, the statement reads. launder the troubled The Fyre Festival was billed as a luxury music experience on a posh private island, but it failed spectacularly in the hands of a cocky entrepreneur. Hulus Fyre Fraud focused on social media marketing agency FuckJerrywhich We come from a preppy background. After we landed, we drove to the festival site to assess our goods. The dream While Fyre Fraud and Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened both provided brief updates on McFarland's current status, not much was revealed about the other parties who agreed to participate in the documentaries and share their stories. 10. (Chris and Mick have not respond a request for comment). Thanks for reading and thanks to all the people who spoke with me on and off the record. As whispers moved across industry that Vice was progressing on a documentary, Hulu wondered if they had enough time. behind-the-scenes footage that is shown in the Netflix doc. Other names that soon joined the listincluded Disclosure, Migos and Lil Yachty, as well as Matoma, Claptone, Tensnake, Daniel Cowel, Lovecraft,Lee Burridgeand other acts for the Pirates Cove EDM stage. McFarland, and their Fyre Media business, PR company 42West and marketing agency Matte Projects are named as defendants. there were accusations from the Netflix camp that Hulu had behaved unethically investigation during the aftermath of the festival was really Fyre Fraud is currently available to stream on Hulu, while Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happenedis available on Netflix. Neither documentary made this clear, but Billy McFarland Billy broke this contract and accepted [Hulus] money. "On film, I was laughing when telling the story, but in reality, at Fyre, we were panicked. Michael didnt return to filming until after the festival, when Billy called Michael asking him to film a bizarro redemption documentary. treatments of the opioid crisis, Ben Is Back and Beautiful Boysuggests Ja Rule and Billy McFarland, during the Fyre Festival commercial shoot. All Rights Reserved. The Fyre Festival account called the confusion "unexpected" on, where . We set up water and waste management, brought an ambulance from New York, and chartered 737 planes to shuttle our guests via 12 flights a day from Miami. It was easy for most of us to mock the Instagram influencers and trust-fund millennials who were duped into attending Fyre Festival, the 2017 "immersive music festival" that turned out to be little more than a handful of disaster tents and slapped-together cheese sandwiches on a strip of rubble in the Bahamas.But Fyre director Chris Smith wasn't interested in "a movie that made fun of . After the festival, he continued to work for the company for six months, but then left to travel "to clear his mind" before returning to L.A. to start his own social media marketing agency. Though it's not mentioned in Fyre Fraud, FYRE was also produced alongside Matte Projects, another company . Tebele and James Ohliger from Jerry Media; Gabrielle Bluestone of Vice; and Max They didn't start the Fyreno, they didn't light it, but they didn't try to fight it. charlatan Billy McFarland ripped off customers who had bought into an Culture. In April of 2017, Chris Smith, the director of Netflix's rollicking ripped-from-social-media documentary Fyre, learned of the ill-fated music festival the same way most people did: He read about .
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