Theranos. WeWork. Uber. Anna Delvey. Harvey Weinstein. Over the past year, the entertainment industry has brought true stories of corporate fraud, scandal, and power abuse to the screen, as part of a growing trend in Hollywood to transform adaptations of non-fiction journalism into film and television. Whistleblowers are also beginning to take to storytelling via social media and podcasts, transcending the gatekeepers of book agents or journalists to share valuable information with the public and achieve virality on their own terms.
In order to reflect life and culture back at its audience, the entertainment industry needs whistleblowers and insiders to reveal information about the inner workings of corporations or the psychologies of the powerful. Journalists, ghostwriters, agents, news outlets, and lawyers have all participated in the optioning of whistleblower stories in the past. But as the whistleblowers start to carve out their own niche in the creator economy, and as the appetite for real-life stories of fraud and scandal remains high among viewers, how does the film industry prepare to capture that value?
This panel will explore what it means to incorporate the whistleblower into the process of making a movie – narrative or documentary – or a television show or series about their story. How much creative influence can and should whistleblowers have on a treatment, screenplay, or documentary? What sorts of legal rights should whistleblowers be asking for, especially as it relates to life rights or how their characters, or presence on screen, can be depicted? What kinds of credits or financial compensation should they be asking for? If whistleblowers have signed an NDA or are involved in a government investigation, how can they contribute to the creative or informational process without running afoul of their agreement or compromising law enforcement’s covert tactics? How do we balance the truth with cinematic representation or dramatization?