Focus
Mark Wahlberg's FTX documentary will focus on relationship between SBF and CZ
(Kitco News) - For anyone who thought that the saga that is the collapse of FTX and its contentious relationship with rival Binance had the makings of a great movie, actor Mark Wahlberg would agree, and has set out to create just such a film.
According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, Fortune and Wahlberg’s movie company Unrealistic Ideas are planning on filming a documentary focused on the relationship between former FTX CEO Sam “SBF" Bankman-Fried and Binance founder and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.
The project is described as a “personal examination of the relationship between SBF and CZ,” who came from starkly different backgrounds to create their own crypto empires. “The two became dominant figures in the cryptocurrency scene and developed a unique association that positioned them alternately as allies and rivals,” the report said. “Bankman-Fried sought a high profile for FTX that hinged on celebrity endorsements and political influence while Zhao focused on a more austere approach to building Binance.”
In the early stages of the struggles at FTX, Binance floated the idea of buying the embattled exchange but later backed out after doing its due diligence and reports emerged that U.S. authorities were investigating FTX, its sister company Alameda Research, and SBF.
Since then, Bankman-Fried has accused Zhao of waging a long campaign to destroy him and his companies, saying in a Jan. 12 substack post that “an extreme, quick, targeted crash precipitated by the CEO of Binance made Alameda insolvent.”
According to Fortune, CZ and other key executives at Binance have already agreed to participate in the project, as well as executives from FTX and other major crypto companies.
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This is not the first crypto-focused film to come out of Wahlberg’s production company as the firm previously released the Emmy-nominated McMillions on HBO. Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson and Archie Gips will be the executive producers of the FTX doc alongside Alyson Shontell and Jeff John Roberts from Fortune and John Weston.
“We’re unbelievably excited to pair the award-winning journalistic resources of Fortune with Unrealistic Ideas’ well-known storytelling prowess,” added Fortune editor-in-chief Shontell, “The tumultuous relationship between SBF and CZ has played out to a certain extent in articles and on Twitter, but this definitive documentary will give people a 360-degree, personal look at the entire FTX saga.”
This is one of many projects currently in the works about SBF and FTX. There is also a documentary project from nonfiction studio XTR and another from Vice Media and The Information. Michael Lewis, the author of Moneyball, The Big Short and Flash Boys, has also pitched the film and TV rights to an upcoming book based on Bankman-Fried and the meltdown of FTX, which Apple purchased.
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