I kinda suspect that it was never going to be practical, but I just meant there’s not really much very suspect about involving the promo video people in making the documentary cause they weren’t actively participating in the fraud, nor was there fraud really during the time they were involved.
I mean to some extent they did hire professionals. They just fired the professionals who told them what they wanted to do wasn’t possible (like the guy who told them the original island wouldn’t hold that many people). Even towards the actual festival date they started losing professionals (like the catering company) once it became clear they wouldn’t be paid and they had to try with fifth tier companies.
Oh yeah, as I said, the people who actually made the video (director, cameras, lights, etc.) just did a job in good faith - it’s stupid to blame them. Maybe if they’d been involved at a later date when the shitshow was in full swing, but at that point, so far as I can tell, it was just a photo/video shoot.
Yeah the bit with the guy and his cruise boat recommendation was hilarious :) Shows you that even if they’d managed to retain the original island, it would still have been a mess.
There actually is a real, professionally run music festival in the Bahamas every year that, surprise, runs off a cruise ship. Basically you offload all the infrastructure (electricity, plumbing, etc) to the cruise ship instead of building it on land.
It’s a fine idea, if you know what you’re doing and are willing to actually plan it.
Will Billy McFarland be out of jail in time to head the next Puerto Rico hurricane disaster relief effort?
For the record, Jerry Media “worked with” VICE and Netflix for the Fyre documentary, but it wasn’t made by Jerry Media but instead directed by an actual documentarian, Chris Smith. Hulu’s on the other hand actually paid Billy McFarland six figures for the interview so you can judge for yourself who’s more on the ball.
— Alan
I preferred the Netflix documentary. They spent more time on how things fell apart rather than the Hulu one which seemed more focused on the actual scam.
The fact that they tried to pull this off in 12 weeks is hilarious to me.
At a previous role, I used to assist in putting on a multi-day national sales meeting for about 600 employees. That took a solid 10 - 12 months and even then it felt like we didn’t have enough time. I can’t imagine trying to pull something like THIS off on a small island. The transportation and airfare, the food, the lodging and then on-top of that you have all the performers to manage. It should have been obvious from the minute it was proposed that this wasn’t going to happen.
I feel watching both (if possible) is the best way to get a fuller picture. I imagine most people aren’t “choosing” which doc to watch anyway. They watch whichever one is on their subscription.
We’re doing a Sales Kick Off for some 60-80 people that’s taking about 2 months to pull together offsite and that’s taking a lot of resources. Doing something like Fyre is, as someone in the Hulu doc mentioned, should take at least 12 months. The fact that they had no facilities at all just shows that it was a sham from the start.
— Alan
Does the Hulu one mention how Ja Rule managed to stay out of prison for his part in this? Was it just Billy scamming people for the most part, with Ja Rule as an unwitting partner in it? On the Netflix one, that bit where he’s saying it wasn’t really a scam, etc, just seems like he was equally involved.
Despite being a co-owner, I don’t think Ja Rule was involved in managing the finances of the company like Billy was. That’s where the fraud was committed. He did get sued for his role in screwing over the Fyre ticket holders, but I don’t think those offenses were actually criminal.
It didn’t even seem (from the Netflix doc) like he was very involved in the actual day to day organizing. He talked it up and made excuses on a conference call, but it sounded like Billy was the point person for coordinating and decision-making. Which, it turns out, was a terrible idea.
Then again, I felt like the Netflix doc went out of its way to never really directly interrogate his role in things, and that was striking to me. You don’t even see his face on the conference call footage.
Well, the legal drama continues to this day
And speaking of Ja Rule
I’d be the one leading the charge and incessantly yelling “I totally called it!” into the camera. Non-stop.
Even as a layman it boggles my mind that anyone thought they could do this in a few months. And with no one central to the thing having any real experience. At all.
I’ve only watched half of the Netflix doc, but any of the pros they brought in for anything seemed like they were kind of confused as to what the whole plan was and were either annoyed (models) or bemused (that first camera/marketing team).
And the whole Fyre app seemed like something that would get used as a joke on Silicon Valley. An app that you click a button to schedule a a show from some musician? Clicking a button to make a purchase/order is tight!
Yeah, not gonna lie, I was very confused by the idea that a) you would need to be able to book performers on your phone at any time (which seems like the main advantage of doing it as an app) and b) that it would be at all practical to do that with A-list performers, who even if you had the kind of money they would presumably want for appearances, probably wouldn’t want to be one-click ordered like a package off Amazon. But then, I had no idea there was a Fyre company to begin with, just the festival, until this documentary.
I can see the appeal for the app IF event organisers / rich people constantly face a lack of good information about what acts are available to be booked and how to actually book them. I have no idea if this is true. It would probably also encourage more competition in the private performance market that has flourished along with economic inequality.