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? Fyre Festival will hold you accountable and responsible. email to Swaigen, but that eventually all production companies ultimately It was to organize the most expensive, the most exclusive festival on our planet. Her Instagram is currently set to privateand the couple is still believed to be together. Club stated that "Fyre is the stronger, more worthwhile documentary, but its counterpart is a helpful reminder that, like so many stories, one account can't contain the whole truth. facts alone are strong evidence that Fyre Netflix movie because it was owned by his contractor at the time, Matte Projects, whose co-founder himself started working on a recovery documentary as soon as Fyre Festival . Absolutely Incredible. up in jail for wire fraud. Ad agency Matte Projects raised $5 million from Forest Road Company, an entertainment-focused SPAC. producers were Elliot Though his editing authority was later superseded by the distribution (The M is not silent.). May 9: The hits just keep on coming, as a suit against Rule andMcFarland is filed in Manhattan by two disgruntled attendees, Sean Daly and Edward Ivey, who claim in their class-action lawsuit that the two engaged in breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation of claims,unjust enrichment and violation of New York state business law. . MATTE Projects is a branding & design agency in NYC focused on creating impactful cultures through vision & creativity. California from the recovery shoot, McFarland dropped out of contact, leaving It was at this stage that Bluestone contacted him, saying was a movie there. It has a long employee Oren Aks has said that the company was aware of Fyre Festivals According to the GoFundMe page, the company donated $20,000 to Rolle's campaign, with the site's founder Elliot Tebele donating an addition $20,000. (OK, I guess they are pretty bad fraudsters.). We spoke last week, before Hulu pulled a Beyonc and surprised dropped their own Fyre Festival . After he completes his time in jail, he will be serve three years of supervised release. As a result, I've lived every day in prison with pain, and I will continue to do so until I am able to make up for some of this harm through work and actions that society finds respectable.". with Mick Purzycki, who had been busy rebranding FuckJerry as a media studio that a certain theme is resonating deeply with the public. 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 . 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. told Swaigen, We have to make a recovery documentary. McFarland was trying The Faces of the Fyre Festival Documentaries: What Are They Up to Now? Thank u for bearing with us as we attempt to accommodate guest needs, Fyre Festival (@fyrefestival) April 28, 2017, GUEST W/ PENDING TRAVELDue to circumstances beyond our control, inbound flights have been canceled. Their documentary which, based on IMDB ratings, got about six times as many views: (ii) hid disclosure; (iii) had executive producers (EP) complimenting themselves; (iv) brushed over how comments were deleted; (v) didnt interview non-Vice journalists; (vi) missed out on a key interview who foresaw ethical problems; (vii) didnt mention how their EPs are named in at least four lawsuits; (viii) and ultimately let the subjects paint themselves as victims. The key difference between the Hulu Behind the scenes of the Fyre Festival commercial shoot. The messaging was clear. Her reporting was good but only publicly announced interest the day before the festival started. Unlike a Producer credit, associate producers get no control over the final edit Michael was okay with this since he implicitly trusted the Hulu directors because of their past work. 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. Thousands of people wanted to come. Title Design: Shreya Chopra 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 . performing fellatio on a customs official to extract a detained shipment of Bluestone remains one of the documentarys executive producers, but Purzycki Brett Kincaid, a director at Matte Projects, was hired by Fyre Media to do all the marketing and advertising for the event. proposed arrangement, undermining Smiths accusations of unethical behavior by Hulu.). approached Jerry Media for footage in December 2017, which Netflix also Tebele and James Ohliger from Jerry Media; Gabrielle Bluestone of Vice; and Max "I quickly criticized the [advertising agency] Matte Projects' website it looked like something for a Sandals resort," he says. of the films backend revenue to pay back ticket-holders, but he failed to show up at the last minute. email to Michael Swaigen sent by Mick Purzycki dated March 25, 2018, he wrote: I have final cut on the film and Three of six executive producers appeared in the Netflix documentary. There was not a long, beautiful beach populated by swimming pigs. who had initially approached Vice with an idea for a documentary about Fyre Festival Swaigen had shot the viral The disastrous fallout from the canceled Fyre Festival continues, . 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. 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. He also wrote, "I too was hustled, scammed, bamboozled, hood winked, lead astray!!!". "Fyre Festival levels of hype w/ Fyre Festival levels of execution," someone summed up. A byword for con artists who offer up a vision of sun-kissed perfection, but in reality, deliver chaos and disappointment . At this point, Swaigen Seth Crossno, a blogger and podcaster, and his three friends spent $45,000 (34,785) on . I have final cut on the film Mick Purzycki (Jerry Media CEO) to Michael Swaigen. National Event Services v. Fyre Festival et al. If you didnt pause the video you would have been distracted from the DM on Instagram part. 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. Fyre Festival is a story MATTE; MATTE Projects; MATTE World; Originators; Finish; MATTE Films; CONTACT; Connect. Brett Kincaid - Matte Projects Director. What I was laughing about on film was the fact the absurdity of the whole situation in retrospect. Location: The Bahamas, and more specifically the island that once belonged to Pablo Escobar himself. [11], On the 71st Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Fyre earned four nominations, Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special, Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program, Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction Program (Single or Multi-Camera), and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction Program (Single or Multi-Camera). The Netflix doc has a much different story. While Hulu's seemed to be openly mocking the influencer culture that contributed to the mess happening in the first place, Netflix gave a more behind-the-scenes look into how McFarland was able (and enabled, in some ways) to keep the scheme afloat until it was too late and a cheese sandwich went viral. Built responsively, with a third party ticketing integration, the website was built to withstand the millions of hits generated by influencer and media promotion. After his sentencing, McFarland, now 27, issued an apology to People. We are grateful that Michael took everything into producer of Hulus Fyre Fraud and appears They are doing it again, just under It promised artists like Blink-182 and Major Lazer performing in the Bahamas . Billy McFarland owes millions from multiple settlements. Thankfully, there is a collection of Slack and iMessages between Fyre and Jerry Media in the lawsuit against Jerry Media. Then I went all on my own & paid money to go with my friends. The many businesses involved are depending on Fyres ability to deliver. Explaining how Rule and McFarland convinced so many people to buy tickets without an announced lineup, the mag said the pair personally invited 400 influencers in various sectors, whose only job was to post an orange fire-likesquare to Instagram at a certain time on a certain day in December to announce the fest to the public. ), Hollywood Fyre Festival is a product of Fyre Media, an entertainment booking startup that that rapper Ja Rule launched with his tech partner Billy McFarland in 2015 . launder the troubled He also posted a link to Rolle's GoFundMe campaign on his Instagram. director The worker is dark-skinned and in silhouette, he looks towards the camera and dissonant keyboard music plays. Fyre: Directed by Chris Smith. Lee feels standing out from the crowd is crucial to be an Originator. Fortunately, a GoFundMe campaign was able to help Rolle out, raising more than its initial $123,000 goal, with many of the organizations and individuals behind the festival making donations. Billy isnt living large on Hulus dime, he is currently serving a six year sentence for wire fraud. The Fyre Festival is a gift that keeps on giving for video streaming services, as Netflix today announced a documentary about the disastrous 2017 festival, which collapsed before it even started an Chris Smith said, After Mayhem in the Bahamas . Ultimately, Chris Smith a hero of the documentary world, use his integrity to sell millennials on a false narrative. It is like God is watching over us.". . a bunch of money. Swaigen began to film with a documentary in mind. treatments of the opioid crisis. A ticketed fanwho goes by the alias William N. Finley IV begins chronicling the madness with a series of instantly viralposts showing the poor conditions, soon joined by many other disgruntled travelers. An editing decision that Gavin McInnes would be proud of. May 4: As Fyre quickly briefly rivals Pres. not vice is a blog about the Vice Media: the dumpster Fyre of media companies. 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. In January of 2018, Swaigen met The breakout moment from Netflix's documentary? Ever since the release of the dueling Fyre Festival documentaries, Hulu's Fyre Fraud and Netflix'sFyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, the Internet just can't get enough of the you-can't-make-this-s--t-up details about the rise and demise of Billy McFarland and Ja Rule's 2017 music-festival-turned-national-headline-disaster. there were accusations from the Netflix camp that Hulu had behaved unethically but Chriss production company is running the team. MATTE is a film production, creative agency in NYC. 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. In fact, Fyre posits that the blame was solely McFarlands. Ja Rule and Billy McFarland, during the Fyre Festival commercial shoot. "The Fyre guys were partying non-stop sunup to . 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. How could Vice let seasoned festival experts act as if they were hoodwinked? The company released By February of 2018, Swaigen Michael turned down the Netflix team and only participated in the Hulu doc. From Matte Projects/Courtesy of Fyre. hashtag #FuckFuckJerry. Watch a teaser video below; a proper trailer is expected in the coming days. Quick summary of the lawsuits (DOE defendants are yet-to-be named defendents): When asked Whos guilty? Oren, the whistleblower in the Hulu doc says Everyone. One of the festival's attendees who ended up pursuing legal action, Cressno appeared in both documentaries to recount his experience with Fyre, and told the L.A. Times he preferred his experience with the filmmakers of the Netflix film. Ive made several documentaries. accounts end up pointing the viewer toward the truth. There was not enough space to build all the tents and green rooms they would need. By the end of the documentary, Sabatini said he lost hundreds of thousands of dollars after the weekend was over. (Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Netflix), Fyre Festival Was a Huge Scam. Viki Segar summing things up well saying if youre a partner in [Fyre] and you have the information that this is going to be a shit-storm you should tell somebody. wonders why everybody is so obsessed with Great Exuma. Here's a timeline of the Fyre fall: 2015: McFarland, 25 the name behind Magnises, a credit card company aimed at millennials that promised cool trips and concert tickets that some members . ", "Who has the better Fyre Festival documentary, Netflix or Hulu? At the time, Matte was about to start their own film on Fyre and obviously, they had all this footage from their experience . March 12: Two months out,word begins to leak out about festival headliners, including the addition ofBlink-182. When Netflix announced mid-December a launch the following month, Hulu rushed to be first. payment. is Fyre Fraud versus Fyre, streaming on Hulu and Netflix, respectively. Now in its 10th year, Matte Projects is a New York-based creative agency and event production company, responsible for a range of entertainment, Hollywood-centric activations, including a recent Macallan James Bond 60th Anniversary celebrations at the infamous John . ** Vice confirmed the way the movie was produced suggests that FuckJerry used the film to CEO of FuckJerry, Mick Purzycki, who was a producer of Fyre, also claimed to have final cut over the documentary while Both films featured interviews with the major players behind Fyre, even McFarland himself (who was paid by Hulu for the exclusive sitdown), as well as people close to McFarland, the localBahamian workers whose lives were impacted greatly, and the influencers who ended up sleeping in the unfinished tents in the Bahamas when they were expecting luxurious suites. Fyre Festival was a fraudulent luxury music festival founded by con artist Billy McFarland and rapper Ja Rule.It was created with the intent of promoting the company's Fyre app for booking music talent. 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. v. Fyre Media Inc., Billy McFarland, Jeffrey Atkins a/k/a Ja Rule, Matte Projects LLC and Does 1 through 100, Superior Court of California, County . The festival was meant to promote the new Fyre music booking app, and they hired . "Originally people were just like reaching out to me all the time and I was just like, I don't want to hear it. 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. January 12: Organizers release a nearly two-minute,splashy announcement ad on YouTubeshowcasing the islands crystal blue waters, highlighted by longing close-ups of bikini-cladmodels on a remote private island they claim was once owned by [drug lord] Pablo Escobar. Matte . he tweeted. words, feeding information about the Vice documentary back to the other camp. Among those who reportedly complied: professional surfer Anastasia Ashley, Miami Dolphins all-pro safetyMike Thomas and models, lots of models. It was only a few months ago that Hulu was working on a 34 part miniseries about the Fyre Festival. These models were filmed hanging out in yachts, drinking champagne, hanging out with pigs on the beach. 2023 E! Hulus money (125k or less, rumored to be between 50100k [Hulu spokesperson declined to comment]) in theory would to go his victims. This deep dive into festival disaster earned four Emmy nods, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special. Of course, Jerry Media denies such accusations. With Billy McFarland, Jason Bell, Gabrielle Bluestone, Shiyuan Deng. Some of his footage ended up in the Netflix movie because it was owned by his contractor at the time, Matte Projects, whose co-founder Brett Kincaid also co-produced Fyre. The Fyre Festival account called the confusion "unexpected" on, where . "Fyre doc has flooded my inbox with people looking for (gullible?) Matte Projects / Courtesy of Fyre. 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. Keduanya adalah perusahaan yang memegang keseluruhan produk promosi untuk festival itu di berbagai media sosial, dan juga yang mengerjakan ragam video untuk Fyre Festival. From there, I got connected with Jerry Media and Matte Projects. McFarland left 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. Reports emerge that fest organizers have fired off cease and desist letters to at least one disgruntled festivalgoer, claimingthat their gripes thatcommunications on the island were non-existent and there was nothing but disaster relief tents that were on the verge of blowing over are untrue and could incite violence, rioting, or civil unrest. If the fan in question doesnt take the posts down and someone innocent does get hurt as a result, the attorneys promise, Fyre Festival will hold you accountable and responsible.. proposed arrangement, undermining Smiths accusations of unethical behavior by Hulu. Pollack, Matthew Rowean, and Brett Kincaid of Matte Projects. Defendant Matte Projects, LLC ("Matte") was a business entity incorporated under the laws of the state of New York at all times relevant to this action. seem to channel the spirit of the times, bedeviled by grifters and cheats, all The . 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 . Hulu put emphasis on the many red flags. 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 to its major . Fans on the ground tell Billboard that they arrived on Exumas to find a half-finished site with no communication on the island and flimsydisaster relief tents instead of well-appointed rooms. began to fall apart. Jerry Media is experienced in blocking criticis who accuse them of stealing. social media with Fyres false advertisements. Your source for entertainment news, celebrities, celeb news, and celebrity gossip. under garish anecdotes about blowjobs-for-Evian. [9], In reviewing Fyre and Fyre Fraud, a similar documentary that premiered on Hulu, The A.V. Speaking to Billboard, an agent who had a headliner slated to play saidorganizers had to renegotiatethe guarantees they were offering some artists after the cost of hosting the ambitious festival began to spiral out of control. Rule mentioned that Hulu was in talks to make a documentary. He defrauded investors of $27.4 million by marketing and selling tickets to the festival and other events. Executive Producers: Brett Kincaid, Max Pollack, Matt Rowean Typically, an EP provides funding or something worth money (eg: footage, access) in order to be tied into the financial success of the film. I was under the radar for like a year." YourTube/Fyre Festival Fyre Festival organizers Billy McFarland and Ja Rule . Purzycki has pivoted . We didnt just want to be a tech company that was a pure enterprise with no consumer awareness, McFarland said of the event the magazine referred to as a brand activation cloaked in a Coachella-esque vibe. FuckJerry has some serious But by the end of 2018, he moved abroad permanently. The great He made a hand gesture to illustrate his point. producer of the documentary; Swaigen speculates that he managed to finagle that Are Fyre Festival organizers in over their heads? final cut claim, telling me that Jerry Media did not have final cut. Brett Kincaid continues to work in content creation and was a part of the team that made the Netflix documentary . (Vice Media produced the Netflix doc. The doc is produced by Vice Studios, Library Films, Jerry Media and Matte Projects. in August 2017. edged out. "You get a couple more followers, people hit you upeveryone comes out of the woodwork," he said on the We're All Psychos podcast. DANIEL VOSHART works in architecture and virtual reality. At the dawn of 2019, our twin film obsession But as several journalists have observed, none of the tickets production of the film itself. of the films backend revenue to pay back ticket-holders, but he failed to show up at the last minute. Videos FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened. Furthermore, in an The twin film 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. , the grift may have seeped into the (May 5 2017) Reel et al v. McFarland et al names Matte Projects as a defendant (+DOES) (May 9 2017) Seth Crossno, et al v. Fyre Festival, et al (Billy did no show up to court and judge awarded 5 Million no payments have been made) (May 10 2017) EHL Funding LLC v. McFarlane, et al (Oct 2 2017) USA v. The event was promoted on Instagram by social media influencers including . MATTE Projects, in addition, was the creative agency behind the marketing and advertising of the Festival. . December 2016: As part of the organizers plan to leverage social influencers to sell tickets, models Bella Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski and a few fabulous friends are flown down to the islands to give feedback for the launch of Fyre, where accordingto an Elle magazine article from the time ticket buyers could look forward to yoga on the beach, water trampolines, seabobbing music, art, food and $1 million of real treasure and jewels hidden around the island., A post shared by Bella Hadid (@bellahadid) on Dec 11, 2016 at 2:13pm PST, Dec. 12, 2016: The fest posts the now-infamous teaser video promising the best of everything. And Crawford recently talked about all the attention he's been receiving since the movie's release. Furthermore, there To help the real victims: donate to Maryann Rolle (she reached her goal) or Exuma Foundation for the day laborers impacted by Fyre. After early screenings at There were very confidential messages about a date change from Grant Margolin months before the festival. 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. "I hope she feels better soon. . There was an initial agreement that 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 . "This is not the way to be known!" It will stream the untitled project about the Fyre Festival . The true names and . "it's very different, but it's similar," Ja Rule admits in a clip from his interview on a show called Drink Champs in the Hulu doc of the comparison of ICONN to Fyre. Krost started his own clothing line, KROST, describing it on Instagram as "a youth-inspired label rooted in the idea of friendship.". But in the case of Netflixs Fyre, the grift may have seeped into the Billy McFarland, and Fyre Media), as well as PR company 42West and marketing agency Matte Projects. EPs have direct and indirect influence over the final cut. 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. staffers, including its founder Elliot Tebele, who is now receiving an intense Michael sought permission from Matte Projects but they rejected the idea (NOTE: imagine if someone had documented the whole Bahamas fiasco?). But nothing had been done. She said no vendors had been secured, no stages rented and no transportation arranged. is partially a cover-up, shot and edited to conceal FuckJerrys mistakes The unattributed statement (approved director Chris Smith) said At no time did [Jerry Media, Matte Projects], or any others we worked with, request favorable coverage in our film, which would be against our ethics., Chris Smith threw shade at Hulu when he said he rejected a deal with Billy McFarland the millennial goon now in jail for fraud charges. production of the film itself. Finley provides the most colorful account of Fyre Festival's opening-night mania. Heres a timeline of the Fyrefall: 2015: McFarland, 25 the name behind Magnises, a credit card company aimed at millennials that promised cool trips and concert tickets that some members say werent delivered meets Ja Rule, and the unlikely duo bond over their love of flying smallairplanes and hip-hop. Is Netflixs. behind-the-scenes footage that is shown in the Netflix doc. ", "Netflix's Fyre Festival doc beats out Hulu's version for best documentary Emmy nomination", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fyre_(film)&oldid=1148626761, This page was last edited on 7 April 2023, at 10:06. a social media marketing company. "I had an amazing vision to create a festival like NO OTHER!!! (H/T Tyler A King). Production: MATTE Projects, Jerry Media, Vice Studios, Library Films
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