matte projects fyre festival

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. Literally slices of bread, cheese, and salad with no dressing. Gabrielle documentary, FuckJerry was aware of the problems in the festivals production, He then wrote, "if you're interested in startups, influencer marketing, the entertainment industry, or just watching people fail miserably, check out FYRE on Netflix. his footage. The festival is being postponed until we can further assess if and when we are able to create the high-quality experience we envisioned., The Bahamian Ministry of Tourismissues their own statement, blaming the disastrous festival on Fyres organizers. behind a trail of unpaid debts, notably to the residents of Great Exuma itself, They were excited, but then the roadblocks started popping up. Jerry Media is experienced in blocking criticis who accuse them of stealing. mysterious orange squares to tease its announcement. The dream since it was produced in part by Jerry Media and Matte Projectstwo of the companies behind the promotion of the actual festival. 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 . Attendees Matthew Herlihy and Anthony Lauriello each paid $1,027 for their weekend tickets, including airfare from Miami, according to their lawsuit. The two movies ended up How did it all go so wrong? "The Hulu doc," he told the publication, "felt like their take is that influencers and social media is really to blame for the whole thing." 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. BC 659938; Chelsea Chinery et al. After the Vice office visit, Swaigen Hulu paid for an interview with Billy McFarland, the brain behind Fyre Festival, but (i) Netflix also negotiated a deal. Lee feels standing out from the crowd is crucial to be an Originator. Swaigen was wary of Vices flashy ethos, and left feeling dubious The Fyre Festival was announced on January 12, 2017, through a video that promises a "transformative experience" on a private island. March 12: Two months out,word begins to leak out about festival headliners, including the addition ofBlink-182. I don't want to be living it. email to Swaigen, but that eventually all production companies ultimately 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. These companies have been used, in effect, as the 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. 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. seem to channel the spirit of the times, bedeviled by grifters and cheats, all Angus MacEwan, the former svp of marketing & US business for High Snobiety, is joining Matte Projects in a newly created CMO role. Now, documents show that the Jerry media is trying to bounce their bad image, Exuma Foundation for the day laborers impacted by Fyre. mysteriously quiet on that issue, instead highlighting eye-poppingly nefarious to work with us.. A short time later, Rule and McFarland release a joint statement to Billboard, apologizing for the mess and promisingfull refunds as well as free VIP passes for next years re-do: Billy McFarland and Ja Rule started a partnershipovera mutual interest in technology, the ocean, and rap music. In of the films backend revenue to pay back ticket-holders, but he failed to show up at the last minute. Matte . After he completes his time in jail, he will be serve three years of supervised release. 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. Kendall better delete this. March 25 2018. 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. The Fyre Festival. same topic, its a banner day for cultural criticism. It has a long While McFarland all but fired the team after the festival's demise, Deng came out OK: she is now one of Nike's design leads, according to her Linkedin page. "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. 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. Jo Livingstone is a former staff writer at The New Republic. The film was co-produced by Jerry Media, the social media agency responsible for promoting the Fyre Festival and covering up the fraud, and MATTE Projects, the production company that directed the Fyre Festival's promotional shoot. As Fyre Festival melted . 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. He told me that he carefully considered both filmaking teams and decided that morally he could only participate in the Hulu doc. And Crawford recently talked about all the attention he's been receiving since the movie's release. Check out the hottest fashion, photos, movies and TV shows! Michael didnt return to filming until after the festival, when Billy called Michael asking him to film a bizarro redemption documentary. After conferring with our counsel and all financial people, unfortunately we are not able to proceed with payroll, McFarlandcan be heard saying. production of the film itself. After we landed, we drove to the festival site to assess our goods. This was superseded by the distribution agreement California from the recovery shoot, McFarland dropped out of contact, leaving After the campaign exceeded its goal, Kincaid wrote on Instagram, "That's just fantastic! McFarland has said on Twitter that "Fyre Festival II" is "finally happening". Due to circumstances out of our control, the physical infrastructure was not in place on time and we are unable to fulfill on that vision safely and enjoyably for our guests, a statement from organizers released on Friday morning reads. Billy broke this contract and accepted [Hulus] money. Vice flew Swaigen out to New The event was promoted on Instagram by social media influencers including . When the seasoned event producer admitted he was willing to perform oral sex on a customs officer in order to gain access to water for the festival at McFarland's request. Max Pollack - Matte Projects. The website's critical consensus reads, "Fyre smolders with agonizing tension when a party in paradise goes awry, but this slickly assembled documentary reserves its greatest horror for damning observations about the dangers of wealth. Hulu is fighting "Fyre" with Fyre. was FuckJerry that had hyped up the festival into an Instagram craze, using 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. and ended He was also barred from serving as a director or officer of a company for seven years, though he never admitted to or denied the SEC's charges. King, 57, is still working as an event producer through his company, Inward Point. When we arrived, my initial reaction was huh.This was not a model-filled private cay that was owned by Pablo Escobar.This was a development lot covered in gravel with a few tractors scattered around. 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. Netflix will release Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened streaming exclusively starting January 18th this month. 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. #fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/m9G2Xu1LNS. He launched Viceland as its head of development, and left Vice altogether during the making of the documentary. Netflix said that the movie was directed by Smith, and that the executive Built responsively, with a third party ticketing integration, the website was built to withstand the millions of hits generated by influencer and media promotion. "I hope she feels better soon. is partially a cover-up, shot and edited to conceal FuckJerrys mistakes Production: MATTE Projects, Jerry Media, Vice Studios, Library Films producers were Elliot When two movies come out on the Pollack, Matthew Rowean, and Brett Kincaid of Matte Projects. (Cressno inadvertently became an influencer after starting an account for his fictional influencer persona.). who had initially approached Vice with an idea for a documentary about Fyre Festival Both movies . it was being put together. Billy McFarland, who served four years in prison after being convicted of wire fraud for his role in securing . Within about a week of the failed Fyre Festival, six separate lawsuits have been filed - some of which may be consolidated. It is like God is watching over us.". Seth Crossno, a blogger and podcaster, and his three friends spent $45,000 (34,785) on . Though his editing authority was later superseded by the distribution Mayhem in the Bahamas . himself started working on a recovery documentary as soon as Fyre Festival 561 Broadway, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10012 An exclusive behind the scenes look at the infamous unraveling of the Fyre music festival. problems far earlier than it has claimed, and therefore needs to be held Brett Kincaid - Matte Projects Director. Sound familiar? Fyre Festival is now the subject of two new documentaries, one of which premieres on Netflix on Friday. There was not a long, beautiful beach populated by swimming pigs. For other uses, see, List of original films distributed by Netflix, "Get ready to binge: Here's what you can expect from Netflix in 2019", "8 Takeaways From Hulu's Surprise-Released Fyre Festival Doc", "The social media company behind Fyre Festival lost more than 200,000 Instagram followers after being accused of plagiarizing its posts", "Netflix's 'Fyre': Inside the Millennial Scam of the Decade", "Both Fyre Fest Documentaries Have Issues (But, Yeah, We're Obsessed Anyway)", "Fyre Festival Was a Huge Scam. One of the agencies did a great job: the event sold out. Because McFarland and the festival didn't pay their customs bill, all of Sabatini's equipment was seized by the government. All rights reserved. An editing decision that Gavin McInnes would be proud of. 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? ", "Who has the better Fyre Festival documentary, Netflix or Hulu? "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. ), Hollywood Her reporting was good but only publicly announced interest the day before the festival started. employee Oren Aks has said that the company was aware of Fyre Festivals 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 Its scary to think about how Fyre Festival would have been portrayed if Hulu hadnt rushed its movie out. The Fyre Festival account called the confusion "unexpected" on, where . supports HTML5 video, Director: Chris Smith Following Fyre Festival, Margolin agreed to pay a $35,000 penalty. Evian water. With Billy McFarland, Jason Bell, Gabrielle Bluestone, Shiyuan Deng. Purzycki was by now a The spot promisesthe best in food, art, music and adventure amid footage of luxury yachts, jet skis and yet more models cavorting on the boundaries of theimpossible.. 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. Videos FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened. It seemed like no one was in charge, he says. Thankfully, there is a collection of Slack and iMessages between Fyre and Jerry Media in the lawsuit against Jerry Media. 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. (The M is not silent.). Ad agency Matte Projects raised $5 million from Forest Road Company, an entertainment-focused SPAC. And he also responded to someone criticizing him on Twitter, writing, "Find out facts before you speak out manMy influencing' had nothing to do with fyre. If you cant get enough of Fyre: subscribe to Dumpster Fyre Podcast. Skip to Content. Contact 561 Broadway 6th Floor New York, NY 10012 +1 (646) 854 2652 info@matteprojects.com FuckJerry has some serious never materializedinstead of champagne and concerts and luxury villas, ticket-holders By February of 2018, Swaigen Brett Kincaid also co-produced Fyre. "This is not the way to be known!" The best talent, the best distribution, best social media company. of the films backend revenue to pay back ticket-holders, but he failed to show up at the last minute. The worker is dark-skinned and in silhouette, he looks towards the camera and dissonant keyboard music plays. "[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". washing machine through which FuckJerry (and Matte, to some extent) laundered asking Smith what he knew about Fyre Festival and discovering that Smith Swaigen emailed Special Thanks: Joachim Johnson, MATTE IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF MATTE PROJECTS, LLC. How could Vice let seasoned festival experts act as if they were hoodwinked? But Swaigen recalls When Fyre Festival was an enviable account, Jerry Media benefited from their partnership. The festival's marketing agency also co-produced the film, resulting in a misleading version of who bears responsibility for the fraud. either party could walk away at any point and retain the rights to what they Tebele and James Ohliger from Jerry Media; Gabrielle Bluestone of Vice; and Max But by the end of 2018, he moved abroad permanently. when that final cut was made, FuckJerry was still heavily involved. 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 . 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. up in jail for wire fraud. 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. Flying in, the water looked beautiful but I was almost immediately warned not to go near it because of a rampant shark problem. 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. with a bunch of pigs, he observes.) of a handful of men who control the images that appear on your social media and Of course, Jerry Media denies such accusations. He has hurt a lot of people. It was at this stage that Bluestone contacted him, saying 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. The press kit for "Fyre" also explains the decision to work alongside Jerry Media and Matte Projects, another advertising company for the festival, was "crucial" as they both had a lot of . They didn't start the Fyreno, they didn't light it, but they didn't try to fight it. After Swaigen returned to investigation during the aftermath of the festival was really The . Chris Smith said, After Ja Rule and Billy McFarland, during the Fyre Festival commercial shoot. 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. 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. The Executive Producer role IS A PREFERRED ROLE. Fyre Festival con man Billy McFarland is ready to entertain again. I just don't care,'" he told Page Six. In effect, they imply that the festival gives the average . Fyre was billed as the party of a lifetime, a glamorous, luxurious, exclusive music festival on Pablo Escobar's private island in the Bahamas. (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. Kincaid still serves as the creative director of Matte Projects, which he co-founded, and the company donated $5,000 to Rolle's GoFundMe. I have final cut on the film Mick Purzycki (Jerry Media CEO) to Michael Swaigen. "The Fyre guys were partying non-stop sunup to . Will I probably go visit him someday? "Fyre Festival II is finally happening," the promoter tweeted with the requisite flame emoji. with Mick Purzycki, who had been busy rebranding FuckJerry as a media studio Around the time Blink bailed, attendees started floodingRedditandTwitterwith complains that the grounds were not ready when they arrived on Thursday(April 27). behind-the-scenes footage that is shown in the Netflix doc. The Russian model, who has shot campaigns for Balmain and Guess, met McFarland after the Fyre Festival debacle, calling it "destiny.". The doc is produced by Vice Studios, Library Films, Jerry Media and Matte Projects. Both men say they havent been able to access those funds since. ** Vice confirmed the of Netflixs announcement, the producer list had become dominated by personnel edged out. He also helped start a GoFundMe to help pay back all of the local Bahamian workers who were not compensated for their tireless efforts to help put the festival together. began to fall apart. anecdotes, like event producer Andy Kings claim that he came very close to Furthermore, in an Despite their flaws, both are worth watching if you know the inherent conflicts of interest. Want to know what everyone in the music business is talking about. not vice is a blog about the Vice Media: the dumpster Fyre of media companies. "Originally people were just like reaching out to me all the time and I was just like, I don't want to hear it. Is Netflix's Fyre Documentary a Scam, Too? 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. 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. came into the project with. social media with Fyres false advertisements. *An earlier version of this article stated that Brendan Fitzgerald founded Viceland, and dropped out of the Fyre Festival documentary. like Netflix and Vice. They started by making a website and launching a viral campaign. This sums up Fyre Festival. He declined to participate in either documentary. This is a dramatic change of tone from earlier reporting where Vice called fuckjerry art plagiarists who were known to crop creators watermarks out of their original memes when reposting them. Why? Bottom line: The wave of support convinced them to add more seasoned event experts and try again next year, but this time on a U.S. beach venue. The twin film its acquisition of Fyre on December Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened is a 2019 American documentary film about Billy McFarland and the failed Fyre Festival of 2017. The bid seemed to have worked, since general admission tickets reportedly sold out before the lineup was announced. him screwed out of money, he said, and wondering what to do with his footage. YourTube/Fyre Festival Fyre Festival organizers Billy McFarland and Ja Rule . There was not enough space to build all the tents and green rooms they would need. 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. knew absolutely nothing.(Update: Vice claims Smith at this time had read everything that was available regarding Fyre Festival.) "I've always soughtand dreamedto accomplish incredible things by pushing the envelope to deliver for a common good, but I made many wrong and immature decisions along the way and I caused agony. (OK, I guess they are pretty bad fraudsters.). Hulu has one-upped Netflix, dropping their own competing documentary about the Fyre Festival just four days before Netflix had announced they would release . Gabrielle Bluestone, Vice News journalist / EP, was the one-stop-shop for all journalist comments. The true names and . approached Jerry Media for footage in December 2017, which Netflix also 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 . ), Like all great stories, this one begins with a voyage, A post shared by FYRE FESTIVAL (@fyrefestival) on Dec 12, 2016 at 3:36pm PST, Dec. 13, 2016: The model-heavy tease obviously worked, since one fashion blog asked: Hey, Quick Question: Whats Fyre Festival, And Why Are All the Models in the Bahamas Promoting It?, A post shared by Lais Ribeiro (@laisribeiro) on Dec 12, 2016 at 3:21am PST. Netflixs documentary producer, Mick, the Jerry Media CEO, says in the doc, off-camera, that Grant Margolin, was trying to use our employees for customer service but isnt what we were hired to do. Ja Rule, however, wasnt hearing it. Typically, an EP provides funding or something worth money (eg: footage, access) in order to be tied into the financial success of the film. told Swaigen, We have to make a recovery documentary. McFarland was trying He also says that comments were screen-grabbed then deleted but this is a distortion of the truth. history: Oscar Wilde versus The Trials of Oscar Wilde in 1960, The Conversation versus The Parallax View in 1974, Armageddon versus Deep Impact in 1998. producer of the documentary; Swaigen speculates that he managed to finagle that While it may be true that nobody asked for favorable treatment, the filmmakers gave favorable treatment by hard-wiring its subjects as producers. After all, the Fyre Festival is "luxury." That high price would not only get you performances from Pusha T, Migos, Blink 182, and Major Lazer, it . way the movie was produced suggests that FuckJerry used the film to Theyve readied the excursions, provided the jet skis for rent, made the yacht marinas available, and tapped the University of Bahamas culinary division to prepare food. Oren Aks, the Jerry Media whistleblower, took to Twitter and Instagram calling his former employers tactic a scam. All Rights Reserved. The Fyre Festival, Built on Instagram, Dies by Instagram . says, Bluestone and Fitzgerald had stopped talking to him. Your source for entertainment news, celebrities, celeb news, and celebrity gossip. Originators offer artists and patrons a space to connect, originate and inspire future talents," suggested Valente. Location: The Bahamas, and more specifically the island that once belonged to Pablo Escobar himself. What I was laughing about on film was the fact the absurdity of the whole situation in retrospect. Fitzgerald, who launched the Viceland cable channel (he eventually left the company).*. Fyre Festival was billed as a luxury music/vacation/Instagram experience that would blow Coachella out of the water. 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. This is how we got dueling docs. 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. 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. **An earlier version of this article stated that McFarland had reached an agreement with Jerry Media to appear in Fyre in exchange for revenue to pay McFarlands debts. (He also plead guilty to two counts of wire fraud, including one for NYC VIP Access, the bogus ticketing scheme he created while out on bail.) MATTE Projects, in addition, was the creative agency behind the marketing and advertising of the Festival. All disappointingin the same way: theyrerip-offs that leaveyou feeling like a chump. the FEMA tents; Jan 11: Billboard reports that Major Lazer has joined the festival lineup. 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. Ja helped book talent, and they had hundreds of local Bahamians join in the effort. Those (Also, check out this purported 43-pagepitch deck sent out to potential Fyre investors. A contradiction to Netflixs filmmaker statement on preferential treatment of its subjects. She also recently starred in Deadly Match, a Lifetime movie about a dating site that turns out to be a prostitution hub. 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. that a certain theme is resonating deeply with the public. role because Purzycki had direct knowledge of the Fyre debacle and could possibly negotiate an appearance from McFarland. final cut claim, telling me that Jerry Media did not have final cut. Talk about talking #friendshipgoals to a whole new level. The campaign described above that they set in motion was, at bottom, a reckless disregard for reality and at worse, a blatant falsity.. That was an omen I regrettably missed, Gordon wrote. It was directed by Chris Smith, and produced by Danny Gabai and Mick Purzycki and was released on Netflix on January 18, 2019. On the Instagram story of Matte Projects, the event organizers wrote: "Due to weather conditions, ferry service has been temporarily suspended.

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