FTX set the crypto pace in November and December 2022 and continues to maintain relevance in 2023. However, lessons from the debacle will continue to shape the crypto industry for the foreseeable future.
The story has caught the attention of multiple media companies; here are the top 5 films and documentaries in production.
The plot
For the uninitiated, here is a glimpse of the debacle. FTX was the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange before it collapsed in November 2022.
The story revolves around Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), then FTX exchange’s CEO, Alameda Research, and its CEO, Caroline Ellison. The debacle involves more characters on the sidelines, including Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ).
The plot involved an alleged fraud SBF who used customer funds in FTX for his personal enterprise Alameda. SBF denied involvement with Alameda, but Caroline ratted him out. CZ was responsible for bringing the rot in the exchange to light.
The plot is still playing out with multiple side stories. One of them is SBF’s involvement with the Solana ecosystem and alleged involvement with the collapse of Terra Luna, an event that wiped out over $300 billion from the crypto market.
“It’s a classic tale of hubris running headlong into a nemesis, shot through with salacious details, and has dragged celebrities from Larry David to Gisele Bündchen into its orbit,” Stephen Graves, senior editor at Decrypt.
Michael Lewis-penned book about FTX and SBF
Michael Lewis is an American author famed for writing Moneyball, The Big Short, and Flash Boys.
Sources familiar with the upcoming book confirmed that the book would be coming to Apple following a 7 figure deal between the two parties. Other interested parties included Amazon Studios, “Harry Potter” producer David Heyman, and management company Sugar2.
Michael initially themed the book on SBF’s rapid rise to glory and his embrace of ‘effective altruism,’ but FTX forced a dramatic turn in the story.
According to CAA agent Matthew Snyder, the rivalry between CZ and SBF will also be a likely narrative in the book.
Amazon Prime FTX drama
In late November, Amazon Prime ordered a limited 8-episode series on the FTX drama from the AGBO production company.
David Weil will write the pilot, act as the executive producer, and hopefully release the film in spring 2023. David Well is known for his production role in Amazon’s ‘Hunters’ and ‘Solos,’ as well as Apple TV’s Invasion.’
The series will be based on insider reporting by a couple of journalists who covered the case. The exact source material is under wraps.
Graham Moore project
Graham Moore is an Oscar-award-winning writer behind the Benedict Cumberbatch film ‘The Imitation Game.’ The writer will direct an adaptation of the FTX debacle published in New York’s magazine and dive deeper into the subject.
The story dives into SBF’s honest beginning as a crypto guy, his rise to the helm of FTX, and its fall to bankruptcy that forced him to sell his property in the Bahamas.
Moore is still deciding whether it will be a feature film or a series. According to Moore, each revelation in the debacle, ‘each new revelation is more shocking, fascinating, occasionally horrific and frequently hilarious than the last.’
Alongside the scripted adaptation, New York Magazine and Vox Media will also collabo on a documentary based on SBF’s collapsed crypto empire. The documentary will draw sources from the US and the Bahamas.
Panoramic project
Scott Burns and Jonathan Glickman’s Panoramic Media are also working on the project. The project will bring in New York Times writer Andrew Ross Sorkin, who, in December 2022, interviewed SBF in the aftermath of the FTX collapse.
Glickman is the former president of MGM movies and is famous for ‘Creed’ series, Netflix’s ‘Wednesday,’ and the James Bond films ‘Skyfall,’ ‘No time to die,’ and ‘Spectre.’
SBF and the end of Silicon Valley
The film will be produced by tech business publication ‘The information’ and vice media and released in the second quarter of 2023.
The film will draw reporters from Vice’s Motherboard team and ‘The Information’s’ crypto and VC teams. The documentary will dissect SBF’s involvement with the “effective altruism” movement, inexperienced FTX leadership, and the role played by VCs.
Decrypt Studios and XTR are also making documentaries on the story.
