Last year was the year of television shows and documentaries on scam artists and shady company founders. You probably saw one or two, I happened to watch all. Or so I believe. Here is a little bit about each other, in case you haven’t seen it!
WeCrashed
TV show or Movie: TV show
Where to watch: AppleTV+
Premise: WeCrashed is an American drama streaming television miniseries that premiered on Apple TV+ on March 18, 2022. The series stars Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway as Adam and Rebekah Neumann, the real-life married couple at the heart of WeWork, a coworking space company whose valuation reached $47 billion in 2019 before crashing as a result of financial revelations. The series is based on the podcast WeCrashed: The Rise and Fall of WeWork by Wondery.
Cast: Jared Leto, Anne Hathaway.
Trailer:
Inventing Anna
TV show or Movie: TV show
Where to watch: Netflix
Premise: Inventing Anna is an American drama television miniseries created and produced by Shonda Rhimes, inspired by the story of Anna Sorokin and the article in New York titled “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People”[1] by Jessica Pressler. The series was released on Netflix on February 11, 2022.[2][3] Julia Garner starred as Anna Sorokin, the title character. The series received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the performances (particularly Garner) but criticized the inconsistent tone.
Under the assumed name Anna Delvey, Russian-born Anna Sorokin is able to con members of New York City’s upper crust into believing she is a German heiress with access to a substantial fortune. She uses this persona to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, goods and services while working towards her goal of opening an exclusive art-themed club.
Cast: Anna Chlumsky, Julia Garner, Arian Moayed, Katie Lowes, Alexis Floyd, Anders Holm, Anna Deavere Smith, Jeff Perry, Terry Kinney, Laverne Cox
Trailer:
The Dropout
TV show of Movie: TV show
Where to watch: Hulu
Premise: The Dropout, based on the ABC Audio podcast of the same name, is a series about the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes and her company, Theranos. The show touches on experiences that likely motivated Holmes’s deceptions and lies in a linear fashion, starting from her preteens and all the way to her exposure as a fraud.
Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Naveen Andrews.
Trailer:
The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley
TV show or Movie: TV show
Where to watch: HBO
Premise: The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley is a 2019 American documentary film, directed and produced by Alex Gibney. The film revolves around Elizabeth Holmes and her former company Theranos. It is considered a companion piece to the book, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup.
Cast:
Trailer:
The Tinder Swindler
TV show or Movie: TV show
Where to watch: Netflix
Premise: The Tinder Swindler is a British true crime documentary film directed by Felicity Morris and released on Netflix on 2 February 2022.[1] The documentary tells the story of the Israeli conman Simon Leviev (born Shimon Hayut) who used the dating application Tinder to connect with individuals who he then emotionally manipulated into financially supporting his lavish lifestyle on the pretext he needed the money to escape his “enemies.”
Trailer: