Fyre Fraud (2019)

Concert promoters and rapper Ja Rule advertise a high-end festival experience that fails spectacularly when they don't plan for the infrastructure to support the venue, artists and guests.

Directors:

Jenner Furst, Julia Willoughby Nason

Writers:

Lana Barkin, Jenner Furst

Stars:

Bella Hadid, Ja Rule, Billy McFarland

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Bella Hadid	...	Herself
Ja Rule	...	Himself
Billy McFarland	...	Himself
Jia Tolentino	...	Herself
Austin Mills	...	Himself
Ava Turnquest	...	Herself
Maria Konnikova	...	Herself
Cameron Davison	...	'This Could Be You' Partygoer
Matthew Burton Spector	...	Festival Attendee

Storyline

Concert promoters and rapper Ja Rule advertise a high-end festival experience that fails spectacularly when they don't plan for the infrastructure to support the venue, artists and guests.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Hulu

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 January 2019 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fyre Fraud

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hulu, The Cinemart

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

Billy McFarland agreed to appear in the documentary on condition that he be paid.

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Quotes

Billy McFarland: I think it's really easy to play "Monday morning quarterback" for myself right now, looking back and saying, "I should've done this, should've done that," and I certainly made a lot of mistakes, there's no question about that. But, before we had the worst luck, we had the best luck. It sounds crazy, but so many things had to go right to make it this big of a failure.

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Connections

Features Girls (2012)

User Reviews

Your Fyred

Fyre: 8 out of 10 and Fyre Fraud: 8 out of 10: Two documentaries covering the now infamous Fyre Festival in the Bahamas. Both documentaries consist of plenty of talking heads, promotional footage, behind the scenes footage, and footage from the festival site itself.

On to the questions

So which documentary is better? I gave both documentaries the same score. Both are excellent in their own way and both take a somewhat different look at the events. If I had to choose I would pick the Hulu doc Fyre Fraud.

Why would you pick that documentary? Aren't those are the people that gave money to fraudster Billy McFarland for an interview?: Yes, they are and honestly, they wasted their money. These interview bits are the weakest part of the documentary. What Fyre Fraud does well is it really breaks down Billy's fraud in a way Netflix doesn't. There is a very solid report on his previous business of a "fake" credit card and his ticket broker Ponzi schemes. (Which is, in reality, is why he is in jail along with lying to investors.). It is also more in-depth with the investors to whom he constantly lied to raise more funds for both the Fyre Festival and other ventures.

In addition, the Fyre fraud seems on more solid ground in regards to its expose of influencers and PR firms. It has been noted by others that Billy's PR firm Jerry Media is one of the producers on the Netflix doc. (Though in all fairness it does not escape completely unscathed there either.)

Does the Netflix Doc Fyre do anything better? Yes. The Netflix doc has much better footage particularly of the festival itself. It also focuses more on the outcome for local Bahamian workers that were not paid. Netflix's Fyre also has better behind the scene footage and appears to have more access in regards to both footage and interviews. It also wins on the most outrageous story about the festival. The whole releasing the water from customs sexual favor thing.

Is there really enough material here for one documentary let alone two? Yes. Heck, there is enough for an additional documentary. While both documentaries cover some familiar ground there is plenty of juicy tangents that neither had time to cover. It is actually really neat to watch both documentaries as it gives one a more three-dimensional view of the proceedings. And, let us be honest, there is enough schadenfreude for a tv series.

So everyone in this is either a ripoff artist or a person deserving to get ripped off? Not exactly. First of all, there are some very highly competent people involved. The folks that put out the promotional campaign video and social media blitz did an incredible job. Sure the actual festival itself looked nothing like the video but selling it out in a few days for a first time festival in a foreign country with Blink 182 as a headliner is amazing. That is some Ice selling to Eskimos right there. In addition, the actual application the Fyre festival was meant to promote was, at the very least a good idea. An app that allows private parties to easily search and book available entertainment for the company Christmas party or juniors bar mitzvah certainly is a useful tool. (Many people, including many of the principals of the Fyre company, do forget that the festival was simply supposed to be a marketing event for the app, not a business in and of itself.)

So what is your takeaway? Music festivals are awful. Full stop. There is a reason the music festival scene dies every decade only to be reborn the next. They are awful so you have to wait till a new generation of idiots grows up to learn that hard lesson first hand.

I mean even if they were able to pull this off you still just spent $1500 to sleep in a tent on gravel with no air conditioning to listen to Blink 182.

Heck most music festivals, even the ones that manage to have bands show up, are as bad or worse than the Fyre festival. One of the interviewees has been roundly mocked in comparing the troubles Fyre had to Woodstock. He really isn't that much off. I mean food and water ran out in the first day at Woodstock and the army had to airlift supplies. Plus I don't recall the organizers at Woodstock offering fancy tents with air mattresses. Okay fine Woodstock had great music as well as Sha Na Na and it makes a great film and it defined a generation. The interviewee seemed young maybe he meant Woodstock '99.

Both documentaries are great in their own way and both introduce topics, worlds, and trends that are interesting after the documentary has concluded. I would recommend both so you can take in all the Fyre Festival goodness. Now if I can only figure out why I keep calling it the "fry" festival instead of the "fire" festival we will be all good.