I have been fascinated by the Fyre Festival since before it even happened. The sheer logistics boggled the mind. How could a remote island support 10,000 people? Water, food, power, housing, travel, all the insane infrastructure and sheer work it takes to pull off a festival.
So, when the Fyre Festival happened in April 2016, it was the most incredible meltdown ever seen in real time. I have made a bit of a hobby to follow the story and I’ve read every article and story that’s come out since. I wanted answers. How were all these people fooled into buying these crazy expensive tickets? Why wasn’t it cancelled when it should have been clear from the start that the timeline wasn’t feasible? In the end, you just look at everything and go…
That’s been answered in many articles, stories, and exposés over the last 18 months. But trying to put together the whole picture and get the answers to WHY this was able to happen, WHO was actually pulling the strings, and WTF were they thinking? I knew the WHO, but Billy McFarland didn’t put this together in a vacuum, there were a LOT of people involved, and these two documentaries really helped answer the How and the Why of it all as well.
Not gonna lie, It’s been like Christmas to get these two documentaries within days of each other.
Hulu did a documentary called “Fyre Fraud”, and today Netflix released their documentary, called “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened”.
I have watched both of them now. Here’s my take on each documentary. In a nutshell, the Hulu documentary is more about Billy McFarland and how he ticks, and Netflix is more about the Fyre Festival itself.
Hulu - Fyre Fraud
First of all, they have been marketing this documentary as actually having an interview with Billy, but there’s almost nothing revealing. The one thing that comes out of the interview that seems to be new is that he makes a claim as to what happened to all the AirBNB style accommodations on the island that they had rented, and I haven’t been able to find anything corroborating that story.
Hulu goes way, way deeper into Billy’s past and how he got to this point. (Although Netflix doesn’t go into as much detail, I think they did a better job of connecting the dots between Billy’s ventures) But Hulu does a much better job of explaining how McFarland has been dishonest his whole career, how he’s morally bankrupt as a person, and gets more into his head.
The Hulu doc is more of a commentary and think piece that examines the cultural significance of the whole debacle. They examine the “millennial culture”, their love of exclusivity to FOMO. I personally thought the whole thing got pretty cringey at times, and if I took a shot every time they said the word “millennials”... I’d be dead. They also wrap the whole package up with odd graphics and weird old-school Apple voice to text at times. It kept pulling me out of the story.
Fire Fraud is a look at HOW they managed to pull the wool over the eyes of so many people and the culture that enabled them to do it. The part they get into least is what it was like to actually try to pull off a festival on an island.
Netflix - Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened
Right off the bat, Netflix gives more specifics about the chaos of actually trying to pull the festival together. They had better interviews with people who were involved. The best advice I heard on the whole thing actually came from their charter pilot, very early on. Seriously. Had they found a way to pull off his idea, it might have actually worked. But, you’ll see what happened to that advice.
Netflix’s doc spends a LOT of time laying out the wild work schedule and the challenges that went into trying to build the festival from scratch. One of the craziest stories is what Billy actually asked a staff member to do to make sure that 4 tankers of water could actually clear customs. Unreal.
Both docs go into what happened afterwards, but Netflix has actual footage of Billy and others scamming people after he had already pled guilty to fraud in federal court!
The part that got me were the interviews at the end of the documentary where numerous Bahamians talk on camera about never being paid for their work. One lady lost $50,000. It’s heartbreaking. The wreckage that Billy left in his wake is staggering. One thing is for sure, no future event will ever take place in Grand Exuma without cash up front for every.single.thing.
Verdict
Both “Fyre Fraud” and “Fyre” are good documentaries and come at the story from different angles. But, for CB users who want the behind-the-scenes glimpse of what led the festival to being a total meltdown, Netflix’s “Fyre” is the one to watch.
If you want to watch both, I would recommend watching the Hulu one first, as they do point out something about the Netflix documentary that's worth noting. Namely, that the main marketing company used by Fyre Festival was also one of the producers of the Netflix documentary.
So, when the Fyre Festival happened in April 2016, it was the most incredible meltdown ever seen in real time. I have made a bit of a hobby to follow the story and I’ve read every article and story that’s come out since. I wanted answers. How were all these people fooled into buying these crazy expensive tickets? Why wasn’t it cancelled when it should have been clear from the start that the timeline wasn’t feasible? In the end, you just look at everything and go…
WTF Happened?
That’s been answered in many articles, stories, and exposés over the last 18 months. But trying to put together the whole picture and get the answers to WHY this was able to happen, WHO was actually pulling the strings, and WTF were they thinking? I knew the WHO, but Billy McFarland didn’t put this together in a vacuum, there were a LOT of people involved, and these two documentaries really helped answer the How and the Why of it all as well.
Not gonna lie, It’s been like Christmas to get these two documentaries within days of each other.
Hulu did a documentary called “Fyre Fraud”, and today Netflix released their documentary, called “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened”.
I have watched both of them now. Here’s my take on each documentary. In a nutshell, the Hulu documentary is more about Billy McFarland and how he ticks, and Netflix is more about the Fyre Festival itself.
Hulu - Fyre Fraud
First of all, they have been marketing this documentary as actually having an interview with Billy, but there’s almost nothing revealing. The one thing that comes out of the interview that seems to be new is that he makes a claim as to what happened to all the AirBNB style accommodations on the island that they had rented, and I haven’t been able to find anything corroborating that story.
Hulu goes way, way deeper into Billy’s past and how he got to this point. (Although Netflix doesn’t go into as much detail, I think they did a better job of connecting the dots between Billy’s ventures) But Hulu does a much better job of explaining how McFarland has been dishonest his whole career, how he’s morally bankrupt as a person, and gets more into his head.
The Hulu doc is more of a commentary and think piece that examines the cultural significance of the whole debacle. They examine the “millennial culture”, their love of exclusivity to FOMO. I personally thought the whole thing got pretty cringey at times, and if I took a shot every time they said the word “millennials”... I’d be dead. They also wrap the whole package up with odd graphics and weird old-school Apple voice to text at times. It kept pulling me out of the story.
Fire Fraud is a look at HOW they managed to pull the wool over the eyes of so many people and the culture that enabled them to do it. The part they get into least is what it was like to actually try to pull off a festival on an island.
Netflix - Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened
Right off the bat, Netflix gives more specifics about the chaos of actually trying to pull the festival together. They had better interviews with people who were involved. The best advice I heard on the whole thing actually came from their charter pilot, very early on. Seriously. Had they found a way to pull off his idea, it might have actually worked. But, you’ll see what happened to that advice.
Netflix’s doc spends a LOT of time laying out the wild work schedule and the challenges that went into trying to build the festival from scratch. One of the craziest stories is what Billy actually asked a staff member to do to make sure that 4 tankers of water could actually clear customs. Unreal.
Both docs go into what happened afterwards, but Netflix has actual footage of Billy and others scamming people after he had already pled guilty to fraud in federal court!
The part that got me were the interviews at the end of the documentary where numerous Bahamians talk on camera about never being paid for their work. One lady lost $50,000. It’s heartbreaking. The wreckage that Billy left in his wake is staggering. One thing is for sure, no future event will ever take place in Grand Exuma without cash up front for every.single.thing.
Verdict
Both “Fyre Fraud” and “Fyre” are good documentaries and come at the story from different angles. But, for CB users who want the behind-the-scenes glimpse of what led the festival to being a total meltdown, Netflix’s “Fyre” is the one to watch.
If you want to watch both, I would recommend watching the Hulu one first, as they do point out something about the Netflix documentary that's worth noting. Namely, that the main marketing company used by Fyre Festival was also one of the producers of the Netflix documentary.
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